This is Africa…

Yesterday in my neighborhood I jogged past a very pregnant goat that was startled by my presence as she ate some rubbish at the side of the road.

Today I escaped the rain by seeking refuge in a market stall that sold “bush meat.” Furry heads surrounded me and large rat-looking creatures were splayed out and dried on sticks.

I’ve moved to an apartment without a generator – I can now appreciate the frustration that comes with nightly blackouts lasting upwards of 3 hours.

Two days ago I saw small child naked and squatting over a nicely formed poop outside his house.

Today, same small child, same cement slab by the side of his house, same morning ritual.

I’ve realized how absolutely inept I am at washing clothes – I’ve never lived in a place where I needed to use a Laundromat let alone my own two hands.

The top story on the news the other day was how the some Nigerian religious figure had issued an official statement that a pilgrimage to the Holy land is optional for Christians, not mandatory.

There are chickens outside my office. No one can tell me whom they belong to.

On my 6-hour 330-mile journey from Lagos to Benin City, the driver waved a vendor over to the van at a stoplight and purchased two pairs of boxer shorts.

In one week I saw two dead people lying by the road. It was explained to me that the third one (I thought was dead) was not. He had had a seizure and was just lying there with foam on his mouth. One knows he’s not dead because people are stepping over him rather than keeping a distance and walking around.