I feel really blessed that I have been able to travel from Jos to Abuja! I had heard from many people that Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capitol Territory, is the premier place to be in Nigeria. I have been thoroughly enjoying it! The roads, buildings, street lights, road signs all made me reminisce about the US. Abuja was created as the capital 12 years ago in order to establish a more geologically centralized governmental location.
I think my favorite place that we visited was Millenium Park. It was established by the former president who wanted there to be a green place in the city that was owned by the government and could be utilized by the public. It was beautiful, clean, and well-patronized by many! It had tall trees, green grass, a natural stream, meandering walk-ways and decorative fountains. I have to admit that I did question the practicality of having a fountain flanked walk-way when there are so many places around the country that don’t have access to clean drinking water. Previously, I’d only thought about whether or not the situation allowed me to run through them! However, I decided that I would ponder the efficacy of the fountain situation later when I was surrounded by drab dirt roads and dead grass and bask in the beauty that results from nature being enjoyed by a community.
As I was being driven around Abuja was initially surprised that Nigeria has a National Mosque. Upon reconsideration, I realized that I have visited the National Cathedral of the US and that it seems logical that a nation that is 50% Muslim has a National Mosque. Interestingly, the National Ecumenical Center is located a few buildings down the same road. I feel that their close proximity in the Federal Capitol sends a peaceful and unifying message. I only pray that this symbolic peaceful co-existence can be transferred throughout the country.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
Kurra Falls
Today was so much fun! It completely made up for a somewhat difficult (not that it was bad, I just missed home) Christmas!! My whole Jos family, Laitu’s niece, and some family friends all went to Kura Falls for a picnic! I LOVED being amongst the beautiful tall, green trees, a sprawling lake, and a variety of rocks! In addition to the picturesque location, it was the perfect weather: sunny, probably around 75o with a refreshing breeze. God is so real to me when I am in nature! We were able to eat by the water and then go and explore around the rocks and dam that was created to provide hydropower and constant electricity to this remote village. That’s right…Lagos and Abuja may not have constant power, but this small village 90 minutes outside of Jos has electricity all day, everyday because of water and gravity! CRAZY!
Tacos!
Laitu’s family had been asking me to prepare some American food for them, so I decided to “make” tacos since there are a limited number of American foods I feel confident making. I made 40 homemade tortillas (they were aghast at the lack of oil) , and removed the chicken from the bones (which they found so strange), I shredded some cheddar cheese (YAY!! but they thought it tasted like butter). We then cut up tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and peppers. They thought it was really strange that we weren’t cooking any of the vegetables but excited to try the new food. Without the taco seasoning spice packet from the grocery store, it really was more like a chicken wrap, but they didn’t need to know that! We packed it all up and took it on the picnic!
As I was explaining how to assemble the taco and they were practicing pronouncing t-a-c-o-s I related the pronunciation to the Hausa word for number 8 “takwas” (which I always thought was pronounced like the food). We were then all amused by the fact that we had nearly eight different ingredients to include in the tacos. Good times! The kids had fun making them and people really enjoyed them for the most part. They were definitely good sports!
As I was explaining how to assemble the taco and they were practicing pronouncing t-a-c-o-s I related the pronunciation to the Hausa word for number 8 “takwas” (which I always thought was pronounced like the food). We were then all amused by the fact that we had nearly eight different ingredients to include in the tacos. Good times! The kids had fun making them and people really enjoyed them for the most part. They were definitely good sports!
Christmas Customs
Before I write the main portion of this entry, I want to preface it with a realization that has been accentuated through my Christmas experience. I know that there are differences throughout American culture, but I’ve found that there are so many more throughout Nigerian. There are the 3 main cultures: Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. However, within these main groups there are multitudes of tribes or people groups that each possesses their own traditional dishes, cultures, songs, dances, and traditions.
I am going to describe the particular traditions that I experienced while staying in Jos. Despite Nigerian being a very family-based culture, Christmas isn’t nearly as focused around family as it in the US. The children where I’m staying went and visited “Father Christmas” in preparation for the big day. The big excitement for the children is to receive a new outfit, “Christmas clothes”! It isn’t a surprise, but instead they help to pick it out: new outfit, shoes, jewelry, etc.
Christmas morning, the children woke up, put on their new clothes and we all went to church. Though it was Christmas day, we still only sang one Christmas carol…and it was in Hausa…, the rest were typical Nigerian praise songs! (Luckily, I’d sung every carol I could think of in my head as I ran on Christmas morning!) It was neat at church to see everyone in their new clothes! Though it’s a special tradition for children, many adults participate as well! The church served everyone rice and stew (tomato sauce) with chicken and pop for lunch.
