Journal

June 28, 2006
Attack of the Mossies!

With the gift of rain and cooler temperatures comes the breading of evil killer attack mosquitoes.
In just one month the country has turned a beautiful green and everything is growing, even my
oregano and basil are growing fast. But the downside seems to be the mosquitoes and other
insects have multiplied by exorbitant amounts. On Monday night at the Internet café it was a full on
attack of the evil creatures. My lower legs are just one big itchy swollen mossie bite that is driving
me crazy. I fail to see what purpose Mossies serve on earth other than to spread disease and
drive me crazy with itching. Can’t we eliminate them all somehow?

Rat update: Rat has been spotted in Bisola’s flat and is still very large and very much at large.

June 25, 2006
Rat’s Cousin

Last night Bimpe and I were sitting in my living room when we witnessed Rat’s smaller cousin
run down the hall into the kitchen. This was followed by an inspection by flashlight of all 3 rooms
down the hall to figure out where Little Rat could be living. We did not find any evidence of a nest.
So before bed I set the trap very well with a pea.

This morning I wandered into my kitchen still half asleep to find Little Rat perished on my counter,
pea on the floor. Everyone is quite proud of me for catching Little Rat. Time will tell if Rat is still
around or if Little Rat is in fact Rat that our imaginations had doubled in size. Pictures of Little Rat
are posted in the June 2006 album.

June 24, 2006
Sanitation Day

Once a month Nigeria has Sanitation Day. Here in Ilorin it’s the last Saturday of every month. This
means you are not allowed out of your house between 7am -10am. Today was Sanitation Day so
to make it to Karate I needed to be at the Stadium before 7am. Ouch! Not easy getting up at 5:30
on a Saturday!

Sanitation Day is the day that the streets get cleaned – sort of. At 7am women employed by the
government hit the streets for 3 hrs in their brown uniforms with their short stick brooms and
begin sweeping the streets. It seems they sweep the garbage and dirt into the gutters. And in a
month’s time there is a lot of garbage because there is no garbage disposal system here, mostly
we burn our garbage. People never take their garbage home or look for a garbage can, they just
drop whatever they are finished with, or throw it out the car window, etc. It’s really one of the
saddest things I have seen here the way people don’t care about pollution and don’t think twice
about throwing their garbage on the ground.

Personally I find it hard to remember Sanitation Day. I have found myself standing on a deserted
street at 8am on a Saturday wondering in the surreal silence if I am the only person left on earth
before it sinks in that it’s the last Saturday of the month. It is nice that once a month an effort is
made to clean the streets, but the sad part is there is another set of government workers in
charge of clearing the gutters. They regularly go around with rakes scooping out the trash and
letting it rot in the streets. It would seem these two groups are working against each other!

June 21, 2006
Cold

I didn’t think it was possible, but it is. It’s afternoon and I am cold. It’s probably only about 25
degrees Celsius but I am used to temperatures over 30. After much rain and cold nights I broke
down today and bought a blanket so I don’t loose any more sleep shivering. I wanted a pretty,
furry, cozy blanket like I bought in Uganda but they are bigger and heavier here and cost 8000
($80) money I don’t have. So I ended up with a small wool “student’s blanket” for only 700 naira.
For those of you not well versed in Nigerian climate we don't have 4 seasons we have 2: Dry &
Rainy. This is the rainy season and July is the rainiest month.

True to my shop-a-holic tendencies I could not escape Oja market with just the blanket. On my
way out I was tempted by some fabric (900) and a small purse (120). So now I have a small
purse for when I don’t want to carry my big Canada bag around and another Nigerian dress being
made.

Last weekend I went to Kabba for some relaxation. The Fathers had a workshop so I only saw
them at meals and after 9pm. But that was perfect for me, I spent most of my time relaxing and
reading. Their dog had puppies a month ago, a surprise to everyone including Buffy the mom
who is only 2yrs and didn’t know what to think when they arrived. But Buffy, so named for being a
slayer of many of their neighbor’s animals, has reformed to become a loving and careful mother. I
was really hoping I will be able to have one of the puppies in August when I return from Canada,
but when we went to check on them Sunday morning another one had died leaving only 3 so I don’
t know if I will get one.

It’s hard to think about what to write about these days. Not many things feel new or surprise me
anymore as I am so acclimatized. Although I am sure my daily life would seem strange and
shocking to you it’s hard for it to feel very interesting to me now. I am really looking forward to my
time at home in July. I think the break will do me good and I can return with a refreshed outlook.

