I made it! Arrived in Abuja at 05:30am - feeling rather hot!

I am in Nigeria, got here safely, met a lovely lady on the plane, was met at the airport by cheery VSO staff, and just chilling out now while others turn up from other flights, India and US.  Full on In-country training starts tomorrow.
Its good to be in Africa!

Its about to happen

Well I have checked in online, my bags are packed, I've seen most people for the last time in a while, a few more tears still to be shed!  The good news is I'm excited and just want to be on the plane, the bad news is I haven't finished my assignment, just asked for an extension (for which the qualifying criteria are "extenuating circumstances beyond my control").
So watch out Nigeria, I'm on my way!

7 days to go

So - 7 days from now I will be in the air, hopefully calmly drinking a glass of something provided by BA, looking forward to my future and confident that I have the right things in my suitcase and am prepared.

So the next week, is packing, and goodbyes, finalising a few admin things, and trying to keep up to date with my studying.  For those of you who don't know its an MSc in Climate Change and Sustainable Development (three years distance learning), I started in Septmeber and have passed the first module, hurrah!

And for those of you who did the quiz, here are the answers

https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AT4F8ENdCmF1ZGRoeG5nZjhfOGRuZmdqbWhy&hl=en_GB

Ok no photos of Nigeria yet, but one of me and Lucy instead!

20 days to go

Hi all

Well since the last post, I have left my job and become a lady of leisure, if you can define leisure as painting my flat, packing shopping, and generally panicking about all the things that need doing in the next 20 days. I had a leaving do, thanks for those who came, I have almost met my fundraising target, but don't worry if you still want to give VSO will always accept your money!

I created a quiz about Nigeria for my leaving do, so for those who weren't there I will post the questions below, answers to follow, no images I'm afraid but hopefully you will be able to access them here

 http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AT4F8ENdCmF1ZGRoeG5nZjhfMGRrNmJqN2N2&hl=en_GB

1. Shade Nigeria on this map of Africa

2. Draw the Nigerian flag

3. Match these famous Nigerians with their names and the reason for their fame

a b c d e f

Name Reason
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Goodluck Jonathan
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

Lemar Sambo Mogambo Obika

 Nwankwo Christian Nwosu Kanu

Michael Olowokandi

R and B singer songwriter

Professional footballer (Portsmouth)

 Professional basketball player

Alleged Christmas day bomber

 Author of Half of a Yellow Sun

Vice President

4. What is the population of Nigeria

5 million     15 million      150 million      300 million

5. Name the capital of Nigeria

6. How many languages are spoken in Nigeria

one     116        276        510

7. How many Nigerians have access to safe drinking water?

They all do,      no-one does,             less than half                  more than half

8. The president of Nigeria is currently in hospital, in which country?

9. What valuable commodity does Nigeria export?

10. What percentage of Nigerian’s live on less than $1 a day?

16%              32%               64%               86%

11. Name the town in which riots have recently taken place between Christians and Muslims

12. What percentage of Nigerian’s own a mobile phone?

5%              15%                  30%                 55%