I am feeling a little under the weather today. I have got a low grade temp, a runny nose, and an achey body. I hate being sick when it is hot outside because it makes everything that much worse. I went to visit my parents in Arizona a few years back and I acquired strep throat. It was nasty, nasty because it was about 120 degrees outside. So, that illness adventure was not unlike the one I am having now. Yah.... for me.

Patrick and I are officially leaving in July, but the really sad part is that we will be missing Laecee's wedding. She and CJ will be married almost one month before we can possibly come home. I hate the way things work out. I am glad to be getting out of this joint. I hate the heat, the dust, the dirt, the bugs, and just about everything one can possibly think of.

I saw something that really grossed me out the other day. Please take into consideration that my gross-out meter has shifted quite a bit since my arrival in this joint so, this was really nasty. I was taking a taxi through some neighborhoods on the outskirts of Niamey and there is front of us was a river err creek of sewage. Most people just dig a pit outside their concession wall and the bathroom waste drains into that, but this person had taken it upon himself to dig a ditch through the middle of the street through which the family waste would be funneled. Even the taxi driver was grossed-out. We had to drive around the river of filth because he would not drive his car through the black nightmare.

For the past month or so I have been experiencing something I like to call terminal boredom. In short I am BORED... really bored and no matter what I choose to fill my time nothing seem to do the trick. This is where I sigh and tell you about this new problem I am experiencing. I have left ass cheek pain. I think it is from sitting on my ass for too many hours a day. But it could be something fatal... Hey this is Africa and all the nasty diseases come from this joint. Perhaps the ass pain is a symptom of some larger more terrifying problem. Only time will tell.

I am in Niamey again because Patrick had to fill out and submit his student aid form. We were going to go back to Dosso today, but the day is proving to be hot, hot, hot and I would rather not be stuck in a bush taxi sweating my ass off during the 3-5 hour drive back to Dosso. We are putting it off until tomorrow when we will be leaving in the morning.

We are approaching the four month mark. Hot damn!!! Four more months until we get to go away from this country and live high on the hog in America. Just realize that I am joking when I say "high on the hog" because upon returning to America we got no money and we got no jobs!!! Ahhhh, unemployment... Not that the last two years have not been one long stretch of unemployment.

In the short of things... my Christmas sucked!!! But on the bright side this is my last major holiday away from family and friends. There was a lot of food and other volunteers, but it just falls short of being home around the tree with a fire blazing in the background. The worse part is that I waited all day for a call from my family which never came. I went to bed feeling the saddest I had felt in a long time. My mother elected not to call because she had a fight with my older sister and she just did not know how to talk to me being as she was sooooo angry. Meanwhile I sat with my cell phone in my lap all night just waiting for her voice. I hate waiting!! Sitting around and waiting for people makes me angry and I can tell you that by the time I went to bed I had flames coming out of my ears.

Now for some good news. Marya is going to get married. She and Dustin will wait a few years to say the vows, but I am really excited for her. Laecee, pictured above, is also getting married. The picture is of her official proposal. She and CJ plan to marry this coming summer. It just seems that love is in the air.

This is the cold season in Niger which last year did not seem that cold, but now I am freezing. As I write this post I am wearing a scarf and hiding under a blanket. Burrrrr!! This is also the season of bloody noses because the air is so dry. The heals of your feet crack because of the dryness. This is a nice season because you can sleep without sweating, but the dryness is murder on the body.

Spending the Christmas season in an almost all Muslim country is really strange. There are no twinkle lights, there are no fir trees, and there is no sense of holiday cheer. This makes the whole season almost slip by without too much notice. In the least I cannot wait to get back to the states for a huge over-exposed holiday season. Next year....

Over the past two days I have been listening to the newish Tori album. When I acquired it, in America, I did not think anything of it, but now I am finding it quite good. I highly recommend!!!

Patrick is currently taking his GRE test. Peace Corps is nice enough to set-up a testing center for the volunteers who want to take the test. If they had not done so it would have cost something like $300 to establish one. Patrick has been studying for the test for two and a half months. Of course he does not feel very confident about the whole thing, but I think he might just do well. He is, after all, our ticket out of this joint three months early. Grad school, Grad school, Grad school!!!!

I am going to go to the pool where I will try to even-out my amazing farmer's tan. Oh wait, who am I kidding? The sun is not unlike the intense heat of hell and to rest in its rays for a long duration is tantamount to suicide. I will be sitting in the shade reading my book. But before I venture to the pool I have to get to the bank. There are no ATM machines in this country so everything is old school. You must write a check to yourself and then cash it at the bank. Sometimes I like it because it makes me think of F. Scott Fitzgerald novels; the characters are always cashing checks to keep the party going, but most times it is just a mad house. Nigeriens have no sense of lining-up. They just cluster around the counter.

Patrick and I are still in Niamey. Adam asked us, yesterday, if we would like to go to dinner tonight. Patrick and I elected to stay one more night. I think we are both ready to head out, but really now what lies ahead? Just the road to Dosso and endless days of the same. I wish there was something to love here. In the foothills of California I feel like I come alive, but here all I feel is dried-out. The sun beats you down, the dirt beats you down, the bugs wake you up at night as they crawl up your leg, ... The darkness spooks the shit out of you. There is truly no solace here. I want to feel alive here, but wanting is for nothing because this place will continue to kill me until I am finally free.

