F.Y.I

As it wasn't the malarone that made my belly hurt I've started to take them again.

Tabaski

I was invited to Guillaume and Talata on Saturday to celebrate de tabaski. This is the sheep that we ate:


All sheeps are barbecued like this on the tabaski. This is me eating the sheep (there were vegetables as well):


Me and Monique are on the mission to find the best ice-cream in Niamey. Le Pilier, an italian resturant has been the favourite for a long time, but now we have found something else:


The homemade ice cream by Souley. Lucky (and unlucky) me because he had made a new flavour every other day this week for the tabaski that we in the house were allowed to taste. Unlucky me because I had the amoebas in my belly and didn't really feel like eating so much...

Going home I hade the honour to sit next to the remainings of the sheep:

No wonder...

... why my belly hasn't been ok for over 2 weeks. This thing has invaded it:


It is a Giardiasis, an amoeba. Now I have medication to get rid of it, let's hope it works!

Bonne arrivé and Bonsoir

"Bonne arrivée" is a typical expression here. You can translate it to "good arrival". This expression does not exist in France and I've never heard it before coming here. On my first day in Niger, while getting presented to everyone at work, many wished me "Bonne arrivée". I saw this as another way to say "Bienvenue", welcome. But then the people said the same thing the day after, and the day after, and the day after.. and also many times during the same day from the same person when I arrived either at home or at work (usually by the guards). I found this weird. People in Sweden or in France doesn't say "welcome" everytime you come to work or at home. I soon understood though that is doesn't have the same meaning as "welcome". It's just a nice way to greet you.

I was also a little confused when people wished me "Bonsoir", "Good evening" at 13h, with the sun almost being at its highest. Here, "Le soir", "the evening" is the afternoon. If they want to say "evening", they say "nuit", "night". So if someone says they'll come in the evening, don't be surprised when they arrive in the afternoon...

Two other words that does not have the same meaning in French French and Nigerien French is "camel" and "last name". If someone talks about a "chameau", "camel", they actually mean dromedary. I've never seen a camel in Niger, but plenty of dromedarys. And if someone asks you your "nom", "last name", they mean your first name. This also led to confusion in the beginning; I said my last name when people asked me my name. I soon learned though.

She's back

The woman who visited our house last Sunday came back today. When it rang on the bell, I immidiately thought it was her, she rings a lot! Souley was at home but he hid himself at first to see what the woman told me. When I saw her, she looked like the other woman last Sunday but I was not 100 % sure (still having my problem). But she had the same big round eyes and the bad teeth. She asked if Souley was at home (she knows there is a "Souley" living in the house as I told her last time). I said no. She looked a little troubled and so I thought that maybe it's not the same woman, and someone in Souley's family or something needed help. So I said that I haven't seen him today, but maybe it's because he's still sleeping. So I went to see if he was "awake". So Souley talked to the woman (he didn't know her). She asked him if we needed some help around the house. Then her children could come and work here... He said no, and she left. She's not giving up! Souley thinks she tries to get money for the approaching tabaski I wrote about before. A sheep is expensive! (60-70€). Let's see what she will come up with next time.

Another funny thing: A friend got visited earlier today (before us) by a woman being her neighbour who had a tree in the garden with a snake and now the child at the hospital... My friend didn't give her anything, she recognized the story! This woman is busy-working!

My weekend

At the moment I'm writing on my report and therefore don't have time for much else, but still I have enjoyed myself this weekend. On Friday I looked at a play. It was nice, but too short. They did around 3-4 sketches. We were sitting outside and I was freezing a little. But still, it was only about 22 degrees. I could easliy wear a sweater in the evenings.

Yesterday at noon I was invited to Juliette, Manu, Vanessa and Hélene for a "pre-tabaski". Next weekend is the tabaski (don't know about the spelling). Tabaski is a islamic feast where you eat sheeps. So yesterday it was a sheep on the menu (next to a goat):


They have made cakes for dessert as well:


We were sitting on very interesting plastic chairs:


It was nice to meet and talk to other people I haven't met yet. It was nice as well to think about something else than the writing!

Malarone

I've started (or my belly!) to feel the side effects of the malarone I'm taking everyday. Malarone is a medication to prevent malaria. Therefore I've decided to stop. I've already been eating it for 2,5 months and the maximum time you should take it is 3. So now let's hope I'll manage my last 1,5 months without getting ill! Everyone else who's here for a longer time doesn't take anything. And they get malaria once a year approximately. And as it only a month left... The malaria you catch here is not that severe. Once treated it doesn't stay in your body like other types can do.

Vanity

I have let the tailor, Chez Diop, make two dresses for me. One traditional african and one "normal".

