Proposals

Today was an . . . interesting day. I think that June 28th sets a record for the number of proposals that I have ever gotten in one day!

My mom, Lucy (their housekeeper), and I went to a market today. It was incredibly crowded (or "rowdy" as the Nigerians call it), complete with much B.O. and, yes, many single and desperate men.

There were several methods used to get their point across but mostly the men would reach out and grab my hand (or arm if they couldn't reach my hand) and shout "Ah-wee-bo, I love you. Marry me." A couple even chose to ask my mother for permission to marry her daughter.

I lost track of how many proposals I got during the hour and a half that we were at the market, but I do think that it broke personal records for sure. And, no, I did not respond positively to anyone! :)

Nigeria Pics

Here's a typical scene in PH . . .















The bush market . . .















This girl followed us through the entire bush market. Right before getting in the car, I asked her if I could snap her picture and then gave her some money. She treated herself and her friend to an icy-treat.



















The kids in the village loved having their picture snapped.















They loved seeing the pictures of themselves!















Here's the youngest male of the group cutting the coca . . .

Nigeria

Wow! It’s been a crazy last couple weeks! I’m sorry that I haven’t been better at updating y’all but they only have dial-up internet here on the camp so it takes forever to do anything.

I’ve been having lots of fun in Nigeria – it’s a completely different experience than life in Denver, Colorado! I’ve done a lot of exploring and market shopping here in Port Harcourt (always with the driver, of course). Shopping in markets is always accompanied by an entourage of “helpers” wanting money for their “services.” There is also a constant shouting of “ah-wee-bo” (Nigerian term for white people). We are allowed to walk out of the camp, but we are only able to go to the neighboring Total camp (about a 30 second walk before entering yet another “prison”).

Last week, my mom and I joined my dad (who was up there for meetings) in Abuja. It’s the capital and, for appearances-sake for foreign dignitaries, is very clean and progressive. I got some great fabric at amazing prices there. My parents’ driver Prince’s fiancée, Glory, is going to sew some fantastic clothes from the fabric I chose.

Yesterday, we went to a village – about an hour and a half drive. It was fantastic! I really wanted to see the real Nigeria (not just the cities) while I was here. We went to a bush market – where the farmers bring their produce to sell to the middle-man who will then take the food to Port Harcourt markets. The people were very excited to see us and followed us all around. There wasn’t the “ah-wee-bo, come see, you like” stuff – they were just shocked to see ex-pats in their village. Once we finished with the bush market, we went on to a village. The people were very friendly and the children loved letting us snap their picture. We were apart of a greeting tradition – the visitors bring coca (a very bitter seed/fruit/I don’t know what!), the men pass it around and say a good word and/or prayer for all that God has given them in the food and friendships, then the youngest male cuts the coca up and gives it to everyone to partake. It was great that they included us in this tradition!

I'm going to try to post some pictures. If it doesn't work today, I will try again later.

I am leaving for Thailand on Friday morning and will hopefully have more news and pictures once I’m there.

Let's get ready to ramble!

Alrighty, so that Jeri rambles begin again! :) (Lucky you!)

I am now settled in Port Harcourt -- it's a great place -- it reminds me of a more spread out Grenada! The people are really friendly but I've hit mass soap-opera stories from my parent's housekeeper who might actually be dumping her lying and cheating fiance. Drama, drama, drama! :)

So, here's the good (and not so good) events from my many hours of traveling. I took off from Denver at 6:15 in the morning on Monday and was quickly smashed between fat-snoring dude next to me and the edge of the plane on the other side. Luckily it was only a 2 hour flight to Chicago!

I had a decent layover in Chicago -- and ate a Chicago hotdog in honor of you, Grandma! :) (This was while I was trying to find an agent from the small airlines that I was taking to Newark because I had yet to receive a boarding pass.) So, 10 minutes before my flight was supposed to board, I still had no boarding pass. A man who flew frequently with this airlines helped me find an agent who, after a long moment, gave me a boarding pass. I ran (very literally) to the gate that was at least a mile down this long and narrow hallway. Thankfully, I made it -- and I was seated in 1st class!

Once we hit Newark, I had 2 hours to book it to get my bags (they couldn't check them all the way through), check them in again, and board my flight before take-off. My bags luckily were all there but did take a while -- especially when I was in an impatient moment! The carts at Newark only went forwards so I had to do circles to maneuver through the crowds, to the elevator, and to the United check-in. It was there that I found out that my tickets were not for United (as was printed) but were for Lufthansa -- which of course was in the other terminal! So, I had to take the elevator down, run across the airport to another elevator, take that one up to meet the train, and take the train to the Lufthansa check-in. And, yes, this was with all my bags and my stupid only-going-forward cart, running whenever there was any kind of opening. I arrived at the check-in only to find out that they have a lower weight limit for carry-ons and one of mine was way over. So, I had to check it. They did give me a bag for my laptop so that I could keep that with me.

But, ok, so here's the great part . . . I got business class for my flight from Newark to Frankfurt (8 hours of pure glory!) I was waited on hand and foot -- had constant liquids for my lately dehydrated body, incredible food, and my every wish was granted! There was so much legroom that I couldn't even touch my backpack when I stretched my legs as far as they could go! The seats completely reclined (the legs, the back, and the mid-section). It even did a 5 minute massage with the push of a button! I got to choose the TV/Movie programs as well. It was the best time! I felt like a little kid playing with all of these new toys! Thanks STA travel! :)

I had a long layover in Frankfurt -- an airport that was so busy there weren't any seats! So, I walked a long while, back and forth. My wallet was in my laptop bag that I had gotten from Lufthansa -- the bag which zipper fell off when I closed it! So, I just walked!

My Frankfurt-Lagos flight wasn't as fun. I was in Economy on that flight -- smack dab in the middle of the plane! (So much for requesting an aisle.) There were a million kids -- many of whom were screaming and all! But I did get some sleep thanks to sleep meds.

So, all in all, I did make it to Lagos. We took a flight to PH this morning. And that gets me back to where I started. 'hope you enjoyed my ramblings! Check back later for pictures and more excitement!