Wow, this past week was crazy! There was an over abundance of challenges and interesting experiences. I'll have to write about this weeks in parts because there are so many stories to tell.
I went on a week long trip to Okene, Kogi state with a Christian organization called Family Care. They do these outreaches every couple months providing free medical to villages that otherwise would get good healthcare. Another girl, Ruth, and I went together and had a very busy week. She was their to photograph and I worked in the theater (OR to all us Americans). We spent Sunday night in Abuja and one of the leader's (Artero's) house and then drove to Okene Monday morning. Family care had already been there for a couple days trying to get the hospital ready, cleaning it and stocking it with all the needed medical equipment (a lot of which they donated at the end of the week). We stopped at the hospital first just to have a look around. There were so many people we could hardly pull into the gates. When people hear about free medical care they come by the thousands. Some will wait there for the entire week hoping to get a chance for free care.
Here's a broad idea of how it works. There's one person, Solomon, handing out medical cards. Without that card you can't be seen by the doctors. Solomon was mobbed and chased daily. People can get pretty aggressive so we had police with us who helped manage the crowds. With a card you would see the general practitioners who would treat, prescribes meds, or refer them the dental, theater, or optometrists specialists. If they needed surgery, they'd have to wait in a long line again for to be seen. I'm not certain how the dental and eye areas worked- I spent all my time in the theater- but I know a lot of people who had been suffering for years were healed. More about that later...
Monday after noon, Ruth and I got settled in the hotel and I went back to the hospital to jump right into things. They suited me up in a pair of large scrubs, put some flip flops on me (yes, flip flops to do surgery!), and sent me in to watch an inguinal hernia repair. I think how the Nigerian surgeons described it was pretty accurate; they said this is "jungle medicine". You do what you can with what you have in the surroundings you're given. There were 2 theaters, one of which was maybe the size of an OR room in the US and the other about half the size of a US OR room. The first room had 5 operating tables and the second had 3. You would literally be standing back to back with surgeons from the other tables. There was no running water and the electricity didn't work at all times. Even if it did work the lighting was terrible and one table was always in the shadows. Each room had one table full of "sterile" equipment with one scrub nurse attending to all the surgeries that were happening. Those poor nurses were running like mad to fulfill all the doctors demands. The doctor's didn't have it so great either. Majority of the surgeries were done with local anesthetic, only major surgeries got an epidural. Thankfully they had medication to knock out the children. It was shocking to me that none of them were given oxygen or intubated during these procedures, and I can only remember 2 patients who were given transfusions. Almost every surgery I saw in the US, the patient was knocked out and intubated. Here one patient was cut open from sternum to navel and was completely awake. When she looked at me, I didn't know quite what to do. I wanted to say something but what would I say? I felt like "So, how's it going?" wasn't exactly appropriate so I was kind of thankful we didn't speak the same language.
So, one after the other patient's were brought into the two rooms and the surgeons just cranked through surgeries. I forget the exact number but it was about 180 they did in one week, which I thought was impressive. That's not including any of the eye or dental surgeries. Some of the most amazing stories came from the eye surgeries. One man had been blind since a young age; he was now 30. He went home last week being able to see. There were so many miraculous stories like that. The thing I really like about Family Care is that they not only give this free medical care, they take time to minister to the people. Okene is predominately Muslim so they did a lot of talking about Christ to people. I think Josh (the head of Family Care) said that they were able to speak with 5,000 people, some of whom came accepted Christ. I love one story of a woman. They talked with her and she said she had accepted Christ as her Saviour. To show her sincerity in this she broke the fast of Rahmedan (that's probably not spelled right...) in front of many Muslim people by drinking water. Her family could cast her out for that. I admire her boldness; it could only came from a heart truly changed by God.
So, that's us as brief as possible overview of my week. I'll write so more specific stories in the following blogs to come! And, I feel like I've made a habit out of saying this, I have pictures of the week but I'll have to upload them to facebook sometime...when I have more time...which could be awhile!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Kids Camp
So, this past week was the camp and over 100 kids showed up. It started Monday afternoon and just finished up today. I was a hut leader and camp nurse. We had the opportunity to stay over night but I only did once since my apartment was only 20 minutes away. Plus, tomorrow I'm headed for a week long medical outreach trip near Abuja. Anyways, I was really impressed with how well put together things were and on such a small budget. There was morning praise & worship, Bible time, craft time, sports in the afternoon, and programs at night. Even the food was impressive, at least I thought so. I remember what camp food was like when I went as a kid, rubbery eggs and questionable casseroles. The meals here were basic dishes- a starch with some type of sauce- but it had to be made from scratch every day so it was always fresh. Nigerians really love spicy foods and I could only handle so much. Plus, they gave out huge portions. I usually gave at least half my meal away.
