Staying in Niamey

While in Germany working at the site in November 2007, Mike had the chance to travel down from Frankfurt to Niamey on a cheap Royal Air Maroc flight (which was very good by the way!!). It was a great opportunity to catch up with Doudou and Kadi and little Anas, who is now 11 months old and walking and talking. He is doing very well, except for all the usual baby ailments. Doudou is also going well although he would like more work for his driving business.

It was also an opportunity to call in to see our other good Australian friend (William) who owns the Zanzibar Restauraunt and all the friendly faces there.

I hope my friends and family enjoyed reading about my stay in West Africa.

If anyone wants larger copies of any of the pics just email me and I will forward them on.

Another Christmas come and gone. Christmas is not celebrated in Muslim culture so it was a quiet one again this year. The whole city is getting prepared for a New Year, people everywhere day and night, increased traffic, street vendor's popping up in every side street. It's going to be a double whammy this year because the Muslim Tabaski Celebration is falling on News Years Eve. Tabaski is the celebration of the end of The Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca). Sheep and goats will be slaughtered in the streets, cooked and shared with the poor. Blood runs in every street.

Mike is happy I have only just found out how cheap gold is here. When I told him I had discovered a little gold smith shop he took a deep breath and prepared for the worst. A couple of days later I told him what he was buying me for Christmas.....lol.....he took it well. I am now the proud owner of 10 gram gold ring, 5 gram gold ear-rings and a 5 gram gold chain. I couldn't say for sure, but I feel he may be giving me a couple of later Christmas gifts before returning to Australia.

Mike had to close down the remote site, a trip that used to take 1 hour was taking 2 hours each way due to the road conditions.

The Internet provider for the airport site closed down for a week with no explanation, so the data has built up and created a little extra work for Mike. Mike is not phased and plodding along as usual.

Our driver's baby is due any day now. Under Muslim law the father of the baby has to put on a naming 7 days after the baby is born (Muslim Baptism). Dou Dou can't afford this so Mike and I are buying the animals (to be slaughtered) and a few other things. We will also be doing the photo's and a video for Dou Dou's family (and ourselves).

We have been remodeling our new house in Australia while we've been here. My best friend and project manager for our house is doing a great job. Our new kitchen, microwave, wall oven, bench top stove, exhaust fan, dishwasher etc etc is going in on the 2nd January. Paintings finished, pool pump finished, gardens finished, phone on, new bed, we will be arranging the carpet ourselves when we get home. I am very excited about the new house and ready to start enjoying it.

Mike and I figured that next month we will be busy packing and cleaning the house and the airport site, so we had a meeting will our staff to let them know whats going on. SAM (gardener) we promised to put an ade in the Embassy news letter to try and get him a job with another family. Zallica (housekeeper and cook) has been promised everything from the kitchen that we purchased locally, this includes all electrical appliances. DOU DOU (driver, translator and friend) has been given our car, he can sell it and buy some land to build a house or try and make a living as a driver. Dou Dou's new baby is due in the first week of December (3rd child) so he has some decisions to make as he has no employment when we leave. We are trying like mad to get Zallica a job with an American family, fingers crossed.

I think Mike would be happy to live here, he's going to miss his friends and Niamey. I am an Aussie through and through and couldn't imagine living anywhere, but Australia. I love my country and it's people.

We've had the last of the rain and things are heating up again. The higher temperatures are not the only thing that has changed, we are experiencing the return of the dust storms, smoke everywhere and low humidity. So my skin is drying out again and coughing a lot because of the smoke.

The site will be closing down in January so my last entry will be next month (December). Mike and I have started packing up the house. It's a bit early, but Mike wants to have as much free time as possible to be at the site when the pack up starts.

I must admit I've got closer to my friends here than I expected to be. I'm going to miss them all. I have already had a few teary moments with a couple of my girl-friends. I wish I could pack them all up and take them home.

Our return trip is going to be a marathon event. QANTAS has dropped it's link to Singapore so we have had to book via Hong Kong and then to Melbourne and back up to Darwin. I haven't been to Hong Kong for years so it'll be interesting to see how much it has changed.

