Jeremy's Lessons in Yoruba

When we first arrived here in Lagos, my thoughts were always about how safe I would feel. How safe would my children be?  What kinds of foods will be in the grocery stores?  Will I be able to find "good" wine??  And it turns out almost three years later, my thoughts have turned to thinking , "What a blessing it is that our family was able to come here."  "A whole new world and culture has been shown to us." And somewhere in there, Jeremy has been able to bring the local culture into his life.  I am pretty sure that if we were still in the States, he wouldn't be learning how to count in Yoruba...

Just a review :  There are over 400 dialects spoken in Nigeria alone.  The "official" language is English, but the main tribal languages in Nigeria are Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo.  Around Lagos, there is a huge Yoruba population so it is only fitting that in his African Studies class at school, he is learning Yoruba.  He brought this Yoruba number book home last week, and I am going to keep it forever!:)

1= Okan and 2= Eji

3=Eta and 4 = Erin

5=Efa and 6= eran

7= eje and 8= ejo

9=esan and 10 =ewa

Yesterday, we went out to Lekki Market. We hadn't been out there in months, and it always surprises me how the local boys who are there to walk through the market with us and carry our purchases always remember us and always remember that we like to have the same boy with us each time, Ola.  So, yesterday, Ola walked with us as we browsed through the different stalls in Lekki Market...

It was boiling hot at Lekki Market!!!!

We ended up bringing home a Mankala game.  The vendor who sold it to me said it is also called Ayo in Yoruba, and is a very popular game played here in Lagos.  After some research on playing the game, Jeremy and I were hooked.:)

and so was Guy!!:)   Lizzy just liked sitting on Guy's shoulders:)

It is also called the "sowing game" because the stones you see are actually dried out seeds and it is like you are "sowing' the seeds as you drop one in at time to each hole.  To Jeremy, it is just a fun game, and one of the many memories he will always have of Living in Lagos.:)