Pictures

Ok, I know I'm lazy, so here is a direct link to my "Africa" album on Photobucket. And don't forget to click on the Giraffe album most of the pictures are from Mom and Jim's visit in Feburary but the newest one is from November!

Niger Africa Photo Album

Something to ponder...

This was my view out the back of my bush taxi this morning...


ONLY in africa!!!

I've also updated my books I've read in Niger list on the right of my blog ----->

I give up!!

Well I got back to my village Tuesday 06/16 and found out soon after I left my baby sheep got his head stuck in the fince and died....gah..it seems everytime i leave the village something of mine dies...

Babies babies everywhere!!!!!!

I'm horrible at updating this thing. Sorry guys. But I have new pictures to show!!

These guys hatched on May 30th theres 7 of them total


This guy was born June 8th

Pumps and Sickness...

So I've been stuck in Niamey for 5 days and a week in Maradi before that... It all started with a fervor in my village, it didn't go away after a day so i came into Maradi a week before i planned and ended up with Amoebic and bacterial disentry which total took me about 6 days to get over and i was super weak after(couldn't stand up for 1 min w/o feeling exhausted). The day I felt well enough to eat again(last Friday) I woke up and my legs had turned a dark red purple color... peace corps made me come into Niamey because of this which totally sucked!! It ended up being a drug reaction to the amoeba meds so I've been in Niamey for 5 days while my legs slowly turned Un-purple. So finally they are allowing me to return to Maradi.

While I was in my village before all the sickness World Vision came to my village and drilled to put in a hand pump in my village. The village had to pay 100,000Fcfa as their contribution to get the pump. I have probably missed some of the process in these 2 weeks I've been away on sick hold so well see when i get back whats going on.






There have also been a lot of weddings in my village lately and heres a picture of them putting the roof on one of the new couples houses!! They mix the mud on the ground and do a kind of conveyer system to get it up there and in place.


And heres a picture of my friend's 11th child (her 6th) as just over a month old!! Mom got to see him when he was only a day old.

It's been cold outside in the mornings so I set just inside my door and read instead of laying in my hammoc. Dodo sleeps on my lap while i read.


There have been some weddings in my village. And before the wedding the house is built by the men and the women put clay in the house and wet it and dance inside the house so that the house has a hard flatish flooring. This is some of the dancing just outside the house.


This is the kind of thing i see on my bush walk from my village to the main road during dry season. The camels are gone during rainy/farming season because the nomadic herders take all their animals north in to the Sahara because they would eat all the growing millet and sorghum and beans if they were left in the area.

Pictures

New addition to my zoo. Shes pregnant so ill have a new adition in the next 3 or so months (gestation is 5 months in sheep and goats)


Ofcorse the filtered water inside isn't good enough for him.


More new additions but I didnt buy these...theres 6 total.


And its building season in my village this wall is going up on the outskirts of the village and eventually itll be a whole house for someone in the villages son who is moving back from Nigeria.

The two guys in the photos are 2 of my friends and Uncle and Nephew (the one in red is the Uncle).

Right now is watermellon season in my area of niger (50K stretch of road) and this is what all the villages on the road look like!



I go to bed some nights sloshing from all the watermellon my villagers gave me that night!

Merry Christmas

So santa came and visited us at the hostle!


And he brought us all stockings!!


I decorated our lime tree for our christmas tree! Some ornament improvising was done!



Maradi Family Picture!!


And Ousmane petite with a christmas tree hat on!


We woke up sunday morning (some with hangovers) and opened gifts sent from home and then cooked all day getting ready for our hamburger x-mas dinner. We did secret santa before dinner each opening the gifts one at a time so everyone can see what everyone else got! We had a 2000Fcfa price limit and had to be bought in Niger (not from a care package) and a LOT of realy great things were bought!


Thought id add some more pictures

Heres 2 pictures of my village tailors.
Abdou


Chietou(Shy-e-too)




Its watermellon season in my area of Niger. This is what i call my Bush Fridge. Its the clay thing i keep my water in so that its nice and cold all year round.

Well heres a picture of the New kids and all the Maradi people that went to swear in!


And to the COSers!! Well Miss you guys!



Maradi!


Ag/NRM '07