The trip took us 12 hours in total, far past our first estimate of 4 hours. It would have been amazing if we had more time to enjoy the wonderful sites that we saw and not have had the stress levels we did- due to time, the sketchy bridges we drove over, and the bouncy road on Gordon's back. We didn't even have time to put a toe into the Niger once we did see it!
The wedding was to begin at 10am prompt, but started just before 1pm.
The bride and groom select and sell a special Nigerian wax boutique fabric which guests are to buy in order to support the newly weds.
DO you like my hat? Isn't it rediculous?! Anyhow, it was traditional, and I had many complements from the locals.
Gordon and the cute little flower girls, they were prancing and posing- really enjoying the attention.
The wedding began 3 hours late and the ceremony lasted about 30 minutes. Following the ceremony, we gathered in the cultural hall, in the back of the church chapel. There we were served dinner, chicken and pork with jallof rice (a long grain white rice served with spicy red peppers). The couple danced in to the tune of Simply the Best by Tina Turner, a personal favorite. During the reception, guests were expected to dance and then people would come up and shower them with money (depending on their skills) and the newly weds got to keep the money. They have special dances, for the fathers of the bride and groom, then the mothers, then all the family members, then friends, etc. The most popular of all the dances was a performance by the Grandmother of the Bride, who seemed to barely be able to stand up and walk forward but then bounded into a rhythmic step which had the crowd on their feet cheering and throwing down lots of paper. A nice basket was plenty full by the end of everyone's performance. There was a cake which was cut but not shared with the guests. Special witnesses gathered around the cake and gave their opinions of the symbolism represented by the way in which the cake was cut and how the bride and groom fed each other the first slices. Then the cake was carried away? Finally, people showered the couple with gifts and in return were given practical favors, we received a mixing bowl. It was overall a happy day and nice celebration of unity.
Gordon did quite well with the adventure, despite his newly constructed spine. We upgraded to business class for the leg of our flight because it only cost us $150 beyond our excess baggage fee. It turned out to be a very smart decision because the seats recline and become almost 100% horizontal.
We arrived in Abuja, Nigeria and our friend Bryan picked us up from the airport.
The bananas and coconut bread in Nigeria are amazing, we truly missed them during the summer. 
Our first week back we attended a fund raiser for the school at the Hilton, it was a fashion show. Many teachers and students were modeling Vlisco Dutch Wax, a high quality Nigerian style wax boutique printed in The Netherlands, as well as professional models. Look at those heels!
Carol is the Librarian at school. She is my new friend and new to our school, from Buenos Aires, and we are practicing yoga every Tuesday and Thursday together.
Our friend Laura had a surprise birthday party, which was a nice opportunity to hang out with some old friends again.
And then we finally settled, in our newly made love nest, in Abuja, Nigeria for a 3rd year of teaching at the American International School.
