Freedom!

My day-to-day can make me stir-crazy:  I wake up in a big house surrounded by tall walls and barbed wire, I am driven out of the gate and to work by a driver, I sit in the office, get back in the car, and return to the walled-in house.  On a normal day, then, I see three things:  the inside of the house, the inside of the car, and the inside of the office.  The only green I get is the small patch of grass alongside the house while I play Frisbee at night with my host siblings.

Yesterday, however, I broke free!  With the infamous Chris Thurlow, my SIPA classmate and fellow intern at FATE Foundation, I walked through the gates of the house, trudged through mud-puddles and past cars spitting fumes in our faces, to the popular Lagos hangout Alpha Beach. 

And we went jogging!  We got sunburnt!  We bought trinkets!  We were harassed by little kids!  Ah, it felt good.

Seriously, it was great to get a little variety and a little fresh air.  And parts of the beach were quite gorgeous.  It’s great to know that this place--the perfect antidote to daily traffic--is only a short walk from where I’m living for the summer.  

Above I’ve attached a few pictures of the beach and below are some pictures of a small church next to the ocean.  The pastor was very excited to have his picture taken and shared with others.