Sunday, August 24, 2008

Usuma Dam

We were invited on a weekend excursion with some other expats; Emma, Louis, Joanne and Ben to go to Usuma Dam. It is located north west of Abuja about 20 km. It is the future water supply of Abuja. a typical fishing boat on the lake the photographer deep in thought a balancing act at dusk (Chris) bonding A luxurious car camping trip complete with a laptop, projector, widescreen and music a nice view preparing for a descent and then ascent a view from atop of the Berger Camp "Yes, I am prepared" this should hold you white & green climbing a 5-11 I think I will only descend Hanging out in a tree, me and Lauren ascending two children came to rescue us in the tall bush we are coming... it is too hot and sweaty here a local shack town outside of Abuja We were caught in a major rain storm on the way home.We are so happy to have our bigger vehicle. The roads often have small rivers running across them when it rains.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Abuja Arrival

We were packed with 8 suitcases and 1 duffel bag, each weighing 70 pounds, and one set of golf clubs. After paying 900 USD for the excess baggage, we were on our way to a new adventure... AFRICA!!! All of the flights went well and we arrived on time in Abuja with all of our luggage after a brief stop in Amsterdam. Above is a view from our bathroom window into the 'life camp' (our compound) and beyond the walls looking into Jabe Lake and surrounding neighborhoods. A view from the entry way of our apartment into our living room.Here I am, painting my nails with some natural daylight in front of our balcony. Soon, we were exchanging money at a rate of 118 Naira for 1 USD. This looks like a lot of money, but it really isn't. Here are we throwing some signs like old time gangstas in the back seat after changing money in front of the Sheraton Hotel in downtown. West Side represent! 72 hours after our arrival, we ate fish at a local market called the "Fish House" The fish was incredibly tasty with a nice spicy flavoring, served with fried potato chips. ...a movie trying to complement the pictures, The school's swimming pool which we try to frequent daily. a fun team building activity in between faculty meetings at the school our used car salesman, Moses, and his colleague completing the paperwork for our new (to us) year 2000 Honda Passport!Gordon and I in our teacher attire, ready to meet our students on the first day of school!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Summer in Oregon

We are leaving for the airport in about 20 minutes but I wanted to load up some summer highlight pictures. It was a great summer! me, my sister, her two kids and our aunt in Corvallis dear friends, mina and mahsaAshlynn and her sippy cup sleepy time with moses redsox vs. mariners in seattle with doonwaldinho, sox swept! me and my daddy with his harleyPreparing our textiles for the storage unitPacking,... Buddy, Ashlynn, Zakary and Jody seeing us off from our summer home (thanks to Phil & Kim as well)Closing up the storage unit.