Good things

We continue to feel grateful for our experiences here in Nigeria. Jim is enjoying his work, though the pressure is very high. I love the flexibility he has -- home for lunch very often, home to work on things on his laptop in the evenings. Right now, we are both sitting in the patio, each on our laptops, working under the inspiration of the trees, flowers, and gurgling fountain that provide our backdrop. (OK, with the occasional squawking of birds that are like crows with a priest's white collar.)

We'll eat at the clubhouse, tonight -- sitting out by the pool. We can eat a huge meal, each, for about $8 to $10 U.S. dollars. Then Jim will go back to his office to finalize his presentation for a meeting with clients tomorrow.

Tomorrow, Jim will walk to work (about a leisurely 3 minute stroll) and then meet our driver later in the morning for the drive to the client's office. Yes, that's another good, actually fantabulous thing -- we got our car and driver, provided by the company. When Jim doesn't need him, Prince, our driver, is available to take me anywhere I need to go. First, about the car and driver, then about where he took me today: the car is a brand new -- still-had-the-plastic-on-the-seats Honda Civic that is a beautiful metalic bronze-like mix between gray and tan. What is that color called? See, my English is fading! And Prince is a very experienced driver who has worked for Jim's company a long time and speaks English, Pidgen English, Yoruban, and French (from years of living in Cameroon and another French-speaking African country). He's a great asset -- describing all of what we see as we drive and throwing in a lot of politics as well! For instance, he predicts (as we've heard from others) that Nigeria will become 3 nations sometime fairly soon -- the Hausa in the north, the Igbo in the east (remember Biafra?), and the Yorubans in the west. We shall see -- unity is not a word to describe anything we see here, even inside the camp when I think about it.

So, Prince took me, Lucy, and a friend from Brazil, Daniela, to the most local of all truly Nigerian markets -- Borokiri Market. The smells about knocked me out when we got out of the car to begin our adventure. I thought I was going to insult everyone staring at us by, right in front of them, vomiting on their trash piles. That's where the horrific smells were originating -- for the most part, at least. But I begged God to help me keep control and smiled, stopped inhaling, and moved forward. Next time we go there (and we will, for sure 'cuz we loved it!) I'm definitely taking my camera. This time I wanted my hands free for shopping.

We had already determined that we didn't want to buy any food items -- buying flour out of an open basket that hands have been in and birds have flown over, well, let's just say that I'm not turning any of that into a sheet of cookies! The fish were attracting flies more than people. The little snail-like seafood things were, well, stinky! OK, you get the point. No food was the best decision. So, we moved on to the area that had other products -- about a 20 minute stroll past vendors that were shouting "ogibo" (remember, the "g" is silent so it sounds like o-ee-bow) which means "white" or "white person." They shouted a whole lot of other things that we couldn't understand but Lucy assured us it was all nice! Sometimes they shouted out "African Woman" (but it's pronounced -- af-ree-kaan woa-maan) to Lucy. We were quite the oddity, Daniela and I, because this is not a typical shopping place for expats. In fact, we are the only 2 on the whole camp who would think of going to this market. We felt totally safe, which is the concern of the other women on the camp. We just, definitely, needed showers upon returning home and we definitely didn't drink anything -- even if it was in a bottle.

Anyway, this bargaining routine is getting to be fun! I got a clothes drying rack, one that I'd seen in the standard "super market" for 7500 naira. OK, drum role please -- I got it for 2000 naira. I'll admit it, Lucy was a huge help and Daniela needed one, too. So, after he got down to 2500 for one, I said that we needed two and we'd give him 4000 for both. When we started to walk away, he readily agreed! At another stand, I got 2 handmade baskets (woven from thin palm-tree strings) each for 150 naira. So much fun! 1 US dollar is exchanging for around 145 naira right now. Yep, that means a basket that is a large fruit basket size, handmade in the state just north of us, without flaws, for about a buck!

So, next time we go -- Daniela, Lucy, and I -- I'll take pictures. Lucy had such a blast -- even riding in the car was a total treat for her -- waving to workers as we drove out of the camp.

I'll write more about her, soon. I've learned so much about her difficult life. What a dear!

Before I close this out, a bit more news: I'm going to start teaching a children's Bible class and Jim and I will be starting a couples' Bible Study in the home of an Indonesian couple who are very sweet and so wanting to grow in their walk with Jesus.

So many good things, all from the Giver of all good things!