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Maybe It's the Drugs?

I've been having a few nights of vivid dreams accompanied by insomnia. They say that both are quite common with the antimalarial medication I'm taking (Mefloquine). I don't mind the dreams so much. At least not so far. They are different from my dreams in the past, mostly because they are in such crisp living color.

The first one I noticed, I was standing on a steep hillside overlooking a beautiful Caribbean bay. The water was royal blue and the sky was clear and sunny. There were a couple of people I didn't recognize a little closer to the water form me when all of a sudden, a Medivac helicopter came swooping down over my head in the direction of the water and crashed into the bay! I was stunned and tried to run and help but my legs felt like they wouldn't move forward very well (as so often happens in my dreams when I try to run). I could see the helicopter lying on it's side on the bottom, submerged in shallow water and started yelling for the others to try and help when I woke up.

Last nights I dreamed I was in a near car crash while in a taxi and the driver was laughing because he didn't speak English and I didn't speak... whatever he spoke! Like a mad lunatic, he drove me over a wall and we plunged toward the ocean (also royal blue) as he continued to laugh hysterically. There was a building rising strait up out of the sea with a swimming pool on the roof top surrounded by sun bathers. I woke up before we hit water or could recognize anyone.

The most menacing thing about it was I couldn't fall back asleep for 2-3 hours after! Just laying there thinking about nothing. I finally got up and read a medical journal about treating acne. Great!

Both dreams involved water and I'm here in the sub Saharan desert. I'm also a Pisces. Perhaps Yung's dream analysis might be my next book.

Here it's the rainy season

It rained so hard last night I thought the roof would leak. This morning while driving to work, I could see washed out streets and people huddled under grass thatched huts with no walls cooking on an open fire, trying to stay dry. A young girl was tying her baby onto her back while three little naked kids stood next to her standing in the down pour rain, waiting for there millet cereal and slice of baggette. A motorbike pulled up to me while I was at a stop light. The passenger was a beautiful young woman holding an umbrella over herself and the driver. Three young children were turning over their donkey cart and climbing under to stay dry. Even I got wet just walking the short distance from the parking lot to my clinic. My nurse, Amina came shortly after, drenched to the bone, so happy and all smiles because of the rain; lifes blood to Niger.

On Saturday night, we went to the Grand Hotel to sit on the veranda overlooking the Niger River and have a few drinks. They offer brochettes (grilled beef on a skewer) with a salty spice powder you dredge it in! The Nigerian beer goes well with it. It has two giraffe on the label. We watched a beautiful sunset and Stefan played on the play structure there. Camille was invited to a sleep-over and didn't come with us this time. The hotel has wireless internet so we took the laptop and sent a few e-mail. Also snapped a few pictures with it. A slice of heaven!

Sa Hell com

Does anyone want to hear me complain?

Trying to get the internet. Ask a million people what they did. Most people had a phone line that was $6 an hour, but they were usually overcharged and the line worked only sometimes. Someone knows someone who has another system that costs $80 a month, and they are streaming radio. an admiral is visiting so we can't ask the one person who might know. Ask again. Get a phone number. Amina, the saintly nurse in the med unit, calls the number for me and tells me where to go. I wanted to go yesterday, but they are closed from noon to 3:30 or maybe it's 4 and I didn't make it.

Called the driver by 11:00 so I made it to Sahelcom today. With difficulty and an unsmiling clerk, I signed up for something. Paid my 25,000 cfa at a different window. Then discovered that it was the system that is $6 an hour on a telephone line. It's all they have he says. God. Amina says a friend of hers works for another company and tomorrow she will call and get the information from him. Arrgg. Meanwhile, here I am at Peter's computer, waiting for our sandwiches, kids are stapling together packing peanuts to make necklaces, crowns, boats and fish.

I really need to go the store today. For some reason, we are having a hard time having enough food. I need dinner ideas, beyond pasta. Kids won't eat chicken. Beyond pasta and chicken, I don't know what to cook. Okay, quiche. Potatoes. I'll try those things.

I ordered the newspaper to come by mail, but we haven't gotten it yet. It's one of the things that Peter and I agree we miss the most.