After church, we drove around Jos touring some of the main parts of the city. It was interesting to me that the city still seemed to be bustling. I feel this is due part in fact to the presence of Muslims in the city and partially due to the fact that here Christmas is a holiday to be out and about visiting people. Our next stop was to visit some of their family friends where we were given yet more fried chicken and chin chin (small fried pieces of sweet dough). Then, we returned home to receive visitors at our home. Children from the neighborhood came by to wish us a Merry Christmas bringing some traditional food items and in return, the children were given token amounts of money, fried chicken, and chin chin.
In summary, Christmas is not full of the same extravagance that it holds in the US. I’m sure there are much bigger celebrations in villages, but within the cities the big emphases are cooking large amounts of fried chicken, rice, stew, and chin chin and visiting friends and neighbors. I appreciated the reduced emphasis on gifts and increased emphasis on visiting friends and neighbors! However, I REALLY missed all the Christmas music this year, seeing my extended families and all the simple traditions from home that seem mundane at times, but in absentia they’re missed a lot!
Here is the link to some pictures practicing these customs:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49842&l=5db35&id=501312909
I am going to describe the particular traditions that I experienced while staying in Jos. Despite Nigerian being a very family-based culture, Christmas isn’t nearly as focused around family as it in the US. The children where I’m staying went and visited “Father Christmas” in preparation for the big day. The big excitement for the children is to receive a new outfit, “Christmas clothes”! It isn’t a surprise, but instead they help to pick it out: new outfit, shoes, jewelry, etc.
Christmas morning, the children woke up, put on their new clothes and we all went to church. Though it was Christmas day, we still only sang one Christmas carol…and it was in Hausa…, the rest were typical Nigerian praise songs! (Luckily, I’d sung every carol I could think of in my head as I ran on Christmas morning!) It was neat at church to see everyone in their new clothes! Though it’s a special tradition for children, many adults participate as well! The church served everyone rice and stew (tomato sauce) with chicken and pop for lunch.
After church, we drove around Jos touring some of the main parts of the city. It was interesting to me that the city still seemed to be bustling. I feel this is due part in fact to the presence of Muslims in the city and partially due to the fact that here Christmas is a holiday to be out and about visiting people. Our next stop was to visit some of their family friends where we were given yet more fried chicken and chin chin (small fried pieces of sweet dough). Then, we returned home to receive visitors at our home. Children from the neighborhood came by to wish us a Merry Christmas bringing some traditional food items and in return, the children were given token amounts of money, fried chicken, and chin chin.
In summary, Christmas is not full of the same extravagance that it holds in the US. I’m sure there are much bigger celebrations in villages, but within the cities the big emphases are cooking large amounts of fried chicken, rice, stew, and chin chin and visiting friends and neighbors. I appreciated the reduced emphasis on gifts and increased emphasis on visiting friends and neighbors! However, I REALLY missed all the Christmas music this year, seeing my extended families and all the simple traditions from home that seem mundane at times, but in absentia they’re missed a lot!
Here is the link to some pictures practicing these customs:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49842&l=5db35&id=501312909
Monday, December 22, 2008
Christmas in Jos!
I am so thankful that Laitu, my friend I teach with, was kind enough to take me to Jos with her family for the Christmas holiday! Since this holiday season had the potential to be kind of difficult, being away from all of my friends and family for the first time at Christmas, I'm excited to in a new place with new things to see and experiences to have! I'm still missing being home, but I'm staying busy and have many exciting plans for the next 2 weeks. While I would have liked to spend Christmas in a village, it would have been 1-2 days of experiences, and then I would have been at home alone in Jalingo (EVERYONE has left!) for the rest of the 2 weeks until school started. Laitu has said her church will have a big cultural celebration complete with dancing and traditional foods, so I'm excited!
I'll write more about the Christmas traditions, which I feel maybe start on Christmas day, after I've experienced them?! I'm just going with the flow and taking everything in! :) In the meantime, I'm LOVING the cooler weather, parks and welcoming people who are making me feel part of their family! I am renewing my resolve to reach out to internationals when I return to the US as so many people have made me feel so welcome and helped me experience Nigerian culture to its fullest. I will forever be grateful!
I'll write more about the Christmas traditions, which I feel maybe start on Christmas day, after I've experienced them?! I'm just going with the flow and taking everything in! :) In the meantime, I'm LOVING the cooler weather, parks and welcoming people who are making me feel part of their family! I am renewing my resolve to reach out to internationals when I return to the US as so many people have made me feel so welcome and helped me experience Nigerian culture to its fullest. I will forever be grateful!
Friday, December 19, 2008
"How are you preparing for Christmas?"
