What a difference three weeks make

So here we are, back in Kaduna after almost three weeks visiting friends, family and snow in the UK. The weather has changed pretty dramatically: these are proper harmattan conditions. The dust is everywhere – my skin never feels properly clean, my nose and ears are getting bunged up and I can’t stop sneezing. All surfaces in our house and office, despite the windows being closed, were covered with a significant layer of the stuff and took some serious cleaning. The temperature has dropped dramatically and, even though I’ve just returned from below-freezing Britain, I still feel really cold here! I never thought I would not only need a blanket on my bed in Nigeria, but also still feel cold when under it.

The security situation has become slightly tauter since we left, with bombs going off in several places (nowhere near Kaduna) over the festive period and the primaries for the upcoming elections having just kicked off. Kaduna still feels pretty safe to me, and VSO continues to look out for us. I’m really not sure what to expect from the next few months: with the election happening in April, it could be a very turbulent time, and I suppose it’s possible we’ll be advised to leave Kaduna or even Nigeria for a short period. Or, it could all be disproportionate worry and the whole thing could pass with just a few hiccups here and there. We’ll see.

It’s actually really lovely to be back here. Being, as I am, averse to change, I’m always focussed on the safe, comfortable, known experience I’m leaving, rather than the exciting potential I’m moving towards; so the plane journey was full of memories of the people to whom I’d just said goodbye and nostalgia for things like Caffe Nero and The BBC. But as soon as I walked up to the passport control desk and spoke to my first Nigerian – who was very friendly and delighted that I could speak a bit of Hausa – I was happy to be back.

I’ve loved being reunited with mango trees, with their leaves like grasping fingers overlapping, and the beautiful magenta flowers of bougainvillea plants lolling over roadside walls. I’ve rejoiced in walking down our road and saying ‘Good Afternoon’ to people and being given free grilled plantain by a street food lady. I’ve even enjoyed the speed and thrill of okada rides. And it’s all made more special by the fact that we’ve got lots of little reminders of home and Christmas around us now too – photos, Christmas presents, chocolate, cheese, sweeties, Marmite, new books to read…!

And, at the risk of being unremittingly jolly about everything (for those of you growing tired of it, cf. paragraph 2)…OUR BROKEN TRANSFORMER’S BEEN FIXED!!!! We now have at least a chance of NEPA every single day. And since we’ve been back, we’ve had both power and water almost constantly, taunting us with the illusion that maybe it’s ALL been fixed, and the whole of Nigeria’s going to work from now on.