Merry Christmas from Nigeria!

Even though I'm not actually in Nigeria presently, I still think it's appropriate to share this picture today that some friends and I put together last week. Though I was very reluctant at first to take part in this, I must say I'm quite happy with the results haha. The resolution might not be too great on here though. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and pray that everyone is enjoying friends and family during these holidays. And if you are not able to be with friends or family, I pray that you are still finding peace and joy in the spirit of Christmas. God bless!

Goodbye For Now, Nigeria

I sit here writing this now at a bar in the Lagos airport, getting ready to leave Nigeria for the first time in the last three months. Only halfway done with my stint, but what a journey it has already been! I've gotten to see some pretty amazing things, meet some great people, and been challenged physically, mentally, spiritually and even socially. I will say, though it's only been three months, it has actually felt a lot longer. On the whole, I think I make this out to be such a great experience, which, don't get me wrong, it is. But, at the same time it has most certainly been one of the most challenging and trying experiences of my life. When I first got here people warned me that three months was about the maximum most people can stay before having to get out for a vacation, and I can definitely relate... I'm ready. I'm in much need of a short break from Nigeria, and what better time to get it than during Christmas since the weather here has basically prevented me from remembering its the season. It's just a little hard to get in the Christmas spirit when it's 90+ degrees every day. I think some cold weather might be one of the things I'm most looking forward to about this trip. Roughly twelve hours from now I'll be wandering around Munich in the 30 degree weather, drinking cold beer, mulled wine and cider, and taking in some of the world's best Christmas markets. Then three days later it's off to Vienna for some more Christmas markets, concerts, caroling, and what should be a beautiful midnight Christmas Mass at the cathedral. Crossing my fingers for a white Christmas as well! 

In closing, I will say that it's certainly going to be odd spending my first Christmas away from family. I will miss that aspect of the holidays dearly. But, I am still beyond excited about this trip and couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend Christmas in, what I've heard are, some of the most festive places around the world. 

Nigeria, it's been real, but I'm definitely ready for some time apart. See you next week. 

Foooooood

Well I'm now 2 and a half months into my African adventure and I think it's safe to say the honeymoon phase is over. I definitely still see new things all the time and I don't think that will ever end, but I think its safe to say I'm settled down and am pretty much comfortable with everything. But, with that sense of settling down, it does start to feel a little more permanent and I've begun to realize there are certain things I'm really starting to miss. One thing that's certainly near the top of that list is food. As comfortable as I've gotten with most things here (like watching people pee in the streets and sell alligators on the side of the road), one thing that hasn't become my new normal is the food here. My stomach has just not adjusted. I'm not sure exactly what it is... maybe the processed food I'm used to in the states, poor quality of meat here, or maybe how they handle the food here, which I truly don't ever want to witness... I don't know. But something about the food in Nigeria still doesn't sit quite right with me. Well, I say I'm not used to the food, but what I am used to is having an upset stomach at least once a day, so I guess in some ways I'm adjusting. I've grown accustomed to stomach pains, more frequent trips to the bathroom (TMI? sorry), and popping Pepto Bismol more often the last two months than I have the previous 24 years of my life. Originally, I thought it would go away with time, but that hasn't happened yet. It's not terrible, gut-wrenching pain or anything, just a near-constant uncomfortableness.

Anyone that knows me knows that my usual diet consists of roughly 75% fast food and take-out, give or take. This has led to some intense fast-food withdrawals recently. In the last couple weeks I've literally woken up in the middle of the night on separate occasions dreaming about Chipotle or Chick-fil-a. My mouth waters at the thought of Schlotzky's, Whataburger, or really any sub sandwich. I cannot express enough how much I'm looking forward to this glorious reunion when I return to the states in a few short months. Sad, I know. But it is what it is. In Nigeria the only meat that is really safe enough to eat that they have in abundance is chicken. I literally eat chicken about 10 times a week I'd say. 

I leave for Europe now in T-minus 11 days and I've already begun planning what kinds of meals I'll be having there. I know it's not a lot of the same joints we have in the states, but I don't even care. I'm just beyond excited for a steak, hamburger, or really any kind of beef that's not chewy, and hopefully some good sandwiches. I'm going to have to get enough good eating in my week and a half in Europe to hold me over for the rest of my stay in Africa... 

Footnote: I know how backwards it sounds that my two previous posts were about people living severely impoverished lives yet being so happy and then I follow up by whining about how I miss fast food. It's kind of pathetic. But it's just what's on my mind and at least I recognize it...right? No? Maybe this is just a great lesson in humility for me. God bless those people. 

