“Cripples Can’t Carry Cake” (Sadie’s alliteration)

Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes on Friday; it really means a lot to hear from all of you. And to add to this, the day itself turned out to be a lot of fun: perhaps this is the beginning of the end of my October-bad-luck streak! Cross your fingers for me, K? (To fill you in, not only was October replete with technical misfortunes, but on Nov. 1st, there was a bit of a “household accident” whereby the pinky toe on my left foot nearly broke; so basically I’m lame at the moment. Should do wonders for my informant relationships when I interview disabled Hausa beggars, J/K.)

Despite my being a temporary cripple, Sadie, Dairou and I went out for the day to run some errands, one of which was to pick up my long-awaited research permit…that I ended up getting for free! I also had maps of my fieldwork area printed, checked emails (which we hadn’t been able to do for over a week), and we picked up ice cream and cake for the evening. (One nice consequence of being lame, I have found, is that little sisters have to carry everything for you, including your own birthday cake!) For lunch, Sadie and I scarfed (word?) down couscous, pineapple and yoghurt; and Ivan and I had a great talk on the phone that wasn’t compromised by horrible static and low rates of connectivity – for once! When evening rolled around we indulged our sweet teeth {see cake pic: from top left going clockwise: Sadatou, Flore (a girl living at the house with Usuman’s family), Halima, Adama and me} while watching “The Bourne Identity” on a borrowed projector.

All in all, a fab day. Let’s hope it’s all good from here on out!