Happy Halloween and Happy Fall

Hello All,

It's funny to think that it's November and in many parts of the world that means fall leaves and crisp mornings. Not so much here. It was 100 yesterday and supposed to be hotter today. We had a cool spell last week when it dipped down to 97 and we're told cooler weather is on the way. Needless to say, there was no fuzzy tiger costume for Karim this year. No time change, no change in seasons; life just blips along here in a toasty, sunny daze. It's crazy to think that the 4th will mark six months (and Karim's 1/2 birthday!) since we left Portland on this crazy adventure.

Karim had a scary episode of strep throat two weeks ago that put him back in the clinic with an IV full of antibiotics. He was shaky and sleepy and just cuddled and slept for two days while we pumped him full of drugs and prayed it wasn't Malaria. It wasn't, thank goodness and he's back to his happy, energetic self again.

Yesterday was Karim and Cheikh's first day back at school and work after a much needed week of vacation. It gave us all time to rest and reconnect since Cheikh's been working so constantly since we arrived. Karim capitalized on "Papa, play trains with me! Papa, let's build a train track! Papa, let's do puzzles! I don't want to go to Mama-Baby, we want to stay here and play trains, right Papa?" Not sure Cheikh got all the rest he needed, but it was worth it to see their closeness again.

We also joined a gym two weeks ago, where I'm taking classes three times a week and Cheikh is lifting weights. It's actually adjacent to the hotel where we lived for our first month here and we never even noticed it while we were there!

We've abandoned the idea of buying a car and have started renting a taxi at a monthly rate to take us wherever we want to go. So far that's working out very well since neither of us are dying to drive in the anarchy that rules Niamey streets.

Cocochouland- Niamey's front yard

Hi All,

I know I've mentioned Cocochou on numerous occasions, but I just can't say enough good things about it. Every Thursday afternoon, mamas (and some papas) flock to the playground with our little tykes. For the equivalent of about two dollars per kid for entry and juice, I get to feel like an accomplished, educated adult (which I like to be reminded of on occasion:) while Karim plays with trucks, trains, and other kids, or at least he spars with them over toys. Families of all different languages and backgrounds gather at Cocochou. Today, I chatted with a German, a Dane, several French ladies. On other occasions I have met Senegalese, Burkinabe and Nigerien women and their kids. In fact, several of my closest friends were found at Cocochou.

When we first found out we were moving here, we scoured the web for things for kids in Niamey and found nothing to give us hope. Luckily, we have found several kid friendly spots to play and build community.

Ode to making friends and building community wherever you are!

Love to All

Running through a movie set. . .only not really

Hi All,

Running in Niamey is an experience that I feel I need to share. While Deb was here for her wonderful week in September, it occurred to me that what I take for ordinary might make fun reading for our friends and family far away from this oven we call home.

So, first, there is the heat. I suppose that goes without saying and believe it or not, it's the easiest thing to get used to. Running is generally the first obvious exercise for anyone with decent knees and minimal equipment. Let me sing my praises of running in general. If you don't do it, and you could, then you should. It'll change your life.

To begin, I pick out the right running clothes, not just any clothes, but comfortable, "culturally appropriate" clothes that make me glad I don't own a full length mirror. Yes, it is difficult to knowingly don something you know is ugly, but ugly can be your friend sometimes too. Then, I set my ipod to the same running mix and hit "shuffle" with things like Mambo #5, Online, I kissed a Girl, Je t'emmene and many others just to make the experience as surreal as humanly possible.

I could be a walking (or running:) advertisement for the nike+ running chip which measures speed and distance, and records this info on your ipod to upload to the computer for further obsessing.

So, armed and ready, I head out. My current favorite loop is four miles. I think of it as four separate segments. First, I start along the main road where I am accosted by smells of sewage, frying mini millet pancakes, fresh meat and car exhaust. I usually get a few kids to race along next to me during this stretch.

About a mile later I pass the "Camping Touristique" a vacant lot that has been walled for tourist camping- yup, western nuts camp there right inside city limits. Not sure I'd do it now, but I might've if I'd been here ten years ago. There I leave the paved road and make a left onto a sandy track that is as wide as a four lane highway- which 4X4's drive like it is. This is the toughest part, since it's dry sand and not packed very well. I'm always relieved to finish the second mile and enter phase three at the American Embassy. Don't even look at the embassy as you go by, the guards will hiss at you if you stop. Americans are by far the most neurotic people in the world. I mean, I guess my ipod could be a bomb, but really?

After the embassy is a beautifully shaded, tree lined road with sporadic views of the river. Of course you do run through a herd of cows and a garbage dump, but it's all part of the experience. As I run through embassy row, and yes they are all on the same street, I always get lots of encouragement, which is great, because in the third mile is when I need it most. "Du Courage!" yell the embassy guards and the armed police. Whew! I'm a marathoner! Then I clear all the officials in uniforms and I'm in the home stretch. I usually end it right at the terrifying intersection near my house. Don't want any distractions trying to cross against the broken lights.

And I love it. It's funny, I often think of my friend in Peace Corps who said "I was riding my bike into the market today and thought, 'who wouldn't want to be here? This is paradise.' Then I remembered I'd had to stop early in the ride to have diarrhea behind a tree and wipe with a leaf." I guess maybe it's not for everybody and it's not always pretty, but there is certainly joy in it.

Love to All.

September Recap

Hi All,

September has been crazy and wonderful. Of course we started September one week into Ramadan and the ball just got rolling. Ramadan is usually a sleepy month, but for us, it was not only a time of focus and goal setting, but also a time of rejoicing. Karim started school full time at Alliance on September 3rd. He has 17 kids in his class and two wonderful teahers who have declared that Karim is the best singer in the class, both in French and in English. His French is still patchy, but it's coming along slowly. And wonder of wonders, our stuff arrived on September 4th- a full 4 1/2 months after it left our door in Portland. Whew! Mostly the relief was for Karim and for Aicha, our cook, since most everything we packed went to our boy or to the kitchen. I did get some much needed new novels and bed linens. That mattress was worth sending! Karim likes his new Ikea bed and has by far the cutest room in the house. Thanks to Deb and Petie for the art and stickers on the walls.

We are still furnishing- it's amazing how little a 2 thousand dollar move in allowance actually gets you. But, the upside is that we can keep anything we pay for out of pocket. The dollar has reached a record low on the currency exchange- yippee. It's worth half what it was in 2001. Yikes.

Cheikh and I have both flung ourselves into running again with the return of daylight nutrients. Karim is getting a standing ovation every time he takes out his Skuut bike with no training wheels or pedals! Nobody's ever seen a wooden bike before. I think the wood workers wished we'd stop so they could inspect it close up and start making a few of their own.

Finally got a camera (Thanks Deb!!) and took some photos. I added a bunch to facebook, but I'll try to add some here too.

Deb is on her way here now and should be arriving Friday afternoon. Karim is so excited, he tried to go to the airport today to get her. After some detailed explanations of my part that even though she left Eugene today, she won't be arriving here for two more days, he decided he could wait two days, but no more. He's excited to show off his school, but especially the playground at the Grand Hotel. We may have to do that one on arrival.

Love to All. Life is good. Our thoughts are with you as always.

Magic Mornings

Hello All,

This morning, my thoughtful alarm went off at 4:40 instead of 4:30. It's always the lack of sleep that gets you during Ramadan. But, it is such a joy to wake up in the dark, knowing that all our neighbors are awake with us. I wake up first for those quiet moments to myself, when I drink water and nibble banana bread while I warm up some "breakfast"- usually dinner food. My favorite is re-heated rice and fish sauce! mmmm. What does that say about me? Then, I wake up Cheikh (and today, Karim James popped his little eyes open too, groan.) and we eat a bit and drink as much as we can. No water either, remember:) while the sun is up.

