Vie Quotidienne

Daily Life

We are routine people.  Human nature being what it is, we are no different in Niamey.  We are up at 6:15 – walk at 6:20 for ~50 minutes.  We would like to do an hour but even at that time of day the humidity makes it a challenge.  Actually we are just grateful that we are able to exercise.  Coffee, devotions, and breakfast of cereal and milk and then our workday begins.

Elgin is helping with fiscal year end accounting tasks and Sally runs errands with the staff for supplies or does odd jobs around the center.  Errands entail going to many different “stores” – sort of stores, more like kiosks – often not being able to get exactly what one is looking for.

Food seems plentiful in the city but we are told that the drought like conditions does cause big hunger issues in the more rural areas.

The city street markets are full of fresh tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, papaya, onions, bananas, watermelon, apples and oranges.  Mango season is June – August so we missed that.  I’m told broccoli season is comingJ  We stop at least 3 grocery stores every time we go – stock is limited and you can’t always get what you want.  There is only one store that sells the cereal we like and it is often out so I am learning to buy several boxes at a time!  Then another store has the bread we like.  And so it goes.

Beef i.e. hamburger is used a lot.  Actually the food is much like a Minnesota hot dish – pasta, rice or potatoes, with vegetables, meat and some kind of sauce to hold it all together.  Every meal seems similar to the one before.  So not exciting food but we are managing.

I am now cooking – very simple things – boring things actually.  I had Michele send me a banana bread recipe, as the bananas get ripe faster than we can eat them.  It calls for Quick Oats and I found it, surprise, surprise.  So I did my first baking but the oven isn’t set the same and I had it too hot.  We ate it but hopefully the next batch will be better.  At home I put chocolate chips in my banana bread and they don’t have those here.  So I cut up chocolate bar – not as good but will have to do.

We just recently hired Hauwa – a beautiful Benin woman – widowed, mother of 7 children - to do some cooking.  She also bleaches the vegetables and sweeps the tile floors and does the laundry – there is a washer but clothes are hung on a line.  Having her cook is wonderful as cooking on a gas stove in this heat is even hotter!!

So from a food standpoint Elgin is surviving, close but still surviving.