Reverse Culture Shock

This week I had to travel back to the the capital of Niger in order to renew my expiring visa. This is where I experienced “reverse culture shock” for the first time ever. I was unaware of how fast I’ve adapted to my new lifestyle in the bush and how removed from the “American lifestyle” I have become. Arriving in Niamey gave me quite a shock. The two-story government buildings might as well have been skyscrapers. Everything seemed larger than life- like I was seeing it all threw a set of new eyes. I witnessed women without headwraps and others wearing pants. I felt overwhelmed and I started crying. I also cried the next day when I watched parts of the “The Today Show” on the first television I’ve seen in months and then once again when I walked into a room and heard the familiar sounds of a college football game blaring from a TV screen- it wasn’t OSU but I was excited anyways. I had many conflicting feelings from watching the news and comercials- homesickness mixed with disgust and discomfort at the media’s propaganda and sensationalism. I know that coming to Niger has changed how I view the world and everything in it as well as how I view myself. Coming home in a couple months will be challenging and I expect I will struggle to balance the things I learned here with the “American” culture I have been brought up in. It is all a part of me now. I just wonder how I’m going to react the first time I step into Walmart or Giant Eagle!!!

I also had a chance to see some giraffes this past week. They are an endangered species- only about 120 of them in West Africa. We a had a guide who only spoke French and Zarma so communicating was interesting. However, after off-roading for about 40 minutes we came upon and family of giraffes. They looked just like the one from the Toys R Us commercials. We watched them until they got uncomfortable with us and ran off. How cool it was to see them roaming free in their natural habitat!

Barka Sala!!!

This week we celebrated the end of Ramadan in the village of Toda with the chief of Ly On Kara, the Chief of Toda and the King of the Fulani. We attended their prayer ceremony in the morning and then ate with the King’s family as they broke their fast. I tried cow tongue for the first time ever and it wasn’t too tramatic- just kind of chewy! It was nothing compared to chutum- the chunky soured milk that the Fulani eat EVERY DAY!!! The best part of the celebration was when we went back to Ly On Kara and women from all the different compounds came over to the Chief’s compound to visit. They were dressed in their brightest most colorful skirts and headwraps, feet and hands dyed from henna and unibrows penciled in. They all performed traditional Fulani dances for us. It was beautiful and I loved being a part of it all. Afterwards, the women wanted us to show them some American style dances. So we did the Macarena (because it seemed like an American song in that moment lol) and the electric slide but their favorite was the Chicken Dance!!!! Some ladies were crying because they were laughing so hard!!!