Through the open window, we hear mosques all around us calling everyone to wake up to pray. That sound was among those that I missed most when I left West Africa. There's just something ethereal about it. The rooster next door called us too. We pray in our living room, but the prayer itself is called out and we hear it through the window as well. Then, the tough part is going back to sleep for two hours before getting up to start the day. That is the deepest sleep of all during Ramadan. Then, from about noon till four pm is a fog. Imagine jetlag because that's what it feels like. Everything is slower, quieter and warmer than usual. What surprised me the first time I fasted is that it doesn't make you "hungry," just groggy. Hunger changes a personality and makes ambition or urgency less possible. Fasting is something I believe everyone should try at least once. It really gives you a sense of what hunger is like and the damage it can do to a child, a community, or even a country.

I went to the Grande Marche this morning to buy sheets and curtains. I wandered for a while, but nobody said much to me. When I found what I wanted, I hardly had to bargain for it, since the prices were reasonable. Neither the boutiquier or I felt like playing that game today. It was a 2 hr process to have everything cut and sewn, but a pleasant one. While I was there, I was thinking about how I would describe the market. It's not insane like Sandaga in Dakar or spread out like the market in Bamako. It's a labyrinth that's contained, with labeled entrances, an acutual structure and interwoven paths which will take me a while to learn to navigate. All of the markets in Niamey are much cleaner than to be expected thanks to Mercy Corps' "Cash for Work" program which employs people to clean up the markets for the improvement of community health. Even the government has started employing more city clean up crews so as not to be shown up by Mercy Corps:)

Karim was excited to find construction truck curtains on his windows when he got home from school! And Cheikh was relieved to find beautiful curtains in our room, rather than the nigerian pagne fabric I'd teased about.

Love to all. Our thoughts are with you.

Live from Niamey

Hi All,

This morning the thunder woke me up at 2:30. Wow. I can see how religion is born. To me, lying in bed, the crashing did indeed sound like Zeus hurling thunderbolts. Nothing in Oregon can compare to the fury of this downpour. Lying there in the king sized bed with my snuggly boy, under a mosquito ne,t in my water tight (mostly) home, I thought about two things. The first and most disturbing thing was the dwellings of all the "settlers" in Niamey. Unlike Kouna, these houses are not made of mud or banco, they are nomadic looking tents of bamboo mats lashed together over poles. They are quite pretty and round and they romanticize the nomadic life of Touaregs with their echos of caravans through the desert. But can they survive a real honest thunderstorm that rages on and on for hours? And even if they hold, what happens to everything on the floor? Are the beds raised up and does the whole bottom of the house turn into a muddy swamp? Because I haven't actually been invited into one of these dwellings, I can only speculate.

The second thing that filled my mind was heaven sent thanks for the rain. The farmers need the rain in the most real way. We all need it, because if the farmers fail, so does the country. That is the difference between the Sahel and the rest of the world. Like Mali, Niger has no safety net. I realized that in Kouna. When people are farming this difficult land, every good growing season produces enough, but no more than will be immediately consumed. We are always one to two yearsaway from potential famine if the rains don't come. And so, knowing the hardship they cause, everyone gives heartfelt thanks for a good rain.

I just found our friends' blog yesterday, it's livefromniamey.blogspot.com. This is BJ's dad who's writing it. I enjoyed reading his perspectives on Niamey and his comments about everything from the colors of the city to the food we eat. You may get some additional insight into our every day life by reading about theirs.

Yesterday, I realized exactly how small our international community is when I ventured out to meet our Irish neighbors. When the mom met me at the door, I realized that we have already met and she's not Irish. Small world. Karim didn't play much with her son, who was feeling a little shy, but he attracted the adoration of the 9month old baby. They were playing on the floor and I was talking to the mama when suddenly Karim yells "Mama, the baby bit my toe!" and indeed she had. Not hard, just enough to attract his attention away from the playmobile boat that had captured his imagination. K was a little disturbed, but forgave her quickly.

Today, We've spent most of the day inside, since when we did venture out, we both got about six mosquito bites each in the space of ten minutes, after I'd lathered us with bug repellent! Blood thirsty little beasts! Anyway, we'll try again later since the sky has cleared and the sun is out again. Even in this land of light, I can't seem to get enough of the sun.

Love to All.

Follow the kids . . .

Hello All,

As always, I am actively stalking potential friends. This time, I watched Karim at school to see who he plays with most. Immediately he started playing with and talking about two brothers, Ron and Ijan. After some sleuthing, I discovered that their family is Congolese and just moved here 4 months ago. Positive they needed friends too, I gave their nannie my number and sure enough, a few hours later, I had a date. Yay! We met up for drinks and kid fun at the Grand Hotel last night. It was a refreshing bit of mom-to-mom time. We've also met a 4yr old Irish boy who lives 4 doors down from us- he also has a skuut bike with no pedals! I can't wait for Karim's to get here so they can terrorize the neighborhood together. We're planning to pop over later this afternoon to try to meet the parents.

Good news! Our stuff has made it off the boat in Benin. It should be here within the next month- assuming it clears customs and the truck doesn't break down or get hijacked on the way here- oh and assuming that everyone it competent- always a risk.

Cheikh left for Agadez yesterday morning in the middle of a particularly violent thunder storm, so I was relieved when he called to tell us he'd arrived safely. We're expecting him back for lunch on Wednesday. We have a new, amazing cook who made Cheikh feel like he'd finally come home when she made one of his favorite Senegalese dishes on Friday(with actual palm oil!)

I'm doing well. Lots of running and yoga. Quite a bit of journaling and prep work for my novel, but not too much actual drafting yet. We're all gearing up for Ramadan to start around the 20th of this month. This week we bought tons of food since all the prices are expected to double this month in observation of the holy month. Does that seem charitable and communal to you? Anyway, such is life.

Cheikh is still working a ton, but we're all adjusting to it. It's nice that we're able to have lunch together every day as a family(when he's in Niamey of course:0). We've found a car we like, now we just have to figure out how to pay for it! yikes. Like I said, things are not cheap here- especially imported things like cars. Cheikh will most likely have to report the update of the final bargaining once we get to that point, since my very presence in the car lot would up the price by 20%.

I'm glad you enjoyed the giraffe photos. Unfortunately, our friend with the camera won't be back until Sept 29! Thinking of all of you- Especially of Heron on his rafting trip and Rachel as the wedding approaches. Congratulations and lots and lots of love from here.

Family Portrait

How tall are we???

Fiber optic cable or Loch Ness Monster?

Hi All,
Sorry for the long silence. No internet connection for a while. I heard that it was because a fiber optic cable broke off the coast of Benin, but that seems far fetched, since the election results came out yesterday and now it's working . . . slowly. Coincedence? It is with great sadness that I tell you that Rosella and Deb were not able to fly out yesterday to visit us due to State Department warnings of an imminent coup in Niger and strong advisory not to travel on non-urgent business. yikes. Well, no sign of that yet, but as the situation could flare up, it's probably better to wait anyway. Many neighboring countries are denouncing Niger's president and cutting relations- pretty dire for a landlocked country. So, in the calm, we are awaiting whatever happens next. We still have hopes that our shipment will arrive in due time with Karim's toys, our kitchen gadgets and our beloved wall hangings that make a house a home. And, the ultimate sign of settling in, we have started looking for a car to buy. I'm still dreaming of a Rav4, but we'll see what we find. (Leftist guilt be damned!) Funny, it's like when W won and everybody was so upset, but life just went on as usual. Our new cook/ chef de menage started this week, so this morning we traveled to the market together. To buy a mortier(susu) we pretended not to know eachother so she could get a decent price for the thing. Boy was that man mad when I paid him. He insulted us for tricking him as if he had every right to charge me double simply for being white. argh!

