Week One In the Books

I officially have one week down in Nigeria and, honestly, I can't believe it's only been a week. I feel like I settled in very quickly and already feel like I've been here awhile. Somehow I already get a holiday and have today off from work (it's Nigerian Independence Day). Not a bad start to my second week. So far I've spent the day sleeping in, watching a movie in bed, and laying by the pool reading for awhile. Almost feels like I'm still in Cali (and even got some of the tan back today).

It really has been a great experience so far though, and I've been completely reassured that I'm going to love my time here. There are tons of activities always going on at the compound to keep everyone busy and everyone is super friendly. It's a very tight-knit community, which I feel is necessary being so far from home. The only part that makes it a little strange is that the people you hang out with on a regular basis are also your coworkers and bosses. In the last week I've already been over to one of my boss' house for dinner and shared a few beers, been out grocery shopping with another manager, and attended a wine club event last Friday night with the both of them and their families. Yesterday I went out to dinner with a group of people, one of whom is my supervisor, and then a few of us came back to his house after for drinks and a movie. These are just things that would never happen back in the states. You see your supervisors and managers at work and maybe go out for an occasional lunch or two, but would seldom frequent their homes on the weekends or rendezvous for a late night beer. Yet, this is something I've already learned to be commonplace over here. You are constantly surrounded by the same people you're working with, so you really don't have any other choice unless you prefer solitude and loneliness. It's pretty cool.

I mentioned above that there are many activities to keep you busy here. A few of these scheduled activities and a couple spontaneous ones have already made my week here quite fun. Every Tuesday there is a group that gets together to play basketball - there is both an indoor and outdoor court. I heard about this last week on my first day (coincidentally Tuesday) and knew I'd have to get in on this. I went out last week and had a blast playing with these guys. It was me and about 7 other local Nigerians that work here and stick around to play in the evening. We didn't have enough to run full court so we played half, but still ran some good games. We played for about an hour and a half outside and worked up a dang good sweat. Needless to say, I'll be partaking in this every week for sure. There is also organized soccer every Thursday, which I didn't get out of work early enough to play this week, but will certainly check it out in weeks to come. I don't think I've played soccer since middle school, but hopefully still at least have a little skill left in me. As I also briefly mentioned, there was a wine club event Friday night which takes place once a month. I went to this with my two managers and had a great time meeting more people from the camp and sampling some English wines. Also, despite me keeping it hush, my boss managed to find out it was my birthday and decided to make an announcement and have everyone sing to me. That was a nice little icebreaker and was truly welcoming - I was very appreciative.

Now, a couple of the spontaneous events that also made this week great... Throughout the week I've been introduced intentionally to a few of the younger guys around camp closer to my age. Friday night a couple of them decided they wanted to take me out to a couple of the local spots outside the camp they usually go to. We met up at one of their houses after wine club to get organized and head out. Sidenote: rarely do people ever drive themselves outside of camp here. Most families have drivers that are on salary and work for them year-round, and some (like me) who aren't here long-term can just borrow other people's drivers when they're not using them and just tip them on the side. Also, whenever you leave camp after 7 PM, or know you will be out after 7, you are required to have security with you. The security is basically a truck full of 3 or 4 Nigerian police officers. They call it "chase" because they wait for you at the gates to come out, and then literally "chase" your vehicle anywhere you go. Whenever you stop somewhere to go inside, they wait outside for you with your driver and then again "chase" you to any other locations and ultimately back to the camp at the end of the night. They are all armed with rifles, so it really actually did make me feel a whole lot safer. I will attempt to get a picture with some of these guys before my trip is over. Anyways, we went to two different spots that night, and both proved to be quite different than anything I'm used to. The first was a sports bar that's a classic ex-patriot hangout and the second was a combination of an outdoor lounge for smoking hookah and an upstairs dance floor that gave it more of a club feel. I had a good time getting to know the guys and making some friends, but the experience at these places was definitely unique to the setting here. I won't elaborate much, but it was unlike anything I'd seen before in the states.

