Just An Update

In case you missed it on facebook, Ryan and I will be making a somewhat unexpected trip home next week. We have to head back to the US to deal with some visa issues, which is a pain, but we're happy for the break from Lagos life. While home we'll be able to attend the wedding of some dear friends that we thought we were going to miss, so, the timing is absolutely perfect and it's amazing that we didn't even plan it that way. The trip will come right at our 3-month mark here, and we're looking forward to stocking up on a few things that we forgot to bring (need more sunscreen!), and of course, getting a break from the hotel. I'm planning to spend 4 weeks in the US, and hopefully by the time I get back we'll be very close to moving into an apartment. Hopefully.

Our lives here have been sort of busy lately. This past weekend we joined the Lagos Wine Club, which was a lot of fun and actually a great bargain. The cost is 7,000N per couple (or, about $45.00) for a year's membership which includes 4-5 events. This past Saturday's event was sponsored by Nederburg, a South African winery, and they brought about 10 wines to sample and all were quite good. I was expecting the samples to just be tasters, but they kept filling our glasses all the way up, so we definitely got our money's worth. The event worked out really well because we weren't familiar with any African wines, and now we have a go-to brand. (I just realized I keep telling people the name of the wine was Nuremberg, but that's clearly not right. This wine was delicious and had nothing to do with Germany or war crimes, so I'm trying to get Nederburg stuck in my head instead.)

All in all, it was a great night and I recommend the wine society to all expats looking to meet other expats in Lagos. It's hard to imagine how many of us there are here when I keep seeing the same 30+ people on a regular basis. But there were a few hundred people at the wine event, most of which I had never seen/met before.

Not a very good picture from my phone at the wine tasting Saturday night. Nobody fell in the pool this night but we heard it had happened before :)

I now have an established Thursday activity to go along with the stitching group on Mondays. Thursday mornings we go to a Motherless Babies Home located nearby to help out with the babies. Really, the babies just need people to hold them so that they're properly socialized rather than being stuck in a crib all day. Babies aren't really my thing, but I couldn't very well say no to babies in need... so I've started going with some other women every Thursday. There are about 30 or so kids under the age of 4 that we visit with and even more living there go to school during the day. A group of ladies has been going to the home for quite some time now and have a very impressive routine worked out that all the kids follow. When it's time to leave, the kids help put all the toys away, sit down quietly, and then receive an animal cracker. The hour and a half preceding this routine is borderline chaos (hitting, toy stealing, screaming, crying, pushing, pinching, runny noses, ball throwing, etc.), so it's amazing to see the kids be so calm for a few minutes.

Located in Lekki about 10-30 minutes away depending on traffic.

The ladies that have been going for a while bring their own toys for the kids to play with and take them with them when they leave. The sad truth is that any toys that get donated end up disappearing, probably going home with the workers for their kids to play with, so there aren't many toys to be seen other than what they bring. There are lots of donated clothes, diapers, formula, baby wipes, and baby blankets on hand so the employees are doing a good job of providing the essentials. 

I'm not sure if I mentioned it here, but a few weeks ago the contract was finally signed! We had been waiting on it since October 1, but others know that it was supposed to have been signed way back in July! Glad we didn't get here any earlier than we did! We were very excited about the signing for a few days because we thought that the proverbial ball had started rolling, but alas, we are now waiting for other things to be signed, so we probably have another month or so in the hotel. I just have to keep reminding myself that patience is a virtue.