1. I had electricity all day everyday with only 10 minute outtages a few times per day...(only because there's some important person living in the neighborhood)...the rest of Kano has normal Nigerian electricity.
2. I found an some Obama comic books in a bookstore and was interested to see that it looked at the life of Obama's father prior to coming to the US as well as Obama's childhood...it was really pretty interesting!
3. I loved riding in the little motorized tricycles around the city...safer than a motorcycle...less safe than a taxi. The purpose is so that the Muslim women can go places that a motorcycle would take them while being "hidden". (I definitely opened the little curtains completely so I could take everything in!) :)
4. Seeing ancient city walls gives a new meaning to the walls of the city falling down after being marched around 7 times in the Bible!
5. Kano internet=terrible! For a huge and relatively developed city, Jalingo's internet was better!
6. All compounds have high walls around them to maintain privacy (and prevent adequate ventilation!)
7. The reason why the northern part of Nigeria is primarily Muslim is because when the British invaded, the north already had an established government and struck a deal with them to rule indirectly and allowed them to keep their religion and culture. However, in the south, it was less developed, so the British came in and exercised direct rule while strongly influencing their culture and religion converting many to Christianity. (History can be interesting when it explains some present realities!) :)
All in all, my trip to Kano was a success! There will be pictures once the internet decides to open facebook. School starts on Monday! I'm excited to get back! :)
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Kano, Kano
My friend from school, Laitu, has graciously offered to let me tag along to her trip to Kano to visit her sister over our spring break (which lasts 4 weeks). Kano city is the capital of Kano state and is considered to be the largest city in Nigeria and one of the largest cities in Africa. It is located in the northern part of the country where the population is predominantly Mulsim. Though I’ve only been here for one day, I’ve already made some interesting observations.
Our 550 km/343mile journey from Jalingo to Kano took us 10 hours despite relatively good roads for the second half of the trip due to some bad fuel that we received causing us to go along at a snail’s pace for a few hours. I was kind of surprised when we stopped to get better fuel around 3:30 that everyone piled out of the vehicle and began their washing ritual prior to going to the nearby mosque. All of the passengers except for my friend and I were Muslim and observing their afternoon prayers.
When we arrived at the motor park, we had to take a taxi to get to her sister’s house. Though they still pack the taxis with four people in back and two in the passenger’s seat up front, here they try to prevent women and men from sitting next to each other. In fact, later, there were two women in the back and a woman up front, the woman moved to the back, so that the man would be isolated up front. Then we stopped to pick up another man and he shared the front seat instead of doing the common thing elsewhere which is to make 4 in back before making 2 in front. Interesting!
Finally, we arrived and there was electricity…NEPA! It went off around 6:30pm, but then came back on 10 minutes later…and stayed on until morning! Then it went off for about 15 minutes and came back on. This is by far the most constant power I’ve had since coming to Nigeria. I’ve been here almost 24 hours and had power for over 23 of them. Wow!!! We’ll see if it lasts! I’m sure there will be further adventures, experiences and stories before the week is over and I’m excited!
Our 550 km/343mile journey from Jalingo to Kano took us 10 hours despite relatively good roads for the second half of the trip due to some bad fuel that we received causing us to go along at a snail’s pace for a few hours. I was kind of surprised when we stopped to get better fuel around 3:30 that everyone piled out of the vehicle and began their washing ritual prior to going to the nearby mosque. All of the passengers except for my friend and I were Muslim and observing their afternoon prayers.
When we arrived at the motor park, we had to take a taxi to get to her sister’s house. Though they still pack the taxis with four people in back and two in the passenger’s seat up front, here they try to prevent women and men from sitting next to each other. In fact, later, there were two women in the back and a woman up front, the woman moved to the back, so that the man would be isolated up front. Then we stopped to pick up another man and he shared the front seat instead of doing the common thing elsewhere which is to make 4 in back before making 2 in front. Interesting!
Finally, we arrived and there was electricity…NEPA! It went off around 6:30pm, but then came back on 10 minutes later…and stayed on until morning! Then it went off for about 15 minutes and came back on. This is by far the most constant power I’ve had since coming to Nigeria. I’ve been here almost 24 hours and had power for over 23 of them. Wow!!! We’ll see if it lasts! I’m sure there will be further adventures, experiences and stories before the week is over and I’m excited!
Multicultural Education...for real!
