Journal

March 31, 2006
A Furry Roommate

This week at work has been the most successful yet. Yesterday during non-class time almost all
the computers were filled with students coming in on their own time to practice and learn more. It’
s really great to see them finally taking some initiative and responsibility for their training. In the
beginning it was like they all just expected us to spoon feed them the material and *presto* they
would be computer geniuses. They’ve since realized it’s not that easy and they are learning to
use their brains and think and try.

To see all the computers being used and people eager to learn is so rewarding for me. At this
point when I was having doubts about this placement it is really encouraging for me. It’s been
slow to get things going here but I hope that another 6 months from now the computers are being
used all the time and the classes are packed.

Last night around 10pm I was just finishing up watching the movie “The New World” (the worst
movie I’ve seen this year). The power had been on and off and at this point it was on so I could
see my living room clearly. I watched in disbelief as a large furry creature ran from either under
the couch or under the door to the hall into my kitchen. For a full minute I kept telling myself, it’s a
geko or lizard…but shortly after that reality set in. THERE IS A RAT IN MY KITCHEN!!!!!!! And of
course as soon as I accepted this the power went off leaving me in complete darkness.

The first think I could think of was Kim’s mouse and how scared she was and how I was so brave,
hunting all over for the mysterious creature making noises in the night. But this time I wasn’t
feeling brave at all. I realized I am just as scared as Kim and my bravery was all a show to try and
calm her. So I tried calling Jen, in Canada, because telling her about my rat just seemed the only
thing to do at the time, but she didn’t answer. So then I text Kim to complain she wasn’t around to
help me. And finally I got brave and off the couch downstairs to get Bisola and a lantern to escort
me to the kitchen.   She came carrying a big stick and we braved the kitchen. I was able to put my
fruit in the fridge then we shut the door locking Rat in for the night.

So today there is no sign of Rat. But I am sure tonight Rat will return. Tomorrow I plan to
thoroughly clean my kitchen and ensure there is no treats for Rat in hopes Rat will decide to move
to a new home. If Rat doesn’t get the hint I’ll have to try the rat poison the guys carrying dead rats
by their tails walking down the street are always trying to sell me.

March 29, 2006
Solar Eclipse

For the past few weeks the media has been publicizing the solar eclipse happening today. They
have been telling everyone that it is coming and that it is normal and not to be afraid it’s not the
end of the world. Despite their efforts when the eclipse happened, about 15min ago, just after
10am, my staff all went wild. As it started getting darker and darker they started getting tense and
nervous. By the time it happened they were all jumpy and running around and peeking at it like
little kids saying they are scared. All the shops on the street closed down and everyone is hiding
indoors. Then the power went out and everyone is blaming the eclipse. I’ve trying to tell them all
that this is normal, nothing to be afraid of and that it has nothing to do with the power outage, that’
s just the same old problems as usual. Well 15min later and now the power is back and
everyone is back to normal. I’m sure they have had eclipses before so it’s interesting to see that
they are still so afraid of something because they don’t understand it.

Two new items has appeared in my local market, mangoes and “pears”. I was excited when I
saw the pears cause I thought hey! Avocado! To which they assured me I was wrong they were
pears. So I took one home and tried it out. Yup an “Avocado Pear”. So I am enjoying mango and
avocado season. I am also back into the swing of things today. Where on Monday I was thinking I
really want to leave today teaching just feels so good that I can’t imagine leaving. Power has been
pretty good and the classes are’t using up all our computers yet so today I rounded up 3 little
children ages 4-9 and sat them down in front of MS Pant and taught them to use the mouse. It
was fun. And it gave the staff the idea that we could teach a children’s class during the 3 week
school break that is coming up in a few weeks. So we put together and plan and it looks like we
are going to run with it!

March 26, 2006
Census Travels

The conference in Abuja went ok and wrapped up with dinner at the British High Commissioner’s
residence Friday evening. It was really great to see all the volunteers again and to meet the new
arrivals. Just being able to have normal conversations and relax with people is so nice. When I
am home in Ilorin I forget what it’s like. After 2 weeks now of being with friends I know the next
week is going to be hard for me to get used to again.