My part in camp was basically to stick with my hut of girls unless someone got hurt or sick. There was a pretty even split in my time between the two things. I cleaned a fair amount of scraped knees and gave out meds for stomach and headaches, both of which seem to be fairly common here. Probably due to the fact that they don't drink enough water and if they do, it's not filtered. Camp having fallen during my time in Jos turned out to be sort of a blessing because it really helped me get connected with the kids. Going to Gyero to paint brought me to where they lived but didn't necessarily help me build relationships. I think I may have said this before but the kids here really are confident. The first day I got out of the car they come running up to you saying, "Aunty, Aunty! What is your name?". And pretty much anytime I sat down there was someone messing with my hair or grabbing whatever I had in my hands. You get to know them pretty fast although that doesn't mean I could remember all their names. There were so many repeated or similar names. In my hut I had two Mercy
I got fairly close with some of the girls in my hut. It doesn't take much, though; if you spin them around a couple times they'll love you for life. There were a lot of strong personalities and energy in my group, which made for some interesting times, but we came out of it without major issues. With a group of about 15 middle school/junior high girls, I feel like that's an accomplishment. One of the girls from my group, Joy, had a collision the first day in morning exercises and cut her face. I cleaned it for her and we were buddies ever since. I'm sure she has parents but if I could take her home with me I would! Her face would light up every time she laughed and you couldn't help but smile with her. I made friends with a couple of the boy as well. Daweng taught me some soccer tricks which I failed miserably at. Everyone here is good at soccer. Even if they've never played before they pick it up fast. It's in their blood or something...same with dancing. These kids, and the adults too, all have incredible rhythm. The first night I stayed over they had some of the Aunties and Uncles (adult leaders) come up in front of the kids and dance to some songs. I was called up a couple times, one where it was just me and older Nigerian woman dancing. Originally it made me a little nervous to get up there but once you started dancing you were having to much fun to even worry about it. I tried to take some pictures at camp but it was a struggle for a couple reasons. First, I just don't care much for taking pictures. Second, if you take out a camera you will have kids all over you trying to take the camera or asking you to "snap" them.
Each hut split up everyday to discuss the Bible lesson that one of the Uncles had given in the morning. I really liked the way they had the lessons progress. There were ones about forgiveness or being a faithful servant. Each day kind of set the stage for today's final Bible lesson which was geared toward salvation. A fair amount of kids accepted Christ today, and I truly believe that most understood and meant it. A lot of these kids come from difficult backgrounds and none of them have cushy lives. Some have lost their parents from sickness and others have 3 sets of torn clothing. It's no doubt God's hand in their lives that they aren't given over to the anger and hardness that would come so easily with their situations.
My part in camp was basically to stick with my hut of girls unless someone got hurt or sick. There was a pretty even split in my time between the two things. I cleaned a fair amount of scraped knees and gave out meds for stomach and headaches, both of which seem to be fairly common here. Probably due to the fact that they don't drink enough water and if they do, it's not filtered. Camp having fallen during my time in Jos turned out to be sort of a blessing because it really helped me get connected with the kids. Going to Gyero to paint brought me to where they lived but didn't necessarily help me build relationships. I think I may have said this before but the kids here really are confident. The first day I got out of the car they come running up to you saying, "Aunty, Aunty! What is your name?". And pretty much anytime I sat down there was someone messing with my hair or grabbing whatever I had in my hands. You get to know them pretty fast although that doesn't mean I could remember all their names. There were so many repeated or similar names. In my hut I had two Mercy
I got fairly close with some of the girls in my hut. It doesn't take much, though; if you spin them around a couple times they'll love you for life. There were a lot of strong personalities and energy in my group, which made for some interesting times, but we came out of it without major issues. With a group of about 15 middle school/junior high girls, I feel like that's an accomplishment. One of the girls from my group, Joy, had a collision the first day in morning exercises and cut her face. I cleaned it for her and we were buddies ever since. I'm sure she has parents but if I could take her home with me I would! Her face would light up every time she laughed and you couldn't help but smile with her. I made friends with a couple of the boy as well. Daweng taught me some soccer tricks which I failed miserably at. Everyone here is good at soccer. Even if they've never played before they pick it up fast. It's in their blood or something...same with dancing. These kids, and the adults too, all have incredible rhythm. The first night I stayed over they had some of the Aunties and Uncles (adult leaders) come up in front of the kids and dance to some songs. I was called up a couple times, one where it was just me and older Nigerian woman dancing. Originally it made me a little nervous to get up there but once you started dancing you were having to much fun to even worry about it. I tried to take some pictures at camp but it was a struggle for a couple reasons. First, I just don't care much for taking pictures. Second, if you take out a camera you will have kids all over you trying to take the camera or asking you to "snap" them.
