…here in Lagos!

Last weekend was extremely busy.  We took the Flat Brats trick-or-treating on Friday evening.  We had 23 teachers volunteer to hand out candy from their homes, so the children had a great old time!  It’s so nice that they can participate in activities like this that their parents used to do back home when they were young.  Once back from trick-or-treating, kids were bathed and put into pajamas, and then they went to a movie night across the hall from us.  They had snacks and played some tricks on unsuspecting adults!  Meanwhile, across the hall in our flat, adults came dressed in their finest costumes to our Halloween Party.  Many people put a lot of effort into their costumes and some were quite impressive!  Chris and I had a ghoulish time creating Halloween food to serve!  The fun continued on to the next day, when Laryssa celebrated her 8th birthday with some friends by the pool.  We played all sorts of games and the kids had lots of fun.

 The watermelon jack’o’lantern!

Trick-or-treating

Hallowe’en Party

The ghoulish food

When an adult wandered into the wrong party, they were mummified by the kids!

Laryssa’s Birthday Party

This past Friday the AISL Indian Community treated the teachers and their families to a special Diwali Celebration.  Diwali is the celebration of good over evil and is often referred to as the Festival of Light.  The ladies decorated the gym and arranged an entire evening of entertainment and delicious food!  As we entered the gym we were greeted by beautiful young women handing out bindis and sweets. Then the women guests were whisked off to the side where we were wrapped in saris.  After that, it was one huge photo op!  Children danced and sang and entertained, while waiters strolled amongst the crowd with delicious appetizers.  The evening ended with a delicious meal and then some dancing.  The children were all given a packet of sparklers, so we went home and did that on our balcony!

Diwali

Yesterday, my good friend Susan invited a bunch of us over for a Ladies’ Lunch.  It was a lovely afternoon of good food and laughter.  We also had the chance to celebrate Susan and Annemarie’s birthdays.  I am so thankful to have these ladies as part of my life… we truly are blessed with a great community here at AISL!

Ladies’ Lunch

The birthday girls

Today, finally, we rest!  It is very, very hot outside, so after a few crafts, we may just kick back and watch a movie.  I think we’ve earned some down time!

We received an email on Thursday evening letting us know that the government had announced that Monday and Tuesday were to be public holidays, because the Muslim Eid holiday falls on the weekend.  A long weekend for us?  Why not!

We began our weekend with our weekly trip to the GQ.  We celebrated Mark’s birthday with frozen margaritas by the pool (not very African, but definitely tasty!).  Saturday had us up bright and early to go to the basketball court for Laryssa’s first game of the season.  Chris is her coach!  Unfortunately for them, they had only 4 players turn up, so they were quite tired by the end of the game.  It was soooo hot out there!  Lisa and I did the grocery tour on Saturday afternoon, which was a barrel of laughs as per usual!  (Really, we laugh a lot!)  Sunday evening we invited three couples (plus Donny) over for potluck dinner.  A good time was had by all!  Monday was playtime for Laryssa and lazy movie time for me, followed by fun in the sun at the pool.  Today, Tuesday, we’re off to the GQ for a change of scenery.  (I know what you’re thinking… a change of scenery?  Well, it at least gets us off campus!)  The kids will swim, Lisa will knit, and I will work out.  This will be in lieu of our regular Friday afternoon, as the Patton family will be heading to Paris next weekend for the October break.  Yes, really, more holidays!

Enjoy the photos!

Laryssa’s Face Painting Salon

Potluck Dinner with Friends

Fun in the Sun!

Lisa and I went to the salon last week.  It is called Sari’s, and is owned by a Lebanese man named Sari.  It was my first trip to have my hair done in Nigeria, and I found it to be a fascinating experience.

The salon itself was fairly small, only four chairs and a lot of people!  Lisa and I were the only two western faces, apart from Sari and his partner Sami.  While Lisa patiently waited her turn for hair color (which turned out fabulously), I had the opportunity to people watch.

Many Nigerian women have long, flowing hair, and I always assumed they wore wigs.  I’ve heard about extensions, but I thought they were just done in braid form.  Wrong.  I observed a young woman having her hair done, and she was kind enough to let me take a few photos.  Then I badgered Miss A. (my assistant) with questions about it the next day.

