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!