International Day

          This week was the final push for International Day on Friday, January 25.  My class represented Mexico.  I made the display board with information about Mexico and then had my kindergarten students hand write the headings.  They colored the word Mexico and each one colored a flag.  I put the flags around the border of the board.  We made a piñata with candy inside, God’s Eyes, and a quesadilla together.  All week I taught them Spanish words and on Friday I showed them a video designed to teach young children simple Spanish words.  They were so excited when they heard words they had already learned. 

Parents with their toys in the foreground were blocking Clint trying to take our picture.

          At the morning assembly each class crossed the stage wearing their country’s flag colors or a cultural costume to music from their country.  I am such a literal person.  The directions were given to walk across so it didn’t occur to me to play a video from the country or teach them a dance.  I have to remember in the future to be as creative as I can and then tailor it down if needed.  My students stood like statues to the Mariachi band music and it looked pretty pathetic.  Everyone dances in Nigeria so of course the other groups did some moves.  I don’t think they all were necessarily tied to their chosen country but they certainly looked like they were having fun. 

The big kids checking out our pinata but not the display.

          From 1 – 2 pm the Early Years Department toured the displays and from 2- 3 pm the older students came over.  I had two students who wanted to touch everything.  I had to hold their hands.  When a third started to get out of control I turned around to look for my teaching partner and she was at one of the tables eating.  My students were good and stayed with me.  It was like taking them on a field trip to a museum.  At first I told them quite a bit about each country but after awhile their attention span hit a wall and we mostly walked past and I just answered questions and pointed out things I wanted them to see.  As we left to go back to our classroom I had one little fellow break down into hysterical tears.  He didn’t want me to leave the piñata with all that candy.  He thought it belonged just to our class.  The others, although disappointed, understood we were sharing it with the whole school.  I was later thanked by an administrator for leading my students around.  I guess some of the teachers just let them run around.  The early years kids cannot read the displays.  I am not sure why anyone would do that.  It was just common sense.  I was so focused on my bunch and counting them every few minutes that I never even saw the wild ones being chased.

I love her idea for getting Chinese food to sample and having a dress made for the event.  First year teachers always think outside the box.  Great Job, Li!!!

          Back in class, I let my teaching partner finish the last 15 minutes of the day so I could go back and read more of the older student’s work.  I checked on the piñata and it was nearly empty.  It appeared that at first nobody knew about the candy because they did not bother to read the sign which told what a piñata was for but once one did, the word got out and it was a big hit.  I think the best display was from one of the first grade classes.  Their teacher is from China.  She made a deal with a Chinese restaurant to advertise his restaurant by providing sample food.  He brought in about four dishes.  People swarmed her table to have some.  Clint and I were privileged to have already enjoyed his food on Sunday evening.  To celebrate both her birthday and the owner of the restaurants he had prepared a huge spread of food and a beautiful cake.  He even had things brought in from Lagos, Nigeria for the dinner.  It was so spicy that my eyes and nose were running.  We ate cow’s stomach and squid besides many other interesting things.  The power went off a couple times while we were eating so we sat in total darkness until the generator was started.  It is just something you get used to here.

This is a booth at the open air market.  They sell warm eggs, cigarettes, and alcohol.

          One of the teachers was in another African country during the Christmas break.  He came back with a whole bunch of boot-leg movies.  We were able to see The Hobbit.  There is no way that was a legal copy but it was nice getting to see it.  Getting to watch something is like a luxury.  I have even watched things I would never have watched in the States: The Big Bang Theory and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer.  I hate to admit it, I enjoy TV that much because it just gets too quiet in our flat sometimes.  I read a book my daughter gave me a couple years ago that I had not had time for before.  Next year, I will come better prepared.

We walked past this today.  The sign said you can buy kerosene here.

