There and back again

We survived the trip to Lagos! And actually, it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, or as I'd envisioned. We're so thankful for a safe trip and a relatively good time there!

 

The only trouble blogging-wise is that most of the time, I was so engrossed in keeping Timothy happy that I wasn't being as observant as I otherwise would have been. (This is one of the downsides of traveling without your spouse!) So I don't have any interesting anecdotes or observations! What a bummer!

 

The flight down was as pleasant as any flight I'd been on in the U.S. (and more so than some). But I had a head cold to begin with, and during the descent into Lagos, I had a serious sinus headache (like someone showing shards of broken glass into my forehead) and an earache. And poor Timothy was screaming non-stop until we landed (when he promptly fell asleep). But aside from that, we were fine.

 

David and our friend Nanfa met me at the airport, and it wasn't quite as hot as I'd expected. (Don't get me wrong: it was very warm and humid--uncomfortable but not oppressive.) I couldn't hear anything out of my right ear for another four hours, but oh well! Luckily, Nanfa's car had air conditioning, and I mean luckily because we had to drive about 2-1/2 hours to get to his place. It's all within Lagos, mind you. But Lagos is a BIG city, and the traffic is atrocious.

 

It turned out that Nanfa lives in a beautiful, luxurious, wealthy neighbourhood called Victoria Garden City. His own place is one bedroom and bathroom in a little cottage behind one of the main houses in this community, but he had air conditioning and running water, so I told him honestly that the accommodation was better than most places I'd stayed in Nigeria! Nanfa himself vacated to a friend's place, leaving David and me to the single little room (maybe 10'x8'). We slept on sleeping bags on the floor, since Nanfa doesn't own a bed (which is actually pretty common here) and felt like king and queen!! Nanfa took us to a nice chicken place for dinner, and we all enjoyed our meal. Timothy even got a balloon to play with while we ate.

 

On Thursday, while Nanfa was at work, David and I ventured out to a specific clinic to run one of our errands. Nanfa had suggested we take a taxi, but we knew it would cost 10 times the price of taking a bus, and I said it would be exciting to take the bus. Now, you must understand that "bus" does not mean one of those big transit buses they use in big cities like London and Chicago. It means a run-down van--mostly VW vans in Lagos, for some reason--squeezing four people onto each bench seat. I'd never been in one of these with Timothy before because I generally insist on his being in his carseat. But of course, I hadn't brought his carseat to Lagos, so we took the bus. And it was fine! The wind felt good. It was cloudy. David and I enjoyed trying to understand what the caller was saying as we drove by people standing on the side of the road waiting. (Buses here have callers that shout out the bus's destination so people standing on the roadside can opt in or out.) It was fun listening to the pidgin around us, and I realised I was picking up more than I would have if it were Hausa, but I still had to struggle to understand a lot.

 

We had a nice--and very expensive!--lunch of Nigerian cuisine next-door to the clinic, and we relaxed there for awhile. Their eating area is upstairs in a covered balcony, so the airflow was perfect. Then we went to the clinic, and while David did his thing, Timothy amused himself by climbing on the coffee tables, climbing up and down the three steps at reception, trying to get out the front door, grabbing and ripping the leaves of potted plants, pulling the window blinds, and attacking the water coole--thus getting us both soaked. I was exhausted just trying to keep him out of the next bit of trouble! After two hours, David was finished, Timothy had fallen asleep on my lap, and we decided to go back to Nanfa's by taxi. When we got back, Timothy slept for almost two hours, and then we visited the park in Nanfa's community. It's beautiful! There are lots of trees, a grassy area for football, a basketball court, a little playground, benches, and walking paths. We sat for awhile and let Timothy play in the dirt and leaves. (He hardly ever get sto play outside because we don't have a yard, and Grandma has plants in her yard that Timothy likes to shred.) Then we went for a walk a few times around the park and decided to go back to the chicken place for dinner.

 

We retired early Thursday night. For one thing, the heat and humidity had made us exhausted. For another thing, we were planning on getting up at 4am the next morning. It was a rough night. Both Timothy and I were sick. By 3:30 we were all awake and ready to get up. Nanfa picked us up at 5:20, and we loaded the car to run our last errand and head to the airport.

 

Even at 5:30 in the morning, the traffic was bad in some places on the road. Nanfa told us that many people have to leave before 5:00 to get to work on time, depending on where they live and where they work. (I heard once a story about a family that lived in Lagos. The daughter was about three years old. Her dad worked a busy job seven days a week, and he had to leave before 6 to get to work every morning. He never returned at night before 8 or 9. It was so bad that one day, he returned home mid-morning to retrieve something he'd forgotten for a big business meeting, and his daughter came running from the gate, telling her mom, "Mama, there's a strange man at the gate, and he wants to come in!" Now I believe this story!)

 

We ran our errand, which took about three hours, and then Nanfa came to get us and take us to a motor park where we could catch a taxi to the airport. We knew the flight to Jos would probably leave around noon, and we hoped to catch it so we wouldn't have to fly to Abuja and get a bus to Jos. We arrived at the airport on time, miraculously, and there we ran into my former employer Jonathan! He's a world traveler and knows the Lagos airport well, so he helped us get our tickets, check in, and find the waiting area. I was having conniptions because I was hot, damp, and tired; I had a cold and was sick; Timothy was screaming bloody murder because he was tired and I wouldn't let him play on the ground. (Hello! There were mobs of people going to and fro, like I was going to let him get swept away in the crowd?!) And David just disappeared for huge chunks of time, trying to get our flight sorted out. It was miserable. I hope I never have to go through it again. And then our flight was delayed two hours, so David and I took turns--grudgingly--in chasing after Timothy to keep him out of trouble. Oy!

 

We were extremely glad to get home, dropped off personally by Jonathan. I don't know what we would have done without him!

 

So all in all, our trip to Lagos was a success. We accomplished our main tasks, didn't lose too much sleep, enjoyed good accommodations and company, and didn't get lost, mugged, raped, murdered, molested, robbed, or even verbally abused! I'd say that's a success. :)

 

David will have to go back in a few weeks, hopefully only once, but I'm glad at least that Timothy and I can wait here at home. (The trip is very expensive!) So thanks for remembering us while we were gone!