I thought I would take a few minutes and write about something that happened yesterday. I'm really glad my wife was not here for this event! Two co-workers and I were doing some shopping, one of them is new to Lagos and we were taking him around to all the different stores where we get groceries. While we were driving down one of the main streets on the island where we live an okada (motorcycle taxi) started chasing us and banging on the car. Apparently he felt that our driver had done something to him and he was angry. I should take a moment to mention that no one in the car saw anything that sparked this and the driver said he did not do anything. The okada pulled alongside and was yelling at the driver, then he pulled across in front of us to slow us down. At this point our driver nearly did hit him. The driver stopped in front of a gas station, just past an intersection where police were directing traffic, and the okada pulled across in front of our car. The driver of the okada got off his bike and came over to the driver's window and continued the rant that he had begun while driving. He was telling the driver to "wind down" (roll down the window) and he tried to open the door (thankfully it was locked). When this did not work (the driver was just staring at him) he began beating on the window (even using his belt that he had apparently taken off during the tirade) and kicking the door. Finally some other okada riders, and other people that were around, grabbed him and tried to usher him off and calm him down. Needless to say, those of us in the car were a little worked up after this!
Now there is the possibility that this was much more than road rage! I may just be paranoid after my wife and I were robbed on the street while walking a few block from our flat, but this seemed a bit suspect. It is not unknown for thieves on okada to try something like this to get a driver to stop and then he and his buddies proceed to rob the occupants of the vehicle. Considering there were three white men in the car I can not rule this out as a possibility. Thieves very often use okada here because they are quick and so numerous that looking for a particular one would be nearly impossible. I'm just glad that my wife was not there, it took me about 30 minutes just to calm down completely. Unfortunately this is one of the consequences of living in Lagos, and tomorrow is another day!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
On the Subject of Food
If you have read through the rest of my blog you know that I have a tendency to take pictures of food that I cook while my wife is out of the country. Well once again I am going to prove that I actually do cook for myself while my wife is gone. Both of these are meals I cooked earlier this year during one of my wife's trips outside Nigeria.
This one is chicken with a country mustard sauce (from a bottle, so I can't take too much credit) over rice, with some pan-fried zucchini strips. It was easy and tasted pretty good too. And it made for a nice picture...
This one I am proud of, this was a spur of the moment creation that was quite excellent, but the funny thing about it is that most of my family either would not or could not eat it.
I will give you an idea of what is in this one (I can't give an exact recipe since I made it up and as usual I did not write anything down).
First I cooked up some chicken with cilantro (which my Mom hates), carrots (which my brother is allergic too), and red and yellow peppers. Then I cooked up some spinach tagliatelle pasta (which my wife does not like), and mixed that all together. Then I covered it all with a Lime vinaigrette dressing (also made up on the fly). I thought it was wonderful, but as you can see from the description, I guess it was good that I was home alone. The left-overs were just as good straight out of the fridge the next day!
This last one is specifically for my Dad! We had a social at church and we decided we would make some food to take. Josie made Jello with fruit in it (which was a huge hit, after we explained what it was: most of the people had never seen Jello) and I made a pot of Jambalaya. It was a bit interesting since I had to make it with the ingredients available here.
The Sausage was a garlic sausage I happened to find in one of the stores here. It was alright by itself (although I doubt I would eat it that way normally), but after it cooked in the jambalaya it tasted great. Apparently it wasn't too bad, after the social this is what was left!
The funniest thing about this making the Jambalaya, is that our steward was around the flat while I was cooking it. She has never made or tasted jambalaya, but because mine did not look like the picture in the recipe book she told me she thought I did it wrong. I thought it was absolutely hilarious!
Hopefully this has made you all hungry!
This one is chicken with a country mustard sauce (from a bottle, so I can't take too much credit) over rice, with some pan-fried zucchini strips. It was easy and tasted pretty good too. And it made for a nice picture...
