Arriving in Abuja - hot hot hot!

So on the 28th of Feb, at 04:30am, UK time, I arrived in Abuja, with Heather and Richard, from the UK, and Elizabeth and Charlton from Canada.  We were met my VSO staff and taken off to the Crytsal Palace Hotel, with such luxuries as wireless internet access and air conditioning.

The photo is of the mosque, there is also an equally beautiful church / cathedral.  Abuja is a modern city, designed with the motor car in mind, if you don't have your own car, you get a "drop" which is a taxi.

There are 18 volunteers on this intake, from India, Uganda, Kenya, UK, Canada and US working on the VSO programmes of HIV, Secure Livelihoods (that's me) and Education.

The electricity is what you might call intermittent, in the hotel the intervals were filled with a genearator so after a few moments of darkness, the lights would come back on and all go.  One afternoon it failed, for about 8 hours, but I still got a typewritten note under my door with the correct date, apologizing for the inconvenience!

A lasting impression, is walking outside at 9pm, for a drink, in a small adjacent bar with a ceiling fan, and feeling like I am sitting under several hairdryers!

Emily is not in Jos

Hi all - sorry for the lack of updates, I will rectify this as soon as I can, but meanwhile, be assured that I am not in Jos, VSO has no volunteers in Jos at present, is finding alternative solutions for those who were supposed to go there, and has re-inforced its travel ban - volunteers and staff are strictly banned from going to Jos or within 10km of it.

And on a positive note I am enjoying Nigeria, and as my new colleague I just met just pointed out, the good thing about Nigeria having a bad press is that people are positively surprized.  I feel very much welcomed, secure, and safe. 

Anyway for now I'm off to eat some nice spicy Nigerian food.