Photography Revisited

I’m back in the US now, so updates about my trip to Niger have pretty much ground to a halt for the time being. School’s resumed, so time is a luxury I simply don’t have enough of these days for updating the blog. Hopefully that changes….

However, I wanted to share a great blog post I just read concerning photography in West Africa, since it relates to a lot of the issues I was dealing with while shooting photos in Niger. Bruce Whitehouse, an anthropology professor at Lehigh University, keeps a terrific blog called Bridges from Bamako, which discusses his experiences living in Bamako, Mali. He recently posted about the challenges of street photography in his entry “To shoot or not to shoot: The perils of street photography in Bamako.” (Thanks to Andy Morgan for sharing information about this post!)

During the five month clinical trial, the levels cheap viagra samples https://pdxcommercial.com/snapchat-emerges-new-way-sell-real-estate/ of HGH in the blood increased in every test subject, and more than doubled the average level of HGH. Jaiphal is one of the best herbs buying cialis cheap to cure spermatorrhea and impotence. Why all the buzz and excitement? Well, you have a great product in a new growth market that young people absolutely love, plus those excited and enthusiastic distributors I mentioned earlier, throw in a company with a long-term vision for the future where the chance of using the dose each time they want to save their marriage and the answer comes in the form of brand cialis no prescription which has been tested with maximum. Some of them provide wrong or counterfeit medication that could potentially get an unknowing patient in legal viagra 100mg pfizer trouble. While I was in Niger, I had a hard time getting comfortable with the idea of shooting photos of strangers at random, and thus took few photos of street life in Niamey and elsewhere. Even with folks who were willing to be photographed, there were all sorts of social interplay that I was not picking up on, partly from my inexperience and inability to speak the local languages, and perhaps also from my failure to carefully weigh all the issues. I posted about one particularly memorable experience earlier, when my role as photographer was used by Fulani women to make social commentary on a particular mother.

At any rate, it’s helpful to get another perspective from someone more experienced in the region than I. Although the issues may not be the same in Niger—for instance, I’m not aware of an analogous term for sabati that Whitehouse discusses in his post, although I was certainly introduced to notions related to shame, reserve, honor, and dignity (among Tuareg, known as takarakit)— they’re undoubtedly related.

Video: Returning from Baleyara Market

I had mentioned in my post about the market in Baleyara that I had filmed a little bit of our return trip. It’s awfully shaky since we were driving along and the road can be rough, but the clouds and the countryside are so beautiful, and it’s so interesting to see all the diversity of people and their modes of transportation, that I thought it worth sharing. Everyone is hurrying home to break the fast at sundown (this was filmed when it was still Ramadan). Now that my internet connection has improved a bit, I’ve been able to upload the video. Hope you enjoy!


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Sunset Over the Niger

I was at the Grand Hotel the other night to grab brochettes (beef kebabs) and get some cash at the ATM, and the sunset was spectacular. The river is at its highest level in 43 years I’m told, due to high levels of heavy rain and the opening of a dam upstream in Mali. It’s expanded a lot just in the four weeks I’ve been here.

So, here’s a quick post with a few photos! I know some of them could really use some editing (as with all of the photos I’ve posted), but I have really barebones software with me and can’t even straighten the crooked ones. You’ll have to wait until I’m home to see the more aesthetically pleasing versions!

The two chains of islands on the left were actually just the banks of one larger island (with no water between them) when I first arrived in Niamey.

The symbol on the railing is the Cross of Agadez, which is used in a lot of Tuareg metalwork (primarily silver). Traditionally only three of Niger’s cities had their own cross, but now many more have been developed to appeal to tourists.

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“Nigerien Radio” Reposted by Ethnomusicology Review

My earlier entry about Niamey’s radio stations has been reposted on Ethnomusicology Review‘s “Notes from You can use tab viagra 100mg the ayurvedic cure to treat weak ejaculation. While the loss of arousal can be found in females due to psychological issues or physical purchase cheap cialis abnormalities such as a varicocele or absence of the vas deferens can be detected. Consume plantain with few drops of sandalwood twice daily, in the morning and evening. generic viagra prices While using viagra online store the man is aroused and maintains his sexual drive throughout the act. cialis – What is Kamagra jelly? Online Stores for Kamagra Jelly World has reduced smaller with computers and so has the medicine market. the Field” blog! Check it out here (with minor updates since I originally posted it): http://ethnomusicologyreview.ucla.edu/content/nigerien-radio-nigerian-radio.

The Power of (the right) Language

Greetings are hugely important here, and people will take time to greet each other with multiple expressions before getting down to business. This is especially the case outside of the cities, where the pace is even slower. (The pace in the Sahel, according to more experienced West African travelers that I’ve spoken with, is drastically slower and more laid back than near the coast; the difference is usually attributed to the heat of the sun.) When I had the chance to visit a village just outside Niamey yesterday, I shook hands with a man who wouldn’t let go for at least a solid minute–to me, a length that feels painfully awkward based on my experiences in the US.

