It's Been A Busy Week:)

So, it's been a busy week, but it's weeks like this one that get us that much closer to our next little vacation! Thursday & Friday were our first Parent-Teacher Conferences in Africa. It's so much more exhausting than at our old school. For starters, ALL the parents come! Well, I had 23 out of 24, but most of my conferences had two parents which is different (in my experience). Furthermore, these parents are educated and make sure you know your stuff. They walk in with journals and take notes from your conversation! These parents ask meaningful questions (for the most-part) and are very specific in wanting to know about each aspect of their child's social & academic skills and behavior. And they are so gracious! I can't tell you how many parents ended the conference thanking me profusely for all that I do! As a teacher, it makes you feel really good about your choice of career. It also makes me realize how screwed-up American society is with their blame-it-on-the-teacher mentality! Many of my students are from around the world and their cultures put education at the top of their priority list - it's refreshing to not have to fight with children about why they need to do this and why they need to try their best, etc., and to then receive the support of their parents unconditionally! I'm starting to see why so many teachers enjoy their time here.

Monkey sighting!

I know, I know....it's been awhile!

Yep, that sign says "crocodiles"!

One of many monkeys we saw:)

Last weekend one of our friends with two small children asked us to accompany her and the wee ones to the Nature Reserve located just outside of town. The reserve houses various birds, primates, and reptiles native to this part of Africa. Within steps of our car we got to see a giant tortoise up-close and personal. We then marched through the swampy jungle, on a raised boardwalk, passing mangroves, palm, and cashew trees, while keeping our eyes peeled for monkeys and crocodiles (as the sign warned us). Every once in a while, you'd hear a crashing sound coming from the treetops and a monkey would grace us with it's presence. I tried to be quick with the camera, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see the monkeys in "real life" as opposed to behind a glass window at the zoo. There was also a giant ladder that scaled up the side of a tree, from which, if you chose to climb, you could get a great view. Kinda cool! 

Hola Barcelona!

Just got back from four fabulous days in Barcelona, Spain! Here are some of the highlights:

Our trip began with a 2 hour drive to the airport, a pleasant surprise after being told it could take up to 4 hours. So, now we're at the airport at about 5pm and our flight doesn't leave until 11pm. After standing in line for a few hours, and being told we were in the wrong line about 5 or 6 times during those hours, we got checked-in and were set to go. We spent the next several hours in the over-priced (a standard element in Nigeria) restaurant with our fellow colleagues who were traveling to Munich for the tail-end of Oktoberfest.

At some point during the many security stops, and before the full-body pat-down, Britte' was asked what the bulge in her pocket was, and to everyone's amusement in the near vicinity, she innocently pulls the bulge out and says "socks" like it's an everyday occurrence:) This got the attention of the Scottish guy standing nearby who became our buddy throughout our flight and navigation through the London airport. If you didn't think that was funny, you really needed to be there to witness the scrutiny and facial expressions of this exchange:) And of course, we bee-lined it to the Starbucks for our first taste of home in 2 months! It was delicious.

Finally got to Barcelona, and had to manage the Metro system on 2 hours sleep in the past 30 hours. The funny thing is, it didn't get much better even after no sleep-deprivation. Every time we got off the subway, we inevitably chose the wrong exit to leave from and found ourselves on some random street corner looking around with a big, fat "I'm a tourist, and I'm lost" tattoo on our foreheads.

We stayed at a fantastic little B & B away from the tourist zone for the first couple of nights. They served a great breakfast, and there was a fan in our room to help drown out my loud snoring that Britte' had to endure for four days! As luck would have it, I came down with a nasty cold almost simultaneously with our arrival in Barcelona. So, not only was I a great companion to hang-out with, but their was further sleep-deprivation in store for Britte!

For those of you who haven't been to Barcelona, the one must-see is La Sagrada Familia. It's the famous cathedral in the middle of Barcelona, designed by Antonio Gaudi. It is by far, the most unique and beautiful church in all of Europe (at least in my opinion:)!

Me in front of La Sagrada Familia.

Amazing interior of the cathedral.

Alternate facade of the cathedral.

During our visit, we also tried to tour the Picasso Museum, but the day we chose to go was the one day of the month that is free to all visitors and hence, the line was 1/2 mile long and we chose to instead go shopping in the neat little shops surrounding the area. This is also when we had the opportunity to try "churros and chocolate", a snack or breakfast food that is basically doughnuts and thick, pudding-like chocolate. It wasn't very good, although, I should mention that this is more traditional in Madrid, not so much in Barcelona, so next time I'm in Madrid, I'll have to try it again!

Churros and chocolate

Salvador Dali is also a pretty important artist in the Barcelona area, so one of our days was spent riding the train 2 hours outside of town to enjoy? the Dali Museum in Figueres. For those of you who don't remember who this guy was, think of the famous paintings with the melting clocks. His work is bizarre! I've included a few pics (the tamer works). 

