Nigerian English

At 3am Thursday morning I woke up sneezing for quite a while, so I moved to the living room to lie down on the couch so as not to disturb Dee. It took a while, but finally I got soundly back to sleep under a warm blanket there. I have not been on any cold meds for some days other than Afrin at night and an occasionally throat lozenge, but my energy is low, particularly after not sleeping well. 

Dee and I laughed in the morning that one nice thing about going home is that we won't have to try to remember where we parked our car the night before. Many days we have to think quite a while to know which direction to go to get the car.

At 10am I left with Anziano Millet to go with him to the mall. They have been trying to get internet going in their new apartment, but so far they (TIM) hadn't contacted him to set up the installation. Since he doesn't speak Italian, I volunteered to go there and see what was up. Apparently they had called a few times without reaching him, and maybe he didn't understand if they left him a message. So they said they would try again, and he promised me he would keep his phone close. We also looked at getting them Iliad SIM cards, but he wasn't ready to spring for it yet. So we were in and out of the mall pretty quickly. I also asked the mission office what the status of  our apartment electrical service upgrade was, but haven't heard back yet.

We realized that our release process may require getting a hotel or AirBNB for the last few days here in March, so as to let the couple replacing us settle into our place. The problem is that it will be the week of the temple dedication, so things might fill up fast. Thus we need to get going. I sent an email to the mission secretary asking how this works so we can move on it soon. We will see what happens.

Dee left for the dentist just after noon, when I left for the Institute. They finally installed the implant for her, with a temporary adhesive to make sure that it is good. She will go back, hopefully only one time more. The latest reason for the delay was that the color didn't match, and they said they would make a new one. I think this is the same one, still too white and opaque. It was great that they suggested a temporary glue so I could see it in different lights, but it's a no go. Sigh. Anna, the assistant, told me she really wants to learn English because she connected with an American man on Facebook. I'm leery of the possibilities with the guy, but still let her know we have free English conversation at the Church near her. She is excited about it, and I plan to take her there.

It was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon, so after the dentist I went to Piazza del Popolo, a favorite spot. There were a couple of people blowing bubbles, and a guy doing percussion on pots and pans. You can see a brief video here.

music with pots and pans

his amusing sign

bubbles in Piazza del Popolo

It was a light day at the Institute, with only a few kids showing up, as is typical for Thursdays. That gave me the chance to do a bunch of lesson prep during the day, though I was too tired to finish. I started cooking the final batch of chicken in the crockpot for Dee, who arrived later from the dentist.

I also spent some time on paperwork for an escrow at home for my in-laws, where they are getting paid off on a loan they made a few years ago for a mobile home they sold. With parties in several locations, it was a bunch of work to gather the docs and send them out to everyone to get signed and notarized. It will be nice to get this done and off my plate. Doug is so good at handling things like this, and I really appreciate it.

In the evening, Samuel came in for his Pathway class. First we did the half-hour "speaking partner discussion," which includes helping him with English pronunciation and vocabulary. We had a lot of fun with it, talking a lot about the difference between accents and dialects. He says that Nigerians have their own pidgin English which they all understand, but almost nobody outside the country can decipher. Every time we see him he seems more confident. I hope that the class is really going well for him, and it is fun to see his progress. At the end of the night, I praised him for his progress. He told me that God can help you if you have faith. Great guy.

Anziano Castro and his companion came by. I brought out some tasty goat cheese and green apples. I also set out the leftover candy eyes I had made for halloween. Everybody liked them.

Ugo sent out a message to all the GANS restating the rules regarding expecting food. We have had cases of people coming in and asking for a meal too often, more than our budget can afford.

I spent all afternoon cooking chicken and bacon for Friday night, and roast veggies for me. I never even opened my computer.