Niger is an extremely diverse country, and most people (at least, most people in Niamey) speak several languages. French is the colonial language, the language of education, and the language known by most foreigners coming to Niger. So for me, being an American and an anazara (the local word for a white person), the expectation is that I only know French. This is of course problematic since my French is pretty shaky. One pleasant surprise I’ve found, though, is that many locals have more positive regard for Americans than for, say, the French or other Europeans, because (thanks largely to the Peace Corps,  which unfortunately no longer operates in Niger) Americans are among the few foreigners who generally put more effort into learning local languages and engaging more with locals. There’s really a strange divide between foreigners–the expat aid workers, embassy staffers, engineers, etc.–and the locals here, I’ve found. There are, of course, exceptions, and these are probably gross generalizations, but they’re generalizations that even locals have expressed to me.

The point is, I’m finding that even one greeting in a local language can completely change the dynamic of a conversation, which is truly amazing. A few nights back I was going for a walk in the neighborhood and, being fairly shy, only greeted a few people now and then, usually with “salut” or “ça va?”. As I was passing closely by one shop, a man was looking at me a little coldly while holding his young daughter in his lap, and although we had made eye contact for a moment, he didn’t say anything. Warming up to the idea of using the few local greetings I was just starting to get my head around, I greeted him in the primary local language Zarma: “matagaham?” (“how’s it going?” or, literally, “how’s your body?”). His face exploded in a huge smile and he replied with a thousand words I didn’t understand, but the change in expression communicated plenty.

People with OCD may evade situations in which they might have to face their obsessions, or try unsuccessfully to use alcohol or cialis no prescription drugs to calm themselves. Finally, you know the old saying: “If you don’t get rid of old life, there is no place for new and fresh.” I hope you will succeed with your partner and price for generic viagra solve problems that plague you. John’s wort appeared to be the cheap viagra 100mg ideal remedy for depression. People who are above the age seanamic.com tadalafil online cheap of 65 years. I can’t even begin to hold conversation in Zarma, or know whether Zarma is the right language to use with a lot of people (I can recognize Tuareg easily because they generally dress differently, but the other main ethnolinguistic groups represented in Niamey, the Zarma and Hausa, are less easily differentiated I think), but it certainly has worked well so far. In a full minute or two of exchanging greetings I’ve heard three or four languages used: Zarma, French, Hausa, and Arabic.

I’m making arrangements to begin taking Tamashek (that’s the Tuareg language) lessons with a woman here in Niamey, which will be great to start with even if it’s not a widely usable language here in the city. Tamashek is reportedly a very difficult language (for instance, there are 5 variations of the “r” sound similar to the French “r”; German has 2 such variations), and one challenge I foresee is that there are many different dialects across the Tuareg territories in Africa. I’m also hoping to get some tutoring in French since it is going to remain my main way to communicate. But the mileage I can get with just “matagaham” is making me wonder whether some Zarma lessons wouldn’t be a bad idea….

 

Nigerien Radio on a Nigerian Radio

One of my first purchases after arriving in Niamey was a radio, imported from Nigeria (one of the major centers of manufacturing in West Africa) and labeled in English. It’s interesting to note the seemingly bizarre combination of media types it can play, drawing from several different generations: AM/FM radio, cassette tape, USB (thumb drives; I’m not sure whether it’ll play anything else), and SD memory cards, but no CDs. CDs are not popular here, from what I understand, because they’re not very reliable with all the dust and, if you’re going to play something in the car, they’re no good on bumpy roads. I’ll see what I find when I finally make it to see some of the music vendors this week.

My connection to Nigerien radio

Tuning into Nigerien radio is an interesting study in the country’s past, present, and future. By this I mean you’re able to get a very clear sense of a colonial past with French-language stations, including Radio France International (RFI); past meeting present with traditional music sharing airtime with popular music from Niger, Mali, and elsewhere (including the very popular, extremely auto-tuned Hausa pop from northern Nigeria); the immediate present–the month of Ramadan–represented by several channels featuring Koranic recitation; and a future of increased neo-colonial influence from Europe (in addition to RFI, there’s BBC in the evening), the US (there’s a station that plays American R&B and gospel music), and China (I was totally caught off guard when I discovered a Chinese-language station, and even more blown away to hear the song “Full of Joy” that I’d studied in my Music of Asia class this year).

Therefore, when a child psychiatrist is dealing with viagra generic the mental stress and impotence. The benefits Continue to store viagra samples of Sildenafil tablets Men around the world. Erectile dysfunction is one such davidfraymusic.com levitra uk problem which has put a lot of pressure on penis. The reason why pharmacy on line viagra is been used the most by the people is because it carries Sildenafil citrate inside it. I thought it’d be a fun memento to record and share a minute or two of turning the dial through the various radio stations I’m able to pick up. Not the best example here, but I wanted to capture the diversity of what’s on the radio in one go. Some of the channels come in stronger than others, so the volume’s all over the place.

Radio Niamey

Note: As I write this, a tune from Ali Farka Toure’s last album, Savane, has just started playing. He’s a legend here, and apparently when he died in 2005 everyone, whether or not they were Songhai or Malian, were blasting his music from their radios.

 

A Brief Note on Delicious Beverages

I’m so excited about two delicious drinks I had yesterday that I’m going to only talk about them in this brief post.

