Greetings from Nigeria!
Yes folks, I have made it here! After a rather grueling trip I arrived at the airport. I was greeted at the immigration desk by a representative from the United States Embassy. He moved me past the guard who was ogling me and into the arms of the principal who hired me. Very exciting.
The Gates of nigeria say "You are Welcome". this is a standard greeting here. My first impression of the city was of the surprisingly well-manicured road system. It was at night, so I didn't see much else. I was dropped off at my apartment, which was furnished and set up with some basic necessities. I unpacked one suitcase, cried a little bit, and eventually fell asleep.
My apartment is really nice- clean, tile floors, nice furniture (Although extremely hard sofas and mattress) and most importantly, air conditioned! It is not on the school grounds, but is in a compound that has a barbed wire fence, gate, and a armed policeman guarding it. The grounds are gorgeously landscaped and there are these wild lizards with orange heads running around. I am incredibly blessed! The power does have a tendancy to go on and off, but there is a generator that sometimes works.
Yesterday I went car shopping- hung over from jet lag. It was quite an experience. One dealer whose lot we went to decided that I needed to take him back to America when I was done in Abuja. He wanted to pick out my car, and kept on trying to do things like hold my hand. It was very unpleasant, especially since he did not seem to understand the concept of deoderant. Luckily, Eckon, a driver from the school, was with us. He made sure we were safe and not swindled. Through his help, I have bought a very sweet red Rover- four door sedan from a car dealer whose wife works at the school (and who also has better boundary issues:-))
Today we are going off to the market, hopefully, to start the fun process of finishing the furnishing of my house. I am almost caught up on sleep and am excited to explore this city. The people seem fantastic and I think that I am going to be ok!
Those of you who I was not able to contace before I left, thank you for the gifts, encouragements, and prayers! I do not have internet at my apartment yet (it is actually quite a challenge to figure out how to get it) so my contact time on the internet is limited. You are all in my heart and I miss you. Take Care- I will write again soon!
Martina
p.s. I did not have a complete list of people to write put together, so feel free to send this on to anyone!