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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Nigerian Cultural Day











Today was Nigerian Cultural day at Jeremy's school. Tomorrow, Nigeria will celebrate its independence from Great Britain 49 years ago. October first is declared Nigerian Independence day and the children do not go to school. All the government offices are shut, and most people do not go to work. But for today, we had a lot of fun learning about different things in Nigeria. This morning, we all got dressed in our Nigerian outfits. (Everyone was supposed to come to school in traditional Nigerian dress. I bought material from Dupe..she was in one of my posts a while back. I found a tailor and he made Nigerian clothes for all of us...even Elizabeth). Fatai even measured Guy's head and made him a traditional Yoruba cap to go with his Yoruba outfit.:) Happiness used some of the extra fabric I had from my dress to tie a head tie on my head.:) Since it was so hot today, I had Happiness stay at home with Elizabeth. We are in the dry season now in Nigeria, and it is so hot. Elizabeth would have been miserable. Jeremy and I went downstairs to go to school. Fatai was in the car waiting for us. We walked down the stairs to get in the car and I heard a security guard say," The oyibo is African!!" They were smiling, and Happiness says that Nigerians like it when oyibos wear Nigerian clothes. I hope she was telling me the truth, but I have a really weird feeling they were just laughing at me.:)
When we got to school, it was so neat to see all the children and the parents dressed in Nigerian clothes. Jeremy's day was full of different activities: story telling ( which was terrible), raffia hat making, Nigerian dancing, and a closing ceremony with a fashion show of African dress. The children even got to shop at a small market that was set up on the school grounds. Traditional Nigerian food was provided for the children: chicken and rice with plantains and suya (spicy grilled beef on a stick). I love suya...unfortunately I found out this is the food most Nigerians are cooking when I see the trash cans on fire.:)
The school was decorated in the colors of the Nigerian flag: green and white. Guy was even able to come and see Jeremy at school today.:) It really was amazing to see so many people coming to the school for this cultural event. So many people, so many colorful clothes and so many interesting activities...it made me feel happy about being in Nigeria...at least for today.:)

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