More African Music

Hello all of you! I hope that you enjoyed your holidays, and are now on the count-down to Easter!
I want to tell you a little bit about a wonderful concert that I went to last Friday. It was held in the Hilton hotel and was by a singer from Ivory Coast, another West African country. She sang really powerfully and also danced and also played instruments!! She was truly talented and I was spell-bound by her! I bought her CD and want to leave a copy of it in school, as it reminded me a lot of our African fortnight last year!


I am really busy preparing for the opening of my new school. Tomorrow I start to train the staff in the new curriculum, and we have two weeks of sorting out and discussions to have. We also start enrolling next week, so hopefully we will have lots of pupils to open with after Easter. All the teachers are Nigerian, except for one who is Indian. We have 9 staff who are teachers (we still need three more to look after the babies in the crèche) as well as a cook, cleaners, secretary, guards and gardeners. I am very excited, but also a little nervous, as I am really in charge now!! The school building is now being painted, and hopefully the furniture and equipment will start arriving next week, so that we can make it look more like a school for those parents wanting to look around it! I will include some photos of the staff and school next time, when I have managed to get them all together for a photo-shoot!


The weather is still very dry and dusty. We have had two sunny days over the weekend, but it has been very overcast with dust through the week. The temperature s also climbing, approaching 40 degrees C, so things are starting to get a bit uncomfortable!

Hope you are getting on well at school. I think that your website is wonderful! I have included a flier from my school which has the website on. I hope that we will get some photos of the building and the children onto it very soon.

More news next time. Hope that you find time to reply to my blog this time…I’d love to hear from you!
Take care, lots of love,
Mrs. Sanchez xxx

Money, money, money

Hello all,

I can’t believe we’re into February already! It doesn’t seem a moment since we were eating our Christmas dinner!!
Thank you Class two and Mrs Peart for your comments on the blog.It is so good to get post from Holton le Clay. I think that your web-site is brilliant! My new school has got a website, but we are still adding to it. If you are interested it is www.cradletocrayonschool.com. It sounds as if you are having great fun at school. I remember the 1960’s very well and also the man landing on the moon. It sent shivers down my spine when we saw the pictures on the TV; we just didn’t think that it was possible!! Glad you liked the photo of Mrs Cox and I…we had great fun, and the costumes kept us nice and snug!!

To answer some of your questions about Grace. She goes to school from Monday to Friday, but school starts at 8 o’clock, and finishes at 2pm. She finishes earlier on a Friday. I book some lovely books for Grace…A big collection of Mog stories, a selection of Percy the park keeper books, and a large book about different countries with a blow- up globe.

I thought that I would show you some of the money that we have in Nigeria. The currency is Naira, and there are about 250 Naira to £1. There are mainly notes, in 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 1000 (there may be more but these are all I’ve seen) There are also some coins 2naira, 1 naira and 50 kobo (there are 100 kobo to a naira) . The whole money system is very strange, as you cannot change money at the banks, and you are advised not to use your credit cards. So you carry large piles of notes around with you, which is rather unnerving, but there is no other way that you can pay for shopping or meals out. You have to make sure that you take enough money with you, as you cannot simply use your card, like we all do back home!

I thought you might like to see some of the notes. I have managed to find some new notes, as most of the money is very dirty (due to the dust and constant handling) and you always make a point of washing your hands if you’ve had to count out any money!!




The coins are quite pretty, and remind me of the £1 and £2 coin…but bear in mind that they are worth less than one penny! (Actually, you only ever see these in change at shops sometimes).The notes have interesting pictures on one side, and on the other are famous Nigerian people. The streets in Abuja are named after these people. The picture on the 1000naira note is of Zuma Rock, which is the other big rock like Aso rock that I can see from my window. It is on the other side of Abuja. Also there are pictures of the cattle, and people.

I am including some photos of my school. As you can see, it still needs a lot of repairs doing to it, and it needs painting inside and out. Then we need to put all the furniture and equipment into the rooms and make it look welcoming! I am going to teach the 4-5 year olds and I am also the head, so I will be kept very busy. I will start at 7.30am so will have to make sure I get up really early! I’ll let you know more about this as the school grows.


