There's No Telling...

It's been an interesting return to Lagos this week. We have been living amidst a national labor strike while locals protest against their government which lifted a subsidy on gasoline on January 1st. The price of gas has more than doubled per liter due to the subsidy lifting. As a result, we've been under an unspoken "no movement" week and schools and businesses have been closed. It's been hard to find out what's going on. We don't have the local news to watch, and the protests haven't been within eyesight of our flat complex or the school compound. We try to check all the internet news sites for updates, ask the local guards at the front gate for any info they can provide, and wait to hear from our superintendent who is getting somewhat regular updates from the US consulate in Lagos. So, for those of you who are worried, we've been completely safe up to this point.:) The latest rumor is that the strike is on hold for the weekend so that protesters can get out to resupply and rest up for next week. Apparently, the strike will resume on Monday morning in full force. So, the hope is that today, we'll be able to get out and do some grocery shopping. We just spoke to the water delivery guy and it sounds hopeful that he'll be by this morning to deliver some much needed water for us.

Fortunately, we don't have to make up any of the missed school days as we had several reserve days saved up (sort of like built-in snow days in the US) and the board of our school approved counting days that teachers submit assignments on-line for students/parents to access at home. I've heard from a handful of my student's families this week, so have been able to catch up a little with them, but am looking forward to seeing my little 3rd graders soon. Of course, I'm not complaining that I got an extra week off after an already long winter vacation! We fill our days with extra sleep, working out, swimming in the pool, checking our e-mail frequently, catching up on missed t.v episodes, etc. Britte' and I finally got a key to the school's workout room and shed some calories this week! A lot of staff members are organizing get-togethers and sporting events. And we don't have our stewards this week (due to the strike), so we are living normal lives, cooking and cleaning for ourselves. We are actually starting to feel like normal people again! I miss the cooking, not so much the cleaning:)

Keep praying for our safety and the situation here in Nigeria. More updates to come in the near future.

Homecoming!

One view from our room.

 December arrived and Britte' and I couldn't contain our excitement at the fact that we were coming home to the US for the first time in five months! But before our fabulous reunions with family and friends, we stopped off in a magical, little place called Cancun, Mexico:) I mean, why not, we were already flying into Atlanta, so a few days spent just a little way off the beaten path, was rightfully earned and much needed after our time in Lagos.

View of the beach from our room.

We spent the week at a wonderful resort called the RIU Cancun, an all-inclusive resort, with a prime stretch of beach front property in Cancun. Our room was on the top floor at the end of the hall, so we had not only amazing views, but very little distraction from neighbors. Our friend, Kathie, also flew down to join us for our little R & R in paradise. Britte' and I were floored when we took showers for the first time, we sort of felt like we were drowning:) After the trickle of water that comes out of our shower heads in Lagos, every shower feels like you're drowning. 

Sailing!

Each morning, we headed for the buffet breakfast where we gorged ourselves on all the things we haven't had in ages, then sat around chatting as we waited for our bodies to adjust to the fatter than a cow feeling. Our waiter, whose name escapes me, chanted "Okey-Dokey-Smokey?" an intolerable number of times as well as "So far, so good?". It became a point of weakness for us, and we'd start to giggle/groan every time he said it:) We would soon head out to the beach, claim a chair with a towel, and head off for a long walk down the beach. The sand was silky, white, and smooth. The water was a gorgeous teal, and not much cooler than bath water. On one of those walks, an old guy approached us and asked if we'd like to take his sailboat out for a spin. After finding out that his sailing business is associated with the hotel he's anchored in front of, we were all in. So, we got a great ride on a little sailboat, my first sailing excursion! 

Pic of pelican sitting on old pier post.

After our stroll each day, we basked in the sun until we were sure we'd changed color, hoping for brown, but pink was ok, too! One morning, a couple of guys strolled down the beach past our beach chairs, carrying a......baby lion!!!! We flew half-way across the world to Africa and back only to see our first lion cub (outside of a zoo) in Mexico! Kathie and I took a leisurely dip in the ocean each day, riding the waves in, sometimes not so gracefully, but always fun! This took us up to lunch, a buffet lunch of course! But we took our time eating as we had a great table overlooking the gorgeously decorated beach volleyball court! Soon, we were ready for showers and a fresh change of clothes. So, back up to our rooms, a waterfall of a shower later, and we were ready for strolling down the main road through Cancun. We navigated our way through the many malls in the area, and occasionally grabbed a Starbucks latte' from the coffee shop located right across the street from our resort. 

Of course, by 6:30, we were ready for another meal. Some evenings we went to the buffet, but we also tried several of the reservation-only restaurants on site. Two were pretty good, one was not. Usually, by this point in the evening, being a bit jet lagged, I was giving it my all to not fall asleep sitting up at the dinner table, so we didn't make it to the nightly entertainment very often. There was a somewhat amusing karaoke performance that grabbed our attentions, but the shows were pretty lame looking. I was more excited to watch T.V. in our room (we don't have a TV hooked-up yet in our flat)!  

Some lady holding the pitiful, toothless, shark:(

Later in the week, Britte' and I took off on a catamaran to the nearby "Isla Mujeres" (that's Island of the Women"). It was a long boat ride, but a beautiful day, with entertaining boat staff, and we were able to build our tans a bit more (Yep, Andrea got a tan!). The boat stopped off for some snorkeling in the reef, took us to a stop over for lunch where you could take a picture holding a live shark, get a henna tattoo, etc. We opted not to get in the water with the shark - it looked like a dead, rubber shark, and it had no teeth. I don't know if it was supposed to not have teeth or if its teeth were pulled for the safety of the people. But I did get a henna tattoo of a turtle on my upper middle back! Don't worry...it's gone now....and it's not my thing! To end this lovely day, the catamaran stopped just outside of it's port to give us an opportunity to ride the "Spinnaker". This is a sail that is attached to the back of the sailboat, but manually maneuvered by pulling on the ropes. A person intending to ride the spinnaker, jumps off the back of the boat, sits on the rope hanging below the sail, and as the attendants get the wind to fill the sail above, he/she rises up into the air! Sounds like fun! But four people into this fun diversion....RIIPPPP.....the sail had completely ripped off the rope it was attached to and the man up in the air, came plummeting down, very quickly I might add, as he slapped into the water. It goes without saying, no Spinnakering for Britte' and Andrea. 

It was a sad day when Saturday finally came! Although I was looking forward to surprising my family on Christmas morning, I dare-say I could live in Cancun, if ever the occasion arose:)