Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Demolition Countdown 21 days

Have you ever driven home from a nice day at work, after running the usual errands, and found this written on the entrance to your home? Well, we did today! Supposedly we have 21 days to vacate. Our complex was built in 2002 on a 'green' area on Jabi Lake... oops! Just another day in Nigeria. We will keep you updated as the process unravels. So, the demolition notice was canceled with 20 days remaining. Someone was illegally building within our property and they were stopping the process, and this is what should have been tagged for demolition. Oops, a mistake, the Federal Capital Territory government came to apologize the next day. So, we will happily continue our residence here in our current home.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Harmattan and Hot!

Here are some pictures of us adventuring around and about Abuja, Nigeria! Enjoy! This a view of the land behind our school. This time of year is the dry season or the Harmattan, which is when the sand is blown down by the Trade Winds from the Sahara Dessert, causing this fog like atmosphere. During the dry season any water that is present is usually still and thus a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The still water and lights make the perfect combination for a nutritional lizard diet. Here are the hallways of our school, AISA, this is a view looking from Gordon's doorway down towards my classroom which is the 3rd door on the right. This is Gordon's classroom, a view from his desk. Some construction just up the street from our house. I wonder, what does the worker's compensation package look like for injuries in the workplace due to poor scaffolding? Do they use safety ropes and harnesses? Do these things even exist in Nigeria? Chris & Gordon are building a climbing wall inside of Chris & Lauren's living room. This is the first day we were able to climb on it. Chris is spotting me. He actually got to do some climbing as well, after all the construction. On Saturday we went out to Usuma Dam to explore. These are some wood collectors and cutters walking along the road. I counted the rings on the old giant and found it was about 120 years old. Is this what the big chainsaws were for that we saw earlier?Seeking refuge from the blazing hot sun! At 5pm it was 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit), about 12% humidity (dry), with a slight N/ NE occasional wind.Many people live in these straw and mud built huts and they are more visible in the dry season due to the grass being lower. We have driven by the huts many times during the rainy season and never knew they were so many here. We have yet to find out what the story is about these people. We tried to ask them what the dogs were for and where they were going but they did not speak any English. There were about 50 of them in total walking alongside the road. We are still researching. The strange thing about these dogs is that they were clean, well trained, and obedient. Unlike most other dogs we see, these most likely would not become dinner.