As I was walking along my regular route toward the internet, someone called me over to chat. After the compulsory pleasantries, he asked me “How are you preparing for Christmas?” Hmmm…I had no idea how I was supposed to respond to this question. I have been a little bitter about the fact that there have been relatively few signs of Christmas anywhere in all of Jalingo (I’ve seen 1 strand of lights…the only Christmas tree is a sticker one that my mom sent…no Christmas songs on the radio. Back in the US, I was the first person to complain about the excessive consumerism, but now that I’m at the opposite end of the spectrum I was really missing symbols season! In trying to gracefully dodge the question, I turned the question back to him to see what kind of response would be appropriate. He was reluctant to answer for fear of tainting my answer (completely warranted!), but finally answered with something to this effect.
“I’ve been praying that God would open my eyes to experience the birth of baby Jesus in a new way this year. I’ve also been reading and meditating on the scriptures that depict the birth of Christ.”
Yeah…don’t I feel shallow! All I could think about were the secular aspects of the season whereas I could have been using this time to focus on the real meaning of Christmas! I became determined to take my Christmas preparations into my own hands in my own way, which leads me to my Christmas cookies and cards extravaganza!
“I’ve been praying that God would open my eyes to experience the birth of baby Jesus in a new way this year. I’ve also been reading and meditating on the scriptures that depict the birth of Christ.”
Yeah…don’t I feel shallow! All I could think about were the secular aspects of the season whereas I could have been using this time to focus on the real meaning of Christmas! I became determined to take my Christmas preparations into my own hands in my own way, which leads me to my Christmas cookies and cards extravaganza!
Christmas Cookies!
One of my favorite childhood memories was helping dad bake, frost and sprinkle sugar cookies at Christmas time! Despite this being a favorite memory, I hadn’t actually attempted these in my independence. I decided why not make them for my friends around Jalingo to share the joy of Christmas?!
After getting the recipe emailed to me from dad, I was inspired and started with enthusiasm enhanced by the fact that I was listening to the 2 Christmas albums that I had on my ipod! I realized that cream of tarter, almond extract and vanilla were unattainable. Dad suggested lemon juice as a possible substitute, so I figured that orange was citrus too, so I added a splash of orange juice to replace these three ingredients. The mixed dough was then put in my freezer for a few hours in hopes that the temperature there would dip to the condition of typical refrigerators. The adventure of rolling out the dough commenced with the discovery of my nalgene bottle acting as the perfect rolling pin! I made a few attempts to create some cookie cutter shapes. I tried paper clips for stars and a tuna can with inserts for a tree. These failed miserably. I settled on a diet coke can to create a Christmas ornament…okay…really it was just a circle, but I was using my imagination!
Ruth astutely observed that I don’t actually have a cookie sheet, but instead I have found the broiler pan of my oven functions quite nicely! Then, I had to go find a calculator to convert the Fahrenheit baking temperature in the recipe to the Celsius temperature intervals on my oven. (Good thing I learned the conversion in chemistry class! :)) After estimating where 193.33 degrees Celsius was between 180 and 220, I was questioning how a gas oven relates to an electric oven in terms of cooking time….guess no longer…it cooks faster! After the 3rd set, they were getting pretty good!
Then, it was time to attempt the frosting. I ended up adding about 4x’s as much as the recipe called for in order to get it spread-able. Frosting without vanilla is a little lacking, but I reassured myself that the Nigerians won’t have frosting with vanilla to compare it with! I was slightly disappointed that though my parents had sent me food coloring, it was definitely at school for use in lab, so we had white frosting (though I attempted to add some of my new strawberry flavoring since it was red…it clearly didn’t have the right dye).
Despite the many adjustments, I was successfully able to bake 13 dozen little ornament cookies with joy and deliver them to my neighbors, local shop friends, outdoor restaurant cook, tailor, generator gas guy, grocery store people who find me milk, post office saints, tire repair guy who helps me carry my packages from the post office, internet friends, salon women I pass on the way to the internet, and colleagues from school. It was so much fun giving out cookies and homemade Christmas cards to all of the people who make up my friends and family of Jalingo!!!! Many of them had not tasted cookies like this before and all were surprised and grateful!
I can now say that Christmas cookies, though a secular representation of Christmas, have helped me to prepare my heart and mind for this blessed season! I hope all of you are able to “prepare for Christmas” in your own special way in these last few days before we celebrate the birth of Christ all over the world!
