A "Typical" Day

Two weeks. I cannot believe all we have done in two weeks. The girls are getting adjusted to school. Jon and I are working full time and seem to be barely keeping our heads above water. Speaking of water-we are in the rainy season. The amount of rain makes us feel as if we are in a tropical region (and that we should look into some ark plans.) When it rains, it pours…and pours…and pours. Seems like every afternoon and most evenings we get buckets of water. We used to menace at our wet shoes, soured clothing and soggy hair, but it doesn’t seem to bother us much anymore. I hear that we will soon go months without any rain, so we ought to enjoy the water supply now. The rain allows so much to grow. Nigeria has such pretty landscaping and right now most everything is green. In our own yard we have trees that bear mangoes, lemons, oranges and who knows what all else. Naomi keeps an eye on the fruit and is anxious for something to be ripe enough to eat.

Someone asked what a typical day in Nigeria is, at least for us. I have thought about this for a few days and have had trouble writing it down. No day in Nigeria is typical, but I’ll try to give you a picture of a school day.

We wake up to the compound’s roosters crowing about 5:30AM. Our first question is usually, “is NEPA (Nigeria’s power) on?” Lately the answer has been “no” so we hop in quick showers (cold since the hot water heater hasn’t been on) and get ready for the day. If NEPA is on (or we get up in time to get the generator on and water warmed), we enjoy a rare warm shower. These have become luxuries that we don’t take for granted. However, we don’t have a problem with anyone taking a long shower!

After grabbing something to eat (usually an English muffin or pineapple), we rush off. Our Nigerian driver, Sunday, promptly drives us to school/work at 7:45. We wave at the guards at both of our compound’s gates and all the women (with babies strapped on their backs) out washing laundry by hand at the hospital. Although Jon and I are getting our license this week, I prefer to have Sunday drive us if possible. I am not good at driving a stick shift AND dodging motorbikes AND honking my horn AND listening to my children pray very loudly, “Lord, please don’t let us die” for fifteen minutes. Defensive driving takes on a stronger meaning in Nigeria than the states! A few things we’ve seen on the road: cows, goats, chickens, motorbikes with FIVE people on them, beggars, pedestrians marching in a protest, and a Honda Accord with twelve people inside-all on the same street at the same time. We haven’t had a ‘boring’ or routine trip yet.

As we pass through the school compound gates and greet the guards, we are always aware of how the school campus seems to be a “different world.” We have many nationalities (Nigerian, British, Korean, American, Lebonese, etc.) and religions (Christian, Muslim, atheist, etc.) in the student body. At 10, we have a break for the kids to grab a snack or just get some energy out or socialize. The “hot lunch program” consists of three huts on the compound. For ₦50 ($1= about ₦128), you can get some suya (meat on a stick) or cooked potatoes. We have found out that potatoes are a much better price point, so this is what we usually have for lunch. The potatoes are cooked right in the hut and served in newspaper.

We are out by 3:30 in the afternoon, but usually have something to do at school: soccer practice, staff meeting, etc. Once we leave from school, we pick Jon up at work (he is at the SIM headquarters-1/2 way between home and school.)

If NEPA is on and at full power (220), we’ll throw the laundry that has been on the line into a dryer to kill any mango fly eggs (not something you want to hatch in your skin!!) or we’ll have to iron everything. As much as I hate to iron, ironing beats squeezing mango fly worms out of your skin! ☺

For dinner, we are trying out various types of food. Some of what we are used to is available but very expensive. Cheese, meat and anything “western” will be luxuries for special occasions. I sure wish I had brought kool-aid, packets of pesto, chocolate chips, pepperoni, pudding, etc. We are enjoying the fruit (the BEST bananas ever!) and the weight loss has helped our clothes fit better. Today we splurged and bought some olive oil and made Angie’s salad dressing. Although the lettuce had to be soaked in bleach and we used malt vinegar instead of red wine vinegar, we felt as if we had a taste of home, complete with cilantro! We shared a “mineral” (Coke) and savored the meal.

The afternoons are spent playing with the local children (I counted 17 Nigerian kids in our yard the other day) and doing hours of homework. By 10PM we are all so tired, we fall into bed. Lauren and Naomi are sharing rooms and Mattie Grace finally has her own room. The evenings are cool (in this rainy season) and we are finally sleeping fairly well.

I would say that you now have a picture of life in Nigeria, but consistency isn’t the norm here, so it changes each and every moment. We are so thankful that the Lord has gone before us and has prepared the way. He is always faithful and never changes. We hold to Him tightly!