So, this woman’s natural hair was tightly braided into cornrows.  Then, the wig pieces (as Miss A. calls them) are sewn onto the cornrows.  The wig pieces are long strips of fabric (some sort of nylon, I think) with hair attached.  The hair can be natural (more expensive) or synthetic.  They start the fixing at the base of the neck and work their way to the top of the head.  It is tightly sewn with a thick, coarse thread.  The fixing can last for months.  It can be washed and blow dried by the wearer, or it can be removed, cleaned by the salon, and then reattached.  It takes about 1 1/2 hours to have the fixing done.  The client brings the hair/wig with them, and it costs about N2,500 or about $16 to have it fixed to the head.

 You can see the fixing taking place, one layer at a time.

When finished, her hair will look like her friend in the blue dress.

According to Miss A., this is the preferred method of the younger generation.  The fixings can be quite fancy, or the regular looking hair that we are used to.  Miss A. prefers an actual wig.  She says it is much easier and she likes being able to take it off when she gets home.  Wigs range in price from N30,000 to N60,000 ($180-$350), while some very wealthy women will pay up to $1000.  The wigs are fitted to the wearer.  A man came into the salon to pick up his wife’s wig.  Sari told him to have her try it on and make sure it was a good fit.  If so, bring it back for styling, and if not, then she needed to come in and they would refit it.

All in all, a very interesting time at the salon!

My hair when I got home.  Miss A. said I could get extensions too, but I think not!

It has been a very busy week for us at AISL.  It is our last week of Online Learning, so we’ve been busy preparing for the children to return to school tomorrow.  We are so excited!  That being said, I’ve just spent the last two hours in my classroom, preparing my Online Learning for the two students who won’t return to Lagos until mid-October.  It’s a lot of work, but I’m sure the families appreciate it.  🙂

We began our weekend with a trip to the GQ with the Patton family.  The kids played in the pool while we sat and chatted over beer and frozen margaritas.  There was a cool breeze blowing and it was a lovely way to end the week.  We went inside for dinner and the kids shared their own table.  They were quite excited about that!

 Chris always forgets his sunglasses on Friday afternoons, but Lisa always has a spare pair.  Sorry Chris, but these look much better on Lisa!

Saturday morning brought a big storm to Lagos.  That means flooding playgrounds, which meant a lot of fun for the children!  Laryssa spent most of the afternoon playing in sand and water… and she had a ball!

We went to a local hotel to change money.  Everyone entering the premises has their temperature taken, as a means of controlling Ebola outbreaks.

 This lovely woman leans in and takes everyone’s temperature. I think she should also wear a mask.

While waiting for Lisa to change money, I had a look around.  I am easily amused.

I love the sign: Parking attracts a fee…

 The money changer.

    

 The statue is birthing…

Lisa and I continued our Grocery Tour.  It’s amazing how many foreign-owned grocery stores there are in our area!  Yesterday we went French.  First, to La Pointe, and then to L’ Epicerie.  They were both pretty good, though we preferred L’Epicerie.  They had nice music playing and African shopping baskets.  Both shops were stocked full of imported goods.  It was fun to read all of the labels.  I ended up with ham and a baguette, which made a delicious sandwich when I got home!

The walls at La Pointe are nicely decorated with old crates.

Lisa at L’Epicerie.  The straw basket is the shopping basket.

Of course, that rain we had in the morning made for an interesting drive in the afternoon!

We’ve spent so much time telling you about where we buy our food, that Chris thought we should take a few photos to show you what we do with it.  Bon apetit!

Lisa started a blog when she arrived in Lagos.  I’m attaching the link here, because she posted a video they took of our ride to the GQ on Friday.  It will give you some idea of what life is like here.  http://roadbe4us.blogspot.com/

A few random shots of our weekend:

We had a breakfast guest on Saturday morning.  After eating, the girls got dressed for an imaginary adventure.

Our plants are loving this weather.  That’s me reading outside this morning, as I procrastinate and don’t get any work done!

