ALEX, SARAH, RACHEL, WILL, BRIAN, ELIZABETH, EMILY, KATELYN, SHURUQ, KATY, THOMAS,CINDY, CARAID, SARAH and the rest of the Crew of 2011 will CALL HOME! What a joyous occassion. We know your phone cards or Skype are ready. Celebrate the call and share with the Fans of Niger the parts of the conversation that you think will help all of us understand the Niger Experience just a little better. Meanwhile Brian's Mom organized our Niger Fan Blog List to make it easy for all of us to log on:
Our Group:
www.nigerfans.blogspot.com
Individuals:
Alex
www.americaninniger.blogspot.com
Will
www.willinniger.blogspot.com
Brian
www.brianniger.blogspot.com
Katy
http://katiecrocker.wordpress.com
Tom
www.thomaseleonard.blogspot.com
and one more outside our group that we've all enjoyed - Jessica
http://jrobinpcv.blogspot.com.
Thanks Karen! Looking forward to hearing from all of us this week...as through communication comes understanding, peace and joy!
Warmest regards,
Patty and John
PS: DO not miss Brian's blueprint of his living condition in Niger posted on his blog! All of the kids are writing about it, Brian drew it perfectly!
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I just heard from Elizabeth. Yeah! Where shall we post our phone-call updates?
ReplyDeleteP.S. For anyone researching calling cards, the "Wild Africa" card seems to have the best rate, but I just learned that the $0.09/min rate to "Niger" is only for calling landlines (which isn't indicated on the web site). It's $0.11/min to call a cell phone ("Niger Republic Cellular").
Stay in touch with Niger news in english at http://www.niger1.com
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks for letting us know we'd be getting a call today. I would have missed it otherwise.
ReplyDeleteBrian is loving it in Niger and I posted news of his call on his blog at www.brianniger.blogspot.com
The highlight was a trip to an american type recreation area where they went swimming and he had nachos and a milk shake - YUM!
If any parents want help creating a blog for your PCV, email me at regnitk@yahoo.com - I'll put together instructions and email them back to you - it's pretty simple as there are templates to use.
Karen,
ReplyDeleteI appreciated your blog entry about Brian's call. I'm going to put some hand soap in Elizabeth's next care package.
If you didn't get the August 5 e-mail from the Peace Corps' Lisa Spencer letting families know the the phone calls were coming, you might want to check with Lisa and see if she has your address. Her address is sidagadniger@gmail.com.
Thanks for the offer to help parents create a blog. I don't want to make a separate one. I'm happy to add to our "Niger Fans 2011" blog. I'm just not sure where to put the update info from the phone calls.
THEY HAVE PHONES! John and I are still using Calling Cards.com, Wild Africa, however we are not quite as confident with Marcia's comments and when we read the 99 cent a week surcharge. So study the fine print prior to signing up. This week we are going to investigate Stan-a-card. We have some friends who call their families in India on it and swear by it. John is also certain we should be able to get our Skype working.
ReplyDeleteWill's comments mirrored many of Brian's ( see Brian's blog). He talked some about staying in the training camp over the time of the election and then returning to their host families. There is not much "todo" about the results, many folks in the villages being unaware. He did say the results would curtail any talk or work on democracy in the villages. The PC trainees have been granted some more freedoms and he spoke about a trip to Niamey where everyone hops a cab (50 cents) and one restaurant with a good meal. He told his sister not us that he had experienced the Niger dysentery and survived. Evidently the clinic on the training center is well stocked. This Friday everyone should know their posts. And Will shared how much fun they are having talking about "our blog" among themselves but that we must promise not to post their final posts on the blog.
The Crew of 2011 is moving forward. We applaud them all.
Patty
Does anyone have good detailed map of Niger? It would be nice to see where everyone is posted. Where did you purchase it? We found one of western Africa but not Niger?
ReplyDeleteHey everyone -- this is Charlene (the girl who came home sick from Niger). I am just writing to tell you that my mom mailed a package for me right before I left Niger. This means that I will not be there to get it. But its contents will surely be more useful to the rest of the group in Niger than for me in the States. So if anyone gets a chance to talk to them, please tell them to tell Tondi that a package is arriving there for me, but I would like them to have it. Tell them that I will probably be sending another package (as I promised) this week. Lastly, tell them that I miss them, wish them the best of luck and hope they are all doing well!!