I hope that you all have a lovely half term holiday…the weather certainly looks quite nice for you at the moment! Don’t forget to reply to the blog if you have time…..you can maybe ask your mum or dad if they can help you at home?

Lots of love to you all,
Mrs Sanchez

Trip to Crocodile Town!

I thought that I would tell you all a little about a trip I made last Thursday and Friday. My husband had to go to Kaduna ( a city about 2 hours north of Abuja) for some meetings, and I decided to go with him, as it was a good way of getting to see more of Nigeria. We were driven up by Jude, and it was interesting to see the scenery out of the windows. The land was basically very flat, but with huge rock outcrops to either side of us. We passed Zumo rock, which is even bigger than Aso rock (the one I can see from my apartment ). We also passed many settlements which were built of mud bricks and grass roofs ..yes I have finally seen these traditional African huts!!

We stayed in a hotel overnight, and in the morning, while my husband went to his meetings, I had a tour of the city. It was really interesting, as the man, Tayo, decided to show me the different areas and the different people that make up the city.

We started our tour down by the river, in a small park. He explained that the word Kaduna means crocodiles in the Hausa language! I was rather nervous as I walked on the river bank, until he told me that there were now no more crocodiles in that part of the river as they had been caught and eaten by the local people! I did see three crocodiles in an enclosure within the park, and also some ostriches and giant tortoises.


We then drove around some of the areas leading out of the city, and Tayo explained that the city was divided into a Christian and a Muslim section, with the river being the dividing line. It was fascinating to drive through these communities, and we were always greeted with a smile and a wave.

We then left the made roads and travelled down dust tracks to see some of the more rural villages. Tayo knew a lot about the history of these, and was a fascinating guide. Each village was made up of a number of compounds. These were owned by families…sometimes three or four generations all living together with their goats and hens in a walled compound, containing a variety of huts made from mud bricks. Tayo said that this was a very strong building material. His father still lived in the family hut, which had been built over forty years ago!

The tour ended in the area where all the government employees and military chiefs lived….quite a difference, as these were huge buildings, surrounded with high walls and large steel gates.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get an opportunity to take photos, as I felt that I did not want to intrude on the lives of these people, but I do promise that I will take a photo of a traditional African hut soon!

I am starting my new teaching job tomorrow, and have a whole week of meetings with the school’s owner, and also meet the other staff. I am really looking forward to this, and will let you know more about the school on the next blog.

Take care all of you, don’t forget to keep blogging!

Happy New Year!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that Santa visited your house! He certainly had a job to find me….but managed thankfully! It was lovely to see you all at school before the holidays, and I really enjoyed your singing and acting in It’s a Baby! I felt that Christmas had really started for me! I had a great time going with Music Club to Hotel Elizabeth to entertain the ladies there! I thought that you were all very professional and behaved very well!

We spent 3 weeks in the UK, visiting friends and family and also shopping for a lot of things that we can’t get out here! I also filled a suitcase with books, CDs and games for my new school. I found it very hard to choose what to buy, and I could have filled 20 cases, not just one! There are no nice, colourful toys and books for school use out here, and we are getting a lot of things sent both from America and England.

I am very busy at the moment planning for the new school. I will start to train the teachers on 21st January and the school is planning to be open from the 4th February. A lot of things have to be done before then!!

The Harmattan is very thick at the moment (do you remember, that is the dust that blows down from the Sahara Desert?) It means that some days you have to keep the lights on all day, and you don’t see the sun. However, it is still warm..which is very strange!!

Can I say a very big THANK YOU to all the staff who collected money to buy books and craft things for Grace? I spent half of the money on books, art and craft resources, and decided that I would give these to her a few at a time, so as not to overwhelm her. Her face was a picture!! She had tears rolling down her cheeks, and could not believe that they were all for her! I plan to give her an item each week until we return at Easter, when I will spend the other half of the money.

I hope that you are enjoying being back at school after such a long holiday! I thought that you had all worked really hard on the displays. I really liked the textile display in the entrance corridor, and your trees in the main hall. Keep working hard, and don’t forget to reply to my blogs! I’ll try to put more photos on next time, but hope that you like this one of Scooby and Sylvester as they celebrated New Year!


