Libby in Africa

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July 29, 2006

Sunnu

Hello from Jos, Nigeria. We arrived here last Saturday, but I have been taking things easy this week— getting used to being in Jos, my final destination. After our safari, we flew from Nairobi to Mombasa, and stayed at the beach resort I posted the picture of earlier. It was just like the picture! Thatched roofs, coconut palms everywhere, blue pool, white sand beach and green water—gorgeous! It was such a change going from the busy few days in the golden Masai Plains for Safari to the laid-back, destination-resort-style life of Mombasa. The town of Mombasa isn’t really much to see, so you just get to the resort and then stay there.

We stayed at a place called Baobab Beach Resort. It’s name is after the Baobab tree (they pronounce it “bow-bob,” bow like a tree bow, not a gift bow).

When we first arrived there we thought that we might want to cut the trip short, simply because there is nothing to do once you have read a few books and gone for a swim. But once we settled in, four days didn’t seem enough! I read a few books, and walked on the beach (not as relaxing as you would think, I’ll mention that later), and swam in the Indian Ocean (I even went over and did a little archery—I guess taking it as a P.E. class at school wasn’t for nothing).

There were a few of those Moroccan looking daybeds around the grounds of the resort, and so people would just sit around for hours, reading and napping. It was weird, sort of like a movie.

The resort was so fantastically tropical. The only palm trees were coconut, and several times I saw an employee collecting fallen Plumeria flowers to set out for guests to wear (and many of the employees always had one behind their ear as well). Chaise lounges were set out along the edge of the small cliff, overlooking the water. One afternoon I was walking along a trail from the pool area to our room and I found out why you aren’t supposed to take drinks from the bar. I had a pineapple juice with a slice of pineapple on the rim, and all these little monkey’s started following me. I tried to scare them away, but then they started running after me. You aren’t supposed to feed them, so I couldn’t just drop the pineapple and run. They were small monkeys, but it was still creepy. This is a different monkey; I saw it on a plants and grounds tour (I know, I’m such a nerd).

The tide was in pretty far most of the morning, but in the afternoon it went down enough to expose a sand-bar/coral reef a couple hundred yards off the coast. This was so neat. We took a glass-bottom boat out to it one afternoon and snorkeled around for an hour. The fish weren’t all that incredible, but the experience was great. I mean, the Indian Ocean!

The beach was bright because the sand was so white. But the water was clear and there were always clouds in the sky, so it was too perfect not to look at.

Since it is winter right now in these parts of Africa, it rained almost every day. But it was still very warm, so it was never a bother. In fact, on the last day I went swimming in the ocean and it started pouring. It was incredible, the salt-water on your lips and the rainwater dripping down your face. And seeing the drops fall in the water all around you—you never get to see rain from that perspective. So cool.

I was very surprised to find that the guests were almost all German. It turns out that there are many direct flights from Germany to Mombasa (which is strange since Mombasa airport is soooo small). Anyway, this made for few acquaintances although we did meet some nice people.

It was hard not to buy things, since we had such a limited amount of luggage weight on the small flight. I bought several pieces of fabric on the beach.

There were beach vendors everywhere and someone was always trying to sell you something. When I said walking on the beach wasn’t necessarily relaxing, this is what I meant. Even if they weren’t “selling” something, they would come walk alongside you and ask where you were from and all sorts of things, saying “conversation is free.” It seemed harmless, but you just know that no one is that friendly for no reason. It really annoyed me because I just wanted to be on the beach and not have anyone bug me. I realized how we are so like that in the U.S. I mean granted people can get annoying when they are trying to sell you something anywhere, but still, people pretty much mind their own business. Well not in Mombasa.

It was interesting to see that the same Masaai people we saw on Safari were also walking the beaches (selling beads and necklaces unfortunately—not that they shouldn’t make a living, but it kind of spoils their traditional tribal appearance). There was a guy who walked up and down the beach every day with a small caravan of three camels, giving “beach safaris.” Goodness knows what else there was to see but palm trees and water! Hmm. I guess riding a camel on the beach is experience enough.

After we flew back from Mombasa, we spent one last day exploring Nairobi. We visited the Karen Blixen Museum (Karen Blixen was the woman who wrote Out of Africa). We also went to a factory where clay beads were being made and fired.

The glazes they used were really colorful and there was, of course, a gift shop full of necklaces and other pottery and clay things. We stopped at a roadside flower vendor because we had heard roses were cheap. It turns out that Kenya exports long-stemmed roses and other flowers, so the rejects get sold in town (and by rejects, they mean the slightly too small, slightly too short, etc… ). Anyway, there were hundreds of beautiful roses, all great colors and all looking really healthy…for 100 shillings! That’s $1.50, for a dozen! Not fair.

