Mud pit

Get Wet

As promised.... here's a picture of the slip n' slide with a video clip below.



It was a glorious, glorious day.

Not much to add since my last installment. I'm back to New England for 3 weeks come Sept. 21st! On the horizon: late-season barbeques, Kenny's wedding, Green Mountain hikes, maybe a ball game, and a little business.

I've got a couple of photos and a video to add. Everything's super green around my village right now, and these photos were taken from a giant boulder on a hill in the millet fields just oustide Rawfi. I often walk to this spot to relax.

Bing Bang Boom

(My dog Miles)

Greetings and Salutations,

I'm back in the capital for another installment of Grafrica. This time I needed to run a few errands in Niamey, and also get my hands on some dough. We get paid about $240 a month here - about enough to take the family skiing on Saturday morning, right? But we're in Niger and that amount goes a long way, so while we're often short on funds it's no big deal. Well, we get paid for two months of stipend at a time; and as soon as I had that money in my hand I spent it - on my camel.

(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.

(Jadi - the chief's cousin on the left, the chief (Jafaru or Lulu) in white, Jamilu - one of the chief's kids on his side, one of 4 women's leaders or "kungiya" behind them, and Don Talu in the background between the chief and the kungiya - one of the chief's kids. Salisu is hidden between the kungiya and the camel - also one the the cheif's kids. Basically, I said I wanted a photo of the camel and people came running to get in on it. The chief is about 5' 8" giving the camel some scale. Hah, and the camel is taking a whiz if you look closely.)

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're thinking of starting a gang and/or becoming supermodels for UNESCO. That's Lauren on the left, Travis Masser in the middle, and Cristen on the right.)

Onward to the photo section! FYI. Hausa people say "hoto" not "photo"... There's a lot of weird English rooted words in Hausa due to the British colonization of Nigeria (the Hausa homeland). A couple of examples: A piece of bubble gum is called "chiingum" after chewing gum. And a car is called "mota" after motor.

HOTO!

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

Choke holds and Photos

Grafica's Back!

Hey everyone,

Long time no blog, eh? I've spent the last 2 months avoiding responsibility (for the most part) and enjoying my friends in Niger. I was back in Konni - where I've been living the past year-and-a-half. To break it down, Konni is the nearest city to my village and it's also where our regional Peace Corps hostel is. Rawfi, my village, is about 20 km-or-so away from Konni (and amazingly enough it takes over an hour to get there from my village via the market car). I know I've stated this before, but I thought I'd say it again for clarity's sake.

Yup, so I was back in Konni trying to get back to work and also sweating out the last gasp of hot-season. Not too eventful. I think the period highlight was our perennial summer solstice party in which we constructed a 40-foot-long slip-n-slide complete with pool at the end. It was my brainchild - and nothing short of awesomeness. Of course the plastic was placed on top of a combined padding unit of mattresses and grass mats. Top-speed head first dives in the manner of Jose Reyes (you old-timers need to check this kid out). We even had a ramp that launched us into the pool. For the most parts the injuries consisted of scrapes and bruises. Well worth it.

And after the plastic was ripped to shreds from overuse we proceeded to turn the pool into a mud wrestling pit. It's the longest day of the year you've got to go for it, ya know? Well, we found out that this one girl from my cluster in Konni named Claudia is an absolute beast. And we also learned that former military guys take backyard BBQ mud wrestling seriously. I was made aware of the latter when Crazy Matt (a former Army guy) put me in a completely unexpected larynx asphyxiating tap-out choke-hold. But as fate would have it we soon learned of the force that is Claudia when she dominated Crazy Matt in the mud pit and inadvertently (perhaps) took both he and his shorts down. This lead to a mud-brown white man quite literally streaking for cover.

Surely there's a picture of it (the slip-n-slide) somewhere. I'll keep my eyes open and try to post it.

