Beyond Abuja

Last weekend, we had a four day weekend due to the Eid holiday. We have been wanting to get out of Abuja and explore a little bit, so we took full advantage of the extra days off. On Thursday, after sleeping in, we ventured out to Bwari village. Bwari is about 45 minutes outside of Abuja and what seems like a world away. Traveling to a village is an eye opening experience. Living in Abuja sometimes makes us forget that we do indeed live in a third world country. As you leave Abuja, the roads begin to deteriorate and eventually turn into dirt roads. The traffic is unbelievable due to the commute of so many service workers working in Abuja. Abuja is a very expensive place to live, so very few actually live and work in Abuja. Most Nigerians working in Abuja live at least 30 minutes outside of the city, with most living more than one hour away.

Pictures from our trip

A lady sifting through the trash. This is not an uncommon scene, even in Abuja

This must take lots of practice! The first lady is carrying a load of sticks.

A shower facility

Notice the sign and the burning trash...ironic

This is exactly why we DO NOT eat Nigerian beef!

hauling sticks

Farmers market

stacked yams

mechanic shop

You would not think that this scene is common, but it is. We see cars burned and burning ALL the time.

Our New Favorite Pastime

Molding the holds for the wall

The Wall

More holds have been added for climbing upside down

Pictures of climbing to come! 

Before and After

BEFORE

The first cut!

Had to do the mullet with bangs

Then they had to act like rednecks...

Do you see the resemblance? 

All the kids at school think that Gordon, Chris and Jordan are related.  They have led the kids to believe that Jordan and Gordon are brothers and that Chris is their cousin.

An even better looking mullet

AFTER

SO much hair!!!  

Kristel looked at this picture and thought Jordan was face down in a trash can =)

Life Just Got a Little Better!

One of the difficulties we have living in Abuja is the lack of food choices. As everyone knows...we like our food, so it has been tough adjusting. Last semester I began making cake and cake frosting from scratch and I also learned to make tortillas from scratch. This semester I had planned to learn how to make ricotta cheese, sour cream, and cream cheese from scratch, but unfortunetly I forgot to get the enzymes I needed while I was back home. This weekend I learned how to make bagels and we are now in HEAVEN! I made chocolate chip, cinnamon and sugar, and onion poppyseed. The best part is that they are fairly quick to make and the reciepe yeilds enough for the week. Our lives just got much better! ;)

Since We've Been Back

We have had quite an eventful week back in Abuja.  Our return home began with lost luggage, which resulted in items being stolen.  These items included some things purchased for other teachers and students, as well as our new camera.  We are still in the process of filing a claim with Delta, but we're not very optimistic about a refund. 

The first week of school was as expected. The students, of course, were on the wild side, but nothing out of the ordinary for the first week back.  It was difficult to return after a long 3 week break, but luckily the week went by fast.

Unfortunately, we have been experiencing an increase in mosquitoes.  You would think that the dry season would not cause an increase in the number of mosquitos, but it has.  We did not notice mosquitoes in our house until Monday night.  We were rudely awaken and disturbed the whole night by their bites and buzzing.  After asking around, we decided to fumigate the whole house with Raid.  Since then, we have been mosquito free.  We have not contracted malaria; at least not yet! 

When we came home from school Thursday, we noticed that a couple of our ceiling tiles in the bathroom had fallen down, and we now have a leak coming from the water pipes.  It turns out, the upstairs neighbors have a leaking pipe as well as us.  So, the next week, our bathroom will be in shambles as plumbers fix the pipes.  Chris and Lauren, who lived in this house last year, had the exact same thing happen last April.  I guess it's par for the course around here. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and we'll have a working bathroom again.  

While we were gone for break, the gas shortage got much worse.  One of the teachers who stayed here said that he saw a line 3km long.  People in Lagos couldn't even get black market gas.  Things are getting a little better, but there are still gas lines.  We're suspecting that some of these gas shortages are due to the government climate in Abuja right now.  Yar'Adua, the Nigerian President, has been sick for many years and flew to Saudia Arabia for treatment over 50 days ago.  Protestors who marched on capital this week were demanding the Vice President take power.  The constitution declares that if no one has heard from the president in 50 days, then the VP takes over.   Coincidentally, that same day, Yar'Adua called into the BBC and announced that he was doing fine.  Nigerians have mixed feelings about the BBC report.  Some believe it was Yar'Adua and that he's doing fine.  Others believe that it was not him and that   either he's nearly dead or altogether dead.  Something that makes teaching in Nigeria interesting is that Jessica has both the president's grandson and the VP's son in her class.  

Random pictures of Abuja

As we get ready to leave Abuja for a couple weeks,  we decided to post the random pics we've taken since our last posting.  The rural pictures were taken on our way to Bwari Pottery, just an hour outside the city.  

The last pictures are of the downtown Abuja mosque.  It was built in 2006, but they ran out of money before completing the inside, so we've been told it's very bare inside.  Most mosques are well decorated and have great detail inside, but this is just a cinderblock room.  (Just an interesting side note)

Tis the Season...

...for gas shortages.  Since we have arrived in Abuja, we have experienced 2-3 small gas shortages which usually last no more than a couple days.  During these gas shortages, we've always been able to get gas and have never had a major problem.  This week, brings us new experiences.  On Sunday, Jordan went to get gas and realized there was another gas shortage.  The gas station was actually out of gas.  Before work on Monday, we went to a different gas station, but they wouldn't be open until 7, so we couldn't wait for gas.  Tuesday, on the way home from school, our gas light popped on.  We passed three gas stations, which all had a line at least 1/2 a mile long.  Not only was the line long, at the front of the line, cars were trying to cut in from different directions and there was a mob of people fighting over who was first.  We are now taking taxis to school and carpooling home.  The bad thing about taking taxis is that they have doubled their rates due to the gas shortage.  We have heard there is gas, but the government doesn't want to sell it yet.  They want to raise prices, first.  We've also have heard that the truck drivers are on strike.  So, who knows when this gas shortage will end.  Some of the teachers that have lived here a long time, say they've never seen a gas shortage this bad.  We might be taking taxis the rest of the semester!