NIAMEY, NIGERInstead of recording the events of an uneventful day, today's log will be a portrait of Niamey.
Niamey is the capital and largest city of Niger, with about 200,000 people. It's in the southwest arm of Niger that reaches down toward a cluster of smaller coastal countries and is situated on the Niger River. Except for the new university, the town is largely built on only one bank of the river. The main landmarks are the three market places: the Big, Small and New Markets.
The Big Market is a giant maze, easy to get lost in. It's generally laid out in rows, but the exceptions are such that you can never see far down any alley. Everything is clustered together so that you can't see far enough to know how to get anywhere. To find your way around, you've just got to memorize the place.
In the market, you can find local produce (onions, cola nuts, peppers, spices, green oranges and peanuts); kitchenware; hardware (nails, etc.); motorcycle & bike supplies; clothes; many shoe stores; the standard food stall products (powdered milk, canned mackerel and sardines, sugar, cigarettes, candy); jewelry; watches; beds & bedclothes; restaurant and coffee stalls; a truck/bus park; and a million and one other things. The other markets concentrate more on produce, having such exotic items as tomatoes, carrots, pineapples, bananas, potatoes, celery, green beans—all for about ten times the US price. There are also many artisans' shops in the Little Market.
Along the road that runs by the Big Market are garages, gas stations, hotels, stores, private businesses and in one part, a row of shacks—the closest thing Niamey has to a slum section.
Niamey hasn't always been Niger's capital and apparently it's not a very old city—there's no old run-down section with cheap hotels and eateries. The streets, however, are lined with tables where you can buy 1) coffee or hot milk with bread or 2) rice or macaroni with a fiery hot sauce, served with or without chunks of gristle. This is nearly the only thing you can eat outside of European restaurants and supermarkets. There is really only one of these that resembles an American supermarket: SCORE. Not really as big as ours, but it still drives us non-wealthy westerners crazy with milk, cheese, ice cream, wine, apples and other fresh produce, canned vegetables, meat without flies, cookies & crackers— all at record-high prices and frequented only by well-to-do French expatriates.
Most of the buildings in Niamey are one-storey. Two-stories are rare, and I could probably name every one that's taller, notably the El Nasr building, on the 12th floor of which is the Citibank office, where I tear my hair out every morning.
Most stores and offices are open from 9 to 11 or 12 and from 4 to 5 or 6. This can be a pain if you've got more than two things to do in a day, but I haven't had that problem in a while.
There is a variety of people here. Most Africans approximate western dress— the women wear dresses, but always with brilliant patterns and colors, often with bare shoulders and almost ankle-length. Men often wear something like a seizure suit or a single caftan-like garment. Striped, cylindrical hats, about five inches tall are common. Occasionally I see a Tuareg, with a draping robe and long
cheche wrapped many times around his head and under his chin and always carrying a sword— these are the people that dominated the Agadez area.
The streets are filled with little French cars— Peugots and Renaults— many motorcycles and an occasional camel. Most streets are paved, but some residential sections like Jonathan's have short dirt roads. These neighborhoods usually have nice-looking but not extravagant little houses with lots of greenery. Often there is one or two beggars stationed on a street or someone who's set up some cardboard boxes and a mat to live in.
If I could reconcile myself to living in Niger, Niamey wouldn't be a bad place—it's mostly clean, except for the open sewers running along the main streets. It's mostly modern. It's not overcrowded with people or buildings. The weather is tolerable, at least at this time of year. There are three or four movie houses, an American library and many Americans living here. I would mostly miss the food I'm used to, which I could never afford here. I've reached the point where I frequently daydream about food— much of it junk food, always something rich— I have a feeling I'm going to be filling my face senselessly for the first month I'm home.
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Did a tour of the medina this morning and although it seems to be a friendly, pleasant little town, I didn't think there was enough to keep me interested for two days. Sat by the beach, reading the International Herald Tribune and a nice, sincere (believe it or not) young guy stopped and timidly told me he was going to school in the States next month and would like to know everything about it. I did my best to tell him everything about my country in ten minutes. He'll be arriving in New York on New Year's Eve, so naturally I directed him to Times Square.
Got shuffled from one bus to another in the pre-departure mayhem. Passed nice looking farmland and some that was really poor and stony. Gradually, the scenery urbanized as we approached Casablanca. Ended up at a bus depot which was not the one I knew and it was ½ hour before I found myself in familiar territory. I decided that as long as I'm back in the city where I started, I'd go back to the hotel where I started, and they offered me the same room I had my first night in Africa-- some round trip!