Lots of love to you all,
Mrs. Sanchez

The last post of the year!

I can’t believe that this is my last blog before I see you all in Holton le Clay!! I’m sure that you are all counting the days and are well on in your Advent calendars, and also the preparations at school. Hopefully, I will come to see you perform on Monday and then go with Music Club to Hotel Elizabeth on Tuesday. I can’t wait!!

Just a couple of pieces of news. Firstly, I sang at the Finnish Embassy on Thursday. I had to sing the Nigerian and the Finnish national anthems (the Finnish one was in Finnish!) it was very exciting, and we were only a small choir of 12 people. We had to sing in front of 200 ambassadors, governors and important people, but then we had some nice food and drink which was a very nice way to spend an evening!


My second piece of news is that I have got a new job as the Head of a pre-school that is being set up here in Abuja. I am due to start by training the staff in January when I return, and then the school is due to open in February. This is very exciting for me, and I am looking forward to being in a school once more…you see, I miss you so much!! I am planning to take lots of books and equipment back with me…especially Biff, Chip and Kipper and Jolly phonics!


A picture of a Nigerian market that is hanging in our lounge

Thank you for your questions for Grace. I asked her these, and she was really pleased that children from England were interested in her! She said that her favourite snack that she takes to eat at school is fish roll. This is made by cooking fish, potatoes and onions together and then putting dough around the mixture. This can then be fried or baked in the oven (Lydia makes these for her usually once or twice a week) On other days she takes nuts or bananas or fried yams. There are no cooked meals at her school, and she always has a meal when she gets home at about 2.30.( usually bean stew, or fish or Joliffe rice…which is what you tried when Mrs Taiwo came in African Weeks.) Lydia’s friends do not live nearby. She has got a lot of friends at school, but they live close to her school. Lydia lives a bus journey away, so she doesn’t get to see her friends much out of school time. She has just started her Christmas break, which is for 4 weeks. She is going back to her village with Lydia for a few days to see her father and mother and the rest of her sisters. Grace is going to get some clothes and maybe a pair of shoes at Christmastime, but she will not get any toys or books or games like you lot…and she never has any wrapped presents.

We are going to be singing some Christmas carols at choir on Wednesday, but that is really all the Christmassy things I am doing….until I get back to England…then I will be bowled over by the shopping, and card-writing and food buying….I really can’t wait!

Don’t forget, I still need someone to come up with a good idea for another titile for this blog…either post it to me on the blog or give it to your class teacher, and I will judge it when I come into school.

So, take care, be good and I’ll see you all very soon!
Love from a very excited Mrs Sanchez!

Christmas is coming

I am really missing all the Christmas hustle and bustle here!! You just wouldn’t know we are only 3 weeks away! Apart from a few artificial trees up at the entrance to one supermarket, and a few sad, dusty decorations on the shelves, you really would not know what was coming! Plus the fact that the weather is all wrong! I’ve often thought that it must be strange in countries like Australia to have Christmas in the boiling heat…it just doesn’t seem right!

However, I must tell you a little about the only two Christmas experiences I have had in Nigeria. Firstly, I went to a practice of a choir group that I have just joined (yes, I miss my singing with you all as well!) We sang a lot of Christmas carols at the end of our practice, which was really nice! We were also learning to sing the Finnish national anthem (in Finnish) to sing at the Finnish Embassy next Thursday (which is Finnish National Day). Finnish is very hard, and all the words seem to have a lot of yyy nnn sss and kkk in them! It will all be very interesting, I am sure!

Also, on Saturday, there is a big German Christmas Market held in Abuja. There are quite a lot of German people staying here, who mainly work for a big construction company, and they make a lot of traditional German craft things to sell in aid of charity. There will also be mulled wine, bratwurst (German sausage) and sauerkraut (German cabbage)…ask Mrs Hackney for more details on these! I think that the hot wine will be served in a room that is made very cold to be like a typical German (or British) winter. I shall try to take some photos of this all, and put them in this blog.


