Power Problems Sound Off

We used to be on 100% generator power. Those were days never to be forgotten. For the last 8 months or so we've been on NEPA (Nigerian power company). It cuts in and out several times a day. Our guards run over and "on the gen." and and so within about 60 seconds we have power again. I have to do things like remember to start the dryer again, etc.
This week our generator is broken. So we go for stretches at a time with no power at all. One silver lining is that we ordered really good Indian food for dinner while we had no power. We had it delivered and the guy found our house no problems. Yea for Indigo!
That night they tried and tried to fix the generator during the night so we were woken up several times to the rumble grumble of the gen roaring to life, A/C runs for 10 seconds, and then out. Finally, NEPA kicked back in and we had some power, but then realized we are on about 50% capacity. I am writing this with the internet and computer working, but sitting in the dark. My dryer is running but my washer is stuck on the rinse cycle. One room my A/C works, but no lights. The other the lights work, but no A/C.
When this happened again this morning I went running out only to see the representative of the landlord and the Consulate housing guy drive away from the compound. Apparently they have to call someone else. As a side note, I hate the Consulate housing guy because every time he comes he asks to talk to my housekeeper and doesn't want to talk to me. When I tell him she only works for me part-time and is at her main boss's house he goes over to there. Just talk to me dang it!
Note: Part of this post was edited out here.
We've had light problems throughout the house and the guys to come fix them haven't come. They're supposed to come today. Just my luck they'll finally show up when we have no power so we can't tell if they've fixed them or not. Leah needs a bath but there are no lights in her bathroom (did I mention it is a dark rainy day?), and my bathroom water heater has no power.

Now to be optimistic for how blessed we are. At least we have a generator (most the time) and at least of all the things that we don't have power for our freezer and refrigerator and microwave do have power. Yesterday when we had no power at all for a while I was forced to eat Hershey Kisses for lunch. And that meal I mentioned we ordered from Indigo cost more than our guards make in a week. So we have money. Those are my blessings. My other blessing is that in a week and a few days I'll be back in America and there better not be any power outages.

The end.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day (belated)! It wasn't much of a Father's Day for Levin so we may have to celebrate a little bit next Sunday too. Levin was such a good Father he took care of Leah while I took a nap. In my defense, Leah slept very little the night before.

At church it got too hot so we had to take off Leah's dress. Here she is patting the head of little Eno. Eno was being very accommodating. Last week we had a little reverse discrimination case going on. There is another little girl, baby Rose, that is about a year old. Leah wanted so badly to play with her and was smiling and even starting squealing to try and get Rose to come play with her. But Rose wouldn't come play. Someone said she was afraid of the big white lady and her big white baby. Racial discrimination . . . or is it weight discrimination? I'm glad Eno could overlook our color and size.

Can You Say Pot Hole?

This is our road to church. In dry season it's not so bad. In rainy season it is an adventure every week. This car above didn't fair so well in this pot hole. Is it really a pot hole if it encompasses the whole width of the road? The worst part is just not knowing which side of the road will do the least damage to your car. The best idea is to learn from other people's mistakes. On the way to church I sing in my head, "pioneer children sang as they walked, and walked, and walked." It makes me feel better because at least I'm not walking I'm just holding Leah's head from flopping too much and hoping I don't get too car sick.

Last week our driver almost got stuck in a huge hole and I thought I might have to walk. Mud started spraying everywhere and there were some pedestrians nearby . . . . I can't remember if I gave them an apologetic smile or just tried not to make eye contact.

You Might Be A Redneck If . .

You might be a redneck if one of the toys you give your daughter to play with is a roll of duck tape. Sorry Leah! It did actually give her a little entertainment though.

Meed Ade

This is Ade. His real name is Hezekiah, but his middle and last name start with Ade so everyone calls him Ade. He is the FAS (Foreign Agricultural Service) driver. He is one of my favorite Nigerians. Last May we went home to America for a month and when we got back Ade was there at the airport to pick us up and was so excited to see us I almost gave him a hug. I realized that may not be appropriate to hug Levin's employees though so I didn't. Here are some facts about Ade.
*He is a little moody.

*He teaches me where people live - this is the ex-governor's home . . . . and he taught me what VIP stands for (Vagabonds In Power).

