Caboose

I arrived at work this morning to find that although there was electricity (for a change) the network wasn’t working. A quick look in the server room revealed that the router was off.

The wiring led back to one of the usual dubious Chinese multi-way adaptors (called ‘multisockets’ here), I waggled the plugs in case it was a bad connection (quite common with those) but still no power.  I then tried waggling the multisocket’s plug and was rewarded with the power coming on briefly and some sparks.

When I pulled out the plug I got this:

The plug (of course) has no fuse and very thin wires soldered directly to the top of the pins.
(more…)

Last weekend I hosted one of the new volunteers on their placement visit, just like Phyllis hosted me when I first arrived. David has actually been in country for a couple of months, because he didn’t arrive as part of a “batch”. He’s working in HIV/AIDS down in Enugu.

On Sunday we met up with Monique, who has just returned from the Netherlands, and went to the park. Here are David and Monique with the crocodiles.

You know you’re living in Nigeria when you buy yourself a tin of baked beans as a treat and it costs more than a beer!

It’s been an interesting week on the culinary front, I accidentally picked up a can of “smoke-flavoured” tuna last time I was at the Shagalinku supermarket. It turns out to be quite nice, they also do one with little spicy green peppers. It is tricky (and expensive) to get tuna in brine instead of oil though.

The roadsides are still full of women selling mangoes. I bought a couple and some yoghurt today, stuck them in the blender (which was my housewarming present to myself), a lovely cool, thick drink in the heat.

On Saturday I joined a couple of busloads of my colleagues at the wedding of Bello from the exams department. After a bit of a delay we missed the church part of the wedding but made it for the reception. Like Tayo’s wedding it was a Yoruba affair, with lots of singing and dancing.

Afterwards myself and Omoba from the computer centre went back to his place. He lives near where the wedding was held, in Kaduna South, the mainly Christian and non-Hausa part of town. The picture is him with three of his sisters, in the small business centre and computer training place he owns.

We moved on to Barnawa Complex, an area packed with bars and shops, to see another sister. This sister owns a tailor’s shop and has just recently returned from almost ten years living in the Netherlands.