Mmm hmm. I'm a doctor! No not really, but sort of. No that's not true either. But I am currently the newest member of the staff at the Konni hospital. Some of you are aware that I'm interested in a career in medicine... blindly searching for something to do with my life is probably more accurate. Experience! Why not try it out and see if I enjoy it, right? So, I've spent three days there shadowing one of the nurses at the adult clinic and my oh my I have seen some things. Patient confidentiality doesn't really exist here, and that's glaringly obvious when I (the foreigner with absolutely no medical training or credentials) am present for the consultations. Malaria, typhoid, tuberculosis, hernia, HIV, something resembling elephantitis of the testicle (I kid you not, it was actually a case of hydrocele), attempted suicide, and an insane guy in need of a shot of sedative. Yeah. This is not your average American health clinic. So, that's been an interesting new assignment for me and I'm looking forward to continue volunteering there for next 6 months. After I get to see the inner workings of the hospital (and I use hospital very loosely because there's only one surgeon present for the entire hospital - such is medical care in a small city in Niger) I'll likely find some way to lend a hand.

PHOTOS!

Niger vs. Nigeria in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match. In Africa, this tourney is bigger than the world cup. And this match was held in Niamey. Unfortunately, Nigeria is a soccer powerhouse and Niger is a soccer outhouse. Nigeria won 3-1, but it was a lot of fun.

Fulani boys! Pardon all the exclamation points. I've been on the computer all day working on a graduate school application. So... Fulani boys! Fulanis are an ethnic group of pastoralists found all over the Sahel in West Africa. These young guns were walking by the village and allowed me to take some photos. Some of them are wearing their everyday out-in-the-field-herding-cattle-gear while others are dressed up. There's an annual celebration where the young men get together to show off their bravery by getting done-up, taking off their shirts, and getting whacked very hard in the chest by those wooden sticks. The sticks are for whacking the livestock, usually. While procuring welts these young men keep a vibrant smile on their face to show that they can take the pain.

Friends of mine at the Niger/Nigeria soccer match.






Giraffes! There aren't many in Niger, but there are some. And while heading back to Konni one morning we saw them hanging out on the side of the road. Notice how the giraffe on the far left is trying to align his lips with my Red Sox cap. He knows who to love...







My neighbors the teachers - Abdoullaye, Adema, and their son Aboubacar. They are two of the three teachers in my village, and I spend a fair amount of time at their place hanging out and eating meals.








The new well in action! This is the well I helped create in Rawfi. The logs are there so that the rope wears down the logs and not the cement mouth of the well when the women are pulling up water.







The locals call them wild camels. I don't get it.

Pre-game dance session in the Nigeria section.

Niger draws even (1-1) in the second half!

A Rawfi lady pulling water with her child on her back.

HOPE EVERYONE'S DOING WELL AND ENJOYING THE SUMMER. Send me an e-mail (matthewtgraf@yahoo.com) some time.

Matt

Back in the desert

Well, that was probably the craziest trip I've ever been on. Let's recap: Niamey to Paris to Barcelona to Seville to Cadiz to Barcelona to Paris to Burlington to Paris to Casablanca to Niamey (in 32 days). My head's still kind of twirling from the experience, but I'm really happy to be back in Niger. As hard as it is to live here I wouldn't be anywhere else.

Vermont... difficult to return under the circumstances. But the silver lining was seeing all you guys. Lots of love.

Matt

P.S. A few photos from the trip.

How could you possibly not stay at this hotel?

The cathedral in Seville.

There's this beautiful old palace in Seville called the Alcazar. This shot was taken in the basement bath. Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcazar_of_Seville

A Catalan town in France near the border with Spain (on the Mediterranean side). A train connection dropped me here for a few hours, so I wandered around for a bit and found a bar. It was beautiful, and if I ever find myself back in that part of the world I'll be returning.

Alright. Vacation's been cool, but I'm off to work...

España

" Bien!"

Plaza de Los Toros, Sevilla, Espana - April 24th, 2007

Hey, from Seville. It's beautiful here and the fair is the real deal. It seems like the entire city gets dressed up and attends every night - and nobody goes home until 4am. I give it my certified seal of approval.

The corridor outside the bullring . The dress is typical for the week of 'feria'.

A view of the bullring from inside.

At the fair. Tons of people of people arrive by horse, either atop or by carriage.

The fair at night. This is 1 of probably 20 streets that look like this.

The bullfight was great. It really was. I think you need the somache for it, but if you do... it's a feast for the eyes. They typically have 6 fights including 6 matadors and 6 bulls. It's all very ritualized with costumes, stages of the fight, and musical accompaniment. I'll spare you the in-depth description, but I would like to share one the of the fights...

