Yankari

I spent Saturday and Sunday at Yankari Game Reserve, which is basically Nigeria’s version of a safari place and national park. Though its in Africa, Nigeria is not exactly a hotspot of wildlife activity. It’s no Tanzania or Kenya, but I had an amazing time, nonetheless. As I mentioned earlier (I think), Kelly Jo is in the US, trying to get other schools to start sending their study abroad students to Nigeria, at a study abroad conference, but Betsy, who is the VP of AUN invited me to go with her and her visiting son and daughter-in-law to Yankari. Betsy’s driver, Yusuf, and two of his kids, Umar and Fatimadu came with us. I always think it’s a lot of fun to travel with little kids because they always express their joy and happiness so much more openly than adults, which just makes everyone else enjoy the trip even more. Fatimadu and Umar did not disappoint; they were a joy to have on the trip, and Betsy, her son, Graham, and her daughter-in-law, Heather, proved to be excellent company, and I am so grateful that they were willing to include me on their trip!

The whole group picked me up at my dorm at 7am on Saturday morning (thank Heavens I am now a morning person!), and we drive the 5 hours through western Adamawa state, all of Gombe state, and the southeastern part of Bauchi state, which is home to Yankari. At this juncture in my story, I would like to point out that this journey should have taken 2.5 hours, as it was approximately 200-250 kilometers away from Yola, but due to the absolutely deplorable conditions of the roads, especially in Gombe, the journey took twice as long. Just think about how bad those roads must be. I am pretty sure that I will never complain about American potholes every again. At least there is a road around American potholes. The road in Gombe is pretty much potholes with scattered stretches of about 100 meters or so of “good” road. Anyway, we eventually made it, but, apart from the bumpiness, I quite enjoyed the journey. It was great to see what truly rural Nigerian life looks like. Their were villages of about 100 +/- people dotting the countryside. The homes were huts made of mud walls and thatched roof and were circular. People were out farming their large plots of land with hand-held hoes or watching over their cattle herds. The goats, however, are not tended too. They pretty much just rove about and do whatever their please during the day. But, being creatures that are highly motivated by food, they always come home at night where they know their dinner comes from. People stopped what they were doing and stared as our black SUV passed by, and as soon as they saw who was inside, they always waved. The little kids were the best, though. They would look up, and as soon as they processed who was inside the SUV, you could see their faces light up and the beginning of their shout of “BATURE!” forming on their lips as we whizzed by. They sometimes ran along a ways, too. I found it highly entertaining, and the kids were adorable. A note about the Nigerian countryside, too. It’s shockingly varied. Yola and its surrounding area are quite flat, and almost Kansas or Nebraska-like in their completely hill-less landscape. As you drive further out, there were tons on big black rocks that looked sort of volcanic, we decided, and then even further along, you start driving through a small mountain range and things got a lot greener.

But, I digress (a lot). We arrived at Yankari at around 12 or 1pm. Yankari is really big, but there’s a central Welcome Center, restaurant, Clinic (which is also the bar—which I think it almost poetic). This is also where the tour groups and other visitors park. So, naturally, it is where the baboons cluster, trying to get food, and, more interestingly, trying to get into vehicles. A couple baboons, one very large male and mom with her newborn baby clinging on, decided that our car would be an excellent vantage point from which to survey their baboon-dom and look impressive. I have excellent pictures of this, but since the internet simply cannot handle uploading photos (last time I tried, it took 30 minutes to upload half of a photo), I will have to post them at a later date. There were also a fair number of warthogs roving about, and, most adorably, one warthog mama and her 5 hoglets (I am unsure if this is the proper term for a baby warthog, but I am going with it). Most interestingly, upon exiting the vehicle and walking towards the restaurant (about 50 yards away), Graham, Heather, and I were absolutely besieged by a school group of what I would guess were 12-14 year old girls. They wanted to take their pictures with the Bature, which I thought was hilarious and also slightly embarrassing. After about 20 minutes (literally) of making sure everyone got their picture taken with at least one of us, as well as a group shot, we made it indoors, where a group from a boys school mobbed us for the same thing. This has not happened to me anywhere else. Occasionally, I notice people taking a picture of me on their camera or their cell phone as I pass by, but I’ve never actually had so many people beg me for a photo with me. The funny part is that I find them as fascinating as they seem to find me. After about 40 minutes total, we managed to extricate ourselves, and we all had lunch, and I ate more than I think I ever have in one sitting, because the cafeteria doesn’t open until 7:30, so I wasn’t able to get any hot rice krispies (which I still haven’t completely gotten used to) that morning. After lunch, we went on a safari at 3:30. Because it’s the wet season, many of the animals are harder to see because they can spread out further into the park, rather than during the dry season, when they have to stay relatively close to the central source of water (because there isn’t any anywhere else). Anyway, on this safari, we saw a couple different breeds of antelope, water buffalo (at a distance), more warthogs, more baboons, and some of the most brightly colored birds I have ever seen. They were honestly neon blue and electric green; I’m not usually much of a bird person, but these ones were incredible. After this, we were able to check into our rooms, which were actually little huts (with air conditioning—though it didn’t work most of the night because the power was out…). We quickly changed into swimsuits, and then headed down to Wikki Warm Springs, which is basically a naturally occurring hot spring. The water was incredible blue and perfectly clear. You could see straight down to your feet without any problem and you could make out the different grains of sand it was so clear! The water was 31 degrees Celsius, which is about 85 Fahrenheit, I think, so it felt absolutely amazing. The Wikki Warm Springs eventually flow into the marsh-y pond area where the animals congregate during the dry season (and still spend a considerable amount of time during the wet season). There’s a fairly strong current in the swimming area, so you can just lay back and float down stream for a while, then eventually move back up a little ways and splash around. Yusuf’s kids, Fatimadu and Umar, were absolutely delighted by the water, and the looks on their faces when they got in were priceless. It was a lot of fun to watch the little ones just let loose and run around and scream and play in the water. This is exactly why I like to travel with little kids. Also, its worth noting that little kids all over the world like to walk (/balance) on walls, curbs, and any other higher-up walk-able path. After we dragged ourselves out, we ate dinner and went to bed early because we were all super tired.

