my brother

My brother's golden birthday was November 25 and I failed to dedicate a blog to him. Albeit a bit cheezy and completely unoriginal, I decided to write 25 of my favorite memories.

Andrew, here are some of my memories...
1. Dancing it up with you at Cassie's wedding. You are such a great dancer. I had a hard time keeping up!
2. Playing Robin Hood in the yard with our very own handmade bows and arrows.
3. Being home-schooled together; just you and me. Such special times.
4. Letting me play "swords" (also handmade) with you and your friends.
5. Watching you hit a home-run your first time up to bat at Sofanwet your senior year.
6. Walking back together from Albright's in the dark after watching the movie Signs.
7. Having great talks on the way home from getting ice-cream with the youth group after Edge. 
8. Watching you be such a good friend to the Whipple kids.

9. Setting up legos in the living room and playing for hours.
10. Beating you in Playstation football......once......right?
11. Eating and loving sushi together.
12. Jamming to Fiddler on the Roof and Oklahoma soundtracks on family vacation.
13. Being the comic relief whenever things got too serious/emotional during family time!
14. Crying Moistening your eyes when you read my first children's story I wrote.
15. Riding bike with me to FES and back the year we were home-schooled together.
16. Riding bike together to ISO and back every day for school.
17. Buying me coffee when you hate it so much knowing that I love it.

18. Giving me a beautiful journal with the words "Trust in the Lord" for my birthday, knowing it would be a year of much uncertainty and great transition for me.
19. Driving all the way down from Minnesota to spend a weekend with me.
20. Being a fan of traditions and then maintaining those transitions.
21. Willing to be Joseph (among other characters!) for so many of the Christmas plays we put on.
22. Having the natural ability to make people laugh and have a good time.
23. Watching you chase your dreams (football) and being a role model for me in many many ways.
24. Texting me verses that you treasured during your morning time with the Lord.
25. Nurturing my heart with truth. During a time of great heartache you told me these words on the phone: "I have two hearts: an African heart and an American heart. I don't have one and then the other, but always both. I just have to put on my American heart right now."

 I love you, Ando. Happy belated 25th Birthday!

Today

Today...

I slept in until 7:30.

I had coffee with Anna.

I went "window shopping" at one of the downtown markets. 

I found a Taureg ring I liked.

I bartered and got it for half the price.

I realized only 21 days were left until graduation.

Today...

I went swimming and froze.

I ate brochettes and aloco (fried plantain) for lunch.

I introduced the sport of water soccer to the world.

I played some cards with a friend.

I finished my 25 page Teacher Work Sample.

I skyped with my Uncle Bob Mr. Wonderful and his family.

Today...

I had a new mode of transportation.

I rode on the back of my friend's moto all over town.

I thought my contacts might fly out.

I bonked her helmet several times with mine when we went over bumps.

I wore pants with a pagne over them.

I loved it!

Today...

    was a good day...

        

Window to the Soul

I walk a lot here in Niger. When I walk, I have two options--to either look up or down. If I look up, I see lots of exciting things, but might step into something nasty. (This happened to me on the way to school the other morning.) If I look down, my feet remain "clean" (ha!) but I miss the exciting life around me. There is always so much to see. I have always been an avid people-watcher. Some people might call it a staring problem. I would call it a keen sense of observation. Here in Niamey, I especially love watching kids. (Niamey has one of the highest birth rates in the world.) It's pretty easy to take pictures of them. You take one and within two seconds a swarm has gathered around you. I often show them the picture on my camera and they start giggling!

They say the eyes are the window to a person's soul. Wouldn't you agree?

The International Sport of Soccer -- Le Football

As many of you know, soccer is my all-time favorite sport. It's a beautiful sport. Elegant. Refined. Vigorous! I've heard, from some reliable and some not-so-reliable sources that on average, professional players run close to 6 miles in a game. This year is the soccer cup of Africa. It's called la Coupe d'Afrique des Nations (la Can). This year, the professional soccer team of Niger qualified for the first time.

Although I have yet to meet any of the professional players, I have seen several of the soon-to-be professional players working on mastering their skill. (Isn't the view great with the Niger River in the background?)

