It’s All About the Downloads, Baby!

I have a confession to make.  I bought and downloaded Microsoft 365 yesterday.  Yes.  I did.  I had never been more excited about anything Microsoft ever.  While I am steadily falling in love with the most current update to Pages, I got tired of having to ‘export’ every time I wanted to transfer a document over to my computer at work.  Having Word on my laptop just simplifies my work a little.  I said, a little.  I am not in love with the idea that I have to pay a yearly ‘subscription’ of about $100, but I do like being able to download Office on up to five different computers and the 60 Skype minutes that come monthly along with the ‘subscription’.  I just hope I remember to use them.  I just updated my Office in my office to the 2013 version today.  Take that incessant red bars asking for the activation code!

The most serendipitous element related to the timing of my recent trip to Belgium was the release of Apple’s free new OS, Maverick!  One word:  beautiful.  I am once again in love, and my only regret is that I did not travel with both of my laptops.  Besides upgrading to Maverick, I also updated the iOS of both my iPhone and iPad, and I have never been more proud of my Apple Whore status.  I must say that I am not in love with the aesthetic of the monthly view in iCal, but I do love how you can now scroll between months.  

It is Halloween, and in the great Halloween tradition, I just finished watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, which I also downloaded from iTunes while in Belgium.  I did quite a bit of holiday downloading and maxed out my host’s presumed unlimited amount of GBs.  Sorry, Jessy.  However, RuPaul’s Ho, Ho, Ho ready to set the Christmas mood makes it all seem worth it.

Also downloaded (from iTunes, of course) was the original A Nightmare on Elm Street, which I will watch in a couple of hours accompanied by Pizza from Cheers Bar.  Earlier today, I completed season 1 of American Horror Story courtesy a hard drive full of series to catch up on thanks to friends who allowed me access to share in the wonders of the world of stable and truly high-speed internet.  

Happy Halloween, y’all!!!

xoxo

Haven't You Heard? We're the Crazy Bitches Around Here.

And my Blair Waldorf moment of the day included a road trip to Antwerp from Brussels for the sole purpose of buying Macarons from Ladurée’s.  Is there any place else?  Jessy would have it no other way.  I love it when those fabulous wheels in her mind churn our fabulous adventures!

Today was my last full day in Brussels, and Jessy and her fabulous entourage saw to it that it would be a day worth savouring every moment.  And by savouring, I mean dinner included carbonate flamande, the traditional Belgian stew of beef and onions cooked in beer.

We took in a viewing of Malavita tonight.  Two words:  tennis racket.  What an effective way to handle unwanted touches by these who view you only as a sex object!  Now to work on the being viewed as a sex object part…

I’ve decided that there will be no sleep tonight; I’m too afraid of oversleeping and missing my early-morning train to Paris for my flight.  There will be plenty of time to catch up on sleep in the plane.  Plus, staying up gives me the chance to finish off a couple more of those Belgian beers I still have in the fridge.

We Totally Could Have Shared a Placenta

My time left in Brussels is very limited.  It has been a fabulous trip full of friends and fun, two of my favourite fs.

Honey Boo Boo’s popularity, like my trip, might be winding down.  But it's no time to be sad; let's celebrate!  Now I ain't gonna hate on the little girl down the road, and just like I did in Thailand, I redneckognized a similarity I have with the Thompson family while snapping photos (ok selfies) around town today.

Mama June and I share similar chins.  It’s almost like we were twins separated at birth.

Oh, if you did not get the Thailand reference made above, let me clarify.  Whilst (Did he say, "Whilst?  Makes me want to punch him in his neck!) we were waiting for the bus in Chiang Dao to take us back to Chiang Mai, I made my own ‘go-go juice’ cocktail with the original Red Bull and caffeinated beverage, then I posed my belly for the judges.

Yeah, I have nothing better the think of or spend my time doing when I'm visiting some of the most beautiful and interesting countries in the world.

City Walkin’ in the BRU

Brussels is the second city in which I have utilised the City Walks app.  It is a free app that I came across a little over a year ago as I was preparing for my trip to Accra, Ghana.  I love to explore cities by walking, and City Walks is a tool that I have now used as well in Brussels.  I think at the time there were only two walking tours available for Accra, but they were both excellent.  There are no less than 19 walking tours for Brussels.  Today I went to four of the locations on the Chocolate Shops tour and four locations on the Shopping in Brussels tour.  (Can you identify my priorities while here?)  However, Brussels is not an enormous city and many of the sites are very close together.  I just noticed that I inadvertently hit some of the sites on some of the other tours.