Each hut split up everyday to discuss the Bible lesson that one of the Uncles had given in the morning. I really liked the way they had the lessons progress. There were ones about forgiveness or being a faithful servant. Each day kind of set the stage for today's final Bible lesson which was geared toward salvation. A fair amount of kids accepted Christ today, and I truly believe that most understood and meant it. A lot of these kids come from difficult backgrounds and none of them have cushy lives. Some have lost their parents from sickness and others have 3 sets of torn clothing. It's no doubt God's hand in their lives that they aren't given over to the anger and hardness that would come so easily with their situations.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Needle sticks in Nigeria are not a big deal.
Let me first apologize for any grammar or spelling errors in these posts. Most of the time I'm writing them in 10 minutes and my brain is thinking too fast for my fingers to type!
After a week of orientation, parties, and getting familiar with the area I was getting a little restless to start contributing something myself. The pace of life here is definitely different. I didn't realize how fast American life moved until I felt how slow Nigerian life is. Anyways, I started off the week helping paint classrooms at Gyero (I'll try to upload pictures sometime). A guy here, Dustin, has been working on this project for awhile and it seemed like an easy way to get my feet wet. It's crazy to see how much a difference those cartoon characters on the wall can make to kids. I guess when you don't have much a little color goes a long way. Painting was also a good choice because it gave me the opportunity to get to know some of the Nigerian kids and adults better. Plus, they've been helping me practice my Hausa, the native language, which I won't even try to spell here.
Two of the days I also did assessments on the kids at Gyero with Kelly, an SIM nurse working out here. There were about 50 children to go through each and we managed to do all of them in about 2.5 hours. I gave a bunch of immunizations and Hep B and HIV tests. At one point I stuck myself with a needle and stopped for a moment because I didn't know what to do. In America you'd have to go to the ER and get treated immediately. Here there really isn't the option plus I didn't get a ton of vaccinations for nothing so I just kept going. It's funny to see all the unnecessary things you can sacrifice when you don't have the option. Kelly would prescribe kids medications, too. Out here if you're a nurse you're considered a doctor...for real, I've had people call me a doctor already! Since resources and technologies are limited, medicine is more trial and error. For the most part the ailments they suffer are fairly easy to figure out, like worms or malaria. Of course, in acting like a family physician Kelly's gotten a good intuition. She knows when to refer someone to the local hospital, which I have yet to venture to but I heard is a sight to see. I like going around with Kelly, she always has a lot of energy and crazy stories. Like for example, this girl broke her femur in 2 places. Her family took her to be treated with traditional medicine. The man took out her femur, washed it, and put it back in...all without anesthia or pain killers of course. Can you even imagine that?! Seriously, just try and think about it. Well, of course she got a massive infection and they had to take her to the local hospital. Her femur is pretty much rotted away so they had no choice but to take it out and hope the bones will grow together eventually. Coming from America's healthcare system, that story just blows my mind...completely.
Weekends are always a nice change of pace. To American standards, I wouldn't necessarily consider myself working extremely hard. I've usually got a lot of downtime away from working but here relationships are so important to the culture. You spend a lot of energy and time in building those up. Plus the whole cross-cultural issue makes it more challenging. Weekends you can kind of retreat and lay low if you want. Every Saturday there's ultimate frisbee in the mornings, a little familiarity in a world of difference. This past Saturday all the single's went out to eat for George's birthday. For his present they got a duck. I thought a fun but odd present, however, a good point was made. What else can you really get someone out here? We should've made a leash to go with it because the next day we were chasing it around the parking lot. We actually caught it but it was gone again the following day. My hypothesis is that it's already made it's way to someone's dinner table. No sense in having a perfectly good duck as a pet when you could be eating it.
