twenty-something years of "what have you been up to?"

  • new baby

    Mademoiselle

    A woman who works off and on for Unicef–sometimes she’s in Niger, sometimes she’s not–found this kitty as a stray a few months ago. Since she’s headed back to the US and can’t take her, she called me to put an ad giving away the kitty in the embassy newsletter. We’ve wanted to replace our kitty that got hit by a car while we were on homeleave, so we went over for a visit. The kitty is a little shy, but so cute, we coudn’t resist. We brought her home and she hid under the bed for three days. Now she’s not shy at all, in fact, she never stops expressing her opinion. Mademoiselle Crybaby is what we call her most of the time, so I think her name is Mademoiselle, although we’ve tried a few other things, they haven’t stuck. Once we got her home we noticed that she is getting fat around the middle and I don’t think it’s because of the old can of liver pate that Peter fed her.

  • sunday afternoon

    Sunday_cat_2

    Complacencies of the pajamas, late coffee, and then chocolate cake for lunch.

    Peter’s writing a book. I did a few Christmas cards. Stefan is cleaning up the living room so we can walk and he can go to a birthday party. Camille is doing homework, her spelling list: bouquet, dangereusement, orphelin. I made the african fabric balls for baby gifts. The little one is for the cat, not that she looks interested.

  • out of the frying pan and into the freezer

    Well, chill the vodka. Moscow it is.

    At first we were shocked, in spite of it being number two on our bid list. "How did it end up as number two on our list?" Peter asks me. We can’t stop talking about ballet and salmon and sturgeon and snow and mushrooms and palaces and walks in the forest. Camille is campaigning hard for the Anglo-American school, Stefan says he doesn’t want to go to school at all.

  • garage/house

    House_2After I saw the doll house at Soulemama’s website I started to have a problem. Luckily, Amina introduced me to someone who in a week whipped this out for me. I’m not sure who likes it more, me or Stefan. I love the wide doors in the back, I knew it would be more of a garage than a house. Stefan calls it the 24th house on Rainbow Street.

  • revisiting camazotz

    Wrinkle1big_2My fifth grade teacher read "A Wrinkle in Time" aloud. I loved this book and read it over and over again. Now, I’m reading it aloud to Camille. It’s a little bit of  a slow start for her, but I love the cozy east-coast life the writer settles us into before we take off for the Andromeda galaxy. Today is Madeleine L’Engle’s birthday. From the writer’s almanac:

    Madeleine L’Engle was born in New York City (1918). She struggled to find any success as a writer with novels about ordinary families and ordinary situations, but after reading about the ideas of Albert Einstein, she wrote a science fiction novel called A Wrinkle in Time (1962), about a group of children who have to rescue their father from a planet where individuality has been outlawed. The book was rejected by 26 different publishers, who all felt that the book was too difficult for children but too fantastic for adults. But when it came out in 1962, the novel won the Newbery Medal, and it sells about 15,000 copies a year. L’Engle put a clause in her publishing contract that gave her publisher the rights to A Wrinkle in Time in perpetuity in the whole universe except for the Andromeda galaxy. She died this year.

    Madeleine L’Engle said, "You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children."

    My copy had a much scarier cover. I like this one by Peter Sis much better, but it has its detractors. What was your favorite book in the 5th grade?

  • 20

    Were you there twenty years ago today? Will I regret as deeply what I am wearing today as I regret the styles of the eighties?

    See those two little girls in green velvet? Those are these two. The older one is now a mother, to Tyler, age three weeks.

    Oh well, I figure there are a lot of people who had gorgeous wedding photography during stylistically non-embarrasing times but has their marriage been as happy? Well, maybe yes, but say no. It was a fun day, a gorgeous sunny November day in normally dreary, rainy Humboldt country, California, and it’s been the same ever since.

    Twenty_one

    Twentytwo

  • niger a la mode

    Last night was the high point of the bi-annual four-day fashion fest, Festival International de la mode Africaine or FIMA, it was so beauiful. Wow and wow. Niger’s first lady "madame le primiere dame" was in attendance, (and the reason the show started two hours late, thank you.) Designers from around the world presented their collections on a sandy stage, with gorgeous other-worldly models. FIMA continues through tomorrow, today I’m going to the National Musee to see a special FIMA-related exhibit of regional costumes.

