Hump Day

What day is hump day again?  Just kidding.  Some of the people here wanted to go on a camel ride so they arranged it for early this morning.  I was in doing rounds, so I did not get to see them riding, just the camels leaving.  Yes they do tend to walk funny and it looks like there would be a lot of swaying back and forth if you were on one.  Is that why they call them “ships of the dessert”?  So yes, those are Dromedary camels (with 1 hump) not Bactrian camels (with 2 humps).  For the curious – here is the Wikipedia paragraph about their humps:  Camels do not directly store water in their humps as was once commonly believed. The humps are actually reservoirs of fatty tissue: concentrating body fat in their humps minimizes the insulating effect fat would have if distributed over the rest of their bodies, helping camels survive in hot climates. In hot and dry environments, within 8 to 10 days only the dromedary camels might consume water which during this period the third of their body's weight may be reduced due to the dehydration. When this tissue is metabolized, it yields more than one gram of water for every gram of fat processed. This fat metabolization, while releasing energy, causes water to evaporate from the lungs during respiration (as oxygen is required for the metabolic process): overall, there is a net decrease in water.  There are many other adaptations, but perhaps that is enough Wikipedia for one post.

There are of course lizards everywhere.  The small ones are quite quick and hard to take a picture of.  The larger ones tend to move more slowly, but can still scramble out of the way if they need to.  They mostly stay out of the house, but sometimes you have to be careful when you are going in and out not to let an unwelcome guest in with you.  Then there are the pigeons.  They seem to like the metal roofs.  At least, they do a lot of running around on my roof, even late in to the night.  That combined with the call to prayers at 5 am limits the amount of sleep a little bit.  I suppose if you’re here long enough all that gets tuned out, like living close to railway tracks or a skytrain line.

Today we will be celebrating American Thanksgiving at the CC.  I get 2 Thanksgivings this year.  Everyone brings something for the meal.  I made it easy on myself and ordered some buns from one of the locals.  So much to be thankful for.  God has been good the whole time, looking after me and keeping me from (too much) sickness.  It is good to see the appreciation from the Nigerien people. They really do like having people come to this hospital and help out here.  And of course, all the people to be thankful for back at home.  So, happy American Thanksgiving to all of you.

1 Chronicles 16:8-9

Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make know his deeds among the peoples!