For a few weeks, I have had a hard time getting the “words” to write. I found myself several times thinking….”Oh, I am gonna write about this” or “Oh, I should take a picture of this….very interesting” but as you have probably noticed, the words and pictures have not shown up. So, in hopes of getting back “into” it, I thought I would try something and catch you up with snippets….. here are 5 short subjects…….
Little Tuareg boy….The other day, I visited the ward with my bubbles. I had been sick the day before and almost did not go. But I am so glad I did. There was a little boy who had got a fresh cast. The nurses told me that he had been crying since the day before. His mother had communicated that he was in pain. She only spoke tamacheq. Still amazes me that it is nothing for our nurses to speak 3 or 4 languages! I sometimes feel a bit limited, but there is always a way, always something I can do. So, all I could do was pull out my bubbles and Voila….the crying stopped and his mood brightened. He settled and I just enjoyed sitting with he and his mother. I could not communicate at all but the bubbles did it. Time well spent. Wish I had a pic, but alas…I don’t.
Police in sliver helmets leaving the morgue…. So I got caught in an enormous traffic jam on my way to pick the kids up at school. I have to drive by the national Hospital and the Morgue entrance is right where I pass. Every time I go past there are people waiting for a body to be released. But this particular day, there were vehicles and people everywhere. The body needs to be buried within 24 hours, so people come and pick them up, usually wrapped in a mat or in this case clean white sheets. ALL MEN. After the body is picked up, all the cars follow to the cemetery with their hazards flashing. The police decided to jump in and gum up the works too. This was different than most days, I spotted 2 police pick ups with 4 police attendants each….the men were wearing interesting helmets. The helmets were shiny silver and made me think of Battle Star Galactica for some reason (they were not as fancy as the Silons and did not cover their faces or have a red light, ha ha….the things I remember from my sci fi days ).I suppose that they were high profile people, military or police. There were so many people and the parking lot was full so they just parked anywhere willy nilly! I wanted to take a picture, but did not feel that was wise, some officials can get upset and it WAS a funeral procession, besides……I did not have a “get away” plan.
More traffic woes…..I wonder if I will ever stop being surprised by traffic problems and the choices drivers make? I had trouble crossing the bridge after dropping the kids at school one day. Seems like I am always driving somewhere…..well I just sat there in the middle of the bridge wondering what it could be today? Presidential convoy? Dead cow? Broken down taxi? Someone taking a pic of a hippo? Really, it does not take much to bring things to a stand still…….So when I got going….ALLI it was, an abandoned donkey cart full of wood. At least it was in the morning and I was fairly fresh and amused by all of the crazy motos …….
The duck will run and we’ll laugh…. have had a great time playing with the kids at Le Jardin D’enfants L’etoile. The person that is IT takes a flip flop and marches on the outside of the circle and sings “Le canard va courir” and the rest of the people playing, sing back “ Nous allons y rire” and the child puts the flip flop behind someone and that person has to pick up the flip flop and chase…if they catch the person or fling the shoe at them and hit them the “duck” (canard) has to sit in the middle. Sound sort of familiar? The kids LOVE to pick Tauntie Fana or Tauntie Giselle….
Could not finish this without mentioning the past few sand storms….. it is about time for the rains to come, and they have in some out lying areas. Nothing substantial here, just some muggy weather, sprinkles, thunder and dirty wind….. I just love rain and it is so hard to wait, but it will come…we (Niger) NEED rain. SOON! Have not had a good rain since last September? The first few will be ushered in with big sand storms that will drop wet sand…..weird, I know. But, to me….cool especially when the sky glows orange….I am sure these pictures will not do it justice. They were taken about 6 PM and t here was so much dust in the air that I could not get a good picture. You can actually see the particles of sand. Not much of a glow, but not what the sky should look like at dinnertime.
