Need a Haircut??!?

In keeping with a recent theme of signs in the city ... I bring to you today, hairdresser signs!  This has been a fun search as I find for you what I see every day while driving around.

Competition:
The first category - a group of hairdressers who, if they were on the same street, could be in seeming competition with each other in their claims:

1. The Original Hairdresser




2. The International Hairdresser

3. Audacious Claims  ...this one is kinda my favourite!

This guy's sign reads:

"Welcome to the First Hairdresser of the World ... For the best haircut of the world ... Meet the experts: King and Sunday"!!



Fix a Bad Day:
We all have bad days right??  So, what could make it better but a good haircut?  I personally like getting a new haircut - the hairdresser styles it just perfect!

So - if you're having a bad day in Niamey, you could go to the

Consolation Hairdresser for some consoling

.... or better yet even - go for some Happyness!!

Simplicity:
Sometimes, simple is best ... why make audacious claims??  Just state it simply and to the point:

1. Good Hairdresser

2. Classic Haircut

How much does that cost??:

Now this one - Ebeneza Hairdresser ... this reminds me of Scrooge.  But, I'm not sure who is being stingy - the hairdresser in how much he cuts ... or the hairdressee in how much he pays. 

So - if you want to pinch your pennies on your hair cut - go to this guy who is much more clear on his pricing schematic: "Noble Price of the Haircut"!!

Feel like a Star:

1.  Be a VIP!

2. Be an 80s movie star ... I can't remember which show this reminds me of, but it seems to feel like  an expression from the 80s!

3.  And well - if you're going to be a movie star ... Why not Will Smith??

Now see - that's classic!!
This must be the African equivalent of the female North American "Rachel haircut" that came off Friends!

Two-for-One:
Because what better place to put your advertisement sign as a hairdresser - except in front of the store of your competition??




















I'm not sure what this guy is tolerating ... do we tolerate a mediocre haircut?  Does the hairdresser tolerate a chatty customer??

And, another favourite - the small sign ... well, that's for my boss - Hey, Richard I found your hairdresser!!

Religious Proclamations:
You can always tell when someone is from a coastal country as their store signs have a religious bent to their advertisement.

"The Good Shepherd Hairdresser"

"Grace of God Haircut"

True Expert:

And contrary to the audacious claims of the First in the World Hairdresser ... this guy backs up his claims to expertise with all the haircuts he can accomplish!

Given the English at the bottom ... this must be a poster from Nigeria!  Love it!

'Tis the Season of Dust

Each year we experience the phenomenon of Harmattan - it is the season in which the winds blow sand in from the Sahara Desert.  It stretches far across West Africa ... I have friends in Togo who speak of receiving "our" dust from Niger!  And recently I heard, via a friend's son who watches the National Geographic documentaries, that the Harmattan sands blow all the way to the amazon rainforest and contribute to the diverse ecosystem there!

We can go for stretches of days when we cannot see the sun due to the sand hovering in the air! When we can see the sun - it is so hazy that it doesn't hurt to look at it!

Sunday was a dusty and hazy day!

It is at this time of year that I somewhat giggle to think of how my life compares to that of friends and family back home in Canada ... while you are spending your days shoveling out of falling snow and piling snowbanks here there and everywhere!

.... young men and boys of Niger converge on the neighbourhood roads with a vengeance and shovels to attack the drifting sands and pile sandbanks here there and everywhere! 

Hoping that the passing drivers will give a monetary gift as thanks for their work so their cars don't get stuck.  Making our roads passable, for even with the 4x4 I have on my truck, navigating the deep sand piles is difficult!  I can imagine many a taxi would be stuck without the service of these guys!

The pervading sand seems to have lasted longer this year than normal ... lasting well into March!  And as the blowing sand continues - the sand piles grow higher and higher!

Translation ... Misprint Funnies!

Continuing the saga of signs ... I've captured a few misprints and translation (if they only knew what that meant in English) funnies lately!!  

Enjoy!

