...two things. First of all, there are intermittent power cuts every night in Maradi. This creates a problem when you are trying to sleep in comfort, because if the AC doesn't work your two options are to open the windows and invite in the malaria-carrying mosquitos or to sweat it out...the night before last I opted for option number two in addition to a cold shower, but then the hotel's generator kicked in which meant that I had AC but also what sounded like a huge idling lawnmower right outside my window. And since I had cranked up the AC I found myself freezing in the middle of the night.
The upside of this is that during power cuts the numerous outdoor bars and restaurants in Maradi that are situated in gardens are much more pleasant...there is not a lot of ambient lighting in Niger, so to cut it off altogether makes for a more peaceful Bière Niger drinking session. Speaking of, Bière Niger comes in big bottles, because why bother with a small bottle when you can have big, and is pretty strong...
Second, every morning I go to the RAV workshop early in the morning to discover that it hasn't started yet...apparently the woman who has been contracted to provide the coffee, tea, food, and beverages for the workshop is mafia-connected, so her prices are way too high but there is no other option, and on top of it she is always late. So everything gets started late...no big rush. But the thing is, the work has been done, two groups of students will present their forum theater pieces this afternoon.
But in any case things here definitely move slowly, and service is a whole other issue. Yesterday we were at a restaurant trying to order some food but they were out of almost everything, so finally we just asked for a salad with whatever they had...after probably 45 minutes they came back with potato salad. Enfin bon. The other day I went to a restaurant that specializes in a Nigerian milk/yogurt thing, but when I ordered it they were out...how do you run out of your house speciality?
On Tuesday afternoon I went to a forum theater performance with Clemence, the wife of Djibrine's colleague Bernard at GRET, a Paris-based development organization. Clemence had never seen a forum theater play; this was in Hausa so neither of us understood the details but she at least got the sense of how it works. While waiting to meet her in front of the bank I made friends with the guards who offered me a seat and some tea.
In general I like Maradi--it's relatively calm, although the motorcycle/car/donkey/camel traffic on the main drag can be intense...I'm going to take a second tour of the market today, since we head back to Niamey tomorrow...
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