Everyday capers

I guess it's not everyday that you go to a 5 year old's birthday party and chase chickens around... Or watch them get killed and gutted the next day. While I was there to see the whole thing, I may have turned a slight shade of green and vowed official vegetarianism. Of course, that didn't last long. Jummai, our house help is the most delightful human being ever, and also one of the best cooks known to mankind. She cooked up the chickens real nice. I just had to remove images from my mind of playing with them the day before. (Lucky I didn't get attached or start naming them.) Talk about fresh produce! These chickens were enormous. The people who sold them to us apologised that a couple of them were small and even those were bigger than any I had ever seen!

Another adventure I've had since being here is going to the fabric shop to choose some cloth for some clothes I am getting made. I had some dress designs in my head already and was just looking for something to tickle my fancy. Fabric is made in batches of about 1.15x6m  (called wrappas) and folded in piles from the floor to the roof in no particular order, style or colour. It was completely overwhelming only seeing a sliver of a million different designs piled up so compactly. They had to get a man in to show us some of the fabrics we liked on the bottom of the piles. Mum, you would have been in fabric paradise. This was just one shop of about a thousand. Lollie said that this place was the least overwhelming for her. I can only imagine what wrappa lane would be like. 

I chose about 8 fabrics I fell in love with and had to put half of them back because they were asking a lot of money. Probably giving us Baturi (White person) prices. Mum, Lollie and I had a lot of different ideas for a what you would like but we finally agreed on a fabric to get your dress made in. 

I could have stayed shopping for more fabrics but at the same time, I was getting a little claustrophobic and overwhelmed with options, so a scoop of condensed milk flavoured ice cream was exactly what I needed. 

Another day, we went to Widows, a mission incentive to put women into business with their sewing skills. They measured me up, looked at my pictures of inspiration and set to work. They should be ready to pick up next week sometime! I bought a few souvenirs and gifts from a room full of things they had made. Just little things, as I don't have much money on me. 

I have been playing teacher this last week, helping the older two girls with their school work. It's mostly ok with the occasional tantrum/meltdown (not by me, incase you were wondering). The content they have is awesome with hands on learning and heaps of technology practise. I am merely there to facilitate and supervise their learning. It's such a great experience because I have had scripture teaching with kindergarten and prac with years 1-4 and Lilly is in year 5 this year. (I just need some time with year 6 and I will have had a taste of everyone!) Everyday, we start school at 9am in the garage with the doors open facing the rest of the compound. We have a break at 10:40 for a light snack and some exercises with the other children. Sometimes the preschool kids join in, as they have their break at the same time. Scarlett is usually leading the pack. We finish school work between 12 and 1, depending on how much work there is and if lunch is ready yet. 

Jummai normally cooks for us but we invite (make) her sit and eat with us as we eat together. She is such a generous and gentle lady and loves to see us served before herself but Lollie and I normally insist that she helps herself before we have devoured the lot. She truly is a wonderful cook! 

The other day while she was mopping the floor and I was teaching the girls something interesting in the lounge room, Jummai was listening to some music on her phone and singing while she worked. I loved listening to her, but she paused for a moment while still working and I said "SING for me Jummai!" She was really caught off guard and turned her music off. 

"In Hausa?" She said. (Hausa is the local Nigerian language.)

"Yes! Anything!" I replied. 

She went on to worship and praise God with the sweetest song. I only understood "hallelujah" but she told me that the song meant that she was so thankful for everything God had given her and she will sing praises to him forever. 

It's a small glimpse into the life of a Christian Nigerian woman. I nearly teared up at the thought: You go over to a country expecting to help the people change and grow.. And they end up changing you. Even the way everyone treats strangers over here is just so lovely. 

"Good afternoon Sir/Ma/Aunty. How is work? How is your family? You are welcome. I bid you a safe journey." This is said about 20 times a day, just to people passing by or holding doors open for you or serving you at the checkout. Surely we could learn a thing or two in western culture from the nature of Nigerians. As a Christian, I can certainly learn a lot from Jummai, delighting in The Lord as she cleans and cooks for someone else's family while she lacks the same resources to do the same for her own. The Walkers do allow Jummai to cook for her family with their ingredients and resourceful kitchen, but just imagine the majority of the nation. 

