The reception tent, on the shore of a local lake
The reception was pretty nice!Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Wedding pics
I just realized that these pictures were added at the top as I posted them, so they are sort of in reverse order. Oh well. It took awhile to post them, so here they will stay!
The reception tent, on the shore of a local lake
The reception was pretty nice!
The reception tent, on the shore of a local lake The reception was pretty nice!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday night update
Well, we are through the wedding, and it was a wonderfully exciting, overwhelming event. Friday night we had a rehearsal dinner here at Miriam's home. We had about 45 people, of which there were multiple doctors, the lawyer represnting two African countries in the US, multiple Harvard MBA grads, at least one Wharton School grad, the son of a Nobel Prize winner, and the president of the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and all the most down-to-earth, interesting people you could imagine. There was a wonderful group of Nigerwives, wives of Nigerians who have moved from other places in the world to work and live in Nigeria - from Italy, Russia, Romania, the US, England, all over. To provide contrast, there were two folks from the flatlands of the Michigan thumb, and three more from the backwoods of Maine. It was an amazing evening, with goat, a mashed bean dish something like mashed potatoes and available either unsmoked or smoked, a chopped cooked greens dish, fruit, fruit, fruit, a fish dish, and items too difficult to describe, and last but not least, American style potato salad! It was a beautiful night, so people spread to outside tables, where animated discussions were everywhere. We sat the the president of the Presbyterian seminary and his wife, who is nationally or internationally known for her work with childrens' choirs. It took some prodding - they were very humble about their work - but she finally told of some of her experiences around the country with huge gatherings of childrens' choirs, with working with movie producers and actors, with famous musicians. Very interesting.
Saturday opened with a gathering in the dining room for food and review of the day's activities. We needed to be at the church at 10 AM or so, with the ceremony to begin at 11. There was lots of dressing, hair, makeup - I looked pretty good after all that, I thought. Mary Ann thought it was a little over the top. Anyway, my suit for the day was a nice pair of trousers under a nearly knee length top, open partway up the sides, with heavy duty bling bling at the neck. Mary Ann had a beautiful dress, embroidered below the waist, in a very elegant grey blue. She also received a headwrap, in blue and silver, that was done by two women that came to the house expressly for that purpose. Really pretty amazing - they would pull and twist and yank the stiff, starched fabric, then tie knots to keep it in a certain shape, and then straighten, curl, and so forth to form a sort of hat. Very elegant, and classy. It helped us blend in .....
We headed off to the church, a sort of national cathedral for the country in downtown Abuja, right next to a huge mosque. The church had a large beautiful pipe organ, with seating for perhaps several thousand, and a central platform. We used about 1/4 of the area, with perhaps 300-400 guests. At one point folks got pretty excited and security people were on their toes - the vice president of Nigeria, having been invited, decided to attend. People were very respectful and pleased. He took a chair off to the side and received guests while we waited for the bride to arrive. Being on Nigeria time, she arrived fashionably late, and the ceremony got under way. It was lovely. Beautiful music provided by the Abuja Vocal Chorus, with soloists. Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World", "Ave Maria", and "Oh Happy Day". Great variety. And Rev. Dean Thomson, from Louisville PTS did a very nice job, and was extremely pleased to be doing it - a big smile on his face throughout!
We had pictures in front of the church, then loaded onto buses to go to a local park, where a HUGE tent had been set up. Open sides were much appreciated - it was a very hot day. Probably low to mid-nineties - I don't know, it is hard to guess. Pretty oppressive for Mary Ann and me. The food was served at the table, more or less to order, but the poor waiter didn't know what to do with us. He said they had a few things for us - did we want him to bring them? Yes, yes, of course. We got some barbecued chicken, on the spicy side, some boiled potatoes, some raw vegetable, Nigerian chicken pepper soup, and a nice ice cream dessert, all of which we found very good and satisfying. Lots of activities after dinner. One that I enjoyed most was something called the mothers' dance. Miriam and the groom's mother got up to do a sort of line dance, and pretty quickly, all the Niger wives got up to join. Then all of the moms in the place went up, and it was quite a sight. It began raining at one point, and rained quite hard and long, but the tent was great protection, and we didn't miss a beat. We finally headed home in the early evening, only to find that the newlyweds had rented a club for more dancing! That took off at 11 until the wee hours. I must admit M.A. and I went to bed instead.
A few bits and pieces to note -
- The ladies put the centerpieces for 40+ tables together here at the house of local flowers and greens, provided by a friend of the family from her garden. They were very unusual, and beautiful. Oranges, pinks, reds, some very weird squiggly white things. Very cool. Lots of work, and Mary Ann used her Zehnder's experience to organize the effort.
