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Do we have tribes Europe?
Dec 5, 2012

I'm still fascinated by the scenes seen from the car, i'd like to take photos but it seems rude to take photos of people living their lives. In addition to the usual things for sale along the side of the road d(rinks, street food chunks of meat cooked on oil drums) I notice

Coffins 
Furniture
Water tanks
Petrol in containers to be siphoned into your car

I'm a bit nervous about the petrol- our driver has now stored a drum in the boot and the garages are closed, gates barred, queues along the road. I'm worried there are shortages and nervous after last years troubles.

For the first time i saw a beggar and the driver gave him money. There are men wearing white...crisp against the red dust, striding serenely along. 

At the hotel I see tribal chiefs resplendent robes entourage scurrying along behind and some of the sudents with three scars on each cheek- tribal markings. This isn't something I think we have in the UK...

People are very status conscious, at the college they have furnished a classroom for the training of senior managers. It has a water cooler and ordinary students- lowly government staff aren't allowed to use it. A local tutor comes into the room and randomly tells students off- instructing them to pay proper attention. I'm slightly shocked as he treats them like school children. 

(1 reply, Latest reply: Dec 5, 2012)

There are chickens in the classroom. And religion everywhere
Dec 3, 2012

The drive to the training college was interesting, todays vehicle was a minibus it smelt of petrol fumes and was very hot. Scenes along the side of the road were fascinating- a man selling birds in cages with storks tethered by their feet, an array of brightly coloured plants, and huge amounts of construction. As we got further from the city (the training college is about 45 mins from the hotel on a good day) people live in corrugated metal roofed huts. These jostle with people, businesses , animals and rubbish for road space. Many of them advertise grand sounding claims 'first NHS approved hospital' (Christ), university of the new age and there are many many churches of all sizes and grandness. 

Gods great Montessori nursery
Church of the apostle 
Ministry of miracles
Citadel of angels

The training college is in the bush, surrounded by trees and hills; scrub land and dry dirt. The gates are well guarded but this year no guard is posted at the classroom door. The students (treasury staff) live in site during their studies and grow food to supplement that provided by the canteen. Chickens and goats roam freely. Children and wives are also on site...

They seem completely unprepared for our arrival which is something of a surprise given the huge amounts they've spent getting us here and ask us about the programme and what we're here for. When the students eventually arrive they are suited and booted for the international experts. It's 35 degrees and the power is out so the classrooms are unusually warm. I bounce around enthusiastically and rivers of sweat pour off me (classy). 

Students are enthusiastic and numbers swell throughout the day until I'm surrounded by people sharing desks and handouts. One man brings his girlfriend. People record me on their phones and ask to have photographs taken with me. 

I think this is actually fun. 

(No replies)

A red African dawn (Nigeria)
Dec 2, 2012

When we arrived it was dawn and the red sun was burning through the mist. The hills and rocks loomed from the landscape. I was reminded of the phrase red African dawn but I have a feeling this represented some sort of communist propaganda rather than poetry. The driving was less terrifying this year as the roads were clearer and we weren't arriving in the dark. We cleared the road blocks without being stopped. 

At the hotel the guards checked the lot for stowaways and fed our bags through the metal decorators. We checked in and were given 'superior' rooms on the posh floor. I went almost immediately to sleep and woke sometime after I'd agreed to meet my colleague in the bar. I went down to find it busier Han last year with children playing in the pool. It was really hot so after lunch I was drawn to the water and played pool volleyball, with the, kids. We sat in the sun drinking vodka and orange. I might actually get a sun tan. 

It's much less scary this year- the terror warnings are reduced, there are more kids and less prostitutes and it's familiar because I've been here before  

(1 reply, Latest reply: Dec 2, 2012)

Alternative cures for chicken pox.
Jun 18, 2012

Tempest (my son) has chicken pox. Not great in terms of child are crises created and lying around the house being miserable.

People keep suggesting alternative treatments (homeopathy, lavender oil etc) and telling me detailed stories about how they used these remedies to treat chicken pox and the outcome/trajectory was .....almost exactly the same as that predicted by the NHS website. It's amazing!

But of course there is a hardcore who argue against treatment and paracetamol as 'it's the bodies way of dealing with something'.

(8 replies, Latest reply: Jun 29, 2012)

Proportions and logic subverted
Jun 7, 2012

I hate to join the ‘kids say the cutest things club’ but..

Mum; I think the cat has enlarged kidneys they are pressing on his side (it didn’t, it had a swollen bladder due to retaining)
Tempest leaves the room and returns with a footpump…
Tempest; I thought I’d enlarge the rest of the cat..

During one of my many meetings regarding Tempests ability to grasp the written word a teacher showed me some numbers. He scored 96 for written English (where 100 is average for his age) but 112 for general intelligence. The problem she said is not the 96 but the gap between the two. This is clearly not true, because whilst she had lots of ideas about how to get the lower number up she had no suggestions for how to get the higher number down.

Logically if the proportions are wrong we should be able to change either number.

(No replies)