What Goes On In Niamey?

Last Thursday Hilary and Amanda attended a contemporary dance performance at the French Cultural Center. Here are pictures!

With Amanda (our Art Historian roommate) we have followed the fashion scene here. Last Saturday we all attended a fashion show at a bar/restaurant/hotel. The property was beautiful, having the largest and most luscious trees we have yet seen here, along with a pool and an enclosed patio for dining. The fashion show highlighted the designs of a Nigerien woman, Kadidiatou Mariko (her clothes have the brand name K’Mariko, viewable at kmariko.com). Check out a picture below.

One of the biggest fashion events on the African continent happens in Niger every other year. FIMA (fima-africa.com) begins this week. We will attend this week and post pictures! Amanda discusses her thoughts on Nigerien art and fashion and her experiences here on her blog, Aikindadi.blogspot.com.

In non-fashion related news, we have made a tofu contact. Yes, friends, we can eat tofu again. Similar random luxuries enter our lives as we grow to know Niamey’s people and possibilities. We have enjoyed watching borrowed DVD’s and reading borrowed books.

Hilary has recently hired three research assistants (from the Geography Club at the university) to do work in the National Archives. She continues meeting with administrators in the public and private sectors, learning the substance of water politics in Niamey.

Chris’ docket of tutoring has grown quickly. Each week he teaches English to between 3-5 french boys, a medical doctor who hopes to study Public Health in the States, a Nigerien high school student with his English and Social Studies courses, and a French speaker wanting to trade his French for Chris’ English. Slowly his French improves with practice and French classes four times a week.

We finally left the city limits of Niamey!

We met with friends and drove to a house on the river on Saturday morning. Before relaxing under some mango trees on the banks of the river, we decided to go on a hike to the top of some nearby plateaus. We walked through fields of millet and passed by a herd of cows (shepherded by three boys), then ascended the dry, rust-colored plateau. The view was amazing from the top—see for yourself!
Here is a picture of Chris and Hilary, and our roommate and fellow Fulbrighter Amanda.


After having reached the top, we decided to go a little further to see some caves and a ravine. People harvest bat guano from the caves to fertilize their fields, and it was very interesting to see the process in action (there were two boys in the cave harvesting). A bit farther from the cave was a ravine, which in such a dry place is actually quite a remarkable thing to see. And we were glad for the bit of shade and cool water to splash over our skin. Here is a picture of us and our friend Hachirou cooling off!


After what seemed like a very long walk in the hot sun we finally reached the house along the river where we had cold sodas and juice waiting. It was wonderful! We proceeded to grill some chicken and sausages, and spent the rest of the afternoon eating and luxuriating. We were so tired, and a little sunburned! That evening back at home we gathered around the laptop

Malam Maman Barka

Friday night we went to the French-Niger Cultural Center (link) to see Malam Maman Barka, a wonderful Nigerien musician. Maman Barka is the last (or one of the last) players of the biram, an instrument from the shores of Lake Chad in far eastern Niger. The biram was an instrument important to the fishing communities in Lake Chad, but has declined in popularity in recent years. Maman Barka traveled to eastern Niger and learned to play the biram from the last living master player in 2002, and the master has since died. Maman Barka is reputedly the last player of this instrument, and he is promoting the instrument worldwide. Here is a picture of Maman Barka, his biram, and his accompanying percussionist (who was also amazing).


The sound produced by the biram is rich, mellow, resonant, and oddly electric. It has five chords that are played at various octaves to produce melody. The songs he played ranged from things he learned from his teacher to contemporary meditations on the future of Africa and the promise of youth. Here is a link to Maman Barka.

Biere Niger

Yes, there is beer made in Niger.

And here is a picture from the patio of where we got this beer.

Alphadi Concert and general good times

Greetings friends,

Over this past weekend we went to a concert put on by Alphadi, a famous Nigerien fashion designer and creator of FIMA, the Pan-Africa Fashion Show in Niger (for more info see http://www.alphadi.net/). Sunday's concert was a benefit concert for Agadez, a city in northern Niger that has recently been devastated by flooding. The concert featured the best Nigerien artists singing a few songs each, and also featured Alphadi's fashion show. It was pretty amazing. Here are some pics!