*He LOVES Leah. When he first heard the news she was a girl he wouldn't believe it and kept hoping she would be a boy. He loves her now all the same. Once I had to run into a store and parking was crazy so we were kind of on the street and i didn't want to get Leah out so I asked him to watch her. The next day he had to drive me somewhere else and said thank you, thank you, for yesterday letting me stay with Leah. They were chatting it up when I came out.

*He takes his diplomat license plates very seriously and sometimes he thinks he is driving a VIP and can do what he wants . . not exactly true, but when he cuts 10 cars and saves 20 minutes, I don't complain.

*For some reason this Suburban has a siren as well as a CB type hand radio that speaks to the outside. He takes a lot of liberty in using these things. It makes Levin mad, but I think it is hilarious. Once he was trying to cut through traffic and started using the siren. Levin told him, "stop using the siren" and he said, "it is not a siren sir, it is a second loud horn." If he's trying to park and a pedestrian is in his way he'll use this radio to tell them to move.

*He has been applying for jobs higher up than driver but sadly hasn't gotten one yet. He has 4 children and needs/wants a higher paying job. Levin and his boss have been trying to give Ade some secretarial responsibilities.

*He has a brother that lives in Atlanta. He was once driving like a Nigerian in Atlanta and got pulled over by a policeman and had to promise to never drive in America again.

*If anything ever did happen to us while with Ade - like get robbed, in an accident, I really think Ade would put his life on the line for me which is more than I can say for most of our security guards.

Now a little about the Suburban:

It is armored. The doors are extremely heavy. If Ade parks on a slant and I am opening a door uphill it is sooo hard to get out! I feel very safe riding in it. When Ade rolls down the window it is impressive because the window is so thick. The window controls in the back doors are removed so I'm not allowed to roll down my windows. The Suburban is so heavy that it takes a lot of acceleration to get the bad boy going and braking isn't so smooth either. Once when I was morning sick and Ade drove me to the grocery store in heavy traffic I had to make a beeline for the ladies room once we arrived.

Ade keeps it very clean and it has a distinct odor, so much so, that when Levin comes home and I hug him hello I know if he has ridden with Ade that day.

When we leave Nigeria I will miss Ade! Oh, one of the best stories. When we first arrived Levin went on a work trip within 2 weeks. He left on my birthday. I had told Ade I was sad about it and that morning at 4:30 am when he picked Levin up he sent me a text message shortly thereafter telling me happy birthday. He is first in my phonebook on my cell phone and when it's in my pocket I sometimes call him on accident. Oops!

Does This Outfit Make My Head Look Fat?

So the doctor here is a little worried that Leah's head is too big. This picture here actually does make her head look a little big. BUT when you factor in that neither of her parents' heads are exactly small and the rest of Leah's body isn't exactly small . . . . I think she's okay. All the same, we'll be going to the pediatrician when we are home in July. I think it really boils down to the nurses here doing a mis-measurement at Leah's first appointment here since her head circumference was smaller at her 2 month appt. (in Nigeria) than her 1 month appt. (in Colorado).
These are Leah's new pajamas. Old Navy says they are supposed to fit snug for fire safety. They fit snug alright.

Leah loves her daddy. Sometimes she loves him too much like when I'm trying to feed her and she just wants to stare at him as he walks around the room.
I know the onesie under the pretty dress isn't a good fashion statement and I was gong to ignore Levin's request that she must wear a t-shirt underneath. But, then I remembered cousin Julia being modest by wearing a t-shirt under her sun dress so I decided Leah could be modest too. Her hair is starting to grow a little bit. Maybe by the time we leave here she will be recognized as a girl instead of my fine big boy.