When I was at UNI and at OLLU, I had to take a Multicultural Education course. It was always compulsory to define culture. Frequently, we think of culture primarily relating to the food, dance, music and traditions within a particular people group. However, over the past few days, I’ve realized (again) that culture, which is instilled during one’s upbringing, permeates everything that we do.
After Aunty Kema’s birthday in the compound, there was a lot of trash on the ground. Since this doesn’t seem to affect people in Jalingo in the same way that it bothers me, I decided to take some initiative to have it picked up while having happy childhood memories at the same time! When I was a child visiting my Grandma and Grandpa Carter, they had an apple tree that would drop apples prematurely and result in apples scattered all over the yard. Grandma would pay my brother and I 1 penny per apple. We were excited!
Arthur and his friend LaToy are 4-5 years old and I tasked them with picking up trash and for every 10 pieces, they would get 1 naira. Since the smallest denomination that exists in circulation is 5 naira, I was probably underpaying, but they were excited to be earning money and I was excited that the trash was being collect. It was a win-win situation that I’m fairly certain had never been employed in Jalingo before but instead was a product of my American culture.
Later in the day, I decided that we needed a field trip down to the river which isn’t far from the compound, but I’d never been to that part of the shore. On the way, they had fun jumping in and out of the drainage ditch. We identified trash, talked about mango pits being seeds, looked at how seed pods from the tree drop into the ditch and dry out. We named the letters on signs, counted steps, and looked at the clouds in the sky. When we arrived at the river bed, we saw the how it was completely dry and how they bore down to pump water.
After the fun excursion, I started thinking about how I had never seen any adults go on little “outings” with kids around town. This was something that had not occurred to me either prior or during the fun but in hindsight found interesting. Believe me, there will be more field trips before I leave!
After Aunty Kema’s birthday in the compound, there was a lot of trash on the ground. Since this doesn’t seem to affect people in Jalingo in the same way that it bothers me, I decided to take some initiative to have it picked up while having happy childhood memories at the same time! When I was a child visiting my Grandma and Grandpa Carter, they had an apple tree that would drop apples prematurely and result in apples scattered all over the yard. Grandma would pay my brother and I 1 penny per apple. We were excited!
Arthur and his friend LaToy are 4-5 years old and I tasked them with picking up trash and for every 10 pieces, they would get 1 naira. Since the smallest denomination that exists in circulation is 5 naira, I was probably underpaying, but they were excited to be earning money and I was excited that the trash was being collect. It was a win-win situation that I’m fairly certain had never been employed in Jalingo before but instead was a product of my American culture.
Later in the day, I decided that we needed a field trip down to the river which isn’t far from the compound, but I’d never been to that part of the shore. On the way, they had fun jumping in and out of the drainage ditch. We identified trash, talked about mango pits being seeds, looked at how seed pods from the tree drop into the ditch and dry out. We named the letters on signs, counted steps, and looked at the clouds in the sky. When we arrived at the river bed, we saw the how it was completely dry and how they bore down to pump water.
After the fun excursion, I started thinking about how I had never seen any adults go on little “outings” with kids around town. This was something that had not occurred to me either prior or during the fun but in hindsight found interesting. Believe me, there will be more field trips before I leave!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Happy Easter!
As a Christian, Easter is pretty much the most important day of the year! If Jesus didn’t really get crucified, die and rise from the dead that kind of ruins our entire premise for salvation. Needless to say, as far-fetched as it sometimes seems, I believe it and appreciate commemorating the process! This year my Holy Week celebration was more diverse than most.
I attended Maundy Thursday Service with a friend from work at the Catholic Cathedral. This was very “high church” including many bowing rituals, spreading incense with a series of three shakes of a small cauldron in many directions, the bishop washing the feet (actually only the right foot…I feel this would lead to unbalanced cleanliness) of various congregants, singing without dancing (the first time I’d experienced this in Nigeria) and significant kneeling on a hard tile floor. The church was beautiful in its simplistic design with extremely high ceiling, long uniform screened openings as windows. I also really valued the meaningful liturgy. Certain phrases that everyone there had clearly recited hundreds of times were so beautiful, profound and powerful, I had to really consider whether I was willing to make the commitments that came along with them.
