Equestrian Center,Transportation and Post...

So, come tomorrow around 11 o'clock, Im on my way back to my village... It's been a looong few weeks and I am more than ready for a little village time!
So, recap on the past few days- left Niamey around 3:30 (bus was suposed to leave at 2, but I've moved on) BUT, and this is very exciting, not before I was able to go to the EQUESTRIAN CENTER of NIAMEY!!! (go ahead and read that part again) I was so excited when I found the place, I mean, who knew that a third-world country would have an Equestrian Center??? I didn't until I walked by it and had to go in.. there are horses... and they look well fed- something I havent seen in a while. I got so excited that I was telling anyone in sight that I ride at home, and that I jump and that I went to school for Equine Science, and that I love riding... and blah blah blah... Im not sure half of the people I stopped understood me; since it's Zarma land, most of them only spoke Zarma and French- neither of which I exactly know, but, fortunately a lot of the Equestrian vocabulary is french, so I think they got my point. I did tell them I was going to return one day and take a riding lesson- sad part is, its about an arm and a leg price... even after you convert it to US dollar.. hmmmm, and I might need to learn a bit more french if I hope to get anything out of it. I wonder if they'll need a housa/english/french riding instructor after 2 to 2 1/2 years... only joking (sort of).
ANyway, sorry about the side track, SO- we got on our bus, and 6 hours later we arrive- about 9:30 at night. So here I am with a backpack on, a huge box on my head, and I have this massive 'Al Hadji' bag (kinda a big square duffel bag type thing thats really cheap but holds literally EVERYTHING) that I was trying to carry along with it- poor Heidi and Lindsey had to help me out so we could get it all back to the hostel. My other option was to hire a small child to carry it for me, but I didnt see any around- when we stopped at this one village I payed a boy to bring me macaroni and sauce from a nearby place so I wouldnt have to get off the bus- I told him to put it in a plastic bag- actually, it sounds wierd, but EVERYTHING is in plastic bags here. Everything from flour and sugar, to water and cooked food is sold and stored in plastic bags. (you buy a bag of water, bite of the corner, and just drink it that way- its really quite convenient and I dont know why I havent thought to put water and leftovers in bags before)
ANYWAY, sorry about the side track, again, so, because I only have a market car directly to my village from a village on the main road on thursdays, I hung around at the hostel for the past two nights.
Postal service... As I'm guessing you'd guess, its not entirely reliable, however, we've come to realize that if packages are being sent somewhere NOT Niamey, they dont open your stuff- its great! So today, one of the guys in my region mentioned that when he went to the post office today he saw that I had three packages (thanks Mom, Dad, and Grandma/Grandpa Hadden!!!) So I treck down there, head in the back door, to the office and check our mailbox for package slips. (no key required- well, maybe if we actually OPENED to mail box, but they dont care if you just walk behind and check :)) So, no package slips, so I just head over to the stack of packages and sort through them until I find my three, then I ask the really nice ladies who work there if they'd write my slip up, as I sit and chat with them for a while. As you can proably tell, the mail system is a little more lax here than back in the US... So, after taking my slip down to the border customs guards (with Nigeria) to get is stamped, me and my three packages climbed aboard a motorcycle and headed back (dont worry, with a helmet, totally PC legal)
Either way, it was like christmas this afternoon and I think I may have had a few jelious stares from my fellow PCVs... Thanks tons for the packages!!! Now, the tricky part will be getting it all back to my village- it may have to go in incraments...
Anyway, thats about all the excitingness I have to report. In about a week and a half I have a team meeting back here, so hopefully I'll have some exciting stuff to report on by then.
Most of all Im just really excited to start working! I have a lot of project ideas, and I am a little nervous to put some of them into practice, but excited none the less. Maybe by a week or so Ill have a little of that to report on as well! Its starting to finally feel like Im a "real" Peace Corps Volunteer!!!