Nigerians are clean people, a generalization perhaps, but one I have observed to be true. I’m not just saying that because I happen to be Nigerian (especially since if you came to my house you’d be horrified by how messy it is). No, it seems to be part of our culture to be clean: we wouldn’t dream of leaving the house without taking a bath that day (not everyone around the world has adopted this philosophy I’ve observed!) and we pride ourselves on looking neat. We keep our shoes clean and polished, our clothes washed, ironed and looking crisp. We sweep our parlours daily and don’t let dishes pile up unwashed.

But despite these efforts, even homes like that of my great aunt, with floors so clean that you could eat off them, will have the occasional cockroach visit and that is something that I have trouble with because I am scared of bugs. I’m talking I’m going to scream if I see a bug even though I’m 31 years old kind of scared. The I can’t even move close enough to try and kill it scared. The Young children will inevitably mock me for my cowardice kind of scared. I guess cockroaches are like spiders here (another critter that I’m scared of).

One evening I wanted to ease myself (that phrasing makes me giggle; Naija speak for “use the toilet”) so I went to the bathroom with a flashlight as there was no electricity at the time. As I entered the bathroom and flashed my light around the room in my typical way, one cockroach scurried up the wall directly in front of me, and another roach dashed past on the ground in front of me.

I guess I was having a bad day because I screamed (predictably), stomped my foot and said “I can’t handle this!” and proceeded to go to the room I was staying in, grab my purse and march to my great aunt’s house (she lives one street away from my grandma) where I was able to use the bathroom in peace. I don’t have to mention that my grandma’s tenants’ laughs and jeers followed me all the way to my great aunt’s house…though many of them did offer to help me kill the roaches (through their laughter). After easing myself at my great aunt’s house she gleefully informed me that they have cockroaches too (for you see I thought they had found a way to avoid the critters). It gave her great pleasure to burst my bubble regarding me thinking I had found a solution to avoiding the creepy crawlers for the rest of my trip.

One evening not long after that incident, I was gisting in my grandma’s backyard with my cousin and a tenant and my cousin got up suddenly and went to take care of something. He did it twice more before I clued in that he was killing cockroaches that had come out at night before I noticed them and before my screams woke up sleeping tenants. Even seeing the dead carcass is enough to make my stomach turn.

So even though I know I can adjust without problem to bathing with ice cold water, days without electricity, and though I have no problem fetching water and doing dishes and laundry by hand, when it comes to bugs I’m a total princess. I hate it but I don’t see it changing any time soon…especially when you learn that even in Canada, I still scream when I see spiders and when I lived at my parents house I used to get my sister to kill bugs for me.

Are there any good Nigeria-friendly cockroach elimination remedies out there?

You’d think.

Instead my sister and I stayed up until the early morning, laughing hysterically over the sheer amount of things we wanted to take with us. We had gifts for family members and some of our grandma’s tenants but thanks to KLM’s reduced weight restrictions (likely caused by people like us who like to overpack), we were working with a combined 54kg/120lb reduction from two years ago! Can you imagine: two years ago we were each allowed two pieces of luggage, each weighing 32kg/70lbs and this time around the weight per baggage was 23kg/50lbs! Two years ago, each of us had one luggage that was over 32kg, and we had to pay a ridiculous amount for the overweight luggage. They are very strict and even one kg over will have them telling you to redistribute your items. The first thing that my mom determined this time was she was going to bring an extra piece of luggage, full mostly of gifts, and pay extra for that one. All our other luggage had to be the correct weight because none of us wanted to pay extra. My mom kept telling my sister and I not to pack too many pieces of clothing or shoes this time around, and I naively thought she was planning to do the same…until I discovered she ended up bringing 7 pairs of shoes and she needed space in our luggage for some of them!

(Incidentally, the shoes she wore most often were her mom’s shoes…that were already in Nigeria, and five pairs of shoes did not get worn even once!). In the end, I ended up leaving almost 40 pounds of stuff that I had wanted to take with me at home due to lack of space.

Our route from our corner of the world to Nigeria was the following: bus from our city to a city two hours away, plane from that city to Amsterdam, wait seven hours in Amsterdam, then make the last part of the trip from Amsterdam to Lagos.

At the bus station there was a scale for us to weigh our things. My sister had weighed her bags by standing on a scale to get her weight, then carrying her luggage and getting back on the scale so this was how one of her pieces of luggage checked out:

I didn’t bother and my luggage was predictably overweight:

After doing a bit of this:

only a few pieces of luggage were a bit overweight, and in the end most registered the correct weight:

Once we took care of our luggage we posed for some pics with our dad (who wasn’t joining us on the trip). I had to deal with some mockery for my purse which was larger and heavier than my mom and sister’s carry-ons (and I still had a carry-on). When we reached the airport we said goodbye to our seven pieces of luggage, happy that we wouldn’t have to deal with weighing them again until our return trip!

1. Do you travel heavy or light?
2. What item can you not pack enough of? (For me it’s moist wipes)
3. Do you know airlines with more generous baggage allowances than KLM?