For Good Friday, I attended United Methodist Church at Mayo Gwoi in my neighborhood, which I consider my “home” church. Now, this service analyzed the seven words that Jesus said from the cross. I don’t remember being through a service like this before and I’m not sure I can say that I’ve been through it still because the entire service was conducted in the common language of Hausa. The appeal of this church is that I know many of its members because they all live in my neighborhood and conduct business there. Also, the order of service is comforting because a United Methodist Church in Nigeria has the same basic worship service as a United Methodist Church in Iowa (with longer prayers and more special music).
Finally, for Easter Sunday, I went to Life and Destiny Church, a Pentecostal church, with a friend. It resembles in the environment and worship style of the big non-denominational churches in the US. This church had hundreds of people in it, with lots of very enthusiastic singing and dancing and praising of the Lord for 3.5 hours. I really enjoyed the sermon and learned a lot from the scripture that was used as it was non-traditional references the resurrection. However, everyone felt very anonymous as there wasn’t a feeling of community because people were coming here from all over the city. Also, everything was so spontaneous and emotion driven that there was little time for quiet reflection.
These three experiences summarize my year of church service attendance thus far in Nigeria. I’ve been opportune to attend many different churches as guests of different friends and acquaintances and in the process experience the different modes of worship of the various Christian denominations (all with a Nigerian flair). I think my understanding of these experiences has been deepened through reading “A Generous Orthodoxy” by Brian Mc Laren, which examines the practices of the different denominations and shows that we can worship, commune with and understand Jesus Christ in a more complete way through the diverse methodologies.
There is a really unifying feeling in knowing that all over the city of Jalingo, country of Nigeria and all over the world people are rejoicing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. While there may be many ways of expressing that joy, thanksgiving and adoration, the sentiment remains the same, Jesus died, but now He is risen! Praise God!
I attended Maundy Thursday Service with a friend from work at the Catholic Cathedral. This was very “high church” including many bowing rituals, spreading incense with a series of three shakes of a small cauldron in many directions, the bishop washing the feet (actually only the right foot…I feel this would lead to unbalanced cleanliness) of various congregants, singing without dancing (the first time I’d experienced this in Nigeria) and significant kneeling on a hard tile floor. The church was beautiful in its simplistic design with extremely high ceiling, long uniform screened openings as windows. I also really valued the meaningful liturgy. Certain phrases that everyone there had clearly recited hundreds of times were so beautiful, profound and powerful, I had to really consider whether I was willing to make the commitments that came along with them.
For Good Friday, I attended United Methodist Church at Mayo Gwoi in my neighborhood, which I consider my “home” church. Now, this service analyzed the seven words that Jesus said from the cross. I don’t remember being through a service like this before and I’m not sure I can say that I’ve been through it still because the entire service was conducted in the common language of Hausa. The appeal of this church is that I know many of its members because they all live in my neighborhood and conduct business there. Also, the order of service is comforting because a United Methodist Church in Nigeria has the same basic worship service as a United Methodist Church in Iowa (with longer prayers and more special music).
Finally, for Easter Sunday, I went to Life and Destiny Church, a Pentecostal church, with a friend. It resembles in the environment and worship style of the big non-denominational churches in the US. This church had hundreds of people in it, with lots of very enthusiastic singing and dancing and praising of the Lord for 3.5 hours. I really enjoyed the sermon and learned a lot from the scripture that was used as it was non-traditional references the resurrection. However, everyone felt very anonymous as there wasn’t a feeling of community because people were coming here from all over the city. Also, everything was so spontaneous and emotion driven that there was little time for quiet reflection.
These three experiences summarize my year of church service attendance thus far in Nigeria. I’ve been opportune to attend many different churches as guests of different friends and acquaintances and in the process experience the different modes of worship of the various Christian denominations (all with a Nigerian flair). I think my understanding of these experiences has been deepened through reading “A Generous Orthodoxy” by Brian Mc Laren, which examines the practices of the different denominations and shows that we can worship, commune with and understand Jesus Christ in a more complete way through the diverse methodologies.
There is a really unifying feeling in knowing that all over the city of Jalingo, country of Nigeria and all over the world people are rejoicing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. While there may be many ways of expressing that joy, thanksgiving and adoration, the sentiment remains the same, Jesus died, but now He is risen! Praise God!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Informal Islamic Lessons
Growing up in Iowa and then living in Texas, I’ve had very little first-hand experience living in an area that has a substantial Islamic community. While Jalingo is predominantly Christian, there is a definite Muslim presence and I have had the opportunity to learn a lot from random observations as well as from a few of my Muslim friends.
