Week Two

            Last Sunday, the three of us staying in the guest house decided to venture out on our own for a walk around the neighborhood.  The staff looked at us like we were crazy.  We all had shorts on and tennis shoes.  We are in the government quarter so we were a little restricted on where we could go.  We attempted to walk down to the river bank but it was blocked off.  We could just barely see over the cement barricade.  There was some kind of military vessel at the dock.  Back up the hill at the entrance there was a replica of a ship.  I got out my camera to take a picture of it and the guard motioned to us not to take pictures.  We walked down the street and I turned around and snapped a quick picture from the other side.  We were really getting stared at in the park.  We weren’t sure which direction to walk and what there was to see but it felt good getting outside.

This sculpture in the park is in memory of the natives who left Calabar as slaves aboard many sailing ships in the 1900's.

I think the ship we saw at the dock looks like this one.

             I have had stomach aches every morning so I am trying to find out what is causing them.  I suspected it might be because I have been brushing my teeth with the water from the faucet rather than using bottled water.  Clint says our mouth wash will burn the germs away.  I used the bottled water today and it didn’t make a difference.  I also have been drinking the instant coffee.  I wonder if the cook uses the bottled water for us in the carafe?  Sometimes I forget to think about where the food and water came from.  I must stay vigilant so I don’t get really sick. 

            The staff bathroom in my building at the school did not have a door knob until this week.  Teachers were getting stuck in there because if they closed the door they could not open it again from the inside.  Finally a knob was installed.  The bathroom has two stalls in it.  One has a door and the other does not so teachers are asked to knock on the door before entering for privacy.  The stall with the door is really small. You cannot close the stall door if you are sitting on the toilet because the door touches the front of the toilet.  I also discovered you cannot touch the stall wall because it is not bolted down so it moves.  Most of the time there is no toilet paper so you must remember to bring your own.  There are never towels or paper towels available in the bathroom either.  The water only works part of the time too.  One day I put the soap on my hands and could not wash it off.  I suppose this is also why I do not use the bathroom during the day.

            Our school principal and his wife moved into our guest house this week.  We will get their apartment after it is cleaned.  There will also be a small furniture change.  Tonight is the third night and still there was no word on a moving day for us.  It feels a little awkward to be living with your boss.  The first night they wanted to play cards.  The three of us were all working on our school work.  He said he remembers what it was like to grade papers every night.  We did eventually get a game started.  Last night we all worked quietly in the living room together.

On Thursday we went shopping with the teachers at the market.  We purchased cleaning supplies, some food and water bottles.  At the little grocery store we picked up some jam and peanut butter but no bread because we don’t have a move-in date.  The jam is mango.  I have never even heard of mango jam but I love mango so I bet I will like it.  This shopping trip felt really real to me because it was the first time we have made some big purchases here in Nigeria.  It is still a little confusing to convert the money in your head to make sure the price sounds reasonable.  The merchants are very impatient.  They want to know if you have agreed on the price.  They don’t like window shoppers.  Of course there are no windows but you get my meaning.  It was a lot of pressure.  I sure hope it gets easier.  I need to learn to not make eye contact unless I really intend to buy something from merchants. 

             I have been trying to show electronic books on my laptop which is hooked up to the TV in my classroom.  The Internet is so slow that it took 20 minutes to download the book today.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed it so it was worth it.  I am so impressed with the dexterity of most of my students.  Their penmanship is so neat.  Also, most of them know all the letters of the alphabet and their sounds.  Our curriculum is really beneath their level.  I am adding a lot of writing to make it more challenging.  I am crying that we do not have sets of early reader books.  I want to do literature circles.  Most of my class can already read the stories I am reading them.  They just amaze me every day.

            On Friday night the power was out.  The generator was broken again and NAPA (the power company) was out too.  The principal drove us over to his old apartment which will be ours so we could play cards in the light.  The generator was working in the teacher housing complex.  The principal’s bed was gone and ours is in and a chair in the living room was gone, however, our pots and pans, dishes and glassware had not been delivered.  We still do not have a move-in date.  The principal said he had not asked for the chair so he wasn’t sure why it was gone.

            I had quite a time coloring my own hair Saturday morning.  The power was out again so I was working with dim lighting.  The hard part was trying to rinse it out.  The shower only trickles water and it was cold because of the power being out.   There is one big bucket you place over the drain to catch the water and a smaller one to use to pour over your head.  I didn’t want to pour the brown water which contained the dye from my hair back over my head so it took me more than half an hour to rinse it out.  Then I had to wait to fill the bucket several times to get the dye off the walls of the shower.  What an ordeal just to serve my vanity. 

            Saturday was our school Open House.  I made a PowerPoint with the kindergarten benchmark and standards to be shown on the big TV in my classroom.  The power kept going off and on so it was really a strange Open House.  Half the time I was talking to parents in a dimly lit room.  The principal spoke to the parents for awhile and then there were refreshments.  All my parents were pleased to have me as their child’s teacher.  I got the feeling they did not have a lot of confidence in the Nationals as teachers.  The Nigerian staff are called Nationals.  Personally, I am very glad to have a Nigerian assistant so my students have both perspectives.  Even though I have a great education and know how to teach that doesn’t make me an expert in all things.  I consider my assistant teacher as a teaching partner and I introduce her as such.  

At the electronic's store

             After the Open House the principal drove us to an electronics store.  I was able to purchase speakers for my laptop.  Now my students will be able to hear the ABC songs I have over the noise from the air conditioner.  The store owner tested them on his laptop.  It didn't have a keyboard.  I saw a chicken cross the road while we were waiting in the car for others to finish at the store.  I wish I had, had my camera ready.  It was too funny.  The chickens run wild all over the city here.  It still makes me laugh.  My friend the first grade teacher did manage to get one picture of the chicken so she shared it with me.  She really blends in with the dirt so it is hard to her to the right of the purses.

This is where I saw the chicken cross the road.

             There is a small lizard living in our room here at the guest house.  I first saw it on Friday night.  When we returned home and entered the room it was on my night stand.  I saw it jump off and go under the bed.  It was only about two inches long.  Now we see it almost every time we go to our room.  It likes to hide by the door under a tile that is not sealed down.  It is almost transparent except for its black eyes.  I really want it to go away.  I don’t like the idea that it was on my night stand.  It could have been on my pillow.  It may be the reason why I wake up a lot during the night.

            Today we went to our first church service here.  The church was pretty close to our guest house.  It was next door to the Governor’s palace.  The service was over 2 hours long.  There was a lot of fabulous singing and rhythm instruments were available to use in the congregation.  Everyone was really dressed up.  The boarding students at our school were there too.  As usual we were video-taped.  It seems like the Nigerian people really like to take pictures and record events.  Who knows, maybe someday we will see ourselves on a commercial or news cast.

We were walking up the stairs to the church.

Inside the church

We had fun in the lively service today.