Coming back to Nigeria has been so much easier than last year. First of all, the weather has been wonderful - much cooler temperatures, lower humidity, very little rain, and no lightning storms. It's amazing how just a slight change in weather can make such a difference in your day to day lives. On top of that we haven't been having the constant power outages we usually have. And the road coming in to the housing development where our school and flats are located has been filled-in. Now, we don't have to worry about breaking an axle or blowing a tire or getting swallowed up by a black hole amidst the array of horrible pot-holes.
Our new steward is working out rather well. We came "home" to a clean flat, no ant problems (just a few pesky lizards and cockroaches), a car that works, a furnished flat, and knowing our way around a large, confusing city. So, I'd say things are going rather well.
As for my teaching gig...two thumbs up for this year. I have only 19 kiddos (two of which are teacher's kids) opposed to 25 last year! If you're a teacher, you know how much a deficit of 6 kids can make. And those 19 smiling faces are pretty darn awesome! They have got to be the nicest bunch of kids I've ever met (as a whole). They don't really argue or even tattle-tale on each other...everyone does what their told, they all do their homework, and boy do they love to listen to me read. This is a great bunch of readers! I am loving my job:)
Back to School night was a success. I had 13 out of 19 families come to my class. Here, you are expected to give a mini-presentation about yourself and what parents can expect this year. We also have to keep a classroom website, which is primarily how we communicate with parents (that and face-to-face as parents are at school before and after the day to drop-off/pick-up kids). Since I already designed this last year, all I had to do was copy my options from last year into this year and voila! I can see why teachers stay-on for more than their initial 2-year contract.
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| Balogun shopping area |
As some of you probably already saw via FB, Britte' and I already ventured out into the real Nigeria to shop amongst the locals for fabric to make our Nigerian Culture Day outfits. This is always fun, exhausting, and eye-opening all at the same time. We took some of the "newbies" with us and taught them the ropes of fabric shopping. Our driver, Mike, to show us his appreciation, brought his personal tailor to our flat last week and had us measured for outfits that he is having made for us. We should be getting them back this week - I'm sure there will be pics to add once Nigerian Culture takes place at the end of September.
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| A bag full of chickens sitting on the sidewalk. |
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| Shopping for fabric at Balogun. |
We are also doing a lot more of our own shopping for groceries/produce. There is a local produce/fish market down the road where fishermen and farmers sell their products. Although I had an inkling already, I've decided that our cook from last year was milking us, paying double or even triple for the same products. And we've barely gone through any oil in the last 5 weeks, proving that it is possible to cook healthy meals here (for those of you who don't know, our cook last year was using copious amounts of oil last year in every dish he made). I'm sure everyone has heard of this new internet sensation called "Pinterest"...I am loving it! I am stock-piling recipes and having our cook try a new recipe each night she cooks. So far, we haven't eaten the same meal twice (except we did have her make enchiladas twice, as on the first go, she used feta on and in the enchiladas, rather than mozzarella) (oh, and I guess she's made pizza twice - once with me showing her step by step, and then on her own, however, minus any cheese whatsoever...). Cooking skills are something that take time to develop:)
There has been one major development since our return to Lagos. The school finally decided to install a water-pump on the roof of our building! It took a few days of no water, and then it was only cold, but now it is up and working! No more piddly showers for us! No more taking 2 hours to fill the washing machine (or lugging buckets of water from the back bathroom to the kitchen)! Of course, with any improvement here, there are also drawbacks. The pipes in these flats are 40 years old and not used to such extreme forces of water shooting through them, so of course, all of our water fixtures are leaking. We had to turn the water off to the toilet in the front bathroom, we keep a plastic container under the hot water unit in the kitchen to catch the drips, a bucket under the water heater in Britte's bathroom, and you have to be careful not to turn the tap on more than a smidge or the water comes shooting out in projectile mode. Your shirt will be soaked if you're in the kitchen, and the shower water now hits the back wall and is hard to contain within the confines of the shower stall. Keep your fingers crossed that the pipes don't burst!
This coming Monday we are hosting a "family dinner" for 6 of our colleagues. Four of our closest lady-friends and ourselves have started a rotating family dinner each Monday. So as not to be cliquish, the hostess(es) are supposed to invite 1-2 other people to join us for dinner, drinks, and conversation. It's a lot of fun, and I don't have to cook every Monday either (our cook is only here on T/Th, so I cook the rest of the time)! Yeah! Thanks to Pinterest, we're trying out a Greek chicken entree with a basil-garbanzo bean salad and Greek potatoes. Yummy!
So, now Britte' and I are getting ready for our first vacation of the new school year! We have the entire first week of October off - I don't really know why, but I'm also not going to question it:) We've planned an 8-day trip to Germany & Austria. We head first to Munich for 3 days of Oktoberfest celebrations (of course I wish I was "doing the Puyallup", but I can't complain). We also plan on hitting Dachau Concentration camp, an Impressionist art museum, a beer-making monastery, and Starbucks (there are 6 in downtown Munich). Then we'll head to Mad King Ludwig's fairytale castle called Neuschwanstein in Bavaria. Two more days in Salzburg (home to the Sound of Music, and near Hitler's Eagle's Nest), and two more days in Vienna. We're still planning out Vienna, but it all sounds fascinating! I'm especially excited because it will be fall, my favorite season of the year, and there really aren't distinct seasons here in Nigeria (just the wet season, or the dry season). I miss seeing the leaves change colors, the cooler weather, scarves, jeans...
Catch up with you all soon!