The 4th fight of the afternoon featured a famous matador from Colombia named Cesar Rincon. His bull was large and black. They're all large (about 500 pounds), but this one seemed to be more fierce and active than the previous ones. By the time the matador enters the fight the bull is severely injured in the hump of his upper-back. This is to weaken his back muscles and thus make his upward thrust of the horns less powerful (and less lethal). The matador is the one who gets very close to the horns for an extended period of time.

The matador, Rincon, is obviously quite gifted and is having his way with the bull in very close proximity. The bull is in a trance following his cape, and that feeling of entrancement is contagious in the audience. And then all of a sudden...

... Rincon get goared and thrown in the air. And the bull briefly attacks him while he's on the ground. At this point the rest of Rincon's companions enter the ring and attract the bull away from Rincon. He was obviously goared and seemed to land akwardly on his head when he finally hit the ground. Critically injured seemed to be the appropriate diagnosis.

His companions helped him off the ground and Rincon could barely stand-up. They cleaned the blood off his face and clothes (I assumed this was mostly from the bull's back) and began to direct the matador away from the ring. Rincon started pushing his companions away from him and stumbling toward the bull - he desired to finish the fight. His companions repeatedly pulled Rincon away, but Rincon repeatedly pushed back. He was going to continue.

The matador eventually stumbled towards his cape and sword, got his balance back, took a deap breath and reentered the fight. It was a moving example of courage. The crowd has half silent in disbelief and half on their feet cheering the matador on. Personally, I thought the guy was going to die so seeing him grab his sword and stare the bull-down pretty much blew me away. The matador looked like he could fall over at any moment, and all the while the injured yet able bull was within 15 yards. The matador got in place and reengaged. Rincon had complete control the rest of the fight and finished in style. The crowd went absolutely nuts when the bull finally fell to his knees. Everyone rose to their feet with applause and dozens of hats were thrown into the ring. An official in costume then entered the ring and cut off the bulls ears for Rincon. Rincon circled the ring toting the bulls ears and bowing to the audience...

... and I was physically exhausted from the experience.

I'm off to explore the city some more. ADIOS!

Matt

P.S.

St. Paddy's Day

Hello Again.

What's happening? Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone. Hopefully you all got your fill of corned beef and cabbage and perhaps a Guiness or two. I'm currently in the capital having just attended the 'swear-in' ceremony for the new volunteers in Niger. It's a chance for the new kids to meet all of us, and also a chance for all the current volunteers to be in one place at the same time. It's a semi-annual thing. But alas, that time has come and gone so I must return to the village.

The past few months have been pretty busy. The women's garden is doing really well. There are over a hundred rectangular irrigation plots filled with cabbage, onions, carrots, and tomatos. The women have made the most of the garden and should make a large profit to invest in seeds and materials for next year. Also, the chief has given us a permanent piece of land to use so we can plant fruit trees and live-fencing (e.g. thorny trees that livestock won't walk through) for next year. I've got my fingers crossed that the garden really takes off. It's a good soure of income generation.

The other big thing I've been working on is the construction of a new well. I'm not in my village to see it, but it should be just about finished. I was lucky enough to find some grant money from Rotary International that was intended for use in the Birni N'Konni area, but ultimately went unused. So after I got my greasy fingers on it I went running around making contacts, getting estimates on costs, and finally getting the materials and laborers out there. And now I can proudly say there's a team of 5 men constructing a new well in my village. The villagers have a big role to play in the construction as well. They're responsible for providing sand, water, and rocks to add to the cement. And they're also providing food and shelter to the workers. Once again, I've been greatly impressed and inspired by their hard work and motivation. Men have been getting up at dawn to help with well construction before they head out to their gardens. And the women have more water to pull and more millet to pound for the well masons. If money and materials are left from this project we're planning on fixing the preexisting two wells in the village. So, I need to get back to Rawfi to sort all that out.

I'm off to Europe for a month come mid-April. Look for me in Paris, Barcelona, and Sevilla. And also keep your eyes open for a trendier, more liberal blog.

CHEERS,

Matt

P.S. PHOTOS!!! and even VIDEO!!!!

This is where the big guy rests his bones - that would be me. Sorry about the funny angle. You should be able to enlarge it and give it the ole 90-degree treatment. That's my bug-net hanging from the ceiling. Ciment floor, mud brick walls, and a log/mud roof. Dig it.