The next day, we went on a 7:30am safari trip, which was way better than the night before. We saw even more antelope breeds, monitor lizards, a great hornbill, more baboons, more warthogs, crocodiles, and birds. More interestingly, we got out at one point, and we led on a mini-hike to these incredible caves back in the brush. They were actually man-made, and they think the people who made them centuries ago used them to hide out from weather, animals, enemies, etc. Also, some amazing pictures. Now they are inhabited by hundreds of bats, which you can actually smell from a fair ways off. But they were pretty cool looking, and, as it was daytime, they were all sleeping up on the ceiling. After the safari, we had lunch, and then we went to the Wikki Warm Springs one more time, to wash off the sweat and cool down a little (Yankari isn’t quite as hot as Yola, but its still pretty toasty—actually, when we were telling people we stayed in Yola, they all say some variation of “its so hot there.”). After that, we set out for 200 more kilometers of what Betsy calls “Butt Burner” road. Which it totally is. I got back to school at around 6pm, read Mission to Kala for my African lit class (more on that particular experience in another post), and promptly fell asleep. It was an excellent weekend, and, should any of you ever find yourselves in Nigeria, it is well worth a visit.

I hope you’re all well. Let me know how your summer are going; Skype has been failing me as of late, but e mail me (liz.bayer@gmail.com) and let me know how you are and fill me in on your news! I hope you has a lovely Memorial Day!


Baboons on top of the car, while Yusuf, Fatimadu, and Umar wait patiently to go on the safari.


Waterbucks at the central watering hole area.


This is a termite mound. They get gigantic, and this isn't even one of the bigger ones I saw there.


A warthog family enjoying the mud-hole next to our hut.


These strange and brightly-colored lizards are all over Nigeria, and they love to climb the walls inside and outside.


This is the Wikki Warm Spring. It was about 80 degrees all the time, and it was amazing!

Nigerians on Nigeria

Perhaps my favorite thing to do here is talk to Nigerians about Nigeria. I love hearing what they have to say, and they are all such passionate, motivated people. As in the US, there are a lot of different political opinions represented here, but there is a surprising amount of agreement, too. Everyone I have talked to hates the way Nigeria is portrayed in the US. When I tell them that most of what we hear about their country is news of kidnappings, religious violence, and corruption, they all shake their heads and tell me that Nigeria is so much more than that. Which it is. I have only been here for about 10 days, and already I can tell you that no western media coverage can capture what life is really like here. The people and cities are so vibrant and colorful, and I have never once felt unsafe either in Abuja or in Yola. It makes me so sad that think that the when most Americans, Europeans, and others close their eyes and picture Nigeria, they will mostly be seeing such negative things as crippling poverty, blatant corruption, and violent attacks. These things exist, to be sure, but that has not been my Nigeria, and it isn’t the Nigeria the Nigerians want the rest of the world to see. If you get nothing else out of this blog or out of knowing me and hearing about this trip, I would really like to you get that the media accounts of Nigeria don’t show the real Nigeria.

Any lengthy conversation about Nigeria eventually turns to talk of corruption and oil. Everyone that I have talked to here hates corruption and desperately wants things to change. This may seem obvious, like “well, of course they want things to be honest and transparent,” but this is, in my limited experience, surprising and heartening. Whenever I have talked to people in or from Eastern Europe, where corruption is also a big problem, they generally view it as a fact of life and just the way things are. The Nigerians I’ve spoken with aren’t quite so accepting. In particular, I really enjoyed the conversation I had today with two of the young Nigerian doctors who work at the clinic. Dr. Bouba and Dr. Tanko are some of the most interesting people I have met here in Nigeria. I would guess that they are in their late 20s or early 30s, and they have both been so welcoming to me. They take the time to explain what they are doing in detail, which has really helped me to get what’s going on at the clinic.

Dr. Tanko doing an eye exam

Anyway, after examinations were over, we were sitting around for a while and they were both talking to me about Nigeria. They were telling me that basically, their generation is pretty much hoping that the current rulers will die off soon, because these young people really want to reform and change Nigeria, while the current rulers were all around during Nigeria succession of military dictatorships (they’ve only been a “democracy” for about 10 years) and so that is the mentality they have about government and leadership. I thought that was a really interesting idea, and I was heartened to see that both of these young men had great hope for Nigeria’s future and the possibilities that will come with a new generation of leaders.

