Tribe Markings

I noticed that several of the men at IITA and others we met in the markets had marks on their faces. At first, I thought it was a scar from an accident, but since so many men (and a few women) had the markings, I was curious. Not wanting to be rude, I was afraid to ask about it. While Maria and I were relaxing at the pool after our day of touring, we ran into Christian from IITA. He had picked up a friend from the airport and was enjoying the afternoon at the hotel pool. Christian is originally from the Netherlands, so while we were talking, I asked about the marks on the faces. It turns out that the lines on their faces are to indicate which tribe they belong to. Every tribe (there are thousands) has a different mark and it will vary in length, shape, size, etc. It's done when they are very young. I thought it was very interesting. If you didn't like your family, it'd be awful hard to pretend you didn't know them! HA!

Kano Dye Pits

After we toured the Museum, our next stop was the dye pits. They have beeen using the same methods to dye fabric with indigo for 500 years. Each pit is 6 meters deep. They mix an indigo dye that is used to dye the fabric a deep blue. They use a method similar to tye dye to creat beautiful patterns in the fabric.

The man who gave us a tour of the dye pits was kind enough to take us back to his home where is wife was making the patterns in the fabric. She used her fingers and string and pulled it tight with her teeth. When died, this pattern will end up looking like the circle pattern in the picture below.

As we walked in the residental area near the dye pits, the children greeted us with smiling faces. They were saying "hello, hello!" but it came out sounding like "Alo, Alo". They were so excited to meet us and wanted to shake our hands. Two little boys followed us all the way across the street to walk us to our cars. They weren't begging or anything. Just curious, as we did tend to stick out a little! The children that I met in Nigeria, while poor, are happy little people who show the joy on their faces.

Nigeria- Part 1

Sanuku! (Hello Everyone- in hausa) I have so much to share!!
I am back from Nigeria- and what a trip! There are hardly words to describe the experience.

We arrived in Kano on August 6. Customs was an experience unlike no other. When you deboard the plane, you enter a large, very basic, concrete block room. There are no computer monitors chronicling the incoming/outgoing flights. There were two lines for customs- one for Nigerians and one for foreigners. Andrew, from IITA, was there to pick us up- thankfully. He collected all our passports and pushed his way to the front of the group and there was yelling and shoving and asserting of power. After filling out some forms, waiting, and more animated discussions (none of which were in english), we were allowed through to get our bags, where there was more chaos. From there we loaded onto the IITA bus and headed for the hotel. The traffic was fairly light, by Kano standards, but what I noticed right away was the fact that stop signs were apparently optional. This continued to be the case throughout the trip.

We got settled at the hotel, and although I was tired, the adrenaline from customs and the drive over kept me awake much longer than I would have liked.

The next day we had the opportunity to take a driving tour of Kano with several people with IITA. (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture- our hosts for the trip). We traveled to the Old City of Kano. The wall around the old city was build back in the 1400's and there are still many people that live in the old city. Kano is home to 20 million people. Yes...20 million. When we entered through the gate of the old city, the streets were not very wide and with the oncoming traffic, pedestrians, livestock (mostly goats, sheep and chickens), motorbikes, bicycles, etc, it made for an interesting ride. There are street vendors all through the city- and anything and everything is for sale. At every intersection, people (mostly young adults) would come to the car to sell phone cards, water, snacks, etc. We stopped at the Kano museum to take a tour and learn more about the history of Kano. In one exhibit, they showed some of the farm implements used to work the fields. Later that afternoon, we saw several of the same tools strapped to motorbikes - and they are very much still in use. Almost all farm work is done by hand or with oxen.

To Be Continued (and pictures will be added!)

African Thunderstorm

My co-worker, Kathy, shared this earlier this week. It's just too cool not to share for several reasons, the least of which is Africa is where I will be traveling next week! The beginning is VERY cool where they simulate an African thunderstorm with their hands. Hope you enjoy it!!

Dining Room Table

One of the things I've longed for most is a dining room table. Currently, our kitchen table seats four, which is fine as long as we don't have more than 2 people over. But I enjoy having family and friends come to dinner, and more than once, I've had to ask my guests to eat, by themselves, at tv trays, in the living room. While I don't think they've minded, it still seems rude.

Today was a big day for Nick and me. We went shopping...we looked at counter tops, cabinets, lighting, appliances, a little flooring...whew (our heads are spinning). During our shopping excursion, we stopped by Fischer's in Tell City. I've been there before and they have some beautiful furniture. They had a few nice tables on the first level...but they were a little fancier than I was looking for. Since our dining area is in the kitchen, I didn't want anything too fancy- it has to look nice for holidays and everyday. The salesman told us there were more upstairs. As soon as we got to the top of the stairs, I saw it...over by the windows. It was perfect...and wonderful...and I just had to have it. Turns out, it is a Tell City Chair dining table and chairs. One of the store employees owned it and was selling it at the store. It's oak, seats six, and did I mention that I LOVE it! Since it's a used set, the price was very reasonable (reasonable for Tell City Chair furniture). After telling Nick several times how much I loved it, that it was perfect, and that I wouldn't find anything, anywhere that I liked better, he agreed and made it ours.

The chairs are what I love most.

But I also liked the legs of the table.

I am looking forward to many meals and chats with family and friends at our new dining room table!

I can't WAIT for the house to be done so I can have 4 people over to enjoy a meal at my new dining room table!!

New Girls on the Block

Last weekend the younger chickens had some renovations to their coop. We expanded to make it larger and created a doorway to the great outdoors. To help them transition, we put up a temporary fence until they get used to going in and out...then they'll have free roam just like the older chickens. While they were a little chicken at first, it didn't take them long to enjoy their new freedom.

Welcoming Committee

Pepper approves of the new deck. She welcomes you to stop by anytime and sit a spell!