In other news: I am on a committee to produce a short film for the ambassdor about life in Niamey. Having been on the film committe at PFS and since I have imovie on my computer I am the most qualified person here. l've been here a week, so I'm an expert on Niamey. A portion of the movie will be titled Sahelcom and it will be me, there, Michael Moore-style, unsuccessfully trying to get the internet.

Non organized thoughts

Okay, well, not having the internets is the only problem. I am at Peter's office and I only have about 15 minutes before we need to get back home. And I have Stefan and Camille whining for lunch and rolling around on the floor next to me.

Yesterday a very nice mom watched a bunch of kids including ours, while Peter and I went on a van tour with some other newbies of Niamey. First stop: Yantala villiage. Kids and goats running around. People basically camping in small yards, lounging around. How can these people looks so gorgeous without the aid of magazines, hair color, teeth whitening, lancome, clinique, or even toilet paper? The people lounging around, a little boy licking an enamel place, a little girl wearing only a torn t-shirt, girls with buckets of water on their heads: gorgeous. The little kids gathered around and we took pictures.

Next stop, a tannery. No thanks. I'm enough of a vegetarian in a country with no tofu as it is. I found a place to buy plants instead. I bought three, in pots, two like a big prayer plants in homemade pots, and a flowering purple trumpet-y plant for all for $16 dollars. Pierre the gardender already planted the purple one in the yard, I have to find it, and he artfully placed the two pots on the tiled, covered patio. More plants to come, there are many flowering things here. On Friday we went to a "Hail and Farewell" party at the ambassador's and her yard has huge plumaria trees along the pool, all overlooking the Niger river. Very pretty. I had a glass of wine and swallowed a fly. My first of many probably. I didn't freak out about it, so I think I did okay.

On the van tour we stopped at mosque, a gift from Omar Kaddafi to the country of Niger. A little girl with her brother and blind father were outside accepting alms. The little girl had stripes of tatoos across her cheeks and held her dad's hand to help him down the stairs. I tried to get in the good graces of Allah by giving her a coin. I also took her picture. If we ever get the INTERNET at HOME I will show you. I fall in love 100 times a day.

We live walking distance, if you can stand Stefan's complaining, to the best bakery in town, we are told. The bread is really good, also croissants and desserts. We walked yesterday and bought two loaves of bread, they seem like sourdough dense and good, and two slices of cake and a juice for the complainer: 1250 cfa, $2.40. On the way home a little boy ran up to Stefan and held his hand for a minute and said Ca va.

Tried to go the store last night and struck out, all the supermarches were closed. So I went to one of many of the vegetable markets and got a watermelon and everything for ratatouille. It turned out pretty well with the bread sliced up, considering I no salt and pepper. Note to self: pack salt and pepper next time.

We've arrived to Niamey!

Bonjour!

WE had a super smooth ride. I was worried about getting through the security screening at Dulles International. Not because I was smuggling but because of all the lines. But because we flew business class and had diplomatic passports, they wisked us through ahead of everyone else and we sat in the Air France lounge for an hour before boarding! Help yourself to free drinks (Champagne in an ice bucket, Stolichnaya, Tangueray, VSOP cognac's Wild Turkey, Beck's, Heineken; nothing but the best)with french cheese plates and pate! I love this job already! We were giddy!

The flight from DC to Paris was very comfortable on business class. 7 1/2 hours. Arrived in Paris where once again we were treated to the Business lounge with coussants, french coffee, and again, all the spirits you can drink (and they do drink in the mornings). Then the flight to Niamey without any problems (5 1/2 hours).

The kids did great. Well behavied. Interesting observations and comments. The stewardess asked Stefan if he might see an elephant. "Yes!" he said, "but not any whales!"

We were greeted at the airport and again wisked through ahead of all those poor travelers standing in line. It was 30 degrees celcius.

The ride to our house was so interesting. People waking right up to and even in the street where cars whizz by at 50 MPH. Women dressed in African garb balancing pots on their heads and men on with their faces wrapped in scarves on camels, donkey carts, and motorcycles. Beggars and mamed, the police and crowded market places. The huts look like Mexico. Then Niger River was surprisingly beautiful with green grass and shrubs growing all around.