They were both amazed by a recent story in the UK. I hadn’t heard it, but apparently some MPs were found to have taken bribes, and they were ordered to repay the money, and I guess most of them resigned out of shame and from public pressure. Dr. Bouba and Dr. Tanko found that to be incredible, because in Nigeria, if someone is found to be corrupt, they don’t resign. If they are found to be ineffective, they still retain their post, and this is one of the major problems in the Nigerian system, according to these doctors. One of the things they both suggested to help fight corruption was the abolition of the plea bargain, which struck me as a very strange suggestion, but upon hearing their reasoning, I actually think this wouldn’t be a bad idea. Apparently, the Nigerian plea bargain is written into the constitution, and it is more or less just a slap on the wrist. They don’t have to give back the money they’ve stolen from the public coffers, and they don’t get much of a punishment so long as they admit they are guilty, and they often even keep their position. Dr. Bouba suggested execution as a way of making people stop embezzling, and while we all agreed that was a bit extreme, we also all agreed that a real and genuinely inconvenient punishment is necessary to fight corruption. If there aren’t any real repercussions, why wouldn’t someone steal government money?

A couple of different people have said to me that Nigeria needs its own Obama, and I think that’s partially true. I don’t know that one man could make a difference, because its hard to claw your way to the top if you refuse to play by everyone else’s rules (i.e. patronage and corruption). But I do think they need an Obama-like transformation of their political mindset. Like Obama made a lot of Americans believe in the power and possibility of government again, Nigeria needs a who government of Obamas to make Nigerians believe in their government and to genuinely change the way politics is done here.

As Drs. Bouba and Tanko pointed out, Nigeria needs a lot of development; the roads are awful (if they exist), the power goes out constantly and often does not come back on for days (unless you are rich enough to have a generator—in fact, the government officials are so wealthy that they all have generators, and apparently once the power went off in almost all of Nigeria for 2 or 3 days, but none of the ministers for power or electricity even noticed this because their generators were working fine), there is virtually no primary healthcare available to a huge chunk of the population, and educational facilities are nonexistent or very low quality for the rural and urban poor. This kind of development will take a lot of time, and it will require that the government funds actually be used for their intended purposes, rather than being squandered on private jets, swimming pools, and mansions, or hidden away in Swiss accounts. But, with people like Dr. Bouba and Dr. Tanko at the helm, I think Nigeria’s future is more promising that ever before.

Eye Clinic

So, after my last post, I have been to the eye clinic twice, now. I spent Thursday and Saturday morning there, and I really enjoy my time there. Thursday was an examination day, so Dr. Carr, Dr. Bouba, and Dr. Tanko spent the day examining patients who have come in for the first time, or who are going to have surgery the following day. I have, thus far, been very impressed with this operation. They are really efficient, and they see more patients in an hour than most American eye clinics see in an entire day. Everyone who works there is very welcoming, too, and I think I am really going to enjoy working there and feel really good about my time there. I spent most of the time on Thursday observing the doctors, nurses, orderlies, and patients in order to get a feel for the place.

Friday was a surgery day, so I didn’t come in, as I would be of pretty much no help in an operating situation. Dr. Kar does 30+ surgeries a day, which is, as Rob pointed out, insane. She’s so incredible, and I don’t know how she does it. This would probably never fly in the US, but a lot of the things that happen in American clinics are just impossible in poor, rural settings. So instead of going to the clinic, I went with Kelly Jo and a few other students to do AUN’s weekly community service trip to read to children. It was such blast. The kids are so funny, and they love, love, love to read and be read to. Fortunately, a shipment of books collected by AU students had just arrived, so they even had some new books to work with. The 4 little boys I was reading with were a riot. They all fought over the books, told me they were ninjas, and said they had gone up in a hot air balloon yesterday. It was hotter than hell, because we were sitting outside this whole time, but it was a lot of fun, and I hope to go back next week if I can. Reading to these kids and seeing how much they love and appreciate the few books they have makes me so thankful for the incredible Hennepin County Library system that was at my disposal my entire childhood and adult life. It also makes you think about how much kids in the US take what they have for granted. Its not their fault; you can’t expect a 6-year-old to know any better, but I can’t help but think about how silly it is when American (or other privileged) kids say they hate reading, school, books, and learning, and all they want to do is plunk down in front of a TV. These Nigerian kids would, I think, give anything to have access to the books that American students regularly reject, and would love to sit in an American classroom if they could. It just goes to show how different people’s life experiences are, and how lucky we all were to born into the particular circumstances we live in.

Anyway, on Saturday, I went back to the clinic. Saturdays are when the doctors examine patients who have been operated on recently. After cataract surgery, the patients stay in the hospital for 2 days, and then are asked to come back after 15 days and after 30 days. Saturday is when they examine these post-op patients. On Thursday, Dr. Kar had pointed out to be two specific patients who were going to have their surgeries done the next day. One was a woman who was totally blind. She used a walking stick and was led around by her family, and the other was a 10 or 12 year-old boy who couldn’t see anything because of hereditary cataract development. She doesn’t usually do children (and I’ll get to that in a second), but this boy’s situation couldn’t wait, apparently, so she did him right away, too. When I got to the clinic on Saturday, she gave me a translator, and sent me to the wards to go find these two patients. It was amazing, and I am honestly tearing up as a write this. After being unable to see anything at all, both the woman and the little boy were seeing clearly for the first time in decades. They were both so grateful to the doctor who gave them back their sight, and it was amazing to see the complete change in both of them after only 48 hours. The hunched over, timid woman was sitting tall and proudly, and the little boy could look you in the eye when he talked to you. It was incredible, and I can’t wait to go back and see more patients. I talked to some other patients in the wards, too, and they were similarly grateful and had similarly miraculous recoveries. It’s hard enough to be blind in the US, where people know and respect the white walking stick and seeing eye dogs are available, but I can’t imagine living in the kinds of circumstances these (primarily Fulani) people do, and then being blind on top of that. Giving people back their sight is just life changing, and the doctors and staff who work at the hospital are absolutely inspiring.


