i'm back in canada. i spent the weekend kinda moping about aimlessly, doing some laundry and cleaning, missing fono and kagoro.
i went to work the morning after i got back. everyone wanted to know how nigeria was. all i could really say was "crazy and awesome." i realise that whatever i say will not ever properly convey what i experienced, especially since it goes directly against what most canadians probably think about nigeria and africa in general. all we know is what happens on tv. and according to that, africa is one big homogenous place (see
survivor: africa) filled with exotic animals, war and starving and voiceless objects of suffering waiting to be saved by the rich westerners.
***on my last day in kagoro, the little village fono lives in, we spent a good part of the day sitting out the front. i cut fono's hair and drank orange fanta. it took a good hour and a half because i did it with swiss army knife scissors. people from the village popped by to say hi or talk about politics. even if they didn't come over to chat, they'd wave as they walked by. the kids were particularly amused by the haircut - i am told that women usually cut women's hair, so this was a particularly exciting spectacle. they hid behind the fence and peered out as us, giggling. at the end, fono stood up and went over to them, talked in a silly voice and then bowed as they howled with laugher.
the day before, fono and i walked partially up the mountain that the village sits at the bottom of. we followed the pipes that supply the water that comes down from the mountain. on the way back, the security guard from the water treatment plant came out and invited us in to get an impromptu tour of the facility. it was really funny when he actually turned off the water for the whole village to demonstrate how it worked. unfortunately, even though the water is treated, the pipes still re-contaiminate the water so it has to be boiled and filtered by non-locals who don't have an immunity to the fun organisms hanging out in it.
we had another generous security guard experience a few days earlier, when i was taking photos of the semi-abandoned rail yards in kafanchan. i wanted to go inside one of the huge buildings housing two damaged engines. as i was gingerly peering inside, the security guard showed up. i'm used to being thrown out of places, but the guy (pictured right) was really nice and actually invited us inside and gave us a tour. it was quite refreshing to be allowed to do something that was slightly dangerous, rather than having the decision made for me because of safety or legal reasons. of course the flip side of that is that you get crazy things like 16 people riding in a subcompact car down the highway at 100km an hour.
so yeah. all i can say is nigeria was awesome and crazy. nigeria is a young democracy and rich from oil, but the government is still corrupt from years of institutionalized corruption and dictatorships. so the officials steal most of the money and most people don't get to see any of it. so you get things like awful healthcare and bad water. but in kagoro, you know your neighbours and theres a strong sense of community. people talk to each other. and everyone seems pretty chill and laid back. there are parties and festivals, fueled with palm wine. and rock and roll gospel church. and cute animals everywhere. but most of all, i made some good friends and some wonderful adventures with fono. i really miss it.