This one I am proud of, this was a spur of the moment creation that was quite excellent, but the funny thing about it is that most of my family either would not or could not eat it.
I will give you an idea of what is in this one (I can't give an exact recipe since I made it up and as usual I did not write anything down).
First I cooked up some chicken with cilantro (which my Mom hates), carrots (which my brother is allergic too), and red and yellow peppers. Then I cooked up some spinach tagliatelle pasta (which my wife does not like), and mixed that all together. Then I covered it all with a Lime vinaigrette dressing (also made up on the fly). I thought it was wonderful, but as you can see from the description, I guess it was good that I was home alone. The left-overs were just as good straight out of the fridge the next day!
This last one is specifically for my Dad! We had a social at church and we decided we would make some food to take. Josie made Jello with fruit in it (which was a huge hit, after we explained what it was: most of the people had never seen Jello) and I made a pot of Jambalaya. It was a bit interesting since I had to make it with the ingredients available here.
The Sausage was a garlic sausage I happened to find in one of the stores here. It was alright by itself (although I doubt I would eat it that way normally), but after it cooked in the jambalaya it tasted great. Apparently it wasn't too bad, after the social this is what was left!
The funniest thing about this making the Jambalaya, is that our steward was around the flat while I was cooking it. She has never made or tasted jambalaya, but because mine did not look like the picture in the recipe book she told me she thought I did it wrong. I thought it was absolutely hilarious!
Hopefully this has made you all hungry!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Interesting Food
One thing about living in a different country on a different continent is experiencing foods you would not expect to see in the US. I will elaborate by giving you two examples.
Goat Roundabout Pepper Soup
First of all let me explain the concept of pepper soup. The first thing to understand is that it is HOT! It is a broth base with some sort of meat (chicken, fish, or in this case goat) and some very spicy peppers. The soup itself is fairly thin other than the pieces of meat. Now to elaborate on goat roundabout, obviously we are talking about goat meat, roundabout refers mostly to the digestive tract. Goat Roundabout pepper soup contains pieces of goat meat, stomach, intestine, liver, etc. And yes, I have eaten it! Actually the goat meat and liver are not bad, the stomach and intestine are a bit too chewy for my liking.
Goat Sausages
OK I guess I would have to describe these as an acquired taste. I bought them at the store and was curious what they would taste like.
I grilled a couple of them up and gave them a try.....not what I would call fantastic, but maybe I can think of something to put them in.
Josie did not try them, but our friend Julia and I did. With a little bit of sauce or something to dip them in the are OK.
Goat Roundabout Pepper Soup
First of all let me explain the concept of pepper soup. The first thing to understand is that it is HOT! It is a broth base with some sort of meat (chicken, fish, or in this case goat) and some very spicy peppers. The soup itself is fairly thin other than the pieces of meat. Now to elaborate on goat roundabout, obviously we are talking about goat meat, roundabout refers mostly to the digestive tract. Goat Roundabout pepper soup contains pieces of goat meat, stomach, intestine, liver, etc. And yes, I have eaten it! Actually the goat meat and liver are not bad, the stomach and intestine are a bit too chewy for my liking.
Goat Sausages
OK I guess I would have to describe these as an acquired taste. I bought them at the store and was curious what they would taste like.
I grilled a couple of them up and gave them a try.....not what I would call fantastic, but maybe I can think of something to put them in.
Josie did not try them, but our friend Julia and I did. With a little bit of sauce or something to dip them in the are OK.
Friday, June 27, 2008
No Excuses (OK maybe one)
OK, I have to first begin by saying I have absolutely no excuse for not updating my blog for two months. My wife puts me to shame in this regard (although in a lame attempt to defend myself, she does have a little more time on her hands than I do) and now even my brother has started blogging. So just to get things going again I will share some fun pictures with you. These are a couple of pictures taken while driving through Victoria Island (Lagos).
I'm not sure exactly what happened in the time before I snapped this picture, but what I do know is that it must have been a heck of a ride.
