(My dog Miles)Greetings and Salutations,
(Falkor - my 4-year-old Nigerien camel)
(Falkor the luckdragon from Fantastica)
His name is Falkor of course - the white luckdragon from Neverending Story. The background on that is that everyone in my village calls me Atreyu. This is due to the fact that I may have made up a little white lie and told my villagers that that's what people call me back home in America. I felt like it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to fabricate a cool made-up name and not get called out on it - and after some intelligence gathering I discovered that Hausa folk can pronunciate Atreyu better than say "Hulk Hogan". So, now when little kids see the white guy walking down the street they yell "A-tweh-wii!" and wave. Awesome.
Falkor's nose is a little bloody and covered in flies in the photo above because he got his nose ring caught on a branch and struggled to get it out. The nose ring acts as place to attach rope and keep the camel under control. Getting tugged by your nostril via a ring hurts so it's a good way to stop them from taking off while your on their backs. I've been on him a few times and I'm starting to get the hang of it. He's only 4 so he's young and still needs to be broken in some, but he's been pretty well behaved so far - minus getting thrown off twice. I was out on some tilled farmland and just got a little bruised.
I'm a little tired this morning. Two of my best friends here, Kristen Bates and Lauren Schroff, are leaving Niger this upcoming Thursday to travel the world before they move back Stateside. So, we were out last night at "the night market bar" to enjoy each other's company before we go our separate ways. As you might have deduced this mystery bar is right next to the night market - this interesting market that sells a lot of clothing and uses black lights for illumination. We closed the place down and now my body feels like it's also closing down. Those guys will be dearly missed and I wish them all the best as the make their way around the globe.
We saw the giraffes again driving towards the capital. I was about 40 feet away for this shot. They were a bit timid as we were walking up to them to take photos, but they stood their ground when they got behind the trees. Those trees are probably 12-14 feet high.
Jamilu and Falkor. Jamilu is one of the chief's kids and he's probably 5 years old. I live with the chief's family so his family helps me out with the camel. Sometimes Jamilu doesn't wear pants - it's hot here. And also, that's how you get on a camel. Not without pants, but after they lie down.
The old guy in the middle-right is one of the funniest men in Niger. He's the proud owner of the Konni tree nursery and is one cantankerous little man. He typically forgets to finish his sentences during business negotiations leaving the customer quite unsure as to what is going on. That's where his 3 sons in the photo come in for damage control. It's a funny system, but it works nonetheless. My friend Katy Miller and I did a radio show a couple weeks back and we did a 20 minute unedited interview (in Hausa) with him in order to share his story. We found out his name is Maman, he's been working there for about 60 years, and he has 8 kids. And we discovered the prices of all of his saplings. And that was about it! For 20 minutes he selectively answered questions and kept reciting sapling variety prices. E.g. "So, Maman why did you start working in a tree nursery?" I would ask. And Maman replied, "We have trees! Neem is 50 cfa. Mango is 200 cfa. Lemon is 100 cfa. Guava is 50 cfa," and on an on. Obviously, Katy and I were having a difficult time hiding our smiles at the humerous situation; and stressing about the lack of information for our radio show. My personal favorite was my attempt at getting Maman to give directions to the listening audience on the whereabouts of his nursery. "Maman, if someone doesn't know where your place is how would they get there?" I asked. "It's here! It's right here! (He is pointing to the trees.) We have neem, mango, lemon, guava," he replies. I interrupt, "But say someone lives in the bush and doesn't know Konni, how would they walk here?" Maman answers, "It's here! It's here! Look at all of our trees! (Again giving me the visual cue of pointing to his trees) You can get neem seeds, mango seeds, lemon seeds..." You get the idea. And of course his sons help him out and interject with the location of the nursery - right next to the only hospital in Konni. The radio show was great. We played some local music from Niger and Mali, spoke some Hausa, played Maman's interview, and laughed the whole time.
Here's the view westward towards Konni from atop a mesa just outside Rawfi. This was taken about 3 weeks ago so the ground is surely greener. We're in the heart of rainy season and everyone is out in the fields tilling the soil surrounding their crops. Days like this when the sky is clouded over are very rare in Niger and very welcome. The temperature drops about 20 degrees and it feels amazing.
Miles hikes. Please don't be alarmed at his emaciated body - pretty much all dogs that live in Nigierien bush villages look like that as they're at the very end of the food scraps chain. I give him big meals when I'm around, but I'm out of the village so much that I can't make much of a difference. Appearance aside, he's seems pretty healthy. He's the fastest dog I've ever seen, and he regularly leaps up my 6'5" security walls to see if I'm eating. All this after a compound fracture in his left hind leg about a year ago. He's the best. I almost forgot. I named him Miles partly because I wanted him to be named after a jazz musician, but also because he followed me 7 km to the main road the first time I left the village to catch a bus.
Here's a 360-degree video of the view atop that mesa. Pardon the not-so-steady cam - I'm attempting to balance atop a boulder.
ALRIGHT. TAKE IT EASY EVERYONE. THANKS TO THOSE WHO SENT ME AN E-MAIL AFTER MY LAST BLOG. KEEP 'EM COMING: matthewtgraf@yahoo.com. IT'S REALLY GREAT TO HEAR FROM YOU.
MATT
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