It is a known fact that women dress to impress other women, so with that in mind, I am preparing for a playdate with a beautiful Senegalese woman and her lively 3yr old daughter. We are meeting at a playground that Karim and I visited yesterday for the first time. New places are always good and this one is a gem. Nestled by the river is a restaurant called La Flottille, where they have a public play area with swings, a merry-go-round where the kids ride in little airplanes and cars, a play structure and rocking animals. The whole thing is not big, but big enough. We are doing well now that we've recovered from Tuesday night in the hospital with food poisoning. Note: beware of pizza at the Grand Hotel. Karim was a real trooper, and Cheikh was an angel through the whole thing. He brought us the most wonderful soup and "slept" the whole night with Karim in his tiny bed.

Anyway, love to all- time to rouse the little guy for our date!

Froggie Serenades and Power Coupures

Hi All,

We are knee-deep in rainy season, but without much rain. Two nights ago, we were kept up by the incessant croaking- singing? of frogs in our pool. I thought my buddy was joking when she said they sounded like a car alarm. But no, really, they are loud! So, yesterday morning, our guard netted 4 frogs out of the pool and several long beaded looking strands, which he explained were eggs. eeewww! So, needless to say, I called our pool guy yesterday to come chlorinate the pool, which I suspect he has neglected doing for the past few weeks. Today, we were able to swim again, which was just what K and I needed. And for the first afternoon this week, we also have electricity. For the past few days, the power has been shutting off at lunch time to return at about 5 or 6pm, which seems kinda hinky to me, to lose power everyday when the heat is at its peak. This is why the pool is crucial.
Karim and I have spent a lot of time this week "gardening", which really means ripping out everything I don't want growing in our yard from volunteer mango trees to grass and K pushing it outside in a full sized, John Deere green, wheelbarrow. We earn lunch though and our yard is starting to come into focus a bit.
Last night, K and the guard, Remy, and I had a spirited game of street soccer. K is just like his dad, grabbing my shirt so he can get to the ball first! He's toughening up quick though and his footwork is nothing to sneeze at either. He holds his own pretty well with the 5yr old, Hamir, who he plays with across the street.
It's funny how Love in the Time of Cholera (yes, it is an amazing book) has made me think so much about aging and about mortality. The other day, I met a Nigerien woman who seemed ageless to me, but if I had to guess, I would have said mid forties just by her mannerisms and the things she talked about. In the course of our conversation, I learned that she is actually in her mid twenties. Younger than me and already bored and resigned to life! Wow. That moment shifted my thinking again. Aging is inevitable, but it can be done enthusiastically and it is the energy of our goals and our dreams that keep us vibrant at any age.
I have so many things I want to do, so many projects to plan for and so many things yet to achieve, sometimes the toughest thing is patience. Everything takes so much time, especially here. (Loading a video, for example. Still waiting . . .)

Love to all!

This week's highlights

Hello All and happy quatorze juillet!



First, I appologize for burying myself in Love in the Time of Cholera and for avoiding almost all internet usage for the past couple of weeks. I might say I didn't feel well, or that I put all my energy into settling into our new house, or into settling Karim into school, or the plain truth is just that I couldn't scrape together the wit and inspiration necessary to intrigue you all with tales of insane taxi drivers, flooding green sewers or the most incredible mangoes on earth, but I feel up to the task now, so here I am.



So, road insanity first. On our way to Cocochouland last week, Karim and I witnessed the motorcycle crash we've seen narrowly averted a thousand times since we arrived. As K and I crossed the street, we let a moto pass in front of us (we don't even joke about right of way here!) only to watch that same moto collide with a moto coming from the left. This was an intersection with a light, mind you. And yet, I still don't know who had the green or if it was even working. Believe it or not, it is actually safer to jaywalk here- then at least you only have to look two ways! So, K and I watched, a little shaken up, but morbidly intrigued, as both riders staggered to the side of the road, bikes abandoned in the middle of the intersection. No helmets, flip flops on their feet- but they walked and that was a relief. Cheikh has diverted his rants from SUV's in Ptld to all drivers in Niamey. They are our single greatest fear. We just watch and wonder as they cut each other off, accelerate when a pedestrian steps into the road and drive way too fast generally.



In spite of all this, or because of it, I am pursuing a Nigerien Drivers License. It's all I can not to ask how I can possibly take a driving test here where nobody obeys traffic laws and signals may or may not work. I am going to go to a local driving school so they can prep me for it, since they do apparently have laws and those laws are somewhat different than they are in the states. I guess the process is not too cumbersome as long as I manage to pass the tests- both written and driving in French and on crazy roads. I'll channel you, Rosella!



On Saturday, K and I attended our first birthday party last weekend for a little German baby turning one. It was a lot of fun- lots of parents and kids and German party games. Karim enjoyed playing with all the other kids with punch balloons and a Nemo ball. But, the highlight for him was either chasing the other kids barefoot around the yard or cramming a whole brownie in his mouth before I could stop him. No harm done though, since the party wore him out enough for him to sleep at night.



Cheikh came home from Agadez with some great stories and some sad ones about a strangled tourism trade in a place famous for desert excursions. He rode in an armed caravan, with three armored trucks strategically spaced among the 40 or so vehicles making the trip. He said that the average pace was about 120km/hr and if a car couldn't keep up, then too bad. It's the only safe way to travel on the road from Taoua to Agadez, so they took the plane back to Niamey on their return trip. Cheikh was disturbed to learn that REI sells travel sheets, but that I'd been too cheap to buy them, since in his first hotel he'd been forced to cover the bed with his excercise clothes in order to stomach lying on whatever the stains were on the mattress. He confided later that he suspected the hotel rents by the hour.



Last week I got over my timidity out of sheer desperation to find a kid for K to play with in our neighborhood since now he's only going to school three days a week. So, I took him across the street and knocked on our neighbors' door. Their grandson, Hamir, is 5 years old and although I'm told he speaks French in addition to his native Djerma, all I've gotten from him is a whispered "ca va." So, armed with car noises, he and Karim spend lots of time either in our courtyard on in from of our house playing with Karim's cars or Hamir's soccer ball.

a few hours later. . . I just got home from a much needed Appreciation Walk. I used to take them at sunset in Kouna- just walk and think about all the things that I enjoy. I started with simple things, the way the sun looks on the clouds, the feel on warm wind on my skin, sandals all year, then as I walked, more and more things came to me and I found myself walking through a village. Not too far from our house, the cement walled compounds give way to mud brick houses along muddy roads. These roads spilled over with life. Kids rolling tires, a barefoot toddler dancing by a milk crate. The soccer field brimmed with bodies of every age from men on teams to kids kicking half flattened soccer balls. Everyone smiled and greeted me when I passed, though I heard them saying "Anasara" every other word. Of course, Gao familiarized me with the Songhay/Djerma word for whitey. It was all I understood:) Although there is nothing glorious about dirty streets and bloated baby bellies, the smiles that lit up the faces before me touched my heart and made me smile too.

Well, it's Wednesday morning now, almost 24hrs after I tried to load the video of our house, so I am officially abandoning it, since it failed to load. I will try another video tonight.

Love to all.

