Our new Home

Our living room facing the front door

I was very excited to see our new home for the first time. I had not imagined something so well-furnished, so large (3 bdr, 2.5 bth), so comfortable-looking. The folks at AUN really put a lot of effort into making new hires feel welcome.

Of course, all the carpets are currently off the floor in honor of the Month of Potty Training. Prince can't go to school if he isn't trained.

It also happens to be the month of Ramadan. In moving our hefty luggage last Sunday, one of our drivers commented that he was fasting and this felt particularly heavy.

Our living room facing the other way

Our kitchen

The guest room/Lavinia's room
that she hasn't used yet

I agreed with him. It turned out I was fasting that day too, and they were heavy.

Among the silly things I packed were too many shock absorbers. They all only work with US voltage, so they won't prevent surges here until we have a transformer (which hopefully Joy is finding in the market this moment).

Laundry Day

I want to share with you some of the things that I mentioned in my journal tonight, since I am not able to get to sleep yet.

I am really grateful for our neighbor who let us wash our clothes in his washing machine and that Derrill started our wash a midnight and did a few loads before going back to bed and to work. I was able to do a load about every couple hours during the day (2.5 hours per load for the wash) and we got our last one out of the wash and into the dryer at 9pm. That has to be a record laundry day for us. Prince was very helpful. His official job was to pull the small suitcase around that we were toting laundry in to get it to the washing machine, dryer, and to our home (across the hall). We have our own washer and dryer, but only the dryer is working right now so it was such a blessing to us his. I was  just about to start washing clothes in our bathtub.

I am also thankful that Prince hasn’t thrown up since Monday. Monday morning in all our lack of laundry facilities, he couldn’t keep his breakfast down, There were three targets hit besides the toilet: Derrill, just as he was leaving for work (had to change his shirt and Prince’s), our bed (thankfully there was a sheet on it), and a rug in our room (Doo doo voodoo to the rescue (as soon as I find it). I was also grateful that he kept down every meal thereafter.

I am also hopeful that there will be another family living here that are members of the church we attend. If it really pans out that they come the mission president has said that they will organize us into a branch not just a group. That would be awesome. A family told us they are coming in September.

I am also thankful to have a playpen for Princess to sleep in. Derrill picked it up from some new friends today and she is in it now.

Yesterday a friend whom we asked how to get more water for our cooler, stopped by with water for us and bought us some more as well. Things like that are amazingly wonderful when you haven’t figured out how to get around yet. You have to love these nice people :) I am going to try to get to sleep again.

Random thought for the day: There are a certain number of new smells for me in Nigeria and I have determined that one of them is insect repellant.

--Joy

Electronics in Jimeta

We're not unpacked yet, but we have at least started. I had thought we had a step-down transformer (changes 220V into 110V) in our home. What we actually have are stabilizers -- they make sure that even if the power grid fluctuates between 200V-250V, the appliances get a consistent 220V. Hm. So TSA nabbing our transformer is a bit worse than expected. Correction

The Wii doesn't work -- we had bought a 110V-240V adapter for it, but it was apparently not made BY Nintendo, so it's not functioning. We shall hope it isn't fried and that it will come back online in a few months when our shipment arrives with a transformer. I can't seem to find a Nintendo cord that does 240V.... My DS won't work (110V only, but I knew that), so we'll have to wait a few months to be able to recharge it. On the other hand, I did find a car charger that I might be able to use...

The VCR/DVD player doesn't work (110V only, forgot to check that), but AUN gave us a DVD player ... that won't play our purchased DVDs, only the ones my mother copied for us from TCM. Hmm. Thankfully, the computer will play the purchased DVDs ... but it had some troubles doing so today and since I was finally get my hairs cut at the time I couldn't do much about it.

The Kindle works, the computers work, the wireless internet router works, the Walkman still works (!), the camera works, my new phone works (both as a phone and as a Prince tranquilizer), the stereo system AUN gave us works. The water cooler leaks a little and we haven't figured out where to refill it (kind mentor provided us with more water today), but it works. I also checked out a Kindle from the AUN library, and it works. My new computer at school works. The internet overall shuts off now and then, but now that we have the router installed blackouts are rare. I am told that will likely change when the students are back.

