Nigeria Trip // Day 5-Langtang continued..

Within minutes of our arrival and exchanging pleasantries, my uncle proudly took us on a tour through the house because he had spent quite a bit of time and money renovating it so it was livable, we all know that an empty home deteriorates at a pretty rapid pace..and its been empty for a decade. As we walked through each room, I became more and more relaxed and relieved to be there. I looked forward to the night, the kids began to relax, we all started to put our things into various rooms and settle in. We felt a strong breeze from a window in the stairwell and looked outside just in time to catch an enormous storm about to hit us. we quickly closed all the windows and the rain began. The folks there told us that it hadn't rained in months so it was very strange that a heavy rain/hail storm began within minutes of our arrival. My husband believes in signs and I often laugh at the connections he draws but this time, I felt something too.

at about 4:00pm

at about 4:30pm ( look in the background..storm coming)

The storm was furious, the sound of the raindrops on the roof were so loud it was like being inside of an instrument. Surrounded by people who I recognized (by face) but couldn't really name to save my life, we talked and laughed cautiously. It was a kind of uncomfortable gathering, everyone looked pretty serious and even though this was our home it didn't feel completely so anymore. They eventually served us dinner which was prepared by my aunt (who lived with us for many years when I was you  and practically raised my brother and sister) but even she was a bit cold. It was as if they were thinking that we had abandoned them for a better life in the United States and now, when we thought we wanted to recreate the past , the had to cater to us for the few of days we were there. It was weird, we were very gracious though. The kids must have been starving because as the platters of food (some of which they aren't even accustomed to eating) came out one after the other, they crowded around the table. There was roasted meat and pepper, masa, fish stew, spaghetti, tuwo shinkafa and green leaf soup. 

After everyone ate (and I mean everyone..) the evening got to be pretty interesting and hot..hotter..humid, people started to maybe go a bit stir crazy. There wasn't any cable TV or really anything to distract anyone. No IPad, Ipods. Iphones..etc. it was bizarre..we had to talk to each other.. and about what?
I started to panic as I often do when things start to get silent and I feel compelled to keep the tempo up at an even pace at the least. We had brought some wine, Absolut and beers from Jos with us but of course like everywhere else in Nigeria thus far somehow only the beer was ice cold while everything else was warm. All i wanted was a cold drink. This was all going against my norms! I love ice! and I felt compelled to google something..anything!

It was extremely humid and considering the was an AC unit on in every room in the house, it should have been freezing but for some reason the units weren't able to combat the heat. 

My cousin did have his digital tools so he was able to zone out while fiddling on Facebook while the rest of the guys took refuge outside in a gathering with the extended family because it was cooler.. ( so they said..!) As I peeked out the door to get some cool breeze, the scene was pretty crazy and I saw what was really going on, they were drinking brukutu! bad idea guys!..we had warned them to beware of what they ate and drank but they didn't listen and now they were out there drinking the locally brewed (fermented) alcoholic drink right from the calabash! I also noticed that the same stoic faced aunt from earlier that evening who had also been giving us a hard time over marrying Americans and had to be banished from the living room for being to rowdy was ...wait for it...yep...doing push-up in the corner? Why you ask..I have no idea..blame on the..?..this was really nuts..

On the inside, the three little girls kept themselves occupied with imaginary games and eating carrots my mom had bought from a street vendor on the way in. Evalie on the other hand was getting progressively more and more irritable and  impatient, she was hot and tired but had become a bit clingy over the last few days because people kept trying to take her from me and she had slept in many different beds over a span of a few days..we tried to keep her entertained and cool.

Evalie eventually fell asleep dripping in sweat with grandma fanning her. My cousin put on some music, we sorted pictures and talked about the past. Around midnight. Evalie woke up uncomfortable so we decided to give her a bath in a blow up duck tub. That was helpful and cooled her off although her cousin (my sisters baby) was not happy when it was his turn. Over the next few hours people started to give into the heat and turn in, I took a cold shower and put the kids to bed. Austin and I sat in bed (two separate full sized beds..) for a while just wondering if we would actually ever go to sleep.