Carnival Dinner '07

Saturday night, about 6:15, we all piled into my parents' white Toyota station wagon and set off for the Carnival Dinner. There are so few events here in the missions community of Jos that I get excited about all of them! Every year, the 10th graders put together a fundraiser we call the Carnival. When I was in high school (does that phrase make me sound old or what?), the Carnival Dinner was part of the Carnival, put on in early March. The class not only organised a whole day of activities--mostly for children--like a fun fair, with face-painting, horseback riding, a zip line, a bouncing castle, a water slide, lots of food and prizes, etc, but they also organised a special dinner that same night, in two different seatings. It was a lot of work.

Actually, I was on furlough when my class did the Carnival, so I didn't lift a finger to help. Thank God.

A few years later, though, someone brilliant suggested the sophomores split up the dinner from the rest of the event. They could have the Carnival Dinner in the fall and the Carnival in the Spring. *ding!* What a noval idea!

So on Saturday, we went to the Carnival Dinner, put on by the sophomores--to whom I taught English for three weeks in September. I was eager to see them shine and to eat yummy Italian food.

But we got to the Hill Station intersection, about halfway from our compound to the school, and discovered complete mayhem. Now, I've seen bad traffic, and I've sat in terrible jams, but I'd never seen anything like this in Jos. We sat at the intersection--and then in the intersection--for over 15 minutes. Total chaos reigned, as cars darted and inched all around the junction. (I guess I should mention that the traffic light at this particular junction hasn't worked in at least five years.) Motorcycles rushed helter-skelter in between larger vehicles. Cars turned right and made U-turns to turn right again and by-pass the major trouble. Vehicles to our right turned left in front of us and vice versa. When David made to climb out of the car and try to bring order, we all shouted at him--kindly, of course--to get back in the car, where he was safe! Finally, some concerned and angry drivers left their cars holding belts and stood in the middle of the intersection to direct traffic or else. We carefully pulled through the junction and inched up the road on the other side, which was congested by cars doing U-turns in the middle of the street. What a nightmare!

And somehow we made it to the dinner only ten minutes late! Boy, were we hungry, and the food was spectacular. We feasted on breadsticks with parmesan cheese (which you can't get here, so it's a particular delicacy), Caesar salad (which, I'm sure, was also brought in a dressing packet from the States), lasagna, chicken parmesan with spaghetti, pizza, and afterward, brownies with vanilla ice-cream and chocolate sauce. Yum!! And to drink they served ice-cold water and chilled berry juice, plus coffee and tea, and each table was served a bottle of sparkling grape juice. WOW! Each table was decorated with red, white, or green strips of cloth, sprinkled with uncooked pasta, and sported a lit candle in a glass bottle and a vase with an Italian flag, ferms, and roses. The only thing missing was romantic Italian music--which, we heard later, had been planned but wouldn't play because of the extra-low current that evening. (We also heard that the poor sophomores had been cooking in the kitchen by candlelight!) It was the best Carnival Dinner I've been to ever, perhaps, and I'm so proud of my sophomores (and their class sponsors)! Thank you!