City Walks in a free app, and most of the walks come as both a free and a paid version.  I recommend that one not be cheap and pay the $3.00-$5.00 for the upgrades because the added features save you time and are more informative about the locations you’ll see.  Like any other tours, there are sites along the City Walks tours that I did not find interesting.  This kind of sucks to find out after walking the kilometers it sometimes takes to get from one site to another, but it’s part of the fun and adventure, and the additional sites one gets to take in and enjoy along the way kind of make it worth the trouble.  

Two notable locations I visited today on the waking tours were Mary’s Chocolatier on Royal Street and Dandoy biscuiterie on Boterstraat.  Both of these have several outlets across the city, but I got the impression that these location on the tour were the original or oldest current locations.

Mary’s chocolates were beautiful and beautifully delicious, and I had to take a box away with me.

Many of the other chocolate shops on the tours (e.g. Neuhaus) did not have the uniqueness of Mary’s; they were like cookie-cutter shops and lacked personality.

Dandoy was like an antique gallery filled with the delicious aroma of speculoos.  Speculoos reminds me of the spiced cookies from my childhood that the Piggly Wiggle only sold during the Christmas season.  Considering the idea of Santa Claus in the US came via the Dutch, I suspect this Chrismas cookie tradition did too and my childhood spiced cookies are a cousin to speculoos.

I look forward to sharing the speculoos from Dandoy’s over a hot cup of tea this evening.

The Running Man About Town

It had been awhile since I was last able to simply get up in the morning and go for a jog. Cinquantenaire park was a lovely place in Etterbeek for that short run to shock my system.

I realised while on my jog that it had been about eleven years since the last time I saw leaves changing colour in the fall.

Witnessing this transformation is one of the simple pleasures I am loving the most on this trip.  

Brussels in the fall:  yay!

On my way ‘home’, I popped by the Carrefour which is opposite of the place where I am staying to pick up some sustenance for the day.  Take note of my purchases and tell me that they do not look like those of a consummate bachelor.

Where Sally Ditched Her School Chums and Lady Chaperone

After spending what seemed like two days standing on my feet waiting in line after line after line, I finally reached my final destination (Brussels, Belgium) this afternoon around 1:00pm.  After linking up with Jessy at the train station, we set off to find food as eating is my favourite thing to do with my friends and I was famished after the journey.  Being that it was Sunday, and Sundays were made for bunching, we ended up at BarBeton for their spread of all-you-can-eat baked goods, cheeses and other scrumptious delights and used the brunching time to begin catching up which we will continue to do until I leave on the 25th.

The afternoon was spent taking advantage of truly high-speed internet:  downloading and updating software and apps.  We also took some time to catch up on needed rest and sleep.  

Then it was time to get started on the list of activities Jessy and I planned for my visit.  Yes, there is a table with bulleted activities scheduled for each day of this week.  Because I arrived a day late, we have made some revisions, but we got on to tackling the items on the list this evening, and the first item on the list we were able to put a tick beside was visit Antwerp.

We got a late start because both of us were pretty knackerd, so it was night when we got to Antwerp.  We went to the cinema and saw The Conjuring.  Then we wandered around the city a bit and ended up inside of the beautiful train station.  

The doorway looks like the doorway to the Emerald City and brought to mind Wicked.  Oh, Elphaba!!!

Topping off the evening, I added a tick beside "eat Mussels" after devouring a delightful plate of Italian risotto.

Update:  This is going to be like one of the episodes of Come Dine With Me when someone changes their score the next morning because something unexpected comes out during the night.  Something very unpleasant and unexpected most definitely came out last night, and the mild fever that accompanied it would suggest a bit of food poisoning was to blame.  Unfortunately, no matter how much I enjoyed the meal while consuming it (and it was delicious), I never hoped to excrete it in such a manner, and for this reason I am changing me opinion of the restaurant to "eat there with caution."

Silver Linings Stop-over: Over the Rainbow in Abuja

On my way to see my Queen, the Divine Ms J, it would seem that disaster struck about an hour into my journey when the Air France flight I was on was grounded in Abuja shortly after midnight last night.  It was a special week for my girl, and as I would travel to the ends of the world for my friends, I was off to Brussels last night with high hopes to party all night long tonight in celebration of someone who has touched my life and supported me in very important ways.

