Expat Thanksgiving

 

The Turkey Trot has been run, and the club house is being readied for an a Thanksgiving feast put on by the AISA faculty.  This is a unique event, mainly because we all live on the closed campus of the American International school in Abuja, Nigeria.  Although we met just a few months ago, we are accustomed to collaborating on events just like this via WhatsApp.  This post, of the turkey being put in to roast, began the today's feed at 9:13 am.  

Roasting a turkey this size that only arrived frozen yesterday is no mean feat.  Most of us are new to Nigeria and lack roasting pans with racks, and basic familiar ingredients like celery or cream of mushroom soup.  In fact the preparations began days ago, with various shopping trips around the city looking for yams.

I was fortunate enough to find some old cans of creamed corn from Thailand.  The rims are rusty but their sell-by date is March of next year. I put out an all-call for a cheese grater and had another member of staff offer to lend me hers within minutes.  I feel like I have been to so many stores, looking for this and that, but still my kitchen cupboards are almost bare. 

 I am attempting to make scalloped corn and green bean casserole for our feast.  Mohammed had green beans for sale from his veggie truck making sales in the parking lot. Making french fried onions as a topper is beyond me, but I am adding some local ham-bits I ordered from a local butcher. I considered buying a whole turkey from Michael, the butcher, but I am still getting used to what various cuts of meat look like here, and was afraid of what "whole turkey' actually meant.  Would it arrive with feathers and head still attached?

At 9:49 am, our HS principal posts a picture of how an Australian prepares a Thanksgiving turkey: "Terry's breast have been throughly massaged and he's now going in the oven."  This prompted the question, "He's got a name?" and the reply, "We've become very attached."

An I've become quite attached to the staff here.  We Zoom together, work together, live together, and now celebrate together. I am thankful for this group that started bonding over the long wait for visas and travel plans to Abuja. We bonded across time zones, nationalities and age groups. There is little to compare to the faculty of an international school.  They hit the ground running, look out for each other, and pool their resources.  Daily I have advice and words of experience shared with me.  The fact that I am a veteran teacher with over 20 years of teaching and living overseas doesn't mean I know where to buy sunscreen in Abuja.  I have great respect for those among us that are making this move with small children.  I had little support when mine were young, but I have a feeling that won't be their experience here. Here we have family.  We may not be able to get together the way families back home do, because of the measures put in place to prevent the spread of COVID, but we manage to support each other digitally.

It is nearly time to Google the Celsius equivalent for 375 ° F, put my faux green bean casserole in the oven and head down for cocktail hour at the club house.  We plan to eat outside and share each other's recipes from home.

Mama Africa Market Day

 

I was excited to visit what I believed to be an arts and craft market to get a picture of local culture as well as pick up some decorative items for my apartment in Abuja.  I had visions of something similar to the 'hippy fair' in Brasilia where tourist can pick up leather goods, jewelry, and perhaps a capoeira demonstration.  

The Mama Africa Arts and Crafts, or Jabi Art Market, does not exactly cry out to tourists.  One would hardly take the cluster of shabby canvas covered shacks for a place to buy souvenirs. As one reviewer described it: Excellent works of art and craft can be found here at reasonable prices. However, the area is reminiscent of a transit camp and needs intervention of a befitting premises. Recommended to visit. 

We glanced quickly at the wooden furniture, and dove into the 'camp'.  Jon and I have learned not to show too much interest in items early on, or the vendors will make it difficult for us to move on to other stalls. We also new that prices were 'negotiable', and haggling was the norm.  I have never been too good at this sort of bargaining, and so was careful to point out that I was "just looking".  Each vendor tried their best to get us into their stall, but they in no way aggressive, and gave us space.  

Honestly, I couldn't at first see anything I would buy.  I was more interested in the colors and variety, the basket weaving activity, and staying cool.  I finally decided on a couple of key chains (very necessary!), two baskets (more decorative), and a fan (both decorative and necessary).  I was quite proud of myself for getting the price down 1000 NGN on the baskets, but the fan guy was proving to be quite difficult.  

