Taking the SAT

Yep. I am taking the SAT at twelve!

Sounds weird? Well, it isn't; you see, I've been home-schooled my whole life, and I am capable of doing college level work. Actually, on my last Iowa test for the 7th grade, I was scored in the 99th percentile. Of the whole nation. And it's also recommended to take the SAT at least once for practice before you take it for real to get enrolled in a college. I myself plan on taking it more than once before I turn 17. So anyway, I'm taking the SAT tomorrow (we have to leave at 7:30!) , and I'm taking it at the University of Lagos (also called informally UniLag). I'm in Lagos right now, and we're not staying in the Oriental Hotel. We're actually staying in the place next door called FourPoints, a hotel owned by Sheraton. And like my Dad said, it doesn't hold a candle to the Oriental Hotel. This hotel's wear and tear is a little worse than the Oriental's, but it's less than four months old! And it's less organized. And there's a party going on downstairs, and it's pretty loud. Some jazz group from America I think. My parents say they aren't so good; like just now my mom asked 'What are they playing? That sounds bad.' And then my Dad said, 'I hope they didn't come all the way from the US for this.' Then my mom laughed and said, 'They were probably paid,' and then my dad was all like, 'but their music isn't that good,' then my mom said, 'well whoever paid them thought they sounded good,' and my dad said, 'I don't.' Like a said, my parents don't like them.

Signing off,
The SAT-taking Traveler

Pup Training

Shep just got his vaccinations today, which I bet was extremely painful. Apparently, I was asleep while he got them, so I had no idea what had happened until my sister came in with a new harness and leash that the vet had given us. Talk about a rude awakening! So anyway, I put it on him so he'd get used to it, and he was surprisingly calm. I think it was the magic of the shots, cause that's just out of character for Shep to be calm. He still ate with the same gusto though (Weetabix and milk. Yummy), and licked the plate clean. The hens were fighting with him though, tentatively taking pecks from his tiny blue food plate. I made sure to chase them well whenever I saw them attempting to do this, but they just wouldn't back off. I even caught one and they still wouldn't leave the Weetabix alone! Well, he likes his new leash, and I've taken him on a few practice walks and stuff. He's doing well. Also, one of the people who works for us thought that Shep could understand English! It's not that surprising if you're in his shoes. You see, here in 9ja, people do not train their dogs. They don't even see them as pets. Dogs and cats are on the same level of recognition as goats and hens, and just like those other species do, the dogs run wild wherever they want. One time, this female mutt just strolled right into our yard, sniffed around, and trotted right back out! So when this guy saw that I could just tell the dog, "Shep Sit," and the Alsatian would put his butt on the ground, he was more than amazed. It was a little shocking for him to be surprised that Shep couldn't understand English, and I had to explain to him the training process, which most Nigerians and pet-less Americans have no experience in. Now, all I have to do is train my parents to do what I want!

Signing off,
The Traveler

We Have The New Pup!

His name's Shep, and he's really adorable. He's a pure-bred German Shepherd, and he's mostly black, with a light tan underside. He loves to chew, and is more hyper-active than a bolt of lightning. He really likes his tennis ball, and chews on the spokes of my bike (which is just a tad bit annoying.) He's really smart; I've almost finished training him to Sit and he's been learning Come by accident. We've been saying, "Come 'ere, Shep!" and clap four times, and he's taken that to mean, come to us. He also likes watermelon, and has been bonding with the goats. The goats are extremely curious as to what he is, and sniff around him a lot. My Dad says that they probably think he's a baby goat! He hates the chickens though, but I don't blame him. They get on my nerves too with their chickening out at every little thing. He tries to catch them and eat them, but it never really works. He's a little too slow since he's just a baby, and just succeeds in scaring the roosters out of their minds. Here are some pics of him:

Shep's posing here. I got him to Sit.

Him posing again on our porch.

My sister playing with Shep.

Chewing on his watermelon skin. He used to have the sweetness of the red fruit inside the skin that we gave him, but that was gone in about five minutes.

Walking off of the porch.

He really, REALLY, loves that skin.

A close up picture of our puppy.

 Examining his toy.

Signing off,
The Dog Owning Traveler

Opinions, Please!

Everyone has their own opinion here in Naija.