Anyway, here are some pictures of around the compound ..

Miango

Lollie and I had a child free night away in a place called Miango. We stayed in a little cottage for missionaries to have a rest. It was almost as if we were removed from Africa because inside was just so lovely. 

 To get there was a 40 minute drive, but it felt like 4 minutes because the drive was just heavenly. The scenery was incredible and my camera could do it no justice. We passed volcanic mountains, covered green with flora, endless fields of corn and cows being herded by men with sticks into bigger fields. Advertising slogans are painted with thick white paint on the brown rocks along the main roads. They are more common in the city area, but we saw a few on our journey. Apart from the beautiful scenery, there were the world's biggest potholes we had to dodge on the red dirt roads. The way Lollie was steering the wheel and the swerving we were doing was almost as if we were part of a video game. There are no speed limits on the roads and if there are any road lines, they are used as a guide only. We mainly stick to the right hand side of the road but we ended up oh the far left hand side a few times to avoid pot holes (and other cars driving directly at us!). Lollie offered me a "turn" at driving, but as it was an auto car, I thought I might drive it into a ditch by accident if I got a hold of the wheel. After all, I am not much good at steering in computer games (sorry Shaneo) so I declined but enjoyed the bumpy ride from the passenger seat with Lollie behind the wheel. 

Once we arrived at the rest home, we weaved our way through a quaint garden and found our cottage. Not long after we unpacked the car, it started raining fairly heavily. It felt like a strong encouragement to just relax and do as little as possible. So we did! Puzzle books, colouring in, watching a movie, snacking on chocolate, reading our novels and lying in bed, snuggling up on the couch and chatting with bouts of big laughter. We struggled to think of a different time when Lollie and I had a sleepover, just the two of us. It was so lovely, peaceful, rejuvenating and relaxing. 

We slept in (a little bit on purpose) until about 9am and missed breakfast in the dining hall, so we ate some banana bread that was left for us in the cottage. 

For lunch before we departed, Lollie and I both chose a Nigerian dish with goat and bitter leaf in a stew, served with powdered yams, which was a sticky, starchy, white consistency and tasted a bit like mashed rice. The goat was not pleasant... And I think that's rather putting it nicely so we snuck out of the dining hall and hurried back to our cottage to nibble on the brownies that were left for us. Much more satisfying. After lunch we completed a 300 piece puzzle in record timing and went for a stroll around the gardens and getting in some beautiful views of the land. 

While we were on our walk, it started to rain so we took that as our cue to leave. The drive home to Jos was just as beautiful as the journey to Miango. With the windows down, the loud wind spoke in our voices' place as we travelled back to Niger Creek compound. 

Sunday

The Walkers live on a compound, which is like a closed off culdesac, with guards to let us in and out of the gates. Everyone in the compound helps each other out- it's a real community. Borrowing eggs, vehicles, resources, food, doing activities together, kids playing together and even eating together every now and then. There are Kiwi, Canadian and Australian families (the Commonwealth is really well represented here) as well as American and Nigerian families. 

On Sunday we went to Hillcrest church. Lollie and I dressed in our tailor made Nigerian outfits. 

Church was really cool. Everyone is so well presented- Nigerians take such great pride in their appearance and the ladies accentuate their booties for greater effect. Lollie and I say that we have found our people. During church, Scarlett was doing some Frozen colouring in and coloured Elsa's skin brown. 

After church on Sundays, we all go to Southern Fried Chicken (an eatery that sells KFC-like chicken, Hungry Jacks-like burgers and pizza). We sit upstairs where they play cartoons on mute while we can hear wildly inappropriate music blaring from downstairs. It's a good thing the kids are so focused on Tom and Jerry to take any notice. 

