2 Months Done

We have now been in Nigeria for over 2 months! Sorry for the lack of updates lately, there just isn't much to say. We are still in the hotel, and will be for at least another month. That's just the way it goes, everything takes about 3x longer than it should. We are still waiting for contracts to be signed, negotiating to finish, and our housing expenditure to be approved. All of this should be happening this week (we hope!). After that all we have to do is obtain a Nigerian Tax ID #, a Short Term Residency visa, have our chosen apartment inspected for security, and order furniture to be made! So, it's getting closer... but we still have quite a few milestones to pass. In case you're wondering, it's quicker/cheaper/better to just have someone make you furniture rather than find it here or try to have some imported. Oh, and another issue is that until we have a delivery address to give the shipping company in Houston, our air and sea shipments are just sitting there. And currently, my passport is over in the Niger Delta (eek!) because my tourist visa expired and needs to be renewed. We are also in the process of trying to set up a bank account here so that we can have access to money. Right now we only have what we brought in with us at the beginning, which is fine for now since we don't have (m)any expenses. But it certainly feels weird to have a dwindling amount of cash and no way to get more. Have I mentioned that Nigeria is a cash-only society? Some fancy places will accept a credit card, but only if it was issued by a Nigerian bank. Which we can't have until we have a permanent address! So it's a bit of a mess, but progress is being made, albeit very slowly!

I sometimes feel really frustrated about things here, but try to keep things in perspective. A running joke around here is how we have "First World problems in a Third World country". All we have to do is take a short drive down the road to realize how lucky we are in all respects.

My social life outside of the hotel has gotten a bit more exciting. Every Monday morning I go to a sewing group where I don't have anything to sew so I just sit and chat. This group meets weekly at various members' homes and can consist of a group of 4 to 14 ladies. The meetings are just as exciting as you would expect a sewing club to be, but it's great meeting people from all over the world, seeing their houses, and hearing about their adventures. I have information on a quilting group (and a teacher!) and a book club that I am hoping to join eventually. We also go to The American Women's Club, which meets the 3rd Tuesday of every month. I'm hoping to get more involved with some of their non-profit efforts just as soon as I have a dedicated driver assigned and get a bit more settled. The AWC's big event, Small World, is on Feb 23rd so most of their attention is focused on planning that event. The event consists of every nationality present here getting their own booth to decorate and give out food and drinks indicative of their country. Each nationality also puts on a 3 minute performance. I'm NOT involved in this performance, but my best expat friend, Andi, is and has to go to dance practice several times a week - so it will be legit! She was actually coerced into performing against her will, but that's another story for another day. For the American booth, they are preparing sloppy joes, sugar cookies, and long island ice teas!

I've been reading a lot since arriving, here is a list of books I can recommend:

•  WOOL: Omnibus Edition and all of the Silo Stories by Hugh Howey - I keep recommending these Kindle-only collection to people and no one has read it yet, PLEASE READ IT so I can discuss it with someone. So good! And WOOL won Amazon's Best Indie Book of 2012 Award! It has 5 stars and thousands of reviews, please someone read it! It's made up of several short stories and the author is still coming out with new stories every few months. I just checked his Amazon page and he has another that came out last week - score! 
• Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer 
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 
• Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick (I haven't seen the movie yet)
• Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
• The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien
• The Hobbit by  JRR Tolkien
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (I'm actually only 60% done with this one, I needed a break --   but it's actually really good.)
• Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
• The Snowman by Jo Nesbo (This was a weird one)
• Most Talkative by Andy Cohen