Niger Wildlife

There’s a cockroach in my closet. I know that it is better than a rat in the kitchen, but what cha gonna do? This guy is huge, he has claimed the space and refuses to make the acquaintance of my flip flop. I fear him touching any of my clothing so continue to live out of suitcases that are currently being used at the foot of my bed to stabilize my mosquito net over my foam mattress “bed.” For the moment it is like camping in an empty house.

This weekend was not only the New Year, but also Tabaski, the holiday that commemorates Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son. There were parties everywhere. Sunday morning I was gently awoken from sleep by the call to prayer. I wondered where the local mosque was and where people would be praying, since on the holidays seeing hundreds of people kneeling in reverence is fantastic. I did not think that opening my front door, I would find 8 rows of people the length of a soccer field kneeling in prayer facing me. At least I was in the right direction on the receiving end. I walked around the neighborhood knowing that people were going to be excited about the day and smartly dressed. After being harassed by some cheeky kid selling baguettes, I returned to the house with breakfast. An hour or so later, I exited the house again to find that a veritable slaughter had occurred outside my door. In Senegal, the sacrificing of the ram happens in the house and the meat is prepared to eat right away. Here, they have a slightly different way of going about it. Everyone gathers outside their doors, and the rams are sacrificed together in clusters on the street. The whole community is involved together in the skinning and preparation of the meat. Nothing is wasted and so as I walked around checking out everyone’s meat, I saw many a child standing on a pile of bile, excitedly shaking out the contents of the stomach. The meat is then slow cooked over a fire for 24 hours. It was nothing to see 20 carcasses around a small bonfire. Not the site for a vegetarian, but surely there is nothing closer to organic free range than the meat here. And it was delicious- at least for the first few days… With Christmas, New Years and Tabaski all clustered together, the already loose work ethic of Niger was further exacerbated. Although (I promise) I have been trying to work, things are bit hard when everything is closed for days on end. Having moved into the new house, I have water and electricity, but needed to get a gas can for my little stove top to prepare meals for myself. Unable to do so, I have survived the last few days on baguettes, protein bars, and half rancid meat. I am happy to report that I now have a functional stove top and am looking forward to that morning coffee.

I rang in the new year with some Dutch and Nigeriens. There was dancing to Celine Dion that got everyone so excited we formed a conga line on the porch. We sipped on cokes and lit sparklers to ring in the new year. And then the fireworks began. Sounding like gunshots, and usually being set off by a 5 year old, you are more likely than not to get hit by a bottle rocket. The kid sees the white person, is astonished to see you actually exist and not just in fairy tales, and forgets that they are holding a lit firecracker- pointed directly at you. I would not be surprised if most of the fireworks probably did not meet safety standards in some Western nation and have now been dumped here in Africa. After the holiday my nerves were completely frayed.

And so now for the cricket in my bathroom. He chirps so loudly that the echo is incredible. And the termites in my wall. And the toilet that runs continuously. Is this my introduction to home ownership?

Happy New Year!