Considering the missing driver's side front tire, I would almost have to guess that it fell off while the vehicle was moving, but this is just a guess. It also looks like they narrowly avoided crashing into the wall, again I will say, it must have been a heck of a ride.
Shave and a haircut, two bits
I have been needing a haircut lately.....I wonder how much this guy charges.
In this picture you can see the hand clippers that he is using to cut the man's hair.
For an American this event looks strange, but this is a very commonplace thing here.
As I said in my last post, I do have other pictures I need to post....maybe this time I will actually get them on here before another 60 days pass.
I'm not sure exactly what happened in the time before I snapped this picture, but what I do know is that it must have been a heck of a ride.
Considering the missing driver's side front tire, I would almost have to guess that it fell off while the vehicle was moving, but this is just a guess. It also looks like they narrowly avoided crashing into the wall, again I will say, it must have been a heck of a ride.
Shave and a haircut, two bits
I have been needing a haircut lately.....I wonder how much this guy charges.
In this picture you can see the hand clippers that he is using to cut the man's hair.
For an American this event looks strange, but this is a very commonplace thing here.
As I said in my last post, I do have other pictures I need to post....maybe this time I will actually get them on here before another 60 days pass.
Monday, March 31, 2008
What's in a Phrase
OK, so first thing is first: I know I have not added anything for a while, a lot has happened I just have been really busy. I have several things to post and will try to do so in the next few days.
This one is not for the faint of heart
(I have no pictures for this which is good, as you will understand later)
I had to go to Houston at the beginning of the month to shutdown an office my company had there (very hectic process) and when I came back Josie came back to Lagos on the same day, we were on different planes due to some booking issues so we arrived 10 hours apart. I came in on Saturday morning and Josie came in on Saturday night. Since Josie came in late she did not go to church the next morning, I was feeling pretty good so I got up and went. On the way to church that morning I saw a man who was stoned on the side of the road. Now if you read that the way I think you did you assumed that this man was high, that is not what I said. The man was laying in one lane of the road surrounded by reasonably large rocks. I'm not sure what the crime was, but the punishment was quite clear and very effective. The body was still there 5 hours later when I came home. I asked my driver and he said the body could be there for days (luckily he was gone by Monday). Crime is up quite a bit here right now so we are being very careful about when and where we go, I imagine this guy got caught stealing or something and punishment was administered immediately. I do however think that this punishment is at least a little less cruel than another common method. The mob grabs a tire places it around the offender, pinning his arms, they then douse him in petrol and you can guess the rest. Justice can be swift in this part of the world, especially when no court or police are involved.
This one is not for the faint of heart
(I have no pictures for this which is good, as you will understand later)
I had to go to Houston at the beginning of the month to shutdown an office my company had there (very hectic process) and when I came back Josie came back to Lagos on the same day, we were on different planes due to some booking issues so we arrived 10 hours apart. I came in on Saturday morning and Josie came in on Saturday night. Since Josie came in late she did not go to church the next morning, I was feeling pretty good so I got up and went. On the way to church that morning I saw a man who was stoned on the side of the road. Now if you read that the way I think you did you assumed that this man was high, that is not what I said. The man was laying in one lane of the road surrounded by reasonably large rocks. I'm not sure what the crime was, but the punishment was quite clear and very effective. The body was still there 5 hours later when I came home. I asked my driver and he said the body could be there for days (luckily he was gone by Monday). Crime is up quite a bit here right now so we are being very careful about when and where we go, I imagine this guy got caught stealing or something and punishment was administered immediately. I do however think that this punishment is at least a little less cruel than another common method. The mob grabs a tire places it around the offender, pinning his arms, they then douse him in petrol and you can guess the rest. Justice can be swift in this part of the world, especially when no court or police are involved.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Vacation is Over!
Well, after getting to spend a total of six weeks in the US, I'm back in Lagos. Josie and I flew out of Nigeria on Nov 27th and got back Jan 13th so it was a long stint in the States. Josie really enjoyed it since she got to spend the whole time on vacation! I got to take three weeks off which was really nice, but before and after vacation I was in Houston working.