If you want to do more reading, your input on praying for a spouse would be appreciated.

Any guesses? I liked his humble demeanour. He was flying economy class like us, and he seemed unassuming. When I asked if I could quickly snap his picture he was gracious. That was my one and only brush with celebrity during my trip, unless Seye counts. ;)

Have you ever flown with someone famous?

If this entry is too short for your liking, my All my single ladies blog was updated with Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match. If you feel like doing more reading, check out my great aunt’s latest attempt to play matchmaker for me last month. It’s funny: she never says “I have five guys of marriageable age from good families that I could set you up with”; instead she brings them out one by one. When he or I decide we don’t really suit, she’s more than happy to move on to the next prospect. I guess that’s the way to do it!

I’m also thankful that we met my brothers and father who stayed behind in good health.

The trip was too short. I had grand dreams of blogger meetups and lots of swanky socializing, but the reality is when the idea hits you at the last minute, when your internet access isn’t constant and when you don’t have the phone numbers of many of the people you wanted to reach due to lack of planning, things don’t end up happening. I apologize to those of you who were expecting a phone call or text message from me while I was in town.

I had also hoped to visit Abuja for the first time but I was reluctant to fly and then by the time I was more open to flying, funds were getting low and everyone had recommended that I buy my tickets in advance to save money. Before flying was an option, we had road transportation issues: I was skeptical about my mom, sister and I using public transport by ourselves and we didn’t have a family member who was free to accompany us.

The trip was surprising in some good and bad ways. The good surprises will be shared soon. There were some family disappointments: three of my mom’s four brothers in Nigeria along with their wives decided to boycott seeing their sister (and my sister and I by association), so we didn’t see them or their children during the visit. My mom was very hurt by this, and even tried calling them to find out what the problem was. It turns out they were disappointed that my parents had not sent them cars like others abroad have apparently done for their younger siblings. My mom’s aunt also rejected a gift from my mom, saying that it couldn’t “be worth more than N12,000″; so it was not valuable enough of a gift for her. Later this same aunt was admitted to the hospital so my mom went to visit her, only to be abused as the woman mocked my parents for being in Canada and not being as wealthy as she was, for not even having a house in Nigeria that we can stay in; for having to stay with our grandma (her older sister) who doesn’t even have running water. She bragged about how modern her own house was, about her generator and her plumbing. My mom was understandably quite hurt by this family nonsense, but I am so thankful to God for the friends who treated us like family and other family members who were completely unselfish with their time and made us forget those slights.

I’m almost late for work so I’m off for now. Stay tuned for more about the trip. Thank you for your prayers and support and checking on me…it’s much appreciated!

This trip has been pretty interesting so far…I’ve had quite a surprise related to this little matter that I’m still trying to process. Unfortunately some of the same family matters that were present two years ago remain around, and I’m starting to understand why my dad advises me every time we speak to him to just remain agreeable with what family members are saying, whether they are telling me how difficult life is in Nigeria or telling me how easy life is in Canada.

I was fortunate enough to meet Funke before leaving Lagos. She woke up early that Saturday morning and met us at the home of our host before we had to leave…she was part of our send off party. She has such a great personality, and I’m so glad I got to meet her in person.

I’ve spoken with Writefreak but haven’t met her yet, as plans to find our way to Abuja are still in the works. Why is it that none of the bloggers I know are based in Ondo state?

I’ve taken a lot of pictures that I can’t wait to add to blog entries…I hope you’ll enjoy reading them when I get back to Canada. Until then, bye for now!

Speaking of meeting bloggers, while I was waiting at the Silverbird Galleria for Seye, I tweeted that I was there and asked who wanted to meet me and the lovely Miss Balance replied that she was so I got to meet her and her friend! The girl is lovely (and so fine!).

I really hope to meet many more people while I’m here but logistically that may not be possible. I’m hopeful though.

To all of you who wished us safe travels, I’m happy to report your prayers were answered. We would appreciate continued prayers as we navigate our country. I won’t lie: arriving in Lagos at night is not my cup of tea. If that’s the only time I can land in Nigeria, I don’t want to do it again.

(PS The title refers to the lack of internet access more than anything!)

I’m looking forward to seeing this woman:

my maternal grandma, who is arguably the cutest woman ever. She’s so adorable when she’s talking and trying to convince you of a point. This was the best picture I could find of her in mid-conversation. I’m looking forward to hearing her husky laugh, especially when I scream “Mama!” in my special way when I see her. I can’t wait!!

I also plan to see this lovely woman by God’s grace:

(my paternal grandmother). She’s such a delicate woman and such a lady! Even two years ago though she’s in her eighties (or is it nineties?), she was still wearing nail polish on her toes (you can see it in the picture if you click on it).

I hope to keep you updated of our movements, but last time I didn’t use a computer or have access to the internet for the entire three weeks I was gone. Can someone ask Seye Kuyinu to arrange for me to have internet access this time around?

Take care!

