Hello everyone....
for those we have not emailed yet...my apologies, we have to wait until someone with internet invites us over, and then we have to find out if it is secure, and then the power goes out, and then the internet goes down etc....it is all about patience here in Nigeria. We have been slowly acclimating to everything. After about five days of jet lag, we are sleeping much better and are waking up earlier which helps tremendously. Last night we ate some chicken from the grocery store and even Chris was nervous (he said his spider senses were tingling) but of course we were fine!
I promise there will be more pictures later but I am nervous to take my cameras out and be even more conspicuous than we already are..
before I sign off...here was a taste of our Tuesday adventure:
So we had to get passport photos, and this is how you do it.....hopefully someone you know drives you to this REALLY chaotic street where everyone is trying to run everyone else off the road (because this is how you drive in Abuja), we slowed down where there was about 50 Nigerians yelling at us and everyone else asking them if they want passport photos. about 5-8 people swarmed our car, so we ask a random guy how much and then we had to negotiate a price (you have to negotiate EVERYTHING)....so we settle, get out of the car, run over to some random building that has white walls for him to take a digital photo of us...then he runs behind the building and up the stairs into some random door to process the photos. In the meantime, Chris and I have a great chat with two of the many other people standing around. they tell us all about Nigeria and the climate and the surrounding areas and are generally great guys....of course, one of them had seen us earlier in the day (we are of course VERY conspicuous....especially because we look like lost puppies)...so we finish our transaction, get our pictures and pop back into the car.
our friend who is driving us had bought some corn on the cob...4 steamed ears fro 60 Naira (which is about 60 cents)...I of course am totally paranoid, but eat the corn and it is great...and I don't get sick...so I think I might let the people at dartmouth know that their scare tactics are slightly crazy....you can actually eat lots of things here!
one final note: it took me literally 24 hours to do a load of laundry yesterday (thats JUST washing)! i am not joking. this is because the water flow in the city is REALLY slow. but .....it is the rainy season right now, so I will have to keep you posted on how long it takes in the dry season when they apparently turn the city water off...
well...we are off to explore the surrounding areas, and try to go hiking...hopefully Chris will not come back looking like a boiled lobster!
love to everyone!
3 comments:
That's funny because I ate at Dartmouth cafeteria the other day and have been deathly ill ever since...not really.
Great to hear you made it and nothing has made you sick yet...
Also laundry is much quicker with my simple method...FEBREEZE...good luck finding some.
Chris looks great with "GREEN HAIR" Is that because he eats so much French Sausages, AKA "The Sausage King" Bet he can't get one there!
So how did you like the 28 hours in the aircraft????
You do have a nice home even though you may have to get water from the river! The answer to the laundry problem is Not to get your stuff dirty!
It sounds like to get things done there you have to go to strange places.
Don't take photos of police and military, they are not ones that like photos of taken of them.
Also make sure you always wear shoes, as that mud may not be what you think it is.
If you want a burger, remember that it may not be from a cow!
We can send you care packages from here if you want.
All kidding aside I do miss you guys, and this year will not be fun. The shows at Poultney just will not be the same, and then there is no one to hang the lights
Hey, I recognize that quilt!! Your place looks nice.
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