The last thing I'll mention for today has probably been my favorite experience thus far. There is currently a guy in my office who is here for three weeks training from Liberia. Chevron currently has a growing presence in Liberia and they're beginning to beef up their finance group, hence why he's here. I've interacted with him a little bit in the office and actually played basketball with him last week too, but Saturday night we both found ourselves in the guest house for dinner. I was already seated when he came in and invited him to join me. We got to talking about sports, work, the US (specifically Houston where he'd spent some time), our paths to Nigeria, and then ultimately the topic of faith came up. He mentioned that he met his wife through a church group he's been involved in in Liberia, which prompted me to ask if he's a Christian. His response was a very adamant, "yes." He returned the question and I responded in kind that I am Catholic. From this point, our conversation changed; it was really incredible. We began talking about faith and family, shared values and upbringings, and things we deemed most important in life. It was quite the experience. To be sitting here talking with this man from a completely different part of the world and yet have so much in common really struck me. He - from a rather undeveloped country that has been torn by civil war for a large part of its history up until the last decade, I - from the US, and yet we found so many shared qualities through one common link - our faith. How great is our God?

I'm not even sure what led to this, but somehow ping pong was brought up in our conversation as well. We found out that we both loved to play and decided to head over to the gym for a late night session around 9 PM and ended up playing till 11. What a great way to spend a Saturday night, am I right? Through this, I honestly think we developed a pretty solid friendship and I hope to stay in touch going forward. He heads back to Liberia next week, but shared with me that he ultimately wants to end up back in states, possibly in Houston with Chevron if the opportunity presents itself. How cool would that be? We got lunch yesterday in the cafeteria together as well and I finally sampled some of the local cuisine. It really was pretty good, although I didn't get too creative. I'll experiment a little more each time I try it I'm sure. Our conversation is seldom effortless, as our different dialects and accents prevent challenges and force us to repeat a lot, but it still works and we understand most everything that comes out after a few tries.

I still feel like there's plenty more I could share, but I'm pretty sick of writing now and want to get outside and do something. Basically, it's been a great first week and I'm very excited for the months ahead. I know before long there will be plenty of things I really start to miss, but for now I'm just going to soak it all up and enjoy it while I can. Everyone's been saying you have to really keep yourself busy or else you start to think about where you are and drive yourself crazy, so I guess that's my main goal: staying busy. Luckily I really haven't had a problem so far! Until next time...

My Domicile

Promised my parents I'd show them pics of my place, so I'll just put them up here. I'll take some more of the whole compound in the coming days/weeks and share them, but this is just my house. I live in a rotator house with four bedrooms. I'm the only one here semi-permanently, as the other three will be occupied for days or weeks at a time. Luckily, this means I do get the master and have my own bathroom. All bedrooms are upstairs and, honestly, nobody uses the downstairs at all, which is quite a shame b/c you'll see how nice it is.  I'll have many roommates in my six months here, but I think it'll be cool to meet a bunch of different people that also work for Chevron. Hey, good networking!

Right inside the front door. Stairs leading up to the bedrooms/living area. 

Just inside to the right. Downstairs living area. 

Downstairs living area and into dining room.  No TV in this room, so I honestly doubt it will be used much.

Kitchen. I'll likely be the only one to use this since most others are here short term and probably won't buy groceries. 

Kitchen view into second smaller living room with TV. 

Second living room. 

Upstairs living area/TV

My walk-in closet (yes, that's all the clothes I have in it). 

My bedroom from the entrance. 

My bed (not my bedding). 

My bathroom. 

My shower.

Basketball court literally right across the street from my house. This will be my home. There's also an indoor court. 

Nigerian Way of Life

In only three days I've already compiled quite a list of stuff I want to write about, so I think I'll try and break it up into a couple posts. Though I know I have a lot on my mind right now, I know as the months go on it will get harder and harder to keep this updated, so might as well spread it out for now. To be honest, I really don't like writing at all in the first place. Every time I sit down to write, I always put it off for as long as possible. You'd never guess by my writing style though, because once I get going I feel like I run on forever. Anyways, here goes nothing.

This post will basically serve as a list - a list of some of the most blatant things I've already noticed about living in Nigeria, both good and bad. I am aiming to split it up by general lifestyle differences and then work life differences in a separate post. This one will focus on lifestyle. 

1. People here are very, very friendly. It's really awesome to see. People are always smiling, greeting each other, and carrying on genuine conversation. When I walk around anywhere back in the states (aside from on campus at A&M) it's pretty much head down, keep to yourself, and mind your own business. Over here it's not that way at all. Anytime you walk by someone - stranger or not - it's almost expected to greet them or at least say hello. I love it. It's friendly, welcoming, and hospitable. People just seem genuinely happy all the time and it really is contagious. 

