10/8/97
6:08am
Hotel Sahel, Niamey
The air is still. I can hear a bathroom echoing with the sound of the constantly running toilet. From my spot outside on the terrace, I can see the river. The moths still swarm the tall street lamps, giving each a fuzzy halo. A sole god and a sole rooster call out a duet. Meanwhile, the team sleeps.
Today we will set up the skeleton of Afrovenat
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Gabrielle Lyon, official scribe of the
1997 expedition to Niger
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or in the Museum. We’ve carried it for 1000 miles (since Accra) and offloading the crates will free up a lot of room. Today we have to fuel up, fill the 20 liter "jerry cans’ with water, repack, move any non-essential items to the Embassy, and line up the vehicles so that we can pull out at 5:00am sharp on Thursday.
The help from the US embassy – their attentiveness and thoughtfulness –has made a huge difference. So different from the last time we were here in ’93.
Ibrahim, our Touareg friend has come to Niamey to meet us and welcome us back to Niger. Paul is planning a big meshwe (feast) for the beginning of the season as a way to thank the people of the InGall region and to celebrate being back.
The sky has turned milky grey and suddenly the street lamp halos have been shorn. The air is very still, as if the sky
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In the field Gabrielle Lyon keeps two kinds of journals. She is the official expedition "scribe" and it is her responsibility to keep a daily log that documents the activities and details of each day. She also keeps a personal journal of writings just for herself. As you read the entries below, can you figure out which is which? How is the style different? What do you notice about the sentence structure and word choice for the two kinds of journals? What kind of journal do you think you would prefer to keep? What would your style sound like?
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has paused and is about to take a breath. Insects in the air flying have been replaced by the sound of insects on the ground, chirping.
There are many differences between Niamey and Accra, though it’s hard to get a good sense of the roots. Firstly, I think there are just fewer people – so there’s less congestion, less crowding, less filth, less of a supply and demand for everything. There are hardly any street hawkers, no ‘trotros’ (public transportation), which makes me wonder how people get around the city, many fewer cabs.
There also seem to be fewer women everywhere – fewer on the street, fewer walking, fewer working. People laugh less loudly, openly. Some of this may be due to Islam, but that may not be the only reason…
White cattle egrets cross the sky like a shower of arrows and land amongst the grasses of the river…