When the announcement was made over the plane’s intercom around 12:30 this morning that we were not continuing our journey, my initial reaction was annoyance.  However, then I thought that no matter how annoyed I got, it was not going to change the current situation.  Hell, I was in Abuja (which was the original plan I had in the works over a month ago for this weekend), a city I wanted to explore.  Plus, The Booj is the current home of Becca, and time spent with Becca is always adored.  

Waiting outside of the airport for transportation in the wee hours of the morning became one of those times when I decide the no one was a stranger.  I struck up a conversation with a guy who had boarded the plane with me in Port Harcourt (turns out that he was on his way to the US, with a short window to meet up with his wife in Chicago before proceeding to Michigan, which he was now going to miss because of the delayed flight; it could always be worse), and our conversation made the time until our transportation arrived to take us to the hotel (that’s 4:00 am, my friends) suck a lot less.  

I have had a Wizard of Oz moment during my stay in Abuja.  What began as this

transformed into this

because of positive people deciding to make pretty good coffee out of a grounded airplane.

I cannot get over how great the cupcakes are at Chloe’s Cupcake Haven in Abuja.  They are almost enough reason to go through the no less than six visits to a Nigerian High Commission it might take someone just to get a visa to come to Nigeria.  Chloe’s cupcakes are great. (PERIOD.)  I am not just saying that because I have been experiencing a dearth is tasty baked goods lately.  I take my cupcakes seriously, and the red velvet, carrot cake, death by chocolate and mocha cupcakes I devoured this afternoon (yes, gluttony is now considered a virtue) made me want to shed tears of joy.  Moist cupcakes which do not taste like baking soda and are soft with perfectly flavoured butter cream icing are descriptions more easily typed than actually achieved.  I want a cupcake accompanied by Chloe’s ice cream on my next visit.  Yes, there will be a next visit.

Fabulous people set the scene for an unexpectedly fabulous day.

Disaster averted!!!  

(Thanks Becs and Charles!!!

and CUPCAKES!!!

Chloe's, not just a haven, more like heaven.)

Douchey but Not Flaky

I left work early/on time/only 40 minutes late today and felt like a douchey slacker.  It’s sick, right?  I’m travelling tomorrow, so I had things to do.  And by things I mean I needed to buy a new Swatch, a red one this time.  I’m not even going to try and validate that confession with an explanation.  

I bought it at the Swatch store at Genesis Center.  I got the red Swatch to add to my collection, but I am pretty sure it had been sitting on the shelf for at least three years.  And the reason why I would know that is because it has the older type of resin wristband which Swatch replaced about three years ago because the bands would break in less than a year.  I know this because I had to replace the bands for two of my Swatches I bought about four years ago.  Anyway, I wanted the red Swatch , so I got it, even knowing I would be replacing the wristband in a few months.

Want to know what else I bought at Genesis Center today?  A cheese croissant (buttery and yummy, but not flaky which would have made it a truly remarkable find).

As I mentioned, I left work early/on time/only 40 minutes late and felt like a douchey slacker.  I had to find a remedy, and the remedy was to come home and put in another 3+ hours.  I really felt like I was channelling Angela B or Robyn Y tonight (love you!!!).  On the plus side, reports are edited.  However, the negative side effect is going to be trying to sleep tonight knowing the contents of the reports.  Anxiety.

More Than Just a Colour

Now you know how much I love my Queens.  Well, I am developing quite an affinity for my Queen’s as well.

From tonight’s menu,

I chose

It was my first okazi, and it delighted.  I am a sucker for greens.  If it is a leaf, I’ll probably love it.  Yes, in a past life I was probably a rabbit.

Tonight’s delightful okazi experience was my favourite gastronomic delight so far, and I attribute much of my appreciation of the meal to the service at Queen’s.  Because of my lack of appreciation for most things fishy, I have learned to ask that my food be served without the addition of extra fish bits on top which is a very common way of serving in this area.  Tonight, to my disappointment, goat (which is prominently advertised on the menu) was not available.  Neither was snail, and since that is what I ordered my last visit (the waiter remembered:  points for him!) he appoligised.  Little did he know.  The only meat available for the soup was fish.  

Nope.  

