Abuja Jazz Club - best night out so far here!!

So how did I end up drinking red wine and dancing with some of the most important business men and government officials in a hotel conference room listening to a live jazz band……………….

Sometimes you just never know where life will take you, one chance conversation can open all kind of doors and that is just what has happened to me here in Nigeria. On my first 13 hour bus trip to Abuja I was lucky enough to have the company of 12 other lovely people and we had great conversation! One of the very lovely people was Vince, who also paid for my taxi fare and to be escorted by another female passenger as he was worried about my safety. Vince and I kept in touch and we met up in Abuja again on my next visit and he invited me to go to his members only jazz club! In England I’d find ways to say no to this invitation, but here if you don’t have an open mind you will find yourself sat alone in the dark reading my kindle by candlelight!

So of course I said yes to the invitation and took along two fellow VSO volunteers Robert and Stacey. We were rewarded with red wine for being the first people to arrive, then found out that Vince was the MC for the evening and later on found out he was a very talented bongo player! Stacey and I were awarded with our very own Abuja Jazz Club mugs:

 

 

Then the real fun began – the band were fantastic, Stacey and I were forced to sing and were held hostage until someone paid the N1,000 release fee so we could return to our seats. Being Vince’s special guest I of course was released last!

Then we danced the night away! As girls we could only dance when dancing with a man – something we only found out when Robert left Stacey and I alone when going to the toilet and we were quickly grabbed by a professor and temporarily came part of his entourage! Then I experienced the Nigerian custom of spraying – keep your minds clean – it’s the custom of showering money onto people whilst dancing!



 

 

Me and the lovely Vince!

 

 

 

 

It was so random but so much fun! The welcoming nature and kindness of people like Vince just blows me away and makes me so glad I said yes to Nigeria! 

 

One month in.....

Can’t quite believe a month has gone already, in some ways I feel I’ve been here for ages and in others it’s like I only just arrived! Nigeria has a way of making you feel so welcome it becomes home, but then it throws some interesting challenges to test you – i.e. the food and power situation!!

I have absolutely no regrets about leaving my UK life and coming here. I’m loving being on African soil and am already planning my travels for when I leave here – am planning on going to Tanzania, Zanzibar, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa between Oct-Jan for anyone who wishes to join me along the way!!!! Africa has definitely got a strong hold on my heart and desires for the moment.

Things aren’t always easy, there are still cultural issues which I’m adapting to and ways of life that are so different to our UK ways. I’ve become good at cooking and showering in the dark, pretending I can’t hear the mice squeaking in my bedroom at night, turning down dates, refusing to give out my phone number, and discussing religious issues. But this is what also makes the experience! Being in Abuja for 2 weeks in some ways was great – power, internet, supermarkets, fridges etc – but I missed the feeling of being part of a community, in some ways I could have been almost anywhere in the world. I love walking to work and having people shout good morning to me, seeing children staring at me, making people laugh just by smiling or waving at them! Whilst I most definitely am their entertainment being a strange white lady living in their community and walking to places – it makes me happy to know that seeing me makes them smile and maybe I make their day by saying hi to them. I love seeing the shock of some of the older women’s faces when they realize the person saying good morning to them in WHITE!!! People want to talk to me or spend time with me. Many times I’ve had my cab fare or a drink paid for to welcome me to their country – that’s not something that would happen in London! Overall this wins out over power and some of the other challenges here.

I’m making lots of friends here in Calabar too, there is a quite diverse population here (relative to the size) and a few other international volunteers working on primate conservation and other VSO volunteers – so often it’s a nice mixture of people when we go out. I find myself turning down invitations to go out in order to have the odd quiet night in to rest! I’ve seen more Arsenal matches here than I ever do at home, people are always amazed when I don’t want to support Man U or another team, they can’t quite understand that a woman would actively choose and support a team for 25 years so is therefore not up for swapping sides now!  I’m getting used to the enormous bottles of beer they sell here, where to buy the odd chocolate treat from, and how to dance to ‘Azuntu.’

I’m really looking forward to December. It will be nice to have some time with the other volunteers in Abuja, and to spend some time with GPI staff on our retreat. I’m also looking forward to Christmas time – it is going to be an interesting mix of people and food all celebrating at my house! Then time to chill, hike, swim and admire the beautiful scenery in Obudu and Affi afterwards. Plus I also have a parcel from England arriving soon – can’t wait!

The weekend!

Had a lovely weekend, went to the Drill Ranch on Saturday to see the Drill monkeys and to try and reserve some accommodation up in their forest – Affi Mountain for Christmas. The monkeys are an endangered species and are only found on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon. The ranch is run by an American NGO called Pandrillus and they are breeding the Drill Monkey with the hope to release a group back into the wild shortly. Affi is quite booked up so am crossing my fingers that we manage to get a spot there over Christmas!

Watched lots of football on Saturday – all the premiership matches are shown here and I can always find someone to accompany me to watch an Arsenal match!! A lot of Nigerian’s support Chelsea as they have 2 Nigerian players but there are lots of Arsenal and Man U fans too. Thankfully not too many Tottenham fans so it was a celebratory environment when we beat them 5-2! Then I experienced my first Nigerian nightclub – went out with our neighbour Phillip and two other VSO volunteers based here in Calabar, Michael and Paul. We met a few other people too, it’s so easy to make friends – I could go out every night if I wanted / could afford to! The music was good and we danced the night away til 3am!

Woke up on Sunday to see my ceiling fan moving – we had power!!!!!!! A momentous moment, so I jumped out of bed to charge all my electrical appliances and had made the most of the power by watching the boat that rocked (a funny movie) with Leanne.

