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!