Today in Niamey

Red-orange dirt is everywhere. So is the heat. Inside the guest house where i am staying, the thermometer read 95 F @ 6pm yesterday. There are ceiling fans; the floors are tiled; the water is not hot unless you plug in the hot water heater 1\2 hr before you want to have hot water ... but i haven't minded the cool-ish showers at all!

This morning i struck out early, to go across the road (a combination of red dirt and areas of pavement, interspersed like pot-holes) to the 'nice bakery.' i passed by the gekkos who are my only house-mates at this time. they tend to stay outside, scooting along walls and the red-dirt-covered walks, so i have the house (see picture) to myself.

As i leave the gate-guarded yard, i greet the guard/guards (never sure just how many there are) with 'Bon jour; ça va?', trying desperately to remember high school French and not to say 'buenos dias, como estas' or any number of spanish words and full sentences that are right at the tip of my tongue. The languages here are many - French, Hausa, others i don't know how to spell or say. At Galmi, the staff speak french, english and Hausa (likely others too) and i'll have my own interpreter.

So to cross the road: reminds me of that old video game frogger. again, not unlike any number of places i've been and will likely be again. i was told 'you know it's a nice bakery because a lot of people with cars go there.' i didn't care, since for me with no car, it is nearby ... and it was quite good. Good, though not unique - i have tasted the same variations on a white-flour-with-sugar-on-top-and-some-other-flavor all over the world: bolivia, peru, london, guatemala, zambia, now niger (say: knee-jhair. good) so in some ways, i don't feel much culture shock at all.

The morning was a prayer meeting and small Bible study with staff at SIM (parent organization for Galmi Hospital) office. i walked there after the bakery... more red dirt, more 'bon jours', and walled yards/homes with guards outside. Then, some administrative arrangements, then to the small grocery, again near to the house and office. My favorite items (that i cannot believe we export such that they are in a tiny grocery store in Niamey, Niger) were: Red Bull Energy Drink, Dove soap, Nestle products of all kinds, and Soliel razors for women.

By far the highlight of my time here so far has been spending time with some Americans here who i heard of through Cheryl Dyer (omaha friend): Jeremy and Susan Beebout, and their girls Lydia and Liza. we connected on all sorts of things -- life, medicine, the nations, church and missions. they are delightful, hospitable and i am so! grateful for their friendship.

i go to Galmi tomorrow by small plane. then the work begins...