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.