After getting the recipe emailed to me from dad, I was inspired and started with enthusiasm enhanced by the fact that I was listening to the 2 Christmas albums that I had on my ipod! I realized that cream of tarter, almond extract and vanilla were unattainable. Dad suggested lemon juice as a possible substitute, so I figured that orange was citrus too, so I added a splash of orange juice to replace these three ingredients. The mixed dough was then put in my freezer for a few hours in hopes that the temperature there would dip to the condition of typical refrigerators. The adventure of rolling out the dough commenced with the discovery of my nalgene bottle acting as the perfect rolling pin! I made a few attempts to create some cookie cutter shapes. I tried paper clips for stars and a tuna can with inserts for a tree. These failed miserably. I settled on a diet coke can to create a Christmas ornament…okay…really it was just a circle, but I was using my imagination!
Ruth astutely observed that I don’t actually have a cookie sheet, but instead I have found the broiler pan of my oven functions quite nicely! Then, I had to go find a calculator to convert the Fahrenheit baking temperature in the recipe to the Celsius temperature intervals on my oven. (Good thing I learned the conversion in chemistry class! :)) After estimating where 193.33 degrees Celsius was between 180 and 220, I was questioning how a gas oven relates to an electric oven in terms of cooking time….guess no longer…it cooks faster! After the 3rd set, they were getting pretty good!
Then, it was time to attempt the frosting. I ended up adding about 4x’s as much as the recipe called for in order to get it spread-able. Frosting without vanilla is a little lacking, but I reassured myself that the Nigerians won’t have frosting with vanilla to compare it with! I was slightly disappointed that though my parents had sent me food coloring, it was definitely at school for use in lab, so we had white frosting (though I attempted to add some of my new strawberry flavoring since it was red…it clearly didn’t have the right dye).
Despite the many adjustments, I was successfully able to bake 13 dozen little ornament cookies with joy and deliver them to my neighbors, local shop friends, outdoor restaurant cook, tailor, generator gas guy, grocery store people who find me milk, post office saints, tire repair guy who helps me carry my packages from the post office, internet friends, salon women I pass on the way to the internet, and colleagues from school. It was so much fun giving out cookies and homemade Christmas cards to all of the people who make up my friends and family of Jalingo!!!! Many of them had not tasted cookies like this before and all were surprised and grateful!
I can now say that Christmas cookies, though a secular representation of Christmas, have helped me to prepare my heart and mind for this blessed season! I hope all of you are able to “prepare for Christmas” in your own special way in these last few days before we celebrate the birth of Christ all over the world!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Pictures!
Internet in Jalingo is being much more cooperative lately...thankfully! Here are some links to trip pictures and chicken pictures!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47701&l=7b459&id=501312909
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=43972&l=d8541&id=501312909
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47701&l=7b459&id=501312909
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=43972&l=d8541&id=501312909
Nigerian Time
My dear Jalingo friend, Laura, is moving back to her home state of Abia this weekend, (good for her, sad for me!) so I went by her house to tell her good-bye. She wasn’t there, so I called her and she told me she was at the market but would be home in 10 minutes. After 4 months of living here in Nigeria, I knew better than to really expect her in 10 minutes. Half and hour later at 4:00, she arrived. Ordinarily, the new Nigerian Carolyn wouldn’t have minded, but I was “scheduled” to attend a Christmas program at my church at 4pm and I knew I had to go home first to change into a skirt and cover my head. However, it was totally worth it to say good bye and see her one last time!
I rushed home, changed and hurried off to the church trying to make it by 4:30 (only a half an hour late). I arrived to find that since there was a choir practicing, the program was simply put on hold and didn’t start until 5:30. Ahhh, yes. African time.
Sunday morning, I was to meet my friend Ezekiel at his church at 9am for service. I believe his exact phrase was “Come for service at 9am. I’ll be there before that to meet you!” I was running a little late because I was trying to find the least wrinkled traditional outfit that I could since we hadn’t had electricity for a few days to iron. When I arrived at 9:05, I was all worried that service had already started. I looked around and didn’t see him anywhere, so I called him. Yeah, he was still at home and hadn’t showered yet, so I just went in and found a seat as service started about 9:15. He showed up around 10.
Needless to say, this weekend was a constant reminder that Nigerian culture doesn’t work on the same clock at the American one. I know this fact, but I still have a hard time internalizing it. I guess it takes more than 4 months to undo 26 years of conditioning! :)
I rushed home, changed and hurried off to the church trying to make it by 4:30 (only a half an hour late). I arrived to find that since there was a choir practicing, the program was simply put on hold and didn’t start until 5:30. Ahhh, yes. African time.
Sunday morning, I was to meet my friend Ezekiel at his church at 9am for service. I believe his exact phrase was “Come for service at 9am. I’ll be there before that to meet you!” I was running a little late because I was trying to find the least wrinkled traditional outfit that I could since we hadn’t had electricity for a few days to iron. When I arrived at 9:05, I was all worried that service had already started. I looked around and didn’t see him anywhere, so I called him. Yeah, he was still at home and hadn’t showered yet, so I just went in and found a seat as service started about 9:15. He showed up around 10.