 Check out the fine quality of the field, the shin guards, the ball, and the cleats!

And who is in charge of keeping this field nicely mowed, you might ask? The local goats. They come to munch away the excess garbage during the day. 

And if you aren't in favor of playing on a field with a downward slant, here's a second alternative. 

As I mentioned, la République de Niger finally qualified for la CAN 2012! EVERYONE is excited. There are billboards advertising the game, the team, the sport, and the upcoming wins all over town.

It's so fun to finally be surrounded by mutual soccer fans. Where there is a TV, there is soccer on. Beautiful. My heart is content.

There's a group of kids that play right outside of our house every evening. Maybe I'll go join them...with my pagne of course!

Confession: when the time comes, I will still cheer for Burkina Faso. "Allez les étalons!!!"

Last interesting fact about my life and le CAN and how the two connect: one year the CAN was held in Burkina Faso and I was able to go watch Burkina Faso play! Say what???!!!!! I know. 'Nuf said!

A Bad Day to be a Sheep

 Sunday and Monday were days dedicated to the Muslim holiday Tabaski. Tabaski is the most important holiday in the Muslim religion. It is centered around the Biblical story of when Abraham is told to sacrifice his son, Isaac, when, at just the right moment, God provides a ram as a substitute. Muslims change the story to Ishmael instead of Isaac. To celebrate this big holiday, families who have the money buy at least 1 ram that they then slaughter as a representation of what happened in the story. Rams vary in price (according to size and weight) from 80-800 dollars. Following morning prayer at the mosque around 9:00 a.m., men return home to slit the throat of the goat, remove the intestines, skin it, and stretch it on the poles to roast.
(Source: local taxi driver.)


Flocks of sheep, or rams, have been in town for weeks now. They gather all along the sides of the road and in the markets.

 There was a lot of hustle and bustle as people were out and about making their last minute Tabaski purchases.

 This one particular sheep was not quite ready to meet his destiny.

Can you spot which one I'm talking about?!

This little guy decided to put up a fight.

In the end, the sheep was no match for destiny.

The streets were deserted Sunday and Monday for the holiday. Everyone was at home celebrating. Well ...

...

...

...

... almost everyone!

Transportation = Taxis

My parents have purchased a pickup, but it is still en route from Lomé and will take another couple of weeks. In the meantime, our mode of transportation is taxis. They are in abundance. They are all little Toyota Starlets and have orange license plates. (Red and blue license plates are for diplomats or other high-ranking officers. White license plates are for ordinary folk!) Some of the taxis look like they should have stopped running a long time ago. Riding in them is step of faith! Here's how it works. We all stand on the side of the road and Dad holds out his fingers for the number of people needing a ride.

Sometimes the taxi is empty and other times we sit African style--very close and snug. On rare occasions, if the taxi is full but the driver thinks that those waiting for a ride will pay more money, he'll make someone get out to make room for the "rich" passengers. As we are driving down the road, the taximan will yell hello to his fellow cab drivers. Continuous sustained honking is heard from our taxi and others as we make our way along the busy streets. The windows are rolled down creating a natural blow dryer. The traffic is CRAZY! People drive so close together I could reach out my window and pluck a banana from the basket on top of a women's head who is headed to the market on her mobilette. (I don't, of course!) The stoplights are usually broken, so there are policeman directing traffic. When we get to one of the 70 roundabouts that exist in the city, it is always exciting to see who will get take the right away. This picture in no way does the traffic of Niamey justice, but it sort of gives a glimpse of how cars tend to go multiple directions in one intersection!

Today, our taximan showed up and said it was time to pray. (Le Niger is 90% Muslim.) Mom told him he could pray if he wanted to, so he hopped out of the taxi and went and joined some people. Mom and I stayed in the taxi and noticed that all taxis everywhere had stopped. Everyone was praying. Even the policeman. The marché (market) was empty. These pictures were taken from inside the taxi, thus the slight blur. Everywhere you could see there were men praying.

The guy on the far left was our taxi driver. 

As you can see, everyone is stranded--waiting for taxis.

