Sand … Snow …. and Patience

Quite often in Niger, I am caught trying to describe winter and snow in Fulfulde – a language that does not contain these words.  Usually, this is how I dissuade people from wanting to come to Canada with me. 

The conversation generally goes:

Local: "Take me to Canada with you when you go next time!”
Me:  “Oh, it is really cold there, you wouldn’t want to go!”
Local: “Really??!?  How cold?”
Me: “You know cold season here?”
Local: “Yes.  It is cold here too.”
Me:  “And you don’t like the cold.”
Local: “No.  I hate the cold.”
Me: “Well …. cold season of Niger is equal to hot season in Canada!”
Local: “Hiy!  No way, I don’t want to go to Canada!!”

The other day though, the discussion took a different route after all the above.  The men at the tailor’s shop were curious about this snow and what it was like.

How does one describe that snow can pile up like a sand dune??!? That one can climb it like a sand dune??!? 

                    

That it sits on the ground and piles up, instead of soaking in like rain??!?  I tried to explain it – that it had more substance than rain.  So they gave me the world for hail in Fulfulde.

Is it like that – hard rain falling on the ground?? the tailor asks.

Well, sort of, but the snow isn’t hard …. (how do I explain “fluffy”???? that word, doesn’t exist!) … until one guy guesses what I am trying to explain:

“Ah”, he says, “it is like smoke!!” …

“Yes,” I say.  “It is similar to smoke, but it sits on the ground, not going in like rain, and piles ‘this high’ (indicating 3-4 feet)”.

This is greeted again with horror and huge eyes.

And again the conclusion – “How do you live there???”

And my consequent explanation – “Well, you know in Niger we have the machines which blow cold air? (a/c units) Well, in Canada, we have machines in the buildings which blow hot air to warm us!!”

“Kay!!” (yikes!!) “I would never go there, I would just die! How do you live there??”  one guy asks.

“Does the government pay for your “warm blowers”??” the tailor asks. “They should – without them, you would die!”  (Nice thought, eh??!?)

My final conclusion:
”Well, in hot season here in Niger – we say: “Sey Munyal” (“Patience!”) It is the same in cold season of Canada – the snow lasts in my city 7-8 months and all we can do “patient” the cold and wait for warm weather to return.”

Yes – we concluded and agreed:  Every place on earth has a season that requires patience – in Niger, it is the hot and in Canada it is the cold. We are not that much different after all!!