After the dinner at he High Commissioner’s a group of us headed to PW Camp to join a St. Patrick’
s day party in full swing. PW is an Irish Construction company and the camp is where they live.
They have the 2nd best Irish bar in Nigeria (the 1st being Hillie’s Bar in Kabba with the priests)
We were all invited by Leo & Noel, the Kabba boys to join the party. Let me tell ya the Irish know
how to celebrate! It was a lot of fun, there was a live Irish band playing popular tunes, then an
open make for anyone drunk enough to tell stories, jokes, or sing. Myself and a few girls got
roped into being backup singers for a guy doing a great Elvis impression. There’s a pictures from
the party posted.

Saturday I moved into Kim’s hotel room since she was paid up for an extra day to participate in the
leavers forum. I spent most of the day enjoying the A/C and TV and that evening I went out with a
new friend Mark, a British Expat I met earlier in the week. Sunday Kim and I moved over to
Gaudium et Spes Institute, Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, and home of Father Callistus a friend of
Kim’s where we spent the night. Kim and Fr. Went to afternoon mass while I went for a final trip to
park n Shop to buy more cheese and bread to take home. That evening Fr. Callistus took us out
for dinner at the Hilton buffet. It was great, I don’t think I even managed to get to the hot food, I
filled up of cheese and cold meats and deserts!

Monday bright and early Kim and I headed 4hrs south to Kabba so she could see it and meet the
Kabba boys, on Tuesday we traveled to Ilorin. In Ilorin on Wednesday I gave Kim a tour of the town
and my life here. We also discovered that Chief had stayed on for a week while I was gone ad
made lots of changes here, including relocating my office and changing everything I set up. Mostly
this was disappointing as Chief was supposed to be at the conference with me working on
setting goals for the next year.

The reason Kim and I were gallivanting, and not working, is they are conducting Census 2005,
yes, it’s a little late. So from Tuesday the 21st to Saturday the 25th all work is cancelled and
everyone is supposed to stay home. The president then declared that Friday and Saturday were
national holidays and all transportation was stopped. For this reason Kim and I planed to leave
Ilorin on Thursday to be stranded in better places. I decided to go to Kabba and Kim back to
Lagos. Unfortunately when Hakeem took us to find buses at 6am there were none going to
Lagos so I took Kim hostage and we both headed off to be refuges in Kabba.

Kevin and his sister visiting form Liverpool also made it to Kabba on Thursday, and Jaz a friend of
Noels was there so the 7 of us had a relaxing few days enjoying each other’s company and all
Kabba has to offer.

This morning was sad, time for goodbyes. Kim left for Lagos around 6am and we had to say our
final farewell. She’s been my closest friend here and it’s hard to believe she is leaving April 1. I
can’t believe 6 months is up already! She will be going back home to Huston Texas and back to
her job. And I will miss her.

Now I am home in Ilorin. On my way home I stopped at Royal’s fast food and much to my surprise
found two white men there. The first I’ve seen in my 3 months here so I decided to introduce
myself. They are Lebanese and work for a construction company here. They were very kind and
gave me a ride home and offered to show me around to some of the restaurants and
supermarkets any time I ask them.

This week I know it’s going to be tough getting back into the swing of things. I’m going to be
missing my friends and adapting to the changes that happened while I was gone. I also just
found out the census is extended 2 days, today and Monday so there won’t be work tomorrow
which is good as it will give me extra time to prepare for this weeks classes.

Next week there is a meeting arranged with Chief, myself, & VSO here in Ilorin. I am rather
nervous about it. It will be to see if Chief is wanting to work together in a partnership with VSO and
myself to improve this placement or if it would be better for me to move to another placement. I
am on the fence on this one. There are many reasons I want to stay here and there are reasons
that it may be better to try somewhere new so right now it’s just wait and see how it goes.

March 13, 2006
Harmatan

When I wrote earlier I forgot to mention that we are now experiencing a very late Harmatan.
Harmatan is when the dust comes down from the Sahara desert and fills the air. It cools off, but
you are also constantly breathing dust. It’s making me very sniffy and giving me a headache. I’ll
try and get a picture that shows how thick the air is. You can’t see much more than a few blocks
ahead then everything is “fogged” in.

Harmatan is usually expected in December so it is very later this year. It’s also strange cause the
rains had seemed to be starting. I think the seasons are changing all over the world. Welcome to
global warming.