After a week of orientation, parties, and getting familiar with the area I was getting a little restless to start contributing something myself. The pace of life here is definitely different. I didn't realize how fast American life moved until I felt how slow Nigerian life is. Anyways, I started off the week helping paint classrooms at Gyero (I'll try to upload pictures sometime). A guy here, Dustin, has been working on this project for awhile and it seemed like an easy way to get my feet wet. It's crazy to see how much a difference those cartoon characters on the wall can make to kids. I guess when you don't have much a little color goes a long way. Painting was also a good choice because it gave me the opportunity to get to know some of the Nigerian kids and adults better. Plus, they've been helping me practice my Hausa, the native language, which I won't even try to spell here.
Two of the days I also did assessments on the kids at Gyero with Kelly, an SIM nurse working out here. There were about 50 children to go through each and we managed to do all of them in about 2.5 hours. I gave a bunch of immunizations and Hep B and HIV tests. At one point I stuck myself with a needle and stopped for a moment because I didn't know what to do. In America you'd have to go to the ER and get treated immediately. Here there really isn't the option plus I didn't get a ton of vaccinations for nothing so I just kept going. It's funny to see all the unnecessary things you can sacrifice when you don't have the option. Kelly would prescribe kids medications, too. Out here if you're a nurse you're considered a doctor...for real, I've had people call me a doctor already! Since resources and technologies are limited, medicine is more trial and error. For the most part the ailments they suffer are fairly easy to figure out, like worms or malaria. Of course, in acting like a family physician Kelly's gotten a good intuition. She knows when to refer someone to the local hospital, which I have yet to venture to but I heard is a sight to see. I like going around with Kelly, she always has a lot of energy and crazy stories. Like for example, this girl broke her femur in 2 places. Her family took her to be treated with traditional medicine. The man took out her femur, washed it, and put it back in...all without anesthia or pain killers of course. Can you even imagine that?! Seriously, just try and think about it. Well, of course she got a massive infection and they had to take her to the local hospital. Her femur is pretty much rotted away so they had no choice but to take it out and hope the bones will grow together eventually. Coming from America's healthcare system, that story just blows my mind...completely.
Weekends are always a nice change of pace. To American standards, I wouldn't necessarily consider myself working extremely hard. I've usually got a lot of downtime away from working but here relationships are so important to the culture. You spend a lot of energy and time in building those up. Plus the whole cross-cultural issue makes it more challenging. Weekends you can kind of retreat and lay low if you want. Every Saturday there's ultimate frisbee in the mornings, a little familiarity in a world of difference. This past Saturday all the single's went out to eat for George's birthday. For his present they got a duck. I thought a fun but odd present, however, a good point was made. What else can you really get someone out here? We should've made a leash to go with it because the next day we were chasing it around the parking lot. We actually caught it but it was gone again the following day. My hypothesis is that it's already made it's way to someone's dinner table. No sense in having a perfectly good duck as a pet when you could be eating it.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
1 Week Down!
Man, time is flying and I feel like I'm not going to be able to keep with this! So much has happened in the past week already. I arrived at a great time because the first 5 days was pretty much just a huge party, one right after the other. It worked out to my advantage because I was able to meet a majority of the missionaries. I also had the opportunity to go to one of the once of month meetings where all the different ministries met together to go over legistics. Helped me get a pretty good idea of what exactly SIM does here in Jos. I had no idea how far it reached with involvement in medical, education, construction, video evangelism, and more. There was also the once a month party and night of worship where I was able to again meet more missionaries. I have no idea where they all live because the majority of the time your the only white person on the street.
Friday I went to a "send off" for one of the missionaries who had been teaching in Gero (kids school) for the past 4 years. There was a bit of that I'm new here and everyone else is getting real emotional awkwardness but it was touching to see how the kids loved Jane (the missionary). Yes I'll admit it, I got a little teary-eyed myself. How could you not when a little girl can't even get out a goodbye because she is sobbing.
