As well as making sure I remember that there are things I love about the UK, I also want to make sure that I don't forget or leave behind in Nigeria everything which has been wonderful about my experience here. No list for now, just a little story.
The other day I was being driven home in one of the funder's vehicles. It was a driver I didn't know very well so when it came out in conversation that I don't drive, even at home, he was shocked (as are most people here). "Well why don't you learn here?". As I have many times before, I geared myself up to explain why that wouldn't really work, and, as always, worried about how I could do so without saying "Because you guys drive like crazy people".
"Well," I said, as we turned off the main road, "some things about driving in Nigeria are very different from driving in the UK. You see how you just flashed your lights at the oncoming traffic to tell them that you were going to turn and they should stop? Well, in the UK, that would mean that you're allowing them to come through and you'll wait to turn. You see? If I learnt to drive Nigerian style, when I go home I could have some serious accidents." He concurred. "And you know how Nigerian drivers use the horn all the time to let people know you're coming through, or.. well, for any reason at all really? Well, at home we only really use the horn when someone's done something wrong." He nodded. Finally, cautiously so that it wouldn't sound judgemental, I ventured, "And, you know, Nigerians drive more by instinct, whereas British roads are a little more...regemented." He seemed satisfied with my answer.
As I walked across the courtyard to my front door, that phrase repeated in my mind, and it occurred to me that it encapsulates what has been so beautiful about living here: Nigerian's live more by instinct, whereas in Britiain, we're more regemented. I hope I can learn to live with fewer rules.
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