Vacation was really excellent though, we got to see quite a bit of family and we even got to have a traditional Allen family gunfight on Christmas morning. It was so funny to see Dad crawling around on the floor ducking behind his chair and shooting little plastic bullets at Josie and Me.
We also got to spend some time with Josie's Grandfather, which turned out to be a really good thing. The day we arrived back in Lagos he had his fourth heart attack. After hanging in there for over a week he passed away, and Josie flew back to attend the funeral. She has been back in the States since then, so I have been living the exciting life while she is gone....HA!
When she is gone all that it means is that I work from 7am to 6pm most days, not necessarily the best thing but oh well. I will be flying out next Friday and meeting Josie in Houston. One thing to note is that even if Josie wanted to come back to Lagos right now she would not be able to. Both of our visas have expired and they have to renew mine before we can do Josie's. Mine should be done this week and then I can get the information to Josie so she can get hers updated. With all the traveling we did last year I'm going to have to get pages added to my passport after they get this new visa done, I'm running out of room really quickly.
Well I just wanted to drop an update in here since I had not done so in quite some time. This is me signing off!
Vacation was really excellent though, we got to see quite a bit of family and we even got to have a traditional Allen family gunfight on Christmas morning. It was so funny to see Dad crawling around on the floor ducking behind his chair and shooting little plastic bullets at Josie and Me.
We also got to spend some time with Josie's Grandfather, which turned out to be a really good thing. The day we arrived back in Lagos he had his fourth heart attack. After hanging in there for over a week he passed away, and Josie flew back to attend the funeral. She has been back in the States since then, so I have been living the exciting life while she is gone....HA!
When she is gone all that it means is that I work from 7am to 6pm most days, not necessarily the best thing but oh well. I will be flying out next Friday and meeting Josie in Houston. One thing to note is that even if Josie wanted to come back to Lagos right now she would not be able to. Both of our visas have expired and they have to renew mine before we can do Josie's. Mine should be done this week and then I can get the information to Josie so she can get hers updated. With all the traveling we did last year I'm going to have to get pages added to my passport after they get this new visa done, I'm running out of room really quickly.
Well I just wanted to drop an update in here since I had not done so in quite some time. This is me signing off!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
More Excellent Woodwork
Well I have not posted anything in a while, but it is really because I have been extremely busy. Things have been very hectic at work, a few weeks ago I asked one of my colleagues if they knew what the beginning of a nervous breakdown felt like! I wanted to make sure I could identify it when it happened.
Putting all that aside, today we managed to take a break and go out to the market. Our intent was just to go out an pick up a few final things for Christmas presents before we come back to the states for vacation, but we happened to find something for us as well. It just so happens our favorite wood carver had a treat for us. He very often manages to have things that are different than everyone else and today was no exception.
Segun said that his father carved this. It is made of one solid piece of king ebony (very solid, this thing is heavy!) and it is a really nice piece. I think the detail is really nice and it was something that really stood out.
I love the wonderful things that we find here. Josie is not sure how some of our African things are going to be used when we move from Nigeria, but I really like them. One day I hope to have a study where I can have neat things like this that I have collected from all over the world.
Putting all that aside, today we managed to take a break and go out to the market. Our intent was just to go out an pick up a few final things for Christmas presents before we come back to the states for vacation, but we happened to find something for us as well. It just so happens our favorite wood carver had a treat for us. He very often manages to have things that are different than everyone else and today was no exception.
Segun said that his father carved this. It is made of one solid piece of king ebony (very solid, this thing is heavy!) and it is a really nice piece. I think the detail is really nice and it was something that really stood out.
I love the wonderful things that we find here. Josie is not sure how some of our African things are going to be used when we move from Nigeria, but I really like them. One day I hope to have a study where I can have neat things like this that I have collected from all over the world.
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