Post-op patients in the wards at the Yola Eye Hospital.

I’ll be going back to the clinic this week, and I am planning to work there 5-6 days a week (they’re open Monday-Saturday). I just want to see and experience and do as much as I can in the clinic for the short time that I’m here. As I mentioned earlier, Dr. Kar can’t do surgery on the little kids with cataracts and other eye problems at the clinic, because general anesthesia isn’t an option there. The adults (and that little boy I mentioned earlier), just do it with a little local anesthesia, but it’s more than a little unreasonable to expect a 3-year-old to lie still while a scalpel comes at her eye. So, the clinic organizes an “eye camp” in Abuja periodically. The next one is taking place at the end of June, and overlaps with the end of my time in Yola and my return to Abuja (from which I will leave for the US), so I will hopefully be able to spend a little time at the eye clinic and help out the doctors at the camp in Abuja. It’s amazing how far the patients travel from. As I have said, this is the only eye clinic in all f Adamawa state, and the closest one for most of the surrounding states, too. People come from so far away to get their eyes fixed, and it’s amazing to be able to see then go home with their sight back.


Tulika and me.

Other than the eye clinic, I haven’t been up to too much. Apparently, AUN campus is home to two Tantalus monkeys, which I didn’t know until last night when Kelly Jo took me out to feed them. Apparently, they were brought to campus by the construction company that was building some of the structures here, and they used to be free-ranging around the place, but then the girl started biting, so she and her partner are now in a large, outdoor cage. They eat fruit, and apparently these two love popcorn, which I think is funny, and the girl is pregnant. She should be giving birth within the next two weeks or so, so it’ll be fun to see a little baby monkey before I leave. KJ and I went with a woman named Betsey, who is the VP of Finance, and who used to live in Northfield, MN. That brings the number of people at AUN who know and have been to Minnetonka, MN, to 2 (other than myself), which I think is fairly impressive, don’t you? Kelly Jo is going to be in the US for 10 days starting sometime next week for a study-abroad conference, but I might be going on a weekend trip with Betsey and her visiting son and daughter-in-law, which would be really fun. I’ll let you know if it happens and where I go!


Jack, the male Tantalus monkey at AUN likes to eat fruit and popcorn.

I’m beginning to miss some things about the US that I never thought I’d miss. I knew I would miss my family and friends, and I really do, but I also miss American food, the DC Metro system, and grass. There is pretty much no greenery to be found here. I also really miss spring in Minnesota, as that’s a beautiful season and the weather is perfect. I am also finding myself missing American movie and TV, which is odd, because I don’t watch too much of either, normally. However, because Yola is not that exciting of a place, as far as my fellow students are concerned, they watch lot of movie and TV on their laptops. I don’t know how they do it, because the internet is far to slow here to download or stream anything, but hearing it makes me mist up a little for home. Especially when I could hear my roommate listening to Mulan, which is my favorite Disney movie. Also, people in Nigeria (and Africa as a whole, as I understand it) don’t really like dogs. They see them as a security tool, and they don’t understand why Americans keep them as pets. The complete shortage of warm, fuzzy creatures here makes me miss Blacky and Rosie and all the neighborhood dogs and cats. I remembered that I have all the Harry Potter books on audio on my laptop, which is nice to listen to when missing home, and it’s also getting me ready to see the new movie shortly after my triumphant return. How are all of you?! I like to hear news of the goings on in Minnesota, DC, and elsewhere, so keep me posted on your lives! If you have Skype, we can do the text-chatting (IMing), but the video and voice feature has proven to be too much for Nigerian internet to handle.

Anyway, I should go eat lunch here before the cafeteria closes, as it is the only source of food on campus. Also, breakfast has proven to be my best meal here, and those of you who know me well will be amazed to discover that Nigeria has turned me into an early riser! The weather is much more bearable early in the morning, breakfast is the best meal in the cafeteria, and I have class at 8am 5 days a week and leave for the clinic immediately after (and at 8:45 on Saturday mornings)! We’ll see if this lasts once I return to the US!

First days of Yola

I left Abuja on Sunday night, and Kelly Jo and I flew to Yola. The flight is only about 1 hour, but the drive is 12 hours. I think that says a lot about the state of Nigeria’s infrastructure. Particularly in the poorer, rural, northern regions. Anyway, I was very thankful that we flew instead of driving, as I don’t think I could take that much bouncing, sweating, and being covered in dust for 12 hours.

Anyway, we arrived in Yola around 8pm on Sunday, and we were picked up by an AUN driver at the airport. He was accompanied by Rachel, who is an RA in a different building than mine, but she is also the assistant study-abroad coordinator, so she’s also in charge of keeping an eye on me. She’s thus far proved to be one of the most incredible people I have ever met, in Nigeria or elsewhere. She’s very outgoing, fun, can connect with anyone, and has helped me so much. I have no idea what I would have done without her thus far. RA’s here are different than at AU and other US schools. They aren’t students, but instead they are full time employees. They still live on the floors they manage, but they are much more available to students because they don’t have classes, clubs, etc. to attend also. I actually like this system much better than the US one because it means that the RA’s are more accessible to students here than in the US. Anyway, long story short, Rachel is fabulous, and I hope you all have someone like her to help you out in your own lives.

