A Breath of Fresh Air

So I have more fun information for people to read, but tonight I'm only going to say a little bit. I hope you enjoy the new pictures that were posted. Most of them are from last weekend when we explored a sweet waterfalls. Anyways, what I wanted to write about tonight is the staff that we work with and how supportive they are. We have been very blessed to have such positive and helpful people here. We are very different from each other, but all look out for one another too. It has been great getting to know the veteran teachers here and hearing about all of the great things they have done and are doing.

The administration is also very positive and enjoyable to work for. For instance the school does this sports day event where the PE department organizes a huge track meet thing and the parents and kids love it. Well I'm not much of a track guy sorry Laura, so I mentioned how I have helped organize an event called Climb Up So Kids Can Grow Up and how I think it would be a great event for our school to participate in because it is about HIV/AIDs relief in Africa and it puts the focus of the event on other people rather than the student and it would be a great way to get people active and outdoors here. The administration received this very well and seemed even excited to have this new event. One of the goals of the school is to promote social responsibility and what better way to do that than this event. So I'm really excited to really be the head of these two huge events (sports day in the spring and CUSKCGU in December).

Countless times we have been told about the staff from last year being very negative and really a drag to be around. People really didn't like going to work because these people made the day miserable. But this year with 14 new staff members everyone has this energy and excitement about being in Nigeria, at school, and life. There are 3 other teachers around our age that we have bonded well with and then a slew or veteran teachers that have all sorts of wisdom and experience to make up for our in experience. It is really a good combination. I have more to say but I need to get some zzz because last night was an unexpected late night which will be a new post in the future. Take Care and God Bless,

Matt and Leah

Eid Weekend

So Leah and I have a four day weekend this week which is really nice. We were going to go to some cultural festival, but it ended up not working out so we are relaxing around home, doing some cleaning, little school work, swimming, and shopping. It’s nice to just have a few days to slow down. The weeks go by so fast it’s unreal.

Another fun thing that happened was I finally was able to find a CD player so I made a CD and now every time the students come into class they just move around and start dancing.

Leah and I had been told that we needed to get some Nigeria material and get some traditional
Nigerian clothing made. About two weeks ago we went to a market and found some material. The next step was going to a tailor to get everything fitted and made. Leah had some green flower print with a brown background and I had found some grey with leaves and berries. I didn’t really realize that I could get an outfit made with just a solid color and they would embroider a design on it for me. So this week our clothing was done and so we went back to pick up our stuff and I saw my fabric so I opened it up and definitely saw that my material was a dress and Leah’s material was a pair of pants. I started to freak out because Leah didn’t like my print and I liked Leah’s but it was definitely feminine. My outfit looks absolutely ridiculous. I don’t’ even know what to say other than maybe someone back home will get a traditional Nigeria outfit from me. Leah luckily had a second dress made out of a friend’s leftover material that turned out well. The lady didn’t charge Leah for both dresses so it was kind of a wash for Leah, but I still have only a flower print outfit and nothing else so I need to try and find something else before Nigerian Day which is October 4^th.

We took a trip last week to a pottery place and I bought two beer mugs that are really cool. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Fun things that happened this week. I was working on school stuff in the library and one of my little kindergarteners came by didn’t say hi, but sat at my table with a book and starting reading /watching me as I colored in pictures of certain muscles that the students would need to know. As I was doing this his little three or four year old sister came up to the table and jumped up into a chair. I have never seen this girl, but she just started chatting with me and asking all sorts of questions. I was using our Ipod to cross reference something’s and so it was on the table and she looks at her brother and says Ipod touch and grabs it. I had to pull it out of her hands and put it in my pocket. She then proceeded to tell me how I should color in the muscles because I wasn’t doing it right. Then she asked if I could write my name so I wrote it in cursive and she gave me the funniest look. So I rewrote it in capital letters then she could understand. She then asked to write her name for me so she wrote her name out with two inches of space between each one of her letters and gave me a huge smile. I couldn’t really tell what she had wrote, but I guessed her name (Angel). It was just a funny situation that I enjoyed. The joys of talking to little kids is amazing. There are so bright for their young years and they say it the way they see it. I had a chance to skype with my brother Kare and seeing his kids was great. Mason who is only one and half just gets this huge smile when he hears my voice from the computer and then has to check every five minutes to make sure I’m still there talking. Sawyer who is three and Grace who is five are also great in how he would say hi to me and tell me about different things happening. I can’t help but smile.

We learned from another teacher that there is this fruit seller under a tree and he has fair prices for fruit and we don’t have to haggle and feel like we are getting ripped off. So today Leah and I found the guy under the tree and loaded up on some fresh fruit like grapefruit, oranges that are green, passion fruit, limes, cucumbers, and carrots. The other day we were at another market and paid 1000 niara for some beans and carrots, which we thought was a good price and then we got all of this produce for 800 naira which was great. So kudos to our amazing colleges that spread the good news and help us adjust to Nigeria.

We love talking to people from home or getting emails from home even though they may be short and to the point but It’s nice to hear that things back home are pretty much same O same O and that fall is around the corner. Every time I see the temperature for home on my computer I can just feel the heat from the sun and cool crisp air of fall. Even though we’re not home we do miss a lot of the simple things from home. Every time I go somewhere new I get to find out something more that makes home more amazing than anywhere else.

Something else that makes me smile is the fact that I could possibly Skype home during the Packer games and watch the game!! Thanks and take care Love you all,

Matt and Leah