- The backyard of the house is a beautiful lush green lawn. Turns out it is not always so, but Turner has been sneaking out at night for ten dayswith the hose, with wondrous results.
- At the peak, there were 17 sleeping in the house. Turner, with a flourish, announced Sunday morning that, finally, for the first time since they have lived here, the house "is fully deployed". He and Miriam were also very sly in giving their room to some of us guests, and taking a small room behind the garage. Very kind of them. They claim the bed is excellent.
- Sunday was supposed to be a low key affair, but people came out of the woodwork around breakfast time, and we had a hullabaloo in the dining room, eating and talking and passing little Hella Yenimi from person to person. 20-25 folks most of the time, and lots of good Kenyan coffee.
- Most guests outside the family stayed at the Abuja Hilton, the most profitable Hilton in the world. 85% occupancy, and the most complete facility to serve travellers' needs in the city. Quite a place. Turner, in his role as manager of transportation services, had two 30 passenger buses available, and most of the time one would go to or from home, while the other went to or from the Hilton.
- An amazing array of nationalities were represented. US, England, France, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Israel, India, South Africa, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Russia, Romania.
Pictures tomorrow, I promise. Many guests left Monday morning early, with the rest out of here today. Ebitari, Miriam's other daughter, and her husband Matt go to Lagos tomorrow morning, so the house will be pretty quiet. I'm not sure I'll like it, but it should allow me to catch up some more on my picture embedding skills.
Mary Ann and I are marveling at our good fortune in being able to make this trip. It is such an expansion of our knowlwdge and experience. It changes your whole view of the world. You should try it....
Love, Jim and Mary ann
Saturday opened with a gathering in the dining room for food and review of the day's activities. We needed to be at the church at 10 AM or so, with the ceremony to begin at 11. There was lots of dressing, hair, makeup - I looked pretty good after all that, I thought. Mary Ann thought it was a little over the top. Anyway, my suit for the day was a nice pair of trousers under a nearly knee length top, open partway up the sides, with heavy duty bling bling at the neck. Mary Ann had a beautiful dress, embroidered below the waist, in a very elegant grey blue. She also received a headwrap, in blue and silver, that was done by two women that came to the house expressly for that purpose. Really pretty amazing - they would pull and twist and yank the stiff, starched fabric, then tie knots to keep it in a certain shape, and then straighten, curl, and so forth to form a sort of hat. Very elegant, and classy. It helped us blend in .....
We headed off to the church, a sort of national cathedral for the country in downtown Abuja, right next to a huge mosque. The church had a large beautiful pipe organ, with seating for perhaps several thousand, and a central platform. We used about 1/4 of the area, with perhaps 300-400 guests. At one point folks got pretty excited and security people were on their toes - the vice president of Nigeria, having been invited, decided to attend. People were very respectful and pleased. He took a chair off to the side and received guests while we waited for the bride to arrive. Being on Nigeria time, she arrived fashionably late, and the ceremony got under way. It was lovely. Beautiful music provided by the Abuja Vocal Chorus, with soloists. Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World", "Ave Maria", and "Oh Happy Day". Great variety. And Rev. Dean Thomson, from Louisville PTS did a very nice job, and was extremely pleased to be doing it - a big smile on his face throughout!
We had pictures in front of the church, then loaded onto buses to go to a local park, where a HUGE tent had been set up. Open sides were much appreciated - it was a very hot day. Probably low to mid-nineties - I don't know, it is hard to guess. Pretty oppressive for Mary Ann and me. The food was served at the table, more or less to order, but the poor waiter didn't know what to do with us. He said they had a few things for us - did we want him to bring them? Yes, yes, of course. We got some barbecued chicken, on the spicy side, some boiled potatoes, some raw vegetable, Nigerian chicken pepper soup, and a nice ice cream dessert, all of which we found very good and satisfying. Lots of activities after dinner. One that I enjoyed most was something called the mothers' dance. Miriam and the groom's mother got up to do a sort of line dance, and pretty quickly, all the Niger wives got up to join. Then all of the moms in the place went up, and it was quite a sight. It began raining at one point, and rained quite hard and long, but the tent was great protection, and we didn't miss a beat. We finally headed home in the early evening, only to find that the newlyweds had rented a club for more dancing! That took off at 11 until the wee hours. I must admit M.A. and I went to bed instead.