So I pretty much just crashed on Sunday night, and on Monday morning, KJ and I ran around trying to get me registered for African Lit, which was full and thus required a number of signature from a number of different (unavailable) administrators. I also met a lot of different deans, professors, and other administrators. After much running around, Dean Bayo, who is in charge of academic affairs (and also lived in Minnesota for 15 years!!), told me to just go to the class on Tuesday morning and as long as the instructor was okay with me joining the class, Dean Bayo would sign the form and let me register for it.

Also on Monday we went to the Mission for Vision eye clinic in Jimeta. Yola and Jimeta are sister cities, and I still haven’t figured out when one starts and the other ends. Apparently, Yola has more Muslims and Jimeta has more Christians. Religion is a big deal around here. And by around here, I mean Nigeria (and, as I understand it, Africa in general). You may or may not have read news reports about religious violence in what’s called “The Middle Belt,” which is, as you can guess, the middle area of Nigeria. This is basically where Islam moving south and Christianity moving north met. The towns in this area are usually pretty close to 50/50 split, and there has been some tension and violence as a result, particularly in the cities of Kaduna, Kano, and Jos. However, this tension hasn’t been my experience here, and perhaps it is because I am foreign, but the people in Yola and Jimeta, and at the university, all seem to get along just fine. It’s actually fairly hard to tell the men apart. The long (often white) robes and hat that often indicate Islam are just traditional dress here, and you are as likely to find Christian wearing them as a Muslim. The women, due to the head covering, are a bit easier to tell apart, but still, not every Muslim woman covers her head, and a fair number of Christian women do for a variety of reasons. The best way to tell is by name. If a man is named Christopher, Joseph, or other “Christian” (English) names, you can safely bet that they are Christians, and Muslims tend to have more Arabic-sounding names, like Ali or Ahmed. Again, not an exact science, but, as far as I can tell, it’s the best way.

Before I got distracted on my religious musings, I was saying that we went to the eye clinic to tour. The main reason I am here is to do an internship at a local organization, and because of my interest in public health, their ability to provide transportation for me, and the amount of patient contact (which I want to maximize), I am being placed at eye clinic in Jimeta. It pretty much run by an Indian doctor named Tuleeka Carr (I don’t know if that’s right; I have never seen it spelled, but that’s how you say it phonetically). In the brief amount of time I interacted with her, it was clear that she’s an amazing woman. She’s an ophthamalogist, and this eye clinic is the only one in the entire Adamawa state (which is where Yola is located) and the surrounding areas. Cataracts are a huge problem here. Though I always associate them with people who are getting older, apparently they are hereditary and can present as early as at birth. The main ethnic groups in the area are the Hausa and the Fulani, and marrying cousins is customary, so these genetic issues are just exacerbated. We watched Dr. Carr examine a woman (post-op) who was able to (kind of) see her 5 children for the very first time after her cataract surgery. You can’t get back perfect vision, especially if you have never been able to see, but you can get back a little distinction and light detection. All of her children are blind, and Dr. Carr was examining them and will try to bring them to Abuja with her in June when she has her Children’s Eye Camp there. Because of the rural setting, and all of the issues that presents, she cannot provide anesthesia for her operations, which makes operating on children impossible (the adults get a little local anesthesia, and then they tough it out). So she does a camp, yearly, I think, in which she brings the kids to Abuja, where there are better facilities and supplies available. Fortunately for me, the camp in June 18-25 (or something like that) which coincides with the end of my time here and my trip back to Abuja, so I am really hoping I will be able to go. I start working there tomorrow, so I will be sure to update you all on how it goes, but for now my hopes are very high. It will be hard work, but I think it will be really rewarding.

After visiting the clinic, Rachel took me on a tour of campus, which was really helpful, as I was just relying on people helping me out until then. It’s a very small campus, especially during the summer. There are about 1,000 students during the normal year, and I would guess around 300 or 400 are here now. There are so many students enrolling now, that housing has become a real problem at AUN. Across the road from main campus (where I live) is the Temp Campus, which is home to more student housing, the bookstore, and some offices. It’s closed (except for the bookstore) for summer because they don’t need it now. The main campus is very small. There are 2 girls dorms (the 3rd is still under construction) and 3 boys dorms. Each of these has 2 floors of rooms, and the basement is for classrooms. Then there is the cafeteria, and two other buildings that house the library (temporarily—the library building is also under construction) professor’s offices, administrators, and classrooms. That’s it. That’s the whole campus. And it’s all surrounded by an orange-y dirt and small, scattered moments of green.


This is a main campus. My dorm is the one in the far left of the photo.