Today continued in Abuja with a visit to the VSO office to drop my bag then 3 unsuccessful
attempts to get money from my Visa or MasterCard. A very yummy shwarma for lunch a couple
hours reading at VSO, then off to Hotel De Horizon to check in. After getting settled I walked the
short distance to Park n Shop supermarket scanned prices and bought some bread and cheese
to have for breakfast the next two days. Then I walked to AJ’s and had a very yummy real pizza.

Good thing I am getting lots of exercise back in Ilorin with all the food enjoyment this week!! I’m on
“holiday” so I am splurging on the things I can’t get back home. Well time to enjoy a little TV treat.
Good night.

March 13, 2006
A Whole New World

Holidays!!!! Well sorta, I’m not actually on holiday time, but I am in a holiday mood. I am in Abuja,
the Capitol of Nigeria taking care of business and attending a conference later this week. At the
moment I am at the Sheraton Hotel, sitting by the pool “stealing” wireless internet and not feeling
the least bit of guilt about it. In fact I am thrilled!!!

Saturday morning I decided to pack up and head to Kabba for some quiet time and a visit with the
Kabba Boys (Irish Priests). They had a workshop happening so I was on my own to relax, read,
and watch TV. It was great, I love their place it’s such a peaceful escape. And it turned out they
were also headed to Abuja so they gave me a ride yesterday (Sunday). Definitely a treat to travel in
an air conditioned vehicle rather than public transport. And when we arrived in Abuja they treated
me to Lebanese food, yum!

Traveling this weekend I was struck again by all the un-occupied space this country has. You can
drive for miles and not see anything but bush and trees. It’s so different from Uganda where every
piece of land seems occupied or planted. People don’t like to be farmers here, everyone is
moving to the cities. In fact the government has started bringing in Africans from other countries to
be farmers here!

Arriving in Abuja yesterday was like landing in a foreign country. It is so different from the rest of
Nigeria. All these big clean modern houses. All buildings seem to be on a large scale.
Everything is paved and clean and well spaced. Traffic lights and well planted decorative trees
and flowers. It’s so modern, it’s like I am not in Africa anymore! Add to that the air conditioned
vehicle, the fancy dinner, and staying at Marebec’s place last night where there was AC and
running water, and now I’m at the Sheraton!!! It’s all just too good to be true. Like I’ve landed in
paradise.

Tonight & tomorrow I am booked into De Horizon hotel. Today I plan to just hang out, find a bank
where I can use my Visa to get money, and maybe do some shopping for things I can’t get in
Ilorin. Tomorrow I have a doctors appointment in the morning, a meeting with my VSO program
Officer to discuss my placement, and then I think I’ll hit the pool at the British club! Wednesday I
move to the Royal hotel where the conference will be taking place Thursday and Friday. Friday is
St. Patrick’s day and the Irish Priests have promised a really good party at an Irish hangout so am
looking forward to that.

...Ok I take it back! My time here at the Sheraton enjoying "free" Internet turned out to be not so
free. My coke cost 400 Naira!!! (thats $4) Usually a coke costs 30naira, so this is like a 400%
markup!! I usually pay 60naira for an hour of Internet. But I still enjoyed my time here, so I
suppose it was worth it.

March 8, 2006
Gone Postal

Although I have received a few packages since I arrived, there are still just as many that are
missing somewhere in Postal Wonderland. Last week a package my mom sent in October was
returned back to her. I’m glad it found it’s way back, but sad it didn’t find me!

So today I decided I would go to the Post Office, ask for the manager, and try to make friends. I
was hoping that this would improve the delivery service. Well Mr Customer service did not want to
let me see the manager, he was really sure that no one could help but me. So eventually I gave
up on the manager and explained to him the problem.

I gave him a piece of paper where I had written that I had 3 packages sent to my address, as
shown, they were from the US and Canada and sent Dec 29th and Feb 13th and are missing. He
assured me that they did not arrive otherwise they would have been delivered or I would have
been summoned to collect them. I convinced him that we should check very well that they were
not in the back somewhere. So 1st we checked with the lady who manages packages where the
address could not be found. She was sure that there was nothing for me. Next we checked
packages waiting to be delivered or just arrived, nothing. Then Customs – nope. He told me that
there was no where else to check, that there was no way to trace an un-registered package. I
gave him my saddest face and asked him what advice he can give me to have better luck with
future packages. He told me that there’s not much, everything is correct, his only advice is
registered mail. So I just kept looking really sad ad finally convinced him to go back in and check
again. Sure enough he poked his head out of a room 20min later and gave me a smile and nod!
Yippy!!! My face lit up.