Saturday morning I played some ultimate frisbee; it was nice to have a bit of familiarity. Except I didn't realize Jos was at a fairly high elevation, about 5,000 ft I'm told. I definitely felt it and the lack of running hasn't helped. I've gone a couple times in the morning with a friend but I have to run the trail 4 times to get 3 miles. Getting up for a run around the block in the morning is definitely out of the question and I would not even think about running at night here. I do some stupid things sometimes but even I can see that is so not a good idea....
Sunday I went to church with the Camiolas which was an interesting experience. The service might have been more fulfilling had I been adjusted to the thick accents but alas I only caught things here and there. I noticed they like to repeat things they say, especially in songs. So if I didn't catch it the first time I would the second, or third or fourth. The service lasted almost 2 and half hours, and we were crammed in! Even outside the church cars were completely blocking off the entire street because there was no parking lot. Missy and John weren't kidding about dancing up the offering. Everyone had to go up and give some money. Normally I'm up for a good dance party but I kind of stuck out like a sore thumb, so again a bit of an awkward experience. Oh, and greeting people is a HUGE thing here. If you pass someone and only say "hello", you are considered very rude. So I'm learning some Hausa lingo but typically they just laugh because I mispronounce it.
Missy showed me around the market one day but I haven't had to buy anything here yet, not even food. Either people have brought me food or invited me to their house for dinner. Everyone is really kind here but I guess that's how it has to be. Everyone needs the support to get through the rough times.
Sunday afternoon some of the other other singles and I drove out to a Fulani village to visit one of their friends. Fulani is a Muslim tribe in the north, very conservative and not so much in tune with Christians. Oh, and their animals are of more value than their women. The couple we stayed with, though, were converted Christians, outcast from their tribe. We slept on a cement floor and peed over an open hole in the ground. It was legit. They also showed us around a Muslim market. Every place we stopped we would get literally surrounded by a group of Fulanis and they would just stare at you, not even talk sometimes. At one point we ventured over to the area they were selling cattle. We saw some people running and were like, what's going on. Well turns out there was an out of control bull coming toward us. We were cornered, hot coals and a fence behind us a truck to the right of us, and people everywhere else. The thing was bucking and jerking it's horns literally 10 ft in front of us. Luckily we got out ok but not without getting some "mud" in the mouth first. Ah, the interesting times keep coming!
Friday I went to a "send off" for one of the missionaries who had been teaching in Gero (kids school) for the past 4 years. There was a bit of that I'm new here and everyone else is getting real emotional awkwardness but it was touching to see how the kids loved Jane (the missionary). Yes I'll admit it, I got a little teary-eyed myself. How could you not when a little girl can't even get out a goodbye because she is sobbing.
Saturday morning I played some ultimate frisbee; it was nice to have a bit of familiarity. Except I didn't realize Jos was at a fairly high elevation, about 5,000 ft I'm told. I definitely felt it and the lack of running hasn't helped. I've gone a couple times in the morning with a friend but I have to run the trail 4 times to get 3 miles. Getting up for a run around the block in the morning is definitely out of the question and I would not even think about running at night here. I do some stupid things sometimes but even I can see that is so not a good idea....
Sunday I went to church with the Camiolas which was an interesting experience. The service might have been more fulfilling had I been adjusted to the thick accents but alas I only caught things here and there. I noticed they like to repeat things they say, especially in songs. So if I didn't catch it the first time I would the second, or third or fourth. The service lasted almost 2 and half hours, and we were crammed in! Even outside the church cars were completely blocking off the entire street because there was no parking lot. Missy and John weren't kidding about dancing up the offering. Everyone had to go up and give some money. Normally I'm up for a good dance party but I kind of stuck out like a sore thumb, so again a bit of an awkward experience. Oh, and greeting people is a HUGE thing here. If you pass someone and only say "hello", you are considered very rude. So I'm learning some Hausa lingo but typically they just laugh because I mispronounce it.
Missy showed me around the market one day but I haven't had to buy anything here yet, not even food. Either people have brought me food or invited me to their house for dinner. Everyone is really kind here but I guess that's how it has to be. Everyone needs the support to get through the rough times.