There is an annual softball tournament in Niamey. The missionaries have a team, Peace Coprs has a team, and even the Japanese volunteers have a team. The tournament last two days. Yesterday Patrick and I spent the day watching soft ball and eating hot dogs. The whole experience was fantastic because I almost convinced myself that I was back in America watching Jenn and Bill, my sister and her husband, playing softball. Being here has made me miss the smallest little nuances of America. Summer softball games, family dinners, cool evenings, cold winters, Mexican food, and good beer. Being away for an extended period of time makes you realize that these little details are integral. When I was home I had a tendency to over-look all the little pieces which contributed to make my life full, but being removed has brought it all back to me. I miss driving and that sensation which it grants; the sensation that the world is yours and that things could stretch on forever because there is always possibility beyond the next curve in the road. The world of Niger is a stale world; things are always the same and possibility seems so limited. This limitation seeps into the very core of me and in-turn creates an internal haze. The bright lights go out and days become something to endure rather than something to look forward to. Maybe it is the state of this country and the lifestyles of its people which has narrowed my perspective. At the moment I could not say because I am here living this and it is impossible to analyze something when you stand knee-deep within it.

Last night Patrick and I went to dinner at the country director's house. His wife puts on a dinner for volunteers once a month. The dinner was very nice and the food was excellent. I spent the evening at the smoking table talking to some embassy employee. He was a little weird, but the problem with the smoking table is that you must endure the weird conversation in order to have a smoke. He had the look of an ex-alcoholic; when he was offered a drink and he declined saying Sprite for me, I knew I was right.

I guess I will close this off by saying that tomorrow Patrick and I will be traveling back to Dosso. We will be back in town the 21st of October because Patrick is taking the GRE the 22nd. I will get back with more interesting stories.

Patrick was getting a little cabin fever so we are again in Niamey. You will never know how boring just sitting around and reading can be until you have been doing it for one year straight with no other option for distraction. Also, we are moving into mini hot season and this means nasty days with too many flies and sweat running down my head. I have adopted a policy of hiding from the heat by staying inside until six o'clock pm, but do not get ahead of yourself because I do not have an air conditioner; my house just remains ten degrees or so cooler than the outside world. This is a huge help. Okay, so I am rambling just a little!!! Back to the story of the day....

The taxis are on strike today. AHHHHHHH!!!! Something about gas prices being raised. I really do not know because I do not own a radio and the news paper does not come to my home town. This is supposed to last for two days. Two days of walking around a city of 1 million people with no system of public transportation except taxis. And this is a city with one hell of an urban sprawl problem. So getting from one spot to another can be a bit of a bitch without the help of your local Taxi Man. Maybe we will just stay in one spot for two days, but that can be a bit of a bad idea too. I mean really... I wanted to go swimming tomorrow. Cool, crisp, blue, chlorinated swimming pool of my wildest dreams. Can you sense my sadness?

Post Script; Yesterday was my one year anniversary!!!

The whole blog thing is kinda funny... when you select the font size is has options like normal size and huge. Strange indeed!!

Well I am back in Niamey waiting on Patrick. He has spent the last two weeks in Senegal having his hernia fixed, or as my little sister calls it... His lump. She is so nice sometimes. He will be back today at 7:45 PM; until then I have to find something to occupy my time. Lets see, I have finished the first four Dark Tower books and I am now mired-down in The House Of Leaves; if you ever decide to pick it up you will understand the word choice.

Patrick and I decided that we would go into the business of breeding bunnies while in Niger, but our initial system of keeping the male at our house and the female at Seyni's house with intermittent conjugal visits failed. So, after six months of the male living with the female we have five new baby bunnies. I am look forward to the rabbit stew.The whole endeavor was to help Monsuru generate some money. The next step will be to talk to him about selling his rabbits.

We used to have two cats, but one ran away and now we are only left with The Professor. Last night, when I came home, the Professor was on the roof. It was the saddest thing I had ever seen. She was looking down at me with those "it seemed like a good idea at the time eyes." Initially I thought about climbing the tree which probably allowed The Professor access to the roof, but in the end I thought it would be a back-breaking experience. I just jumped up on the porch railing and waited for The Professor to shimmy-down the side of the house into arms reach. She was very obliging.

I have managed to spend the majority of today trying to get back into this blog. Yes, in less than twenty-four hours I managed to forget my password and username. Maybe this whim-like notion of starting this blog was not the best idea.

This little man is Wesley. He is my nephew and the light of my life. If you are careful and care to look you will notice a slight gap in his teeth. He was not in a bar fight he just lost his first tooth.

At the suggestion of my friend Katie, I have decided to create this blog. I am not sure of the point, but at the moment I will have to see where it takes me. I have been serving in the Peace Corps for a little over a year. I live in the city of Dosso which has a population of 50-70,000 people. At first it might sound a little glamorous but in reality I do not do much. I have spent most of the last year reading books. I read something like three books a week. Yes... I have a lot of spare time. Okay I am not going to write more until I have this blog site business figured out.