I guess I'll have the foie chevre

During the first day of the two-day Muslim celebration in Madaoua at this time of year, most of our team went visiting with our host. We stopped at the house of M, whom I had met the previous day. M's family had slaughtered four rams and stretched the carcasses out on sharpened poles adjacent to a handbuilt fire. These dressed goat rams would be eaten on the second day. But on this day, M's family would eat the insides ...

"Have a taste of this" M said to me, as he fished out a chunk of pale grey goat innards from a steel pot hanging over an open fire, with a heavy steam pervading the atmosphere. The contents of the pot were less than appealing, with assorted grey tripe-like substances floating in a thick brine. I decided to be brave and take one for the team.

As I grasped the morsel for a taste, I realized that this was not unsafe to eat, because the ram had just been butchered, and the morsel was probably a piece of goat liver (foie chevre?) It tasted fine. I had been concerned because M had told me that he usually got sick this time of year from eating the rams (likely due to the carcass not being cooked thoroughly in the hot climate).

M then invited us into his residence where we were offered various dishes of macaroni, fritter and guinea fowl prepared in two separate sauces. All was delicious. For "dessert" M presented a steel container of a thick milky substance. Although it was prepared with unfiltered water, my host assured me that I could safely handle a couple of drops, which I did, with no apparent adverse effects.

For me, it was a great experience to visit a Muslim Nigerien family's home, to benefit from their hospitality and to sample their traditional foods.

Sunday, December 31, 2006

Rolling around in the Nigerien sand

I have to apologize to my daughters in advance. Je vais etre un grand-pere terrible. I was left in charge of the nursery kids in the Sunday School here in Madaoua. My co-worker and I had a box of lego blocks and three cute little Nigerien children. I proceeded to hype up one particular kid (pictured here with the blogger) with running little tractors over him, holding blocks in the air just beyond his reach, feigning tears when his swinging lego wire hit my hand and letting him tackle me in the sand. At least the Nigerien women were grateful for my looking after him while they worshipped.

It is a great experience being here. We were fascinated earlier in the day as we followed the throngs of local residents down to the dry river bed where they worshipped Allah en masse. The Hausa King arrived by Land Rover and his sons informally paraded on horseback. We observed all of this from a distance, standing by a pair of armed guards who interpreted the events for us.

Later today we will travel to Galmi, a nearby town, where we will stage a New Year's Eve party for hospital workers there. I am still enjoying the warmth of Niger's climate very much.

Love and prayers.

This flight tonight

Arrived in Niamey, Niger on Friday afternoon. The weather here is wonderfully warm! I know it is the cool season, with norms of 28 degrees and I love it. Very interesting to see the differences in this culture and the one back home. Great to see the Schmidt family and be entertained by them. We are all doing fine. Thanks for your support; more later.

I guess I'll have the foie gras

Made it to Paris where the weather is so cold. Especially when you packed only clothes suitable for Africa. Chilling ascent up le tour Eiffel, cool watching the crazy traffic circumnavigating Arc de Triomphe, nifty seeing the Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa and sampling cuisine francais. Getting used to the time zone for Niger. Keep praying.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Leaving on a Jet Plane

"All my bags are packed, it's early morn. The taxi's waiting, he's blowing his horn; already I'm so lonesome I could cry..."

Well, not really. But, I am ready to board the big plane for the big international trip. Too keyed up to sleep right now, but there should be plenty of opportunity for that on this flight tonight.

Hard to say good-bye to family, but my absence is only for a short time. It is going to be a fantastic experience. Thank you all for helping to make it possible for me.

Christmas Eve Dinner Menu

Kudos to my culinary kid, the Nutrition College student, for preparing a fabulous dinner for her family on Christmas Eve. The four course menu was, as follows:

Spinach and persimmon salad with lemon-honey vinaigrette dressing (delicious!)

Sweet potato soup, with the lovely thick broth ladled over portions of light sour cream and cranberry jelly (awesome!)

Homemade ricotta-filled ravioli with mushroom cream sauce (superb, and quite filling)

Mint chocolate tofu cheesecake with whipped topping as an absolutely deadly dessert

Pomegranate and blueberry juice spiked with diet 7-Up as our delightful beverage

The only problem with the feast was that all the other partakers made me wait an extra hour for dessert, as they were "full" from the first three courses. Understandable, but oh so unfair. Actually, I survived somehow and the anticipation only enhanced my taste buds.

Now, who said vegetarian cuisine was boring?

Itinerary, or "Tracking the dude through Paris and Africa"

Hello; thanks for visiting my blog. Thanks for your interest in my trip to Niger (and possibly for your interest in my pointless occasional NFL ramblings).

Here we go: Leave Saskatoon Boxing Day at 11:40; get to Paris via Toronto at 8:15 AM December 27. Follow fellow team members past le Tour Eiffel, l'Arc de Triomphe, l'avenu des Champs-Elysees, Notre-Dame et Musee de Louvre, for two days while we adjust to the time zone 8 hours ahead of CST.

Leave Paris at 11:10 AM December 29 and arrive at Niamey, capitol of Niger, at 4:40 that same day. The next day we travel 5 hours east to Madaoua with the Schmidt family. On New Year's Eve we visit a local church and assist with singing and Sunday School. We then travel to the nearby Galmi mission hospital where we help stage at New Year's party for 40 staff and their families.

On New Year's Day, there will be no College Bowl games in Niger, but we do get to visit the Centre for Malnourished Children where we will distribute gift packages, including knitted hats and wraps. We will also start our first soccer camp with help from Peace Corps volunteers.

On January 2 we hold a day camp for 100 local children. Activities include songs, games, drama and crafts and a story told by local teachers. The second soccer camp follows later in the afternoon. We will distribute gift bags from Emmanuel Baptist Church kids, including stickers, gum, crayons and note pads.

The next couple of days we will spend with the Schmidt family in and around Madaoua. They will show us around the community and district where they live. We will be able to enjoy the sand cliffs, giraffe sitting photo ops and camel rides.

On Friday January 5 we return to Niamey. The next day we set up for the Spiritual Life Conference where we will be arranging teaching sessions and group activities for children of SIM workers who are attending sessions at the conference.

From Sunday to Wednesday we teach and encourage the approximately 65 children (ages ranging from preschool to teens) from 8:00 AM to 12:30 and again from 3:30 to 6:00 and the teens from 7 to 9 each evening. Our sessions include worship, drama, stories, crafts, games and workshops in art, drama and music. Special thanks to my sweetheart, Mrs. L, for helping me to fine tune my craft ideas.

On January 11 we clean up, pack and debrief. The next day we do some sightseeing in Niamey. At midnight on Friday we depart on our flight to Paris, and connect with Air Canada for Toronto. The team is scheduled to arrive back in Saskatoon at midnight on Saturday January 13, after a long layover in Toronto.

There it is; stay tuned for more. Thank you for your support and please keep praying for us.