Back at Dogon Dutse

Well, I'm back in Nigeria after about two months in Washington state, USA. It was a good time with family and friends.

For the most part, the kids and I just lived with my mom. We travelled to Bellingham once, Vancouver and Seaside twice for a little sightseeing with family and friends, but the kids spent most of their time bike riding in the neighborhood and to the lake nearby. They each made a few friends and reconnected with some old ones. We spent a fair amount of time shopping, the kids went to part of Vacation Bible School at my home church. They enjoyed the water slide and beach the most, but otherwise we just kind of hung out on Hemlock Street.

Amson was able to join us after the first month and was with us when we went to Bellingham and came back on the train.

I enjoyed seeing my sisters and brother and living with my mom. My siblings and some of our kids got together for a few days in early July and that was the first time we could be together since our Dad died in 2008 and our first time back in the old house.

My favorite time was early in the morning sharing breakfast time with my mom while the kids usually slept late. The last month we often slept out in the tent that has been in my family for over fifty years. It was also fun to spoil mom as I tried to do a fair share of the cooking, though she deserved it after all the driving around she did for us.

I had planned to get my drivers license, but couldn't prove my connection to the state until about two weeks before we travelled so could only get my drivers permit, but at least it should be easy to renew next time so there won't be such a delay. That meant Mom had to drive us everywhere! She was a really good sport about it, but the kids had far more energy than either of us and would have loved an outing every day had it been possible.

Toward the end of our time in the US, Annette and I were sitting on the back porch one evening and she asked me what I had missed most from Nigeria. Since I am still an American by instinct, I quickly thought in a material sense and could not think of one thing that I was missing! But then I thought a little harder with a broader perspective and realized that what I missed most was the priority placed on people and the strong sense of community.

As difficult as it can be to live in Nigeria, it is a great place to raise our children and to focus on family, faith, and fellowship with others. It is also a great place to live out my vocation as a teacher at an international Christian school.

As I report back to school tomorrow, I look forward to the new school year with Nat starting middle school, Annette finishing elementary, Daniel starting kindergarten, and I'll be back teaching three history courses, world geography with a twist (from a biblical perspective), US government after Christmas and advising the student council.

We continue to live at the guesthouse where Amson is busy with management and is now also pastor in charge of the Lutheran congregation on the adjacent compound and I look forward to getting back into my fellowship groups. It should be a wonderfully challenging year!