Agadez, part 2 (the market)

After our adventure at the Grand Mosquée, we ventured to the market. It's one of the largest animal markets in Niger. I was free to take all the photos I wanted, which was a nice change of pace after trying to photograph in the streets of Agadez. Either people wanted money from you if you took their picture or yelled at you for something. I received a particularly badtonguee thrashing after photographing an interesting looking building with NO people in it. A man came down the street, yelling like I'd done something very bad. HUH? There were NO people in the photo. Evidently he didn't like me photographing his Mosquée. Lesson learned.

ANYHOW, this girl was really sweet and I made some nice photos of her.Thehe kids all carry stuff on their heads, as do the women in Niger. It ranges from goods to sell to water to food. Jeanel tells me they have developed strong neck muscles to do this with skill, but I'm perplexed because their necks don't LOOK thick or muscular to me. Hmm....



There were oogles of animals everywhere for sale. It's getting close to Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice) (I think this is the correct holiday....). People were looking for goats to feast on for the festivities.



This is a little more abstract, but I like it. Just shooting from the hip in the food section of the market....



One of the biggest changes for me was seeing litter EVERYWHERE. It was so strange to just throw your trash down once you were done with it. There was NO PLACE to put trash in the public parts of the country. A strange adjustment for me, to go from only throwing apple stems out of a car window to tossing plastic bags out of a bus window.



In the space of the chief of the market, there was this bulletin board with a funny photo on it. It made me giggle, so I photographed it.



This is how I looked at the market. My friend, Jeanel, took this photo of me inside the house of the market chief (or whatever he's called). The head scarf phenomenon puzzled me while I was here in the states, but after being in the wind of Agadez for about 10 seconds, I began to see how practical it was!

That's it for now. I've decided to embrace the fact that I'm suffering from jet lag in a MAJOR way. I've been wide awake since 2 a.m. and finally decided to quit tossing and turning in bed and be productive. Perhaps I'll have the energy later today (after a nap) to update a little more!