July 28, 2007 –
“I don’t plan to write every night, but couldn’t sleep. We had rain tonight. We were watching a performance by some Wadabi (The same ethnic group I watched on TV with Grandpa before I left). Suddenly the wind picked up and the temperature chilled a little. Wind built and built and then, bang, rain. Buckets of the stuff. So now we have FROGS. The world has suddenly come alive. It’s humid too. It feels like the Earth is breathing.
It’s so bright I’m writing this by moonlight. Africa has the biggest, most beautiful sky. Big Sky country has nothing. Montana, pisha. It’s like being in a giant snow globe.”
July 29, 2007 –
“Moved in with Siddo Seyni today…Our concession is rather large with guite a few rooms around it, and of course our little private concession and hut.
Dinner was awkward as no one but us and one of the language teachers ate.”
--- this is the way of things, at the time I was worried they might not have food, but they eat plenty feel, just never with us. ---
“My roommate Johnathan snores. Great. Well, the town is still alive and noisey anyway. I think African towns are much livelier because they live for the most part outside in their concession. More social, interactive, less privacy.”
--- Turns out John isn’t a big snorer after all ---
August 4, 2007 –
“At home now. Lots of rain. Came just minutes after getting here. It’s still amazing to see a storm front racing across the land with a wall of sand in front of the rain, like some giant bulldozer. As usual it hit hard. Wind, rain, thunder. Had to close the hut door (made of corrugated tin roofing) when the wind shifted and started blowing rain straight in. It’s open now. I can write this by the last of our daylight. Wind has died down but the thunder and rain will continue a while. As the storm came I was watching it with Habibu and Sulay and then shooed them into Biba’s house as the wind came up and scatter coals and ash from Biba’s cooking fire all over the concession before the coming rain finished it off.
Funny thing about rain, it’s a life giver and taker. Without the rain, Niger would starve. It has happened before and will probably again. Not this year. Yet, the rain can bring disease, flooding, and even destroy the very crops it nourishes. What gives can take. Our “backyard” is completely flooded, as is most of the rest of the concession I fear. Glad our hut is well made. Bone dry in here except for where the rain came in through the door. I can imagine our latrine has flooded out, not uncommon in this rain I’m sure. That lake must be full of bacteria and disease. What a wonder it is to just have a complete sanitation system. There are no garbage men in Niger. There are no sewers. There is trash and latrines and disease and no alternatives without major development.”