Political unrest, hippos, curtain, et al

Hello All,

First, my apologies for being so eradic. Some of you have expressed concern over the political unrest in Niger. I was trying not to let the cat out of the bag so as not to alarm you, but my well versed friends are tuning in anyway:) Yes, the president of Niger has declared emergency rule -basically a coup by the etat because he doesn't want to leave just as uranium and oil are getting hot in Niger. It's greed, plain and simple. He was denied by the congress and all his political allies are leaving him high and dry- hence the emergency. There are speculations that the military may just get rid of him, like they've done with every president before him who tried to pull a stunt like this. It's pretty odd really, the president is not concerned that all but two or three of Niger's presidents were killed in power because they wouldn't leave.

But, the funny thing is that life goes on as normal and nobody seems particularly concerned. I guess it's like when news of the student riots were all over the news when I was in Dakar, but the most I saw of it was a burning tire. Cheikh is the security officer for MC Niger and has just been given a sattelite phone, so if anything needs doing, we'll be the first to know.

So, while the cauldron bubbles, Cheikh is in Agadez, falling in love with the desert. He is visiting field offices to train new teams, while K and I prepare to move into our house on Wednesday, when Cheikh will join us. I have been quite literally picking out curtains (and bargaining for everything from buckets to sheets, and an iron.) We should have all the essentials before we move in. Today, the workmen came to measure the pool to build the fence and to "treat" the house for bugs.

Yesterday was magic. K and I ventured out with our friends, Jackie and her son, BJ to see hippos in the river. Wow. Just 20 minutes out of the city, we climbed into a pirogue and set off on the river. It was wide and beautiful, but low, so there were still a lot of rocks to navigate. We stopped on a little beach island in the middle of the river, where we walked to where we could see the hippos. Wow, wow and wow. First we just saw ears, flicking abover the water, then whole heads and half a body. There were six of them there, all bobbing up and down, grouped all together. K and BJ didn't give a hoot about the hippos, but they were enthralled with running in the water and digging in the sand with sticks. Luckily we had two wonderful piroguiers to assist. I think it was just what we needed, this beautiful breath of Africa.

Apparently, you can do all sorts of touristy things out there, like camp, grill, and picnic. Oh, and ride camels to the local market. All for a price, of course.

Last weekend, we saw giraffes in the wild. This is the most, besides goats, I've ever seen in Africa! That was really cool too. K and I both wanted to chase them, but were told not to. They were so big and bright and beautiful. When the car pulled up they all froze like they thought they might pass as trees, and we wouldn't even notice them. But, once we got out, they started walking. It didn't seem like they walked very quickly, but their long strides covered a lot of ground and we couldn't keep up without the car.

Karim will be starting his new school later this week, so I'm holding my breath and second guessing all my school choices. hmph! But, we'll give it the old college try and see how it goes at Ecole Alliance. Carine, our landlady is coming home today, so we'll be staying all together for two nights. Only in Africa, right? Anyway, she's bringing her 2yr old daughter, so that should be fun for K. Carine's daughter also goes to Alliance, so I will pick her brain about that as well.

We are all happy and healthy and hope you are the same. Of course we miss Papa/Cheikh and are looking forward to our reunion on Wednesday. With him, hopefully, will come the camera and videos of Agadez.
Love to All! Send me your news!

Cheery Blue for Karim's room

Hi All,

Hmmm, well I haven't written because I am mortified that I haven't yet posted any giraffe video. No excuse for that. Soon, I promise. This week, I've balanced my time between surveying the work on our house and reading The Russian Concubine- LOVE IT!!! So, literary crack aside, the house is coming along nicely. Karim's room is a bright, happy blue- his choice. Today we're starting construction on the pool enclosure so it will be all safe and secure before we move in next week.

Cheikh is heading out on his first work trip to the field on Saturday. He's flying to Agadez (up north, home of camels and Touaregs) to train the new team there for a few days. In the meantime, K and I are venturing out with Jackie and BJ to see hippos from a boat on the river- yay! We should all be packed up and happily reunited for our big move to our new house on Wednesday.

I am weighing the pros and cons of composting and trying to decide if I want to raise chickens for fresh eggs-yum. We have giant mango trees in the yard, but I haven't seen any mangoes on them- maybe they're all done for now. Oh well, maybe next time.

Sorry this is so dull, my brain is kinda mushy today. More next time. Love to all!

False Alarm- no strike

Hi All,

I guess by saying there would be a strike today, and getting prepared for it, we somehow avoided it. It's like carrying an umbrella on a cloudy day to ensure sun. Today, K and I took a taxi to school- then I walked for about two hours, just exploring. I discovered the private language institute and the post office. Hmmm, which language to study? That is the question.

This afternoon, after nap, K and I headed to Cocochouland for Thursday mama-baby group. yay. Sad that this is the highlight of my week. But, hey the truth hurts. It was a lot of fun. Today, I met a mom from Burkina Faso, and one from Central African Republic- as well as getting to chat with my Senegalese friend and the usual French ladies. It was quite a crowd with all the moms (and one brave dad) and nannies and kids. whew! K is getting more comfortable with the kids, since they are all in his class at Petits Pas, but he still keeps to the fringe a lot too.

It's interesting to ponder all of the different lives I have lived in Africa- first as a student, then as a PCV, now as an Expat. Each is its own world and each carries its own set of glasses from which to view very similar places and realities. As a student, I wanted to really connect with people, make friends, and "learn" from the experience. I was interested in it as a trial or a rite of passage. I was offended if people mistook me for a Peace Corps volunteer (translate American Slob.) Dakar was more than I could have ever dreamed and it formed me into an adult in a way that no other isolated experience could have done. Hence, in each trip back to Africa, it is Dakar that I carry with me.

As a PCV, I was proud to be rugged, to be en brousse, to be soooo hard core! I studied the Fulfulde language until I could talk about hemphilia and politics. I pulled water from the well and walked 20 K toward the regional capital to prove that I could. I almost went crazy with the isolation and fell completely in love with the desert.

Now, as an expat mom, there are bits of both these previous experiences in my daily life, combined with something entirely new- nothing to prove. I am delighted to talk with people, to make serendipitous connections and to delight in shared laughter. I am at ease in an odd way. Things happen and I'm curious to see what may come out of my interactions, but I'm not forcing anything. An example of chilling and letting it be is our house. We looked and looked and pushed and pushed- then one day, Cheikh had a work meeting on the way home, so we stopped off for a quick meeting at the gentleman's house. Thanks to our driver's questions, that house is now going to be our house.

I still struggle with the loneliness and need for "purpose" that I felt in Peace Corps, but it is strangely wed to the joy and liberty of living in a city like I did in Dakar. For me, the greatest challenge is that we are doing this ourselves. We have no built-in network of people sharing this experience. Nobody is holding our hands. This is both empowering and frustrating.

hmmm, late night reflections. Sweet dreams.

The Elephant in the Room

Hello All,

If any of you are following Nigerien politics, which who knows, you may be since you care about us, and we're here:) then I feel obliged to address it here. Presently, the president is vying for an unconstitutional 3rd term in office. Maybe power is so tasty it's hard to let go, but his ideas are getting a chilly reception from the public. If you look at the history of military coups in this country, you'd probably rethink jerking around this particular population. Somehow however, this little bit of history eludes the current president. On Friday, the court ruled (again- this is the 2nd time) against the president changing the constitution in order to run for a third term and to do so would constitute a "political coup." On Sunday there was a demonstration in Niamey, but we the people simply stayed home and ignored it. There was a march yesterday in support of the opposition to the president's referendum, which we could hear, but did not attend. As folks here say, "ca chauffe!" yes, it is heating up and making us a little bit, but not terribly nervous. Cheikh is the Security Agent for MC, among everything else, so the good part is that he's kept very well informed and if things get hairy (more than college kids chanting slogans and breaking stuff,) we'll be the first to know (via C's sattelite phone:)

Here's a link to Niger 1's website for more in depth political info: http://niger1.com/?p=866

On a more personal note, K is enjoying school now. He didn't even wait for his bisou this morning before running off to find his buddies, sniff. I've started to write and make friends, but that part is complicated since all the Euro ladies I've met are headed back there for the summer. lame. Next summer, we too plan to head back to the states for vacation, but for now, we're looking as hard as we can for local friends. Just a typical week in paradise so far. Went to the market again today, since I was told there may be a strike tomorrow. Mangoes are still in season and heavenly as ever. We're all happy and healthy. Alhamdoulilah!

love to you and yours!