Not for me.  

Sorry.

I just can’t.

I politely, yes politely, asked that I be served the okazi with no meat.  The waiter said that would be no problem.  Then he had a brilliant idea.  He asked it I would not mind if he served it with prawns.  Now I enjoy prawns, so I agreed.  When it came out, not only did it have prawns, but it had periwinkles.  When I saw them mixed in with the greens and prawns, I had to ask the waiter what here were because I had no idea.  When he told me, I had to look periwinkle up online to get a better idea of what I was about to ingest because when I hear periwinkle, I think of a shade of purple/blue.  Ok, I knew that periwinkles are a type of gastropod, but I wanted to see what they looked like before they ended up in what turned out to be a yummy soup.  I’m down for trying almost anything at least once (Almost. I totally drew the line with eating dog in Vietnam.  I just can’t.) and I am pretty certain that I’ll be requesting this combo again in the not-too-distant future.  It was remarkably good, and the amount of heat from the pepper in the dish kept me scooping up more and more.

For dessert, here are some of the other Queens I enjoy.

Eid Mubarak, Y’all!!!

I really missed an opportunity.  I should have cooked a pilawo today.  Fortunately for me, Eid al Adha/Kabir is a two-day celebration in Nigeria so there is always tomorrow AND I have about two pounds of beef fillet in the freezer, rice in the pantry and some spices on the shelves.  Ideas!  Ideas!  

Today I was determined to get out for a while.  I wanted to visit the cafe at the Golden Tulip hotel which is just around the corner from where I live.  My intention for the past few days has been to go there and read.  I know that I can read at home, but I am spending way too much time at home.  My art and other personal belongings still have not arrived, even though they arrived in Lagos ELEVEN days ago.  Sitting, looking at these bare walls day in and day out is a little sad.  I guess for some people it would just be normal, but it is not what I am used to.  My paintings make me smile when I look at them.  Each one means something special to me, many of them have special memories attached to them.  I need those memories and the happiness evoked by my art here in Port Harcourt.     

After many days of set backs, I finally made it to the Tulip and found a nice, comfortable place to sit and read for a few hours.  It was nice, but the coffee was not.  In fact, I would say that the cappuccino was beyond bad.  It was awful.  This was the second time I had a cappuccino there.  The first time it was not great, but drinkable.  This time it was just wrong.  It is sad because they have a decent machine.  However it seems that no one knows how to use it.  Maybe I could volunteer to teach them.  

Or I could just buy my own machine when I am in Brussels in four days!!!  However, that would mean staying at home for a decent cappuccino.  However, maybe by the time I get back, my art and things will be here.  Oh, wow!  An idea!!!  You Will & Grace fans will get it:  Jaques!  I could open up my own little coffee shop on the landing outside of my flat.  Now if only I could find three friends-like-family who would be my regular patrons...

I also had lunch at the Tulip, nothing interesting, just fish and chips (French fries).  I say nothing interesting, but the chips tasted like they had been fried in butter.  I'm not kidding.  Perhaps they were fried in margarine or Blue Band or whatever, and they were buttery, crispy and delicious.  Buttery chips:  wow on my taste buds!

Sniffing Glue Again?

Fact:  war-torn countries do not have fantastic roads.  They just don’t.  It’s like strategic or something.  Don’t let the supplies get to where they are demanded!!!  So I guess war-torn Rwanda is an anomaly because the war-torn Rwanda I know has pretty fantastic roads.  

Not that I have visited many war-torn countries (there was that one time when I stupidly walked across the border into Eastern DRC--just because), but I have seen enough films about war.  And Hollywood depicts reality, right?  Just like People magazine is where I turn to to learn about world events, right?  

Is it wrong that I laughed as I read this article on Africa is a Country?  Nah.

To be fair, Christina never used the term war torn, that’s all People.  The location reference made in the People article is confusing.  I have a hard time imagining a refugee camp in Kigali--refugee communities, maybe, but a whole camp?  If Christina were in a camp, it is most likely that the children she spent time with were Congolese, now Rwandan since about 99% of the refugees in Rwanda are from DRC.  Also, the clips in the video were definitely not shot in a refugee camp since UNHCR does not allow permanent housing structures (including iron sheeting for roofs) to be built in their camps since they are meant to be temporary settlements.  

