Yesterday I was in the car on the way to the store. We once again were stuck in the never ending traffic. But I just happened to look out the window and see this...
Nothing seemed unusual or out of the ordinary. Some lady was selling laundry detergent at a road side stand. But what made me almost pee my pants with laughter and I had to take a picture of, was this...
Yes folks you aren't seeing things. That is Miss Bimbo laundry soap. And if you look in the corner you "Save 30%". "Thank you Bimbo" I needed that laugh!!
Ok... this post is all my cousins fault!! But it is really a fun game and some of these things are just to funny. Go to google.com and put in your name and a verb then hit search. My cousin started the game with needs. It then moved on to wants and gets. So I decided to try learns. Dear heavens I learned a lot according to google!!
1) Josie Learns To Avoid The Man in the Yellow Hat. (But I still don't know WHY)
2) Josie learns what it means to "get small." (um ok... small)
3) Josie learns the advantages of being shorter than everyone else when she actually shrinks to being four inches tall (ok that explains #3)
4) Josie learns that the rich man left no will (does that mean his fortune is mine?)
5) Josie learns of the suicide of her lover, Michael (Shhhh don't tell my husband)
6) Josie learns what it means to stand up for her own beliefs. (thought I learned that a long time ago.)
7) Josie discovers her own self-worth and softness in a life filled with hard edges. Or, so it seems. (I didn't add that last part... it came that way!! Honest!)
8) Josie learn about the differences that exist between her world and that of John Barton (well now I know there ARE differences... WHAT are they?)
9) Josie learns from a NASA P.R. man, Andrew, that her mother has died (NOOOOOOOO.... and who is andrew and how does he know my mom??)
The list goes on and on.... it really makes my life sound so... so... soap opera-ish. I love it!! What verb should I try next???
After being married for almost 9 years.... yes, it's been 9 years... I am showing signs of domestication. And I have pictures to prove it!!
I MADE BREAD!! Not from a mix, not with a bread machine... not even with a mixer. I had a whisk and a spoon and good old fashioned elbow grease!! And the best part is... it LOOKS like bread. It SMELLS like bread and it tastes every bit as yummy as when mom makes it!! I M A D E B R E A D ! ! ! Oh and in the bag just to the left of the rolls are the tasty bisuits I made for breakfast that are light and fluffy and sooooo not hockey pucks. Maybe tomorrow we will dive into the world of desserts...............
Doesn't it just look like a TON of cash!! If only... sadly each bill in this stack is worth less than a dollar. But it sure is fun to see big stacks of cash. The exchange rate here is about 128 naira to 1 us dollar. So you would think we would be livin' like kings here. Sadly that doesn't seem to be the case. We decided that the general rule of thumb for shopping here is that if it is about 3 times what you would pay in the US than that is a good price. Heck a box of cereal is between 900 and 1200 naira. (That's close to $10!) Mom keeps tellin me I need to learn where the locals shop and go there. I need to take a picture of one of the street side meat counters and see if she keeps saying that. So for now I keep shopping in about 5 different grocery stores to get the best deals on what I need and to FIND what I need. But at least for today I can look at my big "stack o cash" and pretend I am rich.
I haven't taken any new pictures. I actually haven't been out of the apartment much in the last week or so. The library is closed for pretty much all of April (it's usually open on Wed and Sat) so no outings there. Really the only times I've been out is to do some grocery shopping. There's not a lot to get out and do here. And with the elections this month, things are a little tense. There hasn't been anything bad happen here where I live, but close by people have been killed in violence leading up the elections. I am not personally worried about the actual election days. I am more worried about violence that may occur when they announce who wins the election. That is when I am worried about possible riots and violence. (Again not to worried about where I live, but close surrounding areas.) Anyway, Friday we got to experience going to the doctor in a foriegn country. I HATE going to a new doctor. You don't know them, they don't know you. (I miss my old dotor back home...) And I had NO idea what to expect here. Would there be all the normal things that you expect to see in a doctors office? Would it be clean? Would they understand what I was saying, would l understand what they were asking? Would the doctor be nice, or tired and stressed and cranky? I just wanted to feel better. I was tired and stressed and cranky. We found the clinic (took a little bit) and went in and filled out paperwork. That seemed pretty normal. And then we waited. and waited... again normal. The clinic wasn't dirty, but it was old and tired and run down. But it seemed ok and I didn't care at that point. I just wanted some medicine so I could feel better. When it was finally time to see the doctor he seemed pretty nice. We had to talk to each other a little slowly, he was french and I think we were trying to understand each others accents. But we communicated what we needed to and I was given antibiotics and cold medicines. The whole thing was a lot less trouble than I was afraid it was going to be. That's good to know. (But I still miss my doctors back home.) Anyway, maybe I will get the camera out later this week and find something good to take pictures of. Maybe I will get out a little more this week, we'll just have to see what the tension levels are like.
On Sunday a big storm blew in from the Atlantic. The wind was blowing hard enough that all the windows were whistling. I thought I would open the windows for a little bit to air out the apartment. But the wind was blowing so hard that it almost blew the paintings off the wall!!
It was a beautiful storm. Big dark clouds, lots of thunder and lightning, but it hardly even rained. The wind just blew and blew and the clouds raced by, and it sprinkled here and there. Just enough to get the ground wet. But that will change soon. Before you know it we will be up to our eyeballs in rain!! Rainy season is about to start. It will rain enough that several of the streets will flood.
Anyway, I looked out the window the other day and realized that even though I was homesick and sad the otherday, I have a lot to be thankful for. Today I am thankful for concrete buildings. Construction here is cinder block and concrete and tile. At first it seemed cold and harsh to me. But now it feels strong. Because when I looked out my window I learned that our neighbors didn't fare as well as we did through that storm.
I'm not sure if it is their home or if it's just where they work. But this little "building" didn't quite survive the big winds. And even though they are roped off as a warning, people are still there. So today, if nothing else, I am thankful for concrete buildings.
I had a hard day today. I am really starting to get homesick. It's all the little things that just seem to be building and making it harder. I miss jumping in the car and running to Wal-mart if I need something and knowing that 98% of the time what I am looking for will actually BE at Wal-mart. I looked at 4 different stores for measuring spoons the other day. I was lucky to find measuring cups at 1 store. ONLY 1 store had measuring cups. I want to go to Sonic and get a fountain drink. I want to go for a walk. I want to pick up the phone and call my family and friends without worrying about how much it costs and hurting my brain trying to calulate what time it is there. I want to be able to understand what people are saying without having to concentrate!! I don't want to hear honking car horns and sirens anymore. I want good water pressure in the shower. I want my stuff!! I want my tv shows back. I want Dish Network back. I want.... a lot of things. But I guess in the end I am thankful to have had those things and be able to miss them, because so many people here never have and probably never will. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