I also let an jeweller make me a pair of earrings and a ring. The earrings are in silver and mother-of-pearl (?). The ring in silver with a blue agate stone.

Something to keep in mind

As in all countries, there are people here who makes a living by taking things from other people, a.k.a. thieves. Here are some true stories which has happened to people I know here. First about pick-pockets:

*At the big market: A person uses its cellphone. When finished, a few moments after, the person can no longer find the cellphone and is searching in every possible pocket. Then the friend says, "but there it is!". The person takes up a cellphone, but says " no its not this one, it was my cellphone from home, this is the one I use in Niger. A few minutes after also this cellphone is gone...

*At another market: A person is carrying its child who refuses to walk in the big mass of people. When stop walking, the person is observing a guy who takes a look at the person's pocket. The person thinks "ok, now I have to be careful, this person is trying to get my wallet in my pocket." Still, 5 min. after, the wallet is gone...

These stories is to make you understand how skilled the pick-pockets are. And as soon as you walk in a crowded place, be extremely careful if you wanna keep your things. I have not yet been a victim (knock on wood). But after hearing this stories, you know it can happen to anyone.

Then there are other ways for people trying to get your things:

As I think I've already told you, I have problems to recognize people here. I'm not the only one, and this is taken advantage of:

*A european is at the market. A person stops him and says: "Hi, do you recognize me, I'm the guardian where you work. My son is ill, I need 10 000 F CFA (15 €) to the hospital, can I borrow this from you? I'll give back the money to you tomorrow at work". As the person is not sure if he knows the "guardian" or not, and don't want to make bad relationships with the guardians at work, the person is lending him the money. And of course, the person won't get this back as this was not his guardian.

And then something that happened to me today, but thanks to hearing all this stories, I did well!:

*At noon Souley and Marie leaves with the car. I'm alone at the house. Someone rings on the bell at the gate. Just when I'm opening the door to the house, a woman enters the gate. She says "oh hi, I thought there was no one here!". I say "hi". Then she comes up to the terrasse to present herself. She says she lives next door (she points in one direction), we're neighbours. First she asks me if I'll be at the house at 14h. Then she starts to talk about a tree bla bla bla... And then a snake bla bla bla... And then her child who got bitten by the snake and now is in coma at the hospital and needs antivenin bla bla bla.. And her husband is not at home so he can't give her the money. But he has a bla bla bla title, and works at bla bla bla, and he will come at 14h go give me the money back.

As this story sounds very typical to other ones I heard, I first say that I don't have any money at the house, but that I can call Souley and ask him to come over as he has the money. She says this is not necessary and then asks if I don't even have a few francs... I tell her that I don't want to give away money just like that because I've heard so many stories about people being tricked. She says she's honest and that I can trust here and that she knows Souley and that her name is Aya and Souley knows her too. So I say that I'll call Souley just to verify this, and then if it's true, I can lend her some money. She says no it's not necessary, she doesn't want to make a big story out of this. This is something about giving and helping a person and then something about God as well. So she leaves.

I admit that I thought that I don't want to risk a child's life just because I'm not trusting her. What's the worst, loose 15 € or a child's life? But then I thought, if her child really was in trouble, of course she would have let me call Souley... When she had left, I called Souley anyway just to verify. He was just going back to the house, so I exlpained him everyhing when he arrived. He immediately asked if I let her in in the house, I said no. And this is something I wouldn't have think about; If the woman was let into the house, she would have asked me to get a glass of water or something and then take stuff when I wasn't watching. Luckily I didn't let her in and now I know this for the next time!

These stories is also to show you how people here is playing with your conscience. They tell stories to make you feel bad, and I guess most people think as I do; Either you risk someone's life, either you loose some really unimportant money. But here, you have to understand that serious people would never ask you for anything. It is also important to not encourage them to continue to do what they're doing. So even if they're just asking for a few francs, don't give it to them, even if it means nothing to you.

Marie gave me the advice too that if the person asking speaks really good french, be careful. Because an ordinary nigerien wouldn't speak that good, and would also never approach you with these kind of demands. And if the person speaks good french, the person usually has a good job and can pay for himself.

And before you start to think that "oh, poor people, they don't have any money and is just trying to survive". I know a woman who earns less then 30€ a month and also has a daughter to take care of. She's not stealing. So being poor is not an excuse.

Kuri Cattle (Vache Kouri)

Lake Chad has an endemic species, the kuri cattle. The kuri cattle has enormous horns. It is said that this is to be able to float when they swim in the lake. But at the moment it's just a rumour.