          We hadn’t seen butter for sale for a month.  Today one of the teachers said he found some.  Clint went right away to go buy it.  This is the week we work on our 2^nd quarter grades so we get to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies.  We were afraid we might have to try and make it with olive oil.  Thank you again to my friend Bunny for your gift as we were packing.  Having lived in Africa, she knew it would be a big treat for us to have chocolate chips.  The butter will also taste good on the fry bread tonight.  Clint is making chili to go with it.  Yumm!  He is missing meat as a protein.  I am missing fresh salad and raw veggies.  This morning he tried to feed me fish sausage.  I swear they looked just like the two cockroaches we found when we got up today.  He says I am finicky but I think he is too about some things.  We are both learning to get along with what we can find here to eat.  I missed breakfast and lunch today but I have enough stored to live on if he keeps trying to feed these to me.  LOL

fish sausages or cockroaches?

He and I had words today.  The deal was you get to stay if you eat all the cockroaches.  We found two this morning, so you aren't holding up your end of the bargain.

          Friday night a big storm rolled in and woke us with pounding rain on our metal roof, thunderous bangs that shook our flat and flashes of lightening I could see with my eyes shut.  The next morning, when we went into our kitchen the floor was flooded.  One of the teachers said his roof leaked above his bed and so he had to get up and move his bed during the night.  A tree was broken in our compound.  I asked the guard if it was struck by lightning but he thought it was just the heavy rain rushing off the roof.  This morning we woke up and found about 50+ little wings littered all over our front stoop.  The guard said they are from a certain kind of bug.  I don’t remember the name he called them.  I am guessing it was a transition in their development.  He thought they were attracted to our porch light.  There must have been a swarm of them.

bug wings on our front steps

We leave the light on at night in case our young teacher needs us during the night.  We told her she could knock on our door no matter what time if she needed us.  It is so fun having her here to share this adventure with.  She is our daughter’s age.  In the future if we get to teach in South America, I wish our kids would come teach with us.  Our daughter could work as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher and her husband could be the school technology guy.  Our son could teach art.  Of course this would be in a perfect world where you get everything you want.  I would say I was dreaming but with the malaria medicine I only have nightmares.

My Observation

          I had my first formal 45 minute observation on Monday morning and on Friday my principal went over it with me.  Thankfully I had no big issues.  He told me our school was lucky to have me.  I know it wasn’t professional but I got chocked up.  It feels really good to be appreciated and wanted for what you bring to your workplace.  I put my heart and soul into what I present to my students because I love them so much and I feel very blessed to have been given a job teaching children in Africa.

          This Friday is International Day at our school.  My class is learning about Mexico.  Because my students are 4 and 5 year olds I made the display poster and will use it this week to teach from.  It is kind of like a focus wall.  We are making God’s Eyes and a Piñata.  I am hoping the Piñata will be dry enough by Friday in this humid weather.  I also plan to make some quesidillas if I can find cheese.  Dairy products are hard to find here.  We haven't seen butter for 3 weeks at the market and it is almost report card time when we will use our second bag of chocolate chips to make cookies.  Anyway, at the Friday assembly all the classes will walk across the stage wearing their country’s flag colors, waving a colored flag they each made and dancing to music from the country they learned about.  All the displays will be in the multipurpose room for parents and all the students to view.  I have been practicing some Spanish phrases to teach my students as well this week.  I think it will be a lot of fun.  I wish I had my sombrero and maracas with me.  They are in a tub in my garage back home.  I have been gathering things for years for teaching a year-long unit about the different cultures around the world.  Clint chose Canada for his class.  He is having a harder time finding a piece of music for the parade.  I found Mariachi music on U-tube right away.  I asked my Canadian cousins on Facebook for some ideas for him.

          I gave the fabric I received as a Christmas gift to a parent of one of my students this week to have a dress made.  She offered to make one for me when she found out I had received the fabric from Her Excellency.  The next day she brought with her a clothing designer who also has kids at our school to find out what I wanted to have made.  I wasn’t expecting that to happen.  The funny thing was it was overkill because when she asked me what styles I was interested in I told her I just wanted something that was a traditional African dress.  They were both so surprised.  I told them that someday when I am teaching somewhere else and I do a unit on Africa I want to have something to wear to represent this culture.  Although I appreciated their sentiment in wanting to dress me up in the latest high fashion outfit it really wasn’t me or what I had in mind.  I have a feeling it still will have some glamour to it.  They were still talking about silver accents when I had to return to my students. 