Shopping in Lagos… last week I told you about our great vegetable find at Delis Supermarket.  We continue to go there each Thursday, when the fresh veg arrives, to buy things like peppers and spinach.  For our other vegetables (zucchini, pak choy, mint, cilantro, onions, etc.) we go shopping Under the Bridge.  No, not the name of a store.  It’s an actual location… the market set up under the bridge.  The first venture under the bridge is, of course, the most interesting.  However, I’ve been coming here for some time now, and each time I find it to be a fascinating place.  Vegetable stalls, fruit stalls, fish, prawns, shellfish, giant snail shells… it’s an assault to the senses.

It’s loud, as we are, after all, under the bridge.  The traffic alone is enough to deafen you.  Add to that the calls of “Hey, momma!  Over here!”, the boats, the cars coming in and out of the narrow passage… it’s an adventure every time.

It’s smelly.  Fishmongers are chopping up fish for patrons, and you need to watch where you’re going, otherwise you could end up covered in fish bits.  There’s the huge pile of rubbish over there, out of the way, close to the water.  A good place for it, don’t you think.  NOT!

It’s colorful, a feast for the eyes.  The vegetables seem especially bright here.  I think it’s the contrast of the surroundings… all the mud, garbage, cars, fumes…

The most interesting, I find, are the people.  They know us now, and always seem happy to see us.  The guy we go to (next week, I’ll find out his name) is friendly and is very accommodating.  If he doesn’t have what I need, he sends someone to get it.  His face is a wonder on its own.  He bears scars, which I’m told are tribal, and he also has little tattoo markings.  One day, I’ll work up the courage to ask him about it.  For now, he remains the interesting vegetable guy.  Their greeting of respect is “Hey momma!”.  In Singapore it was Auntie, here it’s Momma.  Not sure which I dislike more.

A few shopping photos:

 The vegetable display at Delis.  Just like home, only smaller.

Under the Bridge

The next photos are completely unrelated to shopping under the bridge.  Laryssa hosted a movie night for the kids on Friday. We had twelve children watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  Good times had by all.

Chris has found some golfing buddies.  They’re practicing on the athletic field.

Our place is where the kids like to hang out.

Online Learning continues at AISL for one more week.  Our Back to School date has been set for September 22. This is what Online Learning looks like:

This is one of my students, hard at work:

And now… off to the pool for some Sunday morning activity and dose of vitamin D!

We managed to begin school on August 25, after the delayed start due to Ebola.  By noon on the 26th, the government had shut us (and all schools in Nigeria) down.  Since then, we’ve been offering virtual school to our students.  It’s been quite the learning curve for most of us, and we’re making the best of an awkward situation.  There are rumors floating around that we may begin on September 22 (instead of the Oct. 13 date we were previously told), but we’ve yet to have confirmation of that.  So, we continue to grow as learners and are rapidly expanding our use of technology!

  First day of school, August 25th.

The teachers’ children have been rotating to different classrooms, while we take turns supervising and overseeing the online assignments for the kids.  It’s not ideal, but we’re making it work.

Lisa and I have been making good use of our new car (a Toyota Sequoia) and driver, Mr. Samuel.  We’ve been touring all of the grocery stores in our area (many new to me, since we didn’t have a vehicle last year) and have found a few good ones.  We really like Delis for their fresh produce.  It arrives each Thursday from Belgium, and looks as good as what we’d get back home.  My new favorite seems to be spinach, which I’m eating in the form of salad at least three times a week.  Never mind that it costs about $7 for a small tub… I’m worth it!  😉  Chris picked up some baby asparagus last week.  At $11 for a small package, it isn’t something we’ll do often, but it is a nice treat.  Again, it’s healthy, and we need that!

    Yes, about $11 for this small package of asparagus!

 

We continue to have an active social life, despite the constraints of Ebola threats.  We went to the GQ (American Club) for dinner on Friday night.  I worked out for a bit in their gym, the kids swam, and the adults chatted, and then we enjoyed dinner by the pool.  Not a bad life.