 In the afternoon I went into work to join my group for this week – silvers. I’d given them an assignment to think of questions they wanted to ask me and things they wanted to know about the UK, and boy did they think of lots of questions. I was grilled on why I wasn’t married and had babies, what food we eat, what the weather was like, what clothes we wore and on the legal system! I was very proud of the girls! After my interrogation we had a lesson on human sexuality and the changes to our body and lifestyle over the years. Apparently 31-40 is when you start to get wrinkled skin, grey hair, become a grandmother, get ill more often, have backpain, and maybe early menopause – so lots to look forward to (though pretty sure the grandmother thing is off the cards!). No one here believes I’m turning 35 next month anyway, so I’m thinking of losing 10 years and going back to being 25! Can’t believe my birthday and Christmas is almost here……..  

Month of December!

So I've got THE craziest month planned in December! I've got a 5 day trip to Abuja for International Volunteer Day, then a 5 day retreat with the GPI staff, then the festivities of my birthday, christmas, Calabar carnival and a trip to the north of the state to visit Obudu Cattle Ranch and Affi Drill Ranch! Thankfully I've 2 weeks off work over Christmas to recover!

I'm pretty sure that will be followed by the January blues despite the sunshine - so lots of texts and emails will be needed! Some younger UK volunteers are arriving hopefully in January also (depending on visas), they are working at GPI through VSO so that will be a good and busy distraction for me from potential homesickness!

 

Abuja and ICT training!

Have just returned from a 2 week trip to Abuja for my In Country Training (ICT). The trip started with a 13.5 hour bus ride from Calabar to Abuja - it was on a "luxury" bus - but it was still pretty cramped and hot! But I survived and met some lovely people on the bus, in fact I was brought a drink, was accompanied to the hotel by a lovely lady who did not want me to get lost and I had my taxi fare paid for! People here are so generous and kind!

This time round Crystal Palace Hotel seemed luxurious - just two weeks in Nigeria have redefined my expectations! Having electricity, wifi, air con and a fridge was a definite novelty!

ICT was good, it was lovely meeting with my fellow volunteers, learning more about VSO's strategy and generally swapping ideas and experiences. The group was diverse with volunteers from Kenya, Holland, Canada and the UK.

My group:



Abuja:

 
Us in a local bar!

For the weekend we got to stay with 'seasoned' volunteers and I found myself with the lovely Heather and McKinley staying in their nice apartment! It was great to have some girly conversations, go shopping and hang out in the pool - almost like being on holiday! We lived next door to Gordon and Robert who were hosting Daniel and Robert, so Saturday evening we had the pleasure of amazing Kenyan food! Chipati and stew - was delicious!

I also got to visit a rural community with Heather and her organisation (EVA) and saw the peer sexual education programme for myself. At first the presence of two white girls seemed to hinder the session, but once photos of the various STIs were shown then the conversations soon began! Travelled out to the community on my first okado (motorbike taxi) - thankfully my driver went slowly and I found myself enjoying the breeze rather than being stuck in a hot bus!

The last night in Abuja was a gorgeous meal with the volunteers and VSO staff - definitely the nicest meal I've had here so far! 

Then so quickly I found myself on the long journey back to Calabar - again meeting lovely people and one gave me a lift back to the house! The journey goes through rural parts of Nigeria and the country is so much greener than I expected it to be.

 

Nigeria has a reputation for being a difficult country to travel in - which given the state of the roads it is true! But it is also important to acknowledge all the kind and helpful people who make those journeys worthwhile.

I'm back in Calabar now for 2 weeks, but I have to make that journey again in 2 weeks for the volunteer forum and celebration!!! But hopefully this time I will have the company of my fellow calabar volunteers!

Graduation day!

GPI put together a year skills programme for some girls who were no longer in school education. The programme consisted of two skills - leather sandal making and sewing. I arrived just in time to see 22 girls gradutating from the programme and hopefully beginning lives with more economic power. The ceremony was great fun - I'm beginning to see the patterns in ceremonies here, there are important social gatherings, with a 'top table' of distinguished guests!

I also benefited from the skills they learnt and have a lovely nigerian style dress made for me! I just hope I don't put on anymore weight whilst here as they like their dresses tight!!!

 

Thoughts after my first week!

In some ways it feels like I’ve been here longer than a week! The first few days were a little terrifying and overwhelming – I think the combination of many things including no sleep and the heat made it difficult at first to adjust. But since arriving in Calabar things have begun to improve everyday. The staff at GPI have been very welcoming, small things like John walking me to/from work so I could get used to the route have made such a difference. And having a lovely housemate who has helped orientate me and has been great company in the evenings when we’ve been chatting by candlelight!

I’m getting used to the cries of “white person” in their languages and everyone stopping to chat to me or want my mobile phone number! I’ve made two children cry because they were frightened of me! But mostly I’m greeted with smiles or amazement, and I’m sure both Leanne and I give the locals a lot of entertainment! People really do help and look out for you here, they want the reputation of their country to be a good one, and I’ve made some new friends already.

I’m now unpacked and more settled in the house – it’s a large house and pretty comfortable except for the lack of electricity and the fact that I’ve now woken up on two consecutive mornings to find dead cockroaches on the floor of my bedroom!

Food is a tricky issue for me too – much of the food here contains shrimp and ground nut oil is used regularly – so eating out or eating local food is becoming a real problem for me. I have to ask so many questions and be so careful before I can eat anything! I have a feeling I will be making a lot of my own food, although very limited depending on what imported goods I can get from the supermarkets! I have a feeling I will end up dreaming about food…..

Right now I feel happy that I am here and am glad I made the decision to come here! There will be some challenging times ahead and I miss my family and friends a lot, but I’m also learning a lot about life and the culture here as well as having fun!