Weekend Update

The weekend was pretty uneventful here in Abuja. The Nigerian labor unions put a hold on the strike over the weekend, so that people could stock up on supplies for another week of striking, if no compromises were made during talks that were scheduled.  I had a much harder time bargaining at the fruit market on Saturday... Testament to how difficult and expensive things are getting here.  Afterward, I went over to a friend's place to watch the Taiwan elections and play Kinect.  Sort of felt like I was at home again, but all illusions faded when I got back to my apartment.  Spent the rest of Saturday alternating between staring at the ceiling and rewatching Season 1 of Downton Abbey.   Sunday was equally uneventful... Did laundry in the morning and tried to sweep/mop the floor in my room, although that is a losing battle, since Harmattan is in full swing, so everything is just disgustingly dusty.  I have never had allergies before until now... Eyes are too irrated to wear contacts, so I've been nerding it up with glasses since I got back.  Started watching Homeland, the Showtime series on terrorism with Claire Danes... Pretty good so far.  I was sadly disappointed with how bad the new episode of 30 Rock was... Can you tell that all I do these days is watch TV?  I guess I better get in all the TV time I can get before I don't have time in the near future to watch TV anymore... On an annoying side note, I have reverted back to being an insomniac here.  I have been waking up at 4 or 5 am every night recently, and really haven't been able to go to bed until midnight... I don't think I have jetlag anymore, but I did start taking mefloquine again-- I have noticed that there are a lot more mosquitoes around, and even though I haven't been bitten yet... I really would Rather prefer to stay malaria free... So I guess I am just trading sleep for health (although I don't know how long I can last on four hours of sleep per night).   Today is MLK Day, and we are supposed to have the day off, but instead I am sitting in a hotel conference room, listening to baby epi lectures... Total waste of time and money.  Supposedly the president agreed to lower the petrol prices, not back to subsidized prices, but at least a bit less than what it was going for... However, the strike is apparently still on, since we had the hardest time trying to find a taxi.  We finally found one, but it turns out, the driver had NO CLUE where he was going, so we ended up driving basically around the whole city, before Jess had to tell him which way to go.  I almost thought I was going to die when the driver decided to take the off-ramp of the opposite side of traffic... I have no idea what was going through his head when he accelerated and switched lanes into oncoming traffic... O_o  Never know when you will be surprised here in Nigeria... Guess it just keeps you on your toes.