On the rocks

okay so for the last two weeks i have been all over this country, I have gone from Maradi to Zinder, then from Zinder all the way across country to Niamey to see matt off, and then returned to Maradi....and then guess what else?

While waiting for my monthly shuttle and resting from my cross country trip laziness struck and i laid around on a mattress for the last week wimpering feebly for someone to hold me. Why?

Well I what i thought was laziness actually was a pretty gruesome case of kidney stones, YOUCH!!!!!

So then i called the med bureau and told them my symptoms and specific difficulties, and they said get on the bus and come to Niamey. NOOOOOOO, I CAN NOT TRAVEL!!!


I tried every excuse in the book, the last thing i wanted was to hop on the bus for another 15 hours with the pain i was in, all i want to do is return to my village. So after cursing the doctor and then received the threat of being admin seperated if i wasn't on the bus the next day, here I am, alone in Niamey wearing borrowed clothes.

It was kind of funny, i saw the doctors today and apparently the news of my fight with the doc' not to leave spread quickly, apparently i left them with the impression that if i came in then I would be slinging rocks and dropping F bombs. I really wanted to, but......if you know me i can spit a little venom and make it burn. But damn it, its done with a freindly smile.

But......Ultimately they were right. I was trying to get back to post with kidney stones.

What the hell was I thinking?

I just miss my village. Its my home.


The day before coming to Niamey (again) I returned to my village to tell my villagers that I would be returning but that i was in poor health and needed to go to niamey. They were sad, but when i gave them some rabbits to care for they were pretty excited. Its a project i am starting in my village and it has the potential to make alot of money. They were really excited to have thier resident white guy back, even for a short stint, but to have the highly anticpated rabbits that they were promised finally come. Wow!!

I miss my village, its my home.

When i left my village two weeks ago I was expecting to be back after three or four days, instead i have been constantly on the road for the last two weeks. What a wild ride its been traveling cross country, nearly suffering a heat stroke while lost in the bush, and then having my best friend get pulled out of Niger to fight again in iraq, and now kidney stones. What else can this place throw at me?

What ever it is, its never enough.