Another week down and with a lot of new experiences and a lot of rain. It is the rainy season here and lasts through August. We learned to love rain in Houston. Here though, in addition to the usual power outages, a thunderstorm screws up the TV, the internet, the lights followed by the water. It's okay to be without any of those for a period but the most difficult is losing the internet because unlike the electricity for which there are backup generators that kick in, the servers can be down for a while and when we lose internet, we also cannot use the Skype phone. Bummer!
Our new driver, Sam, is wonderful. He is a very good driver, very patient and yet also has some fire in him. He has a quiet dignity and strength and is very comfortable and easy to be with. What a blessing!
This week, we were trying to close on some property we bought in Alpine, Texas and needed a notary public, which in the US we take for granted. We received the Fedex Pak with docs on Monday, but found out the American Consulate is only open from 7:30 a.m. until 11 a.m. each day. So, on Tuesday, we drove in the rain to the American Consulate and stood in line to wait our turn. After a couple of hours and several conversations with different people we finally met an American woman who witnessed our signatures and notarized our documents.
Then we headed for the nearest Fedex office. There are not that many and no drop boxes. I won't bore you with a blow by blow, but after five trips to three different locations and $75 in cash, we finally got that priority fedex going back to the States. Don't even think about sending me an overnight letter, to begin with there is no overnight service to or from Nigeria and it costs $75 for 7 oz. It took 10 days for the priority package to get here which included one US holiday and one Nigerian holiday and two days in customs. It took less than 48 hours to return it to Alpine. Everything is a new adventure!
This past week, we had a good deal of socializing. We are meeting other Shell expats here at the Eko (one couple has been here 3 1/2 months), and also there was an out of town visitor that we entertained. Made the food seem a little better to enjoy it with interesting people, but we were glad for the weekend to rest up.
One morning last week when I was returning from breakfast, this beautiful black Goddess stepped onto the elevator. I complimented her on her beautiful attire, very traditional Nigerian complete with matching headdress. She immediately said she made it and she could make me one too. "Just follow me" she said; "I am late for an appt." So, I followed her up to the 11th floor and we rushed down a hallway and into the room of a Japanese man who had beautiful fabric samples everywhere. She threw her large bag on the bed, gave me a pen and paper and asked me to write down my name and number. Then she pulled out two huge stacks of US currency and gave it to the Japanese man to pay her bill. Within minutes, we were going back down (I got off at 10)and she said she would contact me next week. This was one of many frequent occurrences of meeting very interesting people. What a joy!
Nothing big on the agenda for this week, but we never know what a new day will bring. I do hope to get to the Outpost on Ikoyi Island this week.
Ah, a few pictures from our trip to the French bakery and coffee house, a new Sunday habit we cherish. One is the front of the hotel which is difficult to show in one shot, but beautiful grounds and flags in front and back from around the world. Also, the lobby which is open 24 hours daily is an open air lobby. There is also a spacious circular driveway that is filled many times daily. Very interesting gekkos here, along with people. The sculpture is The Eyo of the Eko. Originally, Lagos was called Eko, but when the Portuguese took over many years ago, they changed the name to Lagos which means Lagoon in Poruguese. So many people coming and going on a daily basis. There is a lot of big business in Lagos.
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