A picture of ??? Can you see?

An upside-down boat raining glass tears.

One-legged person with dancing croc.

We did more shopping than anything else while on our little holiday. The main street in Barcelona is called Las Ramblas and it's a series of designer shops in a one-mile stretch. It was a lot of fun to people-watch. It seems as if Spaniards all have great style, and all the women have terrific hair (a sore subject with Britte' and I who in our present environment/climate can't find the right way of "doing" our hair - we look pretty scruffy most of the time). We found the time to frequent Starbucks a few more times and even stopped in at  McDonald's once or twice:)

We made it back to Nigeria right on time, stood in their "customs" line for a long while, and then panicked a little when we realized we forgot our immunization cards which you are required to carry in addition to your passports in order to get back into the country. The female guard stopped us on our way out the door and tried to inform us that without our immunization cards she'd have to take us to the hospital to get immunized, at which point, we grabbed our passports out of her hand and told her "absolutely not, good-bye" and then we walked out the door. Phew! She was really just hoping to intimidate us into giving her some money to pay her off, but we handled it like pros, and our driver was waiting just outside the door, so away we went! 

It was actually a relief to get back to our flat and exclaim "We're Home!". Weird how it actually feels like home even with our completely barren, white walls, and lack of decor. We were welcomed back with running water and power, clean dishes, and clean laundry, so things are looking up!

Thanksgiving will hold another trip - this time to Ghana - just a short hour-long flight west. Stay tuned for more adventures!

Oh....Gross:(

Just enjoying a cup of tea (acquired during our layover in London's Heathrow airport this week) and found this squirming on my kitchen floor...

Yep, that's our first cockroach - about 2 inches long - oh, how I hope he's the only one!

Nigerian Culture Day!

The much anticipated Nigerian Culture Day came and went today! Everyone was right when they told us we'd be exhausted (and we cut it short, ending the day an hour earlier than usual).

This is an annual event that the school puts on to celebrate Nigeria's independence. This was the celebration of their 51st year of independence from Great Britain.  The day was filled with native tribal dancing & music, skits depicting a traditional wedding, gobs of Nigerian food to sample, a market to shop for arts & crafts, and numerous activities for the children to partake in throughout the day. The kids had a great time, although they were a bit tired from standing for so long to listen to the speakers. And it was a hot day! It was even more fun to see everyone dressed-up for the occasion. Some were dressed in traditional clothing, others - not so traditional, more fashionable. As you can see from the pics, my outfit is more traditional, Britte's is more fashion-forward:)

Our Nigerian outfits!

Wedding dance.

Traditional tribal dance.

Relay races for the high school kids.

Now, we're off to Barcelona for a few days of rest & relaxation! Adios, amigos!

Arrrrgh!

We've had no water for the past three days!

Power has gone out like 50 times in the last week.

The shelf on the inside door of our refrigerator fell off and a full bottle of Teriyaki sauce just crashed and exploded on our floor, which we can't really mop because there's no water (see beginning of post).

Have to shower at the school in the locker room.

Desperately needed laundry done for our trip to Barcelona this weekend, so had to hike it over to the school flats and impose on someone yet again.

Had to have my entire class checked for lice today - always fun!

It's been a frustrating week to say the least:(

On the plus-side though, we've found three Starbucks coffee houses within about 8 mins. of our B & B in Barcelona, so guess where our first stop will be:) Barcelona is becoming less and less an exotic local for sightseeing and culture-intake, and more a slice of normalcy that we desperately need.

Thank-God we got our passports back from the embassy in time. Unfortunately, a slew of teachers headed to Munich for Oktoberfest have not received their passports and may be stuck here for our first long weekend in two months. I'll be praying for their sanity. Maybe I'll bring them a little Starbucks back from Barcelona.:)

Friday is Nigerian Culture Day at school. Stay posted for a run-down on our first Nigerian event!

Why it's so much fun to be an adult...

This week, my kiddos took a writing assessment, similar to the MSP writing test. The prompts are not a secret, so it's ok if I share it and the student responses with you.

My third graders were asked to write a persuasive essay on the following prompt: Which is more fun - to be an adult or a child? I read through my students' work and jotted down a few of my favorite lines. I was surprised by their answers and that so many of them chose being an adult as more fun. Here's what they had to say:

It's more fun to be an adult because...
1.  They get to have a beard and shave!
2. They don't ever get bossed around!
3. They can go to Lady Gaga concerts.
4. You can be a rockstar!
5. You're never too short to ride on a roller coaster!


On the flip side, I had one extremely funny comment about why it's so much more fun to be a child...

"You don't have to get married and kiss and all that yucky stuff! Uggh!"

Oh, how I wished I still thought like these kids!