So I promised to go
into more detail about my apartment for those of you who would like a
mental picture of my surroundings, so I'll try my best to explain it.
For starters, the other missionaries on the compound assure me it's
the best of all the rooms because it's off the street, so in theory
the quietest (although I hate to think of what the others must be
like considering I get very little sleep between the water tank motor
randomly firing into action every hour, the Muslim call to prayer
over the loud speaker from 4am, the sound of my next door neighbors
motorbike starting up at some ungodly hour, dogs barking, roosters
crowing and bizarre Nigerian birds always chirping outside my
window....oh and my insanely hard Nigerian style bed! Hmmm aren't
hard beds meant to be good for your back???). My apartment is also on
the bottom level of the compound so should be cooler in the hot
season (March-May). It has just had a fresh coat of paint, and when I
come in each day I can still smell the fumes strongly, but then get
used to it after a while...probably not so good for me! All the
lounge furniture has just been reupholstered too. I do feel very
blessed indeed. My little place has a back door that opens out onto a
cute courtyard, where George (a long term missionary teaching at the
Seminary here) keeps his veggie patch and Gaelyne (an occupational
therapist working at the hospital-if you can call the flea and rat
infested place a hospital!) has her garden. There is a little raised
deck which George built a few years ago which we sit on to have meals
in the evening together sometimes and where they've hung fairy lights
from the trees. The apartment itself has a kitchen, lounge, dining
room, bathroom and bedroom. My next door neighbour Fiona (a physio
working at Evangel hospital also and doing work with women in
brothels) and I share a washing machine. I spent the first few days
making the place feel more my own; putting up pictures and hanging
all the wonderful heartfelt farewell cards so many of you gave me
before I left and of course plastering my walls in my bedroom, lounge
and fridge with gorgeous photos from home (you're all now famous in
Nigeria!). I have all the essentials I need here in my flat thanks to
previous short term missionaries before me, and from my first few
days looking around the shops and supermarkets it seems as though if
I lack anything in terms of equipment for my kitchen or home, I can
find it somewhere if Im prepared to search, albeit a very cheap
version of the desired option...think 'made in China'!
As I mentioned
previously my schedule for the last few days has been jammed full of
lunch and dinner dates with various missionary families and SIM
people from other compounds. It's been a really humbling experience
to meet these people who have been so eagerly anticipating my arrival
and praying fervently for someone to come and help Kelly with the
City Ministries medical ministry here in Jos. They are so welcoming
and genuinely want to make me feel a part of the community. One thing
I've been pleasantly surprised about so far is how good the food is.
After reading about the Nigerian cuisine before arriving I was
expecting bland mushy starch for breakfast, lunch and dinner. However
I've been eating amazing homemade pizza's, chicken, salads, pita and
hummus, lasangne, fresh papaya, watermelon, mangos and strawberries,
not to mention the desserts and cakes! Admittedly the missionary
woman who have been so generously cooking and baking for me have
lived here for years (my mentor, a lady named Miriam has been here 23
years) so have come to know where to get things, what available, how
best to prepare them and of course how to use their gas oven to
perfection! I've told my flatmate Fiona to be prepared to smell some
funky burning smells from my place next week once I'm on my own in
the kitchen. I've never had to light an oven with a match before! But
I'll go into more of the food and cooking adventures in another blog
as there's so much to talk about including the fact I have to bleach
my fruit and veggies!
I'm feeling a real
sense of impatience (probably not so surprising for those of you
familiar with my personality!) and frustration at the moment due to
my inability to speak Hausa and navigate my way around the city. I
know these things will come in time and it's only my first week here,
but language seems to be such a connector here, even just knowing
basic greetings will be exciting. It's still very overwhelming
driving around the township as there are no road signs and no sense
or order in the way the roads are set out. It seems to be a real
haphazard connection of streets with the odd round about (which
drivers on motorbikes will quite happily drive around the wrong
way!).
I went to my first
church service Sunday. Fiona and some of the others from Challenge go
to an ECWA church (one of the biggest church denominations in Jos) at
JETS (Jos Evangelical Theological Seminary) so I went along with
them. I had been told to dress up and wear a head covering and when I
turned up I was in awe of the amazing colour and patterns on the
women's traditional Nigerian dresses, their scarfs matching their
outfits precisely of course. When we arrived we were scanned with
what I assume was a bomb detector device before entering the church.
The worship was incredible, the passion and soul behind the praise
was such a joy to be surrounded by, I didn't even want to participate
but just sit there and soak in it all. The service went for about 2
hours (short by Nigerian standards) and I was so hot I felt like
passing out mid sermon (I'd made the mistake of layering my tops). I
looked around me and saw how much clothing everyone else was wearing
and told myself to suck it up! Hopefully they put the ceiling fans on
next week!
I started my
orientation yesterday which included a health lecture with the nurse
who looks after the general health of all the missionaries here (87
in total at the moment). She went into the anti-malarial I'm taking
and the importance of taking them with food, the need to sleep under
my mosquito net, how to stay safe with water and food and also how to
avoid common health hazards like the Mango Fly. Now I don't get
squeamish easily being a nurse myself but this Mango Fly is something
even I do not want to have to experience! Apparently if you hang our
washing anywhere near a mango tree in season the Mango Fly (which eat
the rotting mangos) can lay larvae in your clothes and then burrow
into your skin when you're wearing them! You start to feel itchy and
notice a red welt soon after and if you suspect a mango fly larvae
you put Vaseline over the red pimple like spot and wait a few hours.
The larvae then suffocates and has to come to the surface where you
can squeeze it out like a pimple, only a long worm like larvae will
come out! I have no idea why this has traumatised me so much, esp.
considering it's not a life and death disease, but it might be to do
with the fact that we have a mango tree at Challenge compound! The
way to avoid it is to iron all your clothing before wearing it to
kill the larvae. As soon as I see mangos on that tree I'm going to
super vigilant at my ironing, might even dry my underwear in my
bathroom! Ha ha.
Right better be off
now, another day of orientation awaits me. Get my sim card for phone
today, have felt quite lost without a phone! Not that I'll be able to
text any of you, but habits die hard.
N xxx
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