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.