A Friday Market Adventure

Hello All,

Last week, we admitted defeat to time, dust, and African life, and . . . hired a cook and a house keeper. Yup, you heard right. So, Friday morning, the cook, Bachir (MC driver) and I hit the local market to buy what we hoped would be a week's worth of food for the equivalent of $100. And let me tell you, it was tough! First, I had to draw a hard line with the cook about where to buy food and what to buy. Since everyone knows money grows in American closets, he couldn't grasp why I would prefer to go to the local market when I could easily buy everything I needed at Score in comfort for 3X the price. But, once that was cleared up - ie, "I want a lot of food for a lot of people and I don't need it to be fancy." We hit the market. Describing a west African market is tough for those who have never visited a developed country, but for those who have, it's much like any other market in the developing world. People lay out blankets covered with mangos, melons, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, manioc etc. What makes this market unique is that it's all enclosed- or mostly, with a big sign that reads "Petit Marche" (excuse the lack of accent)- which is funny, since it seems pretty big to me. The stalls are divided into sections for meat and fish with veggies and fruit around the outside. There are walkways through the labyrinth that are covered with raggedy tarps and blankets. We spent a while picking out the right fish, which they then cleaned and filleted right there for us!

We were buying juice, chicken and canned goods in a little interior shop when the rain started. And it came down hard. First, the sky turned orange with the dust that the wind stirred up. Quickly following that, the water poured down hard and fast. We waited in the shop for more than half an hour while it showered. Suddenly the tarps made a lot more sense. When the rain let up enough, we made a dash for it. We waded ankle deep in nasty street water to get back to the car. I scrubbed my feet when we got home. All I could think about were Bachir's Friday boubou and nice shoes! terrible. Whew, what an adventure! but we have food for the week now!

Yesterday, Cheikh worked most of the day, so Karim and I met up with our new friends Jackie and BJ(almost 2yrs) at Cocochouland. Can I say enough good things about this playground? It's where I've met most of the people I know, where I got involved with the mom's group and where K and I go at least 4X a week if not more. After 2 hrs of playing, we picked up brioches at the bakery and gourmet that I am, I whipped up pb (Skippy) & J (Bonne Maman Strawberry) on brioches for the boys while Jackie and I sat down to baked pasta, with salad and flan. I could get used to a cook:)

Today, we had a nice family Sunday. We spent the morning having brunch and doing puzzles on the terrace. No cook today, so I got to whip up omelets with eggs laid this morning by our landlady's hens, mango and Earl Grey tea we got in London. This evening we went out for fantastic Lebanese food on our way home from Cocochou:) It was such a treat to see Dad, Rosella and Deb on Skype, even if they were blurry.

Love to all! Now that I have internet at home, I will try to post more videos.

Niamey Notes

Hello All,

First, forgive any typos that appear as this is a French keyboard. It's so funny to me that technology constantly butts up against camels and sand. For example, I'm sitting in an airconditioned cybercafé with excellent speed and contectivity while two little goats ram their heads into the glass door three feet from me. Nevermind, the owner just opened the door and kicked them.

It never ceases to amaze me that realities are so different from person to person, from house to house. Unlike Dakar or Portland, there don't appear to be wealthy neighborhoods in Niamey. I know I've mentioned it before, but the house we're staying in is pretty nice by local standards, but once you walk out the front door, you step into the "vide" which is essentially a huge vacant lot (about the size of a city block) where people dump garbage, play futball and hang their laundry. Karim yells whenever he sees a naked toddler, which is often. Sometimes it's a blessing that he makes his observations in English.

On Tuesday, I went to a maman bébé play group at someone's house. And believe you me, I've never stepped into a house like that. They had a lawn with palm trees, a pool, and a tortise. The house felt like a hacienda- or so I imagine one, with polished tile floors, long halls and big open spaces. Expat life is definitely not peace corps life, or student life either, for that matter.

The most disconcerting factor about expats is that they're always coming and going. One maman and I really hit it off. She's a freelance journalist who hasn't lived in the states since college, and her husband works for an NGO, but oh bummer, they're moving to Madagascar on Sunday. And the family that lives in the house just moved here last year from Lebanon. It's a flowing, changing, international community of people. Another woman that I've been spending time with is from Cambodia, but she moved here last year from Myanmar. Her family will likely be moving on to France at the end of July. It's funny to think about it because the world is such a big place, but the circle is small.

Yesterday, I had the most serendipitus experience. After confiding in Cheikh the night before that I was lonely and could really use a friend, I met a mom at Karim's school who called out to me because she heard me speaking "American sounding English" to K as we were leaving. She gave us a ride home and I invited her and her 2yr old son for dinner. They came. We talked while K played with her son. It's funny how forward you can be here. I giggle when I think about doing that in the states.
"Hi, I don't know you. I don't have any friends, wanna come over for dinner?" "Sure!" We have a date to go see giraffes with them this weekend. They're from DC and they just moved here. The dad isn't here yet, but will be soon. The good news is that they'll be here for at least two years-yay!

Yesterday evening, Cheikh saw our house for the first time. I was a bit nervous since I pushed for the contract and everything's done and he hadn't even seen it yet. How's that for trust? But, it was a take it now or lose it kind of deal and we weren't going to let this house slip through our fingers. It turned out well though because Cheikh is impressed with the house and we're all excited to move in July1. So, now I'm focussing on the task of picking out furniture. Do we want the furniture that's in the house? If so, how much of it? Do I want to have our own made? MC is furnishing the house for us, which is nice, so I just get to point- like Pretty Woman:) oh, and bargain of course.

So, off to the market . . . love to all. You are in our thoughts.

Chez Carine il y a une piscine. . .

Hello All,

Sorry for the long silence. No internet, no computer, the usual excuses. This has been a very exciting week for us. We have a house!!! Yay! We'd just about given up last week when we got a mysterious call from a woman named Carine. Neither Cheikh or I had a clue who this person was, or why she called MC, but did we really care? Nope. She said she had a house to show us, so off K and I went to see it. It turned out that Carine worked at MC before and heard through the grapevine that we needed a house. Gotta love that. We hired people to find us a house and they didn't find us jack. The only good houses we saw were through people we just happened to meet at K's school, at the restaurant, in taxis. . . that's the way it is here though.

Wow!! That's all I can say. It's beautiful- with a white tile foyer, a little pool and big, perfect trees to hang a swing. The only catch is that, uh, somebody lives there. But, he's leaving June 30, which could have been terrible, but in the way things come together in Africa sometimes, it turns out that Carine left on Saturday for a month in Benin. So, we're renting her house till June 30. All contracts have been signed and paid for, so I can confidently say that we do indeed have a home.

It was with great joy that we packed our bags and piled into MC's landcruiser on Saturday afternoon. Bye Bye hotel! Cheikh made mafé on Sunday and I'm making Rabo Encendido today (thank you Gaea for giving me those recipe cards- all our cookbooks are on the boat!)

