Life is good

One of my favorite things to eat in Nigeria is suya. It's grilled meat with a wonderful combination of spices. We've actually made it before in the States, but it's better here. Last Friday we were finally able to go to our favorite suya place here in Jos. It's located on the international school's compound, and it's the same guy making and selling it that was here seven years ago. When we buy suya we also go to another lady who sells food on the same compound. This woman (also the same from before) fries different things. She fries potatoes, sweet potatoes, plantains and other local foods. She was a big black cauldron filled with oil that sits over an open fire. Fried stuff is always tasty, but I think she makes the best fried stuff!

Here's our first suya lunch. They wrap all the food in newspaper. The suya comes with raw onions, and while I taste onion for the next couple days, I can't resist the onion suya combo!

When we got home from picking up our lunch that first suya day, we decided that a coke would make it a perfect meal. Just across from our compound is a little store that sells sodas (or as Nigerians call them, minerals) in bottles. So, when you buy the soda, you drink it and then bring back your bottle for the bottlers to recycle. We had seen a crate of empty bottles in our house, so we decided to go get another crate of soda for the house. Here in Nigeria when someone comes to your house you always offer them something to drink, so a lot of people keep crates of soda on hand for the visitors that drop by. So we thought we should have a crate soda in the house... within a few days in became apparent that we better not keep soda in the house. Pretty much we have a soda everyday- it's been years since we drank this much soda! But cold soda in a bottle just tastes better!!

Here's our almost empty crate. I think it's been in the house for about ten days... no more soda in the house, we just can't resist it!

Another addition to the house we've made recently has been a mosquito net. When we first arrived we talked about putting one up, but just never got around to it. Finally, one night after Uche had been woken up many times by mosquitos buzzing in his ear, and he had woken me up by jumping up and trying to kill them.... we decided to concede to the mosquitos and put up a net. Now we're sleeping peacefully and the mosquitos have to wait till morning to eat us.

While I appreciate the net's ability to help me avoid malaria, it's a bit hard to make the bed now and crawling out in the middle of the night is quite a feat, but I hear malaria is no fun, so I deal with the wahala*!

*Wahala may be the greatest word I've learned in Nigeria. It means trouble, but it encompasses any kind of problem, frustration or annoyance, as in "dealing with the DMV is a big wahala". We probably use that word every day as do all the Nigerians and the foreigners alike.