A few bits and pieces to note -
- The ladies put the centerpieces for 40+ tables together here at the house of local flowers and greens, provided by a friend of the family from her garden. They were very unusual, and beautiful. Oranges, pinks, reds, some very weird squiggly white things. Very cool. Lots of work, and Mary Ann used her Zehnder's experience to organize the effort.
- The backyard of the house is a beautiful lush green lawn. Turns out it is not always so, but Turner has been sneaking out at night for ten dayswith the hose, with wondrous results.
- At the peak, there were 17 sleeping in the house. Turner, with a flourish, announced Sunday morning that, finally, for the first time since they have lived here, the house "is fully deployed". He and Miriam were also very sly in giving their room to some of us guests, and taking a small room behind the garage. Very kind of them. They claim the bed is excellent.
- Sunday was supposed to be a low key affair, but people came out of the woodwork around breakfast time, and we had a hullabaloo in the dining room, eating and talking and passing little Hella Yenimi from person to person. 20-25 folks most of the time, and lots of good Kenyan coffee.
- Most guests outside the family stayed at the Abuja Hilton, the most profitable Hilton in the world. 85% occupancy, and the most complete facility to serve travellers' needs in the city. Quite a place. Turner, in his role as manager of transportation services, had two 30 passenger buses available, and most of the time one would go to or from home, while the other went to or from the Hilton.
- An amazing array of nationalities were represented. US, England, France, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Israel, India, South Africa, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Russia, Romania.
Pictures tomorrow, I promise. Many guests left Monday morning early, with the rest out of here today. Ebitari, Miriam's other daughter, and her husband Matt go to Lagos tomorrow morning, so the house will be pretty quiet. I'm not sure I'll like it, but it should allow me to catch up some more on my picture embedding skills.
Mary Ann and I are marveling at our good fortune in being able to make this trip. It is such an expansion of our knowlwdge and experience. It changes your whole view of the world. You should try it....
Love, Jim and Mary ann
Picture test
Ah, a picture loaded. Now I know the "trick"! So more to follow. We are off to run errands now. This is, by the way, a falls we visited about an hour away, quite a nice place down a fairly steep hill. Mary Ann and I nursed sore calves for a day or so.... A beautiful spot. Looks a bit like Maine!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Friday in Nigeria
Good morning! It is about noon here in Abuja on Friday. Tomorrow is the big wedding day for our niece Tariye Isoun and her perspective husband Ademola Gnosiadin, and the house is buzzing with actgivity. The flowers are being "built" for the tables, supplied from the personal garden of a friend, personized cups are being polished up and stuffed with an note letting guests know they can take them home, Mary ann and a group cut and assembled wedding programs yesterday, too many to count. So it is almost as if the party is already underway. Mary Ann tried on her outfit, as I did, and all fit perfectly. She won't let me see hers until tomorrow! Wow - like my bride all over again! It will be fun. She has a head scarf / wrap as a part of her outfit, and is pretty excited about it.
We have hit a few hotspots within an hours drive or so. Let's see - today is Friday, so on Wednesday, we visited a local pottery shop, but more than a shop. It is the whole production operation, where they start with a pile of raw clay/sand/dirt, and finish with ovenproof cookware in beautiful colors and shapes.
We have hit a few hotspots within an hours drive or so. Let's see - today is Friday, so on Wednesday, we visited a local pottery shop, but more than a shop. It is the whole production operation, where they start with a pile of raw clay/sand/dirt, and finish with ovenproof cookware in beautiful colors and shapes.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
We've arrived in Abuja
Good evening! We have had our first full day in Abuja, Nigeria, having arrived from Detroit / Frankfort / Malabo, Eq. Giunea last evening. For reference, it is 7:30 PM locally, and, I believe, 1:30 PM in Michigan at the moment - 6 hours earlier here. The flights were fine, with no issues other than upset infants, and all were on time. We got into line for customs / passport control, far, far back in the pack, and waited. Shortly, we saw a possibly familiar face - could that be
Turner, my sister Miriam's husband? Yes, coming to "collect" us! We got special guidance through the process, and were on our way quite quickly and comfortably, arriving at my sister's home on the top of a prominent hill in the city, a beautiful spot with mango trees and terraces, lizards and big screened windows - a very nice spot to base ourselves. The evening was pleasant - warmer than home at perhaps 75 deg F, but nice. We slept well.
