Moving Day

            At church on Sunday, I shook hands with the Governor of the Cross River State where I live.  He is the father of two of my students.  Their bodyguard sits by the front door of the school.  His wife is the founder of our school.  I also learned recently that the salaries for the expat teachers are not part of the school budget but is instead paid directly from our school founder.  This could potentially add to my stress but I am trying to not treat these students any different.  Sadly, there are staff members who try to give extra love and attention to them when they see them in the hallway or cafeteria.  I have told all my students to smile and wave but not reach out for hugs or comment back when spoken to when we are walking through the halls.  It just is not fair to the rest of my students.  They do not understand why they are not getting equal love and affection.

            On Monday, Clint went to the Airtel Internet store for me during his planning time.  He had an hour and forty-five minutes.  My planning times are less than 20 minutes at a time.  Our planning time is when our students are at specials like PE and music.  We discovered Airtel is the only company which will connect with my bank in Oregon.  The free mobile Internet sticks we were given work for Clint to get online with his bank but not mine.  We talked to the clerk at the computer store and he said Airtel was the best and he was right, it worked.  I was really afraid I could not use my online bank bill payer system.  I couldn’t even check my balance online.  I tried to email with my bank but they told me I had to call.  I called and was on hold for ten minutes and then my phone ran out of the pre-paid minutes.  Long distance calls burn through those minutes at a faster rate.  Thank goodness I got this figured out.  I didn’t think I needed to add someone in Oregon to my account before I left.

            Tuesday was our first payday.  The bank here really messed up our paperwork and we had to meet with them three times before we got it straightened out and then we were not given our bank account numbers until the day of our first deposit.  Expats get paid before the end of the month so there is time to transfer money to our home country.  We had to open individual salary accounts and then if we wanted an ATM to get Naira out we needed one of those accounts too.  Next, we opened a joint off-shore account.  Our money goes into that account and from there it can be transferred to a bank in America.  There is normally a $100 charge for transfers but our school has been granted a subsidized amount of $40.  I have one of the bank manager’s children in my class.  We had all the money sent to Clint’s account in Washington and then he will transfer mine to my account in Oregon.  It sure will go through a lot of hands before I can pay our mortgage.  I sure hope it doesn’t take too long.  I called my mortgage company before we left and told them where I was going and how to reach me.

            At the bank we went through the metal detector and past the guards with machine guns.  You stop at one counter to check your balance and another one to get cash.  There is no real line everyone just crowds together and you put your request on a form and lay it face down on the counter.  When the clerk picks yours she calls your name and hands it back to you face down with the money.  You watch the money go through a counting machine.  You can ask for Naira or $100 bills.  The exchange rate at the black market which is fondly called Wall Street gives you a better exchange than the bank.  I asked my driver this morning to exchange the $100 I had withdrawn for me on Wednesday morning.  He was able to negotiate to get 157 to 1 for me.  I have gotten as much as 159 before.  The principal said last year they got as low as 150.

            To make the transfer to the off-shore account and then to the States we had to write a letter stating that fact with our account numbers and signature.  We also had to complete a carbonized form.  I haven’t seen one of those for a long time.  We were sent upstairs in the bank to take care of that.  Now we wait to see if it made it all the way home to the Northwest.

            We got the great news we have been waiting for on Tuesday afternoon.  Our flat was finally ready to move into.  The first grade teacher was also allowed to move.  She had been at the guest house even longer than us.  We were given a van driver for the evening.  First he took us to the bank and then shopping at the open air market.  We had no notice so there were several things we needed.  At the Marian Market our driver, Mike, led us around after we told him what we needed.  We saw parts of the market we had not been to before and some of it I think we were not really supposed to go to.  Our school really takes our security seriously.  We were walking through smelly mud that I saw a man relieving himself on.  We just kept walking.  It is really dark in the center of the covered part of the market.  We were up close and personal with everything on sale because the passageways were narrow.  Mike was really moving fast and we had a hard time keeping up with him.  At one point we quickly made a left turn and I scratched my side on something sticking out.  I turned to warn Clint but by that time he had also got a nasty, dirty scratch too.  Luckily, we did not tear our clothes as well.  I will never wear my school sandals to the market again.  My feet were covered with the muck we were walking through.

            Mike did all the bardering for us and we were able to save a lot of money.  Without a Nigerian National helping us we always pay the white price for things which are not marked.  At the booth for plastic items we had several things to get.  It appeared there was some variety of colors so I requested a color.  Mike started to laugh a little.  I knew it was a bit ridiculous to be choosy in that kind of setting but I like things to match.  I had to at least try.  Our furniture and walls are green.  The kitchen ended up with blue and Clint’s bathroom is blue too.  My bathroom is green and pink.  I found a pink bath towel and I felt like dancing a jig I was so excited to find it.  We took all the plastic stuff to the van and headed into the fruit area which was across the alley in a field.  We purchased a branch full of plantains, a pineapple and a papaya.  Mike wanted to know which day we planned to eat the fruit.  He helped us pick it out to fit our timetable so it would be ripe when we wanted it.   The first grade teacher purchased 1/3 of the plantains from us because otherwise it was too many to use.

Our Fruit Purchase

            We next had to rush back to the guest house to eat our last meal there.  We invited Mike to join us.  We knew there was always leftover food so there would be enough.  I know it normally is not allowed to do this but we did it anyway.  He was so nice to us and we knew he would be a big help getting our heavy luggage down the stairs.  Otherwise Mike would have waited in the van for us while we ate.  I thanked the wonderfully kind servant who spent the most time with us before we left.  We did not see the others.  We had talked about ordering pizza one night and inviting the cooks to come inside and eat with us but we did not get enough notice about our move. 

            After living out of our suitcases for a month we had a big mess to quickly get-together and put in the van.  Mike and our servant O-Jung ran up and down the stairs with our stuff.  The principal and his wife are still not able to move into their place.  They also helped us.  We thought our principal might have to drive us because the van was so full.  It was even a ten passenger van but there was just enough room for the three of us.  Mike took us by the Value-Mart on the way to the flats.  This store is more like our traditional grocery stores back home in the States except the brands are not very familiar.  I grabbed a loaf of bread.  They only had unsliced bread.  Clint ran to the meat department and picked up a pound of hamburger.  We already had previously purchased peanut butter, jam, mayonnaise and tuna to have ready in case we moved quickly like we did.

            It felt so good pulling into the compound which is now our home for the remainder of our contract.

A few things to unpack.

Our New Home Away From Home