Carine has a 2yr old, so there are toys in the house and a little bed for K. He calls his mosquito net, his "tent" and has been sleeping under it since we got to the house. He's liking school a bit better now, but it's still a daily struggle to get him out the door, but he didn't want to leave when went to pick him up yesterday. Whatever the pros and cons of Petits Pas, I think it's good for him to be around other kids every day.

We can't access our internet at the house, so my online activities will likely be patchy until we move into our house. wow, our house. That looks good in writing. well, internet time's almost up. Love to all and thank you for your news! miss you.

A Glimpse beyond Niamey

Hello All,

Today was a rare and beautiful breath of fresh air. After a fruitless day of house hunting yesterday, we'd made plans to see more houses today, but the plan fell through when we discovered that they were going to be the same houses we looked at and rejected yesterday. Don't ask. So, after swimming, a nap and a brief skype video call with Dad, we set out. ( By the way, just to interject on behalf of skype- for those who don't have it, get it, then we can see eachother and talk for free!)

So, at 5pm we found ourself with a driver and a car, but nowhere to go. Then, Cheikh suggested we just take a drive and see the other side of the river. Just crossing the bridge felt like an adventure after 3 weeks travelling circles on the same roads. The other side of the river (Harobanda- meaning the "other side of the river") is another world. Suddenly we'd crossed into a village, with mud brick houses, Peuhl kids herding cattle and toddlers running naked. The pace of life seemed to slow and the city noise faded away. It felt right to take it in riding in a car with broken AC and the windows down. I know village life is hard but I felt no pity in my heart, only respect. I wanted to get out and walk along those dusty roads under the palm trees. Something about the place echoed of Kouna, where I spent more than two years in Mali, and of every northern village in the Sahel. 

We visited an MC project where herders pool resources to keep cattle under one roof, so they can minimize the distances they travel for grazing and increase the quantity and quality of milk the cows produce. K enjoyed the cows, especially the calves.

Then we piled back into the car for the highlight of the trip that we didn't even realize was yet to come. We got on the main road headed south from Niamey. We drove nine kilometers on the toll road. (the toll was about fifty cents- and we even got a receipt!) then we headed to "the place where you can walk by the river." I don't remember the name of the beach, but that's exactly what it was. We drove by mango orchards and dry river beds (which we were told will quickly fill when the rain starts) and sand dunes. There were bluffs and palm trees and well constructed bridges. Cheikh aptly put it when he said "I think I'm falling in love." We both are. This is a truly beautiful place and it steals your heart without you even noticing.  

We paid about two dollars to access the beach, where we parked in deep sand and walked/ran to the water. I haven't seen Karim that excited since we got here, possibly since we left Portland. He ran and ran. He kept counting "1,2,3 . .go!" and off he'd dash. He laughed and sweated all the way to the water. Plenty of people were swimming in the river. Some waded, some swam with strong strokes. I even saw a fellow execute a beautiful back flip. I guess the love of water is universal. We didn't touch the water though, much as I would have loved to go in. Visions of Schistosomyesis (sp?) danced in my head, so we kept to the shore. It was enough though, to walk by the river, with a herd of cattle on the opposite bank and the sun setting into the desert in a white disk. 

That magic hour before the sunset is so powerful here. It's an hour of prayer calls and changing light. The wind picks up and the heavyness lifts, promissing a warm, sultry night. It is the time for appreciation walks and whispers of thanks. That is the hour I missed the most over the past decade in Oregon. Maybe it's part of what pulled me back to Africa.

I love and miss you all. Your words and letters are sacred gifts. Thank you for your love and for your support of this new adventure.

Rest and Relaxation by the pool-ahhhh

Hello All,

After a rough day yesterday and an even rougher night, I decided that Karim and I would just take today off. It was wonderful. Just what we both needed, I think. K slept till 9am and he looked like a teenager sprawled out with his feet hanging off the bed. When he finally opened his sleepy little eyes, I dragged him down to breakfast in the garden, where we drank hot coco, ate french bread and jam. We also had coconut yogurt (a new and different taste) and best of all, fresh papaya and mango. After breakfast we hailed a cab for the French Cultural Center- which, I hate to say it, is FAR superior to the American one. There we lounged on pillows and read book after book before Karim picked out two to check out. From there, we went with Hassan, a great driver who works for MC to look at a house, but it was a no-go, so we picked up some chawarmas (a lebanese sandwich with lamb, mint, tahini, tomatoes & pickles all rolled into a pita bread) and took them back to the hotel to eat poolside. Chawarmas have a pretty strong flavor, but Karim loves them and so do I. We ate by the pool then swam for an hour before returning to our room for "nap" which turned into playing with cars and watching a movie for him while I read for a bit.

When it cooled off enough (around 4:30) we paused to eat a perfect mango before we left for the American School and their video/book lending club. There we played on the playground, checked out a new movie for Karim and ran through the sprinkler on the softball field. Of course we were careful not to step on the enormous tortoise that was also enjoying the sprinkler. By the time Cheikh and Hassan showed up to get us, K was soaked, but we were both having a great time.

Dinner at Zanzibar with Brochettes de Capitaine (a brief salute to Dakar) for me and Mouton with Couscous for Cheikh and K. Then showers, prayers, and bed- or computer. Depending on who's talking. 

Tomorrow, we have appointments to look at more houses and we will likely choose something tomorrow, either from what we've already seen or what we'll see tomorrow morning. It's time to put down some roots.

Thank you for your words of encouragement during this tough time of instability. They mean the world. Know that you are all in my thoughts.

Some weeks are like that. . .even in Niamey

Hi All,

Wawa. Today pretty much sums up this week. MC forgot to pick Cheikh up for work. I ripped my pants getting into the car and Karim cried when I dropped him off at school. I tried two ATM's which were both broken and waited in a traffic jam for almost an hour. Ugh. Karim has had a really tough time adjusting to school. He almost lost his voice on Monday with so much crying. He seems to be doing a bit better, but it's still a hard thing to go through. This will be his first full week. Yesterday, the Grand Marche had a big fire, so that's been pretty devastating for a lot of people here- no insurance. 

On Monday, we decided not to sign the contract for the house and to continue looking. Several things pushed us to this conclusion, not the least of which was my walking tour of the "neighborhood" on Friday- which includes a huge orchard behind a school where families live in grass huts and a slaughterhouse across the street. Up to that point, we'd always visited the house by car, so we hadn't really had a chance to explore- that combined with the discovery that no kids lived on the block and a few other factors led us to decide to keep looking. And so here we are, finishing up week three, still looking for a house.

This afternoon, Karim and I went to Cocochouland for "Mamans et bebes" a group of French moms, kids and nannies that meet there on Thursday afternoons. K played a lot with the kids and I chatted with the moms a bit. They're all sending their kids to the other school, La Fontaine, in the fall, so I'm feeling a little conflicted because I really like Alliance.

Yesterday, we found a house we like a lot, but it's in a strange area. The contrast between rich and poor seems more intense there. There are mansions that overlook garbage heaps. Whole blocks of grass huts, then turn the corner and there are huge houses and luxury cars.  The streets are wide open stretches of sand.

I will let you know as soon as I have a house update. Until then . . . :)

Niamey is Toasty Toasty

Hi All,

Today is hot, really hot. Not sure how hot, but over 100 for sure. We spent the morning looking for furniture for our future house, which we should be moving into before too long. Monday, contracts will be signed and everything will be official inshallah. Prices and work to be done have been agreed on, so now we just have to wait for it to be ready for us to move in. I will wait to post pictures when the work is done, so as not to alarm you:) But, the house summary is that it's walkable for Cheikh to work and Karim to school. It has a large yard with gardening space and a fenced in pool with doors that lock. (Apparently a Canadian family with kids lived there before.) The house is 3 bed, 3 bath with a guest cabin in the courtyard with one bed/one bath. We all like it a lot and we're excited to finally have a place to call home.