This is the daily afternoon routine at the women's garden. It is irrigated completely by hand. Next to the wells they construct water ways which carry the water to plots. After a plot is flooded they simply take a handful of mud and close it off, allowing the next plot receive water. It's not the most efficient process invented, but it's inexpensive and it works.

Kids hanging out in Konni. The girl in the middle is one of our guard's daughters. She's probably about 10-years-old. She's Fulani/Tuareg/Hausa. The boy on the far left is a Hausa boy. And the rest are Wadabi (a certain group of Fulani) kids. There's a large Wadabi family that lives next to our hostel and this shot was taken on the street, just outside their walls.

Three young men in Konni hanging out drinking tea. That's a small radio in the man's hand on the left. And that's a tea-glass in the man's hanf on the right. They look like American shot glasses here because they drink their tea super-concentrated with a ton of sugar. Drinking a full shot glass will make your head spin a little bit.

Here's a glimpse of the women's garden in Rawfi. It was a pretty dusty afternoon, so the light is kind of dim. Most of the green you'll see is cabbage. This was taken several weeks ago and the garden has grown substantially since then.

This is Saratu - one of the chief's countless kids. We were cleaning up my hut and listening to tunes when the music took us over. That's Curtis Mayfield's "Move on up" in the background.

Here's a video of several women pulling water for the garden. Pretty uneventful, but thought you might like to see some Hausa ladies doing their thing.

P.P.S. Now that I've figured out how to get video on the blog expect some more in the future. Adios.

A New Year. A New Blog.

Happy New Year from Rawfi!

2007 has been kind to me so far. I find myself in the capital (Niamey) on a short weekend break from my new duties as a Peace Corps Trainer. A new group of 37 volunteers has arrived to Niger and I've been assigned to helping them get acclimatized. So for the past week it's been cafeteria, electricity, and running water - with a heavy dose of naive questions. Getting coddled at the training site has its perks.
It was a year ago that I arrived here, and it's a TRIP to come back to Hamdallaye (the training site) with the new volunteers. It actually felt strange (the first night they all arrived) to be hanging out with Americans who haven't been living in Niger. Their eyes, their humor, and their energy all felt foreign to me. The old cliche of having come full circle applies rather nicely here.
I got to spend most of December out in my little Hausa village. And since December really brings in the cold-season it was heavenly out there. The garden I've been working on with the women's groups is doing really well. We've got a ton of cabbage, onions, and carrots. By the time I return to Rawfi most of the plants will have be transplanted from their seed beds to the field.
I felt like my language skills really improved in December. Spending extended periods of time out there I really get integrated into the village - and it's language. Whereas I would get tired earlier on trying to keep up with the conversations around me, it's much easier to follow what people are saying. And as a result, I can socialize longer without getting tired. It took about a year, but I really feel comfortable speaking Hausa now. (It feels amazing to write that down.)
Christmas was spent out in Zinder with my friends in the Peace Corps. And while I was missing Vermont and my family, we did have a nice pot-luck on Christmas day. After returning to Konni I spent New Year's Day out in Rawfi. The Muslim holiday of Tabaski (Eid ul-Adha in Arabic) was celebrated right around New Year's Day so I got to attend the prayer service at our outdoor mosque. It was actually really cold and windy that morning, and visibility was at a minimum due to all the dust and sand in the air. The above picture was taken the morning of Tabaski - I got all dressed up in local clothes for the holiday. The village chief is right behind me in the photo. People who can afford to slaughter livestock, typically sheep, on Tabaski. So as we slumbered and talked on mats all day, we ate fresh meat and drank strong green tea.
Shortly after the New Year I came to Niamey for a training on "how to train trainees". And now I find myself in the midst of that training. I'll be spending 5 more days with the group before I return to Konni. So the plan is to fatten up on the cafeteria food as much as possible and then hibernate in my village for a while. It will be really nice to get back to Rawfi, where the pace of life is at a standstill compared to Niamey.

ON TO THE PHOTOS!

Sorry about the angle. Here's Rawfi's imam giving the Tabaski prayer.

Say hello to the chief's new baby. I gave her the name Emily, and it has actually stuck! Believe it or not Emily sounds like a Hausa word so it bridged the language gap pretty well.

A local Hausa girl in a neighbouring village. This was taken at a traditional wrestling match - a big sport in the Nigerien bush.








The Band, who kept the wrestling match hopping.









The chief and I on Tabaski.








