I recently wrote about something I would not miss about living in Nigeria. This post is a list of things I will miss about living there. I realize that lists like this can be boring sometimes, so if you don't read through, that's ok. I certainly won't hold it against you.
1. Ready for a non-shocker? The thing I'm going to miss most is the people. Namely my students, my old coworkers, my South African and other expat friends, the people in the market, the people who I don't know but walk up to me and start talking as though they've known me their whole lives.
2. I'm going to miss the food. I really loved Nigerian food. Fufu, egusi, yam porridge, rice and beans, plantain, and all that other good stuff. It took me a few weeks to get used to it, but now I will miss it a lot.
3. The way that it is considered impolite if you don't greet someone even if they are across the street from you. This was frustrating at times, but it was always nice to be acknowledged.
4. The convenience of buying basically anything you want without getting out of your car. Nigeria doesn't often beat the States in convenience, but here it does. You can buy food, car supplies, generators, brooms/mops, geese or other fowl, goats, medicine, paintings of Obama (or other subjects), and just about anything else without even getting out of your car. You just stop at the side of the road when you see something you want and then ask for it.
5. The way that Nigerians get so excited when you say even the simplest word in Yoruba, Hausa, or Igbo. They just love when foreigners can say anything in their heart language!
6. The importance that family has in Nigerian culture. Family is so much more important than it is in the States for most people.
7. The feeling that you're in Africa.
8. Seeing women and children carrying gigantic and heavy loads on the tops of their heads.
9. The interesting treelines. Between palm, fig, umbrella, locust, and other random types of trees, you can really enjoy just looking at the tops of trees as they alternate between tall and short, wide and narrow.
10. The sound of the rain falling on the tin roofs. It can be far too loud sometimes, but I always loved hearing the patter (or pounding) of rain.
There are lots of other things that I will miss, but I'm going to finish this list here for now.
If you had to move, what would you miss the most?
1 comment:
1. I LOVE lists!
2. If I had to move ... I would most definitely miss: the smell of the panaderia two blocks away, the coniferous/deciduous trees-meet freshwater lakes landscape, being within 12 miles of an international airport. Oh, and the people, of course. :)
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