Lydia leaves

Baby Lydia, who's now 5 months old and came to live with my parents the day she was born, left today. Her adoptive parents are an ECWA couple who are moving from Zaria (a few hours' drive) to Jos. Her father works for People Oriented Development (POD), the part of ECWA that concentrates on rural development. Her mom is a scientist who works in developing leather products.

Mom and I took Lydia down to the ProLife office at the hospital around 2 o'clock this afternoon. After a few speeches and two short prayers, we handed Lydia over to her parents and said farewell. Mom's heartbroken--as you can imagine--but seems to be holding up well. It seems so strange to have an empty stroller, empty carseat, empty bouncy seat, etc. I will miss little Lydia, too. I'll miss feeding her, holding her, playing with her, singing to her, rocking her to sleep. She's been such a joy to have in the family--a real sweetheart who smiles all the time and has a generally bright disposition. And after five months, even David had become attached to her! We're hoping that since Lydia's new parents are moving to Jos, we'll be able to see her for visits occasionally.

On a lighter note, David and I took another trip to the VIO office this afternoon, on a phone call tip that said I'd be able to get my photo taken. The officers are no longer on strike. But the officer in charge said I could only get my photo snapped on Fridays. Aha. Right. So our fourth trip to the VIO office was entirely unproductive. And with petrol like gold these days (see later paragraph), it was a sad waste. But nothing here works as it's supposed to, so we're really not surprised.

On the way back from the office, we passed a motorcyclist wearing a helmet--the first I remember ever seeing in Jos. Granted, it was a yellow hard hat with a visor (that was, of course, raised). But it was a helmet! Later on, we passed two men on a motorcycle, with a black dog running behind them. I thought at first the dog was local and just following, but no, he was leashed to the passenger! As we passed, the motorcycle stopped. David and I figured the man had been carrying the dog, and the dog had either fallen or jumped out of his arms. But it sure made a funny sight!

Our petrol (gasoline) situation has been increasingly dire over the past week or so. I don't follow the news, so I don't know all the details, but there apparently is a strike among the oil workers down south, which means there is no fuel available at the filling stations. What fuel is available (elsewhere, mind you) is drastically increased in price, and even then it's almost impossible to get. *sigh* Life here is never boring!