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!
1 comment:
Yeah for power! I love reading your blog! But, I confess I get a bit jealous every time wishing I were still adventuring in Mexico despite all of the swine flu drama. Sounds like taxis in Nigeria operate the same as in Mexico (except for the female/male division thing). I've been so homesick for Mexico lately! This is in part due to the fact that I just had a patient from Mexico; it was SO great to speak Spanish with him. It was refreshing to converse with someone who could understand that other part of my life! I pray that you are able to connect with people from Nigeria when you get home--it sure is comforting! I had to laugh yesterday when I saw a former patient who is from Zimbabwe. I hadn't seen her since before my trip, and the first thing she said to me was, "Amy, you've put on weight! What's the matter with you?" I laughed because it's reflective of her culture and I appreciated her honesty. We in the US would be so worried about offending someone, but she could just tell it like it is (not that I've gotten fat or anything!)! Sending you hugs!
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