Last night we had friends over for dinner, and if there was any doubt about how small the world is, it was confirmed during our conversations.  In attendance were Mark, Lisa and Finn, Donny, and Teri.  Now, Mark and I arrived in Turkey at the same time, while Lisa had already been there for a year.  She had come over from the U.S. with Bernie, the superintendent.  (I remember the conversation when Lisa confessed her interest in Mark; they’ve been married 11 years now!)  When Mark and Lisa moved to Guatemala, I went to Pakistan to work with Bernie at his new school.  It was there that I met Donny.  Donny had worked in Kuwait with Bernie’s sister.  The next year, Donny brought Teri to Pakistan; they had worked in Kuwait together.  In the meantime, Lisa and Mark moved to Singapore.  We moved to Singapore too, though we worked at different campuses and didn’t see each other very often.  (We’re making up for that now!)  So, all of our dinner guests have someone in common.  As the conversation progressed, it seems that Mark and Lisa also knew someone in Guatemala that Donny and Teri had worked with in Kuwait.  Talk a little more, and we discover that almost everyone here at AISL knows someone in common.  Small world?  Oh yeah.  Six degrees of separation?  More like two in the world of international teaching!  Since our dinner guests all had Bernie and his wife Martha in common, we put together a little video for Martha’s birthday next week.  You might almost think we planned to do that when planning our guest list, but we didn’t.  Here’s the link if you’d like to take a peak: http://youtu.be/1-49T6m6zdg.

Until next time… have a great week!

 Sunday morning play.

  Laryssa and her friends playing dress up and other fun games!

Actually, we’ve been back in Lagos since August 1st.  We came back early to be able to help out the new teachers, so we’ve been looking after the kids while the parents are in teacher meetings.  It has been fun, but so hectic!  Laryssa is thrilled to have more children to play with, and of course her old friend, Finn is now here and they’re pretty much inseparable.  (I am so happy to have Lisa and Mark <Finn’s parents>  join our AISL family!  We all taught together in Turkey, so we go way back!  We also worked at the same school in Singapore, though we were at different campuses and didn’t see each other that often.  We’re making up for lost time now, I tell you!)

The biggest news is, of course, our delayed start date due to the threat of Ebola.  That was a bit of a downer and caused a lot of speculation and rumors.  The school board decided to defer the first day of school to August 25, so that we could see what is happening in Nigeria.  Other than the original case of the man coming in from Liberia, it seems pretty quiet here.  The incubation period for that case (and those that can all be traced back to having contact with that man) is over and no new cases were reported, so the school board has decided that we are good to go.  The returning teachers are now on their way back (anyone not here as of Aug.4 was told not to come) and we’re preparing for our first days.  

Last week we received this invitation from a friend off campus:

Friends,

There’s a lot of scary news going around about Ebola in Nigeria.  However, I’ve consulted with the best witch doctor in Lagos (whose displays of magic include transforming herself into a bird, among other things).  She assures me that Ebola can be fully prevented with a special magical elixir of gin, vermouth, ice, and olives.

Following this sage advice, we will be hosting a treatment session this Friday at 6 PM.  We will have qualified personnel brewing up these special concoctions and administering recommended (i.e. high) doses to the attendees.  Supplemental treatments made from fermented grain or fruits will also be available.  I am also told that the medicine is more effective when taken with food, so heavy appetizers will be provided.

So, in typical AISL fashion, we took lemons and made lemonade!  We went to the party, had drinks and lots of food, and forgot about the worries out in the real world!

Saturday night we all went to the school board president’s house for a barbecue.  He thought we all needed a pick-me-up, as we’d been here for so long and everyone has been so worried!  Mr. Troy is an awesome host.  Drinks, food, a band… a great time was had by all!

So, for those of you back home who have been a little worried, don’t be.  We’re washing out hands at every opportunity, we’re sticking to our own little groups, and we’re having fun.  The delayed start has been a great opportunity for us to get to know the new folks… there is always a silver lining!

 

Potluck by the Pool

Barbecue Chez the Board President

We had a huge rain storm this afternoon, and another is heading this way.  No sense in letting a saturated playing field go to waste!  Our neighbor, Donald, set this up for the kids:

And of course… there are mud puddles, which are always popular!

It was great incentive to finish homework quickly!

