Maybe I already wrote about having amoebas, I don’t remember. I took my medicine like a good volunteer but then I had some more that I had to take some other medicine to remove any cysts that the amoebas has created. That was the day that my problems got really bad. I spent the whole day laying in bed and reading, getting up once every hour to relieve the grumbling in my intestines.

That happened for two days, and then I was sent in to Niamey to make sure there was nothing really wrong with me. Of course the day I arrived in Niamey things began to feel better, so then I spent essentially two days in Niamey having negative test results and feeling healthy, which made me feel rather sheepish at being there, since I hadn’t even been at site a week yet.

But all that is behind me now. I have been putting effort into getting my house together. While in Niamey I grabbed an old mosquito net that had holes in it and today I used it to put screens over my windows and a ‘mosquito curtain’ over my door. I am hoping this does something to reduce the ridiculous number of mosquitos that currently live in my house (it already seems to be helping a lot, as I can write this not under my mosquito net. In fact the old mosquito net works way better than metal screens would have. Its more flexible and didn’t require asking somone to make door and window coverings, it costs nothing, and it doesn’t give the image of a patron house, which screen doors definitely do.

So my house is good. Work is also good. Today I went to the weekly meeting of a youth group here (the ‘scouts’) that was started by the previous volunteer (if I have understood correctly). Now I have never thought much of the scouts in the states, but these kids have really impressed me with how much thought they put into things. I suppose it is also nice to see a group of people that is still doing some work after a volunteer has left. A truly ‘sustainable’ thing (I must love quotes tonight, Sorry I will stop). I left the meeting pretty inspired and looking forward to all the things we are planning, which at the moment include English and business classes (eirily similar to my Guinea work, no?). Of course that is just the beginning, but I am excited by their excitement. I am also looking into creating a directory of groups and associations and other resources for my commune. That would be extremely helpful for me because I would know the names and contacts of the different groups in my area and what each of them were trying to do. It will also be a good way to see the other villages and to meet people. It could even be helpful for everyone else also (gasp!).

I’d just like to close with a little observation on the irony of The Economist having an issue all about the economic recovery while its job section includes only six listings or something…

And I’m feeling pretty good about law school again. With all the chaos I wasn’t sure if it was what I wanted, especially given the insane income/cost ratios. But then there was also an add for the Masters in Public Policy / International Development at Harvard that looked very exciting. I think I have zeroed in on the kind of work I want to do at this point, I just don’t know if I want to be more involved on the law side of things or the policy side.

In theory the work could be similar, but if I went to law school I would probably be more involved in Open Source and that whole aspect of things, which could still involve public policy in other countries. On the other hand a public policy degree or the like would not be as involved in Open Source, or at least not from a legal perspective… All of this is interesting and fun to think about, and I am glad I have time to think for a while still.

Assuming that nothing happens here… I don’t have a lot of faith for some reason. D’Irkoy go ba (If God is willing in Zarma!), the program will stay open for the rest of my service.

Short language lesson: “Mate ni kani” is good morning. “Hamburger” is maybe (I am so not lying). Also, to express surprise, you can say “wiza.” As in “I picked up my towel and, wiza, like 900 mosquitos attacked me!”

Oh yeah, and “Toh” means okay.