2. There are three main greetings: good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. Everyone says these like clockwork. My boss even jokes that sometimes before she responds to someone she'll check her watch to verify she has the appropriate time of the day. It's basically morning until noon is "good morning," noon until 5 is "good afternoon," and anytime after is "good evening." It seems a little monotonous, but it's actually really cool. I've already assimilated and find myself using these greetings. Obviously, you can accompany it with more if you'd like; sometimes I like to throw in a little "How are you?" just to keep it interesting haha. 

3. "You're welcome"- Nigerians use this as Americans would typically just use "Welcome." It threw me off a at first because the first time I heard it I thought the guy was being sarcastic. I know sometimes I'll sarcastically say "You're welcome" to someone after doing kind for them when they don't say thank you. Admittedly, it's a flaw, but I'm sure we all do it. We want credit for something nice we did when we don't get a "thank you." But anyways, the first time I heard this I thought he was being sarcastic so I quickly said "thank you" as I thought I had been rude for not thanking him for something. But, no, they use this to genuinely mean "You are welcome here" as a polite greeting. I'm still getting used to this one, but, again, it's really neat. 

4. Many girls don't shave their legs. Not much more to say there, it's just part of their culture. Threw me off a little my first day in the office to see many women with hairy legs, but, hey, there ain't no shame in their game. 

5. Power goes out constantly. I'd say this happens anywhere from 1 to 5 times a day. Last night I was having dinner at one my boss' houses and the power went out right in the middle of the meal. They just carried on as if nothing happened and we grasped for our beers to get in a few swigs in the dark. I still haven't gotten used to this yet, but I'm sure I will soon enough. Just a few minutes ago while trying to write this post, the power shut off for about ten minutes, which was the longest I've seen so far. Usually it's just for a few minutes until the grid comes back on or the backup generators kick in, but it's definitely a regular occurrence. Luckily, work computers are immune from this as they're all wisely on a separate grid. So that just means we all get to work in the dark for a few minutes. Nbd. 

6. AC is always on blast. Whether it be in the houses or in the office, the AC is always going strong. Most buildings are really cold, which I freaking love considering I sweat so much. Not ashamed. I love coming home to a cold house every night and bundling up in a cold room. It's hot here, but honestly, not as bad as I thought it would be. I guess I've just gotten used to it being from Texas. But, the hottest part of the year IS still ahead. We're heading into dry season here which means it gets a lot hotter in the coming months. We'll see how I fare. 

7. Office buildings are almost like asylums or hospitals. It's a little eerie. It's all white tile floors and white walls. And like I said, it's always cold. So it's not exactly warm and cozy, but I'll get used to it before long. 

8. People's names are so confusing! Pretty much all names have prefixes and suffixes, but most of them go by names without the prefix or suffix. Also, some people go by their first name, some by their last, and some by nicknames. It's never logical. For instance, a woman named Olawadolapo simply goes by Dolapo, a man named Oyeleke just goes by Leke, yet another man who's name is Onorojah Onoh goes by Onoh. Another girl I work with who has a very long and confusing name goes by Rosemary and a guy who's last name is Fagebo goes by Fage. Haha it never makes sense, and looking at names on their badges doesn't help. When addressing someone in an email I'll never address them by name until they respond and sign with the name they use. I'll simply use "hello," "hi," or something simple like that. I will admit that I'm pretty good with names though, so I'm hoping I'll have them down at some point. One thing that is cool though is that Nigerian names are all very significant. Their names are so long because they are made up of several smaller words that all mean something. For instance, someone's first name might indicate the time of day they were born, the month they were born, and the weather on the day they were born. I think this aspect is really neat. 

Alright, well I think I've gone on long enough for this post. I still have a list with many more things I'd like to share, but I'll save them for the next one. Again, I've only been here three days so far and I'm sure much more will come up. I have yet to go off the camp yet, but will be going out this Saturday for lunch and to do some grocery shopping with a few coworkers. I'm really excited to get off camp for a little bit and experience the local culture of the town. I'll be sure to update again with more specifics about my experiences this first week and weekend. I have to admit, I'm really enjoying it here so far, but I'll elaborate more later about life in the compound.

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.