I've contacted all my old friend in Bavaria, Germany (I lived there for 3 years) and told them my husband will be there next year, they said they will try and catch up with him.

While we were in Australia on holidays, Mike and I bought some school supplies for the Banazoumbou school. If it wasn't for the weight restrictions on aircraft we would have purchased much more. I posted a few photos on the Misc Pic page. The village elder officially accepted the box of supplies and made us honorary members of the Banazoumbou village. We finally have all the repairs finished on our car, it's running great. We've had a couple more dinner parties, and restaurant meals. I have asked the cook to teach me some of the recipes as we have become accustomed to the local dishes. The people at the local restaurants have got to know us very well and always switch the TV over to an English Channel when they see us walking up the street. It's going to be hard to go back to the faster pace of life in Australia, life is so layed-back and relaxed here.

Kim and Krzysztof visited this month. It was good to have house guests that spoke English. Our cook dined with us, I didn't want to be the only female at a table of men talking business, even if it was in English. The renovations to our house in Australia are going according to schedule, I can't wait to see it for real. Our friends who are looking after the pool have been sending photos, but it's not the same. Things are going so well at the site that our lives have settled into a steady flow of local friends visiting and the odd walk around the local streets talking to people.

Dou Dou and Kardi turned up on time looking like a million dollars, Mike , jeans and a shirt and I wore the traditional clothing for a woman at a ceremony.

Earlier in the week Mike had given an envelope with money to the brides mother, traditional Muslim custom.
On arrival I realised we stood out like ducks in a chicken coop, but on we went camera in hand.
Mike and I had never seen behind the tall walls of a mud-brick & thatched residence, so I was very excited and privileged to be welcomed into the private area of their lives.

Kardi went off in one direction while Dou Dou showed us to a couple of the plastic chairs that had been placed around a section of the yard. I was just sitting there admiring the beautiful clothing the women where wearing and at the men all seated. When it finally hit me. I was seated with the men. All the women were seated cross-legged on mats off to one side. The only white woman there and seated with the men, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but Dou Dou said it was all OK.

As the brides father had passed away her eldest brother took his place in the ceremony (wearing blue).

The music was different. A man wondered around playing a drum to announce the arrival of the grooms family. By the time they all squashed in. the yard was packed.

The brides brother and the grooms father entered the cleared section in the centre. Her brother emptied a large bag of Dates and Cocoa nuts on trays. These trays were passed around for the everyone to eat. Next the bidding started. I couldn't understand any of it, but Dou Dou explained it to me. Even though the price for the bride had already been settled on. it had to be done again in public with witnesses. So the two men had a mock argument and settled on a price. The money is always given to the brides mother

This over with, everyone started to leave. While the drummer walked around playing some African music. Mike and asked Dou Dou about the bride and groom and were informed that the civil ceremony was the next day at an office in the city.
Next we were driven to the brides home. As far as I can work out the women spend the rest of the day cooking, eating and lots of talking. I didn't want to be left there (not speaking the local African language), so off we went again. (note large cooking pots, right-hand side)

As we were walking out Dou Dou asked if we would like to meet the bride. We walked two doors down the street and entered yet another house yard. An elderly women welcomed us into the building. It had two room - first one was empty except for the carpeted, walls and dirt floor. On entering the second room (bedroom) we sore a mattress on the floor with three young women on it. the bride was the one crying her eyes out and fully covered. Her two friends were trying to console her. She had only met the groom a few times and she was scared. She didn't want to leave her mother and go live in another part of town with someone she barely knew.

We almost got back to the car when the kids spotted Mike's camera. They gathered to have there photos taken.

Mike and I have had a very quiet time since returning to Niamey. I spent a few anxious days watching Mike suffer food poisoning. I've never seen him so ill and hope I never do again. The weather has been typical of this time of year, dust followed by rain. Our friends tell us that it'll only last another week. We have requested that the pool be put in moth-ball, it's not worth the time and effort, seeing the pump is no good. We had the house owner here inspecting the leaking roof, he insisted that it is the fault of blocked gutters. We had our gardener clean the roof and gutters to keep him happy, but it changed nothing.