• Vaccinate me
• Gift ideas
• Traveling to Nigeria – bathroom “necessities”
• Traveling to Nigeria – clothing and accessories
• Flying (within Nigeria)
• Thankful and Lagos hotel hunting

You can also read about my frustrations with the N@ija High Commission if you’re so inclined.

But what I wanted to talk about was tourism in Nigeria. As someone who wasn’t born in the country, I don’t really know much about the hotspots, but I just know there are some! There are a couple of key reasons why only a few countries in Africa get enough tourism to consider it a true source of money for the country, and we could talk about that another time (hint: lack of consistent social infrastructure). I can’t wait for the day where world travelers will put more African countries, including Nigeria, on their “trip around the world” itinerary.

When I was in Nigeria last time, I heard about a famous rock (I did some research and it could have been Aso, Zuma or Olumo) as well as the Obudu Cattle Ranch, but we didn’t have time, budget, time, time or time to get to do anything touristy. In fact the closest I got to getting souvenirs was in the hour before boarding the plane back to Canada, when I spent my last nairas on assorted carvings that I paid too much for at the airport because I’m not a good bargainer.

The problem with having family where you’re going is that it’s really hard to tell them that you’re in town but you’re going to take a week or two to explore before coming to see them. That never goes over well. A sneaky solution is to tell them that you arrive in town a week after you actually arrive, and get all that touristy stuff out of the way first. I suggested that to my mother for our next trip and she wasn’t keen on the idea because both of her parents and all of her siblings except one are in Nigeria, so for her, the trip is all about seeing her family and not any “yeye tourist activities”. In fact spending any time in Lagos to explore is a big waste of time in her opinion, since we have no family in Lagos (I know, we’re an anomaly). I just may have to consider a solo trip to Nigeria in the future!

But before that, I’d like you to suggest some places that anyone going to Nigeria should make time to visit. It can be tourist attractions or any place that you think would give people the true flavour of Nigeria’s rich culture.

I’m thankful for girlfriends that I can share my dating woes with. I always get a laugh from the process of sharing.

I’m thankful for phone calls from people who call just to say they miss me. I love being missed.

I’m thankful that my parents love spending time with each other after almost 34 years of marriage, and they remain a fabulous example of what marriage should be like.

I’m thankful that my oga is kind and supportive. She is such an empathizer.

I am thankful for the long weekend, one that is so important for Christians. As we enjoy sleeping in and taking it easy, may we also think of what Good Friday and Easter Sunday mean to us. I’m thankful for LIFE!

And finally, I’m thankful for all the comments that were shared on the last entry about flying within Nigeria. The information will help me and so many others. With this talk of traveling to Nigeria you’d think I’m going there any minute. I don’t know if I’m even going this year but I’m a believer in getting as much information as possible.

Since you guys were so awesome, I want to talk briefly about hotels.

We don’t have any family in Lagos, but we have some lovely friends who allow us to stay with them before we head to our home state, and then again on our way back to Canada. They are very kind and accommodating, and staying with them certainly helps us keep money in our pockets, but I thought it might be nice to stay in a hotel once or twice. We may still stay with the friends when we land in Nigeria but perhaps on the way back we can try the hotel thing.

Do any of you have advice regarding hotels in Lagos? Which hotels would you recommend and which would you avoid? Have you had any good/bad experiences with certain lodgings? Do you feel safe locking your luggage in your room and roaming the city?

It’s horrible to even think of planes crashing when I am a child of God (and I certainly rebuke plane crashes in Solomon Sydelle style) but I can’t pretend that I don’t think of the worst case scenario each time I enter a plane.

So, when I arrive safe and sound on Nigerian soil, the only thing I want to do is kiss the ground and thank God for preserving the lives of each person on the plane, especially the pilots. I’m so full of good will toward all that any beggars around would surely benefit from the euphoria that I’m filled with. Needless to say, the last thing I want to do is enter another plane.

But…I want to visit Abuja. Driving there from Lagos is possible, of course, but it’s a long drive, the roads aren’t that great and with traffic jams the trip could quite literally take the whole day. Combine that with a limited amount of vacation time and a lot of people to see, it makes sense to hop on the plane and be able to go from Lagos to Abuja and back within one or two days, then head (by car) to Ondo state for all the family goodness.

I know many of you regularly fly within Nigeria. So please, educate those of us who are truly clueless on the matter. Our family is closer to Lagos than Abuja, so the plan would be the get the visit to Abuja out of the way before heading home. So, would it be better to fly into Abuja directly and then hop on the plane and fly to Lagos when we’re done? Or, should we land in Lagos, store the majority of our luggage with friends, then fly to Abuja and fly back to Lagos? We have no family or friends in Lagos that we’d want to impose on, so this is why option 2 is somewhat appealing, since we wouldn’t have to worry about all our luggage. I’d like to hear your recommendations with regard to:

• the best airlines (for Lagos to Abuja or Abuja to Lagos flights)
• whether online booking is the way to go (I’ve heard it is)
• how to get the best rates
• what anyone who has never flown within Nigeria should know
• any other tips or tricks for flying within the country