I Love This Country

There's nothing I love more than lying on my millet stock bed, in my mud house...with my stomach aching like crazy...going to my hole, err bathroom, every few minutes...feeling like I'm going to vomit. All this knowing I have to walk 2 hours the next morning to catch a bush taxi...to get to Niamey...to see my doctor. Too sick to cook I was eating up all the granola bars that just came in a care package from my dear Grandma. Oh, and Nigeriens pounding on my door all day and night Tuesday to greet and bless me on my health. And its 110 degrees. Amoebic Dysentery, Bacteria, and bleeding from the intestines, aka shitting blood. I love this country.

Other than thinking I'm dying, what have I been up to? A few weeks ago Barbara and Elyse came out to my village to help me paint a world map on my school. Went well, got the map painted. Unfortunately, when they were around my gas tank was having some problems, well not really working at all. So the solution? We cooked over a 3-rock stove. I kind of felt like a circus act as what felt like the entire village came to watch me cooking over fire. But we were still able to make pretty normal food: tuna samosas, zhatar bread, tortillas, potato chips. And since I just bought a dutch oven, I was able to make bread! My villagers were all doubting me when I was putting it in, but an hour later it was like magic- a loaf of bread came off the fire!



Anything else? I painted the door on my house lavender. My villagers are jealous and even want their door painted too. See new pictures I've posted. So, as soon as my stomach returns back to a normal state I'm getting out of Niamey and back to the life au village.