Also, don't get me wrong, I still miss my family and friends way more than the food. This isn't number one on my list. 

Makoko Stilt Village

Alright, so I’ve now learned that I have to stop saying that anything was, or is going to be, the coolest thing I do in Africa because one thing after another just continue to blow my mind. This morning I had the chance to go the Makoko stilt village in Lagos. This entire village is literally built on stilts over the water. Makoko is home to roughly 100,000 people who all live in this self-sustaining community on the water. 100,000 people! That’s no village, it’s pretty much a city in itself. I first saw this village when driving into Lagos for the first time from the airport. As you drive over an 11 mile bridge, for about a 1-2 mile stretch you can look out and see this community on the water. I remember this being the most unique thing I saw on that initial drive in, which was a straight two hours of culture shock. Since first arriving I have heard a great deal about this village and repeatedly been told it's one thing I have to see while here. I had signed up for the NFS (Nigerian Field Society) trip last month before it was canceled at the last minute, but fortunately was able to make the list again this month. Only about 15 people get to attend each time.

We left for the village from a local marina in Victoria Island on these two single prop boats which are manually steered from the rear. Here is a picture of one of the boats to give you an idea.

Once we arrived, we were greeted by a man named Noah, who is the youngest brother of 22 siblings, the oldest of which is the village chief. Being a member of the chief’s family, Noah explained how he has a very important role in the community and how pretty much everyone (all 100,000) recognizes a member of his family. As I mentioned, Noah is the youngest, but also the luckiest in his family because he is the only one who received a formal education. Education is so rare in Makoko that generally only one or two children are chosen from each family to go to school. They do this to try and spread out the range of educated children. Noah told us that when they first tried to send him to school he refused so much that his mother and brothers had to beat him to force him to go. Now, looking back, he said he is eternally grateful for those beatings because his education completely changed his life. He is now in charge of the schooling system in Makoko and oversees the roughly 220 kids that are schooled each year. They actually just built a new “floating school” last year in large part due to a major donation from the NFS. This is why they continue to open their village to the NFS members and repeatedly welcome the visitors as special guests. Each trip to the village the NFS continues to make additional donations as well. It’s a pretty neat thing to contribute to and to see how truly grateful they are for the donations. Here is a picture of Noah greeting us for the first time in an upper room and explaining the history of Makoko and answering our questions. He even had some Coke and 7up waiting for us.

Once we departed the initial welcome, we hopped into some of the canoes the local villagers use for transportation. The water ranges from about 3 -10 feet deep most places throughout the village, so the boats are actually propelled and steered with these long sticks you can see below. They use them to push off the bottom and dig into the mud when stopping.  

Noah stayed with us the whole morning and took us through the village, showing us how it functions. He pointed out that 99% of the community are fisherman and make their living this way. He showed us a couple of the clinics and maternity wards, pointing out that there is really only one doctor for the whole community, but many midwives and trained helpers. He explained that most women have at least 6 or 7 kids, with up to 20 being completely normal, so, as you can imagine, that equals a lot of childbirths. The doctor actually came out and spoke with us for a bit, addressing some of the main concerns for healthcare in the village, which is clearly very scarce. Here is a picture of him speaking to us, with Noah translating, and also one of some fisherman throwing out their nets.

We weaved in and out of the canals for about a solid two hours seeing all different parts of the crowded village. At one point, out of nowhere it started pouring down rain pretty hard so our two hosts quickly pulled into a dock and we took shelter in a random person’s home. As soon as some people nearby saw the rain start coming down they waved us over and were happy to have us all cram under their shelter for a while. Once it pulled back for a bit we jumped back into the boats and made it over to the floating school. When we got to the school it started pouring again and trapped us there for about half an hour. Here are a couple pictures I took from the third story of the school building during the downpour. The last one is a little creepy and looks kind of like the grim reaper. 

After thirty minutes or so were up and the rain began to let up a little bit, we decided it was time to head back as it was now past noon. It continued to drizzle throughout our 20 minute ride back to the marina leaving us all sufficiently soaked when we arrived. The rain was certainly a nuisance and we may have missed a thing or two they originally planned to show us, but it certainly didn’t ruin our trip. I’ve learned my lesson now and am hesitant to say this is my favorite thing I’ve done in Africa, but it was pretty freaking awesome. It’s impossibly difficult to put into words everything I saw there or how I felt witnessing it, so I will try and let a few more pictures below do the talking. You'll notice some of the pictures look cloudy, which is because the whole village is very smoky. Some buildings actually looked like they were on fire because there was so much smoke. This is a result of smoking and grilling all the fish they haul in to preserve them. 

