Journal

September 30, 2006
Robbers and Monkeys

It’s just another day in Lagos when you get swindled by evil money changers and have a monkey
try to climb into your car! Yesterday started off well and was a productive day, but it also turned out
to be expensive.

I got up in the morning for breakfast with Panni followed by a good run. I then took an okada to the
airport hotel and changed $200US to Naira 26,000. I hopped into a taxi to Tejeshu Market in Yaba
where I was able to buy a few small things and enjoy a couple hours walking around the fabulous
market. I grabbed a quick lunch of “spaghetti surprise” which thankfully has not reveled any
surprises, and took a taxi back to Ikeja stopping at Cane Village along the way where they have
more carvings and bought a nice one of a woman with baby on back and basket on head.

On my way to Yaba we were stuck in a go slow(traffic jam) for a while and ended up next to a big
truck. After a minute I noticed some beady little eyes staring at me and discovered a monkey
perched on the wheel cover of the truck. We made eye contact and I smiled at the cute little guy.
He must have read my good intentions and wish to rescue him and he reached out for my open
window to see if he could climb into my car. Luckily/unfortunately he was tied to the truck and
couldn’t do much more than hold onto my door. I looked around to see if I could find some
bananas to give him but there were none in sight till it was too late and the monkey truck had
turned off the road.

When I got back to Panni’s and reviewed my purchases and money remaining I discovered I was
missing 10,000 naira. I couldn’t figure out what had happened because I was very careful with the
money changers and with my bag in the market. I know the money changers are notorious so I
was trying to be extra alert and check everything. In fact they handed me the money short 500 and I
counted it twice, then gave it back to them to count and sure enough it was short so they added 1
more and gave it back to me. I gave them my money and left. I realize now that that was my
mistake, I didn’t count it a last time after they gave it back to me. They must have pocketed ½ the
money when they recounted and added 500. I feel like an idiot because I really know better and I
was really trying to be careful.

As I was traveling around yesterday I was thinking to myself that I must be crazy for leaving here. I
love this country, I love living here and I don’t know how I am going to readjust to life in Canada in
just two weeks. I guess all things happen for a reason cause after I discovered I was robbed I am
now feeling fed up and ready to go back to Canada and enjoy life where I
don’t have to change money and worry about being extra careful with everything I do!

September 29, 2006
Last Chance for Lagos

Since my Ghana trip didn’t work out due to re-entry visa problems I have ended up having a full
week in Lagos. On Monday I traveled the 9hrs south from Minna passing Ilorin to get here. It was
a smooth trek in a relatively comfortable Peugeot car.

Most of this week I have spent relaxing and hanging out with Panni. We went out one night with
our Lebanese/Syrian/Egyptian friends and last night we met up with two of Panni’s friends at a
lounge on VI. Saipan is a Chinese restaurant/bar that is fairly new. When we arrived it was pretty
quiet but it was packed when we left at 1am. The lounge was very nice and could have been in
Canada, there was live jazz music and good service.

Going out on the Island really shows a side of Nigeria that I am not too familiar with. The expat
scene. Everyone has cars and usually drivers, they are all wearing expensive clothes, and seem
to have endless money to cast around. ½ the patrons are expat and the others are Nigerians.
Many old fat white men and young gorgeous Nigerian women. Oil and gas brings most of the
expats to Nigeria and they are all heavily paid and pampered. Many have restrictions that they are
not even allowed to leave the Island! Anyhow this mix makes for fascinating people watching,
trying to figure out what country people are from and watching the interactions.

September 24, 2006
Weekend in Minna

Friday I woke early and continued my packing to prepare to leave for Minna by noon. From 7:30am
I had visitors come to say goodbye. Everyone wanted to see me off and came by for a few hours. I
had organized all my belongings that I can’t take back to Canada to give away. It was really fun to
have so much to give everyone. I gave away most of my Canadian clothing and will bring home
mostly the Nigerian clothes I had made here. There were a few moments of fighting between
people over who got what that I had to step in a settle teasing them and calling them all vultures.
It was really nice though.

At 11:30 we helped Comfort carry her gifts home and then it was time for me to go to the motor
park. Bisola, Comfort, and Abdul all decided to come along to have more time with me. We were
able to hang out for about an hour before they had to go and my car got ready to leave. By 2pm I
was on the road to Minna which should be about 4hrs. Unfortunately we had 2 flat tires but
fortunately the second one happened in a town so we could get a replacement and back on the
road. I arrived in Minna just after 7pm and took an okada motorbike to Aine’s home. She has a
really nice place and was a great host for the weekend.

Minna is a northern and very Muslim city. Saturday we went to an internet café then waited for
Kevin to arrive from Kaduna before heading to the market. We wandered around for a while and I
purchased a traditional hat before it started to rain. While we hid out from the storm in a lingerie
stall my shopping habits got the better of me and I purchased two pairs of pajamas, both of which
turned out to be too small when I got home! Then we went for a Nigerian dinner of chicken and
semovita(white sticky mound) for me, jollof rice (fried with palm oil and peppe) for them. After
dinner we headed out to the mummy market at the army base for a drink. Because of the Muslim
rules no alcohol can be sold in Minna with the exception of Federal land.

