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[Nigeria]Nigerian glossary

2006-10-31

Why Nigeria is a fun place to live

Filed under: VSO — kevin @ 12:51

I’m still on holiday back in the UK. Lots of friends and relatives ask how life is in Nigeria and are surprised when I tell them that I enjoy living there. The difficult part is explaining why. It’s easy to list all the bad things about the country, but much harder to describe what it is that makes up for them all.

This article on the BBC website tries to explain.

The best way is to come to Nigeria and experience it for yourself.

2006-10-17

In Cambridge

Filed under: friends,travel — kevin @ 09:24

After arriving back in Scotland and spending a couple of days with my family (including Dad’s 60th birthday) I’m now down in Cambridge visiting old friends there.

It’s slightly weird to be back in Cambridge. I’m not having any serious culture shock or anything, just a kind of mild bewilderment. One of the oddest parts was flying down to Birmingham and collecting a hire car, it’s a while since I last drove and British roads now seem incredibly orderly to me!

Everyone has been talking about what a mild October it is, while I’m feeling the cold.

On Wednesday evening I’ll be heading through to Norfolk to visit my grandparents.

2006-10-11

Going on holiday

Filed under: travel,VSO — kevin @ 10:30

After more than 18 months in Nigeria I’m going on my first holiday back home.

I’ll be flying out of Abuja later today, arriving in Edinburgh tomorrow, coming back to Nigeria in about six weeks time.

It’s kind of a strange feeling, even though I’m not going away for long I’m feeling sad to be leaving Nigeria as well as excited about seeing family and friends after such a long time.

Abuja’s a bit strange too now, since the okada ban (BBC news) there are many more people walking.

Some big buses have appeared, but they only serve the satellite towns, passing through the city on their way. There are no routes within the city itself. Taxi prices have shot up and there are rumours that the ordinary taxis will be banned soon, leaving only the expensive Abuja “green cabs”. One ride in a green taxi costs slightly more than half a day’s VSO allowance, for many people here it’s much more than they earn in a day.

Just imagine if all public transport in London was banned, leaving only black cabs that cost more than you earn in a day. That’s the situation in Abuja now. Of course the people who make these decisions never used public transport, riding around in air-conditioned cars paid for by the government, with police escorts ensuring that they’re not even bothered by inconveniences such as traffic lights.

2006-10-09

Zule-Zoo at the NAF Club (or not)

Filed under: friends,music,VSO — kevin @ 10:14

A small stage with a crowd of people sitting at plastic tables in front of it

One of the things I’ve been enjoying a lot in Nigeria is the music, even if a few songs do get played just a little bit too much.

On Wednesday we were all (that’s all the VSOs attending the workshop) having dinner in a very busy local chophouse, I noticed a poster for a concert at the NAF Club in Kaduna. It was to be the launch of a local band’s first album but what caught my eye was that Zule-Zoo were playing (they’re one of my favourite Nigerian groups).
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