Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone, and my day wasn't all that bad.
I made spaghetti (completely from scratch) for everyone and Yinka's sister-in-law fried turkey wings (they were so good!), so I had a little bit of turkey on Thanksgiving day. I should probably elaborate on the spaghetti a bit because I've never made it quite like this before. Because I was unable to find spaghetti sauce here, I had to make it from scratch...that would be something I've never done before. So, I combined 2 cans of whole tomatoes, 1 can of tomato paste, a bit of vegetable oil (didn't have a measuring cup so just poured to my heart's content), 2 small onions, several cloves of garlic, 4 sugar cubes, 1 chicken boullion cube, thyme, curry, salt, and black pepper. For the meat, we had shrimp, shredded beef, and chicken frankfurters...I know this seems like an odd combination, but you have to work with what you've got. As we all know, life doesn't always run smoothly here, so in the middle of preparing the dish, the estove ran out of gas. Fortunately, we were able to go and get the tank refilled so dinner went on as planned after a slight delay (1-2 hours). Either way, everyone said the spaghetti tasted good, and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised myself. Yinka made sure everyone had some, and was quick to say it was a delicious dish. You gotta love him...actually all jokes aside, Yinka and his family have made my trip here wonderful! Whenever it seems like a may be feeling a bit down, someone always ask if everything is alright. His sister and sister-in-laws are so friendly and welcoming...I've spent a lot of evenings just sitting around talking to them, learning more about the Nigerian culture. In fact, I think I'm going to a wedding tomorrow with them...we'll see though because this was a completely last-minute decision. One note about Nigeria, you don't necessarily have to receive an official invitation to a wedding to actually attend, it's just a big community gathering that people all feel welcome to attend...it's not considered crashing a wedding.
Anyway back to the real story...after Operation Thanksgiving Dinner was accomplished, we all went out dancing. I haven't stayed out that late dancing in a long time...words cannot describe how great the band was. Unlike many acts back in the states, this band played continuously the whole night...they switched out musicians and lead singers at times, but there was non-stop music. They played everything, pop, R&B, and traditional African music. The crowd was quite diverse too. Because we were in Victoria Island, there were a number of ex-pats there, which was quite comforting, since I really have reached the place where I'm somewhat ready to be back at home. Needless to say, I slept in this morning after hanging out all night yesterday.
Today is going to be a low key day for me. I just want to relax around the house...perhaps I'll go out somewhere a later in the evening, but for now, I'm just going to read and watch TV.
If I have time, I may post later today. We'll see how things progress.
-DMW
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