mardi 22 juillet 2008

Ah...'beautiful' Abuja...

So, as previously mentioned, I am now at my “home away from home” in Abuja, Nigeria for the next year! I arrived Wednesday after a very long day of traveling, but so far so good. Lagos airport was absolutely insane…as you may or may not know, Lagos (former capital of Nigeria) is the biggest city in Nigeria (and Nigeria is the biggest country in Africa), with about 17 million people Lagos, a city about the size of about New York city! So, it is nuts here…if ever you are coming to visit me, give me advance notice and I will come meet you with help, because the airport is absolutely not doable without help…and it is a very good likelihood that you will have your luggage stolen, as this is a favorite past time of some of the locals (Lagos is a major hub for trading in west Africa, so everything gets sent through here)…make sure you keep you luggage tags, because you actually have to show them over and over again at all the checkpoints in the airport!

I didn’t get to see as much of Ethiopia as I wanted, but I did get out into the country side a bit, and I definitely want to see more. It is a remarkable country with a really long history, and amazing culture, so definitely hope to get back soon.

I just moved into the Hilton Hotel, which is a very, very nice hotel. I am here for a month, so if anyone wants a little break, feel free to come stay with me, I have a HUGE room…and you can use the massive pool, get massages, play tennis, or just eat all day long. You almost forget you are in Africa staying here, that is until you walk out of the hotel entrance, and then you are back in a typical African city! Although Abuja is not that big (only about 1.5 million people), there is still a lot going on…and I can honestly say that this is probably the most expensive city in the world that I have ever visited! Nothing is cheap, even the local restaurants and grocery store are quite costly, so this is going to be quite the year…I am in the process of trying to find a place to live, although now being at the Hilton, I almost don’t want to leave, as I can really get used to it here, but WHO doesn’t want to continue paying what they charge to stay here. But, I have been told that it may be very nearly impossible to find a place for only 11 months, so we’ll see!

Abuja is the “Federal Capital Territory” of Nigeria, and is basically in the exact centre of the country. It is very, very green here (not so much in the environmental sense, as it is actually really green)! It is rainy season so everything is fully alive and so green, the roads are all red because the ground is red clay, and there are massive boulders surrounding the city (basically the only tourist sites in Abuja)! Most of the world’s embassies and consulates are based here, as are many other UN agencies, so hopefully there will be people to meet, or this could become a long year! It sort of reminds me of Las Vegas as there are a lot of lights, but really it looks nothing like it. When I first got here, all I would hear were people making this hissing sound to get your attention (sort of like if I were to snap to get a waiter’s attention), followed of course by “oyibo” (=white person)…still a little odd, as I can’t imagine calling people by their skin colour, but ‘c’est la vie’ I guess?! One thing I cannot get enough of is “Nollywood”, basically the Nigerian cinema here…sort of like Bollywood…it is pretty hilarious, even though I understand very little of the “English” they are speaking, but is a major industry, as most Africans from all over Africa can actually relate to it, as it deals with typical African stories, unlike traditional Hollywood films...I will have to get a few to come home with me, whenever I actually make it back to Canada.

As for work, it is going well. It is also a little overwhelming, when you are sat down on day 2 and given $200 million (USD) that has to spent in the next year, and told to go and ‘eradicate polio’!! Polio is worse than ever before, and we are not really able to explain it…there have been many long meetings to try to figure it out…without a lot of luck. So, I will be going around the country over the next couple of months doing some vaccination blitzes…I will be buying my first burka, as I am going into strict muslim areas, where Shiite law is in place, and therefore we must dress appropriately…although I won’t do the full burka, I will cover all skin, and full head, leaving my face exposed,,,and I should mentioned it gets up to the mid 40’s up there (or 115 degrees). But, the one really good thing about Nigeria is that it is really safe…the kidnappings you hear about are only on the oil rigs, so there is no worry…the ‘ninjas’ have never, ever attacked a UN staff member, so I will be just fine!

I am already planning my first holiday or two…meeting up with my friend Lani early August somewhere as yet undetermined, and then taking a week off in early October to meet up with another friend Catherine, again in a yet to be decided location. But, there is lots to do, and many, many places I have never been, so looking forward to seeing parts of this awesome continent! Remember everyone, I get lots of holidays, so if you are thinking of taking a holiday, consider Africa!

Hope you are all well wherever this finds you…Vietnam, Berlin, Canada, Italy, US, UK, Australia, NZ, etc….Hopefully I can see you all soon! I have posted a couple of more photos, mostly of Abuja as I lost one of my cards with shots from Ethiopia, so hopefully I find it again…

Odaaro,
Andrea

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