Needless to say, this weekend was a constant reminder that Nigerian culture doesn’t work on the same clock at the American one. I know this fact, but I still have a hard time internalizing it. I guess it takes more than 4 months to undo 26 years of conditioning! :)
Missionary, hunh?!
As I’ve been enjoying my travels and some relaxation, I began to panic! Wait…this isn’t supposed to be vacation…I’m supposed to be here as a missionary! People have contributed so generously for me to be able to be here, and I don’t take that support lightly. It’s really easy to start questioning whether or not you are making any appreciable difference. Most of the people that I interact with on a regular basis are already Christians, so I haven’t knowingly converted anyone to Christianity. I’m not drilling any wells or building schools. I haven’t introduced any revolutionary agricultural practices or crops (though I’m trying to convince them to milk the goats…it hasn’t caught on yet!). So, I began to wonder, what is the advantage of me being here instead of simply donating the money that I require to live here for the year to one of them many worthy causes and drilling a well or building a school?
As I reflected on what it means to be a missionary, I remembered that during my training to become an Individual Volunteer through the United Methodist Church I formulated this definition:
I believe that mission is joining with persons of faith around the world in global partnership offering what I have to do the work of God which includes clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and setting at liberty those who are oppressed as well as working to change the conditions that perpetuate poverty and oppression.
After reading it, I breathed a partial sigh of relief. I think that while I’m in school and teaching, I’m working toward this end. However, I still questioned my purpose outside of school amongst the community of Jalingo and beyond. Through significant periods of reflection and prayer, I remembered a portion of a book I’d read a few years ago called “The Irresistible Revolution” by Shane Claiborne where he referenced Jesus talked about how important it is to be present among the poor and live in community. It was a huge relief to recognize that in my everyday errands and going about I wasn’t in any position to nor any compulsion to rescue anyone from their current plight. Instead, we are called to walk, work, and dialogue together!
Showing my friend dental floss and how to use it, learning from a stranger how to signal to a taxi which direction I want to go, sharing my cinnamon rolls with people sitting outside my compound, learning the Hausa word for “2 days after tomorrow” (that’s right…there’s a word for that!) are all examples of interactions that take place on a regular basis. I believe that these simple, daily encounters are helping to build understanding, respect, tolerance and love. Though these qualities are difficult to assess and quantify, I think that they are necessary to achieving peace and unity. Directly depositing money into a project account can’t do that.
Feelings of guilt prompted by a 4-week Christmas break initiated this line of thinking, but I feel that it produced an expanded and evolved sense of purpose for the next 8 months…only time will tell!
As I reflected on what it means to be a missionary, I remembered that during my training to become an Individual Volunteer through the United Methodist Church I formulated this definition:
I believe that mission is joining with persons of faith around the world in global partnership offering what I have to do the work of God which includes clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and setting at liberty those who are oppressed as well as working to change the conditions that perpetuate poverty and oppression.
After reading it, I breathed a partial sigh of relief. I think that while I’m in school and teaching, I’m working toward this end. However, I still questioned my purpose outside of school amongst the community of Jalingo and beyond. Through significant periods of reflection and prayer, I remembered a portion of a book I’d read a few years ago called “The Irresistible Revolution” by Shane Claiborne where he referenced Jesus talked about how important it is to be present among the poor and live in community. It was a huge relief to recognize that in my everyday errands and going about I wasn’t in any position to nor any compulsion to rescue anyone from their current plight. Instead, we are called to walk, work, and dialogue together!
Showing my friend dental floss and how to use it, learning from a stranger how to signal to a taxi which direction I want to go, sharing my cinnamon rolls with people sitting outside my compound, learning the Hausa word for “2 days after tomorrow” (that’s right…there’s a word for that!) are all examples of interactions that take place on a regular basis. I believe that these simple, daily encounters are helping to build understanding, respect, tolerance and love. Though these qualities are difficult to assess and quantify, I think that they are necessary to achieving peace and unity. Directly depositing money into a project account can’t do that.
Feelings of guilt prompted by a 4-week Christmas break initiated this line of thinking, but I feel that it produced an expanded and evolved sense of purpose for the next 8 months…only time will tell!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Gifted a Chicken!
After arriving home at 6:15am from my trip to Abia, I had to hurry up and grade my students’ exams and get the grades entered (by hand!) by that afternoon. Since one of my colleagues had taken the sheets home with him to the village, my friend graciously took me to the village to complete the information there. My colleague, grateful for our efforts, gifted me a chicken, not a frozen chicken, not a recently butchered chicken, a live chicken! I kind of laughed and didn’t know how to respond… “Thanks!”…however, I was eternally grateful when my friend, Asper, volunteered to tie it to his motorcycle handle as we rode 20 minutes to his brother’s house where he offered to teach me how to prepare it!
