Playing Hard

So much has happened in the last couple of weeks! We had Sallah break (a celebration of the end of Ramadan) and Independence Day. For break I ventured with a few friends to Jos, a lovely city in the north.

My friend Luke, who studied at AU last semester, invited Rosa (another exchange student) and I to go with a few of his friends from Friday to Tuesday. We hopped in a classic hatchback and hit the road. It was a crazy ride, but let’s just say that I got to experience Nigeria firsthand. The country is absolutely gorgeous, very unique mountains and picturesque villages along the way. Some people really do live in the bush! The roads were insane, some places would be very smooth and then all of a sudden it’s like there is no road. And the potholes! Yikes… The ride was an adventure in and of itself. Jos was very nice and much cooler than Yola. I didn’t sweat for four days (it was great)! We stayed at the Cinderella Hotel which was perfect for what we needed and had a leisurely time seeing the city and visiting with the families of our friends. It was great to have some down time and to get off campus and out of Yola. The journey back on Tuesday was less eventful but fun because of the Sallah celebrations we got to see in each town we drove through.

Wednesday was Nigeria’s Independence Day! I woke up to the sound of drums outside my dorm and went to check it out. There were students on horses and men playing drums and flute things. It was really crazy and fun. I took some videos and pictures but unfortunately they take forever to upload using our internet. You will have to wait until I’m back in the States to see them. For dinner, the student government threw a cultural event where everyone wears their traditional wear. They played music and called out each state and students from that state would do traditional dances. It was great to see all my friends all dressed up and we had a good time. And of course there were more drums and lots and lots of dancing.

Last night was SHUFFLE Awards, which was a concert featuring Naeto C hosted by an organization here on campus. It was really nice and I even got a picture with Mr. C himself (Yes…Boss). It was bomb! Today a wonderful woman named Grace, who works invite a bunch of students over to her flat for lunch, the food was out of this world (and super spicy!). The meal started with white rice and a spicy beef red sauce. There was pepper soup (very typical) but it’s spicy even for the Nigerians so I’ll still working my way up to trying it (so American I know). Then there was a fish soup and oh yams! The yams here are huge, like the size of my forearm and they just cut them up and boil them (they taste like potato). Then some delicious watermelon. It was an afternoon of good food and good company! So many people here have been so unbelievably welcoming and generous. It has really encouraged me and I’m starting to see how differently American culture treats generosity and self sacrifice.

Over lunch today we had a very interesting conversation regarding marriage. In most ethnicities here in Nigeria there are ‘bride prices’. Essentially a man pays a woman’s family an amount of money set by her family for her hand in marriage. In my mind the problem with this arrangement is that it creates a mentality of ownership instead of a relationship. Many Nigerians marry several women (a Muslim tradition) but cheating on your wife here is very normal and expected. This is very disgusting to me, and as much as I oppose the cultural norm, it is just a norm (and we have plenty of those in the US). I am starting to better understand female-male relationships on campus. I would describe it as ‘high school’, but like I said, it’s just another aspect of life that’s different here (but as you can guess I’m not a fan)!

Wow… It’s a lot, but I hope you enjoy…