Tutti Frutti Grocery Store

"Good Good Bum Bubble Gum Pops" ... um, no thanks!

Get it??

And, last but not least: 

I'm not sure that I want to take my truck to an auto mechanic whose name/motto is "Good Luck!"  It could also mean "probability or likelihood".  But none inspire confidence ... I'd like my mechanic to be sure about his ability to fix my vehicle!  Not that it is likely he can!

That said - I did drive my truck away from the mechanic last month who said that the problem (noise/jerking) of my tires was because, and I quote, my "tires were dry".  

*Insert internal voice: "Ummm .... this is the desert ... it hasn't rained for five months!!  Everything is dry!!"

I still have no idea what he meant, nor what he fixed (were the ball bearings needing greasing??!?) ... but, the noise and driving problems are gone, so whatever he did, it worked!  He did also replace a bunch of stuff related to brakes, so perhaps that was related.  It did feel a bit like "good luck!" though when I left; albeit determined to bring it back if it still had problems.

Do You See What I See??!?

I headed out of town a few weekends ago ... and thought of this title, given Christmas' approach, I thought I'd give a nod to a Christmas carol with a twist!

Do you see what I see?

Can you see it??  Need a hint??!?
Think speckled!

Got it??!?

Okay - here is a bigger hint:

I love going searching for the giraffes - like a safari ... but only with one wild animal to see!  When I first arrived in the Niger ... the desert ... I was looking forward to seeing all sorts of wildlife, including the zebra.  Until my friend informed me that the zebra is a grazing animal ...'nuff said, guess I'll have to go to Kenya to see a zebra.  In another national park we do get to see elephants and baboons which are also cool.  But back to the giraffes ....

The giraffe reserve is located close to where I live - and is the last existing herd of wild giraffes in West Africa!!  I love that I can just drive out from the city and see such beautiful creatures!  They live in a national preservation park dedicated to the herd survival: they've grown from near extinction of around 50 giraffes to well over 600!!

This herd of five we saw had five adults: one male and three females, all over 12 years of age; and a teenage giraffe of about four years.

The information at the ranger's station, where we payfor a guide to help us find the giraffes, indicated that the males can stand up to 5.8 metres tall ... and they can reach tree leaves over six metres with their tongue ... WOW - long tongue!  The giraffe on the right (above) - the one which is taller and has darker spots, is the male. 

This specifies of West African Giraffe is called: Giraffa camelopardalis peralta.  Which I found neat to see the word "camel" in the title ... for the Fulani people, with whom I work, call the giraffe: Golloba Ladde ... "Bush Camel"!!!   Who knew the Fulani spoke Latin??!?

Sometimes we drive around for hours looking for the giraffes and sometimes we find a herd in close to the ranger's station.  I always love watching the giraffes - They are so majestically beautiful ... awkwardly graceful when they walk! 


And a new experience for me ... I've never climbed a termite mound before, so this was exciting!  As well as slightly challenging, partly because of the skirt and mostly because, for those who know me well, you know that I am scared of heights!  Hence, my not being at the top of the mound!

Happy World Toilet Day!

Last week, when I could not get on the internet, I missed an auspicious day for a post: World Toilet Day!!!  In an email I received from CAWST - an organization that works in the domain of water and sanitation - I read this following information:

Now, let's get down to business. We're making a stink about #FecalMatters 

because 6 in 10 people do not have safely-managed sanitation. 

That means that poo isn't making it into toilets, pipes, pits, but into our drinking water instead. 

Poop just isn't funny when this is the case.

Now, this information above would hold true for Niger ... but, though I don't work in terms of sanitation and latrines, the celebration of this day gave me a platform to share a story and photos of some work at my village home ... of which I came home feeling accomplished and proud!

My village home has an open-air outhouse ... "squatty-potty" as I like to call it ... in the backyard.  There is a little solar powered light installed which helps at nighttime.  And I've learned to not use it at certain times when I know that planes are taking off from the airport as I feel these guys fly low enough ... What if they can see me??!?  I am sure they are higher than it looks, but I play it safe!  

