Moving again

Yesterday we moved out of the hostel after staying there for three and a half weeks.  It was lovely to wake up this morning in a house of our own, although the thought of having to go back to shopping and deciding what to eat each night is rather daunting.  You can’t do a weekly shop to fill the fridge and freezer when for most of the day there’s no electricity to keep them at optimal temperature.  I’ve been longing to get a bit more settled and it was great to be able to unpack most of the suitcases but running a house in Nigeria will take a bit of getting used to. Next week one of Pamela’s househelps should be able to start coming on Tuesdays and Fridays so I only have to survive alone till then but with few modcons (no washing machine, no vacuum cleaner, intermittent electricity) I’ll be making lists of family chores today.

The Blue House

Living area

The house we’ve moved into is on a compound with a few other MA families although they’re gradually moving out or preparing to go on home assignments.  We arrive and the place starts to empty!  However, it’s good to be here with people we’ve got to know and we hope it’ll only be a month or so before our TCNN house is ready.  Realistically, I shall be happy if we’re settled at TCNN by Christmas but the day I can unpack the cases and put them right away for months will be one of great celebration.

Dining area

As well as being welcomed into this compound by its human inhabitants we were visited by a very friendly black labrador called Princess.  In the middle of a tremendous storm with thunder and lightning right overhead I heard a scratching at the flydoor. It opened and in came Princess looking very wary of the noise.  She headed for a corner of the room and settled down, trying to make herself as small as possible, not easy when you’re a fair-sized dog.  I was still wandering around sorting things out but now I was accompanied by a black shadow.  An hour later two bedraggled children came back from school, into the house for the first time and were delighted to find a dog came with it.  Once the storm finished she moved from the middle of the doorway (dogs and children seem to know instinctively the most inconvenient place to settle) and wandered off back to her own home.  I’m rather hoping she’ll pop by again today.