From the People article, you would get the impression that Christina Aguilera is so brave going into war-torn Rwanda in 2013.  I remember back in 2004 when I returned to my hometown for my 10-year high school reunion, and someone asked me what the situation was like with the genocide in Rwanda.  I was like, “I live in Uganda, not Rwanda, and I was in high school with you in Florida when the genocide was going on in Rwanda over ten years ago.”  To be fair, Hotel Rwanda had recently been been in the cinema earlier that year and won awards, so to many Americans who get their news from Hollywood, the atrocity in Rwanda had just happened.  Now, it is 2013 (What, 20 years later?) and the World Food Programme are keeping their work relevant and their their peeps employed.

I should probably let Elizabeth Leonard’s lazy journalism (is it journalism if it is People magazine?) go, but the readership of People is so large, and it is not fair to a country like Rwanda to continue to be depicted in such a negative light.  War-torn?  Rwanda?  Really?  Am I sniffing glue again?

When I visited war-torn Rwanda back in 2011, I was fortunately spared from experiencing the war-torn part.  Kigali was clean and organised with the most courteous drivers I had experienced since those of Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Lake Kivu was stunning, and like Ms Aguilera, I had an opportunity to sing with children.  Our musical selection was a bit more upbeat and current (for the time):  Oh na, na!  What’s my name?  Oh na, na!  What’s my name?  It was like a call and response song started by the kids standing on their over-turned boat on the lake shore.  Our road trip took us to the north of the war-torn Rwanda to the Parc National des Volcans for a hike up to the top of Mt Bisoke.  When we reached the spectacular crater lake at the top of the mountain, we had a picnic lunch, walked through no man’s land and unofficially visited Congo (ok, so there was a second time).  Dinner that night was al-fresco on the balcony of an Italian restaurant.  I guess we were just lucky to have experienced such a peaceful evening in a war-torn country.  

Hunger is a problem in many countries in the world.  As anyone who reads my blog  knows, I am a big fan of Chopped, and one of the episodes I recently watched had people who worked in school cafeterias (from America) competing.  Each one of them had heartbreaking stories of children in their schools who received only one meal a day, and that one meal was provided by the schools (sounds like Christina’s comment about some Rwandan children).  I am happy that people, like Christina, are taking time to raise awareness about the ugliness of hunger.  While watching the WFP video made me feel about as uncomfortable as watching almost any show that is on MTV these days, let’s be fair, Natacha Nsabimana.  I would not lump Christina in the Jason Russell category... yet.  She never referred to Rwanda as war torn; that was Elizabeth Leonard in People magazine.  Neither Christina nor People magazine made reference to feeding ‘starving African children.’  That was you.

A Migraine, Minerva and Me

This morning has been spent pulling the red-hot iron rod of a migraine out of the left side of my head through my eye socket.  The nausea is far less today than yesterday’s, and at least I do not have any work I have to ‘man up’ and get through.  I can just be a vegetable on the sofa under a duvet as the rain falls outside.  I had been wondering when I would get my first migraine in Port Harcourt (ever the optimist).  It has been hot and humid, causing me to be concerned with my ability to stay properly hydrated.  I am in a perpetual battle with dehydration, and sometimes I lose.  When I lose, a toll of severe pain is paid and usually for three consecutive days.  

I am not on any prescription meds for migraines, but I should probably have some in  reserve.  If I can catch a headache before it becomes full blown, I can usually knock it out by taking a high dose of pain killers like ibuprofen.  However, if one begins while I am sleeping, and I wake up with a full-blown migraine, I’m screwed.  Saturday morning I woke up screwed.  I’ve found no pain killer that helps me once the pain has begun.  However, my trusted reliever of the pain once it has begun in Tiger Balm.  The stuff just works for me.  I have found what works best in the generic stuff I bought at a random massage parlour in Ko Samui, Thailand last January.

I am not very sensitive to light or sound, so I entertained myself with little DSTV this morning.  Recently I have watched more of the movie channels than ever before because they have been showing films I watched in my childhood but have not seen in 15 years of more.  I watched Ghostbusters last week (hilarious), saw Superman II a couple of nights ago, and this morning they had on Superman (which is a beautifully shot film).  I admit that I did not finish watching Superman because I have a short attention span and find it difficult to finish watching any film in its entirety, especially while at home.  I got bored with it during the Superman-Lois Lane tandem flight/love scene and checked what was on the next channel.  It was Hudson Hawk.  OMG!  That was an awful Bruce Willis vehicle with one of the most amazing screen villains of the 1990s:  Minerva Mayflower.  When I finally have pets, I want two dogs.  One dog will be named Anastasia Beaverhausen, and the other dog will be Minerva Mayflower.  Male or female, these will be the dogs’ names.