…..It is Sunday now, and the Christmas Market was wonderful! It was a little bit like the Lincoln market (has anyone been?) I saw a very jolly Santa there who loved having his photo taken. There were lots of stalls and good things to eat. The mulled wine was served in a refrigerated container, which was decorated with Fir trees and twinkly lights. There were two huge air conditioning units on, so that it was really cold. We stood at tables and drank our hot mulled wine, and listened to the carols. It really felt like Christmas!



I need to say thank you to gardening club, for your message. I am really pleased that you have won some more bushes, and I think that you should plant them near the hawthorn hedge on the edge of the car park. The birds will love this, and it will give more cover for the birds, and hopefully will help to attract blue tits into our nest box again! Emma, I am really glad that you are all trying to be good for Mrs Cox and everyone; there are a lot of you this year, and a lot of work to be done, so keep busy!

Thank you Class 2 for your questions for Grace. I will ask her these next week and will tell you her answers in the next blog. I am still waiting for any ideas for a new name for the blog….I will then replace the “Letters from Nigeria” title…and don’t forget there is a special prize for the winner!

That’s all for now! Next week will be my last blog until I come back in January….so get thinking of that new title and post it on the blog.

Have fun, still missing you loads!
Mrs Sanchez xxx

All creatures great and small!

Welcome, once again! This week has been quite eventful, and I thought I would start by telling you a little about a Christening I went to on Saturday.

It was held at a large Methodist church and was very interesting. The baby was christened Chukwuma Tochukwu Eninnaya Ugochukwu….a very big name for such a small boy! Thankfully his parents called him Chucks!! It was wonderful to be a part of such a happy event. All the ladies wore their Sunday best outfits and looked very colourful in their long, fitted dresses and large headgear. The service itself was very loud, and we all joined in the clapping, dancing, singing and processing around the church! (It reminded me a lot of the African weeks at school!)

Now onto some of the creatures that I see each day. Have I told you about the nests that we have on our balconies? They belong to tiny finches, and there are about 9 or 10 tiny nests squashed into a tall cactus we have growing in a pot at the side of our front balcony. The best time to see the birds is just before dusk, when they all gather on the railing and try to squash into their nests. I think there are about 12 birds that manage to cram into a very small space. Also, there are lots of turtle doves, one of which made a nest and hatched a chick on one of the windowsills!
I also see beautiful white egrets on the school field opposite, sometimes hear and see various brightly coloured parrots that seem to nest in the trees near the river out the back of the apartment. There are also HUGE eagles or birds of prey that circle around, high in the sky. At about 6pm, there are also flocks of very large fruit bats that come over from Aso Rock group in the large tree opposite and then fly over the apartment.



I also see some beautiful and very large butterflies and there are always lots of brightly-coloured dragonflies around the pool. I have seen some very large beetles, like the one in the photo, which is about 10 cms long and the antennae are probably about 20cms!! There are unwelcome creepy crawlies too, like mosquitoes and huge biting red ants that sometimes make their way into the kitchen.



By far the most common creature you see here is the agama lizard.These are of varying sizes, and can grow up to about 50cms long. During the breeding seasons, when the males are trying to attract a mate, they are a vivid blue and red. At the moment they are duller, and are not a threat, as they tend to scuttle off as you approach! We have some geckoes that live in the apartment too. These are funny little lizards that have suckers on their feet. They often live behind pictures or wall hangings and do a good job catching all flying nasties!


Thank you for your comments, especially Class Two who told me all about your Working Together Week. I can’t wait to see all your artwork displayed in the hall!

Thank you Jodie for your questions. There is a village just outside Abuja, which is made of very traditional mud and grass, which I have driven past, but not visited yet. Yes, it is still very hot (very different from what you are having now!) Luckily, we have not had too much dust yet, and some days are beautifully clear and bright. I am not doing very well with the language, as most people here speak English. My house girl, Lydia, speaks Pidgin English when she returns to her village, and I am hoping that she will teach me some words!
Please keep your comments coming…I still have had no ideas for a name for the blogsite. Remember, there is a special African prize for the winner.
Take care all of you! Don’t forget that Grace would also love to hear from you.

See you soon!
Love Mrs Sanchez