***WARNING*** If you’re content with simply believing that the chicken magically ends up shrink-wrapped in the frozen section of the supermarket, just quit reading this entry. However, if you want a little inspiration to become a vegetarian, read on, it just might push you over the edge! Everyone around me was astounded that I had never butchered a chicken before…they just kept giggling!
I was unable to participate in the actual killing. It was just too much, but after that, I was an active contributor! Boiling water is poured over the bird so that the feathers can be removed easily. After I stopped anthropomorphizing the bird and relating the feather removal to pulling out hair, the process was less disturbing. It actually became quite intriguing. The remaining skin was bumpy…just the way that uncooked chicken skin looks…imagine that! AND the feathers were hollow on the inside! I knew that feathers were used as ink pens, but seeing them directly plucked from the chicken made it real on a whole new level! WOW! I learned that you should look for joints in order to make the sectioning of the chicken easier. I was becoming more comfortable with holding limbs and cutting them off, but then we opened the torso and it was almost too much! There were eggs! Oh my goodness! I felt bad, but then rationalized to myself that many of the chickens that I’ve eaten over the past 26 years probably had eggs in them as well and I didn’t have any qualms about it before.
Luckily, we found the gizzard, and the excitement of cutting it open to find the “garbage can” full of sand distracted me! We cleaned it out and put it in the edible pile. Here in Nigeria, the gizzard is always given to the man of the house. I asked why the one half couldn’t go to the wife if it was so delicious?! They just laughed and said that it would completely disrespect the man to do that. Hmmm…after I taste it, I’ll decide whether it’s a battle I want to fight!
We finished cutting and cleaning it and I was able to take it home to season it, boil it and then fry half of the pieces! It actually turned out pretty well except for the fact I was so proud of my use of thyme, sage, and marjoram that I forgot to add salt. Whoops! I was thankful that I had some visitors stop by and was able to share my gifted chicken that I had personally, butchered, cleaned, and cooked! While I can’t say that I want to participate in this entire process for every chicken I eat, I feel that I now more intimately understand that process that takes place from the crowing rooster to the bag of frozen chicken breasts at the grocery store! :)
(When internet cooperates, there will be some accompanying pictures for the strong of stomach!)
***WARNING*** If you’re content with simply believing that the chicken magically ends up shrink-wrapped in the frozen section of the supermarket, just quit reading this entry. However, if you want a little inspiration to become a vegetarian, read on, it just might push you over the edge! Everyone around me was astounded that I had never butchered a chicken before…they just kept giggling!
I was unable to participate in the actual killing. It was just too much, but after that, I was an active contributor! Boiling water is poured over the bird so that the feathers can be removed easily. After I stopped anthropomorphizing the bird and relating the feather removal to pulling out hair, the process was less disturbing. It actually became quite intriguing. The remaining skin was bumpy…just the way that uncooked chicken skin looks…imagine that! AND the feathers were hollow on the inside! I knew that feathers were used as ink pens, but seeing them directly plucked from the chicken made it real on a whole new level! WOW! I learned that you should look for joints in order to make the sectioning of the chicken easier. I was becoming more comfortable with holding limbs and cutting them off, but then we opened the torso and it was almost too much! There were eggs! Oh my goodness! I felt bad, but then rationalized to myself that many of the chickens that I’ve eaten over the past 26 years probably had eggs in them as well and I didn’t have any qualms about it before.
Luckily, we found the gizzard, and the excitement of cutting it open to find the “garbage can” full of sand distracted me! We cleaned it out and put it in the edible pile. Here in Nigeria, the gizzard is always given to the man of the house. I asked why the one half couldn’t go to the wife if it was so delicious?! They just laughed and said that it would completely disrespect the man to do that. Hmmm…after I taste it, I’ll decide whether it’s a battle I want to fight!
We finished cutting and cleaning it and I was able to take it home to season it, boil it and then fry half of the pieces! It actually turned out pretty well except for the fact I was so proud of my use of thyme, sage, and marjoram that I forgot to add salt. Whoops! I was thankful that I had some visitors stop by and was able to share my gifted chicken that I had personally, butchered, cleaned, and cooked! While I can’t say that I want to participate in this entire process for every chicken I eat, I feel that I now more intimately understand that process that takes place from the crowing rooster to the bag of frozen chicken breasts at the grocery store! :)
(When internet cooperates, there will be some accompanying pictures for the strong of stomach!)
Please Pray for this Paradox!
