Whatcha Say?

Far and away, my favorite part about moving to Nigeria has been learning a new culture. This aspect was what I most anticipated as I counted down the hours to takeoff on August 21, 2009. The thrill of hands-on learning made my first 4 months here some of the best of my life.

Fellow expatriates and even some Nigerians have commented on how well I adapted, and how quickly. (But for the grace of God. Thanks, but that's all Him.) I believe God gave me the desire to learn new cultures long before Nigeria was even an option, resulting in my relatively smooth transition.

One of the most obvious ways culture has influenced my daily life is in my vocabulary. Over the Christmas holiday, I laughed with family and friends at my own imitation of a Nigerian accent, and caught myself on more than one occasion responding with Nigerian phrases. The local dialect is known as Nigerian Pidgin English, a slang language.

Top 10 Favorite Pidgin Words and Phrases:
1. Ah-ah: Think of the noise a mother makes when her baby has picked a piece of whatisthat off the floor is about to put it in his mouth. We use it here as a general exclamation. I use it when students disrupt my class, when a salesman charges me too much in the market, or when someone tells me something unfortunate or unbelievable.
2. Haba: This is a similar exclamation, but expresses negative feelings. Something akin to "oh, come on" or "yeah, right."
3. Abeg: Literally means "please" but I usually use it in the sarcastic sense, i.e. "Grade 8, sit in your seats and be quiet, abeg!" Hear how it sounds like "I beg"?
4. Wetin dey happon (pronounced "waitin' day hah-pone"): "What happened?" I said this once to a child crying on the playground. He stopped crying, looked up at me incredulously and asked, "What did you just say?!"
5. Ba: "No." Used similarly to abi. "The fruit is ripe, ba?"
6. Anyhow: Description of disordered behavior. "The taxis drive any-anyhow on the roads."
7. Somehow: Can mean "kind of/sort of" or "weird," depending on context. Actual examples from the classroom: "Do you like that singer?" "Somehow." And also: "Her face was somehow."
8. Bush man/Bush woman: Hehe. My favorite term for name calling. It literally refers to an unsophisticated person, or someone who does unsophisticated things.
9. I'm coming (pronounced "combing"): "I'll be there...either right now, tomorrow, or in 10 years." Also means "I'll be right back." You can say I'm coming regardless of whether you're coming or going; it doesn't matter.
10. Kai: My favorite exclamation, like "Oh my gosh!" I use this one alllllll the time.

We have boots and queues (trunks and lines), biros and biscuits (ballpoint pens and crackers), and occasionally, we have light (electricity). When the electricity is turned off, we say "NEPA took the light."

There are plenty others I can't recall just now, but speaking the language lets others know I'm not as out of place as I may seem.

more on culture later...

two in one day...aren't you lucky?

Living 6,400 miles away means I gave up my primary source of community. I feel like this blog and my Facebook account gives me back a part of that community. If that is sacrilege I immediately confess it. But it feels true.

(That is the shortest blog post you will ever read from me.)

Daily Grind

Yesterday, my parents asked me what's new in my life. It's a harmless question, especially considering that I now live on a different continent, but I honestly couldn't think of an answer.

See? It happens, even in Nigeria. Life settles into a daily grind, and monotony creeps in.

Instead of choosing to be bored, though, I'm going to be thankful. I think I prefer routine to the other more dangerous ways life in Nigeria can be "interesting."

So I'm going to keep planning lessons, as I am wont to do every Sunday afternoon. And tomorrow, like every weekday morning, I'm going to get up at 5:45 a.m. and take my vitamins and eat my oatmeal and go be Miss Thomas, the baddest Lit teacher there ever was.

It's a routine, but it's my life. I am so lucky to be living it.

Christmas Music in October

While I usually keep to a strict No-Christmas-Music-Until-Thanksgiving policy, I feel it is a greater sacrilege that I'm seeing 95 F in October and missing Fall completely. Besides, I'm on a different continent...I'm playing by different rules here. My current soundtrack is Sara Groves' Christmas album. Don't hate.

I'll post something poignant and introspective later this weekend. Which is not to say I've already written something and am delaying in posting it to build suspense...those are just the standards I'm setting for the post-yet-to-be-written. Let's catch up on a few pieces of news first:

I'm almost legally allowed to work in Nigeria. Almost. The process of converting my visitor's visa to a temporary work permit is really complicated, involving a copy of a copy of a copy of a form that got printed off the internet at some point a long time ago. Anyways, the Nigerian government now holds copies of my passport, vaccination records, teaching contract, and college diploma (!) and we're pretty sure they're going to let me stay. :) But more importantly, they're going to let me travel at Christmas and reenter this beautiful nation to which I'm slowly losing my heart.

I went to the FIFA World Cup U17 match between Brazil and Switzerland tonight. I don't know how Nigeria got the bid, but the tournament is being played at the National Stadium (which is across the street from our compound). The teams are practicing on the American School's practice fields, so FIFA gave them a whole section of VIP tickets for the tournament. The teachers that go to my church invited me to tag along, and I'm not one for turning down a chance to be an annoying sports fan. :)
For my first soccer match, it was pretty cool. Let's just forget about the moment when I realized that U17 means the players are under 17 years of age. Nope, 17 does not mean the number of teams in the league, Mag; way to make the connection. Anyways, so the match wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it was, but I met some new people and made some new friends.

Speaking of which, the friendships are coming--slowly, but they're forming. My counterpart at the American School, M, is in her early thirties and hails from Wisconsin. She has offered to help me plan Literature curriculum and even borrow her lesson plans for next semester; this is a huge relief and another answer to prayer. She's a Green Bay Packer fan and easy to talk to. I'm going over to her apartment after church tomorrow to help her dye her hair. Yep, female bonding at its best. :)

I also got a chance to talk with our new neighbor, L, who just graduated from college on the East Coast in May. He's Nigerian-American, and has returned to Nigeria for a few weeks to visit Rachel's sons. We talked for a while last night over tea and it was just really good to talk to someone my own age with a Boston accent and an understanding of American culture. We commiserated about graduating, moving on with our lives, and living far away from home. It was really encouraging and was exactly what I needed.

For those of you faithfully praying for my health, I appreciate it very much. I can breathe through my nose again, which really is a bigger deal than it needs to be. I've just never been so grateful for my health.



Countdown: In 6 weeks + 24 hours, I'm going to be on a plane home. Get excited.

More Pictures!

Thanks to Mom and her high-speed internet, I'm able to share a couple more pictures from Nigeria!

This picture was taken on my very first night in Abuja. If I look absolutely out of it, it's because I was. :) The white woman is my Canadian/British flatmate Jan and the Indian woman is Rachel. We're in her flat, which is directly above ours.


















I have adopted Nigerian fashion with open arms, and take great joy in wearing traditional dress to school on Fridays. I get tons of compliments for trying to "fit in." I bought this dress ready-made in the market, and top is a bit constricting, so I might have a tailor let it out. (I'm also having 2 other traditional outfits made - I should have those within the next 2 weeks)