A note about AUN and Yola’s weather. I am hotter than I have ever been in my entire life here. The best way I can describe it is that the sun just feels so much closer to the ground here than it does in the US or even Abuja. Even the Nigerian students and staff think its too hot here, which I think is saying something. My class meets every day at 8am, and its already at least 90 and kind of humid by then, and it just gets hotter. I drink the equivalent of 6-8 nalgenes of water a day, and then I proceed to sweat most of it off. The best part of all of this is that it is currently the beginning of the wet season, so its actually cooler here than it has been for the last 6-9 months. Which I find completely incredible. It hasn’t rained since I got here, but I imagine it will soon. For now, I am just praying that I eventually adjust to it, and I also am thanking every Deity there is for air conditioning. My dorm room and most classrooms have AC. The cafeteria does not, which I have found to be a major appetite suppressant and a deterrent from walking over there. But fear not, I am eating anyway.

So after the tour, I went back to my room and took a short nap, before meeting up with some people who KJ introduced me to. I accidentally started a fight when I mentioned that I enjoyed Abuja, because then all the people from Lagos tell me that Lagos is better, and then the Abuja people and Lagos people were fighting with each other about which is better. They were all very passionate, and I found it to all be very entertaining. If you ever meet someone from Lagos, they will all tell you that it’s a crazy city, but that you should visit it and you will love it, and, most importantly, it is better than Abuja.

On Tuesday, I went to my first class, which is African Literature, and it meets Monday-Friday 8am-9:20am. I am normally not a morning person, as I think you all know, but I am actually very pleased with this arrangement, as this time of day is “cooler” than later hours. It also means I can spend a lot of time at the eye clinic on the days that I go there because I have all day post-9:20 free.

My jet lag really hit me on Tuesday, so I spent the rest of the day resting and reading in my room. I didn’t do too much else except run around figuring out how to get a student ID, which I did, but due to errors in communication, says that I am a software engineering major, which I can live with. Also, they let me submit an electronic picture of my own choosing rather than having to get it taken there, which is amazing, because here I am generally a sweaty, sunblock-greasy mess during the daylight hours.

Today was another pretty full day. I went to class, then I came back here and did some research on the eye clinic and terminology, etc. After that, I went to my new friend Vivian’s room, and we just chatted and watched a movie on her computer. Then I met up with KJ at 3pm, and she and Rachel and I went to the Fulani market, about 45 minutes away from campus. It was incredible. There were so many people there, and it’s the main cow market, so there was a lot of livestock roving about and being sold. In fact, the first question we were asked upon exiting the vehicle was “Do you want to buy a cow?” I had a great time walking around, seeing the hand-made daggers and leather, and, behind the stalls, you can watch them actually forging the knives, dagger, and swords, as well as hand-held plows, shovels, etc. It was incredible. Some of the merchants let us take their pictures, but you have to ask first, because a lot of them (and almost all of the women) don’t want their photos taken. Those that do, though, really like to pose, and you have to show them the picture afterwards.

While we were at the market, we attracted quite a crowd. KJ and I, being white and therefore clearly foreign, are not an everyday occurrence at this market. We were proceeded and followed by shouts of “Madame,” which means exactly what you think it does, and “Bature,” which means roughly “white person, foreigner.” They don’t call you that to be mean or rude, they are just trying to get your attention, and, to be honest, they’re all seemed kind of intrigued and curious about our presence. The small children followed us around, and at one point, our unofficial entourage was so large that it completely blocked the roadway at the stall we were at. There were easily 20-30 people staring at us as we shopped. Somewhat unsettling, but also kind of entertaining, and they were all very nice. No one was pushy, or tried to take our money. Honestly, they just seemed sort of fascinated by us. I will try to post pictures whenever the internet is better, but otherwise, make sure I show them to you when I get back. It’s not an easy place to get to, and students don’t generally go there, but I am really hoping to be able to go back before I have to leave.


These are traditional medicines and supplies for juju. Note the dead bird on the right.


This guy sells Fulani daggers that are forged right there in the market.


This man makes and sells calabashes (which are basically hollowed out gourds), and colorful straw mats that cover them and keep your food warm.


The girls on either side of Rachel are about 12, and they are dressed this way so advertise that they are ready to be married. They'll probably be married in two years.

A brief description of where I live and life here. I live in a dorm that just finished construction. It’s called dorm CC, and I live in a quad. So far I have only 2 roommates, but it is possible that a third could arrive, because people don’t think twice about showing up to classes a week late. The students here are all very wealthy, actually, and they dress and often act very American. My roommates’ names are Ibi and Theresa, and we haven’t talked much, but they seem nice enough. They both watch a lot of American TV and movies on their computers, and they listen to a lot of American music, which is the norm here. In fact, I heard the weekend “Top 40” playing on the radio here, and Rihanna was playing at the hotel in Abuja when I first arrived. They are either incredibly friendly and very nice to me, or they seem unsure of what to do with me and kind of don’t say anything. If I talk to them first, they are pretty receptive. It’s forcing me to be more outgoing, but on the whole, everyone has been very nice to me, very interested in who I am and why I am in Nigeria, and generally curious. Which works out well, because I am equally interested in them.


This in the inside of my room, my bed is the one on the left with the blanket on it

AUN is an interesting contrast with Yola and Jimeta. The students are generally quite wealthy, and the town is generally quite poor. The university was established and is still funded and sponsored by Atiku Abubakar, who is the former vice president of Nigeria, and who ran for president in 2007 as a member of the opposition party (instead of his own and the president’s People’s Democratic Party) and lost. Everyone here calls him Atiku, and he has a palatial house here, but everyone else’s is pretty tiny and they don’t have a lot of money. The school is also quite Western in their style of dress and speaking, while Yola and Jimeta are much more conservative and many people don’t speak much English. Also, AUN students are from all over Nigeria and many different ethnic groups, while Yola and Jimeta are home to primarily Hausa and Fulani peoples. I’m off for now, but I will keep you posted on the goings on and my first day at the clinic. Also, you may be interested to know that a fair number of people here call me “Lizzie.”

