The other night, our downstairs neighbor walked into our dining room while Britte' & I were munching on some divine chicken nuggets and very large bowls of mac n' cheese. Her immediate reaction was to laugh hysterically and call Britte' the picture child for starving teachers of Nigeria! Apparently, she was scarfing down the mac n' cheese like it was going to be taken away from her! I promise, I DO feed her! Unfortunately, we are still just trying to get by at this point and haven't figured out exactly which types of foods we can and cannot get, let alone which ones can we afford (a head of lettuce in the grocery store was $15.00!). But, all will be well soon enough... we have just hired a stewardess (that's a cook/housekeeper). During the interview with her, I had an out of body experience in which I felt like we were a scene straight from the book called "The Help" - I just finished reading it. So weird to be a white woman, hiring a black woman to do the chores we don't want to do. And there is a definite class distinction here. The Nigerian folks refer to themselves as "the workers" and they will not even eat at your flat even if they are there all day long, unless they have your direct permission to do so. Many of them also bring a uniform to wear while they are working, and then change back into their street clothes at the end of the day. Our cook's name is Janet and she seems very sweet. She doesn't speak really clear English, nor does she cook much American/westernized food, so we have to provide her with recipes of what we want her to make. Last night she made chicken enchiladas (with everything except the sour cream, which you can't get here). They were pretty good! Thursday she'll be back to fry us up some plantains and make Nigerian beans (at least that's what I think she said, so I'll get back to you on how that goes).
Well, yesterday was the first day of school and we survived! I honestly wasn't even tired at the end of the day. School starts rather early for elementary (7:25am), and there's no planning period before school, so the kiddos are coming into your room at 7:25! We did several getting to know you activities until 10:00 and then my IA (that's my Instructional Assistant) whisked them away to PE for 45 mins., and then immediately to Computers for another 45 mins. That was followed by a 30 min. lunch/recess period. When the students returned I had 2 more hours to entertain them with classroom expectations and little projects, and then it was time to go. The parents were very welcoming and gracious! Before school even began, one parent stepped into the class to give me and my IA a "sweet treat" as a sign that we'll have a sweet year ahead of us - the treat was a large bag of assorted cookies, shortbreads, gingerbreads, and a bottle of Italian wine! Wowzer! Britte' didn't get anything:( But I shared!
I'm sorry, I know I haven't written much in awhile, but the last week or so has been kind of crazy! I promise to get some pics up soon with a few more stories of life in Nigeria!
~Toodles!
Scratch that! Just uploaded a bunch of photos of our flat and my classroom, but they are under the entry entitled "And the Adventure Begins...". Check them out. There might even be more to come tonight!
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