Nigerian Idol

People around here LOVE to sing. I have heard more people singing in the past month and a half than I probably hear in a year in America. And it doesn't really matter how good (or not good) you are, unabashed singing is generally welcome here. It's not like the US, where we might sing in the car (with the music on loud) or maybe in a bar or at karaoke. People sing everywhere. In the market, in the office, in the street. Singing, singing, singing, all day long. For the most part people are decent or better, but every once in a while you hear someone wailing away and you think "Wow, you go boy/girl cause if I sang like that there's no way I'd ever sing in public!" But there in general seems to be a lack of judgment cast on less than nice singing voices. Or maybe it's the social decorum here that prevents people from commenting, especially since much of the singing is gospel singing. It would be in poor taste to dis someone singing about Jesus I suppose. Whatever it is, it's one thing that really makes it different from the US.

Book Review

Nine Hills to Nambonkaha: Two Years in the Heart of an African Village by Sarah Erdman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Loved this book. I started it right before I started my summer of chaos that included taking my qualifying exams, writing and preparing my dissertation proposal and jetting off to Nigeria to do research. Yikes. I read the first chapter and it got put to the way-side. For some reason I got it into my head it wasn't that interesting. But since I was loaded down with research books I could only take 2 non-research books with me to Nigeria. I figured I'd read it when I got desperate. Now that I've finished it I wonder what made me think I thought it was boring in the first place! Loved this book and thought it was very appropriate reading for while I was in Africa. The author gives you a good look at her life in Nambonkaha and it would be a great read for any prospective Peace Corps volunteer. I highly recommend it to anyone going to work in Africa.



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To Creep or Not to Creep, That is The Question

One thing about this trip that I've never really had to worry too much about before is the high number of people who want to know details about my life that I am not readily willing to give up. Usually it's not a big deal where I'm living, who I'm traveling with, or really what I'm doing even. Most of the time, people already know, and if they don't it isn't a big secret or big deal. This time it is different.

It's no secret that the security situation in Nigeria is shaky. One of the biggest problems that they've had is with kidnappings. I know, crazy right? Kidnappings have been a lucrative business for the mass of unemployed people in Nigeria who can't find a job and have either gotten tired of 419 scams or find it "unethical." I know that sounds strange, they don't want to do 419 but they don't mind kidnapping. Trust me, getting into ethics conversations here can be perplexing sometimes. This is the reason the M's have a full time security detail and one of the reasons I've decided to remain living in their compound.

I'm very conscious of the fact that I might look like a great kidnapping victim. I'm American, I'm friends with the M's and I'd probably be worth a lot of money. My major solace in this scenario is that because of all these factors I'm probably too high profile and basically riskier than I'm worth. If I were to be kidnapped, the US government would not take that lightly, and that's more risk than they are likely to take for a payout. They want money and if you kidnap me you probably won't get money and will instead get killed.

However, I don't even want to risk it so of course I have my guard up like the Great Wall of China. I'm constantly on the look out for anyone asking too many personal questions and always trying to be vague when they come up. It's probably the worst thing about being here for this extended amount of time. I hate being guarded and I love making friends. I also hate lying or even really telling half truths and that's kind of what my life is like here. I am always judging what I can and what I can't reveal. But of course as much as I hate it, I do it. My life is more valuable than making deep connections. But it just really sucks to constantly be judging whether or not someone is genuinely interested in my life, or if they are just being a scary creeper.

Nigerianisms

Nigerians have a very distinct way of speaking. It is a result of having a very complex system of languages interwoven throughout history and contemporary society. Nigeria has over indigenous languages. It also has a history of colonialism which brought British English to the country, and before English was widely taught in schools, communication between colonizers and natives developed as it often does in "baby talk" or simple communication, which eventually turned in to a much more highly developed system of language called Pidgin English. Nigeria has one of the most sophisticated systems of Pidgin in the world. So much so, that some linguists believe that Nigerian Pidgin should be classified as a Creole (for non-academics, just ignore this info...it's deeper than I'm sure you care). So the current status of language and communication in Nigeria is a complex mix of British English, Pidgin English, Native Languages, and even a bit of American slang thrown in (as a result of Western influence through media and globalization).

There are certain phrases and words that are uniquely Nigerian and I wanted to give you some examples...