11th July - This will be my last entry before our holidays. If I have time while I'm away I will do a quick 'Howdy'. Troy is due to arrive at 3:30 this arvo'. We spent another evening at the Zanzibar last night, William has expanded his services, Zanzibar is now selling pizza. William will be returning to Australia in about 6 weeks, he tells me his getting a bit twitchy because he hasn't been home for over a year.

7th July - Not much happening, I've been busy packing for our holiday. I'm counting down the days. All goes well at the site which is good for the relief person, Troy. We've bought a car which should be ready for rego' by the time we get back. Not only will a lot of money be saved, but Mike and I will have a car at the house at all times. We are anticipating no trouble re-selling when our time's up as reliable cars are hard to get. We have discovered that a personal vehicle is a must and if we are ever away from Australia for any length of time again, a car is going to be the first thing we buy. Having your own vehicle makes it easier to become part of the community, make friends and build cooperation and trust.

21st June - Mike has spent the last few days repairing things at the airport. We've been informed that the storms we are encountering are the norm and we should be prepared for it at least one a week. The only thing that's in doubt is the location of the main hit.

18th June - Sundays are not what they used to be....lol. Another big storm hit last night, lightening hit at the airport.

10th June - The yard has been cleaned up and the water marks on the interior walls have be removed, you wouldn't know the last two days happened. There was no damage at the our remote site, but the French had a bit of cleaning up to do. I'm glad to say today was quiet. We only have 34 days to go before our holidays, so Mike has stared emailing Troy with hand over information and my family are getting ready to travel to Darwin. My best friend has arranged time off work. So it's all happening. I must say it will be good to spend some time with Mike without wondering if the phone is going to ring from the Airport.

9th June - Another big one hit last night, but the centre missed our area. Mike goes out to the remote site today, fingers crossed there is not to much damage there. I have added some pics taken at varying times during the clean up.

8th June - We've had an exciting couple of days. A mini hurricane swept though Niamey. Just our luck that our suburb was in it's path. It didn't hit the Airport Site direct (thank heaven) but the wind out there was over 80 miles an hour. After the wind died down a bit, the rain started and then the wind again. The power went off, naturally, but the generator held up well. Just as well the new generator shed was built as it took the brunt of the tree that feel on it. The pool had half a tree in it and is now full of sap. The WiFi tower we had build on the roof was not anchored down properly and it ripped up a section of the roof. The leaks in the house were running behind power points and light fittings. A few strategically placed buckets caught most of the water/mud. On inspection the next morning Mike noticed that only one guy-wire was stopping the tower from crashing through the lounge area. Mike has re-guyed the tower until the people that built and installed it can come and complete the repairs.The security guard, the gardener and Mike cleaned up the yard and the pool. The guard lost the back off his house. The streets are full of debris and a lot of people lost there homes completely. Most of the tanks and towers are down all over town. We believe two local people were unfortunately killed when struck by lightning not far from our house. Many people were hospitalised with varying degrees of injury.

5th June - The end of another fortnight. Mike and I experienced our first big storm the other day. First we could see the dust storm rolling in accompanied by fast and furious winds. We stood out on the veranda, watching the sky turn red. This was followed by torrential rain. The whole thing only lasted about 45 minutes, but if was exciting. Next time this happens Mike is going to get it on tape so we can remember the sounds and sights of one of natures little tantrums. We found out today that our cleaner has Malaria. The local people just wait till they get it and take treatment. I've given everyone that's involved in our lives insect repellent, but I was a bit late with Zellica. I intend to have a talk with my friends and try to educate them on prevention.

23rd May - Thank you Kim for the picture of the KFC, you Aussie blokes never lose your sense of humour. The water has been consistent now for 4 days so lets hope it continues. Even though it doesn't affect us it is hard to sit back and watch. The power is the worst it's been since we arrived and doesn't look like getting any more reliable. At home we have light bulbs blowing left, right and centre. Mike is up and down with the flu symptoms, but I am consistently down, I'm getting quiet used to it now. It's just part of living with dust, heat and bugs. We told some of our friend that we are going home for a holiday and they seemed disappointed. Then we realised they didn't know what holidays are.

