Rarely does my life model a reality television show, and for that, I am grateful. Shows like Jersey Shore and Real World have provided me with a baseline of behaviors in which it would be appropriate for me to request institutionalization if I ever began mimicking that lifestyle.
However, a TV channel here in Nigeria is shooting a reality show about living for a month in our hotel. Suddenly my life has become a reality show…albeit (thankfully) with less cameras.
Sarah (the other expat wife) and I saw the girls when they were ” checking in” to the hotel. It was amusing to see the takes redone over and over again. Not to mention that we felt silly being in the background and staring. It was just up on the list of highly unexpected things to happen to us. Train wreck in the front lobby and I just couldn’t turn away.
Last night, however, our reality show became more real when the group inadvertently walked into a ‘concert’ being put on for the show. The actual singing was about 28 seconds long, but there will be three very white faces staring dumbfounded in the background of this rockin’ poolside scene. In addition, we scored some CDs from the performer which I bet are just stellar.
Because free drinks were being doled out, last night’s dinner was full of a lot of laughs. I’m thankful that there is a cohort of The Hubs’ coworkers here at the hotel, who help to break up the monotony. Because of culture differences, there are a lot of instances when people are funny, if only for the unfamiliarity of it all. For instance, a small Hobbit-like man got into the elevator with us as we all retired for the evening. He hopped in at the last moment and proceeded to have his back to the door, as he pleasantly stared at all of us. When he got off at his floor, he stepped backward, had a 20 second dramatic pause and with a bow, said, ” Goodnight” as the doors closed. It was, by far, one of the most awkwardly awesome interactions we’ve had so far. All five us kept it together until the doors closed, but the giggling was probably heard as we moved to new floors.