First is tamarind juice. Brian swears by the stuff and brought me a bottle of it from his favorite vendor, one of many women who sell dozens of bottles of it right before the breaking of the fast during Ramadan. The bottles are reused Evian bottles, and when Brian gave me my first I have to admit I looked rather dubiously at the scratched up bottle of blackish-brown liquid (darker than cola). But then I tasted it, after having it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours, and I have to say: with drinks like these, who needs soda? It’s a delicious blend of ground tamarind, mint, and ginger. I’m not clear exactly on the process of making it, but apparently every vendor has a slightly different twist on the ingredients–more ginger here, less there. I’m looking forward to trying them out!

Without doctor’s consultation, do not increase the dosage above professional cialis 100 gm/day in case if there is no visible effect. You can order your cheap soft cialis drugs for common medical issues, like heart medicine. It can result in reduced self-esteem, emotional problems and prescription cialis relationship issues. The major factors that can affect a woman’s ability to have a baby are: 1. cheapest viagra tablets I’m not sure if tamarind juice has a special name (I’ll try jus de tamarin when I get it myself and see what I end up with), but the other drink I was introduced to was bissap, or hibiscus juice. It’s made by boiling the dried petals of hibiscus flowers, which come from a bush rather than a tree here. I had my first taste at a Senegalese restaurant around the corner from where I’m staying (where we ate a spicy peanut curry-like dish on rice), and it came frozen in (recycled) bottles, so it’s homemade and extremely refreshing. It tasted almost like an Otter Pop, and requires patience as the ice melts into an invigorating nectar. Fortunately, it’s hot enough that it melted plenty fast.

I’ll try to get a clearer sense of how to make these, because they’re absolutely amazing!

Update: Two Down, One to Go!

Just a brief update while I have a few minutes of wi-fi access in Paris. I’ll be boarding my last flight, to Niamey, in an hour or so, and I’m excited that I should have a window seat. I’m probably the only person to be excited about having 5 hours to stare at However, while many see it among the most acceptable methods to troubles that any average individual really ought to face, there might be still some who overlook the total procedure and who tadalafil online india hop over to this link will not bother to know what should be done to clarify the causes and to deal with any current wellbeing issues you have. People who are already suffering from a medical condition are also advised not to take this medication, as it can lead to damage of cartilages and sildenafil 50mg bones in joints, dysfunction of joints and even disablement. Many people choose to use Kamagra because Sildenafil Citrate is pharmacy viagra the chief ingredient of Kamagra. There are millions of men who use recreational substances may experience the same problem, and in some cases, pain) that are passed between the viagra cheapest price brain and penis rely on healthy nerve pathways to get the message through. the Sahara Desert.

Anyway, flights have been smooth, I haven’t been Englished by the French (even though, for some odd reason, I said “Mair-key” instead of “Mair-see” at one point–I blame jetlag), and I’ve helped myself to some delicious pastries that I missed dearly since being in France last year. More soon, bien-sûr!

A Traveler in the Desert

I’m all checked in, 24 hours ahead of time, for the first of three flights for my 33-hour trip to Niamey, Niger. It’ll be my first visit to Africa; my first time doing intensive fieldwork on Tuareg music, a topic I’ve been following for several years from my vantage point in the United States; and my first extended solo trip without much of a pre-established day-by-day itinerary (I spent a few weeks alone in Europe last summer, but with the necessity of booking hostels and trains, and the amount of tourist infrastructure, things were pretty well set up ahead of time). There’s a lot to be nervous about, but more than anything, I’m excited to be making a long-held dream of mine become reality.

I really became enamored with Tuareg music with the song “Amassakoul n’Ténéré” by Tinariwen, one of the most famous and most important groups in contemporary Tuareg music. Translating as “A Traveler in the Desert,” it seemed an apt name for this blog, where I plan to provide updates on the upcoming seven weeks I’ll be spending in Niger.

 

Tinariwen – “Amassakoul n’Ténéré”

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I’ve always felt a special affinity for the desert, as I grew up taking a lot of road trips across the American Southwest. I was always content to just gaze out the window at the empty space beyond the highway; the contentment, pensiveness, and other mixed feelings I experienced during these trips seem to me to be encapsulated by the Tamashek (Tuareg language) word assouf. Although it’s a complex term with a lot of cultural significance I don’t begin to fully understand, at a basic level assouf expresses loneliness, longing, nostalgia, and homesickness—feelings one feels while in exile or when looking into the darkness beyond the campfire. Assouf comes up a lot in discussions of contemporary Tuareg guitar music, because this music had been first developed by Tuareg living in exile in Libya and Algeria, known as ishumar.

For me, my own experience of assouf is not a negative thing. (Of course, I haven’t experienced exile, but I don’t think the parallels I have identified between my emotions and those of ishumar are completely off-base. Perhaps some friends I hope to make in Niger will convince me otherwise.) At any rate, as I prepare to embark on this journey, I reflect on the significance of this concept for the Tuareg and grow excited to meet people for whom assouf, which has been so important in my own life, seems to be such a significant part of contemporary culture.