Okay, well, not having the internets is the only problem. I am at Peter’s office and I only have about 15 minutes before we need to get back home. And I have Stefan and Camille whining for lunch and rolling around on the floor next to me.
Yesterday a very nice mom watched a bunch of kids including ours, while Peter and I went on a van tour with some other newbies of Niamey. First stop: Yantala villiage. Kids and goats running around. People basically camping in small yards, lounging around. How can these people looks so gorgeous without the aid of magazines, hair color, teeth whitening, lancome, clinique, or even toilet paper? The people lounging around, a little boy licking an enamel place, a little girl wearing only a torn t-shirt, girls with buckets of water on their heads: gorgeous. The little kids gathered around and we took pictures.
Next stop, a tannery. No thanks. I’m enough of a vegetarian in a country with no tofu as it is. I found a place to buy plants instead. I bought three, in pots, two like a big prayer plants in homemade pots, and a flowering purple trumpet-y plant for all for $16 dollars. Pierre the gardender already planted the purple one in the yard, I have to find it, and he artfully placed the two pots on the tiled, covered patio. More plants to come, there are many flowering things here. On Friday we went to a "Hail and Farewell" party at the ambassador’s and her yard has huge plumaria trees along the pool, all overlooking the Niger river. Very pretty. I had a glass of wine and swallowed a fly. My first of many probably. I didn’t freak out about it, so I think I did okay.
On the van tour we stopped at mosque, a gift from Omar Kaddafi to the country of Niger. A little girl with her brother and blind father were outside accepting alms. The little girl had stripes of tatoos across her cheeks and held her dad’s hand to help him down the stairs. I tried to get in the good graces of Allah by giving her a coin. I also took her picture. If we ever get the INTERNET at HOME I will show you. I fall in love 100 times a day.
We live walking distance, if you can stand Stefan’s complaining, to the best bakery in town, we are told. The bread is really good, also croissants and desserts. We walked yesterday and bought two loaves of bread, they seem like sourdough dense and good, and two slices of cake and a juice for the complainer: 1250 cfa, $2.40. On the way home a little boy ran up to Stefan and held his hand for a minute and said Ca va.
Tried to go the store last night and struck out, all the supermarches were closed. So I went to one of many of the vegetable markets and got a watermelon and everything for ratatouille. It turned out pretty well with the bread sliced up, considering I no salt and pepper. Note to self: pack salt and pepper next time.
twenty-something years of "what have you been up to?" 
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