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

Grace's Day

Hello, again. I thought that I would tell you about a day in the life of a typical Nigerian schoolgirl.

Remember in my last letter I told you about Lydia, our house girl who lives with her younger sister, Grace. Well, I thought that I would talk to her and ask her some questions about her school. This is what she said,

‘My day starts before 7 o’clock. I catch the drop taxi at 7 o’clock, and the journey can take up to half an hour. When I arrive at school I go into the classroom to find my friends. Then Aunty will come in and will start lessons. I have to put my hand up to answer questions, and if I don’t know the answer I hope that others do!

We work through the morning, and then we have a break for lunch. I take some money to school to buy a snack. Then we have more lessons, and we finish school at 1.30. On a Friday we finish early at 12 o’clock

We do a lot of different lessons; mathematics, English, social studies, home economics (which is about cleaning and washing, but not cooking), agricultural science (which is about planting crops), elementary science, drawing and painting.

I have a little homework some days. I like school and I have lots of friends there.’

As you can see from the photo, Grace has to wear a uniform. Lydia has to buy this, and other sportswear. Lydia also has to pay for any books that she uses.

A lot of Nigerian children do not go to school because their parents cannot afford the money for the uniform or books. Grace is one of the lucky ones.

She is in Primary Five .Usually when the children reach Primary Six they take an exam to see if they can go on to secondary school.( She calls her teacher Aunty, although she is not really her Aunty!)

Grace does not do any singing or dancing or PE in her school, and there are no computers. They have a party at the end of each year where they have singing and music and dancing.

Grace loves school, and she says she works hard!

Quite a lot of differences to your day at school, don’t you think?

The following are photos of the school opposite us which is very similar to Grace's school.




Please don’t forget to write comments on the blogsite. If you want to ask Grace any questions, then I will get her to reply to you. I think that I have answered most of your questions from the first blog, just Elizabeth and George….I don’t get any newspaper myself. There are a lot of Nigerian papers (which are all in English) like the Daily News and the Daily Trust. They are full of news about different people in Abuja and Nigeria, and have things like full pages saying Happy Birthday to their president and important people! Yes, I am certainly missing you all!!

I still haven’t had any ideas for good titles for the blogsite….so , come on…get thinking!

There is a really good website if you want to know more about Nigerian life.
www.motherlandnigeria.com

Lots of love to you all, good luck with learning all those Christmas songs, and hope that you enjoy your Working Together week…it sounds great fun!

Mrs Sanchez xxxxx

Nigerian people I know

Hello, everyone!

This is to continue from yesterday’s letter. I needed to take some photos, so that I could show you the people that I talk about in this next part.

I will tell you about some of the Nigerian people that I meet each day. Firstly, there is Lydia. She is our house girl. This means that she does the washing, ironing, cleaning and some of the shopping. This sounds very grand, but is the usual thing out here, and it means that Lydia has a place to live (in the staff quarters at the base of the apartment block) and also earns a good wage to support herself and her younger sister, Grace, who lives with her and is 12 years old.



Jude is my husband’s driver. Where he works, there are 3 drivers and they drive the staff around the city, and also collect visitors from the airport. Jude always smiles a lot, but is a very good driver, and he needs to be…the Nigerian drivers are usually very dangerous, and accidents often happen. He lives with his wife and children in a village outside Abuja, as the houses are too expensive in the city.



Then there are the guards. They work 12 hour shifts and change at 6 o’clock in the morning and evening. There is one woman guard, and the rest are young men. They wear uniforms, and their job is to check people in and out of the compound and to switch the generator on when the electricity is off. One of the male guards has a motorbike, of which he is very proud! He also has a laugh that sounds a little like a dog barking, which I think is a good thing if you need to scare people off!!



That really is all for this week! Hope you are thinking of some good things to post to me on the blog and also names for the blogsite.

Love from a still very dusty Mrs Sanchez !