21st May - We dined out again last night which was good, but we came straight home as we both feel the effect of this flu. I received a nice long phone call from my best friend (Kathy) today. I'm afraid I have had her running around doing a lot of business for me back home in Australia. Kathy I would be lost without you. We have only 53 days remaining before our holiday back home, I'm starting to day dream about having access to western style food, 24 hour electricity, being close enough to ring my kids and being able to talk to people in English. Sometimes a week or two pass and Mike is the only person I speak to. The security is changed once a month so even if we do get one that can speak English he is soon gone.

16th May - I attended my first Women's Club Meeting last night. I'm sorry now that I had not attended earlier. They are a great bunch of ladies that do a lot of good work for different local project. Mike found out yesterday that the Airport strike had been called off before the weekend, but no one had notified him. The water pressure dropped to almost nothing again last night so the supposed upgrade has changed nothing. Mike's been invited to a meeting at the Ambassador's on Wednesday evening, not sure what it's about, can't read French. Our children are all getting excited about our arrival in Australia on the 16th July, we'll be spending half our holiday traveling around Australia meeting our new grandchildren and catching up with extended family. Then it's R & R for me.

15th May - Water is back on, not that it effected us. Well it did effect us emotionally, seeing people pay money to use the wells and begging for water. There is a slight difference in the water pressure, but not enough to cause the misery it did. Another bad few days with the electricity, Mike spent more time at the site than at home this weekend. Hopefully he will fix all the problems again today.

14th May - Mike and I are managing just fine with the water tank, but the locals are not faring so well. We've had people coming to the gate with a bucket in their hand begging for water. We've been giving them water and also making sure the security guys have plenty of ice water. A few weeks ago Mike got sick with flue like symptoms and very kindly shared it with me. He got over it for a while and is now sick again. I never got over it so I am learning to live with it. We have both been checked out and have nothing life threatening. Just not used to the dust and the harsh weather conditions. Luckily neither of us have any respiratory problems, most of the elderly are suffering with asthma. We had a bit of rain the other night, apparently more at the site than at the house. The electricity is still going on and off, sometimes a brownout, sometimes completely gone and sometimes a big jolt that is like a bang.

13th May - What a day yesterday was. We found out the airport workers are going on strike for a week, starting Monday. The whole city will have no water as of 5pm yesterday and for the whole weekend. Mike and I are so pleased we have the tank. The electricity here at home is on and off so often, day and night, that we're trying to avoid going anywhere. No water, no power and no airport workers, I need a break from this place. I feel sorry for our driver, he is taking Mike to the site at some rather strange times, day and night, and he gets no extra for it. I would like to thank whoever it is that arranged a generator, a water tank and transport for us. The petrol is over US$1.50 per liter here now and looks like climbing further. Still no eggs or chickens to be bought here, unless you count the little man way out back of the market that is selling eggs for some hugely inflated price.

8th May - Another restless night, set the clock for 11:30, got up and waited for the call, nothing. So I expect both of us to be tired tomorrow, I don't mind I can sleep all day. It's kind of romantic meeting in the kitchen at midnight for a snack and a cuppa'. Zellika is a very good housekeeper. Between the two of us we are keeping most of the dust at bay and now that the new gardener has bought the lawns back to life the dust in the house has been cut by a third. What I would give to be back in Darwin winging about the fronds falling on my garden. The people here seem to be getting ready for the rains, most of the village huts have had plastics woven into the millet husks on their roofs and some of the street stalls are being upgraded with tarps. I've been taking extra notice of the children playing in the streets and yards, they are a pleasure to watch. No electricity, so no TV, games etc etc, they play ball and chase each other around. They have the biggest smiles I have seen on children in years. They are happy and without care. If only they knew what the children in the western world have and they still complain.

