Life at a Fast Pace . . .

Well, life (or rather new and interesting experiences) happen at such a fast pace here, it is impossible to keep up with all of them in blog posts. I have had a few blog ideas bouncing around in my head, but the interesting episodes of life - such as the sand storm and my water being cut - just seem to happen and take precedence.

Today is my catch up day on a few topics while I wait for my guests to wake up. My guests are the McIver family - Paul, Chantelle, Bennett and Arielle. They are the newly arrived team members and they arrived this morning - around 2 am, and by the time we all settled it was close to 4:30!

My favourite Bennett expressions of the day:

Can you turn down the heat here?

And when told that he was finally in Africa:

No we're not! We're in Auntie Kristi's house!

It is taking a bit of time to convince him that Auntie Kristi's house is in Africa!

So as they sleep and try to regulate their bodies to the new time zone and having travelled close to (if not more than) 36 hours, I will type stories and upload pictures from the last two weeks.

Language & Culture Study

Though I have not officially started my studies in Fulfulde, I have begun to pick up a few words from my Fulani guard and from my visits out in the village. Mostly, I can cover the greetings - African style. Typical North American greetings cover "How are you?" and that is about it for the socially required greeting. Here, I have learned that the string of greetings (I call this the "ça va" cycle) requires at minimum 5 greetings, more if you know the person. Though, if the answer does not change after the 3rd greeting, you can stop at 3. Yikes - so much to remember! Basically, the African greetings go like this:

Ça va? (How are you?)

et la santé? (and the health?)

et la famille? (and the family?)

et les enfants? (and the children?)

et le travail? (and the work?)

et la fatigue? (and the tiredness?) - this one is especially popular during hot season!!)

or

et la ________? (and the - insert temperature - heat, rain, cold, dust)

The same basic greetings apply in Fulfulde - though one will often add "and the animals?"; as the Fulani people are nomadic (or sedentary) herdsmen and their animals are their livelihood.

My French tutor has also mentioned that, much the same as the North American greetings, the answer is always affirmative - it is well, all is in peace, no problem, it is doing good, etc . . . For this "ça va" cycle is not where you are looking to receive an honest answer, just the polite response. Even if the person has no children (or if you are unsure if they do) you still ask after the children - because they live in a family situation and "the children" refers to those of the family (nieces or nephews) around them.

I am assuming there are exceptions to this - if you know someone is barren, this would likely not be appropriate. Nor, apparently is it appropriate necessarily in the city. For two days after I learned the length of the "ça va" cycle, I was in my favourite restaurant, chatting with the only waiter and I decided to practice all my new greetings. It went well with the health and family - up until I inquired about the children. He kinda got all embarrased and said he had none. oops! So I asked about his work and he stumbled an answer and when he came back, he asked about my friend who often comes in with me. It was an awkward moment.

The other day in the village, I was practicing this "ça va" cycle in Fulfulde. Usually, it does not go very well with those who are from the outskirts of the village and do not know me well. I ask them how they are and the ladies giggle and say "oh, she speaks Fulfulde" (which Lisa translates for me). So I rarely get to practice the whole cycle and listen to different responses. However, the other day, I had learned another word - how to say "a little". In African style, if you know something "a little" you will usually say "un peu un peu" - roughly translating "little little", the double word use is to emphasize how little. So when the ladies giggled again that I spoke Fulfulde, I thought I would use my new phrase - and responded with "sedi sedi". They thought that was even more cute. So I explained this to Lisa when we sat back down. Well, turns out that "little little" in Fulfulde is "seda seda" - so by changing the vowel, my phrase was the equivalent of saying "lattle lattle" in English. So, I ended up communicating that I really spoke just a little, and emphasized it even more by repeating my error!! So, that made for a good laugh - and we never did learn what "sedi" is.

Another thing I am learning is that Fulfulde is at times quite literal, if they do not have a word for something new - they relate it to something they do:

gas = car water

pus (medical) = sore water

juice = fruit water (translated directly it actually means "child of the tree water")

_______________

lotion = body oil

lip balm = medicine oil

Actions are often different as well - for instance, one drinks cigarettes and pills.

Well, enough about the language and my mistakes for now!

Crowning of a Chief

Last Sunday, Lisa and I had the unique opportunity to go to the crowning of a new chief in a village within Niamey. We went as some of her Fulani friends were performing in the ceremony - a group of girls sang a traditional Fulani song and then performed a traditional Fulani dance.

We arrived with the group right in time for their presentation and found ourselves in the middle of the "stage" with them. The organizers asked if we were with them and we responded yes, but not presenting with them. They found us somewhere to sit - in the front row on couches and next to the dignitaries! As we looked around the large square of attendees, we decided we were the only white people in the whole crowd of at least a couple thousand!!

We think we were sitting next to the mayor (or someone of equal importance) as the two police/soliders in front of him were the only ones around the square with guns and bullet proof vests on. Though we appreciated being close to photograph our friends, we wondered about the location - were something to start, the bullets would likely be flying in our direction! We also managed to capture (illegally) on film the 102nd use of duct tape!!

It was a fascinating cultural event. There were more than a few ethnic groups presenting their local songs and dances. During each presentation there appeared to be some organized payment or tipping. A group of ladies (5 to 30) would get up and walk over to the presenting group and drop money on the ground, place it in the mouth of someone or lick the money bill and stick it to the forehead of someone. As the new chief was in a district by the river, the fishermen of the village presented him with a baby crocodile!

Before the ceremony, we spent some time in the village (within Niamey) watching our friends have their traditional Fulani make-up put on for the ceremony:

This is the group performing that we came with, doing their song and then their traditional dance:

These men, though Fulani, are not with our village but they performed some of the dances together. The one man seemed "full of rhthym" as he could not stop moving and his smile was contageous! He sat on the ground and bumped along, he danced, he flipped through the air. At one point he kept looking motioning for me to come out and join him. I declined!! Though I may join in my village, I did not need my first attempt at a Fulani dance to be in front of such a large and public crowd!!

These three guys here came and gave Lisa and I a solo, in hopes that we would give them a gift. This is also quite common in public events, marriages and baby naming ceremonies.

Towards the end of the ceremony, the new chief was brought in under a blanket. He was announced with these long trumpets and drums and then his turban was wrapped around his head. The entire ceremony was called: "L'inturbinasation" - basically the crowning, but the act of placing the chief's turban on his head.

My First Camel Ride

This week, the guard of my friends - the Marineau family - had his neighbour bring his camel by their place. He was coming to town with a load of straw, so he stopped by so that I and another friend could get on the camel and have our first ride! It was exhilerating - though at first a little pertubing. I was quite excited until we got outside and I saw the camel. I then realized how high up I would be and that I was scared of heights. I asked Daniel what would happen if I fell off when the camel stood up - he said he did not purchase any insurance for the ride (I doubt it is available)!!

But I bravely got on the camel and it was sooooo much fun! I am glad that I did it.