Another 15min went by and he told me to go back around front to claim my package, they had
found 1 of the 3. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough money on me to collect it so I had to go home
and come back again. The whole process took me an hour and a half. But I am happy to report
that I received my December package from Tamara that contains lots of books to read, wipes,
ziplocks, and hot chocolate.   I am very excited about having more reading material as I had run
out of books and buying new ones is too expensive to do often.

I also am now well known at the post office. Everyone knows my name and to watch for packages
from me. And I know to go at least once a month and who to check with to find the packages for
me. I am very glad that progress has been made and I don’t have an excuse now to go Postal!

On a cultural note related to this story: Whenever I go anywhere people seem obsessed with
having me sit down. If I am shopping, at the bank, at the post office, or waiting for anything people
are always insisting I sit. I prefer to stand, I sit most of the day in the office and I find it’s cooler to
stand. But they seem to almost get offended if I don’t take a seat. Today I was waiting for the guy
looking for my package and was offered a seat over and over. I managed to persuade about 7
people that I was happy standing till one really insistent man came a long and asked me to sit..
When I turned him down he said “Madam, I beg of you, Please Sit!” He had this really serious
tone and look on his face so I obeyed and everyone around seemed to nod and relax. I think it
has something to do with being a guest, or being polite or something, I am yet to really
understand. But it seems I am destined to be the “sitting girl” no matter what I prefer.

March 4, 2006
The Usual Questions

Well sure enough after 32hrs with power we had 24 without. Today is seems to be back to
normal, on a bit then off again. Unfortunately I was not correct about the rain storm helping the
well. It was still dry and has been for about 4 days now. It doesn’t seem to be filling up over night
anymore like it used to. Luckily the rainy season should be here by the end of March and it should
fill up again. For now I have been having a girl from the neighborhood fetch me water from
somewhere down the road.

Last night I spent over 3hrs at the Internet café trying to upload my site and gave up after their
connection died for good around 8:30pm. Since it was a Friday night I decided to treat myself to
Mr Biggs (Fast food) I had spaghetti surprise. The surprise came when I opened it and
discovered it also had a piece of fried chicken in the container! Needless to say I was happy to
enjoy the chicken despite it’s very spicy coating.

After I finished eating and watching a little MTV Base (MTV from South Africa) I headed out front to
catch a taxi home. After a bit an okada(motorbike) pulled up and wanted me to get on, I told him
no because I am wearing a dress. He kept insisting it was no problem and didn’t want to go
away. I finally agreed and as I hopped on he said “Amilegbe” which is the name of the area I live.
I was surprised but decided to see where he took me. Well I ended up on my doorstep without
giving any instructions. I guess he must be from my neighborhood, or he’s one of the few riders
who has given me a ride before.

…break…March 5, 2006 now…

Saturday afternoon, after Karate, Hakeem took me to find a supermarket. I’ve run out of a lot of the
packaged food products that I brought with me from Lagos such as peanut butter, mayonnaise,
mad cow cheese, ketchup, etc. So off we went on his motorbike to see what we could find. Most
Nigerians don’t shop at these sort of places or eat this kind of food so no one seems to know
where the supermarkets are, but we had an idea of the general area. We found 3 different
markets and between 2 of them I was able to find most of what I was looking for. I even splurged
and got one of those packs of mini-cereals, the sugary kinds that we used to take on camping
trips when I was a kid.

The rest of the weekend wasn’t too exciting I relaxed and ate unhealthy food Saturday night then
Karate again Sunday morning. After karate I went to the bakery for bread and bought a pizza for
Bisola since it’s her birthday. Later Sunday afternoon I was invited down for some food with a
group of her friends who had arrived. They were all men and I swear jaws almost dropped when I
walked in and sat down with them. For the next hour or so I chatted with them and answered all
the usual questions.