The kuri cattle can only live at the lake, as it has adapted its diet to it. Because of this there are not many remaining as it's not that popular for the farmers to have a cow that can only survive at the lake. There are a lot of crossbreads though, between a kuri cattle and a "normal" cow". The crossbreads can survive outside the lake. When I was at Diffa I really wanted to see one, but we were never that close to the lake. I did see crossbreads though.

I have a photo on a real kuri cattle. It is taken by Steve Anderson who is a very talented photographer and have given me his approval to put his photo here, so enjoy this:


And here is a photo of me wanting to pose with a crossbread:


But the cow didn't want to, not even when I bribed it:

Going back home

An exotic view:

Landscape:

An exotic sign: (for non french readers, SIDA means AIDS in english/swedish, the sign tells you to be careful)


Landscape:

Some granarys:

Diffa - Miscellaneous

A village chief gave us lunch one day. I was a little sceptic. Luckily we had sardines that I could eat.
In Diffa you can buy detergent called "Welcome Obama":

This was my bathroom (toilet and shower) for one day:

Fashion show

Saturday evening I was at a gala. The past week it has been a "women artisans week" here in Niamey. With women from different countries in Africa showing their work at the artisan village. At the end of this week, it was this gala, and I had a ticket! A lot of speeches, but also a fashion show. It was really nice to see. They've made really beautiful things. I've uploaded some videos for you:

Peul people performing:

O

On the catwalk:



The women who made the outfits:



A catchy song at the end:

Some landscape photos from the Diffa region

Lake Chad

I never got the opportunity to see the Lake Chad. It was not possible to go by the car, and too long to walk in the heat. I would have loved to see it though, as the lake looks really interesting from above:

http://www.mongabay.com/images/external/2005/lake_chad_21oct2001.jpg

The lake is quite dynamic, it expands and then it shrinks. It depends on the year. Because of this I could see traces, like these white shells, from when the lake was where we were:

We found a boat as well from the colonization era:

The best driver in Niger (maybe the world?)

This is the man:

Abdoulaye

Only he can get out of situations like this:

But the most the important thing is that he drove me safe and sound to Diffa and back.

I'm not the only one who find it cold outside

This morning I saw a little boy wearing this:

cultural and temperature shock

At the moment I find it really tiring to not recognize people. I feel really stupid if I have talked to someone and the next time I see the person I don't know who it is. And I still have problem with the names... Also with the greeting procedure. In sweden we just say hi, or just nod with the head. Here you get asked about your health and work. It's nice with the greetings, but sometimes I'm unsure how to do it correctly and nicely. I hope I'll be an expert soon.

It has started to get really chilly in the mornings and evenings. So chilly I could easily put a sweater on. It scares me when I look at the thermometer and see that it is actually 25 degrees. How will I react when I come back to Sweden in the middle of the winter? The good thing about the coldness is that I can start to do some jogging in the evenings!

Where the car couldn't take us...

..cows did:


You can't really tell, but while crossing the pond, the water came up to the carriage so you had to stand up.

Snapshots taken from the car

Not the best quality, but still photos on exotic features. In these environments a 4x4 vehicle really comes in handy!

Animals at Diffa

In the region there are plenty of sheeps, goats, donkeys, cows and dromedaries. This does not change so much from the Niamey region. The difference is that the donkeys had other colors than grey, like white or a little black, and that all the animals are a little "fatter", probably because there are more to eat and they work less. And I saw horses too! This is exotic as I have never seen one in Niger before. Here you can see some (or a lot of!) dromedaries at the river I'm studying:

I needed to wash my clothes one day. I looked for a bucket and it was dark. I found a pink one where the guard sits. When I took the bucket I heard something rustle. I thought it was leaves the guard had gathered, but by curiosity, instead of just emptying the bucked on the ground, and also by luck, I took the bucket to the light to look inside and found this:

This scorpion is not mortal, luckily, but poisonous. There are mortal scorpions at Diffa but they're black.

I managed to take a nice photo on a pink dragonfly:

Do you see any animal on these two last photos? I promise you there is, but it camouflages itself very well... It's the same individual on the two photos, what can it be?



I also saw a monkey, but it disappeared as soon as I saw it. One animal I didn't see is the black mamba. This does not bother me, but it would have been interesting to see one though, at a safe distance!

On the way to Diffa

Having a tea in a "café" by the side of the road; Maï, me and Guillaume

The biggest slope on the road to Diffa. Going to and from Diffa we saw trucks with a breakdown on the top...

Lunch

An anecdote: I needed to go "to the loo". We stopped on the road and I looked for a hided place. Before going I said "I hope that no little boy herding sheeps will pass by". Everything went well, but when coming back to the car, I see this, just passing by where I just was. I was lucky!

Hotel room in Zinder