23th Apr - A group of us went out for eats and drinks. We tried a new place - Bellissimo. It was my suggestion, I don't think anyone will take my suggestions ever again. We arrived, flashing coloured lights, car part attendants, someone walked us from the entrance to the upstairs terrace. It's about now that I realised I should have kept my mouth shut. We were left at the top of the stairs to find our own table, so we stumbled around in the semi-dark and found a table over looking the city square. The menus arrived and it was to dark to read then but our eyes had adjusted enough for us to move to a table that was lit by flashing Christmas lights. Just as we ordered the power went out, so the only thing we could see was the traffic lights down in the square. The staff went about placing candles about the place, but it was so hot that the candles melted and fell over. It was the funniest sight watching the staff run around trying to stand the candle up before the place burned down. The meals arrived, well everyone's accept mine. With the power back on the staff noticed I had no meal so they run around till someone found it. The food was great, but I don't think we will be going back again. After a small discussion we all decided that we would let one of our local friends pick the next place. I'm hoping I will be forgiven in time.

23rd Apr - The garden is coming back to life and looks great. We have discovered that we have a banana tree and a lemon tree. Our kids are getting very excited about seeing us again, showing off their new babies and seeing how much money they can borrow....lol. Mike and I are using the pool more often now days, partly because of the weather and partly because Mike has taken over the maintenance. Even though I am excited about our holiday I am very relaxed here and have made a lot of new friends. I've given French a wide birth and am concentrating on the local language. I can have very limited conversations in Zarma. Mike has recalled most of his school French and seems to be coping with that. So now I can speak 2 1/2 languages, Australian, German and a bit of Zarma. I'm still having trouble with the American English as there are so many different ascents and some speak to fast for me.

18th Apr - Another Easter has come and gone. It just doesn't have the same feeling without the kids and their kids, maybe next year. Looks like we're going to have the same trouble getting our malaria medication that we had last time. No one will send it. We are just coming into the heavy mozzie season and in my personal opinion this is a health issue and I am ready to go home rather than get sick. Our Easter BBQ/Pool gathering was a big success. A few people didn't want their photo's taken, but a few agreed. I have posted then on the Misc Pic page. I've learned one thing about local food tastes. It seems that you put enough hot stuff on or in your meat so that it doesn't taste like meat any more. If anyone is interested I have added a new page, AUSTRALIA IN DEPTH. Not much info there yet, but I'm working on it.

13th Apr - A special hello to Dina and Peter, and yes I will take pics of the grocery store and post it this Friday. I'm all excited about my first social gathering at the house and to top it off the visitors are all locals. Different type of food, different customs and different language, what a challenge. I have given the new gardener an English name "SAM" his local name is very difficult to pronounce and uses most of the letter in the alphabet.

11th Apr - We have a little house guest, I would like to say it's a cute furry little mouse, but this thing is big enough to have a Jockey. It's a bit of a worry as the only shot we didn't get before leaving Australia is Rabies. The new gardener is very keen and doing his best to bring the gardens back to life. It's our anniversary on the 19th so we are having a BBQ/Pool Party this weekend. We have invited our staff and local friends. From what I understand their children are looking forward to the pool.

08th Apr - Our new water tank is almost complete, it'll be good to finally have a reliable source of water to the house. We met the new American Ambassador tonight. Mike and I had a reasonably long personal conversation with her and she is definitely going to be an asset to everyone, she is a great person. We have been notified by the Embassy that the next four Mondays are Nigerien Public Holidays.

07th Apr - We had a bit of a drama the last couple of days. We got rid of our gardener. Long story and this is not the right forum to discuss this matter any further. Suffice to say "problem gone". Yesterday we received a warning email from the Embassy about another demonstration and I was advised to stay indoors. The Security Guards have been advised by the Embassy that our safety is their first priority. My best friend has been emailing me daily as her town (Katherine, NT) has been cut off by flood water and helicopter evacuations are happening. She advised me that her and her husband are OK , they have plenty of food, scotch and Cola. She did drive 180km to buy cigarettes as her local shop is cut-off by rising water levels.