Sunday afternoon some of the other other singles and I drove out to a Fulani village to visit one of their friends. Fulani is a Muslim tribe in the north, very conservative and not so much in tune with Christians. Oh, and their animals are of more value than their women. The couple we stayed with, though, were converted Christians, outcast from their tribe. We slept on a cement floor and peed over an open hole in the ground. It was legit. They also showed us around a Muslim market. Every place we stopped we would get literally surrounded by a group of Fulanis and they would just stare at you, not even talk sometimes. At one point we ventured over to the area they were selling cattle. We saw some people running and were like, what's going on. Well turns out there was an out of control bull coming toward us. We were cornered, hot coals and a fence behind us a truck to the right of us, and people everywhere else. The thing was bucking and jerking it's horns literally 10 ft in front of us. Luckily we got out ok but not without getting some "mud" in the mouth first. Ah, the interesting times keep coming!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
So, I'm here...
So, I didn't bring my computer with me because I had the impression that no one else would have one and figured I could live without. Turns out everyone has one and it's difficult to find time to use the internet, at least right now. Anyways, I'm here in Jos, Nigeria and it's been kind of a whirlwind experience this past week. I'll try to make this as condensed, yet detailed, as possible!
The plane ride was uneventful; 7 hours is bearable when you've got free movies to watch. Plane food, however, is not a good option and no doubt worse than hospital food. Eat before plane ride- lesson learned! I stayed in a hotel room with the Camiolas for the 12 hr layover. We were all exhausted from the trip and didn't do any sightseeing, which I really didn't mind! The flight from London to Abuja didn't give me much rest either. I was too excited about the fact that I was flying over Africa to sleep! Getting through Nigerian customs was a big "you're not in Kansas anymore" moment. Big guys in military get up just brooding over you would probably have freaked me out had I not been with the Camiolas but they took good care of me. Hey mom- if you want all your daughters married send them here. Five minutes in Nigeria and they'll have a couple marriage offers :) Nigerians are pretty bold and mixed with a lowered respect for women, things can get interesting. It just requires some common sense and a heightened awareness of your own safety.
John was finally able to convince the officers to let us and the luggage through. It seems brown-nosing would've been a good skill to have! They weren't exaggerating when they said the Nigerian culture can be very corrupt in that a lot of people are trying to find ways to scam you. Michael, from SIM, picked us up from the airport at about 5 in the morning. If there's one thing I still haven't not adjusted to, and quite possible won't in the 2 months I'm here, it's the way that people drive here. I thought Lauren Buehler was bad...not even 5 minutes with Michael and I was frantically searching through my bag for the Dramamine. Not only does it make me sick but I was legitimately worried about dying before I even reached Jos. It's like there's no rules. There's really no signs of any sort, no speed limits, and no pedestrian right of way. Nigerians truly have no concept of lines or lanes. To make it worse there are vendors walking between "lanes" trying to sell stuff with cars blowing past them at about 70 mph. Then there are the motorcycles. They go where ever they want- on the road, off the road, swerving between cars- and it seemed like absolute mayhem to me (I got used to it pretty quick and am fairly comfortable now). I wanted to see everything but I decided for my stomach and nerves it would be best to try to sleep a little, and thankfully I did.
I woke up about an hour later looked to my right and there was a Nigerian Officer standing outside my window holdig a rather large gun and peering in. Honestly, it didn't bother me. You see that kind of thing in photos so I knew it might happen but I was thankful I didn't have to talk to them. Also, I was a little surprised at how often they had those type of check points. Seemed like you couldn't go more than 30 minutes without one. Again, something you get used to fairly quickly because it's just a normal part of life. The scenery on the drive itself was beautiful and I wanted to take some pictures. I used what was probably my better judgement and decided not to just incase the guy with the gun didn't like it.
3-4 hours later we arrived in Jos, which was not exactly what I was expecting. It guess I was thinking more rural but it's pretty urban here. There's lots of paved roads, cement buildings, and transportation. Of course, none of it's like was we have back in the US. The potholes that could eat a car, tin roofs, and rusty cars tells you it's a pretty poor area. We went to the Camiolas house first. I was really surprised by how nice it was, Missy did an awesome job decorating the inside. Kind of felt like you were back in the US for a bit. My apartment isn't quite like her house but again, I was shocked. I had indoor plumbing, battery powered lights, and the occasional hot water- hey, it's more than I expected!
