The first glimpses of Nigeria

It was dark when I got off the plane, so I couldn’t see much. But my senses were on overload. I could smell the garbage, pollution and the food. I could feel the heat and the saturation in the air. I could taste the sweetness in the air. Finally, when my eyes adjusted, I could see what was happening. The traffic was insane, and anyone who thinks they have experienced bad traffic before, please come to Nigeria! It took us a good 25 minutes to leave the parking lot, just because of how tightly the cars are jammed in… Then it was another story completely when we got onto the road! How do you spell Chaotic? We I think it starts with a Nigerian driver, who has no fear, then add no road regulations and put in a little over population and you maybe can start to imagine it. The motorcycles just dart among everything and everyone, nobody wears helmets, and seatbelts? Just forget about it. When it was light the most amazing thing I saw was color. Color was everywhere. In the food, the outfits, the cars. I was astounded by the fabrics that people were wearing.

Dust dusty road…

This is the time of the year called the Harmattan, and it is when it is so windy in North Africa, that the sand from the Sahara blows all the way down to Nigeria. Everything is sandy and dusty, and nothing escapes from it. We will find sand inside ziplock bags and in our toothbrushes. Kerry and I took a walk yesterday and the amount of dust on our feet filled a bucket of water black when we washed them later. As we walked, the spaces immediately surrounding us were filled with the dust we kicked up, some times it was hard to breath. And when a car or truck passed us, we would have to stop because we couldn’t see or breathe at all. It was so dusty today that you could not see beyond the compound walls into the city. People have a hard time functioning when it is this dusty, people seem to stay inside.

We live at the end of a long dirt road. To get outside the compound, we ask Eddie (who has the most amazing disposition) to let us out. Then we start the long dusty walk down the long dirt road. On either side of us, as far as you can see is construction. Everywhere you look there are houses and flats being built. They all are in various stages of construction, and many seem to have run out of funds, so they have stopped. One of the things I loved was the scaffolding. When I think of scaffolding in the US, it is all metal and screws (you almost need scaffolding for the scaffolding…). Here, it is made of bamboo. It almost looks as if it is part of the building. At the end of the dirt road are heaps and heaps of garbage, which pile up and then are burned later. Dozens of little goats scale the mountains of garbage, eating scraps.

We drove down the dusty dirt road today to buy our cell phones. We were lucky enough to have Sr. Theresa and Boniface (the school gardener and sometimes driver) take us, to ensure we got a good price. We drove through Awk, which is a smaller town right on the outskirts of Enugu. Enugu was very crowded and it took a long time to get to the place where we bought our cell phones. It was very hot, but the breeze from the open window felt amazing! There were small run down buildings as far as the eye could see on either side of the car, selling anything from food, minerals (pop), clothing and minutes for cell phones. The cars were packed together and the honking of horns seemed to never cease. People ran across the street with out looking for cars, and motorcycles darted in and out, having no concern for any of the massively bigger cars and trucks bearing down on them. The motorcycles carried up to five people each, nobody was concerned at all about falling off.

When we finally reached our destination, we got our first lesson in Nigerian bargaining. We went into the first shop and Sister Theresa asked to see the cheapest Nokia cell phones. The shop owner pulled out one and said the price was 6000 Naira. With out even pausing to think, Sr. Theresa said “No, 4000.” There really was no beating around the bush there. They haggled for a little while, but the shop owner wouldn’t budge past around 5500 naira. So we went next door. The same thing happened there. The shop owner gave a price, 5500 naira and Sr. Theresa again, just said ‘No, 4000.’ This time the shop owner was more flexible and we eventually got the phones for 4700, including the sim card.

On the way back, we passed a bus full of children from the Notre Dame Primary School, on their way home. They are starting to familiarize our faces, and recognize the onyacha (white people), just as we are starting to recognize the onyoji (black people). So they became very excited, and waved, yelling with giant smiles on their faces. I have never seen such smiling faces. They light up when they see you, and if you are forward enough to wave or say hello, they are just beside themselves with glee. I am so excited to get to know them. The thing about Nigerians, is they never seem to stop laughing. They laugh constantly, and sometimes for no reason. In these few days that I have been here, I feel as though I have met some of the happiest people on earth.

Sometimes I feel so stupid, that I need people to help me go shopping and I wish I could just say, let me do it. But then I realize that the saying ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ is true. I did have orientations in India and Morocco, and it was when I was leaving that I was so used to doing things. But when I got there, I did need help. I have to keep reminding myself of that when I want to be independent. I have 10 months here, so soon enough, I will be able to do these things by myself.