For the most part we've run on the national electric grid so far, but it's needed to be supplemented by AUN's generators for large portions of the day. We had a few (<5) minutes with no power a time or two, but nothing serious. AUN also thoughtfully installed emergency lighting that turns on when the power is off.

The AC units work (happy day since we don't have fans!), but not in every room yet, and when they fixed one of them it started spitting out ice chips and water is running down two of the curtains and puddling on the floor. However, there is a high tendency for the electric circuits to blow. Our first night I reset the AC/fridge/freezer fuse more than half a dozen times. The second night after ten minutes of futzing with the three circuits, I left the living room circuit off in the hopes that the AC circuit would stay on, and it did. Tonight we're having no problems with them at all.

The most interesting device around, though, has to be the stove. Two ranges are electric, two are gas, and the oven is gas. When we moved in, we had no gas. We need to go to a dealer and refill the gas can. Our house mentor upstairs gave us some gas, though, so we're good to go for a while.

The electric is a bit more dicey. Our first morning I went to fry some eggs (AUN had provided us with bread, butter, eggs, and a few little luxuries like apricot jam). I put the high-stick metal pan on the herd and proceeded to get myself shocked. One jolt went right through my feet! The other herd, thankfully, has no such quibbles. So I can cook on LOW with electric or rather shockingly high with gas.

We tried baking the bag of meat I bought at the market. Testing out your brand new oven on the only meat in the house was a brave thing to do, but we're okay. When I checked the frozen meat 30 minutes into it, the bottom was already well done and not quite burnt with the middle frozen. I pulled it out and proceeded to fry the rest. This will take some experimentation to get used to.

Today I Saw

Yesterday I walked from the university to the club and back, and today I walked to Luka's market from home and back. I am slowly realizing that, while I am expected to greet every male I come across -- even people on motorcycles nod or wave -- I really oughtn't greet the women on my own initiative. I am also discovering that I'm not very polite here yet: I have yet to learn to say "You are welcome" when greeting someone, even at my own doorstep. As Joy said, people are friendly.

Yesterday I saw a man sleeping on his motorcycle. I was impressed with the balance required.

Today I saw 10 goats in a 15 minute walk.

Today I saw the Friendship Guest House, whose motto is "... where hospitality ends!" It made me think of Germany, which has the odd ability to exemplify hospitality and guest-friendliness, but somehow customer-friendliness escapes them.

Today I saw a man sleeping on a blanket on the dirt, waiting for someone to come by and show interest in the 5 cages of song birds he kept by the side of the road.

Today I saw a woman carrying unidentified things to a medium sized fire, which I can only deduce she was using to create ashes for soap or charcoal.
 -- Derrill