It takes some practice to "shower" ... for the first few weeks I stayed overnights, I dropped my soap and bath spongys down the hole - yes, for those who know that I spoil myself with a supply of bath spongys for the living of life in Niger - I lost one!!  It kind of was sitting on the lip of the descending tube, but I wasn't fishing it out!

Anyways ... I digress!  

My first night out in the village this year - as I went to the bathroom in the evening, I picked up the nice wooden cover ... and at least 20 cockroaches underneath in scattered in erratic flight to find cover!!!  EWWWWWW!!!  Thankfully, none ran over my feet!  Were they attracted to the pine-scented toilet soap I had used to clean the latrine??!?  What had attracted them to my outhouse?

It took until the next day to realize that the rubber tire border on my wooden cover had worn off!  The cover on the outhouse hole was an evolving wonder:  at first, it was built to cover the hole so that the septic hole did not become filled with the blowing sand of the desert!  But then, my teammate who built the cover also devised the rubber tire border - to allay my concerns that the dark covered hole could hide scorpions and snakes!   Neither are entities that I want to encounter at 2am if I go out to the bathroom!  The cockroaches, though disgusting, are the least of my worries!!

So - I set off to hammer a new rubbertire ring border onto my wooden cover!

The husband of the village family who lives "with" me right next door helped with the task.  The first thing that we discovered was that we couldn't stretch the old bicycle tires around the cover - they needed to be cut!  

"No worries," he said, "I have a knife!!"

And back he trots into the yard with his machete!!  .... It did the job!

As I pulled out my hammer and nails, Midou declared me a "good mechanic"!!  Woohoo! Something new for my resume!!  ha.  He either had great trust in my hammering skills; or, having never used a hammer before, does not know the pain of hammering one's finger: for he held the rubber down with his hands awfully close to where I was hammering!!

Disclaimer: as I have since hammered my thumb a few times this past week hanging pictures ... he had no real reason to trust my hammering skills!  

In the end - the job was finished and my outhouse cover is ready for use again!

Since installed, the route underneath is covered almost completely - I've opened up the toilet of an evening to discover the odd cockroach and baby gecko dancing around in the porcelain hole ... but; no spiders, nor scorpions, no snakes, nor no more cockroach parties of the entire neighbourhood of cockroaches in attendance!!

Morning Visitors

So, I'm back in Niger and have been here almost two months already!!  Time flys!  

One thing that I've noticed is that every neighbourhood I've lived in comes with its own unique bugs and creepy-crawlies!  In my new home, I'm getting used to a few varieties that I've not seen before.  A few that have dropped from the ceiling on my head as I sit in my bed (ew!) and some disgusting things crawling on my floor.

However, as my house was getting ready .... carpenters, plumbers, electricians, painters - three weeks of non-stop tradesmen! ... I was living on a guest house compound down by the river.  

This location offers many unique birds and lifeforms that I don't normally see.  Thankfully - I didn't see any snakes, though I know that they are there a plenty!  Some I don't appreciate as much ... like this nasty huge spider I found on my truck one morning.

Others like this snail are a bit more fascinating.  

One morning I discovered that the snails LOVE LOVE LOVE this plant outside my door!!  There were so many all over the plant ....

 .... big ones ...

... small ones ....

.... itsy tiny ones ... 

All nestled in the nooks and crannies of the plant!

And I discovered that around 8am is their active time!!  They are clearly the "morning birds" that I am not!  Albeit, they do move much more slowly than I do even when I am awake at this time of the day!

It was fascinating to watch them move around from leaf to leaf:

waving it's head around try to feel its next location with the antenna on the top of its head ...

 ... making connection - SUCCESS!! - whilst stretched from one leaf to the other and its shell danging between ...

... and then watching how the shell portion of its body slid from one end of its body at the starting point over to the next part.  Once the shell made it over, the snail released its tail end and bounced into place on the new leaf!

I could have sat there all day watching these creatures move from plant to plant. 

A whole new perspective on patience and endurance!