04th Apr - Not much happening over here. As far as I know everything at the site is going well.
I walked out into the yard the other day and found 4 strange men wondering round. I asked them what the &^% there were doing here and it seems that they are building a shelter for the generator. I insisted that people knock on the door and let me know they are here, but it's no the custom. I am not here to teach them about fears of a woman alone in a house, so I guess I'll just had to look out the window before charging out the door. We have just entered the heavy Mozzie Season so with the mozzies, strange men, bird flu, protesting students etc. etc., I pretty much stay inside the house now. I only leave the house if Mike insists. I keep the Air-Con turned on, as the bugs don't like cool temps and I keep the doors shut to keep the dust out. It sounds like I am locked away, but believe it or not, I am happy with the TV, reading and music. I had a local pants suit made and it would look great if my legs where twice the length they are. Mike is taking it back to have it adjusted.

29th Mar - Today was the big day, THE ECLIPSE. I thought it was a non-event. Mike and Tim took this photo at the site. From what he tells me it is the eclipse showing through nail holes in the file:///home/sharon/AFRICA/Images/Eclips.jpg

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roof of a shed. Because I couldn't look directly at it I'm glad they took this shot. I was going to buy some of the special glasses that were for sale here, but Mike told me they were fake and I would hurt my eyes. I feel sorry for all the local kids that used them. If I knew what European country sold them here I would have something to say.

28th Mar - Mike finally woke up and decided that I was well enough to start doing the shopping again, bugger. I had my first real day out checking out the Grand Market, what a great place. I asked Dou Dou to bring his wife, Kardia, along so he would know where to take me for womens stuff. I think I've been here to long, the footpath stalls are starting to look like shops and I'm getting a local dress made. If I look good in it I will post a pic, but if I look really bad a pic will never see the light of day.

25th Mar - Another night out at the Zanzibar. This is getting to be a habit. I ordered a nice bottle of wine, thinking that I would get help drinking it, but NO. I drank the lot myself with predictable results. There are some pics of the night on the Misc Pic Page.

23rd Mar - We cracked open the Aussie Wine tonight with our dinner. It was a great evening. Soft light, good meal, good wine better than going out for the night. Our Grand-son was badly burnt a few days ago and today we found out that his face and neck may heal without scaring, but he will need grafts on his arm and chest. We are both waiting for our holidays so we can be a bit of support for our son and his wife. Little Christopher has just turned 1.

21th Mar - Kevin put me onto a site on the Net that sells Aussie food by mail order from the States. Naturally I just had to check it out and spend, spend, spend. I've spent my whole tax return from last year since I'm been here and all on Net Shopping. I am missing my old job in Australia, even though we gave up our house, my work, friends and family I still don't regret coming here with Mike.

20th Mar - Poor Mike had his Conference call tonight, 11:30 at night (once a week). He goes to bed at the normal time, sets the alarm, participates in the call and then can never get back to sleep. I keep telling to sleep in the next morning and make up the hours in the arvo', but Mike insists on starting at his normal time every morning.

19th Mar - Mike was doing the shopping while I was sick and now that I'm well again I see no reason to change a system that works. He found some bottles of Australian Wine in one of the supermarkets and just had to buy a few - another one of his great ideas. My favourite is Badgers Creek Chadonay.

18th Mar - I went alone to a St. Pats day party at the house of Frank & Jane Walsh (Mr School Headmaster & Mrs Teacher). I had a great time, met lots of new people and for the first time in my life drank green beer.....mmmm. It was the first time I had ever gone to a party while wearing my hearing aid, not a good idea. I heard things that people on the other side of the yard were saying and I felt like I was listening in on people. I will not be doing that again.

17th Mar - We had another dinner at the Zanzibar, only place in town where you can get a hamburger. I have posted a photo of us on the misc pics page. Ivan, Kevin, Dou Dou, Kardia, Mike and myself.

15th Mar - More on-site visitors arrived on last nights flight. Mike meet them at the airport as arranged. My prescription medication arrived today, not bad Australia to Niger in less than a fortnight. An embassy driver delivered it as they do with all medication.

