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!