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:)