Rawfi's friday mosque. (Friday's the Muslim holy day. And this mosque, by far the largest in Rawfi, is used for the Friday service.)

Niger's not all fun and play (wink): A couple of weeks ago some friends and I toured the local beer factory (Biere Niger). We soon found out Yousef the tour-guide loves drinking while giving the tour. And we also discovered a free and steady source of unfiltered, fresh Biere Niger coming out of a hose in the room pictured above. It was nothing short of a small miracle.

Salt cures and SIDA

Ramadan in Rawfi. (October 2006)

What's happening?

The AIDS bike ride was a success, and now I'm living the good life in the capital. I hope everyone had a sweet Thanksgiving. Feel free to mail me the leftovers.

I'm gonna try and post a ton of photos here, so pardon the short greeting. Special thanks to Katy Miller (my neighbour here in Africa). I'm using some photos of hers from the Cure de Salee festival we traveled to back in September. Enjoy.

Here's the big crowd at the Cure de Salee. This festival takes place in Ingal, Niger - southwest of Agadez. It's a yearly festival that takes place at the end of rainy season. The nomadic Tuareg and Fulani men come to this area to let their cattle graze on the grasses, which happen to have a uniquely abudant amount of salt. Then they get dressed up and party.

The men in the background are atop their camels. I can't help but focus in on the German guy at the bottom of the photo. That hat is magical.

Here's a Tuareg guy with the Mr. Big Stuff camel gear. This festival serves as a chance for the well-to-do Tuaregs to show off their wealth. The camel and all that leather on it are very pricey for the average Tuareg man. This nomad is loaded.

These are young Wadabi men lined up for a song. This is a long standing tradition in which Wadabi men dress-up for the unmarried girls and show off their stuff through song and dance. Bright white eyes and teeth will attract their attention, and if they're lucky a girl will select him.

Here's my friend Kate and I with some well-dressed Tuareg ladies. The Tuaregs are from Berber descent and have a distinctive appearance. Their language sounds more like Arabic than anything sub-Saharan.

Three Wadabi men.

A couple of young Tuareg girls.

Here's a few more American ex-pats who I traveled to Ingal with. We were watching the performances atop our Land Cruiser. The guy in the yellow hat (Chris Burns) is my advisor here and his wife, Jen, is standing next to him. Cojo, who's sporting the mustard-colored funk suit, is a Peace Corps driver.

A classroom in Yelewa, a village nearby Rawfi. A friend and I were walking through the village and stopped to check out the school. I'm hidden in the back row.

Here are some Fulani girls from Kate's village, Korup. About one-third of her village consists of Fulani people. They tend to dress differently than Hausa peoples, and they speak a different language - Fulfulfde. They're also beautiful. Kodi, the tall girl in the blue head-wrap, just got engaged to be married. She's probably 16 years-old.

Liz and Jason on our Peace Corps "magic bus". This was taken the day we left our training site in Hamadallaye to be installed in the villages we now live in. That was way back in March. Liz loves the 'thumbs-up' as witnessed in this photo. Jason does not.

Kate and Natalie. Two fabulous volunteers from Team Konni.

Sunrise in the okra fields outside of Rawfi. I was walking to my bush-taxi stop one early morning and snapped this shot.

Early morning close-up of sorghum. It's one of the staple crops found in Niger. As it matures, the green seeds will turn rusty brown and white.

Out to their fields at 6 am. (taken with a flash)

Here's Team Konni at the last swear-in cerermony. This was taken at the ambassador's house in Niamey. We all live and play together in the Birni N'Konni area.

Freddy getting integrated at the swear-in. Some people call him DJ Wombat. I've seen him dance with glow sticks on mutlitple nights.

Check out these threads. The American and Nigerien flags unite. Taken at the swear-in ceremony.

Rawfi's imam leading the prayers on the last day of Ramadan. This outdoor mosque is located on the outskirts of the vilalge and is only used during the most important religous holidays. About one thousand men and women (mostly men) attended the prayer.

Team America. (Alex Towns as Wonder Woman.)

Two Nigerien dudes bundled up in clothes during a morning lecture on HIV/AIDS. Taken during the recent SIDA bike ride.

Kid duty on the bike ride.

1,000-watt smile.

The mechanics crew taking care of business.

Hope you liked the photos. An early Happy Holidays to everyone. Lots of love,

Matt