Ok, maybe I'm going a bit overboard here, there were some good, redeemable parts of the day. As my college roomate, Kate would always say when we did our "highs and lows" for the day, you have to at least pick out something good.
My day was going pretty well in fact. I had some pretty fun lessons that got the kids up and out of the classroom.
I was also asked to join the birthday party of one of my, hmm how do I say it, more difficult students. After debating whether to go or not, I did show up and received a giant hug and "where have you been?!"
It wasn't until after school and I realized I needed to pick up some groceries from the store for my dinner tonight, when things didn't go so well. I just had to pop into the store, 5 minutes away, to grab a few things. Well, right before the store, I found out the road was closed due to construction work. After turning around and finding an alternate route, I then got stuck in Nigerian traffic for 45 minutes. Traffic in general frustrates me. There's something about Nigerian traffic that REALLY frustrates me. I have decided that around 90% of the traffic here could actually be avoided if there were any traffic rules. The fact that there are no rules just makes thing so much worse. For instance, I was sitting in traffic, when I noticed several cars decided to bypass the traffic by driving on the wrong side of the street. Before you knew it there were 2 lanes of traffic going the wrong way, in addition to the 2 lanes of traffic that were on the correct side of the street. The entire traffic hold up was happening at one point, where all four lanes had to merge into one and no one wanted to give the right away. It was like one giant game of bumper cars, but in real vehicles(and a whole lot less fun when cards are constantly honking and trying to shove into the 2 inches of space you have between your car and the one in front). Oh, and that's not even to mention all of the okada(small motorcycle) drivers who foolishly try to weave in and out of the traffic, even when it's obvious that there's no space for them.
Anyway, back to my day. During this time in traffic, I realized that my tank was on empty. After being in traffic for forty five minutes I finally reached the grocery store, grabbed my groceries and was out the door in minutes. Then my search began for a petrol station. I knew if I tried to brave the traffic to go home, my car would die, so I had to find gas somewhere. After going to four filling stations, I finally found one that had petrol, miles away from any part of town that I was familiar with.
There must me some gas shortage going on right now. I ended up waiting for another 45 minutes to finally put some gas in my. car! Again, if there were any actual procedures, it wouldn't have taken so long. There was a crowd gathered around the one tank that was in use. People would get out of their cars and fill up a container with a gallon of gas. Every okada was able to fill up, and every now and then, they'd remember that there was a line of cars waiting to be fueled. 45 minutes if sitting. I hadn't even remembered a book or iPod. I could have graded a stack of papers, if only I had them with me!
After another grueling 45 minutes and more bumper cars with angry horns, I finally arrived back home and had to start my dinner for my hungry roomates, two and a half hours after I left for a fifteen minute trip.
Even though we didn't get to eat until closer to 8:00, it was delicious, so at least things ended on a good note. I made several different kinds of artisan pizzas using an amazing crust recipe from one of the best bakers, Peter Reinhart. Mmmm mm, they were good. Barbecue chicken(just like Brixx), pepperoni, white pizza with caramelized onions and chicken, and several others. All I needed was a brick oven to make them crispier on the bottom. And I digress.
As it is late, I am heading to bed.
Blessings,
Liz
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