27-2-12

Sannu! (Hausa for hello!)

I woke up last night at 1am Niger time which was about 6pm MN time.i was starving! Almost like I was craving dinner :) apparently sleep and food cycles take a while to adjust! So I ate a granola bar but couldn't fall back asleep for another 2 hours.

The 615 alarm clock rolled around way to quickly. I actually didn't even hear the alarm go off, or Jill say the alarm went off, or Alison getting ready. Instead I heard the rooster that hangs around the compound cock-a-doodle doo! Haha. I was so tired it took a rooster to wake me up!

We ended up leaving Niamey at 8am. The trip was long but very interesting. We saw a bunch of giant termite hills, handmade huts built off the ground on stilts to store grain (it stays clean and the animals can't eat it if it's off the ground), tons and tons of African villages, each with their own Mosque, goats were everywhere! The cutest ones would stand on their hind legs to eat the leaves off the trees (yes... There are trees here! Who knew), camels and baby camels just roaming around. They hobble them by tying their front legs together so they can't run away too fast. Homes made of clay that look like Hershey kisses, donkeys pulling water up from the well, little kids like 3 years old playing with each other... No sign of parents anywhere, markets selling everything and anything... Red onions are a big crop here so they sell them by the bag which weighs 100 kilos!, they also sell black market gasoline in old whiskey or run bottles which people actually buy because they don't trust they are getting the amount told at gas stations. We saw women and even young girls walking around carrying anything from a pile of wood to bowls or trays on top of their heads and making it look easy. They can even turn their head and look around without it even wavering!

We accidentally hit a goat with the suv going very slowly, but fast enough to break his leg in half... It was sad. But he will most likely be dinner tonight:(

We also had some car trouble, which I am not surprised by at all considering the roads are either paved (close to Niamey), partially paved and partially dirt or all dirt! Makes for a bumpy trip. Anyway, our belt for the alternator broke but thankfully for some reason there were 2 on there so we still made it.

Traffic again was a nightmare. People drive however they want. Our driver, Aiyumba, kept honking his horn to warn people a fast vehicle was coming.

We checked into our brand new guest house in Danja at about 7pm (11hr trip total). Alison and I are sharing a room. After tossing our bags into our room we went to eat dinner at another missionary who teaches a bible camp, Tom and his families home. Dinner was really good.

After a long day, I am exhausted and planning on sleeping well tonight. I will write again soon about my first day in the clinic!

Sai Angema (see you later in Hausa)

Love,

Kaitlin