Good Morning from Yola

I have not been online for a while. Apparently I was so out of it  while preparing for this move that I didn’t even tell one of my brothers that we were moving to Africa, so I apologize for my lack of contact. I will try to keep my apologies to a minimum :).
There are so many places that I could start, before our move, more about the princesses birth, our vacation with family and then our move here. I better star with now.
Some of my impressions of Nigeria are:
1. The people really are FRIENDLY. One of the ladies that I met said, “You are very welcome.” after every sentence or thought. We have been welcomed from the airport in Abuja to the men that knock on my door that I didn’t even know were coming to help. At the airport one of the lady guards saw me trying to hold Prince’s hand just after we got off the plane while waiting for immigration. I was trying to keep him close. She said just let him play. I took her sage advise and although I was less in control of the situation (which is kind of hard with the changes) it seemed to be a good suggestion and we were happy.
When we went to church in Abuja people were coming up to us all over the place. If you have ever gone to a ward or branch and felt bad that no one noticed you were there, you really have to go to church in Abuja. Nearly half the branch approached us and welcomed us personally. That was really wonderful and I wish I could remember names. One gal even got our contact information and we look forward to getting to know her (the branch music conductor).
We received a really amazing welcome from AUN when we arrived. Before we even got off the airplane Margee, AUN president was on the plane looking for us to greet us. She even took some of our bags after holding our baby and was so friendly and helpful. Margee had brought a welcoming committee with her of at least 4 people from the school I remember the two that live at our same compound Rama and Linus who both teach at AUN.  They were very helpful in getting us our first evening meal there and getting us to our home. Rama helped us to get connected to the internet which of course is home to Derrill :). And the HR rep Jasmine and another gal were there to welcome us and tell us a little about our home.
We could not have expected or received a more positive and thoughtful welcome. I really felt that this is a place that Derrill will enjoy and be valued, because they have already shown in small ways how they value him already.
2. They seem very interested in little ones. People here will always address Prince even if they do not address us verbally (they will with their eyes or nod). They call him little man or sir and want to shake his hand or ask him questions. Prince doesn’t always notice, but when he does he has been acting shy (I think he is actually teasing them), and pulling his hand away behind his back. People really like our baby. They tend to think that she is a boy. I asked one lady at the Abuja airport what they do in Nigeria to show that their babies are girls and I believe that she let me know that they pierce their ears.
Ladies at church were really sweet, only I wasn’t quite comfortable with all the ones that wanted to take my baby out of my arms. I really did try to hold on to her, but some were so insistent that she was gone momentarily from my arms. One lady actually took my baby off of the pew and starting walking away. I called for her to come back and she would not and went to sit on different bench. I smiled politely and shook my head and took my baby back.
3. They seem to be very VISIBLE. I could see people everywhere on the road and they didn’t look like they were going anywhere. In the United States I would think that they look like they are waiting for a bus, but not here, there are too many clusters of them all along the highway. There are some people selling things, and some walking, but many of them just seemed to be waiting for something. This observation was in Abuja. While we have been driving in Yola I have not noticed much, because I have always had some one to talk to in the vehicle and that keeps me from being as observant outside.
 -- Joy

Today I Saw

I'm not going to try to describe "what Africa is like" on this blog because that's impossible. The continent is too varied, and even Nigeria is twice the size of California and would hold half the population of the US. That also means, though, that there are some interesting things for a person to look at while being driven to work. So I'm going to start regularly mentioning things I saw that were interesting. I may or may not comment on why they were interesting - it might be unusual or familiar; it might be artistic or practical;

Today I saw a roadside shopowner - one of the dozens upon dozens lining the main roads - sweeping the red dirt off the main road to make his stall more attractive.

Today I saw a fellow on a motorcycle - another thing there are dozens upon dozens of - whose passenger was holding up a wheelbarrow behind the bike (making it an in-line three-wheeler motorcycle).

Today I saw the Adamawa State extension centre. I'm going to have to go back to take a closer look.

Every time I'm on the road, including today, I saw the tire shack. One of the roadside shopowners has some motorcycle tires hanging from the wooden frame of his store and a small stack of car tires by it. For some reason it's the single most fascinating store to me.

Today I saw several pharmacies. The most interesting was named "Just Mediocre Pharmacy." Some people might be tempted to make a quip that there is real honesty in advertising, but that may not be assured; it could be a Pretty Terrible Pharmacy in disguise. I'm planning on visiting to find that out too someday.

Prince talks about Nigeria

Hi there. Prince here to tell you all about Nigeria.

"We're going to Nigeria and our new house. Mommy didn't want to go to Nigeria. You wanted to go and I wanted to go, bu Mommy didn't want to go to Nigeria." [Where he gets this idea, I'm not at all sure. Mommy has wanted to go as much as anyone.]

What do you like about Nigeria?

"I like that I go to Nigeria. I like to be in Nigeria to go to a new house. I like watching a movie and stuff. I like watching movies." [He probably means watching TV on the last flight to Abuja.]

What movies do you like?

"I like Mickey's Prince and the Pauper. That's it."

And that looks to be about all I'm going to get out of him right now.

Prince and I played with his alphabet and number blocks today. He lined up each person in the family with a number, slightly differently than he did a few months ago:

1 - Prince
2 - Daddy
3 - Mommy
4 - Princess
5 - Pop
6 - Grandma Boo
7 - Uncle Doug
8 - Paris

Clearly, Uncle Doug made a pretty big impression while we were in Utah. I asked him what Uncle Doug says, and he told me about what he said when he put Paris in time out. Interestinger and interestinger.
 -- Derrill

In Abuja

We made it to Abuja. We leave for Yola on Sunday after church.

