Friday

Friday April 24, 2009-
Was watching the Cowboy Bebop movie on my laptop last night after dinner, when suddenly there came a tapping, as of some one gently rapping, rapping at my concession door. "’Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping on my chamber door – only this and nothing more." (Was reading Poe this afternoon… and I should try to get Mary to let me post her re-imagined Raven sometime)
Turns out it was just another PCV, Dillon, who I had forgotten was coming down from Sia to stay with me for the night. He came in so late because the thunder and lightening I had been watching actually came down as a heavy rainstorm there and kept his bush taxi from leaving. And then of course there was the obligatory ‘oops, we ran out of gas’ moment, so then it took even longer.
This morning he took the early bus to Niamey. For my part, I took my freshly oiled bike out for a ride to the border and back, about 20km. It was nice to get in a good ride, being in Niamey destroys my bike riding time. I definitely think that returning to the states, I’ll be in the bike lines.
Stopped by the market on the way back to pick up some supplies – mangos, rice, pasta, bread and matches. Then came back home to water the garden, work out, eat breakfast and wash some clothes. Since today was a holiday I had no place to go and so I lazed around. I finished reading "Things Fall Apart" and played harmonica for an hour or so. Then it was lunch, made some Nigerien inspired spicy rice stuff.
Today was Friday, of course, so it was prayer day, meaning that by 1pm there was a crowd in front of my place, packing the alley way between my house and the mosque. As it always does, that means that I can’t leave until the prayer is over. So, like usual on Fridays, I just hunkered down, ate a big lunch and took a nap.
After napping, I played with the kittens, played the harmonica, then went for another stroll through the market. I bought fried fish to give to the cats and tofu for myself. Walked around a bit greeting some friends and ended up at my buddy Innocent’s place, not far from my house. Innocent is from Nigeria and so speaks english well and it's always nice to slip back into native tongue.... Sat there for a while chatting, talked about many a thing, including relationships, the heat, and lots of football (soccer for you americas) Allez Barcalona, revenge Liverpool!!!

Made a list of things I saw while sitting on his stoop:
-Street side motorcycle maintenance
-Cigarette vendor with his wares stacked high on his head
-Girls passing in brightly colored fabric
-Men passing still sporting their Friday prayer best
-Cow carts loaded down with mud bricks and small boys at work
-Children running around, chasing each other and laughing
-Negotiations
-A man sweeping up garbage from the street
-The tailor across the way at work in a shop with an eclectic array of wares – fans, generators, cloth, thread, linoleum flooring, and TV stands
-A young man who had to run to jump up on the back of a truck that didn’t wait for him as it was leaving market, his buddy extending an arm, action movie-style to help pull him up
-A herd of goats passing by, poking about for food among the trash
-A man pushing a cart full of 10 gallon water jugs for sale
-A coffee/tea vendor with his carry stand full of drinks and bread, and his big hot water pot and attached charcoal heater
-A motorcycle taxi passing with a kid in front of the driver and a woman with a big basket of market produce on her head behind
-A traditional medicine vendor with his cart full of old plastic water bottles full of roots, leaves, and other assorted remedies
-A mute motorcycle taxi driver trying to negotiate a fare with grunts and gestures

None of that is anything out of the ordinary, except the mute driver, had never seen him before…

After hanging there for an hour or so, it was back to my house to make dinner, which was another heart-attack sandwich, this time with grilled onions, tofu, and some more velvetta cheese. Yum.
Heard an interesting radio show on music schools in Venezuela on the BBC, how they can act as agents of social change while encouraging musical accomplishment. So now, power out, typing up day two of the week and watching How I Met Your Mother, that stupid cute show with Doogie Houser.

Well then, I have a wedding to attend in the morning and a shower to attend to this evening. Until tomorrow, Incha Allah.