Normally, this place is packed.

Twice, now, I've ridden in a patriotic taxi.

Once we arrive at our destination, we hop out and Dad pays. By this time, my dad is usually friends with the taximan. There is always ongoing conversation between my dad and the driver. They cover topics from the weather, to politics, to soccer, to where the best place to find a fridge is.

Me? Well, I sit in the back and sneakily snap pictures of all the exciting things outside my window.

Transportation is never boring in Niamey.

Day 1 and 2 in Niamey

I have officially been in Niamey for 2 full days. So far, I have evaded jet-lag, which has been great. Here's a little bit of what I have been up to with the parents.

Wednesday morning I set out with Mom and Dad to go look at their house. To be culturally appropriate, I never go outside without a long skirt.




It was fun to meet some of the neighbors by my parent's new house.





When you get thirsty, cold bags of water are only 10 cents (25 francs) at the nearest gas station. To open, you just bite off a corner and spit it out on the ground. This afternoon, I found a childhood treat of frozen bagged yogurt. It was the wrong brand, but tasted just divine. Nothing like a bag of cold strawberry yogurt--although my favorite is vanilla. It's best frozen, but I couldn't wait that long to try a treat I had not enjoyed for 6 years.



After visiting Sahel Academy, the school where I will be student teaching, Mom and I walked on the sidewalk back to the house.



My favorite thing I saw on our walk home:



According to one of our taxi drivers, when the weather turns cold, camels get mean and tend to bite a lot more often. Already, I have seen several camels wearing muzzles. I hear they spit, too. But maybe that's just a rumor...

Have I mentioned how wonderful it is to be back in African culture? It's been so interesting learning what makes the people groups in Niger different from those in Burkina Faso. In one country alone there are hundreds of different people groups, each with their own unique language and lifestyle. I realized, despite the similarities, my heart still longs for Ouaga.

Last night, several times I had tears in my eyes. I think it's due to being back in a familiar culture that was home for SO LONG and still not feeling at home. Oh, how I miss Ouaga--the familiar streets, stores, and especially the people. I thought perhaps Niger would bring some closure to what I left 6 years ago, but now I'm not so sure.

On a lighter note, this evening I saw some people I knew from my Ouaga days. My seventh grade year at FES I wrote a Christmas play that we all performed and this girl, Caroline, was in it. I was also Caroline's "secret angel" for an activity we did. Now, she's a senior in high school at Sahel Academy. How fun to re-connect.

From Wichita to Niamey

Well, I made it. After leaving Wichita early Monday morning, I arrived in Niamey Yesterday (Tuesday) evening--around 5 PM. I checked two suitcases, and only 1 made it, but the other should arrive tomorrow. (The one that arrived had most of Mom and Dad's food in it, while the one that didn't, has most of my clothes! Uh-oh!!!)

The trip had several delays--including a 3 hour delay in Atlanta, but other than that, the trip was event-free. I spent a while journaling (10 pages worth) and sipping on some Caribou coffee in Atlanta.



I had some beautiful background music playing while I was writing. The dude was legit! Incredible jazz--both musically and vocally.



As I mentioned earlier, my flight to Paris from Atlanta was delayed three hours. There were problems with the first plane, so they switched us to a new aircraft, and thus had to change seats, catering, gates, etc. In recompense, they gave us each a food voucher to spend in the terminal while we were waiting. They made this announcement right after I had just bought myself some delicious almond blueberry oatmeal--my first real meal all day. Ah well, I couldn't waste the food voucher so I bought myself a Naked Juice. (Doh, have you tried the mango one? Not my favorite, but still delicious!)



From the flight to Paris and on, I only spoke French! It was lovely.

When I arrived in Niamey and was waiting in line for my passport and health card to be verified, I looked out into the luggage area and saw a man holding up the following sign:



There were lots of these guys--all overly willing to help, but thankfully Dad had it under control!!!

I have already taken several pictures, but just to wet your appetite, here are some of my parents soon-to-be new neighbors! (Sorry, not my best photography.)



The boy in the very front is already my little buddy. He kept coming over and holding my hand. The kids LOVED having their pictures taken.