25 Things that have become normal

I am sitting in my apartment hearing the guards laughing and joking, the fruit lady bargaining her prices on the corner, and the constant honking of horns as the morning traffic starts to increase. The birds and insects are chirping and I can hear the generator being started for the Printing Press next door (power has just left us) …… it has all become a common soundtrack. So many other things have become normal to me, which would have seemed crazy 9 months ago and might seem strange to you so I have tried to spell some out…

Welcome to life in Africa!

25 things that have become totally normal

(Thanks to Bridget Lawrence for the idea!)

1. Filtering all water for drinking and brushing teeth

2. Watching lizards leaping away from my feet as I walk around

3. Greeting every passer by in Hausa

4. Changing my intonation when I speak to Nigerians to be better understood

5. Having someone else do my housework every week

6. Almost being knocked to my feet as I enter the orphanage by kids running towards me to give me hugs.

7. Living with other missionaries from all over the world

8. Men wearing lace and hot pink

9. Expecting the unexpected on the road

10. Having no running water when the pump breaks (frequently!)

11. Yelling in celebration when the electricity returns after hours or days without it!

12. Being called ‘Auntie’ all the time

13. Bleaching all my fresh fruit and vegetables

14. Counting money in 1000s

15. Having to avoid certain areas or town and stay on the compound on Friday afternoons in case of unrest due to the Muslim times of prayer

16. Wearing skirts and covered shirts wherever I go

17. Being in the minority and sticking out everywhere

18. Never accepting a first price, bartering for produce in the markets and feeling ripped of I paid more because I am white!

19. Wearing a head scarf to church

20. Receiving gorgeous hand written notes from the kids at Gyero

21. Dreaming of fresh milk

22. Eating and enjoying Nigerian food

23. Hearing the Muslim call to prayer every morning at 4am.

24. People using their arms out their car window to signal instead of their indicators

25. Queuing for over an our to fill my gas tank with petrol

Fainting in an African operating room!

Well it has been another exciting week as I travelled again with ProHealth to Edo State this time for another medical outreach in a small township called Igobazuwa (say that 3x fast!).  It was a 13-hour bus trip down to Benin City because we had to take a round about route due to some epic flooding in the area. With only 2 toilet breaks on the way, I was more than ready when we pulled up to the hotel that evening at 9pm.  The project site was a good hour away from the hotel so each morning we would board the buses and have a fun time of laughter and getting to know each other as we drove to the village. This trip we added eye care and eye surgeries to the list of services we were providing (which included dental, pharmacy, laboratory, health promotion, consulting, surgical review and surgeries as well as post-operative care).

The days were slightly shorter than in Taraba, due to the increased security risk (armed robberies are common in Edo State) and the need to leave the site by 530pm at latest, but the work was as hot and intense as ever. I worked with another amazing group in theatre and tried my hand at being scrub nurse not just circulating nurse and also did some cannulation for the anaesthnitist. Was good to try my hand at a few new things.  I did have a way to go in terms of redeeming my reputation after a rather embarrassing incident on day two of the trip…….let me paint the picture.

I was gowned up in full sterile gown with scrubs underneath, shoes, socks, face mask, hair net, surgical gloves - the only part of my body showing was my eyes…and it was HOT. There was no airflow, the windows were closed, there was no fan, and I started to feel faint. Now I know the signs, and when I started having palpitations, blurred vision and weakness in my knees I knew it was more than something I could breath my way through, so I politely excused myself saying I needed to go and sit down…I made it to the small stool just outside the theatre and sat down. The next thing I remember I was being picked up by a huge Nigerian surgeon called Dr K, who had dropped what he was doing mid procedure, and has scooped me up and was carrying me outside to the post op ward! I was laid in a bed and people started stripping off the multiple layers as I started to realize what had happened. They continued to fuss over me for sometime, the younger doctors liking the opportunity to come to my rescue it seemed, but I assured them all it was just the heat. Talk about embarrassing, silly white girl can’t hack the heat! Anyway, despite trying to assure them it wasn’t hypoglycemia, I wasn’t afraid of blood and that I do naturally have a low blood pressure…they insisted I take it easy for the rest of the day and not scrub again that day. It was the running joke of the OR for the next 3 days, and it was lucky I saw the funny side.

I had my first Nigerian Football education this weekend. I made the decision that it was finally time to invest in learning a bit more about the English Football League since it’s such a massive deal here and everyone seems to have a team they support. Football and politics are the most highly discussed and debated topics in Nigeria and I decided that football was probably somewhat easier to understand at a basic level! I’ve watched soccor before and so know the basic rules but there was so much more to the rivellry, the purchasing of players and the history and competition between the clubs than I ever knew! I followed two Nigerian friends into a dark dingy smoky pub (but felt completely safe don’t worry!) and sat down, being watched by a lot of perplexed faces, and embraced the experience. My favorite part was the people watching, seeing how engrossed these men were and how animated they were when a goal was scored or a yellow card handed out.  I was thankful that Chelsea won, as my friend supports the team and his mood was quite dark at one point in the game when they were down on goals, I hate to think how depressed he would have been for the remainder of the day had they lost!

Fiona and I are now in full swing organizing a bridal shower for our Nigerian girlfriend who is getting married in 3 weeks. She will also have a ‘Send Forth’ a week before the wedding, which is like a big communal prayer and advice session in her honor, as a way to ‘send her forth’ from her church and home to be joined with her husband. The Send Forth is also fully catered and is sometimes as large as the actual reception. I’m beginning to have a real appreciation for just how much work goes into Nigerian weddings! As bridesmaids, we also had to go shoe shopping for silver heels the other day. I found some outrageously high ones, so I will look the part indeed, but I made sure I’d be able to walk and dance, and comfort during the day was the only requirement from the bride, bless her heart.