 

As the end of the school year approaches (only 18 more school days!), we find ourselves to be busier than ever, both in school and out!  The Grade Two classes presented a Poetry Cafe on Wednesday morning.  Three classes of children, their teachers, and what seemed like most of the parents crowded into our Little Theatre for some poetry reading.  The children did a poem as a group, and then they each presented their individual poems which they had written themselves.  Laryssa’s was really cute:

I Don’t Know Why

Mom says, “Do your homework!”

I don’t know why…

Dad says, “Clean your room!”

I don’t know why…

Grandma says, “Eat your dinner!”

I don’t know why… I think I’ll cry.

 

 

Thursday afternoon was our Spanish Language Celebration, Cinco de Mayo.  There were a variety of performances from the different Spanish classes, from elementary through high school.  Laryssa’s after school activity, Zumba class, was also included in the performance.  They had cute little costumes and danced a number for us.

Friday night, the fun continued!  One of my colleagues, Annie, invited a bunch of us over for dinner.  Annie is Indian, so dinner promised to be real treat!  Laryssa was to spend the night at Chiara’s house for her first sleepover at someone else’s house.  Very exciting!  Chris hadn’t been feeling well all week, so he ended up not going to dinner, but Laryssa went to Chiara’s anyway.  She was quite anxious about the whole thing, and ended up coming home around 7:30pm.  Just not quite ready to spend the night away from mom and dad. I enjoyed a lovely evening out with friends, and had a lot of laughs.  Dinner was delicious, of course!

Susan and I headed to Lekki Market on Saturday morning to buy a few gifts to take home this summer.  We also did some grocery shopping and then stopped at the GQ for lunch on our way home.  Saturday evening, the board president and his wife invited the staff over for a Teacher Appreciation evening.  They have a lovely (and huge!) home just the other side of the bridge, with spacious grounds that are perfect for entertaining.  They had a DJ by the pool, a complete bar, lots of good food… a great evening.  Once most of the guests had arrived and a small speech was given by Mr. Troy, a Nigerian band called Ajo Wura played music for the rest of the evening.  They also had a lady doing henna for the women.  A lovely evening!

 

We had a huge storm during the night, as seems to happen regularly during the rainy season.  This morning, the kids were all out by the Big Toy (that’s what Nigerians call the playground) playing in the puddles and having a grand time.  The sound of screaming and laughter is a wonderful sound!

 

Happy Mother’s Day!

 

 

 

 

Thursday May 1 was a public holiday in Nigeria.  Our friends Susan and Jay invited us to go to the beach with them, along with our principal Bill and his wife Deana.  It took about an hour to drive to Eleko Beach, where AISL has a beach hut.  

The drive was fairly easy; we took the motorway for a bit and then turned off onto a smaller road, which was much more interesting!  It was a dirt road, lots of dips and twists… I’d hate to be there if it rained!

Susan called ahead to Yousef, the caretaker, so he was ready with the deck chairs and charcoal for the barbecue. He had the area around the hut all swept up too.  Laryssa and I spent our time collecting shells and walking a little on the beach.  The water is polluted and the current is strong, so we didn’t go in.  There were some local kids a little further down who were braver than we were… they seemed to be having a great time in the waves.  The sky was overcast, which was very nice as it wasn’t quite so hot.  We spent the day talking, eating and just having some fun.  I hadn’t realized how much I needed to leave campus until we got there- it was so relaxing!  Next school year we plan to have a car, so I’m sure we’ll take advantage of this place more often!  

 

Susan’s first time on a horse!

 

Laryssa was so confident that the guy let go and she rode herself!

 

 

 

Yousef (the caretaker) and his brother did the barbecuing.

 

 

The local wildlife…

 

A herd of cattle came in to graze on the bit of green next to the beach hut.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The shepherd wasn’t much older than Laryssa.

 

We stopped for ice cream on the way home!

 

 

The next morning, Laryssa sorted all of her shells and displayed them in a museum.  She gave us “Permanent Tickets” so that we could enjoy the shells whenever we like.

 

 

Laryssa said that these look like teeth and fingernails.  She is going to leave one for the tooth fairy the next time she loses a tooth!