Of Easter, Benin, and Other Tid-Bits

I have evidently been a very poor blogger lately. I can't believe how quickly time seems to be going. It's been nearly a month since my last post, and I feel as though it's only been days.

Things to catch up on:

1. My fifth graders and I completed Media-Free Week where we watched no TV or movies, did not go online at all, and did not use the Internet. It was a lot more challenging to do here than it would have been in the States, but I still "survived."

2. We have had elections here in Nigeria, which have been . . . interesting. No violence here (although there was some in the North), but the entire country is on lockdown during the election dates (we have had three election dates so far. One more remains). That means no driving anywhere, and the borders are shut down as well. Remember this for later on.

3. This coming weekend, I am going to be hosting my 5th graders at my home for a 5th grade feast. We have been learning about instructional writing. Because the instructions are for cooking something, we are ending with a feast. Everyone will be bringing a dish, and we are going to have a lot of fun!

4. Today is Easter. This is one of the strangest Easters I have ever had, in that it doesn't feel at all like it usually does. Even last year when I was here, I enjoyed going to Church and then having a decent lunch together. We didn't get to Church today (because of what happened yesterday), and I didn't really get to celebrate Good Friday either. Like I said, just . . . strange. I read some of Pastor Piper's poems and that helped a little. Anways, enough about this. You don't need to hear about my atrophying feelings and traditions.

5. We have 5 days off here. Last Friday to this Tuesday. Kyle and I had been planning on spending Friday-Monday in Benin and Togo. Unfortunately, as we found out once we got to Benin, the border would be closed on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday (for Easter, then Nigerian elections). Hooray. So we spent all that money on the Benin visa and the return visa for Nigeria, only to discover that we could only spend 24 hours in the country. We spent 8.5 hours getting there on Friday, and 7 hours getting home yesterday (Saturday). Suffice it to say that I was not too thrilled about it all. More on the good parts of Benin to come in a separate post.