Got up this morning at 10:30! Mary Ann was up some earlier, and finally came and roused me. We had a pleasant breakfast, met some other family and friends, had some good coffee. Miriam's son Diseye and his wife Ilse had planned an outing for all interested to a local pottery operation. We loaded 15-16 people into four cars w/ drivers, and headed off. It was perhaps a 45 minute ride through several smaller communities, to the Bwari Pottery Village, in Bwari. Stephan Mhya, the director of the operation, gave us a great tour, with thorough explanations and demonstrations of pottery making starting with local clay, using local glazing minerals, and firing the pieces in a wood fired kiln. Really quite amazing, and such beautiful results! Dishware you can use in the oven, full of earthy color. We purchased several pieces, and I'll try to take some pictures to post here. Can't tell what we bought - many are gifts! This was followed by a lovely lunch at the picnic area on the grounds, where a local man prepared suya, the favorite barbeque method of cooking, in our case chicken and beef. I would suppose pork or fish could be cooked similarly, but I'm not sure. Spicy, medium hot, with lots of ground ginger. Very good. Other dishes - pineapple, potato salad, cucumber w/ papaya salad, good bread, raw vegetables with several interesting dips, and all with a bit of local flavour. No one went hungry.
After being entertained by the baby in the crowd, Hella Yenimi - my nephew Diseye is a proud new dad - we drove back to Abuja. The drive was the most interesting part for folks who haven't been here. Small shops along the road which at first glance look pretty baffling - stuff all over - but as you begin to notice detail, you realize you can find anything you might need, all for sale by local people. No Home Depots in sight. Furniture, electronics, even metalworking. Darin, you would appreciate the name of the metalworking shop- "Iron Must Yield Metalworking". Food, motorcycles, cars, car repair, lumber, firewood, stationary, corn on the cob roasted over a fire - you name it, we got it. Just not quite so organized into neat rows with 20 acre parking lots. If you are driving, find a place to park.... It was really amazing. The one situation we all smiled at was a truck hauling cattle. That in itself isn't all that unusual, but we noticed that all the cows were laying down! Our driver said that was normal for short trips; cows would stand for long trips... you figure it out!
If you are interested, you might Google the city of Abuja, the home to about 3 million when the "burbs are included. It didn't exist, in any form, when I was here in 1974, and has been built in that time into a fully functional city, with pretty good infrastructure. Part of the motivation on the part of the Nigerian gov't to do this was to establish a central, literally, government, located geographically in the center, but also to avoid some of the inherant regionalism that existed between the desert north and the coastal south. So they built a new town.
I'm going to close. I'll load some pictures ASAP, and try to keep up on this blog, but I'm fading fast tonight. Besides, Mary Ann is anxious for me to try on my wedding attire! THAT we'll have to get pictures of! Love to all, Jim
Turner, my sister Miriam's husband? Yes, coming to "collect" us! We got special guidance through the process, and were on our way quite quickly and comfortably, arriving at my sister's home on the top of a prominent hill in the city, a beautiful spot with mango trees and terraces, lizards and big screened windows - a very nice spot to base ourselves. The evening was pleasant - warmer than home at perhaps 75 deg F, but nice. We slept well.
Got up this morning at 10:30! Mary Ann was up some earlier, and finally came and roused me. We had a pleasant breakfast, met some other family and friends, had some good coffee. Miriam's son Diseye and his wife Ilse had planned an outing for all interested to a local pottery operation. We loaded 15-16 people into four cars w/ drivers, and headed off. It was perhaps a 45 minute ride through several smaller communities, to the Bwari Pottery Village, in Bwari. Stephan Mhya, the director of the operation, gave us a great tour, with thorough explanations and demonstrations of pottery making starting with local clay, using local glazing minerals, and firing the pieces in a wood fired kiln. Really quite amazing, and such beautiful results! Dishware you can use in the oven, full of earthy color. We purchased several pieces, and I'll try to take some pictures to post here. Can't tell what we bought - many are gifts! This was followed by a lovely lunch at the picnic area on the grounds, where a local man prepared suya, the favorite barbeque method of cooking, in our case chicken and beef. I would suppose pork or fish could be cooked similarly, but I'm not sure. Spicy, medium hot, with lots of ground ginger. Very good. Other dishes - pineapple, potato salad, cucumber w/ papaya salad, good bread, raw vegetables with several interesting dips, and all with a bit of local flavour. No one went hungry.
After being entertained by the baby in the crowd, Hella Yenimi - my nephew Diseye is a proud new dad - we drove back to Abuja. The drive was the most interesting part for folks who haven't been here. Small shops along the road which at first glance look pretty baffling - stuff all over - but as you begin to notice detail, you realize you can find anything you might need, all for sale by local people. No Home Depots in sight. Furniture, electronics, even metalworking. Darin, you would appreciate the name of the metalworking shop- "Iron Must Yield Metalworking". Food, motorcycles, cars, car repair, lumber, firewood, stationary, corn on the cob roasted over a fire - you name it, we got it. Just not quite so organized into neat rows with 20 acre parking lots. If you are driving, find a place to park.... It was really amazing. The one situation we all smiled at was a truck hauling cattle. That in itself isn't all that unusual, but we noticed that all the cows were laying down! Our driver said that was normal for short trips; cows would stand for long trips... you figure it out!
