Random Abuja Pictures

Lauren admiring the teapot Chris made for her birthday

AISA student's work getting ready to be fired in the kiln

Fulani herdsman

Ironic!

Nigerian drivers, especially taxi drivers, are always in a hurry.

Yam field

Brian, Jordan and Lily relaxing during a picnic

Carrying the cooler the Nigerian way

Usuma Dam

On Sunday, we went for a hike at at Usuma Dam (30 minutes from Abuja) with Chris and Lauren. We were pleasantly surprised by the cool breeze and beautiful scenery.

Chris, Jordan and Lauren reaching the top of the cliff.

Chris showing Jordan the climbing routes.

Fulani herdsman at the base of the cliff.

Earth Day 2010

The first grade and fifth grade classes at AISA teamed up to help plant trees at the school in celebration of Earth Day. We asked Rubens, a sustainable farmer, to come help us with the planting process. He brought 4 trees for us to plant as well as cashew seeds for each of the students to plant at home. The first grade planted Cashew trees while the fifth grade planted Guava trees.

Rubens presenting my homeroom class with their tree

One Blue-- my homeroom class

One Red--the other first grade class.

I see these kids for math and science every day

What a Name!

We recently went out to dinner and found the waiters name to be a typical Nigerian name, but yet unique. Before we go on to tell you what his name was, let us explain names in Nigeria.

Most names are either biblical or faith based. For example, we have come across names such as Patience, Grace, Faith, Innocent, as well as the typical biblical names like Emmanuel, Joseph, Isaac, Jonathan, Ester, etc... Many names also begin with 'Chi', which means 'with God'. We work with Chinwe, Chijoke, and Chidiebere. We have also found that the days of the week are used for names. We have a guard whose name is Friday and when we first arrived in Nigeria, one of our guard's names was Sunday. Although this may sound odd to those of you back in the states, the names in Nigeria are very meaningful and are given for a particular reason.

So, to not keep you guessing...the name of our waiter was Thank God.

The Smallest European Country

Luxembourg City was quant and quiet. We had limited time in the country of Luxembourg, but we did manage to find a Mexican restaurant.

The Best of Brussels

During spring break, we traveled by train down to Belgium and stayed in Brussels for a couple days. We were able to enjoy what Belgium is known for: beer and

chocolate.

traveling down to Brussels

the old town hall

We stayed at the Royal Windsor Hotel:a block from Grand Place

cobblestone streets throughout Brussels

Grand Place: built as a merchants market in the 13th century.

Grand place is a square with ornate baroque and gothic guild houses.

Grand Place is listed as a World Heritage site, and one of the most beautiful squares in Europe.

The Cathedral of Saints Michel and Gudule

built in the 15th century

beautiful stain glass windows

The Royal Palace

The oldest church in Brussels.

Built in the 11th century

One of Jess' favorite brews. Each beer comes in a unique glass.

She could barely hold this with one hand.

Sampler of the most popular Belgium brews.

The red beer on the far left was cherry flavored, which was surprisingly tasty.

Spring Break Travels in Amsterdam

The church right outside Anne Frank's house.

In her memoir, she talks about hearing

the chimes of the church bells.

A canal in the Red Light District

One of the many canals outside our hotel

Parking garage for bicycles.

Floating tulip market

Wooden clogs

Picking a pair was a tough decision...

Fresh flower market

Gouda cheese