“One hundred million and one, Waldo!”  I used to watch, rewind, watch, rewind and watch the scene that introduced us to Sandra Bernhard’s Minerva.  Sadly, no one has uploaded that clip to YouTube, but there are others of the fabulous Minerva to enjoy.

In another film, Bruce Willis popularised the phrase, “Yippee-ki-yay, Mother F***er!”  Yeah, Ms Bernhard’s exclaimed expletive in this clip did not have the same impact on popular culture at the time.

“Eureka, Mother F***er!”

For the Cool in Me.

If you think that it’s lame that Kim Kardashian feels the need to get on her sister Kylie’s blog to feel like she has not lost her cool factor, then what do you think it says about me that I felt like I still had my cool factor when a five-year old child entering the doors of the school this morning looked up at me and said, “I like your shoes”?  Then a few hours later when I was observing a class in action, one of the six year olds interrupted the activity to say, “Mr Timothy, I like your shoes.”  The third time’s the charm.  I am always at the doors when the kids arrive at the school and also when they leave.  While I was sending them off this afternoon, I got another, “Mr Timothy, I like your shoes.”  To each of these compliments, I expressed my gratitude, and I added them together with the “I have a Swatch like yours” that I received earlier this week from an 8 year old.  Who needs a Jenner’s blog to measure cool factor?  I’ve got the kids.

And I have my own blog to propagate my coolness.  It’s Friday night and this wild and crazy guy is not having his beer at home alone.  No.  He is having his beer with home-fried prawn crackers... at home.  Alone.

However, it is my first time frying prawn crackers.  What did you do today that you’d never done before?

Got Nuttin’ But Love

After posting this photo online,

a friend commented, “Is this Uganda?”

Nope.  It’s PH, baby!!!  The lengths the city goes to keep me from feeling homesick.  Nice try, guys!  While it is wet, this river road does not have the swirls and rapids of Spring Road or Jinja Road after a flash flood.

Love De Love Boat!  It is a nice touch; you get an 'E' for effort.   I love the "I can do it!" mentality.  If there is not a traffic jam, leave it to me.  I can do it!  And nothing shows love more than blocking two lanes of traffic in 6pm rush-hour traffic after a heavy shower.

Questionable Taste

So, I took another stroll last night.  I’m all about the neighbourhood these days.  Next week will mark two months in Port Harcourt, and it is only within the past few days that I am exploring on my own.  I was considering a jog one day, but I scrapped that idea this morning after talking with a teacher, who is also a jogger, and he shared his experience of being assaulted and robbed while on a morning jog.  Crap!  Who attacks joggers?  They don’t run with much to steal.

Gotta find a gym and a (gasp!) treadmill.  As much as I hate them, I think they are my fate.  At least for now.  Ok, let's be honest.  For now there is so little exercise going on that, FOR NOW, my belly is growing again.  Damn it!  I gave up the pregnancy belly a year ago.  Welcome... back... old... friend???

Just up the road from my place is Queen’s Restaurant.  I saw it on Monday as I was leaving the barber shop and decided that I was going to eat there on Tuesday.  I almost did not go last night because it poured buckets of rain, but it stopped, and I got my rear end off of the sofa and headed out.  It was probably darker than was wise to walk up the road alone, but I’m not known for my wisdom.  On last night’s menu at Queen’s was snail.  I’d never eaten giant land snail, so I was like, “I’m on it!”  But now I’m off it.  The egusi soup it came cooked in was probably the best I’ve eaten yet, lots of yummy tiny shrimp in it.  However, the snail was just tough and flavourless in my opinion.  Besides my palette not being accustomed to it, the texture was not appealing to me at all.  I’ve not completely given up on snail.  Maybe this place just got it wrong on Tuesday night.  

I really loved how colourful Queen's was.  It made me happy as I ate my dinner, but that is enough about Tuesday night, a bit about today now.  

I’m the kind of teacher that is not phased by lack of resources.  I just make it happen.  Today I needed a computer activity for my five year olds during their ICT.  We have been practising using labels, and I also wanted them to practise clicking and dragging with a mouse.  Well, the school did not have the type of programme I wanted so...  Voilá!