We picked a bar and ordered our drinks. I decided to try a new beer that Kevin recommended and
it was good. We only stayed for 1 drink as they eventually turned on music that was so loud we
couldn’t have a conversation. Before headed home we all needed to “take piss” (as you have to
say here). So I braved it first and went off in search of facilities. There were none and I was
instructed to use the wall at the back of the buildings which had no privacy and me in trousers
(you don’t say pants here). I wantered for a while and found a corner that looked ok but had some
broken bottles. I tried to pick my way through and though I was ok when I stepped on one and
glass sliced through my flipflop. I was lucky and only got a small cut but could have lost my toe! I
returned to the bar to find a drunk had invited himself to our table so we were all eager to escape.
After we paid and the other two took their turns behind the wall we hopped on okadas and headed
out to the main road where we could catch a share taxi back to Aine’s for a movie.

Sunday we had a relaxing morning then went to Mr. Bigg’s for lunch and accompanied Kevin to the
motor park to say goodbye. Then Aine and I went in search of the place to catch cars to Lagos so I
would know where to go early Monday for the 9hr trip south Monday morning. We then spent the
rest of the day relaxing and watching movies.

Aine has a sports field in her compound beside her house so each morning I went for a run.
There were boys playing ball with a small ball and long sticks to knock it into the goal. They were
rather amused at the Oyinbo running around and around but encouraged me along. The whole
weekend was wonderful and relaxing. I am feeling in holiday mode, very relaxed and taking it all
in. I really want to enjoy my last few weeks here and experience as much as I can.

September 17, 2006
Mouse in my house

Yes, Rat may be dead but Mouse is still at large. After a couple of corner of my eye spottings of
furry movements the past few weeks Mouse and I finally came eye to eye. I was sitting on my
couch and Mouse came wandering out from under it. Mouse looked up at me, I looked down at
mouse and there was a second frozen in time before Mouse darted back under the couch and I
jumped up to get the broom and mouse hunt.

No luck with the Mouse hunt. So I set the trap with a piece of cucumber. Later that day I say Mouse
run into the kitchen, 15 min later cucumber was gone but the trap was still set, no Mouse. Mouse
is rather cute and small and I will be sad if Mouse perishes in my trap but I have to set it anyhow
as Mouse might have disease and I don’t like Mouse droppings on my counter every morning.

I learned two new English phrases this week. The first one was from a student to told me he
would be traveling “the next tomorrow” translated that means he is traveling in two days. And one
of my teachers said to me “gain control” when I yawned. This it turns out is a common expression
like “bless you” when someone sneezes.

September 12, 2006
Update

My weekend in Kabba was really nice. I read a lot, watched a few movies and ate some great food
during the days, ran and worked out in the mornings and socialized with Noel & Leo in the
evenings. Sunday Leo, Joseph, Simon and I went for a really nice hike up a hill near their place.
Great view, check out the pictures. I also discovered what a great stomach remedy Port is for a
stomach that has had too much cheese!

Last week I saw a very amusing sign. Of course I never have my camera when I run into these
things. It was a road side stand selling fresh honey in recycled rum bottles, as they do. Below the
lined up bottles of honey was a big sign that said “Real Horney”. Priceless!

Less than 2 weeks of work left! Next Thursday I will be all finished with my class. The 21st VSO is
coming to meet with me for my exit interview, Chief declined the meeting and has appointed one
of the teachers and the temporary supervisor to attend the meeting in his place. I guess I won’t be
seeing or hearing from Chief again. On the 22nd I will travel to our south west patch meeting
which I believe will be in Osogbo on the 23rd. After that weekend I plan to come back here and
pack up my things and probably take them to Kabba. Then I hope to head to Ghana for a week
with Panni, and finally finish up by visiting Yankari game reserve in northern Nigeria.

September 6, 2006
Gone Nutty!

Have you ever had really fresh peanuts? The last few months peanuts (called ground nuts here)
in the shell have appeared everywhere. You could always buy the roasted nuts out of the shell.
They come in little bags or in recycled rum bottles salted or honey coated. But it wasn’t until
recently that nuts were being sold in the shell. I guess its nut season! Still I was avoiding them
because I am lazy and the idea of having to shell my own nut did not appeal to me. Not to mention
I really just go for the salt and you can’t get salt inside the shell right? Wrong! So wrong! It is
possible and now I am hooked. I am like a peanut addict who can’t get enough of these yummy
soggy little nuts!! I guess the secret is they boil them in salt water. It makes the nuts soft and
salty. So good! You have no idea.

Good news at work, Chief wants to keep the school running. That means that the teachers can
stay on and continue after I leave. They have both said they will stay for now and see how things
go. Unfortunately he also said he will not pay their salary any longer. That means there has to be
enough students to cover all the expenses here. With the current price and number of students
we’ve never come close to covering our expenses so it could easily mean the teachers will leave
soon if they are not getting paid. In the meantime I’ve been working on completing the class I am
currently teaching and on making sure the documentation of the program and the work I have
done is complete and ready for handover.