Yesterday, I was walking home from the internet and wanted to get a pure water to replace some of my fluids however, when I approached the shop, I realized that it was closed. Never mind, that I knew the shop owner was a Muslim and I had walked by numerous mosques prior to reaching the shop where I had observed people praying their final prayer of the day during sundown, I am still not programmed to think about the day in terms of the 5 Islamic prayer times. However, it’s very common to find shops closed, fruit stands vacated and wheelbarrows abandoned while they stop everything to pray.
While I have to admit it can be slightly inconvenient when I want to buy oranges, it is helpful to hear the call to prayer at 5:00am every morning as it encourages me to get out of bed to run (and pray!) I figure if thousands of people in Jalingo can get out of bed and go to their mosque to pray, I should be able to get out of bed to have my own devotional time with God as I run on the dark and quiet streets.
After living here for about 6 months, it randomly dawned on me that I only see men praying at the mosques! Wait a minute, where are the women?!? I discovered that women are required to pray in their homes so as not to distract the men or cause them to sin. This is the same rationale that is the basis for the women wearing the long veil-like head coverings. Yet, the men are allowed to have four wives. While I respect their faith and ways of seeking to honor it, I question why the men can’t simply control themselves to allow the women to live more freely. Why must the women make all the sacrifices? I think my new mission is to befriend a female Muslim as my only first-hand sources of information now are men and a copy of the Koran that was given to me. I am confident that I will be able to get a better understanding from a woman!
Yesterday, I was walking home from the internet and wanted to get a pure water to replace some of my fluids however, when I approached the shop, I realized that it was closed. Never mind, that I knew the shop owner was a Muslim and I had walked by numerous mosques prior to reaching the shop where I had observed people praying their final prayer of the day during sundown, I am still not programmed to think about the day in terms of the 5 Islamic prayer times. However, it’s very common to find shops closed, fruit stands vacated and wheelbarrows abandoned while they stop everything to pray.
While I have to admit it can be slightly inconvenient when I want to buy oranges, it is helpful to hear the call to prayer at 5:00am every morning as it encourages me to get out of bed to run (and pray!) I figure if thousands of people in Jalingo can get out of bed and go to their mosque to pray, I should be able to get out of bed to have my own devotional time with God as I run on the dark and quiet streets.
After living here for about 6 months, it randomly dawned on me that I only see men praying at the mosques! Wait a minute, where are the women?!? I discovered that women are required to pray in their homes so as not to distract the men or cause them to sin. This is the same rationale that is the basis for the women wearing the long veil-like head coverings. Yet, the men are allowed to have four wives. While I respect their faith and ways of seeking to honor it, I question why the men can’t simply control themselves to allow the women to live more freely. Why must the women make all the sacrifices? I think my new mission is to befriend a female Muslim as my only first-hand sources of information now are men and a copy of the Koran that was given to me. I am confident that I will be able to get a better understanding from a woman!
Mosquito TENT Superiority
Back in February my friend, Anne, came from the US for meeting in conjunction with the Rural Health project in Zing and she brought with her the most amazing mosquito “net” and left it here for me to use until her return. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to adequately explain the wonderfulness, excellence, perfection that is contained in this mosquito tent, but I’ll try!
When I was a small child, I received a bed tent one exciting Christmas. Then, there was no particular function for a bed tent other than novelty and adventure, but now there is utility. It started out as a barrier in my room between me and the ever-present cockroaches. I could hear them scurrying across the floor and roll over in my bed with confidence knowing that I was safe….AND it didn’t present the same tangling as the previous net.
Now, the new bed net allows me to relocate! For the past month, it has been ridiculously hot (110 degrees F+) therefore the closest thing I can get to air conditioning or fans at night is to sleep outside! I have suggested before that living in Jalingo can be compared to camping, but this development has made it even more real. Each night I drag my mattress and mosquito tent outside and enjoy a much more enjoyable sleep than anything that could ever be achieved inside my house!
I must admit that I actually really enjoy sleeping outside and was recently considering if it would be considered socially acceptable to continue this practice when I return to the US during the summer. (This transition back home could be tough!) Last night as I was trying to fall asleep I was simply taking in everything around me and feeling blessed: the moon is almost full and high in the sky, the stars were shining brightly while there were clouds and lightning closer to the horizon. There were bats flying above me from tree to tree making a high pitched squeaking noise. There were cats mating at a far corner of the compound. (I was convincing myself that my mosquito tent would provide a protective barrier against cats too!) The dogs all over town were sending messages back and forth in true Lady and the Tramp style. Crickets were chirping, and frogs were croaking.
