Lagos Departure Almost Here

Well, we have our flights booked, the girls are registered at their new school in Lagos and we are ready to go. We depart from Houston on 28 December, 2007 and won't return for a visit until Christmas 2008.


This has been a long time coming as the girls and I have been back in Texas without Darren for a year next month and it's getting pretty old. We are ready to join Darren in Nigeria and have a family life again. It's been hard on all of us, but I think the girls in particular. They really miss being with their dad.


Life will be much different for us since the last time we were in Nigeria, no more house, we will be in an apartment building called Niger Towers. I'm sure this will take some getting used to, not having a yard etc. We will have our same staff (they are coming with us) so this will make the transition much easier for us.


The girls will have to get used to the big new American International School of Lagos (AISL) http://www.aislagos.org/ though it looks like it has much to offer and the curriculum is pretty much the same as to what the girls have now. They will have a much easier time coming back to school in Texas when we return for good.


The girls are anxious to see Coco and Indy (our kitties) that have been in Nigeria with Darren. I'm already preparing myself to mourn our puppers (my beloved greyhounds) my greybabies are my life (besides my kids) and I will miss them dearly. We lost one of our babies (Spur) this month and we now have Spirit so we still have four greys. They will be staying with our friends in Oklahoma again and will get lots of love and attention just not from me. I missed my puppers most when we were gone last time I hope I can handle it again.


Here is a picture of our new grey......... Spirit


































IN LOVING MEMORY OF KANSAS SPUR Aka.SPURZIE GIRL

Lagos Bound

Well, I know it's been a while since I've written, but there was really nothing new to report....until now.

Since Port Harcourt is in such a mess the company has been replacing expats with Nigerian employees and Darren is one being replaced along with many others. He was also offered a new position in Lagos, which is also in Nigeria, but not on high security alert like Port Harcourt. So, he will be in his new job sometime in October and will be waiting for a flat to move into. We are planning on joining him in January after the Christmas break. Life in Lagos will be quite different than Port Harcourt as we will all be in highrise flats not houses with our own yards and pools etc. I assume life won't be as laid back as Port Harcourt but we'll see. The girls will be going to an American School instead of a British School. The school is also a great deal larger than the one in Port Harcourt, more like the size of elementary schools we have here. They will also have uniforms to wear, oh they will also have to ride a bus to get to school as it is not near the housing area. That I'm not to happy about, my girls don't catch the bus here in Texas to go to school (I bring them) but they'll have to catch a bus in Nigeria......

I'll write back when our plans have been made for our move.

Cheers

We Won't....This Year

Well, the word is in. We were going to be allowed to return to Port Harcourt in August for the new school year starting in September but the day the announcement was to happen there were some incidents that changed the decision. The school will not open for the new school year so we will stay here in Texas while Darren works in Port Harcourt. We pray things settle down there so we can return next year. We were very dissappointed, but if it's not safe then we don't want to go back with the kids anyway. It will be hard being away from Darren but hopefully we'll get to meet up with him in Europe and take some really great vacations.

I'll write again if we have any more information.

Cheers

New Pictures

Here are some pictures Darren took of our home in Nigeria now that "our" freight has arrived. I even got a chance to see the Indoor Patio Furniture I had made before we left.

Here are pics of our Study, Master Bedroom, Dining Room, Living Room and Indoor Patio. Darren just purchased the Bar and Stools from someone who is leaving Nigeria for his next post.

Click on the images to see them larger.

Will We or Won't We

Well, I know it's been a very long time since I've updated the blog, but the girls and I have been in Texas since the middle of December 2006 and it just didn't seem right to make an entry that didn't involve us living in Nigeria.

The time has come for the powers that be to decide if the dependents will return with their spouses in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. We should find out the first week in June and if all is approved we should be returning sometime in August to begin the new school year in September. I've already offered my services as a swimming instructor for the school kids and will also be offering a beginner Knitting Class for the students interested as an after school activity. Many of the "old" expats that have done their time in Nigeria for the last four or so years are moving on and they need us newbies to take the reigns. I'm sure I'll be involved in many more projects and activities in the years to come.

Well, that's it for now, the next installment will be the answer to this Entry Title.

Cheers

Our Home and Staff in Nigeria

Now that we've downloaded pictures from Nigeria I thought I'd post some pictures of our home and our staff.
Click on the pics for larger view.

Emeka our Driver
Front of the House
Back of the House
Our Pool
Jade and Alice our Nanny, Lexi and Glory our Cook

NIGERIA INTERRUPTED

Well, I know it's been a while since I've posted anything but lots have been going on with a few disturbing incidents.

First of all let me begin by saying we had a very wonderful Holiday visiting with family and friends. We missed Nigeria though, can you believe that??

A week to the day after we left Nigeria, we received a very disturbing email stating "Possible Bomb" at Shell Club. Well, we were in shock to say the least. More emails followed and we found out that indeed a Car Bomb went off at the Shell Club which is right outside of our Residential Area. Thank Goodness no one was hurt, there were about 9 cars that were damaged. They said the blast was so big that the car with bomb flew so high in the air that it flipped a few times and then landed on other cars. At the same exact time another car bomb went off at another Residential Area not to far away from our Shell Camp. They were both detonated by cell phones. This was the first time that Expat Residential Areas have ever been targeted and it took everyone by surprise.

The powers that be decided to start evacuating all the spouses and dependents from the camp a few days later, in a few days they were able to evacuate 250 people without incident. It has been decided that the spouses and dependents won't return to Nigeria until at least August 2007. They feel since the election is coming up in April this should be enough time for things to settle down and the children will be able to start the new school term in Nigeria. This has made it very difficult with school, we've had to register Jade back in her old school (same class) and Lexi will start a new Pre-K as soon as she gets over her cold.

Darren will be returning to Nigeria alone, his flight is Saturday, January 13th. Due to this seperation from family, Shell has added two more company paid trips home and then when we are able to return Darren will be allowed to come home to help us move back.

The one good thing that has come out of this is that we have been able to bring home two of our greybabies to live with us while we're home. We left two at the Kennel as they are the shy ones and we didn't want to upset the routine they've been used to. So we have Blacky and Reigni home with us and they are very happy and act as if they never left. Blacky had his birthday the day after he returned and is now 9 years young and looks better than he has in years. He's slimmed down and gained muscel back and looks like he's back to racing weight. This is really great since extra weight in the older years is really bad for them.

Well, I guess that's it for now, I'll try to update as often as I can with news from Nigeria and Darren.