    Fima2

    Etran

    One of the designers used the same music that I used for my movie, Introducing Etran Finatawa. A lot of people comment on how fabulous the music is in the movie, so I wanted to let you know where you can buy their CD. It’s far easier to buy at amazon than to find it here in Niamey, but you may not run into them and get to shake their hands like I did, tee hee. Etran Finatawa just performed in Washington DC, along with Ismael Lo (another Niger-born artist you must check out) and the crowd loved them. Day to Day, the show on NPR also did a piece on Etran Finatawa, which you can listen to here. Peter’s cousin Mike calls Introducing Etran Finatawa CD of the year, which is high praise from a real eclectic music lover.

  • nigerien for turkey

    Niger_turkey
    Just because there are no turkeys in the stores here doesn’t mean you can’t get a turkey. The low, low anasara (white person) price: $30. Probably this really means $10, eventually, after you sit down and have tea with bird man and send your housekeeper to get it later. We almost had mechoui for Thanksgiving–one of Niger’s national dishes, stuffed goat–but some admiral has shown up with four frozen birds, so what can we do?

    When I went to the petit marché to see the turkeys, I kept saying the french word for turkey but they didn’t understand me. I finally gobbled, and believe me, that is the international word for crazy American and they whipped out a turkey right away. Later one of the Nigerien ladies I work with made a really nice turkey sound, more like the sound of a singing turkey or an old fashioned telephone ringing. She’d never heard gobble gobble before and thought it was hilarious. Ah, Thanksgiving.

    It feels more like Thanksgiving to me this year. I think working at the embassy makes a difference. This year I helped coordinate the American community Thanksgiving and the planning and preparation makes a big difference for me. Nothing gets you in the spirit like keeping track of who is bringing what kind of pie and listening to people describe jello salad recipes.

  • ouaga people, ouaga food

    I’m at La Palmaraie in Ouaga. This is my fourth time here so it feels familiar. It’s quiet, the rooms are clean, and the food is good at the restaurant. This morning I had what I call a Polish breakfast consisting of a roll, fatty ham, salami, and cheese, followed by a slice of coffee cake. Papaya and mango.

    I got a lot of what I call, “Oh by the way…” kind of patients. They come in for a medication refill, chat for about 20 minutes, and then on the way out, say, “Oh by the way! I started peeing green this morning. I just thought it might be because I drank Creme D’ Menthe last night. Do you think I should worry about it?” Don’t you think you should have mentioned it before you talked about your godchild in Alaska on a sledding scholarship?!

    At a party at the Ambassador’s with Burkinabé food and live music, I was late getting into the food line. They served a moist green and gray something served with oil and salt on the side. I’m told it’s much better with the hot sauce.

    Our nurse here graciously invited me over to her hotel, Richard, for several lovely meals and good company. I’m in love with one of her ten dogs, Michou – a gentle Salouki. There’s also a really cool store called here called Kalala. They sell locally made art, jewelry, furniture, and sculptures. They had a reception with fabulous food and alcohol. It reminded me of Plaza Design in Arcata, California, African style.

  • buy a doll, build a bathroom, change the world

    Lili_3Dolls are in the etsy shop! The cotton velour is super soft, they are filled with wool roving and Zoure braids their fabulous hair. Some have beads in their hair, some have bracelets or necklaces made from beads from the market, just like the little girls wear here. All the profits go to the American Women’s Club of Niger (AWC) a non-profit all-volunteer organization that supports grassroots efforts for women and children.

    Last year, not only did the AWC help buy a new stove for the orphanage–they were down to two burners and no oven, and they make three meals a day for thirty kids–the AWC also funded projects to build bathrooms at schools.

    Studies have shown that at schools without bathrooms, girls–especially adolescents–go home and don’t come back. In our efforts to bring education to a country with 13% literacy, building bathrooms keeps girls in school. Last year, the AWC funded three projects to build bathrooms for less than $1200 per project. Sadly, we had to turn down proposals for lack of funding– by buying a doll you will make a difference.

    Also consider making a donation to the AWC, your money goes a long way here. Email me for details.

    I took this picture the other day of some girls who live on my street in a hut. Why were they not at school that day?
    Girls