When it Rains it Pours

It rains really hard here. I think there are just 2 seasons – rainy season and dry season (and it is always hot). When it rains, the streets get so flooded that you’ll drive through water that goes half way up your car – poor drainage. In fact, here’s a picture to help you visualize. This poor car (on the right) is trying to get through the water, but it must have gotten flooded and stopped working in the middle of the road shortly after this shot was taken.

This woman asked me the other day “Do you feel pressed? Can you make it shower?” She was really asking “Do you have to pee?”

Storing Food is Difficult

UGH. I usually bring to work something to eat for breakfast – today, it was a ziplock baggy full of cereal. I ate it all. And then I looked down at the bag when there was only a tiny bit left – and there were all these little insects crawling through my cereal. Ewww. I’m sure I ate them. I told a colleague this and we think they were weevils (they look like little ants almost), in which case, she said it wasn’t as bad because when she was little in boarding school, they had them all the time in the food and they just told them to go ahead and eat them, there are too many to get out and they’re nutritious anyway. YUCK.

Apparently, when wheats/grains/rice get too warm, the bacteria that is naturally found on them makes it so that the little bugs can hatch. Or so someone tells me. Well, our kitchen is always warm because of the weather here and there's no A/C in that room. So am I always going to have this weevil problem? My other theory is that when something is opened, then a bug can easily get in and multiply. So keeping things air tight will keep the bugs away. I hope.

This all came on the heels of our deep freezer breaking down. Not sure if it was an electrical outlet that stopped working (which happens all the time), or if the change in electricity surges caused the freezer to go, or if the freezer (which is new) just stopped working. In any case, there was a lot of meat in there, cheese, and all sorts of food that gets really stinky once it is not frozen and goes bad. It was the most putrid smell that permeated our house all night. I couldn't even stay in the kitchen to throw out the food - after about 1 minute, I felt like vomitting. Luckily, our security guy threw it all out and cleaned out the freezer - don't know how he was able to stand it.

Our House

Dondi, these are for you - upon request. So that you can see a couple images of our house....

Here is a picture of our bedroom. See our pictures on the wall? Tim took those in Central Park for our engagement/wedding pics. See the bars on the window? All the houses here have them. You get used to it. And it makes you feel safer.

And here is our dining room. We got the furniture off Craigslist while still in New York and shipped it over with the rest of our stuff. Love Craigslist. We stocked up. Yet still need more furniture. Anyway, its so nice to have a dining room finally. But we never use it. Except for getting water. See the water cooler? Every house has a water cooler. We don't drink the tap. In fact, I hate the way our tap water smells. Very bleachy. But at least it is clear. And has good water pressure - just like in the US! Very rare in Nigeria.

And here is our study. Both Yomi's desk and my desk are in here. We also stocked up at Ikea before we left the US - his desk is from there. And I made those curtains.

And this is where you (not just Dondi, but anyone who is reading this) will stay when you come to visit us. Our guest room. Yay! We have room for guests! You no longer have to camp out in our little 2 room New York apartment on our couches. I know it is not that exciting a room, but our bed is probably going to go in there soon. Yomi keeps complaining about how small our bed is -- no complaints before, but now that our bed is perfectly dressed, it's too small. In fact, he fell off the bed the other night in his sleep.

And here is a virtual tour of our downstairs, when you enter, there is a living room on the left and one on the right which is empty right now because, like I said, we don't have enough furniture. And through the living room is the dining room (pictured above). And another bedroom and kitchen and bathrooms in the back. And our water system and boy's quarters outside in the back courtyard.

Going Dutch Does Not Happen Here

You know when you go out to lunch with a bunch of your office colleagues, you end up just splitting the bill evenly? Well, I got myself into a little pickle the other day. I decided to go to Nando's (a chicken fast food joint) for lunch and asked if anyone wanted to go as well. A couple people said yes, plus we picked up someone in the hallways. When we get there, everyone orders, and then it becomes clear that I was expected to pay. Well, the other thing about Nigeria is that it is a cash society. So I am always running out of money. Plus, everything is so expensive here - yes, even in that fast food joint you can't get out of spending less than $10 on a meal. Uh, awkard, I didn't have enough to cover everyone - I had no idea that I was expeced to pay! Luckily, one of the guys came to my rescue and took care of it, but it was still one person taking care of everyone - and it wasn't like people were reaching for their wallets. In the end, I gave him what I had and then tried to give him the balance the next day, but he wouldn't take it, because he wanted to share in the rewards of giving. Yomi said later that was one of the things he had to learn when he moved to America -- he'd be in college, someone would invite him to their dorm room for pizza, and then expect him to chip in! He was shocked!