Safe Arrival

This first post was an email I sent to my family the night of my arrival, Monday the 23rd: 

I have arrived in Lagos, Nigeria safe and sound! The flight was about as easy as possible and honestly was smoother than most 3-4 hour flights I've been on. I guess that's what you get when you fly first class. I felt completely spoiled the whole time and almost felt guilty for how well I was treated. It started off in Austin when I just dropped in to check out the United Lounge and realized how swanky it was. It felt like an exclusive cigar club that I'd somehow snagged an invite to. Free snacks, newspapers, magazines, wifi, and even an open bar (though some premium drinks did cost a little, I just stuck to the free stuff). I didn't take advantage here since I only had about 15 minutes until I had to board my first flight, but once in Houston I rushed straight off the plane and found the United lounge at that airport. I was able to hangout here for about two hours before I had too leave to board.

Once on the plane, it was obvious I was in a whole different league. The first class seats are so comfy and have so much room. Not to mention they fully recline to 180 degrees which made sleeping so easy for me. The first two hours was basically like dining at a really nice restaurant. It was an extended four course meal that I enjoyed every minute of, including a few complimentary beverages ;). After this was complete and I was stuffed, I laid back and watched the movie 42 which quickly passed another two hours (they had a big selection of free movies and tv shows available). Once the movie was over it was about midnight, so I threw my chair all the way back and fell asleep pretty easily. I got about 7 solid hours of sleep, which is amazing for me considering I've never been able to sleep on any kind of transportation in my life. By the time I woke up they were serving breakfast and we were only about an hour and a half from landing. The whole experience was pretty incredible... I just wish I could actually afford this on my own haha. First class is the way to go!

As soon as I stepped off the airplane it was evident I was no longer in America. The jetway was muggy and wet, and the airport wasn't much better. It was really hot and humid inside the airport and it didn't take me long to start sweating. The process of getting through immigration was actually really easy. Luckily, since I was in first class and one of the first ones off the plane, I got to immigration first. About five minutes after me the line got very backed up. I got through in about ten minutes and didn't have any issues at all. Once through, I could see two guys wearing a Chevron hat and jacket, so it was pretty obvious I was to go to them. They helped me gather my bags and walk past customs, then passed us off to two more a Chevron guys who walked us and our luggage out to the vans. This part was pretty gross because it was pouring down rain and none of the walk was covered. It started coming down pretty hard so we broke into a jog until we finally reached a covering at the parking lot. There were puddles and mud all over the place, so my luggage got pretty dirty (which you can imagine annoyed me quite a bit haha). But oh well. As we waited here and saw the vans only like 30 feet away it started really pouring down, so they waved over one of the police escorts to grab us and take us to the vans. We hopped in the back seat and the policeman back there had to move his rifle to make room for us. This was a little odd as me and one other crammed into the back seat of a truck with a Nigeria policeman and his rifle. They drove us quickly over to the van and we jumped in, verified which luggage was ours, and set out to Lekki Peninsula (where I'll be living).

So, someone had told me this before but I guess I had just forgotten...but we had a police escort drive with us the whole way to the compound. This actually turned out to be very helpful as I soon realized there are virtually no traffic laws at all on Nigeria. The police truck often swerved ahead of us and blocked traffic in certain places to allow us to cut into lanes and take turns we probably shouldn't have. It was really weird to witness this kind of driving. It was quite literally every man for himself. This left me with no desire to try and drive while I'm over here. It was also strange seeing mini vans packed full with about 15-20 people, with some even hanging out the doorways holding on tightly. Also motorcycles with 3-4 people on them. The drive was an eye opening experience. We drove past lots of slums and got to witness firsthand the images we often see on tv. There was one whole village on the water that was literally on stilts. The huts all had tin roofs and were crammed together as tightly as possible. There were many others similar to this on land. I think I told some of you this, but Lagos is basically an extremely overpopulated city without much infrastructure. Houston has about 9 million, from what I'm told, and Lagos has about 23 million. Imagine that! 2.5 times bigger than Houston, but with nowhere near the infrastructure. It's a little sad to see.

Anyways, to wrap this up... The drive to Lekki took us almost two hours as we got pretty bogged down in traffic and our driver kept trying to find less congested back roads to no avail. I got to my house around 5:45 and my boss, Jackie, was here waiting for me with my keys. We dropped my bags off, she took me across the street to eat at the management guest house (which I'll have access to my entire duration here) and then took me on a 20 minute walking tour of the compound. It's really pretty neat and I'm excited to explore some more in there daylight. It's not too big and you can walk everywhere, but it's still big enough to not feel completely confined. I'll give y'all more details once I explore more and have better insight.

Unfortunately, I didn't really get any good pictures because it was raining and the windows on our van were wet. I'll take some of my house and of the compound this week and send them out later. You can just use your imaginations for now. I'll try and get some on other trips to and from the airport later on as well. I already miss you all so much and can't believe I'm here for the next six months. I really am looking forward to it, but am still a little nervous. Please say some prayers for me that I can remain strong. I'll be lifting you all up as well.

Goodbye for now. I need to get some sleep.

P.S. Internet is working okay, but I've already seen how slow it is and how long it can take to get messages out sometimes. Apparently it gets a lot better late in there evening when people start going to bed, so that's probably going to be the best time.