We just got back from dinner with a family in our ward. The husband is Nigerian and the wife is from Idaho...quite a combination. They have 3 adorable children. We are going to an African wedding on Saturday...I suppose the husband was able to raise the bride price. The tradition is for all the people who attend the wedding to wear clothing made out of the same material so Elwood and I had African-style clothing made for us by a seamstress in the area.
We visited some missionary apartments on Friday near the beach and we were able to see sand and ocean. Unlike California, land near the ocean is not covered with luxury homes and condos. People living near the beach are fisherman who live in very poor homes. Many missionary apartments need generators because electricity is out so often (days and sometimes weeks at a time) that the food in their small refrigerators goes bad and they are unable to get water. Most apartments are connected to a bore hole which requires electricity to pump the water in. None of the apartments have hot water so even when they have water it has to be heated in order to wash bodies or clothes. They do not have washing machines or dryers so all washing is by hand. Our apartment is luxurious for most Nigerians in that we have hot water, a washer and dryer, and a generator that provides electricity when the power is off.
We had a little shake up in the missionary office which is where we spend much of our time. We work in this office with the mission president, two missionaries that assist us (Office Elders) and two missionaries who assist the president. The two assistants to the president had some issues that caused the president to remove them from the office and bring in two new ones.
The Christmas season has arrived in Nigeria. The stores sell Christmas decorations. A small string of lights costs 2000 naira (about $13). It is quite expensive to buy most products unless it is grown and made in Nigeria. We can buy some vegetables, bananas, and pineapple at reasonable prices. If we ate pounded yams, rice, beans, salty dried fish, etc. and if it were safe to do so we could buy these products rather inexpensively at the many roadside markets. We did go to one market with a driver and bought zucchini and cilantro...I even made some zucchini bread.
Elwood and a few others siphoning gas from a can into the van.
Gas stations were out of gas as they usually are.
Fishing village just off 3rd main bridge, Lagos. This view is from where we got a flat tire.
The tire blew - looking for equipment to change tire
Fishermen in a typical boat
Elwood directing traffic while tire was being changed
More fishermen...
African art carvings
Penny decorating their small apartment Christmas tree
Penny at the office as Santa
Merry Christmas!!! It does look like you are having a good time-even if the food is not totally edible. Maybe it can be made edible? Sometimes it is a major challenge to find what is needed to do a specific job (like bake a cake) but then there are other work-arounds that will make do. Tell us what is needed, perhaps we can get it to you in a care package. Kevin always wanted mac & cheese while in Japan. It costs more to send than to buy it! But it made him feel more at home and comfy and that was worth it. Santa, you lost too much weight! Hohoho! We love you.
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