Lessons of the Day:
1. “Sanu” is “hello” in Hausa. If people stare at you too long, just greet them (which happened a lot at the market). They’re generally amazed and appreciative that you know any of their language.
2. The respectful title you put in front of a Muslim man’s first name is “Malam.”

Abuja

Well, let me start by regaling you all with the story of my time in Abuja, which is the capital of Nigeria. Abuja actually has a fairly interesting history in that it is a planned city. Nigeria only moved their capital to Abuja from Lagos (which is in the south and is also Nigeria’s largest city) about 20 or so years ago. It’s in basically the middle of the country, which was an intentional move to appease northern ethnic groups who felt left out of the government (and they still do).

Enough about history. I landed in Abuja on Friday, May 8th at 4:30am. They only managed to lose one of my bags, which I actually think is rather impressive, and, fortunately, it was the less essential of the two. British Airways eventually found it, after much nagging from my end, and it should arrive here at school tonight or tomorrow. Which will be nice, because I currently have no pants.

Anyway, after a short nap that morning, Kelly Jo, the study abroad coordinator and community service guru of AUN, took me out into the city. She did her best to show me a variety of lifestyles and living conditions while we were there. We started at a pretty nice café called Salamander, where we had breakfast, and then we went on to Wuse market, which is (I think) the biggest market in Abuja. Apparently locals don’t like it that much, but I had a ball. There were tons of little stall selling brightly colored fabrics, shoes, hats, jewelry, pots, food, drinks, fruit, and more. The market is fairly intense, and being foreign makes you a major target. Almost every person working in the market chased after us trying to get us to buy everything from cell-phone re-charge minutes to fruit. If you’re not an assertive person, you will either become one before you leave, or you will have no money left. Saying “No” is an important skill. While there, I bought some fabric that’s bright green with blue and red, and I am going to have it made into a skirt and top here in Yola.

After Wuse market, we went to the house of some American ex-pats that Kelly Jo knows. They work for the US Embassy and USAID, so they had a very large house with guards and gates and everything. While there, they let me take a nap (again) and then we had dinner and watched some American TV and chatted with their kids. It must be very interesting to grow up in Nigeria as American children. That night we just crashed early, which was good since I was still exhausted.

Then on Saturday, most of our plans were put on hold because it was pouring rain. This is the beginning of the wet season, so that can and does happen. Instead of going to a different market, we drove around Abuja and looked at the National Mosque, which is a large gold-domed building, and the National Cathedral behind it. We were planning to go into the Cathedral, but there was a wedding going on, so we couldn’t. Instead, we went to the largest mall in Abuja, called Ceddi Plaza, which has some very expensive stores and very upper-class clientele. Since it was still raining, and there was not really any sign of the rain abating, we decided to see a movie while we were there. We saw Wolverine, which turned out to be a very interesting choice. The movie itself was fine, but the great part was that the first 15 minutes of the movie take place in Lagos, Nigeria, and then out in the bush. There is a scene where a (presumably Yoruba) tribal chief is being questioned by Wolverine’s group and he’s speaking in (we think) Yoruba. It wasn’t subtitled, but the Nigerian men sitting in front of us found whatever he said to be hilarious. I wonder if it was because the actual words were funny or out of context or something, or if it was because his Yoruba was so bad that they could hardly understand it.

After that we went to a small crafts fair called Art Village, which was pretty much deserted because the rain had only just stopped. It was much quieter than Wuse, and all of the stalls were inside thatched-roof huts. I didn’t buy anything, but it was very interesting to see the different type of markets there are.

Afterwards, we went to the Sheraton across the street to eat, and while there we met up with one of Kelly Jo’s colleagues who exchanged my money for me. He got us a much better rate that an above-board exchange would have. It was about 175 Naira per US dollar. They don’t really use change here. I think it exists in theory, but I’ve never seen it, and KJ couldn’t even remember the name at first, and she’s been here for 9 months.

We went to an embassy party that night with KJ’s friends from the night before, and it was actually very interesting. I met a journalist who’s planning to go down to the Delta soon and maybe go along the creeks and find MEND people to interview. Also there was the former president of the Nigerian Senate. He had some very interesting ideas about Nigeria, and was also, as far as I am concerned, a shining example of Nigerian corruption.

On Sunday, Kelly Jo and I hired our cab driver from the previous evening, Bayo, to drive us out to the Bwari Pottery Village, which is about 45mins-1 hour from out hotel. The drive out there was amazing. We got to see the city melt into green, rocky, mountainous landscape and see the very affluent citizens of Abuja fade away and be replaced by the poorer people of the unofficial settlements in Bwari. There were goats roaming about everywhere, and little kids playing soccer with an extra flip-flop, as well as heaps on garbage and little streams of very unclean water. There were also yam farms, with the distinctive mound-style of planting, and men making cinderblocks and laying them out to dry.

