Tim and Jolene

so it’s been a while since i’ve made an entry as i haven’t been having the best of luck with computers as of late. however,  i have had enough luck to check on the football scores and be continually disappoointed that the niners haven’t won another game since their first two… boo them. as jason said, i’m guessing they just sort of gave up on life when i left.  why even bother trying to play football when there’s no tim to watch? 

all is going well here in Niger.  it’s been great keeping up on the baby front at letters to optimus.blogspot.com as nathan has been doing a good job as blogfather there.  i haven’t actually been able to log in and make comments, but i decided that if i think my comment hard enough while staring at the computer screen they probably make it there ok, right nathan?  also chubby noah in the pumpking patch is a classic on ben’s page if you are feeling down at any point. 

on the good side, work it going really well.  it sounds like jolene and i will be able to start a girl’s soccer team in our town.  the pe (or EPS depending on what language your speaking) teachers were really helpfull.  they pretty much said, “you want a soccer team to coach? find a whistle and a ball and when you get back here there will be a team waiting for you”  in addition i’ve been going to one of the local primary schools a lot lately and watching classes.  i decided to watch each grade for at least one class period just to get the feel of it.  i started at cmII the last class before the big test to move on to junior high (college), where most of the kids are early teens, and i have worked back to CI (cours initial) which hopefully i’ll go see tomorrow, god willing, which is somewhere in the 5 to 7 age range  (i think) covering 6 grades in all. on jolene’s work side she has tons of great ideas hopefully we’ll do some “send your girls to school” type sensibilizations and she wants to do a newsletter for the community and lots of other things that she could probably right more eloquently herself later.

we also started a tomatoe garden with the help of our neighbors.  it was a week or so ago and our neighbor was by our house when we got home.  he said, “hey, you want a tomatoe garden?” and i was like “sure that sounds like a good thing,” and then all the kids were suddenly digging in our backyard and planting things and about 20 minutes later we had ourselves some tamaters.  i’ve been trying to water them a few times a day, but we’re still sustaining heavy losses.  i feel like a army general that can’t keep up moral… oh well.

on the bummer side here in niger we are short one lcd screen on jolene’s camera.  i think we might still be able to take pictures, but we won’t really be able to change settings or review the pictures that we had taken.  we still have mine though, so i’ll do my best to take up the slack in the picture taking department.

language is coming along, we can greet the heck out of people in hausa, and can hold a conversation in french, all the structure and tenses might not be right all the time but i think we gotten our points accross in generally.  oh i was a red neck super hero in the picture on halloween, and jolene was a bunny cat in those halloween pictures that don’t make any sense.  it was the best we could come up with using only free clothes found in the grab box.  that’s probabably all i got for now, but i’ll end with my list of appologees due to bad internet use lately:

holly: i replied to your myspace message.  i love you too, i think i put a witty remark in there somewhere, so next time you hear something witty, pretend it’s from me.

paul: tried to send you multiple messages, mostly they were lame, so you didn’t miss much.

brandon: i mailed you something in real mail and in email, i don’t know if they got there, but in short “hi”

nathan: i tried to reply to your site… see above 

everyone else: i send you that thing if you think i was supposed to… um and internet pirates probably mistook it for booty and carried it away, sorry about that

love you all, and i miss you pretty grandma.  you were an amazing woman. 

Hi Everyone! We’re in Maradi for the afternoon to meet an NGO and get some computer work done. Time is flying by and I am sure that all the malls are having great sweater sales right now, while we are still roasting in the sun that is now accompanied by a dry, sandy wind. At night the temperature drops down and it is crazy how cold it feels, but it is probably only 80 or maybe sometimes 70. Everyone will wear big jackets and ask you if it’s cold: “Ina sanhe? Eh, akwaishi sanhe, locacincin.”  Tim and I are hoping to go out to bush and visit a friend in Sirkin Hausa soon which I will be fun. It is really great to have other volunteers in the area to visit with. It’s strange how I become more and more aware of my own culture every day and I am slowly adapting to Nigerien culture more and more everyday. 

The other day, during my morning run, I was headed down the same dirt road surrounded by millet and sorgum with the sun rising slowly over the horizon, when I became aware of a huge cloud of dust. Continuing forward, I quickly found it’s source. What seemed like millions goats and sheep, the herd stormed down the road spreading from one side to the other. The goats and sheeps were led by a group of Fulani, men, women, and children, as well as about 15 camels. For about ten minutes I wove in and out of the animals in the opposite direction as they continued on their journey. It was an exciting morning but I think I still have dirt hiding in my nose from that morning. I need to start gathering pie ingredients for our Thanksgiving celebration. We’ll see what I come up with… I can’t go without my pie. For all of you who know of Pretty Grandma, you know that she is my favorite (favorite- favorite). She smells like rose petals and her lips are usually a soft pink. We share a unique appreciation for sweets, specifically ice cream and chocolate.  She could capture your attention for hours talking about dancing in downtown San Diego, to playing music in St. Louis. Her hands, large and gentle, reveal a lifetime of experience, her eyes hold a world of wisdom, and her heart is filled with love and compassion like no other. I love you Grandma. I am sending you hugs and kisses daiyawa all the way from Niger, and don’t worry, I know the trip to Heaven is a long one but hugs and kisses don’t get jet lag. You will always be with me, regardless of time or space.  

Hi it’s Ben. Tim uploaded some more photos the other day, but didn’t have a chance to put them on here, so here you go!