Lemme explain: a few days ago, my parents decided that they would make a second farm house for more chickens. So they’re building it now. But that doesn’t have anything to do with what I said above, but I just wanted to tell you just so you know. Anyway, months ago when the chickens weren’t fully grown, when people would come around to the house and talk and stuff, each of them had their own little “nugget of wisdom” about the chickens. For example, one of my friends fathers would always say something like, “did you make sure you’re keeping ‘em warm? Are you sure you can fit them all in?” And he’d go on like that all the time. And you know what’s the ridiculous thing? He has never owned a chicken farm in his life. And it’s not just him, either; everybody that we meet usually says something about something about something! What’s the most annoying part to me is that they act like they’re experts, when they actually aren’t. My parents just say “uh-huh” and “hmm”. I think it just goes through one ear and comes out the other. Which is good! Because I don’t know if the people who are telling them what they think they know have a brain anyways. Luckily, not everyone does it. And I also remember a lot of people doing it in the States as well.

Signing off,

The Traveler

Political Groups

Sounds really boring, right?

Well, this post isn't gonna be. I'm going to use a 12 year-old kids contemporary vocab (slanguage involved). Now, in Nigeria, just like in the US of A, there are political groups, like the Democrats and the Republicans. Here, there is the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party), and the AC (Action Congress). The PDP's symbol is an umbrella. The umbrella's made out of three colors, green, white, and red. And the AC's symbol is a traditional broom, native to Nigeria (I think). Here is a picture of one:

They're going toe to toe all the time, just like two other political parties that I know...one starts with d and the other starts with r. Anyway, PDP is larger than AC, and is in control of many different states. AC doesn't have many states under it's wing, but the ones that it does claim have been drastically changed for the good. In those states, there's not as much corruption, the cities are cleaner, it's overall nicer. PDP...well, let's just say that things stay the way they were before. Just less money in the civilians pockets, and more moolah in the PDP politicians'. Just about a few weeks ago, there was an election in our state, Osun, and AC won! Hurrah! Already, things are changing, like bigshot politicians don't get to have sirens on their cars, which makes them just a tad bit more humane. A lot of people were happy that day. It was so bad, my parents phones could barely call anyone, the network was so clogged. Good things are coming! Hopefully.

Hooray! 

Signing off,

The Traveler

Dry Season's Gone Already?

It's already going away!

If you've read Desert Tropics, I wrote that a few days ago, you'll know what Dry Season is supposed to be like. Extremely...uh...dry, and without a cloud in the sky. Hot in the day, cold at night. Well, there's something seriously wrong here. Right now, I'm looking out the window, and the sky is overcast. Gray. With more than a few clouds covering the atmosphere. Also, it's comfortably warm, like it usually is in the Rainy Season. And also, it's not getting extremely cold at night anymore! It's mild! Dry Season is already leaving, and it's been how long since it's started? About a few weeks? Or maybe even less! Global warming for ya. Since the globe is heating up and pollution is destroying Earth, one of the aftermaths of the destruction is no more seasons. Well, there will be, but not that much. Like right now, in Nigeria, it's pretty much Rainy Season all year round. It's not supposed to be that way! Raining all the time will be pretty gloomy. It's getting too much, and it's not gonna be good if we don't do something about it. Even though it hasn't rained since Dry Season started,  these clouds seem like they promise that there is going to be a downpour soon. Not good.

Signing off,
The Traveler

P.S: We ate Bar Jesus chicken. Delicious!

Christmas Party(?)

We're having a party for the villagers today.

The music is actually booming through the windows right now. It's gonna be held outside, but this party...we were volunteered. We really didn't have that much of a choice. Sucks, huh? From what I've seen and heard, the reason this party is going on is because these villagers just want to eat, and they think we have money, since we're foreigners from America!!!! The land of the free!!! The home of the brave!!! Oyibos don go far!!! The last sentence is a language from here called Pidgin English, and that sentence means, wow, foreigners are so advanced and civilized! Which isn't that true. You see, a lot of Nigerians have this stupid notion that anyone that isn't from Africa (excluding South Africa) is a bigshot and rich, and smart. All of you Americans reading, would you call every guy or gal you meet rich, a bigshot, and intelligent. Uh duh. No. Think about that guy you passed yesterday who was begging on the streets. It's ridiculous! Also, Nigerians wear a lot of wigs. It's pretty creepy, seeing all these women with curly blonde hair that's slightly lopsided and looks like a wet mop. I can't explain if you haven't seen it. Every woman that isn't older has a wig. They even get extensions and weaves for little girls! I know a lot of people do that everywhere, but here...it feels like it's on a whole other level. I'll take some pics and show it on here to give you an example sometime. Well, let me get back to the subject. So right now everyone is killing and cooking chickens from our farm, cooking meat, cooking meat, and making stews, and cooking meat. Did I mention any meat? You be seeing that many greens at this party!

Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate it (I don't myself)

Signing off,
The Traveler