While it’s true that none of these things are really unique to living in Nigeria, sleeping among them every night without the hum of air conditioners, refrigerators, computers or fans and actually taking the time to stop and really experience them, for me is unique to living in Nigeria!
When I was a small child, I received a bed tent one exciting Christmas. Then, there was no particular function for a bed tent other than novelty and adventure, but now there is utility. It started out as a barrier in my room between me and the ever-present cockroaches. I could hear them scurrying across the floor and roll over in my bed with confidence knowing that I was safe….AND it didn’t present the same tangling as the previous net.
Now, the new bed net allows me to relocate! For the past month, it has been ridiculously hot (110 degrees F+) therefore the closest thing I can get to air conditioning or fans at night is to sleep outside! I have suggested before that living in Jalingo can be compared to camping, but this development has made it even more real. Each night I drag my mattress and mosquito tent outside and enjoy a much more enjoyable sleep than anything that could ever be achieved inside my house!
I must admit that I actually really enjoy sleeping outside and was recently considering if it would be considered socially acceptable to continue this practice when I return to the US during the summer. (This transition back home could be tough!) Last night as I was trying to fall asleep I was simply taking in everything around me and feeling blessed: the moon is almost full and high in the sky, the stars were shining brightly while there were clouds and lightning closer to the horizon. There were bats flying above me from tree to tree making a high pitched squeaking noise. There were cats mating at a far corner of the compound. (I was convincing myself that my mosquito tent would provide a protective barrier against cats too!) The dogs all over town were sending messages back and forth in true Lady and the Tramp style. Crickets were chirping, and frogs were croaking.
While it’s true that none of these things are really unique to living in Nigeria, sleeping among them every night without the hum of air conditioners, refrigerators, computers or fans and actually taking the time to stop and really experience them, for me is unique to living in Nigeria!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
My Birthday
I've never had a huge birthday party before. I've always had really nice birthdays from when I was little and had friends sitting on the floor in the living room eating hot dogs to a fabulous little surprise party when I was in high school and some excellent dinners during college and in Texas, but Nigeria puts birthdays on a whole new level.
My friend Helen was the brains behind the entire operation and she helped me plan for, shop for, and organized the preparation in the kitchen. I simply took orders, chopped onions, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and watermelon while everyone else put the ingredients together into yummy rice, cabbage salad, and fruit salad!
I was overwhelmed by how many of my friends came by, showed their love, support and friendship. I was pretty nervous about not really knowing what to do, what I was responsible for, what tasks should be assigned, but my friends were awesome and guided me through the whole program. Different people got music and speakers, chairs, decorated the table, brought over plates, silverware, contributed pop, fixed light sockets....so many things!
In true Nigerian fashion there were many prayers, a mini-sermon, and of course dancing! It was a WONDERFUL day and I feel so blessed to have had such a fabulous group of people supporting me here in addition to all the amazing wishes and greetings that I received from my friends and family back home. Thanks to everyone for helping make my 27th birthday one to remember!
Check out the pictures as they are able to convey a little more of the experience especially with the captions! :)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70699&id=501312909&l=e1cd35633d
My friend Helen was the brains behind the entire operation and she helped me plan for, shop for, and organized the preparation in the kitchen. I simply took orders, chopped onions, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and watermelon while everyone else put the ingredients together into yummy rice, cabbage salad, and fruit salad!
I was overwhelmed by how many of my friends came by, showed their love, support and friendship. I was pretty nervous about not really knowing what to do, what I was responsible for, what tasks should be assigned, but my friends were awesome and guided me through the whole program. Different people got music and speakers, chairs, decorated the table, brought over plates, silverware, contributed pop, fixed light sockets....so many things!
In true Nigerian fashion there were many prayers, a mini-sermon, and of course dancing! It was a WONDERFUL day and I feel so blessed to have had such a fabulous group of people supporting me here in addition to all the amazing wishes and greetings that I received from my friends and family back home. Thanks to everyone for helping make my 27th birthday one to remember!
Check out the pictures as they are able to convey a little more of the experience especially with the captions! :)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70699&id=501312909&l=e1cd35633d
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