          The designer told me about her fashion show coming up.  She is the only designer to use leather here in Nigeria.  I hope I am invited to attend.  If it is anything like the Carnival Beauty Pageant it will be really exciting to see and just as fun to see what everyone wears to the event.  What people wear here is so different than in the US.  I hate to say flashy is the word for it but in a way it is true.  There is no color that is specific for men or women either.  Men wear a lot of pink here.  At first I was viewing it with my US glasses on and thinking it meant something but it is just the way they view fashion.  I think their preference is the brighter the better for both men and women.

          I have seen several men wearing plastic sky blue dress shoes.  Often their shoes have a pointed toe that is far beyond what a cowboy boot has.  The women wear very, very tall platform shoes that are also rainbow bright with painted toenails that extend past the tip of their shoes.  Many women wear long gowns with a matching headdress.  They are really beautiful and detailed with sequin or metal studs.  Many men wear a long pullover shirt with pants to match.  I think you call that kind of a shirt a tunic.  Clint thinks they look like pajamas.  I have to agree but again we are viewing things from a US perspective.  But they do look comfortable whereas the women do not.

          Most women here in Nigeria wear their hair in cornrow braids with extensions.  You cannot memorize someone by their hair because it changes too often.  One day it is short and the next it is long.  The hair extensions are purchased from Asia.  I see a lot of wigs too.  I have only seen two people with an Afro hair style.  If they have not straightened it, braided it or twisted it into a bun then they wear a hat even in this hot weather.  I am talking knit hats too.  Baby girls get their ears pierced at birth.  Little girls from affluent families wear beads on the ends of their cornrows.  Little girls who come from poor families usually have shaved heads.  We rarely see men without a shaved head.  At most men will have ¼ inch of hair.  We have one teacher from Jamaica who I think has dreadlocks but he never shows his head.  He always has a turban on.

This is a traditional gown similar to what I am having made.

A man's shoes.

         I wish I had more pictures but I don't want to be outright rude taking pictures of people.  The fashions here really standout. 

A Test of Our Tolerance

          We went six days without the generator.  The NAPA electricity was off for over 24 hours.  We spent multiple nights, in sweltering heat that reached 90 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity at 75% with no lights.  To avoid the malaria mosquitoes, which only come out in the dark, and the creepy critters, we sat under our bed net from 6:30 in the evening until morning.  Misery almost doesn’t cover how bad it was.  I was seriously at the end of my tolerance by Friday.  I was sick to my stomach and couldn’t eat for a couple days.  I felt light headed and had a terrible headache.  With no power, I could not use my breathing machine for my sleep apnea.  We had so much heat exhaustion we couldn’t walk to get supplies and without a working refrigerator we had nothing cold to drink.  Clint finally went higher on the chain of command at our school to get something done on Friday.   

          We had been told we had to wait until school started and the business manager was back from vacation to pay for the repair.  Suddenly shortly after Clint’s call we had a repairman working on the generator.  Friday night was amazing.  We had a whole new appreciation for our accommodations.  To make things better we were told Saturday morning at 7:30 am the exterminator was going to spray inside and outside all the flats.  I hesitated with the time wondering if it would be Nigeria time or really 7:30 am. I set the alarm anyway.

We got everything ready the night before and our bags were by the door.  At 7:30 am we went outside to play cards at our table.  Nobody was around. About 8:45 our director came out and said she could not reach the maintenance guy.  At 9:30 she was ready to call it all off.  Wow, we were really looking forward to a hotel with a pool and TV even though we had to pay the bill.  We had to stay at a hotel Saturday night for the insecticide to work the best.  No regulations here.  They use strong stuff.  Finally at 10:30 they were here and she took us to the hotel. 