On this particular Sunday, Lilly, Arin and another girl on the compound put on a fundraiser dance performance on the basketball court to raise money for a data projector for the church. They each did a solo performance and showed their own style. Caitlin did an interpretive dance to Katy Perry's Roar, Lilly did a jazzy composition to Firework and Arin had a ballet influenced style to New Empire's One Heart with a Million Voices. After they performed their solo pieces, they all danced together to  "Wokka Wokka This is Africa", each in their own styles. Then everyone was encouraged to join in to Pharrel Williams' Happy. Scarlett was a hoot, bouncing up and down with her arms swinging out in front of her. Everyone was charged to watch them dance, and were charged again after the dances were finished. So far, they have raised about 8000 Naira (US$40). 

I'm so proud of my nieces' big servant hearts and their passion for wanting to help out the community. 

That afternoon, we announced to the compound that we were going to have a movie night outside, complete with speakers and data projector. I bought Inside Out on DVD when I was in Thailand so we were all very excited. But then the neppa (power) went out, that seems to happen a lot here, so we just hung out as a family. It's so great how much we are removed from screen time over here. The TV doesn't work. The internet isn't on all the time and there's barely power long enough to charge the computers, iPads, phones etc. 

I am having a hard time trying to keep up with posts because there is just too much happening to keep track of all the mental notes. Obviously there is a lot more happening than what's on paper. I'm trying to take a moment and just enjoy what's in front of me, rather than imagining how to recap the experience on the blog. 

Keep checking in. Photos soon. 

Africa

As soon as my head hit the Emirates pillow flying from Bangkok to Dubai, I was asleep. It was 2:20am. I took 2 mersyndol, threw on my eye mask, the complimentary blanket and put my music on shuffle at a mild volume and was dead to the world before takeoff. I missed all meals (why does anyone need a hot meal at that time of the morning anyway?), missed the great selection of movies and missed landing in Dubai, which I hear is amazing. 

After all the hype, Dubai airport was a bit of a let down. There really wasn't anything special about it apart from the kids area. I took a nap sitting up on a bench for a couple of hours and thought I would cash in my free meal voucher from Emirates. 

It was still very early, around 7/8am local time. I looked around and decided on Cosi. I perused the menu  and decided on a gigantic looking banana muffin and apple juice. When I produced my meal voucher, they told me I could only order something from a special menu- the most lux of the items was a plain croissant, which turned out to be a croissant-shaped bread roll. It was a bit dry going down. 

I went to my gate (once it finally came up on the departures screen) and boy- did I feel WHITE and severely underdressed. 

Everyone was presented so well. I was in a sea of braided hair and brightly coloured and patterned suits and dresses. 

Once on the plane, I was asked if I could trade seats with a woman so she could sit with her little boy. No worries. I went from an aisle seat on one side of the plane to a window seat on the other. 

I slept for maybe an hour while taking off, then watched a movie (Spy- it was flipping hilarious!) and the flight map showed that we had barely begun our journey. Ugh, so disheartening. Anyway, I watched another movie (Tomorrowland- don't even bother) and did some crossword puzzles. Soon enough, we started to descend. I had my music on shuffle again and it gave me the best selection of songs to hype me up for landing, in particular, Hafsol by Sigur Ros. Get onto that song- it is perfect for getting you excited for something. 

I made friends with a Nigerian Londoner while we were waiting for her bags. In the airport, I have NEVER been so sweaty in all my life. I felt drops of water running down my leg under my lightweight trackpants and my back was sopping wet under my backpack. By the time I got out of the line of people to check me and my bags, I saw Lollie and Waz waiting for me and I ran into her squeeze with sweat and tears mixed together. The angel standing before me gave me a bottle of water and I teared up again. So tired and wet, we made our way to the car. The three of us got lost driving to a ministry centre to stay the night, which turned out to be the wrong one, after we lugged all bags and an esky up several flights of stairs. Down we go again, back in the car and the right place, thankfully, was not too far away. My bladder was feeling a little full, due to not wanting to step over two people on the plane to get to the toilet. I had a shower and got changed immediately before we left to go for dinner at Johnny Rockets, an American style 50s diner. IT. WAS. SO. COOL. Jukebox in the corner, waiters and waitresses in the cute little hats and when Warwick mentioned it was Lollie's birthday, the whole staff put on a routine for us! It was amazing! We filled up on burgers that looked exactly like the pictures in the menu and a celebratory sundae for Lollie, complete with South-American-style birthday candle blowing fire.

