Letters from Liz: Zenababs

This weekend we had a midterm break...which means that I am 1/4 of the way through this year. To start off our break, we had a half of a day on Thursday, then all of te teachers loaded the busses and headed to Ilesa(e lay sha) in Osun state to a beautiful little retreat center by the name of Zenababs.

It was a wonderful break away from the norm. I got to know my fellow teachers a lot better, and learned more about Nigeria and Nigerians.

The bus ride there was a bit long due to traffic, but there are always interesting sites and great people watching.

As we left the city and went towards the bush, the view got to be very pretty.

At one point I took a double take when I thought I saw Paris Mtn though the jungle. Sometimes I just stop the thank God for the small reminders of home and the things that are familiar.

At last we arrived and got settled in. For the first night, my roommate Sam and I got to stay in one of the chalets.

Our time was wonderful and restful. We did team building activities, learned how to be a better teacher, sang praise songs in 8 different languages, and learned more about Christ.

The first night, everyone dressed up in their cultural outfits.

The next morning we showed off our marches and cheers that our different teams made.

After that, we had a decathalon with various events and races, including, swimming, canoe/paddle boat races, squash, fooseball, and more. I won 1st place in swimming.

It was fun to see some of my coworkers unwind and enjoy some of the activities the retreat center provided. For many of them, this was something they never get to do...an opportunity to get away from the city and stay somewhere nice.

On Friday, as everyone was preparing to head back to Ibadan, we found out that the retreat center had a couple of extra rooms for the night, so the American staff were able to stay an extra night.

At Zenababs, they have a small zoo/ farm area with several different animals that you can see.

What can this be?? A prehistoric dinosaur? Maybe a pterodactyl??

Hmm, there's the head...

What could it be?...

Oh wait... it's an ostrich!

These birds are so amazing to look at. The more you look, the crazier you realize they are. The fact that they are able to balance their huge bodies on scrawny legs and feet that end in two stubs, is pretty incredible.