Jan. 26, 2008

Galmi, Niger

Saturday, 10:39 pm

I just arrived today by bus in Galmi, where SIM has a hospital, airstrip, and about 10-15 workers. It was a good 7 hour ride and I was the only white person on the entire bus! But it was way better than I expected. About halfway through the ride a guy pulled a bunch of little baggies of yoghurt out of a cooler, and started passing them out. I was totally not expecting snacks by the “bus-ride attendant,” but I tried them and they were pretty darn good.

So finally I reached Galmi, hopped off on the side of the road, and they had my backpack waiting for me with this one Nigerien guy. I said in French, “That’s not all!” because aside from my backpack I had a little wooden stool that I had bought in Tera that was still in the bus with the other luggage. The bus guy just kind of pointed at the other guy and then hopped back in the bus. Next thing I knew, the bus was hauling away with my stool, while I was just standing on the side of the road, dazed and confused.

There wasn’t anything to do really, and it turns out that my baggage attendant doesn’t speak French or English, and I sure as heck don’t speak any Hausa! So I just followed him along as he carried my backpack down the road. I didn’t really have a lot of options at this point, and I was still a little sorrowful over my poor stool that was probably 10 miles down the road by now. Thankfully he knew where to go, and I was safely at the SIM compound!

It was quite an experience, and helped me to understand even more how important it is to know the language!