Beach Hut

My first trip to the beach went pretty smoothly. A group of 5 cars left the school and drove about an hour to the beach. It didn’t rain and there was very little traffic. There was only one roadblock and our car didn’t even get stopped. We turned onto the side road right near the beach and a group of guys charged us 300 Naira for our car to enter the beach area. My impression is that they created a roadblock to earn money, but they even had real printed tickets. There were several really cute beach huts and a large group of guys swarmed our cars trying to get us to rent one. We were in search of a specific one that belongs to the counselor at our school...to me they all looked the same, but we found it. We were immediately found by all of the vendors. It turned out to be a beautiful day at the beach if you ignored all of the garbage. It felt really good to get away and to realize just how beautiful it could be so close to the city.

Nigerian Culture Day

Nigerian Culture Day is a day put on by AIS to celebrate Nigerian independence. It was an amazing celebration and the kids had a great time. It included activities such as painting, dancers, even a marketplace where the kids could purchase Nigerian items and practice bargaining. I need the practice with that though, not them. The food was amazing. Many parents made and brought in traditional Nigerian food. What an incredible celebration. We also just found out that we have Monday off of school for independence day!

A Day at the Market

Well, I wasn’t brave enough to take pictures at the market today, but sometime soon I will have to add them. A friend and I headed out to Balagon, a very large outdoor market. I am trying to make my flat cozier so we went in search of fabric for curtains, pillows, a shower curtain, etc. These things are hard to find here, so you just buy fabric and then have them made. It was really good to get off of the compound for the day. It sounds easy enough, but now home from the market I am exhausted!

The days started out rainy, as every day lately has. As for the roads, rain usually means that your best bet is to stay inside. But, we are so busy during the week, so any adventures need to occur on the weekend. We drove to the market on a road sort of like a freeway. When we got close to the market some guys had decided to create a parking lot and charge for parking. The spots that they created were actually on the overpass above the market and were just in one of the lanes of traffic. So, we paid them our 200 Naira and walked down the blocked off ramp down into the market. It wasn’t as crowded as usual due to the rain, and I try not to think about everything we were stepping in. Jeremiah, my driver walked with us until the entrance of the market to make sure that we found it ok.

The vendors have outdoor shops, some of which go back inside also. We stuck to the main drag today. There are also many alley’s that go deep into the market and I guess the prices get cheaper the farther in you go. We opted to pay a little more and not get lost or stuck. The vendors were selling everything from meat, fabric, shoes, fruit, pans, beads, etc. We got hissed at quite a bit and everyone yells “oweebo” at me which means white person. Everyone was really nice to us and just desperately wanted us to spend money in their shops. DD and I each bought a few pieces of fabric. It was hard for me to focus on purchasing because I was taking everything it.

We called Jeremiah when we were about finished and he met us at the exit and walked with us back to the car. A successful trip and now we just had to make it back to the school…Sounds easy huh.

We got on the road to head back, but the bridge that we (and hundreds of other cars) needed to go up was covered with piles of garbage that had to be at least 30 feet high. I think they were cleaning??? That’s a good thing I guess. So, we took back roads back which included driving the wrong way down several streets, driving over medians and hitting bottom as well as purchasing cell phone minutes and a new windshield wiper in the “go slow” traffic. The traffic started moving when we were buying the wiper. So, the guy selling it to us just hopped on the front of our car!!! He laid on the car while we were moving and installed the wiper!!! It later fell off again anyway.

We stopped at the GQ for lunch on the way back and met some other teachers there. I think I’m starting to get used to a quick trip to the market taking the entire day. It’s good for me to learn patience and was quite an eventful day!

Stop and Think…or not!

So I’ve wanted to teach abroad for a few years now. Why? Who knows. Late July I get a phone call from another teacher asking me if I minded if she gave my phone number to some guy named Tom who was looking for a teacher in Nigeria. I said no problem, but that I couldn’t go this year, but was looking into next year. Three weeks later I was moving into my new “flat” in Lagos.

My Flat

Oohhhh, You Have to Buy a Car to Have a Driver???

So, I should have figured this out! I bought into 1/2 of a car with a couple who was already here. We split the cost of the driver each month. A driver is necessary because driving is crazy here and roadblocks occur quite often. I was happy buying an old, ugly car because I wanted to fit in. But, I’m already wondering if I should have invested in a better one because a few nights ago I went out to Indian food and the car had to be pushed 3 times. Apparently that is fixed now. Follow this link to another teacher’s page. They have a wonderful description of the traffic.
rainbolttraveldiary.blogspot.com/

Cell Phone Fun!