I came back from traveling to find that all of the internet cafes in Jalingo had been shut down because they didn’t have a proper operating certificate. Really?! How can this happen? A capital city needs internet! One place is operating underground but since it’s a make-shift server, there are few systems available, it’s slow and they are limiting people to 1 hour. Internet is my connection to the US! No one can give me a definitive answer regarding when the situation will be resolved. Pray that it is soon!
Today, I went to the immigration office to check on my visa renewal situation and they told me that I may have to go home to the US in April. In light of the previous paragraph, I found it interesting that I was nearly in tears when they told me that! I also think it’s funny that I am seriously the only person in all of Nigeria who would be upset to be told I have to go to the US! After some more conversations with the immigration officer and some other church officials, I think that it can be arranged for me to stay until July as per the original arrangement, but things are never simple! Please pray that if it’s God’s will for me to be here until July, my visa situation will be resolved!
Today, I went to the immigration office to check on my visa renewal situation and they told me that I may have to go home to the US in April. In light of the previous paragraph, I found it interesting that I was nearly in tears when they told me that! I also think it’s funny that I am seriously the only person in all of Nigeria who would be upset to be told I have to go to the US! After some more conversations with the immigration officer and some other church officials, I think that it can be arranged for me to stay until July as per the original arrangement, but things are never simple! Please pray that if it’s God’s will for me to be here until July, my visa situation will be resolved!
Friday, December 5, 2008
Awkward Moment #5842
While I have running water in my house, I’ve gotten used to the fact that everywhere else I go, doesn’t have it. Therefore, I know to always procure a bucket of water prior to going. Laura and I are staying with a friend of hers in Owerri in a really nice apartment. I used to automatically think that would then imply running water. I’m no longer so naïve. Therefore, when I saw the bathroom without any buckets I got nervous. How was I going to flush?! I decided to wait until we came back to avoid the embarrassment of asking for water and someone having to go fetch it. However, when I returned, I saw some buckets and a 50L jug of water in the hall, so I figured that was to be used. I awkwardly poured water from the ridiculously heavy jug into a bucket to bring with me to the bathroom.
You can imagine how sheepish I felt when I realized that there was running water, and I could simply flush the toilet. I was really hoping that no one would see me putting the bucket back in the hallway, but there was no such luck. I decided to simply play it off as being an ignorant “onye ocha” (white person in Igbo…the predominant language of this new area). All you can do is laugh!
You can imagine how sheepish I felt when I realized that there was running water, and I could simply flush the toilet. I was really hoping that no one would see me putting the bucket back in the hallway, but there was no such luck. I decided to simply play it off as being an ignorant “onye ocha” (white person in Igbo…the predominant language of this new area). All you can do is laugh!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Nigeria beyond Jalingo!
Early on, I experienced a changing perspective as I transitioned from Boerne, to Wilton, to Lagos to Jalingo to small villages. In traveling first to Umuahia, Abia State and then to Owerri, Imo State for her convocation, I have gone back in the other direction. Jalingo has become my new “normal” and consequently, my new standard for comparison. Let me tell you, I am so glad that I have been given this opportunity to travel! It is helping me to understand why Nigeria is considered the place to be in Africa. Though there are still infrastructural challenges with running water and electricity, it is completely different from Jalingo! Here are a few of the most notable differences that I’ve noticed so far:
There are trash cans! That’s right, it took me nearly 4 months, but Abia and Imo states have public trash cans and encourage their populace to keep the city clean. It was delightful! Driving down the road in Imo State, I saw no less than 4 different buildings being painted while multiple others had messages painted by the government that it should be painted by the given date. Consequently, buildings looked good and were upkept! I saw sidewalks and paved roads…incredible! People were busy. There were not throngs of people sitting outside businesses watching the world go by. Other women, besides me, were wearing pants (trousers)! Businesses had Christmas decorations up!
Now, while these observations may lead one to believe that I am enamored by these more developed cities and now feel a sort of disdain toward Jalingo. That would be an incorrect conclusion. While it is exciting, refreshing and enlightening to see a new part of Nigeria, I still love my life back home in Jalingo. As I’ve found to be true everywhere, people are what make a place great and my friends and “family” back in Jalingo are the best in all of Nigeria! It’s been so heartening to be receiving calls, texts, and “flashes” (you call a person and hang-up when they answer…yeah…in the US, we’d call this prank calling…here they see it as a way to let a person know that you’re thinking of them without using much credit) from my friends back in Taraba.
