Different challenge every day...

So some of the new challenges aren’t particularly welcome – anything involving cockroaches, floods etc. But this week I have been sharing my bathroom with a baby gecko – sooo cute. He managed to fall into the shower (a plastic hole in the ground) and couldn’t climb the slippy 4 inch walls. So today’s challenge (for me) was to find him a ramp; and today’s challenge (for him) was to work out that hiding under it wasn’t the required solution. But he did and he is back exploring every nook & cranny of the bathroom – clearly my baby gecko is a bit more intelligent than all the other baby geckos…

Seasonal living...

There have been no tomatoes to be had for several days now – it’s unusual getting used to this seasonal living. In the absence of Dunness & Superquin, you just eat whatever’s in season, safe in the knowledge that what you’re eating hasn’t gathered more air-miles than you have. And the fruit that is in season is always absolutely yummy.
My neighbours have been busy sowing yam for the past couple of weeks – here are some yam mounds…And I finally got round to planting some seeds in the pots that I brought back with me. Although I have a sneaking suspicion that all I’m managing to grow is some grass seeds from the soil I dug up in the back. Time will tell…

What's in a name...

My name has been confounding folk since I arrived – the first question is always… spell it. Nooooo, I say, that just wont help. I’m called aynnnn by people I meet first through email, annie by people who are trying to be helpful by offering me a real name, onya by people with good memories, and mummy/auntie/oyibo by almost everyone else. I have been accused of being an Igbo in disguise (apparently they have this strange name too) and one colleague of a friend enquired why she kept calling me ‘onion’. So it was a real treat to hear ‘good morning miss awnya’ by one of my littlest neighbours yesterday. Set me up for the day!

More great phrases...

The Nigerians have a word just for clutz's like me... people who are prone to apologise to inanimate objects when they bump into them... it's sorrio. When you sneeze - sorrio, when you trip - sorrio, when something falls over - sorrio. Pretty much whenever fate conspires against you - isnt it a great word?

Not a people for wasting words, the Nigerians have other great sayings too
til you come... so long, have a safe trip and I'll see you when you return
long time... I havent seen you for ages, you are you

Some hairy stories...

I'm not sure whether I'm getting more observant or the bugs are getting braver, but there seems to be more and more unwelcome guests in my house (it might be the rain driving them indoors). Anyway, I invested in a giant bottle of raid and decided to go on the rampage...

Yesterday I got a big (ugly!) fly yoke and raid-ed it to oblivion. Was in the middle of washing my clothes and was waiting til I finished to sweep the floor. But 20 mins later my dead bug started crawling across the floor - only it turns out it wasnt crawling, but being abducted by 8 or 10 tiny spiders! So brave Aine did what she always does - dropped a heavy book on 'em. Yuck.

And then this morning there was no light, but I spotted something big and mean looking in the sink of my dark kitchen - a coachroach. Yuck yuck yuck. He was trapped and couldn't climb out of the sink as fast as I could zap him with the raid (poor sod was probably asleep), but it took a 1/3 of a bottle of raid before he stopped struggling. Yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck.

Other voices, other rooms...

Have been reading other vso blogs lately and thinking, damn I wish I'd thought to write about that! So, for all the stories that I forget to tell here are a couple of sites (and there are more on the left handside of the screen):
Tammie: http://nigeria.tammiebrooks.com
Kate: http://giantofafrica.blogspot.com
Kevin: http://www.caboose.org.uk

My lively neighbourhood...

The house I am living in is slap bang in the middle of things. Apparently the whole area (for about 1/2 mile square) was once the property of the local school - GSS. So the CERC is built in what used to be the school dormatories, the house I am living in was one of the staff quarters - many of my neighbours are teachers in the school. The church and convent are also on the grounds.
The school football field is outside my bedroom window (about 30 feet away) and there are two basketball courts at the entrance to the compound... so Saturday morning starts with 7.30am football practice (Na Piarsiagh just dont have the same dedication!), and 10am break on weekdays sees the basketball courts choc-a-block with students. Its nice to be part of all this activity. Oh, and the school basketball team are called the "O Connell Warriors" after the principal, a Cork man!

Jinx-ed myself...

Ok, so I was asking for it really... I said that interesting things happen everyday in Nigeria. I said that water was in short supply… so yesterday morning when I left the house the water tank in my back garden looked like the pic on the right and when I returned at lunch time it looked like the other!!
This was not the indoor pool I was after...
My little flood didn't take long to sort out, but if Rogue Traders ever decide to make an episode in Minna...

Settling in...

Before I left Ireland, a returned volunteer tried to explain something of this experience to me. She said it strips you of all your safety nets and assumptions, and leaves you with the person you really are. And Im beginning to see that now - I dont speak the language so I must make an effort to be understood, I cant rely on ATMs or credit cards so I go to the bank regularly, I dont drive and so I rely on public transport, I cant be invisible in public for any amount of time, if there is no water I need to get some before I go to sleep/work, if there is no light I just have to wait for it to come back, food and veg dont have a lot of preservatives so I shop every day. Its not that any of this is particularly hard, its just another version of normality. All the essential little jobs take up a lot of your time in Nigeria, and its just not possible to be independent in the same way that I can at home. I have to rely on my neighbours and colleagues and friends for information and help. Which, as it turns out, is actually a pretty good way to live.