• I am coming - I wrote a whole blog post about this previously, but basically it means, "at some point in the future, I will be back"
• Off de [light, a/c, etc.] - This phrase is used instead of saying "Can you turn off the [whatever]"
• Dash or dash you - If someone is going to dash you something, it basically means they are giving you something, so "Please, dash me 1000 Naira" means "Please can you give me 1000 Naira?"
• Ahbeg - Literally "I beg." It can be used in two different ways. The first is with genuine sincerity, like "Please loan me 1000 Naira, ahbeg." The other is used in a sarcastic way, like "Please! Leave me alone, ahbeg!"
  
• The boot - This means a trunk of a car. If you say "Driver, open the trunk," they'll look at you and have no idea what you are asking. But if you say "Please, open the boot," they'll totally know what you are asking. This is a leftover British saying as the British call the trunk the boot to this day.
  

There are many more examples but these are just a smattering to give you an idea. It's kind of amazing how quickly little sayings and idioms take over your normal style of speaking. Part of it has to do with easing communication. Americans speak much faster than Nigerians (on average) and many Nigerians find it hard to understand our "thick American accents" so instead of repeating what you mean over and over, sometimes it's just easier to give in to the local expressions even if it isn't how you would normally speak or is completely grammatically incorrect. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up before I come home...if I come home and it sounds like I'm speaking gibberish, just give me a few days and I'll return to normal.

Decisions, decisions

Food is a curious thing in Nigeria. Nigerians LOVE their food, but for most visitors we can’t figure out why. Not why they love their food necessarily because some of it is very tasty, but because really they do not offer the most diverse choices even when given the chance.

Take a look at my daily lunch decision at BIU: I could have chicken with fried rice, I could have chicken with jollof rice, I could have fish with friend rice, or I could have fish with jollof rice. Wow. Such choices! But since I really don't eat meat, I can chose either:

Fried rice with fish (notice this is a center cut piece)

Or jollof rice and fish (this is a tail piece)

If I was really lucky I could have fried plantain with my rice & fish/chicken, but that’s rare. It doesn’t happen often at BIU, but elsewhere I might have a choice of white rice. And the fish cut...I don't usually get a choice, but if I do, definitely the tail. Let's bones to pick through. And it's easier to remove the skin. Which, by the way, causes LOTS of looks. Nigerians eat it all, except the bones. The way I dissect my food is totally bizarre to them. But what's new right?

These are the daily lunch choices EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. No variation. Ever. Seriously…there’s no desire to ever deviate from this menu apparently.

And it would be one thing if Nigerians were like “We’re not food people. We eat to live, not live to eat” BUT THEY TOTALLY AREN’T. They love food! But they only have like 10 options in their entire repertoire of food options. Try and suggest something new and they look at you like you are crazy. It’s like living with a strange version of my sister, with much stranger food that she would ever eat.

Growing Up

This year seems to be a year of great changes. Of course, I'm living in Nigeria for 5 months which is a huge change, but besides that obvious yet temporary change, lots of other things have changed at home as well.

• Though it was really last year my baby sister has really and truly moved away from home. When you are in your undergraduate years you may go away to college but home is really still where your parents are. Hilary went off to vet school which is a 4-5 year commitment and now she is living on her own in her own house with bills and roommates and responsibilities. I've tried to make a conscious effort to not refer to Indiana as home (as in, "Hey Hil when are you coming home?" meaning Indiana) but it's still hard and I slip up. I know my dad is still in denial that she may be living in Michigan for a very long time, so part of my effort is to get him used to the idea that Hilary's home is now Michigan and we just have to be happy when she comes for a visit in her former home.
  

• My mom moved away to California. Of course that is a huge change, but I realized right before she left that this was the first time that she was moving away from us and it coincided with the fact that I was leaving for Nigeria and it was just a weird feeling. No matter how many times I've left and gone places (Pennsylvania, China, etc.) she's always been there when I got home. But not this time. This time I'll go home and she won't be there! It will be fine as we'll be in just as much contact through lovely technology, but it was just a really weird thing to think about for the first time in my life!