To wrap this up, though, I will say that, again, my mind is blown by how different some people can live and be 100% content. Once again, the vast majority of people we encountered today were extremely friendly, happy, and welcoming. The children were all ecstatic and couldn’t believe their eyes seeing all these white people floating through their town. It was so cool to just give them high fives, take their pictures, and see their faces light up when seeing themselves on camera possibly for the first time. There’s no doubt the living conditions here are poor; there is trash and sewage everywhere, no running water, most buildings look to be in shambles, and of course no air-conditioning or heating, and yet they continue on like the rest of us. They all seem to possess such optimism and it truly blows my mind. They make their livings fishing and trading and literally some live their entire lives in this village on the water and rarely make their way out. This was the second time in two weeks I’ve gotten to witness a way of life completely and utterly different from my own. Idanre opened my eyes, but Makoko truly astounded me. It’s difficult to put into words, but I just wish everyone could have the opportunity to see this place. 

What Is Poor? (Cycling Idanre)

Different people will define poor in any variety of ways. Economists will define it as anyone living under a certain income deemed the poverty line. Religious folks may define it as someone living a life without faith and no hope in an eternal life. Others may define it as a life without hope in general, such as those imprisoned or isolated from the world. Others maybe living a life alone, without any friends or family to keep them company. I've also heard it referred to before as those caught in and endless circle of everyday life doing work they're not the least passionate about - the poor in spirit. Whatever definition one may use to determine what they deem "poor," it became quite clear to me after this past weekend that I will never define it as what I perceive to be one's "standard of living." I now know that this is completely relative. 

I had the amazing opportunity to spend the three days last weekend in the town of Idanre in the state of Ondo, Nigeria. This was a mountain biking trip put on by the Nigerian Field Society about once a year. This trip we had six of us from Chevron and three others, but only five of us were there to do the cycling; the others were there to hike. The journey to and from Idanre was far from pleasant, as it took us between 5-6 hours each way to travel less than 200 km. This is a testament to how truly bad the roads are here. Piled onto a bus, we took a combination of back roads and one major expressway riddled with potholes and broken asphalt. Probably the least comfortable road trip I've ever been on. The mountain biking itself was the hardest cycling trip I've ever done in my life and possibly even the most strenuous physical activity. I've never been much of a biker, but consider myself pretty athletic and in good shape, and this pushed me to my limits. In all, the bike trip totaled 51 km and took us almost 6 hours. Granted, only about 4 hours of that was actual riding time as there were many stops along the way. The terrain was rocky, muddy, steep, and exhausting. By the time we returned to our hotel six hours later, I had to just lay down motionless for a good two hours before wanting to move again. I think it's safe to say this was the greatest feeling of accomplishment I've ever had after a workout.

However, the reason I write this post with the title I chose is not because of the ride itself, but because of the interactions we had along the way. Leaving the town of Idanre early Saturday morning we quickly made it off the road and back into the jungle. As we weaved farther and farther back into the thickness, we encountered one village after another full of bright and smiling faces. At each encounter the villagers could not have been more happy to see us and welcome us, children especially. As we rode through, the most shocking thing to me was the apparent living situations. All the homes appeared to be structures thrown together out of clay and mud of sorts that looked to be deteriorating and uncomfortable from my point of view. We never entered any of the buildings, but I can only assume what the insides were like. Most of these communities have no running water or facilities to go to the bathroom. We encountered people who looked like they probably hadn’t showered in months and children just running around naked and barefoot everywhere. Despite all this, they all appeared to be having the time of their lives. The sense of community was astounding, as well as the pure and constant joy they all showed; it truly moved me. A Danish man who was cycling with us commented to me at one point how these people, by any western standard, should have no reason to be this happy, and yet they’re all completely satisfied and content. And I couldn’t agree with his statement more. We both continued to admire and appreciate their happiness town after town. 

I don't think it a coincidence that I didn't manage to get this post up until Thanksgiving Day. I meant to get this up every day this week, but kept being delayed until finally having the time today. I find it quite fitting to post this today, where even though I'm far away from friends and family for the first time on this holiday I find myself with so much more to be thankful for than ever before. I am so blessed to have been afforded all these unique opportunities and experiences so early in my life. It's moments like this past weekend that just remind me of that ever more. I truly thank God for these opportunities I've been given to broaden my horizons and help me grow through traveling. I am especially thankful for the luxuries I've been afforded my entire life and completely taken for granted. What better time to stop and reflect on this than Thanksgiving Day. 

