"SETTLED"

I think it was around my 4th to 5th month that I had finally somewhat gotten the hang of things. I don’t want to say the term culture shock, as I think the concept is very broad and overused. After all, I come from a 3rd world country, and being a mountaineer, haven’t I been through just about the worst conditions? So what I probably mean is I have settled; if such is possible in Nigeria. Let me try to explain by example. I’ve never been afraid of traveling, and some of you know I’ve been through the worst rides ever, or so I thought. Nothing beats getting around in Nigeria. While the rest of Africa die of hunger, Nigerians die of road accidents. I’ve never seen more in my entire life than in the first two months I was here, and most of that time I was just in the village where there are two resident cars incongruously sported by their owners (and extended families) to and fro the quarter kilometer or so of dirt road in the village. So everytime I traveled I actually prayed for my life (yep believe it!). About a month ago I was in a bus (the equivalent of our shuttle vans there; the old, falling apart ones that Pinoys would not ride anymore) when the whole door just fell off as the conductor was trying to close it. With the bus running, of course. I found it so ridiculous I just laughed and laughed. I‘m sure I would have had a completely different reaction a couple of months back. I suppose what it is is that I've gotten comfortable and have accepted how things are (or rather, how bad things are). And though forever exasperating and oh-so-sloooow, I am getting the rhythm of the village. So while I don’t think I will ever stop sounding like a broken complaint jukebox, the novelty that I’m in Africa (in Nigeria, no less) hasn’t worn off, and I guess at the end of the day that’s what keeps me from taking the next flight home – or anywhere else. Nigeria definitely is acquired taste. I’m not saying I’ve acquired it already, but once I finally accepted that Nigeria is on a different plane altogether (as in, not part of this world as we know it), I felt a lot better. One just has to understand and try to live with the fact that here, everything is negotiable, no one is reasonable, and nothing ever works.