Things that I can actually live without

• My car
• My credit card
• My makeup

Things that I cant survive without

• Email contact
• Conditioner
• Pringles

Its a nice feeling to stretch yourself and cope with less than youre used to. But its a comforting feeling to know that my superficiality is intact and there's no part of the world where I wont hanker after crisps...

Stormy weather...

There has been a wonderful development this week - rain! Accompanied by a breeze, thunder, lightening, and best of all - cold. Okay cold is a relative term but the heat is no longer suffocating. And when it rains, it rains wholeheartedly. Big heavy drops that fall for about an hour and soak the sandy earth. There is less dust everywhere now so that indoors actually feel like a different place from outdoors!
Rain also means more running water - I've been very lucky with light (ESB) in my house, its on practically all of the time. But water is more problematic. I have two huge water containers that hold more water than I can use (I think? - there was no running water for 4 days this weekend and I thought I might get to test that theory). So when I'm home I have the taps open and at the slightest hint of running water whatever I'm doing is dropped so that I can fill my water containers to the brim again. Nigeria certainly helps you get your priorities in order.

Beam me up scotty...

At the risk of this becoming my catchphrase... bloody MTN! MTN is my mobile phone service provider (in theory at least) here in Nigeria. But texting has been pretty hit and miss with them since I arrived. I must be one of their best customers - still sending texts despite the fact that if my some miracle they arrive, the odds of me receiving the reply are very crap indeed!
So imagine my surprise this week when I not only managed to get a text from (and send a reply to) my cousin, and my total disbelief when I managed to text Australia. I reckon I managed to find the one day this year when MTN had their act together (or more likely the crew of Star Trek came back in time and set up one of those triangular field yokes to boost the signal). The skies above Nigeria must be swimming with unreceived text messages - should be an interesting first contact if aliens ever visit!!

Home sweet home...

Here are a couple of photos of the house - will add more later (it takes ages to upload them!). All the problems have been fixed now and I am a very happy bunny indeed.

Ups and downs and up again...

Yesterday was a bit brilliant and a bit crap! The brilliant bit was that they were sorting out my house (slowly but surely) and its such a lovely place, I know I'm very lucky. Then I heard that one of the VSOs is going home early, which is a real pity. Jan and I trained together in Birmingham and she has been a star the whole way through. So it was a pretty crap afternoon and I decided that I couldn't be bothered to even pretend that I was working so I came back to the house. I started unpacking and found a card my sister had sent back with me and suddenly it was all okay again - the ups and downs of life in Nigeria (no not hormonal Aine, it's the heat I tell you). Oh, and it finally rained last night which should cool things down, yahoo!

And to continue the theme...

Silver linings...

They still haven't managed to put curtains up in my house
.... there was a magnificant lightening show last night (minus the thunder) that I'd probably have missed otherwise

A transformer blew Wed evening and so there's been no light, ac, fridge etc for 24 hours
.... my neighbours went out of their way to make sure I was okay and I'm alot less visible in my curtainless house without light (!)

There has been no running water since Tues
.... I haven't had to get the jif and the detol out yet to scrub the place

My hotel room had the movie channel
.... there is a house full of people behind me singing psalms (it's only been 20 mins though, this might be tarnished if it's an all-night thing)

My cooker doesn't have a plug fitted yet
.... I found a new suya (bbq meat) place now that I'm around in the evenings

All in all the silver linings win out - three cheers for my new place...

Happy holiday...

Had a great trip home this week. Caught up with (most of) the family and was utterly spoilt. It felt strange for about 2 minutes and then utterly normal…

Great things about Ireland...
1. The velvet green fields as you fly into Shannon
2. The ease of being understood and the homely feel in the midst of Limerick accents
3. The first sunny days of Spring

Great things about Nigeria…
1. Work isn’t really the focus of your day
2. Sunshine and welcomes
3. Interesting times every day

Different worlds...

One of the most marked differences I noticed between Nigeria and Ireland is the children. Western kids are undoubtedly louder and more imposing than most of their Nigerian counterparts. Like many things, this seems to manifest itself in opposite extremes – howling, demanding brats and confident, articulate individuals. Most kids in Nigeria seem altogether quieter in the company of adults, although not necessarily less happy. Although kids don’t seem to be encouraged to assert themselves as much in Nigeria, life does feel much more family-focused than work-focused. I know there are a lot of obvious factors involved here, but I feel like there’s a bit of nervousness of other peoples’ kids in the West; as if we need to protect ourselves against any semblance of inappropriate behaviour. I think, because many kids spend much of their infancy strapped to their mother’s back in Nigeria, they observe much of life from a close distance and adapt easily to their surroundings; they simply can't be the centre of attention while their mother works. I know there’s no perfect place to raise kids, the differences are just more apparent when you travel between such diverse worlds…

One less homeless person...

Have moved into my new house, hallelujah! It’s still a work in progress (stop smirking down the back), but its mine!! Currently have a TV and fridge, but no curtains or cooker – so they clearly know my priorities. The house is gorgeous and very spacious (loads of room for visitors, hint hint) so I’m thrilled to bits…
That said, light went (there’s no electricity) a couple of hours ago and I’m typing this is a puddle of my own sweat (will work out a more poetic way of putting that when I’m cooler). Living in a hotel meant there was always a generator when light went – am now living a life more ordinary… My star purchase was a battery-operated lantern that wouldn't seem amiss in a small lighthouse. Was delighted with it until light went and I realised I never read the instructions - so by lantern light I read that it should be charged for 10 hours before use (d'oh!) Ah well, hopefully it'll last awhile yet...