THE MAN IN THE RED LIGHT: During our conversation with the three sisters of Aouderas, Ahoudan’s son, Aghali, surprised me: “So, Ariane, when I went to Niamey, I saw red lights everywhere. They changed from red to green. But I was wondering… how do they find someone small enough to fit into those light posts to change the color of the lights?” I did a doubletake. I remained somber despite an impending desire to keel over from laughter. Just to make sure I had properly understood Aghali’s question, I asked, “so you think that there is a person inside the light post turning the switches to change the light?” He nodded his head, “well, how else would the lights change color?” Stoically, I explained. The three sisters who had never seen anything resembling red lights, listened on in amazement.
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