If you are interested, you might Google the city of Abuja, the home to about 3 million when the "burbs are included. It didn't exist, in any form, when I was here in 1974, and has been built in that time into a fully functional city, with pretty good infrastructure. Part of the motivation on the part of the Nigerian gov't to do this was to establish a central, literally, government, located geographically in the center, but also to avoid some of the inherant regionalism that existed between the desert north and the coastal south. So they built a new town.
I'm going to close. I'll load some pictures ASAP, and try to keep up on this blog, but I'm fading fast tonight. Besides, Mary Ann is anxious for me to try on my wedding attire! THAT we'll have to get pictures of! Love to all, Jim
Friday, April 17, 2009
Packing (cont'd)
OK, then, we are getting close. And actually, four bags at 50 lb. each will be plenty. We are not taking that much in clothing, but we do have a number of gifts for bride and groom, the new baby Hella Yenimi, and some of Jamie's students at the school in Port Harcourt. And a pair of motorcycle boots! That one always makes me smile. Got a few money items to deal with today, and will visit my parents this afternoon, and some other details, but all looks "go".
By the way, for those of you who may not know, my cousin John Wentworth, his wife Melinda, and their son Matthew are also going for about 10 days, and have established a blog as well that you may want to follow, for a different perspective, perhaps. http://wentworthtrip.blogspot.com/
All for now. Thanks for reading.
Jim and Mary Ann
By the way, for those of you who may not know, my cousin John Wentworth, his wife Melinda, and their son Matthew are also going for about 10 days, and have established a blog as well that you may want to follow, for a different perspective, perhaps. http://wentworthtrip.blogspot.com/
All for now. Thanks for reading.
Jim and Mary Ann
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Tuesday activities
We are packing this afternoon, not so much with the intent of closing bags and suitcases, but rather to allow us to see where we stand. The big motorcycle boots were the first items in, followed by several wedding gifts and computers. Three laptops to go with us!
We went to the pharmacy this morning to arrange for 5 weeks worth of several things we take for various conditions. It is actually a bit easier without health insurance prescription drug coverage - you just pay for it! We picked up some over-the-counter stuff, though I am trying to keep that sort of thing to a minimum - there is an old family story about someone who took the store everywhere he went... trying not to get my name associated with that story.
Short entry, but plans are moving along. Until next time,
Jim
We went to the pharmacy this morning to arrange for 5 weeks worth of several things we take for various conditions. It is actually a bit easier without health insurance prescription drug coverage - you just pay for it! We picked up some over-the-counter stuff, though I am trying to keep that sort of thing to a minimum - there is an old family story about someone who took the store everywhere he went... trying not to get my name associated with that story.
Short entry, but plans are moving along. Until next time,
Jim
Thursday, April 9, 2009
So things are heating up a bit. Travel is about 10 days away, and we received a pair of boots in the mail today, to go with us! We will stuff them full of smaller things, and put other miscellaneous things in every nook and cranny. We've gotten a few things for the school Jamie visited while she was there - pencils, pads, school-oriented DVD's, a small friendship bracelet for each child, some large educational posters, some inflatable globes, and so forth. We will be trying to pick up some laptops for three students before we go. So there is a bit of preparation, but we are getting there! We can take 100 lbs. in two bags each, for a total of 200 lbs / 4 bags, plus a carry on each. And I can wear clothes for weeks without a problem, so there's not much of that stuff I'll need to take ....
We fly out of Detroit, and Mary Ann's brother Bill and his wife Linda have offered to take us down. That is a difficult logistics issue with Detroit - it is just far enough that it is quite a commitment for someone to provide a ride - amounts to a 4 hour trip or more. Thanks, Bill and Linda.
I'll update next week to let all know how we are doing with final preparations. This is gonna be fun!
We fly out of Detroit, and Mary Ann's brother Bill and his wife Linda have offered to take us down. That is a difficult logistics issue with Detroit - it is just far enough that it is quite a commitment for someone to provide a ride - amounts to a 4 hour trip or more. Thanks, Bill and Linda.
I'll update next week to let all know how we are doing with final preparations. This is gonna be fun!
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