Here at last part 3

Eggs and chips for breakfast

It’s always a good sign on the second day at a new school if you don’t have to drag your children there. We’re even getting into a bit of a routine.  It’s up at 6am for Fraser and me, a little later for James and Ruth.  The first excitement of the morning is turning on the light switch to see if there’s any electricity.  For the past two mornings there hasn’t been but the sun is up and it’s soon fully daylight.  Auntie Ruth, the lovely lady who cooks at the Baptist Hostel, arrives soon after 7am and makes breakfast for us.  This morning was a real treat for the other three – fried scrambled eggs with onions accompanied by a large bowl of freshly made chips. We didn’t think we’d be getting food like that in Nigeria and probably won't be when we're in our own place.  I’m happier with my cafetiere of coffee (brought with me) and whatever fruit is in the bowl.  Oranges and bananas do taste better when they haven’t had to travel thousands of miles.

After chapel at Hillcrest

Food booths at Hillcrest

We’ve had a lift to school the past couple of days then Fraser and I enjoy the walk back to the hostel.  I’m sure the locals are starting to recognise the strange white couple who keep walking past them instead of going in a car.  We like walking and feel it’s a better way to get to know the place.  The morning’s the time to do it before it gets too hot and I’m really enjoying waking up and not having to think about how many layers to put on.

Yesterday we went into the centre of Jos on a shopping trip with Pamela, her sister Pearl who’s visiting and lovely three year old Gracie, Pamela’s little girl.  The traffic’s something else, especially if you’re used to the Highlands, something like a cross between a jam and a racing track.  You want to open the car windows because of the heat but you often can’t as you’d be asphyxiated by the fumes.  You can buy just about anything in Jos though.  A lot has been imported from the UK as it has the price in sterling as well as naira and there’s one supermarket to which I’m looking forward to returning once our house is ready as it sells nearly all the household goods you’d require.  We had lunch at a Lebanese café – meat and chicken pies nearly as good as the ones from the Lochinver Larder but like most food in Nigeria a lot spicier.  I hadn’t forgotten James and Ruth in our gadding about: they’ve got the slightly less spicy beef pies for their school lunches today.

After buying umbrellas for the daily rainstorms (which are much heavier even than the ones we were having in England before we left but somewhat warmer) we headed back to school to pick up the children.  Both were positive about the first day but the amount of schoolwork they’ll be getting was slowly sinking in.  Homework was done without a fuss (long may that last) then at 6pm we went down to the tea that Auntie Rachel makes for us each night (we do have to wash up afterwards as she’s gone home, we’re not waited on all the time).  Between 8pm and 10pm we’ve all gone to bed in stages, even Fraser who used to stay up till 1 o’clock.  This seems the natural rhythm here and hasn’t been difficult to get into.  Perhaps when we’ve lived here a little longer that will change but it suits us for now.

Auntie Rachel on the right