Our guard was standing in front of our house in the hot sun and opened the locked gate. We entered the compound and the gate was closed behind us. The house is large and square shaped made of stucco. Given the heat and the palm shrubs, it reminded me of Davis.The inside accommodations are quite nice. We got new furniture and the rooms are very spacious. There's a filter on our drinking water and the beds have mosquito netting canapies covering them. We swam in the pool which was very clean and refreshing.

Today is my first day at work. I'm being introduced to the Ambassador and everyone else here at post. My clinic is quite well equiped and stocked. Amina, my nurse is so nice!

We are working on phones and getting e-mail set up at the house. A trip to explore the market too!

Colonial Williamsburg

Count down

The extended stay in DC has allowed for some idle time. There were still a few errands to run, arranging for new travel orders and trying to get our title for the car. But mostly we had time to reflect upon our stay here at the expense and hospitality of our generous government. We really are treated like dignitaries with luxurious accommodations, excellent training, a car loan, and per diem pay. After twenty-six years of patient care, in this past month, I haven't seen one patient! How can this be work? It seems unreal, like I might wake up to find this has all been a dream and there is a waiting room with lots of people wanting to be seen.

We decided to go to colonial Williamsburg. This township has been preserved as a historical landmark. Thomas Jefferson resided and studied law there. The citizens wear 18th century attire. The buildings are all preserved and maintained to fit that era. There are shops and working farms and businesses just like they were in 1776. It's an interactive step-back in time.

Camille rented a costume and Stefan wore a three-pointed hat, the kind the minutemen wore. We saw how they cooked in a kitchen\ on an open fire and used smoke houses and salt cellars. We watched how baskets were made from white oak trees and sapplings. We toured the home and plantation of a wealthy lawyer and saw the washrooms, laundry, and kitchen areas of the slave quarters next to the fields and livestock. The shoemaker, the wig maker, the iron smith, and general store were all in operation and horse drawn carriages moved down the streets. We bought slices of watermelon from an open market. We visited the courthouse and saw the stockades and heard how people were brought to trial and judged at that time. When Camille rented the costume, she was given a letter requesting her to run a few errands at the post office and book binders for Miss Betsy Woodruff (who had to go help her sister, who had taken ill, and care for her 10 children.)

I had made reservations for dinner at the Shields Tavern which served an all you could eat fixed meal in the style of that time: sesoned greens with vinaigrette served with biscuits, kettle braised beef with field mushrooms and vegetables, roasted sage-rubbed turkey, root beer glazed ham, cornbread stuffing with gravy, buttermilk mashed potatoes, stewed furits, green beans with tarragon-shallot butter, and pumpkin bread pudding with vanilla bean sauce and a fruit cobbler for dessert.

An evening stroll down one of the main streets concluded our day there. We really enjoyed it. At first, I expected it to be a real tourist trap but I liked how nothing seemed commercial and how the entire town is set up to give you the experience of eighteenth century Williamsburg. Even the people strolling down the street in costume say "good day sir" and tip their hats to the ladies and engage you in conversation of the day (1776). One lady (not a woman, said the printer) commended us on having taught our daughter to read.

The basket-weaver lady had made a woven bird feeder and cardinals were flitting around the feeder. It was a thrill to see cardinals for the first time.

Overall, it has been an incredible experience here in the Washington DC area. Tomorrow we will check out of the hotel and drive our car to Lana's who will care for it until they pick it up to ship to Niamey. She will drive us to the airport. We will miss the museums and fireflies and continue to think about our friends and family.

worldwide flexibility

My last week at MED was predominantly attending classes at FSI. Our biggest concern was trying to get the loan check from the Credit Unon (their hours coincided with my classes.). I had a sense of finality with orientation being done, although I still had 4 days of errands.

Dina beautifully highlighted our weekend on the Deleware coast. The only other thing I might add is that the afternoon spent at "Great Falls Park" in Virginia was most memorable. A beautiful panoramic view of the falls and the gorge with a well groomed trail along the ridge top. Stefan really enjoyed jumping off rocks and small boulders plus socializing with neighboring picnicers and kicking a soccer ball. He's quite the talker.

These past 4 days were also busy. We got our diplomatic passports and visas, notorized our documents, and prepared to send some things through the mail pouch. Carmax (where we bought our car) insisted on doing some body work and picked up our vehicle but of course it took longer to fix than they thought and I had to go pick it up in Rockvillle, Maryland. And I am proud of Dina for doing so well on her french tests at FSI.

