An Investment

Yes "IT" has finally happened. I made the plunge and have joined the 'normal' way of life.

That's right I invested my money (okay, my supporter's hard earned money) into....



(wait for it)....



Crisco! Yeah, it is exciting. I'm sure you are confused and waiting for an explaination. As you can imagine imported items are expensive here and you really have to decide "can I live without this?" like cake mixes around $8, last time I checked, or boxed cereal $ 4 or 5. I can live without cake mixes and cereal. However, I have to make everything like granola, cakes, cookies and any kind of baked item. No little Keebler Elf waiting on the shelf here. When reciepes call for shortening I have been using melted butter. This is tiresome for several reasons. 1) I have to melt the butter without a microwave. 2) The butter is usually in my freezer, which is currently doing it's job so well that it typically freezes the door shut. 3) Butter is expensive.

Okay so I bought a 3lb container of Crisco today (yes the big bucket) not any of that great shortening in a stick with the measurements on the side. The bucket cost N1950, which is $15. Yes, you may gasp now in your shocked horror. (I am too.) But in myself defense, I just couldn't take it anymore! I made cookies when I came home with my new shortening and they are terrific. Oh and if anyone can find out what 3 lbs of Crisco costs in the US I would like to know. Just 'cause.

Have a great day.

Food preparation

I thought it would be a good idea to let you know some of the things I have to do with my food and water to make it safe for me and to keep healthy.

One thing that I do everyday is filter the tap water. My water filter has two parts (see the picture below). In the top half are two tall filters and this is where I put the tap water. It takes about 8 hours for the water to drip into the lower half. I then fill used water bottles up so that I can have clean water on hand. The filtered water is used for drinking (obviously), cooking, brushing my teeth, and cleaning my toothbrush. The water here, although it is safe for Nigerians, is terrible for my stomach. There are many "bugs" that can be in it that my weak American stomach cannot handle. (It is not fun being sick here.)

Something else that I do each week is buy fruits and vegetables. We have many open air markets here in the city. I walk about two blocks to the vegetable stand. I make my choices and then spend some time haggling the price with the seller. (If you want to hear more about haggling, leave a note, maybe that should be my next post). Once I arrive home, I soak everything in filtered water with a little bleach for 20 minutes. After that I cut and store all of the food to help with easy snacks for the rest of the week.

Once you get used to the process it isn't too bad. One of the hardest things about moving here was all of the time that is involved in having clean water, food preparation, and cooking. I don't have a microwave so that proved to be a big learning curve in just doing without it. I can't imagine doing this for a big family each day or each week. Many moms work less than 40 hours a week at their ministry because of the time and energy that is required at home to just fulfill the basic needs of the family.

I hope this helps with understanding a little bit more about my life here.
Have a good day.