Since Anette and I spent Tabaski (which is sort of the Nigerien equivalent of Thanksgiving) with my nomad friend Aïssa last year, this year, it was Mariama’s turn.

Mariama and I go way back. We met as fourteen year olds and hung out every day for four years until her family moved to Maradi. I loved [...]

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I am turning a year older today, and what better than to post an entry about the day when we introduced Isolde to the track just a few weeks ago?

It was a fun day, because all the other Garvis presently in Niger came out too see her!

And I got to do some fun introductions within [...]

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On Friday morning, before going to work, Anette and I went over to my brother’s garden to look at some morning flowers that my mother would have liked. Being of a precious kind, they only bloom in the mornings and retire when the sun gets too strong.

I love life, when you stop to look at [...]

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This weekend, I took the train to Gothenburg and spent two life quality days with an old friend of mine. It was fab! I also got the opportunity to look for clothes for Niger, which isn’t as easy as it seems. First of all, the fabrics should preferably be natural, or I will only be [...]

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I never showed you the second dress that Ringo made just before I left for Sweden, so here it is! The first one (which is finished now) is for a friend’s wedding, and this second one is for my sister’s phd ceremony.  Lol, I know few girls who can resist a good reason for having [...]

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One of the tissues I bought last time I went to the market was a gold & green Asian-patterned cotton tissue. I Ringo, my tailor, come over and talked through a dress design (for him to make) which I intend to wear at a friend’s wedding (yes, Karin, that would be you!) He came by [...]

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After a Saturday spent mostly in bed due to a stubbron migraine, I was keen on doing something new on Sunday. Aïssa came over for brunch and a Bollywood movie, and an hour later, her brother brought over someone to give me a henna-makeover.

Ah, do I see remnants of the migraine, perhaps? Lol!

The girl’s name [...]

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Remember the bazain tissue I bought around Christmas 2007? Well, I finally made something of it! One of the reasons I waiting so long was that my body’s been readjusting to the climate (about a kg per month) and although I was in dire need of some well fitting clothing, I didn’t want to have [...]

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So the thing is: I’m getting hungry for braids again. You know the whole Nigerien thing? I’ve done it a few times, and although it takes about six hours (or more, depending on how much mesh I want to use) to braid my hair, it lasts for about four weeks which is absolutely amazing… The [...]

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I have been trying out head wraps for years and years, and now I finally found one that works! It’s all about matching your head form with texture, and in my case, I want a thin material that I can fold a number of times. Which is then supposed to match one of the other [...]

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Today, we went to the market and came back with a whole lot of different fabrics. You’d be amazed at how fast you wear clothes out (you wash them more often here due to the dust and the heat) and Anette was starting to run out of clothes. Hence, she needed a new wardrobe, [...]

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In the afternoon, we headed out to the race track where there would be a big show with lots of horses and camels. Camel and donkey races were also on the schedule, although in the end, there was no time left to organize them. A pity, because I have yet to see my first [...]

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