Wednesday evening we got dressed up and decided to go out and have our last dinner at a nice restaurant in DC. There is a place in Georgetown that we have walked by numerous times which advertizes a fresh lobster dinner. Dina and I shared a nice bottle of Cote de Rhone with that. Stefan had fries and Camille had a clam chowder she liked. They both dipped marccino cherries in their drinks. It was a relaxing time.

We woke up yesterday to the news that a terrorist plot was thwarted in London (sincere thanks to Amy!) It became clear early on that it made no sense to go to London. MED has temporarily closed down operations there and the Heathrowe airport will be a nightmare for the next few weeks. I was instsructed to schedule another flight directly to Niamey. So we get to stay here in DC for a few extra days — how bad is that? We fly out on Monday evening to Niamey via Paris.

It's a little dissapointing to not go to London. We were looking forwrd to it. But it's a good thing that we weren't caught there right as this whole thing was mushrooming. We'll have other opportunities to go to London. The good news is that now, becasue our travel time exceeds 14 hours, we get to fly business class on Air France. Our time here in DC has been great. It now seems like an extended vacation.

everybody limbo

Well, our plot to buy lemon curd and ride on a double decker bus to the Tower of London has been foiled. Still not sure what our plans are, but it doesn't look like they will include London. Will update as soon as we know something, anything. "I think you better turn on CNN," emailed Amy from Beijing. Thanks for letting me know something was up, Amy!

Update: We will catch the Paris to Niamey flight we were suppose to be on on the 15th. We leave here on the 14th at 6:45, business class to Paris.

Land Cruising

Yesterday when we went to pick up the car, we had no idea we were on an odessey. With the sound track from Annie playing, we drove over the (Chesapeake) Bay Bridge--when I see a sign to the Bay Bridge I think I'm going to Oakland. It was so beautiful, so A Time of Wonder; we were on our way to the Delaware seashore, Bethany Beach. The three hour drive took five hours because of traffic. As soon as we got to the beachy town we raced to the sand and touched our toes in the lovely water under a twilight sky and gorgeous moon. We pounded our way, with mallets, through a fabulous crab dinner, at a charming place where they toss the crab on a brown-bag covered table and bring you hush puppies and buckets of cooked-but-not-shucked sweet corn. Peter and I had a glass of pinot gris that was perfect. This place wasn't crusty at all, really cute and the food was really some of the best I've ever had. I enjoyed watching Peter eat every last crab leg.

After the crabfest: we discover that this is the busiest week on the eastern seaboard. At first we think the lady at the Holiday Inn is exagerating. But after checking a few places in Bethany Beach--all full, and one no vacancy sign after another--we faced facts: there was NOWHERE to stay. The owner of the restaurant made a phone call for us and struck out. We drove down the coast to two other towns, running in and out of lobbies, getting turned down. At 11:00 pm, we finally turned inland. We checked every hotel on the road home, and ended up all the way back in Washington. Our place is the closest place to the beach we could find! The whole three hour drive home, (at least there wasn't any traffic) we kept pulling into hotels behind people shaking their heads, also being turned away. One sight that really had us going in an only-at-2-in-morning kind of way: passing by a teenager leaning over her car door throwing up in a McDonalds parking lot. "Do you think it was the food?" Peter asked me. We stopped at six hotels on the way home. All full.

Got home at 3:30am. Would have gotten home at 2:30, but no, had to get lost in DC first. This was our first time navigating the city by car, and we got totally turned around. After a harrowing one hour drive through DC's seedy side, all the recent high-crime rate Washington Post articles running through my burned-out brain, we finally found our hotel. I was never so happy to be home to the Washington Suites. A valet parked the car. Bliss.

Peter and I have never NOT been able to find a room. Antibes, France in August. Showed up and got a room. Has this ever happened to you? Oh we did find one place, sort of early on, so we were feeling not the beggers-can't-be-choosers that we were: it was $450 a night. The website says Bethany beach is quiet and affordable.

Today we drove a short way and had a hike and a picnic under the trees, by some falls. I was surprised, but after lots of tea/coffee/juice and working our way through the Sunday paper and watching a couple rounds of Nick Jr, everyone wanted to go somewhere in the new car!