sunday came on monday.
 
For those of you who have never been to Nigeria, we hope you can start to form somewhat of a picture through our photos and blog.  For those of you who have been here before, you’ll have to bare with us through this entry.  
 
Here’s a few initial things we’ll fill you in on:
*  Compounds. We live on a compound. Webster defines a compound to be “an enclosure of residences or buildings.”  In Jos, we lived on a compound with 5 other families and a guest house.  The compound we live on in Abuja is occupied by the Daniel Center (we live on the top floor of the Daniel Center) and by Elisha’s home.  It is a smaller compound, but it is absolutely lovely!  Our compound is surrounded by a wall with barbed wire and has a gate at it’s entrance.  There is a guard on duty all day and night who lets people through the gate, and is always ready to greet us with a big smile.   The days of seeing lawns and picket fences and taking a walk through Heritage Hill to observe the old, intricate houses are gone.  Because of armed robberies, it is necessary to live by gate and barbed wire.  It’s actually one of the first times our children can go play outside without us, which we’re all enjoying!
* House Help. I think I’ve mentioned Elisha and his children, Kenneth and Kevin, in earlier entries.  Elisha is our “house help,” “cook,” or “steward”...depending on who you ask.  We have hired him to help us in our house.  Sound strange?  We thought it was the first time we came to Nigeria, until we learned the reasoning behind it.  Nigerians, and other Africans I’m presuming, find it very selfish if we would come to Nigeria and do all or our work on our own.  Since we are coming with great resources, it would be terribly selfish if we did not provide a job for someone.  Bernard, the previous missionary, had hired Elisha and we are so thankful Elisha has waited for us to come!  He has been such a blessing in our adjustment.  It is so nice to have someone to ask about prices and products and the way we should do things.  Naomi, his wife, works for our friend Sheila.  And their children, Kenneth (8) and Kevin (3) have been Amira’s  biggest blessings.  Since they live on our compound, the kids have played with each other every dry moment.  
*  Seasons. We have two seasons in Nigeria:  rainy and dry.  We are nearing the end of rainy season.  It has rained for a bit every day we’ve been here.  The rain has kept it relatively cool, which we are enjoying a lot!  I even put on a long sleeve shirt the other day.  On of the guards, Valentine, commented to me today about the cold and how it was “too much.”  He thought I was crazy for enjoying the “cold” weather so much.  
*  Names.  Here are a few common names we’ve encountered the past few days:  Patience, Favor, Comfort, Love. Days of the week are also common names for Nigerians.  Sunday was the plumber who came to fix our plumbing on Monday.  Names are chosen for their meaning and often signify an important event or time in life.  On a side note,  I am happy to report we now have more than trickles of water and we no longer have to boil water for the kids’ baths.
* Everything takes forever and most things aren’t straight forward. We have been waiting for the electrician we called to come.   John finally came this evening.  After greeting and a long tour of all the things needed to be fixed in the house and center, Mike asked when John could do the work.  John replied telling Mike he was not an electrician.  I burst out laughing by the sink as I was washing dishes at the time.  Mike robustly asked John why he didn’t tell him that in the first place!  Always good to keep your humor.  We have to paint our living space and went to check out Berger Paint today.  They had a very nice swatch pamphlet.  From our dining experience the other night, we learned an important lesson and started with “Which colors do you have now?”  The manager replied “All of them.”  I was so excited!  I pointed to a color and, you guessed it, he replied “we don’t have that one.”  Ended up, they only had about 7 colors to pick from.  I bite my tongue when I am reminded of a comment that came out of my mouth as we were finishing up our shopping in the States this summer... “I’m so sick of choices!”  :)  
 
We’ll keep on posting tidbits and stories.  
Blessings!
Megan
 
p.s.  We’re working on the quirks of the blog.  
 
photos:  Kenneth, Kevin, and Amira are loving our snail-saturated compound!  It didn’t take long for Kevin and Amira to start chasing each other with the nasty buggers.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
tuesday. august 21. 2007