I slept so well. The next day we needed to go shopping in Abuja to pick up a few things we can't get in Jos. I started feeling really unwell and ended up having to lie down in the car with the air con blasting while Lollie finished the shopping. Apparently you're supposed to take malaria tablets with a big meal. I did not. 

The drive to Jos was absolutely beautiful. Everything is so green and lush from the rain. The trees are so great, mum! Palm trees, flame trees, cacti acting as a natural fence around properties. Men and women carry the heaviest loads on their heads on the side of the road, as if it bears no weight at all. People are littering the roads with things to sell, be it gadgets, handbags, fruits hanging from their arms and approaching the car, or set up stalls on the road side, with piles of fresh produce and the darkest honey known to man. 

There were lots of military men in uniform and armed with big guns. On our route, we had to stop at several military check points, weaving through the makeshift shickanes made of anything from tree branches, car tyres, rocks, nails in wood or old cars (basically whatever they can get their hands on), where we greet the man of authority and ask them, "How is work?", he would ask us about our journey and then we keep on going. It's hard to be scared of the military men when they are so smiley and friendly, even though the gun in their hand suggests otherwise. Warwick reckons they have seen this type of things in movies so they are copying that image to appear more powerful. 

We saw Nigerian men repairing the road along the way and we would throw money out the window at them, as they do not get paid for their labour. There were disabled men who were unable to work on the side of the road in town, so we would hand out small food bags to.

Nigerian tuk tuks (kay kays) were scattered all over the roads, among other funny sights, like a car being towed with a thick piece of fabric. 

Once in Jos, we picked up Scarlett from her sleepover and I was bombarded with thousands of gifts (miscellaneous pieces of drawn-on paper folded up and tied with curling ribbon) and cuddles. 

Lilly and Arin were waiting at the gate of the compound in the rain waiting for us to come home. Cuddles and exchanging of last year's Christmas presents and an accumulation of supplies and gifts were exchanged and loved. 

I cannot stop hugging my (not so) little girls- including my (little) sister ;). 

Feels like home. 

(Note: I'm having issues with uploading photos at the moment. Keep your eyes peeled.)

Gross for some...

I'm peeling at the moment. While it's super annoying to have my skin flaky and bubbly, there is a sense of pride in peeling off enormous sheets of skin from your own back.
See for yourself!

 

Fabulous

Jana and I got our nails painted. And we felt fabulous.

 

Street food

Street food is just the best. In Thailand, it is everywhere. Jana already lives right next to a fresh food market and just in front of her place, the food carts line the street for miles on end in both directions. 
Every time we pass a food cart selling hot corn on the cob, I salivate but have just eaten so no buy, just look. 

Today is my last day in Bangkok. When Sorm asked me what I wanted to do, I said "EAT HOT CORN!" It was lunchtime and he had already eaten. We prowled the scorching streets and markets of Phra Khanong, because we just so happened to be there at the time, and we could not find a single corn food cart. I was starting to get a little bit weak from all the sweating, walking and lack of eating and I just said, "Let's just forget about it. Go home." 

We caught a non-air conditioned bus and I could've just died when I stood up and my clothes and the seat I was sitting in were saturated in sweat. The bus dropped us off just outside the fresh food market at Udom Suk and we thought we may as well have a look for some corn on our way back home.

Lo and behold, there it was. Golden, steamy, juicy mountain of corn cobs. I got 2 for 25 baht (AU$1) and and had a great time munching away kernel after kernel until the cob was just a cylindrical husk. 

So satisfied.