9th Mar - Someone from the Australia home office is sending my medication, so hopefully returning to Australia want be an option. I personally feel this whole incident has the American Embassy scratching their heads, as all their medication arrives from America twice a week. Mike seems to be happy with everything at work, but still cant get over the corruption in this country. Every man and his dog has their hand out for something. We give our home staff food and buy them groceries, we have even lent them money which they have returned without incident. But I am getting sick of bribing all the officials, shame we can't get reimbursed for bribes. I still love this place and it's people and hopefully have made some lifelong friends. I just wish I could bundle them up and take them home where their lives would have some real value.

8th Mar - Finally got the results of all my blood test yesterday, I'm going to live...lol. I've a good dose of the flu and suffering anxiety over my prescription medication from Australia that hasn't arrived yet. We put so much effort into organising that with our doctor and the chemist back in Australia, But there is a break down in the system somewhere. If I don't get the medication I will have to leave Mike and return to Australia, which I don't want to do.
Mike sent me some photos of the dust out at the Airport today, wow. Now I understand why he told me to keep the doors closed today. Half the local people at the doctors yesterday where people suffering from asthma caused by the dust. Thank heavens Mike and I have no chest conditions. The calls from the observers have dropped considerably, so I guess Mike has ironed out all the problems they where having.

4th Mar - Mike finally has his local Amateur radio licence and has set up his radio and aerials. It's good to see him get back into his hobby, he needed something away from the site that relaxes him. I'm happy with TV and talking to my kids (email), oh yea and the housework.....lol

2nd Mar - Still feeling crappy, but I wont bore anyone with more of my winging. The Bird Flue has everyone in Niamey a bit worried as it killed a cat in Germany yesterday. If it migrates to pets and other animals here in Niger the famine will kill many more people. The culling of birds here in Niamey is already affecting peoples lives.
The weeks are flying by faster than we can believe. It's almost time for our long awaited holidays. It's been well over a year since Mike has had holidays and I now understand why people are forced to take them. I've made a few more friend here in Niamey and have visited a few people at their homes, which is a big honour in this country. When a women arrives at a locals house she is handed over to the lady of the house and the men have very little to do with the women and children (a bit like an Aussir BBQ).

26th Feb - I put a pic of the generator with the pics of our house. Seeing this bloody thing wakes me up several times every night when it comes on, I thought the culprit should have a place on the net. Don't get me wrong a gererator is a must here in Niger, but it never sleeps.

25th Feb - Mike is starting to feel a bit better today, cant wait till it's my turn. Alma from the Embassy sent a mango pie around yesterday as a get-well-soon treat. It worked on Mike anyway. It's one of my sons' (David) birthday today, hard to believe one of my babies is getting so old. I sent him an e-Card, he wrote and ask for money, which just proves that distance doesn't change old habits.

10th February - 23rd February
Both Mike and I are down with some sort of flu at the moment. Up until now we've been taking turns with the upset tummy's, aggressive headaches, reminding each other to take our Malaria tablets daily etc etc.. But this time we are sick together. We have friends at the American Embassy that had the same thing a couple of weeks ago and they say it lasts between 7-10 days. This is only day 3 for me. So wish me luck, I feel like ....................

Valentines day came and went without my usual rush to the mail box, there is no mailbox or mail delivery for that matter. I did get a couple in my email, but it's not the same thing when the card has a return address.

I was right about the fertiliser, it stinks, but the lawns and garden beds should look good in a few weeks. For now I am keeping the doors shut and enjoying the garden from the window.

I have my own camera now, so as soon as I'm feeling better I'll start to take some happy snappys. I wish I had had it in the car yesterday. We were driving back from the airport when we passed a big fire in the middle of the road. A little further on large rocks and stones all over the road, ever further another big fire. We soon drove straight into a student demonstration. As soon as we were identified as white people some elderly men tried their best to turn us around by stopping traffic. We were lucky because our driver had the foresight to reverse out of there quick smart. We turned down a side road and drove around it. On entering the same road again we noticed the student (behind us now) where running like crazy in every direction. About one km up the road, truck loads of armed soldier were speeding toward the marching (running) students. We didn't hang around, as we stood out like white shags on a rock. The first time this happened, it upset me a bit, but it's so much part of our normal life lately that we didn't even discuss it.