Let’s label Mr. Timothy!

Days like today take me back to my AmeriCorps*VISTA days with the FASS VISTA Initiative, still ‘getting things done’.

Today's Walk

Today was the first day since beginning work here that I left kind of on time instead of a few hours late.  It was for a very excellent reason, and I am now in possession of a round trip ticket for Air France flights to see one of my favourite people in the world.  I was meant to visit her in July, but it just did not work out that way.  Life.  Well, things are working out now, my dear!!!

I tried to buy my ticket online, but for security reasons, I was required to go in to the Air France office to pay with my credit card in person.  It sounded like it was gong to be a real pain, especially considering Port Harcourt traffic.  As luck would have it, an Air France office is almost literally right around the corner from my flat.  An added bonus of going in to the office was I was able to get on the Friday night flight which I was unable to book online.  That means an extra 24 hours in Brussels.  Excellent!!!

I also walked down to my local barber shop for a haircut.  Yes, folks, I walked.  

After getting my hair cut, I stayed for a manicure and pedicure.  It had been too long!!!  The haircut was great, but as far as the mani and pedi went, they were fair.  It was my first experience of having the dead skin and callouses removed from my feet with a razor blade.  I kept imagining a slip of a hand and the blade slicing through my flesh.  I mean, the salon was no Sparkles, but it was local.  However, a foot massage given by someone wearing rubber gloves is worse than it sounds.  Talk about eating sweets with the wrapper still on.  I guess I still need to explore a bit more to find what I like.  However, they will do in the interim.

On my walk home, I discovered what I hope will be a regular hangout joint.  It was so cool, the kind of place I would have loved in Kampala but never found there.  More to come about that.  Hopefully this weekend!!!

A Pub in the Night

I enjoy a dark pub.  In fact I love a dark pub with a couple of friends and good conversation even more.  Now add some greasy pub food to the dark pub with a couple of friends and good conversation, and it is a recipe for an almost perfect Saturday evening.  (While I am on the topic of pubs and food, let me say that the hamburger at Cheers Bar is pretty good.  Now, I am not a regular burger eater, but as a red-blooded American AND a boy from the South, a good hamburger is comfort food.  Sometimes a good burger can give me a needed warm-fuzzy inside.  After the week I had, a warm-fuzzy was what I needed.  The Cheers burger came on a homemade bun, and the green salad, while not the greenest, was a fresh alternative to what I’ve been eating. The beef patty was not amazing, but definitely edible and contributed to my stress relief last night.)

Unlike many expatriates who are brought to work in Port Harcourt, I have not been given safety restrictions to my movements.  I know people who only move around with armed escorts, and I have talked with people whose companies do not allow them to go out in the evenings at all.  They can host at their homes, but they are not allowed to go out to the local dark pub.  When preparing to move here, I was made aware of certain safety concerns related to the area, and I did my own research regarding the matter.  If you do a bit of research about Port Harcourt, you cannot avoid finding stories about the kidnappings that plague the area. 

Today’s Port Harcourt is not the Port Harcourt of 2006, but unfortunately, kidnapping is still a reality.  I have talked to many people (nationals and expats) regarding the security situation, and almost everyone I have spoken to assures me that the situation is much better than it was, that I live in a relatively secure neighbourhood and do not work with the petroleum industry so I should be fine moving about.  Well, I want to believe them, then I read articles like this and this.  But then again, did reading an article like this one stop me from going to the cinema when I was in the US in August?  I must admit that this incident did make me question going to big public gatherings in Uganda.  However, I did not stop because the proud streak that runs through my spine made me refuse to be prisoner in a city I considered my home.  The day I feel comfortable and confident in my surroundings in Port Harcourt cannot come too soon.  While I am possibly erring on the side of caution and staying at home more than I really need to, I cannot be a prisoner of my own insecurities.  I must get out on a regular basis.  Wisely (I think) I never go out alone, and I have been fortunate enough to have already made a few friends in the city who can help me discover my new surroundings and with whom I can comfortably enjoy an evening drink and/or meal.

Workin’

At the sight of this, one of my colleagues pulled me aside and asked, “Why are you sweating?”  

I wanted to say, “Bitch, please.  I’m working.”  

But I’m far to proper.