Progress

We saw oh-so-much progress on the house, yesterday! Hopefully, we'll have two days in a row of workers being there. The carpets have been pulled, they're cleaning glue off of the tiles, and they are in the process of replacing 2 of the 3 ACs; the other one that needs replacing is to be done later!
But, a new leak developed in the bathroom so they couldn't paint. They think they found the leak and started drying the ceiling out again. It was a much smaller leak and because they caught it early (I've taught Lucy "a stitch in time saves nine" and she thinks the workers need to learn that!) it should be dry this morning with a hallogen light on it all night. Then Sam, one of the foremen, said he'd paint today -- it's a stinky sealant that needs a lot of airtime. To each of the workers, I cheer, bow, and say "thank you. I am so happy to see progress." They laugh at me and then say "we are happy that Madame is happy!" They are so used to the residents complaining; they don't hear thank yous!

One of the gardeners talked with me about how much I love flowers. He said they've all noticed that I'm walking around, looking at the plants and smelling the flowers. He asked if I'd like better flowers in front of my house. I was, of course, thrilled to know that I could get some. So, we went over to the house and discussed (as best we could with language barriers) what would be best due to the fans from the ACs and the lack of rain hitting some of the areas. They will be transplanting some tall flowering things -- I don't know the names of anything, yet. I met a magazine salesman at Christian's produce stand and Christian passed on to him the task of finding a book with pictures and labels of trees. I explained to Christian that he was now "off the hook" (used in the typical US way, not the most current "under 20"s way) about the book and so he told the magazine guy he was "on the hook!" and grinned at me -- so proud of how quickly he caught on to the US expression! This guy was amazed, too, that I wanted a book about anything in Nigeria. I'm reading a great book on Nigerian politics right now. Again, that is highly unusual. The Nigerian workers think that all expats are just enduring their time here and don't want to really know about Nigeria. Everyone here is so interested in the US -- movie stars, the Oscars, etc. Amazing.

My opportunites to use internet are still limited due to a variety of complications. So, I've got to stop for now. Lucy has arrived and her work day has begun. I'm soon off to French class!