Hi!! – Thank you so much for continuing to check my blog. Sorry I know it has been sporadic but internet access here is a little unpredictable.
I have been in Jos for about two weeks so I thought I would tell you a little but about something I did on Saturday the 27th and then a little bit about life in general here in Jos!
This morning my housemates and I went to a mission called The Mashiah Foundation (http://www.mashiahfoundation.org/mashiah/index.html). Mashiah is Hebrew for Messiah. This mission is a Christian non-governmental organization that reaches out to people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDs in Nigeria. We went there because a couple Saturdays each month the women and children that live at this mission host a cafe. They have tea, coffee, juice and cinnamon buns to purchase. One of the workers will bring you to a table somewhere on the property behind the foundation’s buildings. We ended up with a beautiful spot that took a little bit of hiking to get to but it was up on a hill and overlooked a valley and in the distance you could see the city! They also have a store on the property where they sell quilts, bags, table cloths and tons of other stuff that the women the mission serves have learned to make. I will most likely buy some stuff from there before I go!! We spent all of Saturday morning here! It was great to see this mission and all that they are doing to impact the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS.
Some random notes about Jos:
The city itself is really nothing like what I would have expected. The traffic is crazy!! I am sure to the people here there is some order but to me it looks like a billion accidents waiting to happen. There is honking all the time but that is because the drivers use their horns more as instructions to tell someone they are passing or that someone needs to go faster!! It is a sight to see!
The market is also a very busy place. It definitely isn’t a little village market. It has all the food and vegetables that a market would have but it is very serious business and everyone’s stalls are crammed so close together and it is so busy that it is actually pretty hard to walk around. Aside from the food stalls there are little shops packed full of fabric! Many people buy fabric and they take it to many different places that make outfits for you (I am having two outfits made as we speak!). I am sure you will get a good laugh if I can ever show you a picture!! The hardest part for me is figuring out the prices for things when you are bargaining because you don’t want to insult anyone but you don’t want to get ripped off either. An example of cost is that 6 yards of fabric could cost between 800-1500 Niara. The high numbers make it difficult and I have to wrap my head around what things actually cost. It really is actually very good,at the moment 1 American Dollar is worth about 117 Niara!
I have had two opportunities to have a fairly traditional Nigeria meal (It would be considered a meal of the Tiv tribe, there are many different tribes of people living in Jos. The meal consists of pounded yam which looks nothing like I had pictured in my head. It is a big white ball. They pound the yams (which are white in color) and then boil it and make it like a dough and then they roll it into balls a little bigger then a fist. Each person gets a ball of yam and this is what you use to eat your food with. The idea is that you pull off smaller bits of the yam, roll it in your hand and then with your thumb make a dent. You use the dent in your yam to pick up the soupy mixture (I have no idea what is in this mixture!). This ball of yam is the most filling thing I have ever eaten. I felt like I had a brick in my stomach but it did taste good and I ate it all!
Oh the weather here…well it is just the end of rainy season so there have been a couple rain storms since I have been here but not too bad from what I hear. When it does rain though it pours like crazy! But with the rains ending the dryer weather will come and apparently it doesn't take long for the lush green grass and trees to disappear and then it will get pretty brown. Sand storms do blow in which will make it pretty dusty. It will be interesting for me to see the transition from everything being green to dusty and brown. The other thing about weather is that at church today I was freezing cold. It does get cold here and someone was telling me that it can even get down to like 7 or 8 degrees – crazy!! Good thing I brought my leggings for under my skirt!!
Well I hope that gives you a small glimpse of Jos and what things are like around here.
Next week I will be meeting with and learning about some more CRWRC partners in Nigeria. In the weeks to come, I will be traveling to different areas of Nigeria to see more of what the partners are doing. We will be meeting with people who have received micro-loans and now own a business. We will also meet people who require business and skills training and hopefully I will be able to be an encouragement to them! One of the organizations is hoping to compile a manual for their training sessions so I think they would like me to help them with that!
So slowly but surely I am getting settled into life in Nigeria and am praying that I will see each day as an opportunity to learn about this country and to assist and encourage the people here!!
