Holiday, Paris and the Summary of 2012 Nationwide Strike

Happy New Year to you all! First of all I must warn you, this post will be heavy on pictures...very heavy on pictures. I usually never have time to blog during the breaks we have so the first post ends of being a bit much and to a certain degree, I don't look forward to just spewing tons of information so I beg your forgiveness if this bores you to tears.

Our little holiday started in dramatic fashion. No, not at the Lagos Airport (which was surprisingly easy to deal with this time both departing and arriving). In a previous post I mentioned that I would try to attend the NCAA Division II Football National Championship. Well, as soon as we got into town from the airport, I hopped into the shower, cleaned up and split by road (550+ miles) to Florence, Alabama. It was an awesome game between Pitt and Wayne State and the result was...well, I'll let the photo below do the talking.

#1 Pittstate Gorillas!

After the 7,000+ miles it took me to get there, a win made the trip worth it. No, a loss wouldn't have because in my opinion, when it comes to sports, there are no moral victories. I did get to finally storm the field like a college student and realized, man, I'm too old for this "stuff".

The Crew I hitched a ride with

The rest of the stay in the States was heavy on family (spiritual and natural) and light on everything else (well, excluding food). Did I just us a pun there i.e. heavy on food? Wow, it was unintended. Moving on...We were even privileged to enjoy a meal with Jonny, Kayla and their adopted son, Nigerian born Joseph who stayed with us while they fought for his adoption. It was great to see them again and doing well! Well, again, I'll let these few pictures do the rest of the talking.

H and D enjoying Aunty Amy and Uncle Ugo's gift to H

The gorgeous Adaora hanging with her favourite Uncle

Hanging out with Joseph at Jack Stack

Part of the Christmas gang waiting for the opening of the Christmas presents for the kids

Another Aunty Amy and Uncle Ugo special, this time for D

H enjoying his time with Bubble Mater

I don't mean to brag but I think our gifts to all the kids won best in show...well, except for maybe Anthony. He got movies and books which I guess was okay. But that's what he parents said we should get for him so I blame them :).

Sadly shortly after the New Year began, we said our teary goodbyes or "see-you-laters" and split town. To help ease the return back to our real life, we decided to swing by Paris on the way back. It was our Christmas gift to ourselves. Let me say that although I wasn't too crazy about going to Paris, the city managed to exceed every expectation I had for her. The sights were unbelievable and much cooler in real life. The people were much nicer than the stereotypes. And the city was so easy to navigate that less than 24 hours after we arrived, we were practically locals and got stopped numerous times for directions. We tried to go to every place we've seen in books, movies, other people's pictures. We got to go to the Eiffel Tower and it's summit which was great to be able to see the entire city! We went to the Louvre Museum which houses the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and a ton of other famous sculptures and art work. In spite of my whining, we went by the Paris version of the Statue of Liberty. We also visited the Arc de Triumph and Champ Elysses, one of the most famous shopping/fashion district in the world. Paris is really easy to navigate and if you've ever spent time in London, it's similar in the way the public transportation works except that it's in French. Enough said, pictures time.

Amy atop the Eiffel Tower

At the base of the Tower

Posing in front of the Arc de Triumph

The Notre Dame Cathedral

The Eiffel Tower at night

The most awesomest public restroom I've ever used!

Some Cupid Stature Sculpted by Michelangelo at Le Musse de Louvre 

Mona Lisa

A section of Paris as seen from the top of the Eiffel Tower

The Statuette of Liberty in the palm of my hands

I think this is how the idea of baseball came about

Massive crowd at the Metro during the close of business. It was a mess.

Arc de Triumph in the bright lights

So most of the pictures are out of order but you get the point. Paris is a fun, crazy, cool place to visit if you have a chance and it did help ease the break back to Lagos. Although shortly after we returned. We realize that we could have actually spent more time abroad. That's because we came back to a nationwide work stoppage organized by trade unions due to the removal of subsidy from petrol.

Now, I will stay away from all the politics of it because those are well covered in the news both locally and through foreign news outlets. I borrowed a few pictures for this one.

Protesters gathered en mass

The creativity of the public due to zero cars on the roads

Military used to clear the streets after the strikes were postponed

We are back to work now. The strike was called off after a deal between the Government and the Labor groups. Prices were reduced albeit to a level higher than the previous level. There are still some grumblings and disagreements but it does seem like life in Lagos is getting back to normal. Well, that's all for now. For those of you wondering, we didn't feel threatened at any point because we spent most of the time indoors. Thanks for your prayers and support. I will do my best now to give you regular updates on life here.

Best of times and Worst of times

Lately, I have found myself humming/singing two of my favorite worship songs, "Know You Jesus" and "To Carry to Glory." I believe those song titles are right. Coincidentally, they were both written by Harold Forbis (I believe anyway)...but that really isn't the point.

Life lately has been bitter sweet and as close to those extremes as they can be. I asked my best friend to marry me and she said yes...the feelings that followed are indescribable. My younger brother Ben graduated and got a job...a good job in this turbulent economy. I am happy for him and I am proud of him. I always tease him about being a vampire because he was always home during the day and no where to be found at night. But kudos to him for working hard and graduating from the MBA program. Also, Christmas is around the corner...not because of the gifts but the reminder that Jesus came and for one purpose only; To reconcile man with God. My relationship with Him (which needs to get better) isn't just a part of my life, it's all of it.

Now the bitter side of things, I won't go into a whole lot but some of you may already know what I am talking about. But all of it...good, bad, ugly remains meaningless if they don't all serve to carry the Glory of God, and out of knowing Jesus. I am learning that if you can't change your circumstance, you can still change your posture and your reactions because you continue to remain accountable for those things.

Habakkuk couldn't have put it any better in Chapter 3: 17-19

¹⁷ Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
¹⁸ Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
¹⁹ The LORD God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.

So while I'll continue to pray for certain circumstances to change or be different, I'll continue to sing Knowing you Jesus; there is no greater thing.

The Sound of 1:53am

I got into my car after walking Amy to her door; We had just returned from an OU Texas A&M blowout in Norman. I started making my way home at 1.53am and I did something I usually do when I am by myself in the car which is listen to public radio. It took a second but then the most beautiful song started...

It was a female vocalist singing in a language that I couldn't identify yet alone understand. And I she sang, the only instrument I could hear was an acoustic guitar. As I listened practically in a trance, I tried to imagine what she was singing about...something positive, perhaps, I thought to myself. Sweet sounding songs should be positive...or at least optimistic or about something, hopefully someone...love maybe.

I realize something about myself. I tend to write or compose when I am sad or my life is in disarray which is why I am yet to compose anything meaningful in almost two years. Now, that doesn't mean that life has been a bed of roses. Actually, save for a few bright spots, it's been quite tough and challenging. The difference this time is that, I recognize that everything I need to get through this life has been provided to me by God and I am surrounded by it all...friends, family, nature, life, the seasons and my best friend.

So since I can't compose anything, I am going to indulge in those who can. The song I hear a little over an hour ago was sung by a lady named Sarah according to the announcer at the end. I don't know where she is from nor do I know what she was singing about. I prefer it that way...otherwise, I could find out that she sang about war, famine, poverty and sorrow. I think I'll take my ignorance bliss to go and thank her for the tunes in my head that will eventually put me to bed.