I feel like I can appreciate Jalingo for the place it is, but the challenges come when Taraba is the only place that many of the residents have been exposed to. It’s difficult for people to strive for progress and development when they are used to their current conditions and aren’t aware of the possible benefits of alternatives. I really think that trash cans would be a good first step! :)
There are trash cans! That’s right, it took me nearly 4 months, but Abia and Imo states have public trash cans and encourage their populace to keep the city clean. It was delightful! Driving down the road in Imo State, I saw no less than 4 different buildings being painted while multiple others had messages painted by the government that it should be painted by the given date. Consequently, buildings looked good and were upkept! I saw sidewalks and paved roads…incredible! People were busy. There were not throngs of people sitting outside businesses watching the world go by. Other women, besides me, were wearing pants (trousers)! Businesses had Christmas decorations up!
Now, while these observations may lead one to believe that I am enamored by these more developed cities and now feel a sort of disdain toward Jalingo. That would be an incorrect conclusion. While it is exciting, refreshing and enlightening to see a new part of Nigeria, I still love my life back home in Jalingo. As I’ve found to be true everywhere, people are what make a place great and my friends and “family” back in Jalingo are the best in all of Nigeria! It’s been so heartening to be receiving calls, texts, and “flashes” (you call a person and hang-up when they answer…yeah…in the US, we’d call this prank calling…here they see it as a way to let a person know that you’re thinking of them without using much credit) from my friends back in Taraba.
I feel like I can appreciate Jalingo for the place it is, but the challenges come when Taraba is the only place that many of the residents have been exposed to. It’s difficult for people to strive for progress and development when they are used to their current conditions and aren’t aware of the possible benefits of alternatives. I really think that trash cans would be a good first step! :)
Road Trip to Abia!
After spending 3 months here in Jalingo, I had become stir crazy. I was so excited that I was able to obtain permission from approximately 8 different people to prepare to go to Abia State with my friend Laura for her convocation. Thankfully, the journey proved to be uneventful for the typical Nigerian, but it contained oodles of interesting experiences for me!
At 6am Laura came with her friend on motorbike to pick me up with my luggage to go to the motor park. This meant 3 people and 2 large bags on one motorbike, excellent! We found the appropriate van that would be traveling to Abia state and along with 12 other people and sundry atypical (lots of yams) luggage boarded for the long journey. We left at 9 am, not because that was the scheduled departure time because that was the time when we reached capacity and then proceeded across the street to wait in line for fuel and THEN departed!
As we were driving along, there were different crops that had been harvested drying along the shoulders of the road. There is no speed limit, but potholes instead dictate maximum speed. Cars are meant to drive on the right side of the road, as in the US, but again, potholes are more instrumental in dictating this than anything else. As we went along passing village after village, I realized that the thatched roof hut has become such an iconic symbol of Africa because it’s so ubiquitous!
Now I had come with a few snacks for the road because I know that Nigerians are notorious for the ability to go obscene numbers of hours without food or bathroom. I have adapted to the lack of bathroom but not the lack of food. I needn’t have worried. Every time we stopped, people were swarming our van trying to sell us the local produce of that village: date palms, figs, bananas, groundnuts. Multiple places had delicious oranges. I was able to get 4 for about 20 cents…total! I also had the delight of eating fresh cashews for the first time and learning that there is such a thing as a cashew fruit!
After 11 hours of driving, 4 different vehicles, and countless stops we arrived to Laura’s sister’s home to be royally greeted by her sister, brother-in-law and their three children. This road trip has begun!
At 6am Laura came with her friend on motorbike to pick me up with my luggage to go to the motor park. This meant 3 people and 2 large bags on one motorbike, excellent! We found the appropriate van that would be traveling to Abia state and along with 12 other people and sundry atypical (lots of yams) luggage boarded for the long journey. We left at 9 am, not because that was the scheduled departure time because that was the time when we reached capacity and then proceeded across the street to wait in line for fuel and THEN departed!
As we were driving along, there were different crops that had been harvested drying along the shoulders of the road. There is no speed limit, but potholes instead dictate maximum speed. Cars are meant to drive on the right side of the road, as in the US, but again, potholes are more instrumental in dictating this than anything else. As we went along passing village after village, I realized that the thatched roof hut has become such an iconic symbol of Africa because it’s so ubiquitous!
Now I had come with a few snacks for the road because I know that Nigerians are notorious for the ability to go obscene numbers of hours without food or bathroom. I have adapted to the lack of bathroom but not the lack of food. I needn’t have worried. Every time we stopped, people were swarming our van trying to sell us the local produce of that village: date palms, figs, bananas, groundnuts. Multiple places had delicious oranges. I was able to get 4 for about 20 cents…total! I also had the delight of eating fresh cashews for the first time and learning that there is such a thing as a cashew fruit!
After 11 hours of driving, 4 different vehicles, and countless stops we arrived to Laura’s sister’s home to be royally greeted by her sister, brother-in-law and their three children. This road trip has begun!
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