I have been in Jos for about two weeks so I thought I would tell you a little but about something I did on Saturday the 27th and then a little bit about life in general here in Jos!
This morning my housemates and I went to a mission called The Mashiah Foundation (http://www.mashiahfoundation.org/mashiah/index.html). Mashiah is Hebrew for Messiah. This mission is a Christian non-governmental organization that reaches out to people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDs in Nigeria. We went there because a couple Saturdays each month the women and children that live at this mission host a cafe. They have tea, coffee, juice and cinnamon buns to purchase. One of the workers will bring you to a table somewhere on the property behind the foundation’s buildings. We ended up with a beautiful spot that took a little bit of hiking to get to but it was up on a hill and overlooked a valley and in the distance you could see the city! They also have a store on the property where they sell quilts, bags, table cloths and tons of other stuff that the women the mission serves have learned to make. I will most likely buy some stuff from there before I go!! We spent all of Saturday morning here! It was great to see this mission and all that they are doing to impact the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS.
Some random notes about Jos:
The city itself is really nothing like what I would have expected. The traffic is crazy!! I am sure to the people here there is some order but to me it looks like a billion accidents waiting to happen. There is honking all the time but that is because the drivers use their horns more as instructions to tell someone they are passing or that someone needs to go faster!! It is a sight to see!
The market is also a very busy place. It definitely isn’t a little village market. It has all the food and vegetables that a market would have but it is very serious business and everyone’s stalls are crammed so close together and it is so busy that it is actually pretty hard to walk around. Aside from the food stalls there are little shops packed full of fabric! Many people buy fabric and they take it to many different places that make outfits for you (I am having two outfits made as we speak!). I am sure you will get a good laugh if I can ever show you a picture!! The hardest part for me is figuring out the prices for things when you are bargaining because you don’t want to insult anyone but you don’t want to get ripped off either. An example of cost is that 6 yards of fabric could cost between 800-1500 Niara. The high numbers make it difficult and I have to wrap my head around what things actually cost. It really is actually very good,at the moment 1 American Dollar is worth about 117 Niara!
I have had two opportunities to have a fairly traditional Nigeria meal (It would be considered a meal of the Tiv tribe, there are many different tribes of people living in Jos. The meal consists of pounded yam which looks nothing like I had pictured in my head. It is a big white ball. They pound the yams (which are white in color) and then boil it and make it like a dough and then they roll it into balls a little bigger then a fist. Each person gets a ball of yam and this is what you use to eat your food with. The idea is that you pull off smaller bits of the yam, roll it in your hand and then with your thumb make a dent. You use the dent in your yam to pick up the soupy mixture (I have no idea what is in this mixture!). This ball of yam is the most filling thing I have ever eaten. I felt like I had a brick in my stomach but it did taste good and I ate it all!
Oh the weather here…well it is just the end of rainy season so there have been a couple rain storms since I have been here but not too bad from what I hear. When it does rain though it pours like crazy! But with the rains ending the dryer weather will come and apparently it doesn't take long for the lush green grass and trees to disappear and then it will get pretty brown. Sand storms do blow in which will make it pretty dusty. It will be interesting for me to see the transition from everything being green to dusty and brown. The other thing about weather is that at church today I was freezing cold. It does get cold here and someone was telling me that it can even get down to like 7 or 8 degrees – crazy!! Good thing I brought my leggings for under my skirt!!
Well I hope that gives you a small glimpse of Jos and what things are like around here.
Next week I will be meeting with and learning about some more CRWRC partners in Nigeria. In the weeks to come, I will be traveling to different areas of Nigeria to see more of what the partners are doing. We will be meeting with people who have received micro-loans and now own a business. We will also meet people who require business and skills training and hopefully I will be able to be an encouragement to them! One of the organizations is hoping to compile a manual for their training sessions so I think they would like me to help them with that!
So slowly but surely I am getting settled into life in Nigeria and am praying that I will see each day as an opportunity to learn about this country and to assist and encourage the people here!!
-Natalie