The Bwari Potter Village is a collection of thatched roof huts in which the main potter, Stephen, and his students make traditional Nigerian pottery and then let it dry outside before baking it in their hand-made kiln. They then glaze their pottery with dyes and glazes made from local materials. Stephen showed us around the place, and we could see the potters in action, and then we went into the shop, and we all found some pottery we liked. The colors are just unreal, and each piece is hand-crafted, which I like. It was also quite cheap. A mug cost the equivalent of $3.50. It was an amazing place, and if you ever find yourself in Abuja you should definitely make the effort to get there.


This is a student making decorative pots at the Pottery Village


Here, Stephen is showing off one of his vases inside of his showroom

After that, we went back to the hotel to check out, eat, and then meet up with an American exchange student who was on his way back home from AUN. It was nice to hear a student perspective, and also to see how much he had liked it at AUN. It was then time for us to go to the airport, where we got on out flight to Yola, which I will tell you all about a bit later.

I hope you all are well and enjoying your summers!


This was my hotel room in Abuja. Quite comfortable, and the largest bed I have ever seen

London Calling

I have successfully made it to London, and I am currently sitting in the Heathrow Terminal waiting until they announce my gate so that I can go to it. I am typing on a strangely compressed/shrunken keyboard, so forgive me if my typing is rather erratic.

My flight got into London at 9am, and my flight to Abuja doesn't leave until 10:15pm, so I left the airport and went to a nearby hotel to sleep in a real bed and take a shower. It was massively overpriced and probably the worst customer service I have ever experienced, but it was totally worth it to get lay down and sleep (not surrounded by a hundred other passengers) and clean up.

So I am back at Heathrow now, just waiting for my flight. There was some mild drama at Dulles. I found out then that I needed to bring my vaccination card and my letter of invitation to enter Nigeria, neither of which I have with me because I didn't know I needed the former, and the Nigerian Embassy took the latter from me when they processed my visa. So, after some frantic calling to my mom, who called KJ (the AU Abroad coordinator in Nigeria), we determined that I will probably be able to talk my way in and they sent me scanned copies of both documents that I printed at the hotel. I don't think it will be a problem, but I'll let you know if Nigeria decides not to let me in. They have only had about 3 exchange students come into Nigeria in the last 8 months, so they may not really know how to process me, and that is where my wit and charm comes in! We hope.

There's a shuttle that takes you from the various airport hotels to Heathrow's Terminal 5, and it was just me and two other guys on it on the way over here. Turns out of them is on my flight to Abuja (and was on my flight from Dulles like 12 hours ago, too!), and the other is French, but he lived in Lagos from the time he was 11-18 years old! Such a small world, and so many Nigeria connections!

When I land in Abuja, I will be there until Sunday, when I will fly to Yola. KJ is meeting me in Abuja, and I'm pretty sure she has some great stuff planned for our time there! I'm not sure what my internet access will be in Abuja, but I should be able to check e mail and blog in Yola at least every couple of days.

Have to go because my internet time is about to expire. I'm getting super excited, and I'll keep you all posted!

It's getting closer...

I leave on Wednesday morning, which is about 34 hours from now. Am I ready, you ask? No, I am not. I just finished my very last final project, so I am just starting to wrap my head around all of this.

Mom and I went shopping for weather appropriate and modesty requirements appropriate clothing yesterday, and I found some nice stuff that should help me not to overheat while I'm there, but will still be totally in line with local dress codes.

I also have a list of things to buy at Target tomorrow night that is about 3 feet long. Top of the list? Sunscreen. All the bottles there are. Why? Not only do I sunburn in about 10 minutes just during a Minnesota summer, but the anti-malarials I am on will actually increase my sensitivity to the sun! They might also give my esophageal ulcers, which is why I can't lie down within an hour of taking one. Not, those side effects don't sound too fun, but they're better than the potential side effect from the other anti-malarial I could've been give, which is psychosis. I kid you not, Lariam can actually make you crazy. In addition to the malaria meds, I also had to get Hep A, Hep B, Polio, Typhoid, and Yellow Fever vaccinations before going to Nigeria.

Other than the medial preparations, I still have quite a bit to do. I've got to start packing, make sure I have everything I'll need for 2 months in one suitcase, and have it be under 50 lbs. We'll see how that goes...

In other news, I am back in Minnesota for these few days before I leave. I can't imagine trying to prep in DC, where I have no car, and teeny tiny room. Plus, it's springtime here in good ol' MN, so the weather is my idea of perfect. Sixties, sunny, breezy, and blooming. Nigeria is definitely going to be a major change, since it routinely gets into the 100's. Fortunately, though Nigeria is considered to be in a tropical region, Yola is located in a more Sahelian climate, which is basically where the Sahara and the Plains meet, so its kind of scrubby and dusty, but at least it's not humid! From my understanding, it'll be the rainy season while I'm there, which doesn't mean it will rain all the time, but mostly that it'll be a little cooler (who knew 90s and 100s was cool?!) and more comfortable, especially when it does rain. Fortunately, I will be missing Harmatan, which is the time of year when sand from the Sahara blows in and covered everyone and everything in a fine, orange-y sand.

I was up most of last night finishing the last project of sophomore year (halfway through college!), so I'm going to go get some sleep. Before I do, though, it's been slowly dawning on me how much I'll miss everyone this summer. I'll be back in MN for July and August, but many a DC friend won't be seen again until next summer when we all return from our various study abroad experiences. For those of you still in college, good luck with finals! And for everyone else, have a lovely summer, and I hope to see some of you when I get back!