I’ll try and portray our journey below with some pictures and descriptions to help illustrate the experience.

When we first got off the main road and about 10 minutes into the bush, we ran into some young children that were out harvesting some cocoa pods. Cocoa is the main crop of this region that most these smaller villages rely on for their main source of income. Here is a picture of a single cocoa pod hanging from a tree, along with the kids I mentioned. You can also see the long scythe they use to get the pod out of the trees made from bamboo and a curved knife at the end. Notice some more of the pods hanging in the background as well. 

In this next picture you can see all the cocoa beans laying out across the ground in front of some of the village homes. Pretty much every house we saw had these concrete slabs laid out in front, which are used to spread out the beans for drying. Often times we saw these chickens or roosters playing around in the beans as well. 

Here is the first village we actually stopped at. The lady you'll see in the middle of the first picture was a dancing machine. For about five minutes she just kept dancing around and singing. Pretty hysterical. The man you see a close-up of actually came up to me and asked me to take his picture. I just thought he really wanted his picture taken, but turns out he actually just wanted something from me in return. Afterwards he asked me, "So what do you have for me? That's how it works: I let you take my picture, you give me something." Clever, clever man. I didn't actually give him anything though (considering he asked me to take his picture in the first place), just laughed and rode away. He didn't seem to mind. It was all in good fun. 

Here's more of the cocoa beans spread out all over the ground.

Now, our next stop was one of the cooler ones. I mentioned how cocoa production is huge in this region, but the other main product is palm oil. Palm nuts are the next biggest crop in this region of Africa, and we ran across a little make-shift mill in the middle of our trail. There was one man, a woman, and some children all tending this area, and actually gave us a brief tour by even cranking up the machine for us to see how it all works. It was really neat. Here is a picture of the grinder they use to crack the nuts, a barrel used to store the palm oil, and you can somewhat make out the machine behind the barrel which they use to mix the oil. You can also see the Danish guy from our group, Jakob. 

And here is one of our police offers taking (stealing) a cocoa pod and some palm nuts for souvenirs. Palm nuts are on the left, cocoa pod on the right. Also, a gun. Now these people we actually did give a little money to since they were so willing to show us everything and explain the process. It was really neat. 

Here is just a quick snapshot of the next town we stopped in for a picture and snack. One of the men offered us a whole bundle of bananas and was incredibly friendly. We each took a couple and gave him some money, which he was incredibly humbled by. I don't think he expected anything in return. This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. Eventually, the shy women and children in the background came in for a picture too. 

This next village was the coolest one we stopped in. When I first rolled up, second in our group, I saw a huge crowd of the villagers huddled around something in the distance. Honestly, I was a little nervous at first because it looked like I was interrupting a town hall or something. Turns out, it was just the guy in our group ahead of me relaxing in the shade, mingling with the entire village that had surrounded him. It was quite the site. They had brought out the chief elder to meet us and we conversed with them for awhile, surrounded by all the children. This was also one of my favorite backdrops. 

Finally, this was one of the last villages we came to where we stopped for a rest. The kids here were my favorite and loved getting photographed. I took a couple pictures of them and then turned to show them the pictures on my digital camera. They all freaked out and went crazy at the sight of themselves on a camera and loved it. I think it was quite likely the first time they'd ever seen themselves on a camera. Also, there was this one crazy guy who loved my bike for some reason and kept wanting to get pictures with it. He had some brand new boots that he was very proud of. Unfortunately, it sounded like he was speaking jibberish the whole time and I couldn't understand a word he said :/. I just smiled and laughed the whole time. He wanted me to send him the pictures and I said okay, although I have no clue how on earth that would be possible haha. 

And that pretty much sums up the cycling journey in a nutshell. I truly believe when it's all said and done for me here in Africa, this past weekend will go down as one of the best, if not the best, experiences I had during my time here. We also went for a Sunday morning hike the following day, which somehow my legs had recovered enough to allow me to do. I'll include below just a few of the better pictures from that part as well. I only shared a fraction of the pictures, so if you have a desire to look through any more and are friends with me on Facebook, you can find them here: https://www.facebook.com/nickbalser12/media_set?set=a.10200945531149926.1073741827.1515360584&type=3

Happy Thanksgiving!