          By dinnertime one of our expat friends who had returned home for the break arrived at the hotel.  We ate dinner with her and caught up.  Clint ordered fish and chips and was served a whole fried fish head and all.  I cannot tell you how many times this kind of thing has happened.  We speak the same language but English words here mean different things than they do in the US. 

          This morning we planned to work at the school which was across the street and then worry about how to get home after that but a school van arrived to take us home from the hotel so we went with him.  It is so nice to have a driver again.  School starts tomorrow morning.  It feels like we are starting a new school year we have been gone so long.  A month is just too long for a winter break.  We never did get a chance to work at the school over the break.  We would not have had electricity so I guess we could not have done much anyway. 

          Time should really fly now with three weeks to the semester break, international day activities coming up and the science fair right after it.  I am working with a group of high school students on the yearbook.  I am the assistant chair on the project.  We have our first due dates for submissions in February.  Before I know it, it will be spring break time in March.

Happy New Year

          I want to wish all my family and friends a Happy New Year.  We are finally down to less than a week before school starts again.  This is has been a long month off.  We have been walking every day to get a few groceries or see something new.  For New Year's Eve we  went to the baby orphanage but they stopped us just inside the gate and said it wasn't a good time.  I pray they had prospective parents inside.  We saw a child running around with the 3 year old who attends our school.  He is either new or belongs to someone there.  We next headed towards Her Excellency's home to swim in her pool.  I called to let someone know we would be at the gate soon.  We were told the pool was dirty and to come another time. 
          We were already a long way from home by this time and the sun was hot as always so we had to change our plans.  Since we both had our suits and towels we just changed directions and headed first for a cold drink and then for the hotel which allows people to pay for the use of their pool.  Clint swam for 30 minutes for 1,000 Naira ($7) and I went into the gift shop.  I was able to pick-up a Carnival t-shirt.  I had seen people wearing them but I didn't know where to get them.  I did not bring one t-shirt with me to Africa so it will be nice to wear on the weekends.

Channel View Hotel Pool

My Festival T-Shirt

          We spent the rest of the afternoon outside on our porch in our swimsuits trying to catch some of the   occasional breeze going by.  Both generators are broken down in our compound.  Unless the NAPA power comes on we do not have air conditioning.  It does come on about once a day for awhile but never the same time so we never know when.  It recharges the inverter battery back-up which keeps the lights on and the refrigerator running.  Without the generator power when NAPA is not on those inverters have been running low and going completely off. The generators are currently broken for the third day in a row.
          Last night we defrosted the refrigerator while it was off and got it cleaned out.  This morning we opened up all the curtains for some natural light.  We are trying to make due but the heat soars inside to nearly 90 degrees Fahrenheit and with it the humidity goes up too.  It has reached 75% humidity.  I think this is the hardest thing for us to get used to.  Our bodies are trying to manage but it just drains us of energy.  I think living in the Arctic for two years with 40 below temps may have something to do with my ability to manage this heat right now.  It is taking longer than normal to adjust. We were told the generators cannot be fixed until the school accountant returns from vacation.  I cannot bring myself to open the windows because of the creepy critters.  I think it would send me over the top of my tolerance. 
          We played cards outside last night until the malaria mosquitoes came out after dusk and then headed back inside.  While we were out there we did watch a gecko eat a cockroach.  We both cheered since the geckos manage to get inside despite all I have done to ensure tightly closed windows.  I have them all blocked with stuff.  Now if I could only train them to eat spiders.

This is what we did for New Year's Eve.

My tan lines

          I forgot to put sunscreen on my feet and now I use it as my gauge to see just how tan I am.  This picture actually doesn't show just how dark of a tan I have.  I think this is the most tan I have ever been.  I use 100% sunblock on my face and 30% on my arms and shoulders.  My feet I have left alone.  It is a source of amusement for me.  Can you tell I wear Birkenstocks?  LOL, they are the best shoes in a hot and humid climate.