I Knocked My Head Once. I Knocked My Head Twice!

PLEASE COME TO MY SENSES!

Before we moved here to Nigeria, I know we are "diving" straight into the lion's den. I was somewhat mentally prepared for it. Somewhat. Especially after watching a documentary about Lagos on BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) channel sometime ago before our move. They were showing about life in the slums, the way the Lagosians live, the power outages, the corruptions, the notoriously-known wild Nigeria.We were in Singapore. Before that, we were in Saudi Arabia and the US. There are no comparison between Singapore, the US and Nigeria. PERIOD! Saudi Arabia is different too but it wasn't a bad place. Everyone was shocked to find out that we are moving here. I was shocked too!

Singapore. Clean and safe.

Lagos, Nigeria. What do you think?

I have heard about all the nasty things and how dangerous Nigeria is and can be. Of course when I set my foot at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, oh boy was I not happy. I was miserable. I felt out of place. A total culture shock! Our oldest son cried in the bus because he was nervous and scared. Our youngest son seemed ok because he's still not sure what he's in for. This place is filthy, the traffic is horrible it gives me headache and it still does, the people are terribly loud, rough and full of B.O.! I don't really know anybody except for one family who have since left Nigeria. Worst, we came here during the school summer holidays! Yes, you guessed it right. Almost all of the expats were out of the country. Nobody was here. The kids were bored, I was bored. We lived in a corporate hotel in which everyday the four walls were staring at us. Lucky for our boys, a few weeks later, came another American family who have two sets of twin boys. Yes, two sets of twin boys! They all became friends immediately.

I've seen my fair shares of people pooping and peeing on the road. I've heard, seen and experienced people asking for a dash (money, tip) here all the time every seconds of the day. We will be here 8 months come tomorrow, 1st March 2012. Time really flies.

We are supposed to stay here in Nigeria for about 3 years, maybe 5, maybe even 1 year. Who knows. I do know that it is time for me to let go of all the negativeness that I have for this country and start living it. Yes, there have been a lot of times when I hate the fact that we are here. I told myself that if I don't let it go, I will be miserable. It's time for me to get to know Africa and experience this once-in-a-lifetime adventure. You will still hear me complain about my frustrations here. You will. I know that I am not 100% happy here but I have my family here with me. We will go through it together. I have started. I have started making friends. I have started having fun. I do feel a bit happier now compare to the first time I set foot in this country. It will be ok, I will be ok, my family will be ok. As long as I know how to make use of my time, our time, while we are here.