Couldn't Forget

In the craziness of getting ready for our trip, I forgot to post a picture from Guy's 36 th birthday on September 16.:) As always seems to happen in Nigeria, nothing ever seems to go the way you plan it. Guy really wanted Korean food for his birthday. I was able to locate a Korean restaurant here in Lagos by some small miracle. The kids and I went to get the food that night, and we were stuck in the worst traffic I have seen yet in Lagos. It took us almost two hours just to get to the restaurant, and I didn't bring any snacks with me for the kids because I didn't want to spoil their dinner. Well, I learned my lesson, and poor Fatai is lucky he still has his hearing after listening to Elizabeth scream in the car for almost the whole time we were sitting in gridlocked traffic ( for no apparent reason, I might add). But, the food was good and I think Guy was just happy to have us all together for his birthday.:)

We're Back!

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to let you know that we made it back to Lagos tonight. We got to our flat at about 9:30 p.m. I can't bring myself to say that we are home because it still doesn't feel like home here. I will post pics from our trip to Amsterdam (which was absolutely wonderful!!!) in the next few days. It was so nice to feel like I was walking around in civilization again...at least for a week.:) We were able to go on walks, ride bikes...and all without security with us!:) The kids were great travellers. I also wanted to thank my friends who recently sent us boxes of goodies ( a.k.a. animal crackers, goldfish, carpet fresh, detergent sheets, late birthday gifts). Eight boxes arrived here on Thursday about 5 minutes before we were walking out the door, and I couldn't open them until tonight because we had to be on the bus to the airport last week. You all don't know how much it means to me to have great friends like you all who are thinking of us over here. Thanks so much. (BTW there were no goldfish crackers or animal crackers to be found in Amsterdam) More details of Amsterdam to come in the next few days.:)

Out of town

Hi Everyone! I didn't get to post much on the blog this week It has been really busy here. I wanted to let you know that we will be in Amsterdam for the next week for holiday. I'll post some more after we get back! Take care!

Elizabeth's Nigerian Outfit

A few weeks ago, I did a post about a woman named Dupe. I bought some fabric from her to make Nigerian clothes for Nigerian culture day at Jeremy's school. After I bought the fabric, I was given the number of a tailor, Gbengha, who could sew outfits for all four of us. Here is Elizabeth's Nigerian outfit.:) I have one made out of the same material (I will get a picture of it sometime soon.) Gbengha also made matching outfits for Guy and Jeremy. Just wanted to share this picture with you.:)

Sad but True

Well, maybe that is a little harsh. I guess it isn't too sad..maybe embarrassing is a better word for it.:) Last night, Guy and I were going to have dinner with some friends on Ikoyi Island. It was a Friday evening. Friday afternoon and evening traffic in Lagos is an absolute nightmare. Take the worst traffic you have ever seen in Houston and multiply it by 10 and also add the factor of the okada drivers on their motorcycles weaving in between the gridlocked cars. It is crazy! ( I will have to start keeping track of how often i use the word crazy over here!) The local term for these major traffic jams is called a "go slow". This is where all the vendors sell things you would never think you would see being sold on a street. I think in a previous post I mentioned that I saw toilet seats being sold one time in the midle of the road. I guess the vendors can make some money off people who are trapped in their cars and have nowhere to go. We were just over the bridge to Ikoyi when I looked out the window and saw a young boy holding an ironing board that he was trying to sell in the middle of the road. I told Guy I saw it. We needed a new ironing board because the one we had with our apartment was very wobbly and almost fell over when it was used. Guy rolled the window down a little bit, and asked the boy how much it was. He told Guy 5000 Naria...which is about 32 or 33 dollars. Guy told him no, but he would pay 3000 naira. Finally after going back and forth ( the boy was running next to our car as we slowly inched our way down the road) the boy agreed to 3000 naira. After we had it in our car. Fatai said," He is praising God that he sold that ironing board!" When we got home that night, Happiness was very surprised to see that we had bought an ironing board in a "go slow". We took the plastic off of it and stood it up. It wobbled even more that the one we already had. We looked at it from underneath and basically it was covered underneath by a trashbag that was stapled on the bottom with a regular stapler. Guy was mad that he had been had. Happiness couldn't stop laughing at us. I think it was worth buying that terrible ironing board just to see her laugh so hard.:) Happiness told us as she laughed," The boy will probably never go on that road again to sell anything . He will be too afraid that we will come back and yell at him. He knew he was selling a bad ironing board." I think we have learned our lesson about buying anything in a "go slow".:)

Only in Nigeria

Yesterday, I was planning to go out to the beach school near the beach hut owned by the company Guy works for. I am joining a foundation which assists the beach school at Ishayi Beach. Some other members of the foundation and myself were going to take a computer and some school supplies to start the year out to the head teacher of the school. We waited for the boat to come to pick us up. The boat was supposed to be ready for us at 9 a.m. and didn't show up until about 10:15 a.m. When we boarded the boat, the captain had already picked up two other members of the foundation from across the harbor on Ikoyi island. We were all talking in the boat while it was speeding along ( for about 4 minutes) and then, all of the sudden, the engine shut off and started making a beeping sound. Samson, the captain, said "Don't worry, I can fix." So, we all just kept talking. Afterall, we are in Nigeria and things break all the time. After about 30 minutes of Samson trying to "fix" the motor ( he really wasn't doing anything to fix it), he started to wave down a water taxi that was coming our direction in the harbor. So, in true Nigerian fashion, the men from the water taxi threw over a slimy old rope and Samson tied it to our boat and the water taxi towed us to a dock on Ikoyi island (mind you we starrted at a different dock on Victoria Island). So, the water taxi pulled us in and we literally crashed into the dock. Our boat knocked the end of the dock off! Thankfully everyone was ok, and our boat wasn't damaged too badly. The next thing we heard Samson say was ," I will put gas in the engine." We all looked at each other, and we started to get really irritated. We couldn't believe that he had taken us out in the water without gas in the engine. I was wondering where in the world the gas was going to come from. I didn't ponder that thought very long because I could smell it. I turned my head and there was a man rolling a leaking drum of gasoline down to the end of the dock. I should have known this wasn't going to be a typical process. Immediately, we all got off the boat for fear we may blow up while they were refueling the boat. As we were waiting, the two men literally lifted up the drum to put the gas in the engine. We saw that another man ran to get another drum of gas. The engine was so empty, that it was taking two drums of gasoline to fill the tank! Finally, it seemed that the gas tank was full ( our clue was no other man was rolling a drum of gasoline down the dock). So, we kept waiting to hear the engine start. By 11:45 a.m. we realized that it was probably a lost cause. We called to see if we could use one of the other two boats owned my the company. It was no surprise that those boats were broken too. So, three boats...none of them working. Why would I expect anything less??? We all decided that we would try to get out to the beach school next week. We just felt bad for the head teacher and the students. We really wanted to get them their supplies. But, then I thought, I am sure the head teacher understands. Afterall, this is just a typical occurance for her. But for me, this whole scenario could only happen in Nigeria!:)

Can you Believe it??!!

Ok, I know I have said in a previous post that some ladies ride on okadas with babies strapped on their backs. I was able to get a picture of it today ( you have to look really closely at the back of the person riding the motorcycle) when I was riding in the car with Fatai. I still can't believe that mothers will ride the okadas with their tiny babies like this. Just think what would happen in the U.S. if someone was caught riding a motorcycle with a baby on her back!