We traveled with President and Sister Dyreng up to the city of Ibadan. There are mixed opinions as to the population of Ibadan. If compared with all of Lagos State, it is probably a smaller number, but if compared to just the city of Lagos, it may be larger. It is a sprawling city that covers seven hills. What we saw of Ibadan appeared prettier than where we live because there are more trees and we saw more nice homes.
These first two pictures were taken up at the Premier Hotel. There is a nice Chinese Restaurant there, and we were going to have an early dinner on Saturday, but they were closed when we were there. So we just enjoyed the view and took a couple of pictures.
Ibadan has a larger population of Muslims than does the Lagos area. Here it is about 40 or 45% and there it is about 60% Muslim. This is one of their mosques that we drove by to get to the home that President and Sister Dyreng stay in when they are working with the missionaries or members up in that area. While staying in Ibadan, they can then travel on to other areas where the church has active branches, such as Ife, Ondo, Akure and Ilorin. They stay about 10 nights out of every month up in Ibadan. The drive from our residence in Ikeja to Ibadan can take from 2 hours to 10 hours, depending on the road conditions, traffic and police stops. It's best not to drink a large glass of water before leaving!
I was excited to see this large statue depicting the Rotary International Symbol. Rotary Clubs worldwide have done much to eradicate polio throughout the world. Rotarians worldwide donate to this cause. Kurt is a former Rotarian, and my sister, Sandra, is an active (Past-President) Rotarian!
While President and Sister Dyreng went with the sister missionaries to conduct a baptismal interview, Elder Krupp and I waited in the van next to this partially constructed home. It looks like it has been damaged by fire, but it might just be mold that makes it appear blackened by smoke. We frequently see large buildings that someone has started to construct that are just abandoned. We assume that the money ran out, but, who knows!
Since we were just sitting in the van, it was nice to observe the birds and goats that wandered by.
This is a dove, and we have the same kind living all around us in Ikeja. I hear them cooing frequently when I'm in the kitchen.
This is about the smallest bird that I have seen so far here in Nigeria. It was the size of a little finch, but was a mixture of black and gray feathers. It was hard to get a good picture of them because they were busy down in the grass going after the bugs.
This is a popular shrub that I see growing all around. I hadn't ever looked at one up close and was surprised to see all the thorns on the branches. They are pretty cute and colorful, though.
Ibadan was where our mission was based until 18 months ago when the boundaries were realigned and it became the Nigeria Lagos East Mission instead of the Nigeria Ibadan Mission. The Dyrengs then moved to Ikeja. They showed us the home they used to live in there, and it looked nice and was in a very nice neighborhood. The home they now stay in has several bedrooms and there was a senior couple there that left about 6 weeks ago. Even though it was a plenty nice home, Kurt and I cracked up at the way things were wired there in the kitchen. That's the kitchen hot water tank sitting above the range. I'm not sure what the purpose was for all the outlets there on the wall, but it's not the way things are built in our neighborhood. I had to take a picture.
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