A telephone call and a riding lesson

I woke up this morning after seven hours of sleep from a telephone call from Nigeria. It was Ali and Yaronbaba. I didn't know at first if something had happened, and in Niger, phone calls are complicated matters. People shout to one another - even when the line is good - and as they are shouting, they cannot hear what the other one is answering; and so they keep calling "what? what?" until they run out of money. As calling is expensive business, I didn't want to waste their time finding out if anything was the matter, but Ali spent three minutes trying to explain who he was (but he didn't have to because the line was so good that I had no problem recognizing his voice) and where he was calling from, in case I had forgotten. I was happy that I was alone in the house, because finally I shouted "NAGANÉ, Ali!" (=I understand) and I could hear him laughing as he told Yaronbaba beside him: "She has understood!" Then Yaronbaba was on the phone, just wanting to say hi and asking how Arwen was and then it was goodbye. Lol, it was a sweet gesture and I really appreciated it.

After that, I had brunch consisting of fillet & horseradish, fried eggs, fruit (guava, grapefruit and the most wonderful orange I have ever tasted!) and coffee - no bread. That was very nice... Then I spent the morning doing housework of different kinds; making yogurt, ironing, cleaning etc. Time went too quickly and at 2 pm I had a rendez-vous with Emmanuel (age 10). I had promised to take him horseback riding because he has been so eager to help YB and me with the horses. YB was really happy when he heard about this deal, and on Friday evening when I checked with Emmanuel if he had asked his parents for permission; YB gave me a contemplating look and said: "You don't forget anything, do you?" I do though, I just try not to! Anyway, Emmanuel was thrilled when I arrived at 2 o'clock. Fifteen minutes later we were out on the street with two horses, him riding Sahara and me walking Arwen. He did a good job, and it shouldn't be long until he'll be able to follow me out in the bush.

Ishtar

Eating properly...?

There have been some remarks lately that we are not eating properly down here... But let me assure you, there is no lack of neither fat, proteins or vitamins! Let's just say we're not so much into sweet things, neither Sofia nor I.

Ishtar
PS: North African meatballs are delicious!!

Fruits and vegetables

Now, two people do not eat as much as four, but let's just say that Sofia and I are very good fruit and vegetables consumers!

The great thing with Maman Ninni, our greengrocer, is that it's always a surprise to see what fruits/vegetables he will bring!

Ishtar

Dinner in the solar oven

Inspiration oh inspiration... Today, Anette and I went out in the garden and tasted the leaves of several Eden trees. The one we chose was fresh and slightly sour. When you cook food in the solar oven, you need to keep it a bit basic, so we mixed meat with tomatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, Eden leaves and spices. We put it out in the morning and at 1 p.m. it was ready! And we had fat-free, solar coooked dinner!