"I Wish Africa Was Dead"

Earlier this week Levin and I watched the BBC mini-series of Charles Dickens' Bleak House. In the first episode one of the minor characters says, "I wish Africa was dead."
Sometimes living in Nigeria things are just great and you think, it's not so bad living here. Some people are just too negative. Sometimes you are having minor inconveniences, like the girl who has never cut a white woman's hair before giving you a butch job, and you wish America was closer. Other times when it's Thursday night and you haven't left the house since Sunday for church you want to say, I wish Africa was dead. As a lot Levin's work friends move on to other posts and a lot of other women are going home for the entire summer, I am getting a little anxious to get out of Nigeria. Levin tried to convince me to go home for longer this summer and I said, "oh you'll miss me too much you poor dear here all alone." Now I'm wishing I hadn't thought so highly of myself and was on my way to America and was eating strawberries and walking the aisles of Wal-Mart or Target instead of staring out the car window and wishing I was allowed to roll down the window so I could buy the most beautiful bananas I've seen here in a long time from the boy hawking them on the street. I also could have bought a "real fake copy" of a nice DKNY watch too.

Mr. Milton: A Love Hate Relationship

M - M is for matter. Fecal matter that is. Miltons gets it off my vegetables.
I - is for illness. Miltons helps prevent it.
L - is for lettuce - oh how I miss it. Even with Milton's I worry all the nastiness isn't off the lettuce. And the lettuce here is often bitter and yucky so I rarely eat it at restaurants or at home. For a girl who once hated lettuce I sure do miss it now. For clarification I still hate lettuce on hot things, i.e. tacos, hamburgers, etc.
T - is for tub and teats (although I prefer the word nipple, "teats" is what Milton says on their label.) Before we take a bath in the tub, especially Leah, we dump a little Milton in. Milton says to wash the baby bottles and teats in it. I wash them in distilled water so I don't actually use Miltons for that.
O - is for onions. Onions have a lot of little layers so I take off the most outside, then soak them. Then sometimes there is still a black layer of dirt in them. I then wash it in tap water and just cook them really well.
N - is for not gonna miss ya Milton when I get out of Nigeria. Soaking vegetables in Miltons is just an annoying step and it takes 15 minutes. On a positive note, It works and it doesn't taste bad and afterwards I'll even eat an apple that has been soaked in it. AND when I see on the news about spinach or jalapenos that are making people sick in America I think, well if they all soaked everything in Miltons like I did this wouldn't be a problem.

Rainy Season: Oh How I Hate Thee

Here is a little of what was going at our compound today. I hate rainy season. There I said it. It's true.

Rain, rain, go away. Come back in July while I'm in America.

These Are A Few of My Favorite Names

Pictured Above: Godspower, Priest, and Precious. Some other good names here are Monday, Sunday, Gift & Fineboy. My favorite was always Godspower but recently I discovered a new one that might be in the running. The pictured children I know very well at church. Another little boy I don't know very well. At first I thought his name was Osami. Then I thought it was Osayami. But I found out it is really Ohsayamen. The three words, "Oh Say Amen."

Today we had a sweet new baby at church. Her name is Abish and she is unbelievably tiny. Many people referred to her as Leah's junior sister. As usual we had to make a few jokes about how much hair Abish has and how Leah should be jealous. Levin helped Abish's father Francis in her baby blessing.

Church is an interesting experience. I spend much of my time trying to chase down my daughter. A lot of people just grab at her and pull her out of my arms and then take off with her. Here she is with Sophie. Sophie actually asked to carry her before tugging her away AND Sophie also arrives early every Sunday so we talk every week and she knows Leah well so I didn't mind. But sometimes I get tired of chasing Leah down.

Nigerian Scams: Lonely Women Beware

First: I apologize that as the years go on my spelling, grammar, etc. get worse. Sorry.
Second: Rebecca asked in her comment on my JCPenney post, "do people still fall for those?" The answer is YES. But the game has changed a little. I'm not sure people are still falling for the "I'm a prince send me money and I'll then make you a millionaire" type scams anymore. BUT they are falling for the new game in town. It's called online dating. Let's say "Nancy" in Seattle meets "Tom" on an internet dating site. He says he's from Pittsburgh and they fall in love, etc. Tom for some reason or another has to go on a business trip to Nigeria. While in Nigeria he falls ill and ends up in a hospital that will hold him captive until he pays say $3000 in hospital bills. Tom has no way to get money as he is in the hospital so his love, Nancy, wires him some money. Then when he asks for more money Nancy becomes worried and wants the American Embassy to go get Tom out of the hospital. Funnily enough when someone from the Embassy tries to call Tom he doesn't answer his phone or "the doctor took it away." How is Nancy still communicating with Tom?? Oh, the hospital he is in has Wi-Fi so he is on the internet on his laptop. Reasons Nancy should just walk away right now.
1.) She is on the internet and the name "Nigeria" has come up.
2.) I actually have never been to a Nigerian hospital but uh . . . . I can promise you they ain't got wireless internet for Tom to use.
3.) The chance of Nancy getting her money back is pretty much ZERO.
The reason this scam is trickier is because Nigeria isn't even mentioned until Nancy is quite in love. The reason this scam is meaner is because in the end Nancy isn't as sad at losing her $3000 as she is at losing "Tom," the hot man of her dreams that she was going to marry. The old Nigerian prince emails pray on the stupid and the greedy. These ones prey on the lonely.
Levin has had to be the bearer of bad news to a few of these women and it is kind of sad.