I had lunch with a missionary couple and then dinner with the singles at their compound. It was great meeting so many new people but I was so out of it from lack of sleep. I hung out until about 10, just to make an effort to get to know people. Two of the singles walked me across the street to my compound. Security is definitely no joke here. I kind of wished I as living with someone because nighttime here is dead silent, at least where I'm at, to the point where it's a but eerie. I can't even hear bugs outside. Yah, I definitely slept with the lights on for the first two nights. I won't be where I'm at for long though. I should be moving to the singles compound sometime soon which I think will be a better fit for me. Anyways...I'll write more later. I've barely scratched the surface but I have to head to dinner!
The plane ride was uneventful; 7 hours is bearable when you've got free movies to watch. Plane food, however, is not a good option and no doubt worse than hospital food. Eat before plane ride- lesson learned! I stayed in a hotel room with the Camiolas for the 12 hr layover. We were all exhausted from the trip and didn't do any sightseeing, which I really didn't mind! The flight from London to Abuja didn't give me much rest either. I was too excited about the fact that I was flying over Africa to sleep! Getting through Nigerian customs was a big "you're not in Kansas anymore" moment. Big guys in military get up just brooding over you would probably have freaked me out had I not been with the Camiolas but they took good care of me. Hey mom- if you want all your daughters married send them here. Five minutes in Nigeria and they'll have a couple marriage offers :) Nigerians are pretty bold and mixed with a lowered respect for women, things can get interesting. It just requires some common sense and a heightened awareness of your own safety.
John was finally able to convince the officers to let us and the luggage through. It seems brown-nosing would've been a good skill to have! They weren't exaggerating when they said the Nigerian culture can be very corrupt in that a lot of people are trying to find ways to scam you. Michael, from SIM, picked us up from the airport at about 5 in the morning. If there's one thing I still haven't not adjusted to, and quite possible won't in the 2 months I'm here, it's the way that people drive here. I thought Lauren Buehler was bad...not even 5 minutes with Michael and I was frantically searching through my bag for the Dramamine. Not only does it make me sick but I was legitimately worried about dying before I even reached Jos. It's like there's no rules. There's really no signs of any sort, no speed limits, and no pedestrian right of way. Nigerians truly have no concept of lines or lanes. To make it worse there are vendors walking between "lanes" trying to sell stuff with cars blowing past them at about 70 mph. Then there are the motorcycles. They go where ever they want- on the road, off the road, swerving between cars- and it seemed like absolute mayhem to me (I got used to it pretty quick and am fairly comfortable now). I wanted to see everything but I decided for my stomach and nerves it would be best to try to sleep a little, and thankfully I did.
I woke up about an hour later looked to my right and there was a Nigerian Officer standing outside my window holdig a rather large gun and peering in. Honestly, it didn't bother me. You see that kind of thing in photos so I knew it might happen but I was thankful I didn't have to talk to them. Also, I was a little surprised at how often they had those type of check points. Seemed like you couldn't go more than 30 minutes without one. Again, something you get used to fairly quickly because it's just a normal part of life. The scenery on the drive itself was beautiful and I wanted to take some pictures. I used what was probably my better judgement and decided not to just incase the guy with the gun didn't like it.
3-4 hours later we arrived in Jos, which was not exactly what I was expecting. It guess I was thinking more rural but it's pretty urban here. There's lots of paved roads, cement buildings, and transportation. Of course, none of it's like was we have back in the US. The potholes that could eat a car, tin roofs, and rusty cars tells you it's a pretty poor area. We went to the Camiolas house first. I was really surprised by how nice it was, Missy did an awesome job decorating the inside. Kind of felt like you were back in the US for a bit. My apartment isn't quite like her house but again, I was shocked. I had indoor plumbing, battery powered lights, and the occasional hot water- hey, it's more than I expected!
I had lunch with a missionary couple and then dinner with the singles at their compound. It was great meeting so many new people but I was so out of it from lack of sleep. I hung out until about 10, just to make an effort to get to know people. Two of the singles walked me across the street to my compound. Security is definitely no joke here. I kind of wished I as living with someone because nighttime here is dead silent, at least where I'm at, to the point where it's a but eerie. I can't even hear bugs outside. Yah, I definitely slept with the lights on for the first two nights. I won't be where I'm at for long though. I should be moving to the singles compound sometime soon which I think will be a better fit for me. Anyways...I'll write more later. I've barely scratched the surface but I have to head to dinner!
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