*title by Adam (he insisted that it was funny). Image taken in Zithulele, more or less co-incidentally.
Yes, we have actually experienced goat-meat in the last two weeks! In fact, we are freshly returned from Lagos, Nigeria, where we had the privilege of assisting at a teachers' workshop around the NERDC Maths curriculum.
This trip was meant to happen last year November, but due to visa problems, we only ended up going last week. In some ways, we were glad not to have gone last year - Adam was still in acute pain from his back - but we still approached the trip with some reluctance. Not only was it disruptive to our brand new working routine - if it can even be called that, after two weeks - but the trip from Zithulele to Lagos is a lot longer than from Cape Town.
In the end, the epic journey entailed (among other things):
leaving at 4 in the morning, to allow for potential puncture / pothole / morning mist / animals on the highway time
getting chased by dogs on the 'main road' of Mqanduli
arriving during the morning security briefing at Mthatha airport
discovering how cute tiny airports are
spending five hours in Johannesburg airport
discovering that Lagos is still extremely hot and humid when you arrive at 8 pm
discovering that Lagos is actually extremely hot and humid at all times of day
going through secuity and a metal detector at the entrance to the hotel
eating Jollof rice, goat-meat stew and lots of chicken
feeling under-dressed compared to the very fashionable Nigerian teachers
remembering how humid humidity can be
working out in a hotel gym... and apreciating air-conditioning more than ever before
being grateful for a lack of smog at home
feeling unsafe in the traffic
drinking all the bottled water
being perpetually confused by the traffic
being grateful that we didn't have to drive in the traffic
learning a lot about log tables
learning a lot about extremely large class sizes
struggling to learn Nigerian names
taking a drive around the fancy part of town with a very kind host
seeing a Nigerian film star
eating more delicious Nigerian food
appreciating air-conditioning more than was previously thought possible
feeling shocked at the - I kid you not - 3 month truck queue to the docks
avoiding potholes
admiring the classiness of traditional Nigerian apparel
sleeping too little
remembering to take our malaria tablets
being terrified by rollerbladers on the highway
getting searched five times in Lagos airport
waiting for ten hours in Johannesburg airport
appreciating the serenity of Johannesburg airport
seeing our wonderful friend Erin for lunch in Johannesburg airport
losing a bag in Johannesburg airport and narrowly escaping having it bomb-disposed
finding a bag in Johannesburg airport
passing out on a bench in Johannesburg airport because we hadn't slept in 24 hours
breathing a sigh of relief when we touched down on time at our dear little Mthatha airport
concentrating very hard on the drive back
barely managing to shower before sleeping for twelve hours
It is a huge contrast to be back here. Lagos is a city of 20 million people, and here the nearest city is hardly a city at all, and it's an hour and a half away. To be honest, it has been a relief, although we enjoyed our Nigerian adventure, and learnt a lot that will be invaluable for our work over the next year. Still, the quiet and open skies have welcomed us back. We are so grateful to be where we are.
The view from our still unfinished house. But we've discovered that we'll have a glass sliding door as our front door!
The first week back proved to be somewhat overwhelming, as juggling two demanding jobs requires a very focused and self-disciplined approach. Plus, all of the after school and weekend programmes are in full swing now - no more quiet afternoons of productivity in the office! There are never enough hours in the day, and work-life balance went a little bit out the window.
But having our first two-day weekend in a while has helped (we are working Tuesday-Saturday, so our weekends are Sunday-Monday), and we've used the time to set some meaty goals and plan some routines. It is good to be getting our teeth into what we hope to achieve in each week, and how we hope to do that. Hopefully the upcoming week will be better!
Until next time!
Jo and Adam