Not to be lengthy here (because I haven't slept more than four hours in two days) but everyone is doing well. Prince was awake throughout the overnight flight, so he and I had a terrible time of things. Joy and Princess slept occasionally, despite Joy being seated next to another infant who as far as I can tell didn't sleep more than 15 minutes at a stretch. I won't go into gastronomic details, but it was a disgusting flight. The flight to Abuja itself was much less eventful because everyone got a nap at the same time.

But we are here, we are well (enough), and I am going to see about getting to bed.

We're heeee-eeeere.

On our way to Nigeria: Praise for TSA

We are officially ON OUR WAY! Up to two days ago, our countdown with Prince elicited very little excitement. 14 days until we leave for Nigeria, 10 days, 5 days, 2 days, whatever. Then it became "We're leaving for Nigeria tomorrow," and it felt different. Ominous. Momentous. Tomorrow? Wow. It's really going to happen!

It's happening! Joy and I stayed up until 4:30am re-re-packing our luggage to make sure everything was ready for today. Prince was asleep in the same room at the time, so this really was a successful undertaking. Our cousin then helped us haul all the bags to the Salt Lake City airport at 7 so we were dropped off and at the counter about 8.

It took an hour to get through the ticket counter. 1 - We were too early and she couldn't clear everything. 2 - Joy's passport and ticket are in her maiden name, but her United number is under her married name, so they had trouble there too. But the big one was...

3 - It turns out that there was some mistake on the way from Ithaca to Salt Lake and I was mistakenly awarded 1K (elite) status for our flight here. So no, I don't get 3 bags instead of 2; no, my bags are still 50 pounds, not 70; yes, we really should have picked up an extra carry-on bag. Oops. So we reorganized every bag (all but two were overweight anyway). After identifying a few papers we don't actually need at all, we managed to still carry everything away with us. The feeding of the 5000 it's not; finding extra space for 60-80 pounds of stuff will go down in family history as a minor miracle.

We sat down on a bench across from the ticket counter for a bit to catch our breaths, eat, feed and care for children, and prepare for the TSA. ... We made it through! No problems!

It is amazing, how much discretion TSA officials have and how much of a difference their disposition makes. At SLC, every person was astonishingly pleasant, one wished me a happy birthday in two weeks, they made special lanes available for slow-moving families with itty-bitties, smiled when they talked to us, no one yelled at us to hurry up, and in a dozen other ways made us feel welcome. Yes, they had to open a couple bags, check a few things, and rescan them. They did so politely, acted like they assumed we were innocent people, and helped us through the process. Best TSA experience EVER.

The TSA at Syracuse on our first attempt two weeks ago, by contrast, insisted that the cans of chicken we brought were contraband while TSA in SLC said, and I quote, "We don't care about that. Enjoy." In Syracuse they insisted on opening and testing every travel container of Prince's perishable food while SLC has the ability to scan them without ruining the food. In Syracuse they gave me a full body pat down despite passing through the scanners without a beep. In Salt Lake, they let Joy go through a second time and when she passed they let her through. Syracuse TSA made Joy, Prince, and Princess cry and we missed our flight. (By further contrast, the next day through the Syracuse TSA, they still gave us very thorough screening, but managed to do so in half the time, no mean looks, and no violations of 4th amendment rights.)

Yes, people are just doing their job. What a difference a bit of courtesy and friendliness make when just doing your job! I'm so glad I do not have to fly through Syracuse for the longest time!

Two Princely Parodies

He cries from his time out, "I want to be Daddy's helper! I want to be Daddy's helper! Daddy's helper!" I sing back to him:

If you wanna to be my helper
You gotta do what I say.
Yes I know you're too cute
But when will you obey-eeyay?
If you wanna be my helper
You gotta do what I say.
Cause if you keep on fighting,
You'll-be in time out all day!

--------------------------------

The other is a parody from every truck stop along the way in loving memory of Tex Ritter, below the fold because that's the only place for a song like this.