Only when I had given up and walked away, did he concede to my 'best price' of 1500 NGN.  The win was short lived, for as soon as I got back on our bus, the fan guy came after me with his friend.  They circled the bus looking for me, tapped on the window, and explained to anyone who would listen that they needed more money for the fan.  He was selling for his friend, and his friend wanted more.  I was safe inside the bus, money had already changed hands, surely he would give up.  But he was determined, and even acted out a fight scene with the friend, trying to get my attention.  In hindsight, I should have simply offered a bit more money, another dollar probably would have ended it.

Unfortunately, the business of haggling for a price, detracts from the actual value of the crafts.  I would have rather have learned about the origin and process of the varied pieces, about the artists and their culture, about the way these artisans are treated in Abuja. Next time.

Next we visited the Maitama Farmer's Market.  If you aren't distracted by the armed guard, and large chunks of dried mystery meat, then you can take in the huge variety of fruit and vegetables.  Again, I will use the words of another reviewer: This place is really good, the amazingly healthy veggies and fruits and luxurious colours of their skin is totally worth the drive. You will think the foods are plastic cause of how fresh and good they looked. And here, we were warned, there was no haggling! I found my okra, bananas and limes.  Jon was denied his mangoes (out of season) and tomatoes (he tried to haggle the price down).  

Our final purchases came from a small market store, that sold imported items like British biscuits and American cans of creamed corn.  Jon was happy to find a large jar of honey that we purchased from a sales girl squeezed into a corner of the tight space. Only after walking out did we realize that we had paid over $60! On inspecting the receipt we saw that the honey cost over $30.  Naturally, we tried to take the honey back.  Unfortunately the sales girl had already shoved the large amount of cash into a slot in the safe.  So Jon had to wait until someone else bought the honey's price with cash before she could refund him. 

At the end of the day, I realized that the experience had been more about business tactics, prices and money conversions.  It is hard to look past how much you are spending to what you are getting.  Fortunately we didn't venture out alone, but with a group of veteran overseas teachers.  One wise college, spoke from experience about her last move: " I had to put a conscious stop to the constant converting of local currency into  US dollars in my head when I was out and about.  That was the only way I could enjoy myself in my new surroundings."

Quarantine Dining on Olives & Dates

 

What did I pack for this trip?  A corkscrew, a good knife and a coffee filter holder.  Was I ready for 14 days quarantine in my apartment? It was hard to tell.  I had sent a grocery list ahead for my recently hired house help to buy.  Hopefully my apartment would be decently stocked with sandwich ingredients, breakfast options and even some bottles of wine.  I knew to expect at the very least salt, pepper and Ramen, because the shopping trips to local stores had included me via WhatsApp.  I was feeling quite proud of myself for including items I would readily find abroad in other places I have lived.  I included weights in grams and liters.  And we received two Dominos pizzas on the drive from the airport, to save the trouble of cooking on arrival.

It wasn't until the next morning that I realized that feeding myself for the next 14 days would be a challenge.  The coffee was instant, which I have never understood, the ham some sort of baloney lunch meat, and I could find no peeler for the potatoes and carrots. We found large amounts of fruit, bananas and oranges, that would not last the 2 weeks, along with 5 dozen eggs and a box of 42 packets of ramen. Well, we could snack for a while. 

Our most popular snacks are olives, dates and peanuts.  Something to remember for next time.  I was given the opportunity to have someone run to the store for me, just for a couple of things that I couldn't do without.  I asked for real ground coffee, tonic water and ice cube trays. 

By the time we were 4 days in, Jon was putting all his efforts into acquiring a phone and ordering in.  I was more determined to use all the food in our refrigerator.  What to make?  Lots of side salads, and these basic meals:

• boiled potatoes, hot dogs and baked beans
• rice and garlic chicken
• potato and mortadella frittata 
• ramen noodles with spring onions

I am finding that just about anything is palatable when doused in lime juice and olive oil, sprinkled with salt, pepper and spring onions.