Cheikh's cousin, Khadija will be moving in with us too, as soon as her passport arrives- ah, Dakar. She's sweet and I've known her for more than a decade.  I'm looking forward to having company and help at home, not to mention reliable adult conversation during the day. Yay!!

Karim started school yesterday at Petits Pas and walked off and left me like he'd been waiting all his life for that moment. There is one other anglophone boy there, so he found a fast friend. I think I was more nervous than he was. When I picked him up at noon, he told me he'd cried because he'd missed me- sniff. But, the teacher said it hadn't lasted long. It'll be a transition of course, for both him and me, but it's only for 3 hours a day and he's already looking forward to going back on Monday to play with the other kids. Maybe I'll be able to make some friends that way too:) It's been such a treat having him all to myself for the past 8 months, I really missed him during those three measley hours, but I know we both need space to thrive in our new home. sniff. How did he grow so fast?? He's not a baby any more, but a real little boy. He's started greeting people with "Bonjour" and "cava?" and he told the teacher "a lundi!" when we left. He'll be yapping to everyone before we can blink.

I successfully signed Karim up for both summer (beginning July 2nd) and the school year at Ecole Alliance Maternelle where they remembered both of us and are very excited to have him. The kids were all in the courtyard getting ready for their end of the year performance, so I scoped them out a bit. Mostly local kids, maybe 5 white kids and several brown kids like Karim. At the Maternelle campus, there are only kids ages 3-6 years. There are roughly 3 classes for each age group. The class cap is 25 kids with one teacher and one assistant and the school itself is really pretty with each age group having its own playground. Karim with be in the bilingual program for 3/4 yr olds where they will have English/French with the focus mainly on French.

Today, Cheikh, Karim, Bachir (from MC) and I ventured out to look for furniture for our house. It was a very hot expedition, but we found some promising woodworkers who can likely fashion what we have in mind. Now, Karim is laying down for a nap in the blessed AC with Cheikh while I type this. This afternoon, we will venture out again after the sun has abated a little. People say the rain is coming soon, but we've seen no evidence of them yet- hence we are still blessed is plentiful supplies of mangos and papayas. I'm excited for the rain though, since I hear it's more like a monsoon. That should be exciting:) A far cry from Mopti. I can't believe that in Peace Corps, in Kouna, it was 25 degrees hotter than it is here. yipes.

Niamey is a blend of ancient and modern side by side- much like other cities in the region and throughout the world, i guess. Next to a mercedes benz, there is a camel loaded down with thatch mats for building huts. Below the verandas of the luxury hotels people live in mud huts and cultivate the river bed. Many of the streets are paved, even equipped with traffic signals that noone heeds, but there don't seem to be many accidents or much road rage. People just drive slower and we get there when we get there. 

Our house though, is on a sandy track, not really a street, but it's a stone's through from a paved road with a gas station equipped with small grocery store. The way to Karim's school is like walking at the beach over red sand. There are a few trees and houses along the way. His little off road Skuut bike should do very nicely, though he really wants a motorcycle. Yes, we actually saw some real motos his size in the store! He would very much like the green one, but his grumpy parents said no. Poor, deprived child.

Sorry for the lack of photos, but we don't seem to have a working camera. Hopefully we will either find a new charger for our Fuji, find a way to charge and use the camera I bought in London, or buy a new camera all together soon. ugh. Thanks to Petie and Jacob, we can take videos, but the computer connection is sort of patchy, so they are tough to load. Hang in there:)! Thank you for your comments- I love them!! Write more!! Every writer needs encouragement:)

Yay, after nearly an hour, my video loaded! Hope it works for you. This is Karim playing at the American School on Thursday morning. As you can see, nice playground, but no kids. Good thing he's at Petits Pas now!

Lots of love to everyone!

Another Beautiful Day in Limbo

Hi All,

I haven't been feeling very verbose these past few days, so please forgive me. We found a house and will hopefully finalize the deal tomorrow. Then, it'll by another 7-10 days before we can actually move in. The house is nice but needs a little work, hence the wait (and lack of photos.) The best part is that I'll be able to walk Karim to school- assuming I don't have any trouble signing him up tomorrow at Ecole Alliance for the summer and the school year. There are still a lot of unknowns, which make right now a bit tough. No house, no school, no stuff or friends yet. Things should smoothe out soon though. 

Karim is going to art school at Petits Pas tomorrow just for a month or so until Alliance's summer program starts. The poor kid is pretty bored, so I think it'll be good for him. He'll meet people and learn French, which will make everything else easier for him. He still misses Portland and talks about friends and family there almost daily. This afternoon though, he had a wonderful time dumping water in the sand at Cocochouland (a glorius private playground with bissap juice and disney characters on the walls!) with lots of little French kids. When the water was cut off due to the huge puddle they'd made, one little French girl shouted "On doit manifester!" so they started chanting "On veut de l'eau, On veut de l'eau!" until they were allowed more water. Even at five, they already know how to organize an effective strike. Gotta love 'em! Luckily I had a change of clothes for K, since he was down to his undies by the end of it. Love you all. 

Niamey sights

Hi All,

Here's a video view of the Niger River and part of Niamey from the Grand Hotel's terrace and play area. Just to prove to you all that Niamey is NOT in the desert!

Looking for a house, looking at schools

Hello All,

After several nights of no internet connection, I finally have one. Yay! Karim and Cheikh and I have all been very busy the last few days trying to secure and stabilize our life here. Cheikh is discovering that managing means a lot of talking and a lot of meeting, a big change from his number crunching at HQ! The director just got back from vacation and the regional program director is visiting this week, so Cheikh's pretty much working and sleeping. We enjoy our evenings and lunches with him though. Karim is a house hunting trooper. We're all pretty done with the hotel and we've found some nice houses,  but we have to negotiate price and all that, so it could take a little more time. I'm trying to be patient about this, but I'm sick of restaurant food and I'm ready to have a home again. 

This morning, Karim and I tackled the new task of finding him a school. Yes, they start school here at 3yrs old. Nobody asked if he was potty trained, they assume he is. Thank goodness we've been working so hard on that! Yay Karim! He's not wearing diapers at all anymore. Even at night, we made the switch (his request) but we're still a little nervous on that point. We looked at 3 schools today and liked things about all of them. Ecole Franco-Nigerienne Alliance Maternelle- a local french private  school that has plenty of local kids. It's spendy by local standards but not crazy. There were a lot of local kids there. I really liked this one. They reminded me a bit of EEI with art projects, theme work, reading, writing, nice outdoor playground. The second one we visited as Lycee La Fontaine- which was harder to read. Nobody wanted to show us around or even talk to us. They just told me to look at their website, which is impressive, very exclusive and highly reputaded. Everyone tells me that La Fontaine is the best (it should be for 3X the price!) but I haven't really decided yet. But, in the meantime, Karim will be attending the summer program at Les Petits Pas, a cute little art school for little kids up to age 4. I think it will be a good way to make friends and learn French without being too overwhelmed. He'll likely be starting there next week for 3hrs each morning.

Whew, we also found a gym with excercise classes! I guess I don't need to open one after all! It's actually right next door to our hotel. We checked it out this evening. The facility is basic, but it looks like it'll get the job done. Gotta combat those french pastries somehow!

