Just a brief update from us. We are all doing well and after this week of school, the kids look forward to a 2 week break for Easter. The temperature is rising steadily, and you will likely hear me complain about it a bit more, as it usually peaks in April but the humidity will start going up in May. Here are a few pictures...

Kimchee!! Every time I make it, (I only started once I got here) I have memories of squatting in the kitchen while my mom made it and taste-testing from her enormous vat. Yes, even as an adult I have done this. My kimchee definitely does not taste as good as my mom's, but it is good enough (as I am the only one that usually eats it, unless friends are desperate enough to try). Unfortunately, it ripens quite quickly in the heat here and maybe I am doing something wrong, but it seems to ripen even in the fridge! 

Here is our faithful guard, Hamidou. He is standing on top of his little hut that provides some shade during the day. It is still pretty darn hot in there and he is wiping  and cleaning off the top here, as Rog gave him the idea of painting it white to reduce the heat a bit. (We have done this to the roof of our house and it has helped). You can see Rog's hot-water heater in the background to the right...though we do not use it to shower these days!

Layya, Aissa and Rahilla - these cuties are girls of my language partner, Zeinabou whom I try to visit weekly

I had the privilege of accompanying Jaelyn on a school field trip to the zoo...it was...as expected. The kids did great (they were paired off and Jaelyn is here with her friend, we call her a giant as she is much taller than J!), considering they were out in the heat for a few hours. The zoo here is quite sad, as the animals are all caged in confines much too small and we even saw a chimpanzee with its hand out begging! (only in Niger!) 

We don't know if this is a real elephant foot...

The whole family went to visit Zeinabou and her family today. It was great fun as I got to cook with her while our kids played and Rog visited with her husband, Husseini.

Rog getting a chance to tutor Layya

I am diligently trying to pick out all the "yuckies" in this rice...but it was not meant to be. I was disturbed to find worms with the weavils. Good thing it was all boiled very well before we ate it!

Aissa is so cute. She has a doll tied to her back and a cloth wrapped around her head trying to mimic her mother. 

 I came home today with a renewed appreciation for our local friends. Zeinabou works tirelessly in the hot sun, usually with her baby tied to her back, to put a meal together. We spent 3 hours (had to walk to a local stand to buy ingredients) in total and I came home completely wiped, dehydrated and with minor heat stroke. What a wimp! That was just one meal! I should not complain that I need to make things from scratch here, as I have a fridge, a stove, a vehicle and do not need to worry about where my next meal will come from. I pray that I will not forget about how blessed I am, and I also pray that we will know how to best help our friends here in a lasting way, showing Christ's love as we do it.