This past week has been a bit more relaxed which for the most part I welcomed after last week's medical outreach. Monday I went to the prison to do a Bible study with Missy Camiola. There were only two women prisoners (a good thing of course). It was humbling to hear their stories and prayer requests- that they'd be set free this year. In Nigeria you don't have the right to a speedy trial. I can't remember the exact numbers but Missy told me about a woman who had waited somewhere around 7 years to have a trial. Wednesday I went to Gidan Bege with Kelly to provide medical care for some Muslim women, something I've been doing every week I've been around. Not many women showed because it poured all day. Seriously, it was a huge mistake not to bring my raincoat here! It's rained just about every day. On Friday I went with Kelly to TH (kinda like a boarding school for teenage boys) to do assessments on the boys. It was fairly comical to have a discussion about HIV and Hep B with them. Teenagers are the same, whether in the US or Africa. Of course they got a kick out of seeing who could ask the most awkward questions, like health class freshmen year of high school. We had fun messing around with them and I'm fairly certain we scared at least some of them into abstinence by the end of it all.
The rest of the week I filled my time with getting familiar with Jos; something I probably should've done earlier but didn't really have the time. I went to the market and shops almost everyday most of the time not intending to get anything but often coming back with at least one thing. In the market you have to barter for everything especially because they mark up prices for anyone who isn't Nigerian. It's really fun going back and forth trying to settle a price to the point where I actually enjoy shopping, something previously unfathomable to me. I've also done some serious cooking and baking- mom you'd be so proud! I've made a roast beef dinner for the singles, stew, cinnamon rolls, and banana bread all from scratch. I even had to get the flour ground in the market. Next is learning some traditional Nigerian dishes. I feel like if I can accomplish that and learn some Hausa then this cross-cultural experience will be legit.
So here's the thing...in Nigeria- at least in Jos- there really isn't much exotic wildlife except some goats, random birds, and mosquitos. Of course, none of that is really exotic by any means but that fact that they are in Africa has to count for something. If you want to see some lions, monkeys, or snakes you have to hit up the local zoo which is exactly what a group of us did Friday morning. Let me preface this by saying this wasn't your typical Brookefield Zoo experience. A couple of guys pitched in some money so we could see the lions get fed their goat breakfast. We all made our way back to the lions' cages. They were probably a third the size of Brookefield's cages but had 4 lions in one and 3 in the other. The only thing separating you from them was a metal fence. No 20 foot drop or anything, you were at eye level with the lions and could get face-to-mane with them if you really wanted. Most of us stood at the base of the cages to watch but two of the guys went with one of the zoo keepers to the top of the cage. There was a rocky ledge that you could peer down into the cages from and get a bird's eye view. You could see the lions' hungrily pacing back and forth just below their feet trying to bite/claw through the cage to get a man-sized meal.
Feeding time came and the zookeeper ushered the first goat to the edge of the cage, opened a small trap door (the lion's head was literally right beneath it), and before the goat could even fall 2 ft the lion snatched it by the neck and ran for a corner. Same thing for the other two goats that were thrown. It was slightly anti-climatic and as gruesome as it may seem, I was hoping for a bit of a chase. Putting a rabbit in there seemed like it might've been more exciting. Then we got to the next cage. This one had no trap door. In order to get the goats in you had to throw them up and over the fence. Dustin, one of the guys from our group, threw the first one. Actually, it was more like he was warming up in the outfield and throwing a fly ball to a friend. The sound when the goat finally hit the ground 50 ft later sent some unexpected shivers down my spine. The sound of the lion biting through the skull didn't really help either. Seriously, put some perspective on what Daniel must've been feeling before being thrown into the lion's den. In went the other two goats. The first was instantly snatched up by the 3 other lion's and taken to a back corner as they literally pulled the goat, which was still very much alive, to pieces. The third goat was by far, in my opinion, the most unlucky of them all. The lions were preoccupied with the other food that it was left alone for a good 10 minutes. It broke its leg on impact and was essentially helpless, not that it really had any chance of escape. So, it stood still watching the other two get eaten. We found ourselves starting to cheer for that one, hoping that maybe- just maybe- the other lions would never find it. All our hopes were torn to pieces (kind of like that goat...) when it started to move and instantly caught the attention of a lion who was happy to have fresh meat. I have to say I was very impressed with the way the lion knew exactly where to start chewing and how skillfully it was done. He bit a tiny whole through the fur and underlying tissue and pulled out the stomach in one piece. Of course then he tore open the stomach spilling the goat's very green breakfast over its own carcass. Yah, that was pretty gross especially when some of the juice was flung on my arm. Sick. We watched a little while longer then looked at some of the other animals- snakes, monkeys, birds, and a horse. All pretty standard. I heard you can pay to feed the snakes, though. Maybe next time...
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