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.