Electricity, water and plastic money

Last Tuesday morning I got a phone call, which led me to jump on a plane in a hurry, and arrive in the UK.  VSO of course don't encourage this kind of behaviour they focus on "preparing for change" when leaving or returning to your home country, although they and my Nigerian colleagues were very supportive in getting me home on this occasion.

So here are some comments on things that have surprised me on my sudden re-immersion into UK life.

1. Electricity - it hasn't gone off once since I have been back, now 9 days, and I have not come across a noisy smelly generator.  I notice this mostly when I find myself thinking that I should charge my mobile while the power is on! 
2. Water - when I need to brush my teeth, I wonder where to find drinking water, actually it comes out of the tap.
3. Plastic money - after 21 months of living in a  cash only society,  I have rediscovered a plastic card and a secret number, unfortunately I seem to forget it still has to be paid for! 
4. Shops - in particular supermarkets and Boots the chemist, there is so much variety of apparently identical products, a whole aisle full of hair dye for example, a bit different to a recent trip to a shop in Nigeria that only sold make-up, when I told them I was looking for lipstick they said they were out of stock!