What do you have for me o!?

Hello from Nigeria, my bradas and sistas o!

Unfortunately Nigeria has a lot of stereotypes associated with it due to corruption in the country and therefore not a very good rep.  Many people asked me why we were going to Nigeria.  Well, one of my best friends, Temi Adelore, lives there and since we were coming through Africa, we had to stop by to see her. 

Our flight from Kenya to Lagos was delayed by an hour and a half but the pilot flew faster (really) and so we arrived at the scheduled time.  Going through immigration and customs was no problem so we were happy that we would make it to our connecting flight going to Abuja.  We were surprised to find that the international airport and domestic airport are not one and the same.  We had to get a taxi to go from one to the other (a 10 minute drive).  When we arrived at the Lagos domestic airport, we were bombarded by guys offering to take our bags, asking us if we had tickets yet, and many other questions.  Lol! If I didn't have a ticket, were they going to sell me a ticket outside? 

When we walked into the airport, Vernon's immediate response was "This feels more like a bus station than an airplane terminal." That's pretty much when things went down hill.  We checked into our flight two hours early to make sure we didn't miss it, went through security and headed to the waiting area.  The room was packed with people and not many seats were available. We scouted the room and finally found a seat. Then we waited and waited... and waited with hundreds of other people. Our flight time came and went.  The announcements over the PA system were inaudible so we had no idea what was going on and there was no one to ask.  We were kept busy watching the merchants walking around trying to sell books, phone cards, or dvds to anyone who would pay them attention.  Finally I get tired of sitting and walk outside.  Good thing because I overheard some people talking about the reason for the delay.  No more jet fuel at the domestic airport! "What? Okay, I hope they find some soon." Three hours later we finally get called to board so we catch the shuttle to the plane on the tarmac.  At the plane all the passengers lined up for another security screen. Vernon gets pulled aside because he has some plates in a bag. They said, "You can't bring this on board, we're taking this." Then, they ask "What do you have for me?"  "Excuse me?" Vernon asks. "What do you have for me? Do you have something for me so I can get some lunch?"  Yeah, right there, the guy basically asked for a bribe so we can take the plates on the plane. After seeing he was getting nowhere with his request he let Vernon go with the plates.  The checked luggage was brought and all passengers were asked to identify their luggage. I find my bag, but Vernon's is nowhere to be seen. Drama begins.  I tell all the baggage handlers that I'm missing a bag.  They brought a cart and rushed me to the terminal to look for it.  Nothing there.  I literally run from the terminal to three other planes on the tarmac that are being boarded looking for our bag.  No sign of it anywhere.  At this point, I'm getting a "little" frustrated.  With my hands on my hips I start demanding that our bag be found otherwise we would not leave (by this everyone had boarded the plane and they were waiting for us). I go to the luggage tug that was putting all the bags on the plane and pull out my bag to show how serious I was.  I personally thought that our lost bag was a deliberate attempt to get some more money out of us (however, we later find out that this wasn't so but that the bag was honestly misplaced).   Vernon convinces me that we should leave with the flight.  By this time, the air hostess had come outside and said that they can't wait any longer and that they were closing the door. We run up the passenger stairs trusting that God would help us get our bag back.

We arrived in Abuja in the evening and were so glad to see Temi and our new friend Aki waiting for us.  Wow, what a day! We started at 4:30 am in Nairobi, Kenya and ended the day at around midnight in Nigeria.

On Saturday we took off with Temi, her sister Teju and few of Temi's friends on a road trip to the neighboring state, Niger, to sight see and enjoy the water at Guarara Falls.  On the way we enjoyed some nice scenery. Large rock formations along side the road and vast flat lands stretched out to the horizon.  The drive took about 4 hours and when we got to the falls, we just chilled for hours.  It was super hot (at least 35 deg C). 

Zuma Rock

Gurara River - river was far from full.

The rocks underneath were slippery - joint effort.

 

Guarara waterfalls

Temi and I.

The gang.

On the way back we stopped by the airport because we got word that Vernon's bag arrived! Praise the Lord!

Sunday we got to see our brothers and sisters at the International Church of Christ Abuja. We really enjoyed worshiping with them and had plenty of fellowship afterwards.  After that we went on a sight seeing tour of Abuja.  Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria. Built about 21 years ago as the country moved the capital from Lagos.  The city was pretty quiet, the streets were well made, and the architecture is nice.  After picking up some To Go Chinese food, we back to Temi's for the evening.

Mosque in Abuja

Streets of Abuja

Though the trip was short, it was such a blessing to spend time with Temi. 

Off to the Mediterranean.