ReplyDeleteNow it feels a lot more like "talk to you soon". Emily said they have started telling the trainees that they are through the hardest part, and it feels a little like that for us too! We enjoyed our call on Sunday, and had her brother call her tonight, since he was working Sunday.
ReplyDeleteShe sounds good... feeling solid about her decision to go and enjoying Niger. She enjoyed their visit to Niamey. She seemed to be having a reaction to antibiotics that she was given for a
bad bite on her leg, but sounded good and assured us that she would be in contact with the docs the next day. Before I handed the phone to her brother tonight, I checked, and they are going to see her tomorrow when she as at the center. The Zarma lessons are going well. The crank/solar radio that she took seems to be useful, as she can now use it to charge the phone and of course the ipod. She continues to talk about how great the staff, the rest of the trainees and her host family are. Looking forward to finding out her post and visiting for a week before they finish training.
In terms of mail, we have received that original post card and her first letter. She has received my first two letters and her dad's second letter. He is not sure if he wrote air mail on the first. A padded envelope package we sent on July 28 has not arrived yet. Working on a box now.
Charlene I am glad you are safe and hope you are feeling much better. Not fun being sick that far from home and family. If I remember, you were looking at AU for graduate school. Emily was there for undergraduate and really enjoyed it, and we enjoyed visiting her there.
I enjoy everyone's posts so much. Can't wait to hear the next round of adventures.
stacy
Hi everyone...We never got a call from Cindy on Sunday, and have been waiting and worrying why not? We did get a letter last week(thank you Charlene),and she mentioned getting a phone soon.She is still loving everything about Niger.Her only complaint was the hallucinations at night. She was going to talk to someone about changing meds.Has anyone else been having problems sleeping? We've sent two packages so far, Hopefully she'll get them in time for her birthday Aug.21 ! Her first bday away from home...
ReplyDeleteFirst Eve we are so sorry you did not hear from Cindy. It would have been a long day for all of us. Perhaps her connections were bad and she could not get through. We will inquire about Cindy with Will on Sunday and send what we learn forward. We had a text message from Will on Wednesday that our first big prepaid box arrived - 2 and 1/2 weeks which was not as bad as we had thought. Trust me I am certain members of he Crew of 2011 will celebrate Cindy's bithday. Everyone loves a celebration. I have not heard from Will about the hallucinations however Jessica mentions them early in her letters and that she learns to adjust or to just laugh at what she dreams. -Patty
ReplyDeletePS Charlene we loved hearing from you. Glad you are feeling better. We would love your "live in Niger" first impressions.-PS
How did Will get a text message through? Any tips, Patty? Are other families texting? Elizabeth and I have tried texting each other, but the messages aren't going through in either direction. (What a hoot that cell phones are ubiquitous in Niger. That's the last thing I expected.)
ReplyDeleteHi Eve .. I just talked to brian and asked him if all is well with Cindy and he said she's doing great. She just received her post along with everyone else and I'm sure she'll be sharing the news with you. Right now they're all celebrating together.
ReplyDeleteBrian received the 2 packages I sent earlier - sounds like the mail is making it there. Oh, and they were celebrating Emily's birthday today.
I wish I could meet all of them, what a wonderful group of young men and women.
We talked to Cindy! She texted this afternoon , we called her back and talked way too long. Just had some trouble with her phone but okay now.She's very excited about her post near Zinder,said she got 1 package so far(the padded envelope),and her meds were changed to something she takes every day instead of once a week.She's getting much better sleep now.
ReplyDeleteBy the way,she said that the padded envelope hadn't been opened like others boxes had. For its size it was full and heavy. Her gandmom sent a box 2 days earlier topped off with confetti! Whoever opens that first will get a messy surprise!
What good News Eve! Marcia, we will speak with Will on Sunday. Not certain that he has gotten John's text messages that he reports ATT taught him how to send - $10 a month unlimited ( if they were able to get there not a bad deal ) Will dd get one to John so Elizabeth might check with him, but we have no idea the cost from Niger to us! -Patty
ReplyDelete