Zebilla as a tourist 2

Rosie tries on her sundress, while Grace folds her second dress,  and Love, Grace's daughter, prepares her mobile phone to take a photo.

In the market- serving palm nuts at Fatima's space.  (Yams in the background)

Rosie adds onions to the pot,  Fati grinds chilli peppers, garlic and tomatoes to make a  paste,  Mouda fans the charcoal to increase the heat of the fire, and Wassila watches and learns.

Ready to share a meal with my work counterpart, Haruna, his wife  Haleema and daughter Hassana.

The children I have come to know were delightful, and keen to greet the new “Nasallah” (white person), though a little crestfallen, expecting Rosie to be a young child they could play with, not an adult.

Small details of daily routines I accepted as normal needed explanation.

 Fluttering noises across the zinc roof overhead were guinea fowl. Grunting or crunching meant pigs, goats or donkeys were eating the dried remnants of crops immediately outside our windows. Strange huffing sounds came from billy goats as they attempted to mount and mate with the females. The electricity, phone network and internet will function for most, but not all the time. Water is precious, to be used sparingly. Absolutely everybody will greet, will stop and ask after your health. Socializing is also conducted via the mobile phone, any time from dawn onwards being acceptable.  At the market, a shop or a food stall, ask, “What do you have?” and not “I want….” Whenever there is a problem, explain your difficulty, then trust, as collectively a solution will be found. Do not use a watch- judge time by the length of shadows, plan activities by the day, not the hour.