My new home

 More photos
I am now living in an area of Ibadan known as Bodija, and specifically JK Junction.

The street I live on is
  
although the address is
 
About 10 metres away is my nearest shop

And sometimes I think I live near a football stadium, (due to the noise)

When I want to study, actually go running I go to

"My sister lives in Arsenal State"

Nigerians are mad about football, and most of them, well most of the men, follow a British Premiership team, so when the security guard at my new home, Johnson, found out I was from the UK, he told me his sister lives in Arsenal State.

I explained that Arsenal actually isn't a state, its the name of a football team, that used to be in Highbury and Islington, and is now somewhere else, and there are other famous football clubs in London such as Tottenham Hot Spurs, Crystal Palace, and another one?

So I promised to get him a map of the UK.  I found one on line and printed it for him, and explained, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, London is the capital city, along with showing him other places of footballing interest, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle.

Fortunately I came to Nigeria with a small atlas, so we spent some time looking at it together comparing country size, population and so on.

He asked me if he could borrow the atlas for a few days, of course I agreed.  This morning when I woke up, late, (after being disturbed by people praying very loudly between 1 and 3am! - I am sure that is banned in the Bible!)  I looked out of the window, to see him reading the atlas.

I know its a small thing, but it gave me a little warm glow, that I had enabled one person, to have a look at my little atlas, and maybe expanded his view of the world a little bit, until now the only thing I have seen him reading is the Bible.

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

If you have a fast enough internet connection, have a look at this, a Nigerian speaks

http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html

Anticipating mangoes

On Thursday evening, I was very excited to see a man carrying mangoes on his head, yes my first mango of the year, 150 Naira, (Abuja price!)

Making a difference in Nigeria?

This isn't really a fresh post, but an article I wrote for the Friends of Nigeria newsletter, see page 4

I am soft and squiggy

Yesterday my soft squiggy body spent 9 hours inside a hard metal box on wheels, in close proximity to many other hard metal boxes all moving in similar and opposite directions, at varying speeds.

The metal boxes were travelling on a surface with many obstacles: potholes, speed bumps, police check points, contraflows and drivers who think they are Bond.

Along the way there is evidence, of crushed, folded, distorted metal that were formally metal boxes on wheels and presumably were carrying soft squiggy people, this evidence however doesn’t persuade the drivers to behave less like Bond.

My physical health at least, in tact I arrived safely at my destination, and am no longer in a metal box, indeed I haven’t been in one all day.

So if you think the danger of Nigeria, is the risk of armed robbery, being kidnapped, catching a tropical disease, or food poisoning, these risks can be all but eliminated with the right precautions, but you cannot live in a country without travelling, and for me as for you, the most dangerous thing I do on a regular basis is get in a car.

Abandoned in Nigeria

Twelve months ago last Sunday, I arrived in Abuja at 4 45am with Heather and Richard.  We were the three Brits arriving with 15 VSOs from other countries.  Last Sunday, Heather and Richard were my first visitors to my new home in Ibadan, on their way to Lagos, Benin, Togo, and Ghana for one last adventure before they go home.

So here we are after our final beer together, at TinTins my new local bar, they have now crossed the border and are no longer in Najia.

It should be noted that Rich is wearing Hausa clothes and a Yoruba hat, which I daresay is culturally inappropriate!

The Brits!