The usual questions:
1. How do you find Nigeria/Ilorin/Kwara?   I like it here, I am enjoying it.
2. Do you mind the heat? I like it hot, I am enjoying the heat.
3. What country are you from? Canada – this is always followed by discussion about where
Canada is, in the end I am sure most still have no idea.
4. I like your country, I would like to go there with you? I’m sorry I can’t take anyone back with me. It
is very far and so expensive for a plane ticket that I can’t even afford it myself.
5. Are you married/Where is your husband? No, I’m not married; I don’t want to get married. (This
is followed by shock and confusion, which is why I enjoy saying it)
6. Will you marry a black man? I will marry a man I am in love with, it doesn’t matter his skin color,
but again I am not looking to get married.
7. Do you take our food? Yes, I enjoy eating Nigerian food, I take pounded yam.
8. When will you return to your country? I am here for 2 years, but then I don’t know where I will go.
10. Can I have your number? No, I am sorry I don’t give out my number, it’s for work and
emergency only. This is usually followed by pleas and further discussion.

March 2, 2006
Water & Power

If there is any two things you can depend on here to be consistently unreliable it’s water and
electricity! So imagine my surprise that I have had power now for over 24hrs!! It’s funny because
rather than us all being happy about it we are all worried what it means as this is so unusual. I
keep thinking that they are going to turn it off soon once we used it all up and then we won’t have
any power for like 2 days. One of my teachers thinks that people have refused to pay since they
haven’t been giving us power, but I think that is unlikely.

Another theory is that when there is water, there is more power. Yesterday we had a big storm, it
only lasted about 30 minutes but there was a lot of water left behind. I was happy because it really
cooled down and also it is positive for my well which was dry again yesterday. So perhaps with
the rain we get more power? This seems backwards to me as in Canada when there are huge
storms like this where the wind is bending trees over and roofs are flying away and the water is
pounding and flooding it’s usually the time when we HAVE power outages.

So far the 2 classes we are teaching are going well. I am remembering how much I love
teaching. As far as work goes I think it’s what I enjoy doing most. I get so much joy out of helping
someone learn something new and seeing them succeed at it. Today I got to practice my
managerial skills which do not come as easy for me as teaching. I observed one of my teachers
classes and he made quite a few mistakes. My instinct is just to sit down and go through the
mistakes right away. But from my management training I know that there’s better ways to present
bad news. So instead of talking to him right away I told him “well done, you can go for a lunch
break now” cause I know he was hungry and teaching is exhausting. Then I took my lunch too,
time to relax, and time to try and come up with some positive feedback for him to add to the
improvements that are needed. So after lunch we sat down to go through my notes and I used the
sandwich theory, good-bad-good, leaving on a positive note. I was worried about him feeling I am
picking on him or something but I think it went well in the end. He smiled and thanked me so I
hope that’s a good indication.

March 1, 2006
School Begins

On Monday classes began at the training center. We have 8 students so far, 5 in the morning and
3 in the evening. I’ve been teaching the morning class from 11-1pm with the teachers observing
and assisting then one of them takes the evening class and teaches a repeat of the same
material. So far I have been lucky and there has been power during my classes. For the evening
class we had to turn on the gen for about 45min the 1st night and last night power lasted till about
2 min before the end of class.

Most of my students have either never used a computer before or only a very few times. They
range in age from about 16 to about 25 I’m guessing, 3 girls, 2 boys. There is 1 who is a fast
learner and she is always racing ahead, 1 who is very very slow, and the other 3 are about the
same, beginners but catching on smoothly. I’ve been pacing the class to them, trying to give the
advanced girl extra work so she doesn’t get board, and having one of the teachers always
watching the slow learner and giving her extra attention.

I arranged the class schedule so that there is an hour between each class (when we have a full
load) for lab time. About ½ of the students have been taking advantage of this by either coming
early or staying late and practicing. There is always 1 of us there to ensure we can assist them
and answer their questions.

It’s great to finally be teaching. The days go so much faster and are much more satisfying. Still to
justify staying in this placement we will need to get more students and take a look at how the
school is run. At this time I don’t feel I am doing much that my 2 Nigerian teachers could not
accomplish on their own. This afternoon one of the teachers and myself are going to hit the
streets and pass out flyers and see if we can round up some more students.