Shortly before we left for the summer I stopped by our preferred expat retailer, Luka, for some shopping. It looked a lot like it had when I was deciding whether or not to move to Nigeria.
On returning this Friday, however, I noticed that some of the stuff had moved around and there was a little more room. I didn't remember the ceiling fans, but they might have been there before*. The deep freezer on the side had been replaced by a tall fridge. The drinks had moved from an awning outside to a whole other shop across the street. Wow, I thought, Luka's been expanding.
Much more interestingly, the counter had completely changed. This entire time, Luka has had 2-3 guys behind the counter, adding up prices on large calculators, showing us the total, and (maybe) writing up a quick receipt that we paid x000 naira.
Luka's got computers. Not computer. Computers. Three of em. They aren't cast off, rejected from US elementary school computers either. They're running Windows 8 on flat screen monitors that print out itemized receipts with prices and everything. They scanned the items.
It was wild.
And our family was a small part of bringing that progress to pass. How cool is that!
Meanwhile, our preferred fruit and veggie dealer has added a lot of awnings to his business, upgraded the wood frame, and it seemed to me was dressed a deal better than when I last saw him.
* - UPDATE: They were. I found a blog from someone who came here back in 2009 that has a picture of Luka's with a ceiling fan. There are a lot of other pictures of the area if you're interested.
On returning this Friday, however, I noticed that some of the stuff had moved around and there was a little more room. I didn't remember the ceiling fans, but they might have been there before*. The deep freezer on the side had been replaced by a tall fridge. The drinks had moved from an awning outside to a whole other shop across the street. Wow, I thought, Luka's been expanding.
Much more interestingly, the counter had completely changed. This entire time, Luka has had 2-3 guys behind the counter, adding up prices on large calculators, showing us the total, and (maybe) writing up a quick receipt that we paid x000 naira.
Luka's got computers. Not computer. Computers. Three of em. They aren't cast off, rejected from US elementary school computers either. They're running Windows 8 on flat screen monitors that print out itemized receipts with prices and everything. They scanned the items.
It was wild.
And our family was a small part of bringing that progress to pass. How cool is that!
Meanwhile, our preferred fruit and veggie dealer has added a lot of awnings to his business, upgraded the wood frame, and it seemed to me was dressed a deal better than when I last saw him.
* - UPDATE: They were. I found a blog from someone who came here back in 2009 that has a picture of Luka's with a ceiling fan. There are a lot of other pictures of the area if you're interested.
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