In Tacoma I was always with my cell phone. I didn’t have a home phone and talked on my cell phone at least ten times a day. I planned to come to Lagos and not have a cell phone, but I soon found out that for safety I should get one to bring with me when I go out anywhere. So, jumping in my car and going to the nearest Cingular store was out of the question. But, getting in the car with a teacher who is on his third year here and pulling up in front of a run down store was more like it. We passed the store and went down an alley to a shop about 4 feet by 4 feet. Apparently this location got us phones for $40 rather then $200. The nicest man in the tiny back alley shop helped me pick out my Motorola telephone that I am quite sure is not truly a “Motorola” telephone. I soon found out that you purchase a SIM card on the street and then load the phone with minutes from cards that are bought in the “go slow” (traffic jams). I tried to set up voice mail this past week and when I called the number on the instructions a message of a woman said “your request for voicemail is being processed, we will get back to you “in time””. I am learning that simple things just aren’t simple. Three days have passed and I have no voicemail… Will I ever learn what “in time” really means? Does it mean anything at all?

Let’s Meet for Coffee!

A friend and I were reminiscing about the Mandolin Café, a coffee shop that we both really enjoy at home. We’d heard of this cute place here. So, right after out “Safety Talk” with a man from the US consulate we headed off to “get coffee.” Off of a dingy street we went into the cutest little shop. There are many nice places here that you would never expect until you walk in the door. We sent the driver to put gas in the car while we enjoyed some nice treats. He returned telling us that traffic was too bad to get gas. Well, apparently rain makes a big difference in traffic. We sat for so long in traffic on the way home that we just watched the gas run out. I would call for a ride. That’s why I got a cell phone, right? For times like this. And I even had a few numbers in it. I dialed and the little woman came on and told me that I was out of minutes on my prepaid phone. I hadn’t used the phone for more then two minutes since I’d put the minutes on. Luckily I could receive calls and my phone rang, but I realized that no one could pick us up because the traffic wasn’t moving. Cars were everywhere including driving on the sidewalk and whatever direction they wanted. Keep in mind we have just come from our embassy safety talk. We smoothly pulled the car over and then dogged ocatas (little motorcycles), cars, trucks and minivans until we were almost home and were picked up by another teachers’ driver. Want a cup of coffee?

Who Needs Power?

I was teaching today and the power went out at least ten times…it didn’t even phase a single student. The “light bulb guy” comes around to the flats a few times a week because they blow out all of the time. Everything seems to always be breaking or broken. But, life goes on and no one blinks an eye when the power goes out.

Fabulous Fabric Frenzy!

Meet in the garage at 9:00 to head to the fabric market…to actually leave after 10:00. I will eventually get used to the laid back time thing. I am used to always being a little bit late at home, but sadly to my friends at home, when I return I will probably still lack greatly in the “on time” area. A group of ladies and I headed off to Balagon, an outdoor market that I hear sells pretty much everything. We never actually made it there. We got close but then some guys decided to create a road block to make some cash so we ended up going to Yaba. Yaba is an indoor market that has at least 5 floors of everything, including beautiful fabric. The aisle ways are about a foot wide and guys meet you at the door and want to follow you around to carry your things so they can get paid, even if you have nothing for them to carry. Dripping sweat I made my way by all of the shops. I was trying to find fabric for Nigerian Culture day which is on the 29th of this month and I have to go to school in traditional dress. Dripping more sweat, the power went out. This is a regular thing, but it never came back on. It didn’t really phase anyone, but dripping more sweat and trying to look at fabric in the dark, I just couldn’t focus on picking out fabric. So, I have asked the tailor who is making my outfit to use any fabric that she wants. That sounded like a great solution to me. But, the fabric shopping was sure an adventure, and I look forward to returning sometime soon.

School

Cute Kids!
Oh yeah, I’m here to teach! I have 16 adorable 4th graders from all over the world. There are four 4th grade classes and I really enjoy my teaching partners as well. My tubs of classroom things have still not arrived, but now that the kids have made a few things to hang up, the classroom does not feel so empty anymore.

Rain/Computer is Necessary

Rain
It has rained almost every day since my arrival. I haven’t minded it at all because I’ve been so busy anyways. I’ve also been hearing so much about how hot it gets that I was trying to enjoy the rain while it lasted. Then, for the first time in my life I was scared of the rain. It started blowing sideways today. I have the end classroom and the rain blew in and soaked my bulletin boards. I quickly got online to check for storm warnings because the rain was so different then anything I’d seen at home. One hour later it was hot and sunny out. The link below is from two other teachers. They have a great picture of the rain.
bryanandkara.blogspot.com/


Skype or Not to Skype
Skype, Ichat, Google Chat, AIM, blogspot, you name it and there’s a way to communicate. But is that really a good things to do? I think so, but sometimes it’s hard to really experience ere when you’re constantly thinking about away.

Femi Kuti

There is tons of information about Femi Kuti online. He is quite the political figure and he built the Shrine, the location of the concert. Some people I went with have been waiting for three years to attend one of this concerts. I joined the Nigerian Field Society and went with them to the concert. That sounds simple enough, right? A group of us went in a bus and there were about ten cars in our caravan. We had armed vehicles both in the front and in the back of our line of cars…I’m still not sure who they were there for. We had an amazing buffet dinner and then headed to a nightclub called the shrine. We arrived at about 9:30 and the streets were packed but inside it was empty. The music finally started about 11:00 once the place filled up. We left at around 1:00 AM and things were just getting going. I basically sat back and took everything in…