So now we are in Nigeria. It was interesting going from one country to another within Africa. I could start to see the difference in culture and behavior as soon as we got on the plane to Nigeria, since most of the passengers were Nigerian. Kenyans are more laid back and quiet. They are kind and very friendly. Nigerians (at least the first of my observation on the flight and in the Airport in Nigeria) are loud and hurried. Their speech towards each other is eager and often sounds aggressive, yet they are always mentioning or thanking God and that’s so refreshing. One guy let us switch seats on the plane so we could sit together and as he got up he said “God bless you.” It has been interesting to observe how different cultures communicate and interact in public. The Nigerians I have met here in Jos have been very friendly and are eager to know what you think of their country. They never complain (don’t we often complain about things when we greet each other?) The more I see and meet them, the more I love them. They are so beautiful too. The children are all adorable. I have to admit I have seen some kids at home that aren’t so cute, but here they are all cute. And at every age too. There doesn’t seem to be that awkward preteen age where you just look silly no matter what. They are always beautiful people. Especially when they smile. They are so happy with so little. I hope to learn a thing or two from a people who take nothing for granted, especially their salvation.

I start teaching in the Girls’ Center here at Rafiki on Monday. I’m getting nervous because people keep handing over lesson plans to me. I’m not trained as a teacher and the idea of being in front of five to ten girls is daunting. What do I say?! What do I do?! But I have had much assurance from the staff here and the girls are forgiving and are really just eager to learn. I will be teaching art, catering and semester five English to the girls and art to the boys. I’m so excited about the art classes of course.

I started coming up with some ideas for new products that can be sewn here by the girls in their production class. They learn to sew here and whatever they make gets shipped to the Rafiki home office in Texas to be sold. They don’t sell the products in town here because they don’t want to monopolize the market in any way. This way the girls learn a trade and can use it once they are finished with school (without creating any hard feelings from other businesspeople in towm. Anyway, some of the bags that have been being made are kind of “granny,” so they have asked me to design some new ones. I made this bag with the help of my mom yesterday. Everyone likes it so far. I’m also planning some crocheting projects for the girls, as I will be teaching them to crochet.

We went into town a few times to buy fabric for the Girls’ Center. The fabrics here are AMAZING. There are so many and the patterns are bright and colorful and fun. They are so much more daring than any fabric patterns I have seen in the U.S. It’s fun to imagine what could be done with them.

The weather here in Nigeria is bizarre. It is the wet season, so everything is green and beautiful.

But it does rain. In California if it rains it is grey and cloudy for days and it’s just rainy weather all the time. But here it rains hard just about every day for an hour or so. But then the rest of the time it is sunny and gorgeous. The storm clouds just roll in and roll out everyday. And oftentimes there is loud thunder and lightning. It will be three in the afternoon and the little kids will be playing outside and the sky is exploding with sound and they just keep playing. Nothing strange about it to them.

Living here isn’t as different from home as I had though it would be. There are quite a few things available in town, although they can cost a fortune. I have seen a few popular U.S. brands of foods and toiletries and they are very expensive. And sometimes you may find something you thought wouldn’t be here, but it tastes so different from what you are used to that it throws you off. The milk tastes very strange to me. The oranges are mostly green (even when ripe). The produce is smaller without all the miracle grow and genetic modifications that we have in the U.S. (which means it’s probably more healthy). But even with the different availabilities of foods and other daily necessities, there is plenty to eat and I have enjoyed just about everything. My mom’s house-help, Lydia, made the most amazing potato chips I have ever had. Hand made potato chips! I am finding that when there is a limitation here with what I am used to at home, it brings out the sort of Hippy, Mountain-woman, Tarzan and Jane side of me. I am constantly thinking of ways to recreate something with what’s available. Make-shift this and that. It’s good to be thinking of how to reuse stuff too. We could all use a little more recycling. The people here do it out of necessity, and although most Americans don’t have that necessity, it would definitely benefit everyone to be using and wasting less.

Last Sunday we visited an ECWA church (Evangelical Church of West Africa).

They were very welcoming, even singing a welcome song, and the service was good. It was neat to see a church body, a community coming together similarly to how we do. I forget that God is bigger than my continent and that he is Father of so many. These Nigerians really are my brothers and sisters. At the Girls’ Center I am called Aunty Libby. Everyone is family here. I love that.

I will definitely keep writing as I begin to get more involved at the Girls’ Center teaching. Know that I miss home and I would love to hear from you. Even just knowing what you did that day would be a little taste of normalcy that I wont know for some weeks. Thanks again for being interested in what I’m up to. I know it’s mostly been my vacation up till now, but my next reports will hopefully reflect the service that I am here to do (and that many of you made possible through your support—I thank you for that).

Beginning yet another adventure,
Libby

Posted by libbystokes at July 29, 2006 11:14 AM

Comments

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