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Saying goodbye to life in Nigeria…:(
I feel like I want to start every blog with the same line, “Where to even begin!?!?!” So as much as I want to say that about this one I won’t, even though it’s the truth! I can’t tell you the number of hours that I have sat in front of the computer each time I go to write something up! I left Nigeria on June 13th and now it’s a month later and I still can’t believe how incredibly hard it was to say goodbye to my life there. Not just to people, but to relationships. Relationships that are not common to a lot of people. Relationships that are more than friends who chat and hangout, but relationships that are deep and beyond the norm of typical friendship! Not just to students, but to “my” students. Students who spent more time with me than with their own parents. Students who answered the question, “Why did God create the butterfly from the caterpillar?” with “Because He knew that we needed to change also,” or “Because it wasn’t fair to keep the caterpillar ugly and yucky for their whole life!” Students who thought everything I did was out of this world, even if it was showing them how long your small intestine would be if it were stretched out on the floor! Students who could not wait to come in from lunch on Tues. and Thurs. because they knew we were having Bible, and they couldn’t get enough of God’s awesomeness that He displayed throughout the Scriptures. Not just to a life of adventure, but to a life uncommon. A life where spending time with people means more than spending time doing “things.” Where seeing elephants or touching hipos is worth the photo, even if its not the smartest idea! A life where following traffic laws, reeeeeeaaaaally doesn’t matter and as long as the door closes, there is always room for one more person, chicken, goat, tree, whatever… A life of unpredictability and uncertainty that was nothing less than unbelievable and unimaginable! This was my life…And after 2 years it was more than I ever thought possible. The places I have seen and the experiences that have come along with it sometimes seem unrealistic! So how do you say goodbye to that?!?! I still don’t really know…but I do know that this season of my life was truly a gift and the next adventure I am about to embark on will be a new season with plenty of “unimaginable” moments!
The week before I left about 15 of us headed to Abuja to watch Nigeria vs. Kenya in a Wold Cup Qualifying Match! It was totally insane and there was no where for people to sit even after the stairwells were full! We won 3-0!!!
Every time the crowd didn’t like something, they would throw bottles onto the track. So the announcers would come over the load speaker asking people to stop. hahaha. I don’t think that works in a crowd of thousands and thousands!
Some of the last few weeks with my babes!
If I could have taken her with me I would have! This was one of my students little sister..Darey! Almost everyday Angel would draw pictures of me with a big belly, or pushing a baby carriage…she wanted me to have a baby soooo badly, it was hilarious. So one of my boys told her that I would come back to Nigeria when I was married and had a big tummy!
As you know I had an amazing group of friends, and we were notorious for throwing parties, anytime, anywhere, just give us a reason!
After leaving Nigeria, I spent a couple weeks in Scotland and Ireland before heading home!
Ruth and Terry are a couple I met last year in Nigeria! They were both working as doctors in the hospital, and now live in Dundee, Scotland! This is where we stayed with the cutest baby in the world!
At the parliment building each office had a “think bubble” with a couch and desk where all the members of parliment could sit and think up all their brilliant ideas!
Edinbrough was an incredible city!!!!
I was fortunate to have these girls in Nigeria, and then to get them in Ireland as well…wow!!!
Part of the castle above fell into the sea…and it just happened to be the kitchen, so all the cooks and their pots and pans went along with it and died…
Swinging rope bridge!
