No news is good news!!!

Good day to all,

So, it has been a little while since I wrote, not because I have been on any more exciting adventures, but because for once, there is not a whole lot going on, besides a lot of meetings here in Abuja and in Lagos! It is actually nice to be a bit bored, but also a little bit boring.

February should pick up though as I will be back on mission a lot. Bill Gates and his foundation are coming for a visit. Not sure why I have to go on mission with him, but I think it is an image thing…who knows? There will be about 20 of us from WHO traveling in convoys going to the North to do some immunizations….i will also use the opportunity to ask him why the hell he created this Vista system, as it is useless. All jokes aside, Bill Gates is actually totally informed and knows exactly what is going on. He actually knows exactly how and where his money is being spent, and will make decisions to change things when he sees things aren’t working, so as much as many of my colleagues are complaining, he is at least efficient and makes things happen!

I now have my new flatmate, a very nice Italian girl from Naples. So far, so good…she hasn’t traveled much, so if finding Nigeria a bit chaotic and boring. I told unlike many of the other countries she could have been posted to, she should consider herself lucky! There are at least Italian restaurants here!

An update on my house girl Mary….she is now engaged to Ishaku (my driver)!!! I still find the whole situation bizarre, but whatever works. They are planning to be married in May, and I will get to be a guest of honour…although I don’t know if this is actually a good thing, or if it means I have to pay for the whole wedding…I will need to figure this out, as I am not sure I want to be paying for a wedding that is not my own!!

Only one more month until the big Thompson safari extravaganza!!! Really looking forward to 3 weeks of work, finally!! …we will just pray that the March rains hold off in east Africa, but good thing is that the rains usually arrive in late March, and we are going in early March so I think it will be fine!

I have posted some photos from my Roma Christmas trip, but only the good ones!

I hope you are all well, and enjoying the cold in your in North America…it has been pretty cold and snowy from I have heard…here it is always over 35 degrees (100+) everyday and still very dusty from the Hamattan sands! I can’t imagine it getting any hotter, but this is the “cool” season….we will soon be into the 40’s everyday!!! Can’t wait to be in full burka then!

Anyways, I hope you are all well! I am starting to plan for where I will end up next after my time is up in June…so confirmation on anything just yet, but I think it will be somewhere good…where you would actually want to come to visit!

Baci, Andrea