Notes from the kitchen: No sign of rat, oranges are in season, pineapple & avocado are finishing.
Tangellos (cross-breed of orange and tangerine) are just beginning to reappear.

PS. Happy Birthday Dad and happy anniversary Cindee & Brad!

June 10, 2006
Tea Party

Today was a great day, real coffee, shopping, pampering, and wrapping up with an impromptu tea
party! It was also a great day because I got to tell my friends that I am coming home for 3 weeks
in July. Even thought I am returning for a medical procedure the upside is getting to see everyone.

Since I finally got the things Kim left for me in Lagos, including a Bodum coffee press, I was able
to make my first real coffee using the Fair Trade grounds sent to me from my friends in Wales.
Real coffee is a great way to start the day. Then at 10am my friend Bimpe and I hit the town to find
me some shoes. It turned into one of those shopping trips where you end up with everything but
what you are looking for!! I got a new DVD, some cheese and ham from the supermarket, 2 pairs
of shoes, and 4 swatches of material to have outfits sown. I have been out of the shopping loop
for a while but once I get into it my true shopaholic tendencies return all too quickly.

While I was sick I think I watched too much Sex in the City cause I ended up with a pair of pink
heels and I am not a shoe person! I am very excited to get my outfits sown but I spent all my extra
cash today so I will have to wait a bit. The cheese and ham was on my friends in Kelowna who
send me a cheese fund since my packages are all still missing.

After the shopping I was just resting and the girl who does the henna tattoos came by so I got
flowers painted on my feet. Since she also had a basket of nail polish I ended up having my toes
and fingers painted as well. Such great pampering. When she finished there was a big rain
storm and it was cold so along with Bimpe & Wumi, my neighbors, we went to hide in my sitting
room where it was warm. You should have seen them all huddled in their sweaters shivering! I
was still warm. After a while Tosin & Bola came in from the pay phones and they were both
shivering from being in the rain. So I decided to make everyone tea to warm them up. It went over
great and everyone ended up asking to take home samples of my fruit herbal teas. It’s a good
thing I am going home so I can restock!

The evening wrapped up with a Rat spotting when we returned our dishes to the kitchen. After
cleaning up all the girls went home and left me finish off a great Saturday with my book.

June 7, 2006
Being Sick

Being sick is never fun, being sick far from home is even worse and it’s usually the time I feel the
most home sick. Well this is the sickest I have been and the least homesick. The support and
warmth of everyone has been overwhelming.

As I mentioned before, when I was still in good spirits being it was only my second day with a
cold, I wasn’t feeling well. It’s almost 2 weeks later and I am still sick. The cold lasted a week
and when it seemed to get better I was able to go to Kabba for our weekend patch meeting. It was
lovely to see everyone and the meeting went well. I was even nominated to be the new patch
leader. But Sunday on the way home I started to feel quite sick again, completely exhausted and
achy with a migraine and I never get headaches.

Monday Bisola took me to the hospital to see her doctor. He took my blood pressure, asked my
symptoms and prescribed antibiotics for my cough a malaria treatment and multivitamins. I
insisted I wanted a test for malaria so we went to find a lab and have my finger pricked – blood on
a slide and told to return for results in two hours. Bisola returned to get the results for me and
they were negative. But since I had started vomiting the doctor recommended I take the malaria
treatment anyhow. So Bisola brought home the drugs for me.

Everyone around here has been great, if even a little too great! They each have their own medical
advice to force on me. Such as telling me I can’t have my fan on which I object to since its 31
degrees and I feel like I am melting. Or telling me that room temp water is too cold to drink that I
should only have hot water. I have had more visitors in the past 3 days than in my entire time here
I think! In this culture when you get sick everyone feels they must come pay their respects and
check on you. It’s so different from home where when you are sick everyone leaves you alone to
get better. Yesterday I finally had to put a “please do not disturb” sign on my door so I could get
some sleep. It is really great to know everyone cares and that if I need anything they are eager to
help.

Add to that the support of my volunteer friends who are all texting and calling to make sure I am
ok. I had Panni email the Canadian VSO doctor to ask about the drugs I was given to make sure it
was ok. He then called me from Canada to see how I was doing. Dr Mark Wise really goes above
and beyond to help us. I have really appreciated his help with several issues. All his work for us
is volunteer, its people like him who really help out us volunteers who frequently have medical
issues while we are overseas.

Anyhow I think yesterday was the worst of it, today I am feeling much better although very weak.
We have no idea what was wrong with me, its unlikely malaria since I am very good with my daily
anti-malarials. I am just thankful that I am surrounded by such great caring and supportive people.