Update and Adjustments

Many thanks to everyone who left me a comment on my previous post. Sorry I can’t reply to everyone individually! Apologies for the long delay in updating my blog. I have been unable to blog for a while since I got to Nigeria. I had to leave rather quickly, so I didn’t have time to leave an ‘explanatory’ post. I have been in Lagos since the first of October, readjusting to the stressful and hectic pace of life. Internet access where I am at the moment is a bit sketchy, so I have been unable to come online as frequently as I would have liked. Plus I don’t really want to blog from other people’s computers, it just doesn’t feel right.

My trip was quite cool; I had been dreading it due to the horror stories I hear from friends and family who travel to Lagos. Everything was fine, from checking in, departure, to take off, to landing, going through baggage pick up and meeting my family at the airport. That is, until we left the arrival terminal and some guys tried to extort some money from my dad at MMA, over a parking space at 6.30 in the morning! I just shook my head when my dad said “Well that’s your rude welcome back to Nigeria”.

After a day here, I’ve realised that I’m addicted to the internet! I’ve been experiencing withdrawal symptoms from my emails, blogspot, facebook and a host of other websites that I visit regularly. Practically all of my communication with friends is done online, most of my social life is organised online and any information I need to find is googled and found straightaway. Not being able to come online often here is sooo boring. LOL.
I went to an internet café the other day and I nearly cried with frustration. I spent three hours and still did not achieve anything tangible. The connection was sooooo slow, it was unbelieveable. It was as if every page took twenty minutes to load. Since then I’ve been pestering my family to renew their home internet subscription.

I’ve been here for almost three weeks now and I have mixed feelings. Since I’ve been back, I’ve met my in-laws, many of whom I hadn’t met before. I’ve also hooked up with some of my old friends and met a blog pal – Writefreak! That was a lot of fun. We found out that we have so much in common; we were talking for ages for so long that we lost track of time. We’ll definitely meet up again before I leave. I’m missing my hubby though – we haven’t been apart for this long before, although we talk on the phone everyday.

It’s been fun readjusting to Nigeria and all the things it represents. When I met up with Writefreak the other day, I made us go to Tantalisers because I really wanted to eat those snacks that I had missed for so long! I’m sure some people in there thought I was a complete bush girl, getting excited over meatpies, donuts and scotch-eggs, lol. I went with my sister-in-law and her husband to C-Royal to have some nostalgic treats. I’ve also been going to all the newer places I had been hearing of but I hadn’t seen. I went to see a movie with a friend at the Silverbird Galleria, went to Shoprite and some other places on the island. Lots of things in Lagos have changed.

Some things in Nigeria haven’t changed one bit though. When I first arrived, I thought everywhere looked strange and then it all gradually began to feel a bit familiar – the erratic power supply, the appalling state of the roads, news and allegations of financial scandals in government, the mosquitoes, terrible traffic and general lawlessness on Lagos roads, police extorting money from road users, terrible customer service, etc. Yep, some things haven’t changed.

At the moment, I’m helping my dad with my grandma’s burial arrangements, and I’ve offered to write a short tribute to her. In the next few weeks, things will start to come together. Hopefully it will all go very well.

I’m looking forward to hubby’s arrival very soon and meeting some more of my friends, when they have finished forming “busy busy” for me. I hope I’ll be able to blog again soon sha, if I can wade through the protocols to get to the internet café, LOL. Until then, stay blessed!