One thing that really terrifies me in this city is driving. I had never really driven overseas - only once actually in Wadi Rum, Jordan in 98 - so didn't really figure I would have too many opportunities this time around. But our contacts here set us up with a loaner after our first couple months in Niamey. Its only cheaper than taxis if all four of us are going somewhere... but a whole lot more convenient. I generally take a taxi if I am going somewhere alone... usually just the agency office. But I actually don't go out that often. Taxis in and of themselves can often be an "Only in Africa" experience. All the taxis are much older than any car you'd see in the states... its amazing they still run, and they often have little quirks. One time, as we were driving along one of the paved roads, the taxi driver stuck a wet tshirt out the window and held it there as we drove... I can only assume as a cost-effective dry cleaning. Yes... the dearth of pav...
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We were eating some re-heated leftover pasta this week, and Ir, who had not been impressed with the first iteration, was eating very slowly. In fairness to her, it was pretty soggy and not thoroughly heated up. So anyway, we were trying to hurry her around by interest her in the fruits available for desert... guavas, melons etc. We started munching on them, and T bit into one and said, "Mmm... so cold and *delicious*!" Ir then took a bite of pasta and said "Mmm... so cold and *delicious*!" We both cracked up... Ir had not a hint of sarcasm, she just often repeats what we say at her stage... but it was just so true what she said.
On Friday we went into "the bush" with some friends in a landrover. (I had thought it weird that expats here use the word "bush" much more than we would in the states... but I think its because there are some Hausa/French words that well correlate with the English "the bush.) Anyway, our goal: giraffes. East (not West) Africa is the place to go for safaris but there is apparently one last herd of giraffes in the wild near the capital. So off we tromped to track it down. After a couple hours of driving (half off road) we found them. 5 very graceful fellas chomping away contendedly as we got close. Ir as you might imagine not only wore her giraffe shirt but has since been talking to us about the experience. An authentic African experience I guess.
Our language learning period has afforded us more time together as a family than we have ever had. We parents trade off watching the kids and studying, and we are very thankful to have this system where we do not have to put the kids in an unknown childcare setting while we go off to language school. We have a curriculum on the computer from UCLA that matches videos and dialogs with grammar and vocabulary lessons. M’s homeschooling background, with lots of experience in teaching himself, has come in handy, as has T’s linguistics background.