Niamey is turning out to be a delight at every turn. Besides the fact that it's beautiful, (and warm) it has everything! Niamey is the Sahel's best kept secret. We went to the supermarket and although they don't have a huge selection of each thing (no six aisles of toilet paper) they have pretty much everything a person needs- toys, garden tools, toilettries, food, clothes hangers, medicine, sunscreen, whatever. If I had known this city was more comparable to Dakar than to Mopti, I would have packed differently! Ah well, live and learn- and the variety of food is incredible too- better than Dakar, I think. We've had Italian, Chinese, Lebanese, Nirgerien, French and the best pizza ever. Pure goodness. They even have a golf course, Dad!

Well, it's getting late here, so I'd better sign off. Love to everyone!

Videos!

Niamey Niamey Niamey- now you see it! sort of. Not a lot to write today, so I will just try to load a video before I turn in.

Escape from Hotel Terminus!

Hello All,

Today, after two days of feeling like I was in a harem by myself or in jail, I made my grand escape into real life. Since we arrived, I've been looking at Niamey from behind walls or behind window glass and by yesterday evening, I wanted to punch something. Today was different. Today was wonderful.

This morning, Karim and I took an overpriced hotel taxi (my last one probably) to the American International School of Niamey Community Center to do what every mom does when she gets to a new town, to get a membership. What we got (though we didn't actually get the membership yet) was a playground full of kids! Karim was in heaven! He rode bikes with nine yr old boys for half an hour before his only friend in Niamey, Kadriana (Cheikh's coworker's daughter) appeared on the playground for recess. She goes to school there! She was the sweetest thing. She kept saying, "my wish came true!" Finally, I asked what her wish was and she said it was to have Karim come to her school.  After the kids went back to class, we set off in search of a taxi home. 

Little did I know that I was in the equivalent to a taxi no-fly zone. Several passed us but none stopped. I started to get nervous because it was hot and I was out of water with no snacks. The mom guilt was sneaking in when a communal taxi with two other passengers stopped. The driver clearly didn't want to, but the woman in the back seat had shamed him into it because of Karim. If it had just been me, I'd probably still be standing there. It turned out that the woman works for a local nonprofit that gives micro credit loans to village women. We chatted for a long time ( since we had to backtrack out of a traffic jam which she joked was caused by "democracy." Didn't really get it, but we had a great talk.  The man in the front seat gave me the name of someone who can help us find a house. Hell, if I get desperate, I may even call the guy.

When we got back to the hotel, K and I drank a ton of water and juice. Cheikh picked us up for lunch and the driver from MC showed a great lunch place called Amandine, where we will probably go every day until we find a house! After hamburgers (with cabbage and french fries in them along with the usual beef and ketchup) we shared a beigne a la creme with pineapple slices in it. After lunch, we had nap and swim in the hotel pool. For dinner we went to a local place around the corner from our hotel with sand for a floor and the stars for a roof. We had some basic sauce and rice (after the 1yr old girl across the street showed K her belly while we waited for the food) Then, to end a great day, we popped in another cab and headed to the French Cultural Center to watch a free concert performance by the Cigales du Sahel- great music, great dancing! No white people in sight:) So, that's about it for the day. We're back now and Cheikh is putting K to bed.

One big misconception (among many that we had) about Niamey is that this is definitely not the desert. Big trees line the streets and there are flowers everywhere. When you look out over the river, you see an oasis. The streets are paved well (the ones that are paved anyway) and there are no open sewers.  It's hot, but beautiful and comforting hot, not heat rash, wish I were dead hot.  For those who've been to Segou, it sort of looks like that. It's not a big town, but it feels like it is because people have been driving us in circles to look for houses and do errands. I was really surprised when I looked at a map. There are maybe 8 residential neighborhoods and three roundpoints. It feels big and bustly, but sort of small town too. People are pretty reserved and they leave us alone- they don't touch you or follow you like in Dakar, and it's wide open, not in a valley, but on top of a plateau above the river. One of these days, I will take some photos:) Jeannie, my blog needs your camera and talents!!  Overall, we're all exploring and enjoying what we've discovered so far. Love to all of you and thanks for reading this.

First Impressions of Niamey

Hello Everyone,

Today was Cheikh's first day of work, so Karim and I found a taxi and ventured out on our own. It was so great just to hear Karim, a 3yr old's impressions of what he saw around him. He didn't mention the dust or the occasional foul smell or people begging or even the fact that everyone is black or speaks French. What does he do? He first finds a stick to drag behind him in the dirt. He harasses each person that rides by on a bicycle or a motorcycle without a helmet, which of course was everyone. "where's your helmet, person?!" (sometimes it's good that people can't understand him.) He asked why a boy walking in front of us wasn't wearing shoes. I think he asked because it looked fun for him to walk barefoot in the sand, not because he was actually concerned. It didn't occur to him that the boy didn't own shoes.

Of course in classic African fashion, we achieved nothing today. We went to the French Cultural Center to get our membership cards to the library, but it was closed. We went to the bank to change money, but I didn't have my passport. So, empty handed, we returned to our hotel to call Cheikh to see how his day was going.  He was very excited about his first day but wouldn't give any details. After we chatted for a few minutes, Karim and I returned to our hotel for a swim in the pool. Karim loves his water wings (he can kick around with them without help!) and his beach ball. He says he's Tabby, batting the ball. . . bat,bat,bat. I think he's obsessed with those books!

After our swim, we had lunch in the restaurant. I almost laughed out loud when the waiter handed me the menu with one option and one price. What is this? My Cousin Vinny? So, I ordered "lunch." It was good. Cheikh paid us a quick visit after lunch so we got a few snippets like he has his own office with a bathroom (and shower!) wow. He's a "Grand Patron" now- 3rd in command for MC Niger's whole office! Wow.

Karim slept all afternoon and I read books. I felt pretty lazy and decadent, but I was stuck in the room while K napped, so what the hell. When Cheikh got home, we went to look at two more houses. We have yet to find one we really love, so keep your fingers crossed for us.

Well, I haven't talked to my husband much today, so I'm signing off.  More later. . . 

Finally, Niamey!

Hello Everyone,

This morning, at 3:30am, Cheikh, Karim and I climbed down the long staircase from the plane to the ground. Happy Birthday Cheikh! The heat wrapped us up like a long hug from an old friend. I had the most wonderful and intense feeling of homecoming. After nearly a decade away, I'm back in Africa and I realize that some small part of me never left. Cheikh's colleague picked us up in the Mercy Corps vehicle and drove us straight to our hotel. The Hotel Terminus isn't really the end of the line as it sounds, but more of an oasis. My feelings on air conditioning have totally reversed in the 12 hours we've been here. LOVE IT! After a nice little chat with Deb and Rosella that made us feel like we weren't quite so far away, we had a few hours of sleep. At 11am, we breakfasted on croissant, eggs and hot coco in the garden under the mango trees. Since we were such late risers, our only companions were two peacocks and a handfull of lizards. Karim still isn't too sure about the peacocks- they make pretty crazy sounds, but he's warming up to them. After breakfast, Cheikh's co-worker, Bachir picked us up to look at houses and see a bit of Niamey. The first 2 we looked at were nothing to get excited about, but the last one has definite possibilities.

It's funny that no matter how many photos you look at online, you never can get a sense of a place. Niamey is beautiful with wide mango tree lined boulevards, loud music blasting from street corners (from weddings, Saturday is wedding day, Bachir informed us.) 

Karim is doing great. He's not speaking any French to anyone yet, but he talks a lot at people in English and he's already invited everyone he's met to our house to visit (nevermind we don't have a house yet.) Before this, he was inviting Londoners to ride the jumbo jet to Niamey with us. I got a nifty camera in London, but it's just now charged, so I should have photos up soon.

Love to all of you and thank you for your support of our new adventure. We look forward to your visits. Tonight we are off to Le Pilier (Cheikh's choice- since he's been here before) to celebrate his birthday- with cake of course:)