PS. Rebecca also asked if I wasn't having Nigerian internet creep problems myself as my blog tracker showed a lot of hits today from Nigeria. The good news and bad news is those were actually all me because of an internet error every time I tried to post so I had to keep coming back to the blog. But if I ever do see too many Lagos hits I will make the blog private.

JCPenney Taunts Me

Everyday I get an email from JCPenney informing me that they are having a "blowout sale" or that today is my "last day to save" on their fantastic deals. Well, that'd be great except whenever I try to go to their website I get a big

ACCESS DENIED.

This is just one of the many great parts of Nigeria (saracasm.) All their internet scams make it so legitimate shoppers like myself cannot peruse JCPenney's wares.

On a somewhat related note, we were once talking to a Nigerian from church and he told us that when these internet scammers first started everyone was excited because it got the robbers off the streets and into the internet cafes. Unfortunately, when it gave Nigeria a bad name they realized it wasn't so awesome. But it does put somethings in perspective. I guess better they convince some poor unsuspecting lady to send them thousands of dollars than to rob me on the street.

Flashback Friday

I am doing this as a "flashback" post because this is actually from our first trip to Ghana in Nov '07. These fine wood carvings are actually coffins (yes that's right what you bury someone in). I wish one was open for the picture. They are unique to Ghana. They cost about $1,000 each. After the burial they often break the coffin by throwing stones at it. Why? Because they are so valuable people were coming and digging up graves to steal the coffin. If you break it, then there is no point to someone coming along and robbing it and disturbing your loved one from resting in peace.

Ghana With The Cox Family

Levin and I went to Ghana last weekend with our friends the Coxes. Ghana is great because you are free to move about the country more so than in Nigeria. You see white people out walking around busy streets and it is normal. In Nigeria I tap Levin and say look there is a white person out just walking around. Are they crazy? If they don't get robbed they will get run over. Ghana also has a few more things tailored to the tourist.
Here we are at the Cape Coast slave castles. This and El Mina castle were not originally built for slave trade but in the end were used for that purpose more than any other. Millions and millions of slaves are thought to have passed through these two castles from all of West Africa. We were with some West Africans (I think Nigerians) on our tour of El Mina and I swear the girl was giving me dirty looks, but maybe I was just being sensitive.
This shot is the view from the El Mina slave castle. I mostly posted it so that you can see that bright yellow building on the right half of the picture. It is an LDS chapel. The first non-neutral colored one I have ever seen.

Here we are at the temple in Accra. It is beautiful on the outside, but the inside in amazing and it is one of my favorite temples on the inside.
Here we are in the Kakum rain forest. Leah is chowing on the Ergo Baby. Things didn't work out as well as last time and half of the canopy walk was broken so we spent a lot of time standing in the rain forest waiting for other people to get on and off the bridge so that we could get on.

Here we are walking across. You can't tell in the picture, but we are very high off the ground in the tops of the trees. Not that I know it either. Leah was getting a little grumpy after the long wait so I only did one plank. I am scared to death and realized after I'd returned that I'd never even looked down but was just watching my feet out of fear my clumsiness would cause me to fall and trip. Once we got back Levin read about the restrictions of how many people should be on the bridge at a time and the plat forms at a time. Oops! It was WAY overloaded just while we were there with these boys on a school field trip. Luckily Leah, Levin and I didn't go tumbling to our deaths.

PS. I know that tennis shoes and capris are a bad fashion statement but when we were walking through ants I didn't regret my choice.