September 4, 2006
War, Wedding, and Waiting

I actually stayed home this weekend for the 1st time in a very long time. It was lonely not seeing
my friends but it was good to be here and get some things done. I don’t think I will spend many
more weekends here since there are so many people and places I want to see before I go back to
Canada.

Have you seen the new movie Lord of War with Nicolas Cage? It’s a harsh reality about the
selling of weapons to African and other developing countries. I watched it last weekend in Kabba.
Well walking out of my house on Saturday morning I reached the corner of my street and felt like I
was in a scene from that movie. Marching down the street in front of me was a rough brigade of
about 40 young men in rags and flip-flops with AK-47s and other large weapons. As I was fighting
oncoming panic Bisola managed to get me into a cab and tell me they are just police in training.
As our cab slowly followed the brigade down the road my thoughts alternated between wondering
if I could somehow take a picture and thinking that no matter who they are you never know who’s
about to get riled up in this country and a shoot out could break out and therefore I should really go
back home. But I sat still frozen in morbid fascination and then jumped about a foot when one of
them did fire a shot to tell someone to get out of their way! Bisola just laughed at me.

We made it safely to the wedding of her friends. Unfortunately after taking a few pictures of Bisola
and I my camera battery died so I don’t have any pictures of the actual wedding. It was my first
Nigerian wedding and my first Muslim wedding. The actual church ceremony happened in the
morning and we were attending the reception. It kicked off around noon when the MCs who I think
were individuals from the Mosque started the program. We were sat under rental tents set up
outside between buildings in a U shape. The entire 4hrs of speeches, blessings and games
was conducted in Yoruba and Arabic so I missed a lot but Bisola tried to translate some of the
jokes and more interesting points and I tried to pretend I understood. Most of the time I spent
watching the women who were cooking up a huge feast and the horny goats wandering through
the middle of the U, who were in my mind stealing the show, but no one else seemed to notice.

Throughout the presentation people would get up and give money to the MC. Twice Bislo made
me go with her to dash them. The first time was money for the MC which is how they get paid and
the second was for thanksgiving. Not sure who gets the thanksgiving? There were people in front
of us who were getting up every 5 min though; I think every time they heard something they liked?
I have no idea. I know some of the money must go to the bride and groom and lots to pay for the
reception. The dowry was presented which included a kettle and cloths. The bride was then
quizzed on the proper use of these items in a joking manner. The kettle is not meant to collect
dust decorating a shelf but is to boil clean water for washing before prayer and the wrapper is not
to be worn to cover her shoulders but to cover her whole head and neck which is now exclusively
for her husbands enjoyment.

They played a game to determine the sex of their 1st born. The bride and groom stand facing
each other with palms open while a verse is read from the Koran. When the verse is complete the
1st one to wipe the sweat from the others brow wins. The groom won therefore the 1st born will
be a boy child. Throughout the wedding there was much talk of children and blessings for
children. The main reason for marriage here is to procreate. It is so important to them, they have
a hard time understanding our culture where people marry but may wait to have children or
choose not to have them at all.

I just finished reading a very good book this week called The Poisonwood Bible that I highly
recommend. It’s about some missionaries from the southern US who move to the Congo. It
expresses so well the cultural differences that are so hard to explain. Things I have seen here
and in Uganda that I have no words to express to you. There are parts of the culture that make no
sense to us, or may seem barbaric and long outdated, but when you really get to know people and
understand where they are coming from and why practices have existed for centuries you can
begin to understand and see why to try and change them or “enlighten” with the “way it’s done
where I come from” can really do more harm than good and upset the delicate balance that
makes things work here. Anyone who is coming to work or live in Africa should read that book to
help to understand how to appreciate cultural differences.

Anyhow Sunday I had an appointment to have my hair “made”. So at 8am just as the rain stopped
I wandered down the street to my hair dresser. I told her I wanted to try something new and
something that wouldn’t take 9hrs more like 4hrs. The waiting game begins. At 4pm I have
finished my entire novel and I am still sitting in the same chair, I haven’t had lunch, nor gone to the
washroom and I am SO relieved that it’s almost finished! It was an enjoyable day though, when
you can spend a day on a porch with the locals it’s really wonderful to see how friendly and
welcoming they are.

The mother sat the entire day on the bench watching and giving small orders to her brood of about
8 children I counted ranging from about 10 – 25yrs, the oldest being my hairdresser. They
brought her food or drink or anything she wanted. She bragged to me about her 3 sets of twins
and how she wishes many twins for me. She gave me her 3 month old grandchild named Love
who I was temped to steal and bring home with me. The little angle was so beautiful. She sang
to me “Oyibo is so beautiful Eee I Eee I Oh!” to the tune of Old MacDonald Had a Farm over and
over again with the smaller children joining in. And she bought me peanuts and Pepsi. Much to
her disappointment I told her I have a boyfriend so I can’t marry any of her sons so she insisted
she will come to Canada for my wedding! She was a good time all day constantly grinning at me.