The pool is finally re tiled, but no water. With the bird flu creeping into Niger it's not a good idea to use the pool as bird droppings also contain the viral infection. There are no birds or eggs in the markets at the moment as the government has killed (burned) hundreds in the last couple of weeks. I'm glad the government is taking some action, but there are a lot of families that rely on chickens sales, being their only form of income. I wish someone would drop a big factory here and give the next generation something to hope for, employment. The people here don't want handouts, in fact some people get rather offended. They want to earn a living and retain some pride.

I'll say bye for now, maybe when I feel a bit better I'll relate the rest of the last fortnight.
Bye for now.

A bit late, but better late than never.This new site is a work in progress, as I am learning the source code as I go. I have a camera now and as soon as these current demonstrations are finished I will get out and about. I asked Mike to get some pics of the demonstrations and his reply was "you want a white man to stop while driving through a demonstration and take photos". Seeing that it was the media that started the whole cartoon thing, photos may have been a big ask.

The gardener asked for money for fertiliser, so we gave it to him expecting a few bags of fertiliser to be delivered this week. Did we get a surprise when two big piles of animal waste was dumped outside the front fence. If it smells this bad from outside the yard, I can't wait till it surrounds the house.

The re-tiling of the pool is taking longer that the 10 days we were originally told it would take. I have asked Dou Dou why it's taking so long and his reply was "ten days is a relative term". We've had another night out at the Grand Hotel and once again we were left sitting with the stayers till late in the evening. We bought a small TV for the bedroom, great idea if it wasn't for the fact that we never see the end of a movie now. I have purchased some more furniture items (second-hand) from the American Embassy storage shed. Coffee Table (looks good, dust collector) - Office chair (for mikes home office) - Side Cupboard (for computer gear) - Three sets of shelves (for Mike's home office), all wood and all in use.
Mike is happy that I have learned to make Pizza Dough with my bread machine, It's cheaper to buy ready made.

Mike's night call-outs to the site are getting less and less as he fixes more and more of the local problems. It got to the stage where I was treating him as a visitor that dropped in for a meal and a sleep. The after hours call outs are setting down a bit now.
I understand why the men here have four wives. With everything done by hand, one women could not do it all. I imagine it would be even more demanding out in the villages. It was also explained to me that if one of the mothers die there is still a woman to care for the children and the home. If the man should die than his brother is inherits the children and wives and all the land and cattle, the women get zero.

The Danish Cartoon incident has upset a lot of people here in Niamey, mostly the UNI students. The American Embassy rang Mike at the site and in turn he rang me. Mike told me to stay indoors and being the big brave lady I am, I did just that. Mike has been driving right through the middle of it nearly every morning, thousands of people protesting in the streets, and he said they are moving out of the way without incident (so far).
I'm getting a bit home-sick, which I was prepared for, but am looking forward to Mikes holidays all the same. A new grand-child has been born while we have been here which we would like to meet.

14th - 24th January
The last two weeks have been very quiet. The Internet was off for 11 days, the Electricity stopped 5 times, but the telephone worked almost all day, most days.

We had to let the cleaner go because I was doing most of it over again. If I'm going to clean, I clean properly.

I missed the Internet more than I thought I would. It was like all my kids moved and didn't let me know. I also missed my weekly chat with my best friend. Mike has spent most of the week trying to do something about the Net for his work site. Once again the American Embassy has been super helpful with all the problems.

We tried a new restaurant last week, The Shanghai. As you can see by the name it's a Chinese Restaurant. From the outside it looks shabby and dirty, but inside it is perfect in every way. Cheap, clean and good service. One thing I have noticed while dining out in Niamey, no wine with meals. It can be purchased from shops, but not with meals.

I've started receiving my food orders on a regular basis from a supermarket in the States. I now know how good brownies are. The bread machine I bought on Amazon was a good buy. Fresh bread everyday. The bread here is like cake.....YUK! Shopping without leaving the house, where have I been for the last few years, I'm hooked.