Sucker

I think that it has to be written on my forehead. Like a sign to anyone who didn't interpret my white skin as the sign of a foreigner, the word "sucker" must be there somewhere, setting the tone for interactions. Trying to negotiate this city to find a house has so far been an adventure I care not to repeat. Somehow I have made it this far in life never having to look for housing and negotiate contracts with landlords on my own. I have always moved in with friends or looked for housing with a group of people. And so here I am- on my own, and going it solo for the first time in French- a language where I understand approximately 70% of what people say to me on a good day. And so enter the lisping landlord that speaks French like he is shooting off rocket missiles. Unfortunately for me, the legal affiars between landlords and tenants are best realized when both parties understand the minutia. Not being armed with the 2 required conditions for good bargaining in Niger-- (1) the conviction to walk away and face the tiring process all over again; (2) the knowledge of the general going price for things-- I am fully at the mercy of the middle men and the proprietor. It leaves me frustrated and with the question, just where on the I'm-Getting-Screwed Spectrum am I?

It is certainly not a question of if, but how badly am I being worked over. In order to find a house to rent here, you go through middlemen. Most of your interactions are with them, and they then speak to the proprietor on your behalf. In the meantime, everyone is trying to make a buck. Seems that I have fallen in love with a house (eliminating condition #1 for good bargaining) and am being lied to by the middle men. It doesn't help that the middle men talk amongst themselves in Hausa and then look at me and address their next plan of attack in French. Frustrated with my lack of vocabulary, I have to stop them from time to time and repeat back what I have understood. Basically, this process just continues to reinforce for them that I am clueless. I am trying (much to their dismay) get the contact information for the proprietor so that we can speak directly, although with that incredible lisp...Hopefully, the house will work out. If not, c'est la vie- or certainly a part of it living here in Niamey. I am learning though, as my new favorite phrase in French is Il est con- he is a dickhead.