• As I am in my last year of school I am looking for jobs for next year. When you have a PhD you are in a unique position of getting very good jobs, but having little choice as to where those jobs will be. Faculty positions are not something that just open up wherever and whenever. If you are lucky you'll get a job somewhere desirable and nice, but you really don't have much of a choice. I have my priority areas I'd like to live, but only time will tell if I will get a job in an area in my top picks or if I'll be somewhere that I am not all that thrilled about. The one thing I know is that it is very unlikely I will be staying in Indiana, which of course brings a lot of mixed feelings. On the one hand, I am not that fond of Indiana...mostly because it's way too conservative and the weather sucks. However, the majority of my immediate family lives here as well as most of my dad's side of the family. In addition, all of Ange's family lives here. The thought of not hanging out with my family, particularly my sisters, is almost devastating. The main reason I would stay in Indiana if given a chance is to be close to my family. However, the likelihood of my getting a job here is very small. It is very rare for a university to hire a recent graduate, so my chances at IU are almost nil. Most of the other universities around do not have public health programs so getting a job at any of those is unlikely. The only small hope I have is IUPUI which would be ok. Both IU and IUPUI are moving from Departments of Public Health to Schools of Public Health which means a large increase in faculty. If either school advertises for faculty I will of course apply, but hiring a recent graduate (this next year for IU, and 2006 for IUPUI) is not a usual practice. I know that if I get a job anywhere outside of Indiana it's going to be a HUGE change. I'm trying to prepare myself mentally for it, because I know it will be hard. Besides Indiana, my other big priority is California. That way I would be at least close to my mom's side of the family, and hopefully my mother as well. We'll just see what the future holds!
  

• Those less dramatic than the above, another big change is the fact that our dogs are getting older. In the past year the dogs have had more health issues than ever before and it is a reminder that we are going to have some tough years ahead of us. Of course Duke and Stone are older and that is not surprise, but seeing mortality right around the corner is hard. They are both older than the average lifespan of German Shepard's, and they've both had some big health challenges in the past year. I cherish every day I have with them but know that time is ticking down. That's one of the hardest parts about being away from home right now. I think about those two constantly. That's not to say I am not thinking about the others as well. I tend to think of Daisy and Caramel as puppies still, but the reality is, they are becoming old ladies themselves. Daisy, crazy beast that she is, has been showing definite signs of wear and tear. She used to be able to hurl herself head first into a fence and bounce right off. In the past year she's hurt herself to the point that she's been in pain and moving stiffly. 8 years old is no spring chicken anymore, and I think both she and I are having trouble adjusting to that. Carmie still acts like a total baby, but of course her epilepsy is always a big concern in the back of my head. Not that it means she's old, but she is only a year or so behind Daisy so I'm on the lookout for signs of her showing her age as well. The only young one in the bunch is Sam, but being that he is the only pure breed in the house, and a pretty dainty breed at that, his life expectancy is less to begin with. Added to the fact that he's a big fat dump truck, I'm of course concerned with his health as well. Every time I've had a pet die I think "No more pets!" But of course I never follow through. I love animals too much. It's just so unfair that their lives are so much shorter than ours. Well, except maybe a tortoise, but who wants to snuggle a tortoise?

Of course many of these things have elements of sadness in them and there are many happy changes to think about (new job! new house! babies!) but happy things don't usually bring apprehension and don't usually involve much pondering. We'll just see what life has in store for me (& us!) in the next few years.

Slowing things down

You will begin to notice a bit of a slow down here at the blog in the next few days. I'm going to try and do a blog post every other day rather than every day. There are a few reasons for this:

• My life is not all that exciting. Now that I've settled into a normal routine, which basically includes hanging out at the university, home or church, there isn't too many exciting stories to tell. I'm sure little bits and pieces of funny things will happen, but overall, I'm just living a normal life like all of you. Normalcy usually means nothing blog-worthy.

• Now that I am really settled, more and more of my daily routine will be stuff that I actually can't write about. Anything that has to do with details of my research will need to be protected for privacy sake. Additionally, because my day-to-day life is more settled I am hanging around a lot of the same people, and these people's lives are very enmeshed with mine and it becomes difficult to talk about my daily life without featuring their lives in my stories, and I want to keep their lives out of my blog as much as possible. None of them have asked to star in my blog so I am respecting their right to privacy by not posting anything related to them as much as possible. When I have stories that are interesting and can be told without too much involvement of those around me I'll be on top of it, but hopefully you can understand my need to keep some of my daily life undocumented in the public sphere.

I'll also be writing about things non-specifically Nigeria related. In an attempt to fill in space created by the above points I'll be writing about some other things. Hopefully all interesting to readers!