Swear-in/Leaving for Vacation

Hey everyone! Just wanted to drop a quick note to let you all know what I've been up to this past week and what I'll be up to in the next month or so. This past week was swear-in for my sister stage so I partook in all the festivities. Here are some pictures:

All of Team Zinder...even a couple who are leaving soon....
Some of us ladies got black dresses made especially for the event so here we are showing them off...
All the newbies rockin the "Z" symbol

As of now I'm scrambling to get my stuff together because (drum roll please) I leave the country for vacation to none other than Spain, Portugal, and Morocco! I'm super excited and am meeting up some good friends of mine there as well: Sulan, Becky, and Meera. We are going to paint the countries red along with Noah (a fellow PCV I've mentioned a couple of times). The trip will last three glorious weeks and we will be taking all forms of transportation (planes, trains, boats, automobiles) to get to our multiple destinations of Casablanca, southern Spain, Lisbon, Madrid, Morocco (various cities). I'm super excited and will be sure to take plenty of pictures. Special thanks to Dad and Monica for helping me out so much for the trip and Mom for all of her advice. I love you all! Oh and also to all of my Houston people, I give you my full support in recovering from the hurricane. I know it was pretty bad for a lot of ya'll so you are all in my thoughts. Okay, well I'll be back in three weeks!

My Village

Noah (a fellow PCV who is at the end of his service) recently came out to my village and we took a few pictures. So enjoy!



This is a main square of my village. The place where I wait to get bush taxis is straight ahead and my house is situated directly to the left of this picture in the neighborhood a couple of doors down.

This is Hawa. She is probably one of my best friends in the village and the nicest woman I have ever met. She has sat with me along with her family and chatted for hours helping me with my Hausa.

This is the family of another woman who I go visit and talk with often. Her name is Miriama, and she is by far the best cook in the village. Here is a pic of Noah with her (on his left) and her family.

One of my friends in the village named Dan Musa is a big jokester. He is sitting in the middle to the left of me with a kid in his lap. When I first came to the village he told me I needed to gain 100 kilos! He said I was way too skinny. Thanks to him and all of my villagers actually I did gain weight.... :)
The best part of my day is around 5PM when I have tea with these guys. They are so incredibly nice to me and very patient. I feel like I can really be myself around them. My two closest friends are N'fu (on the mat in the light blue) and Ma'azu (to his left in the white).

The famous Telatu. A handful a lot of times, she helps me tremendously with things. She is constantly updating me on village events and making sure I am clued in on village activities. Her along with a bunch of other girls her age come over every night after she and I eat dinner and we play cards. They are a riot.

Telatu and Noah sitting in my newly built "shade hangar" which actually turned into just an extension of my house.

The entrance to my hut and my laundry line. I wash it by hand in my village and you can see it drying here.

The first room of my hut. I keep all the cards and pictures everyone sends me and have hung some up on my walls. It keeps me remembering that I am still loved in America, haha.

A map that I hung up, my favorite chair, and my bookshelf.

The second, and final, room to my hut. Also my kitchen. Home sweet home!

Well that's all folks! Hope all is well with everybody.