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We flew to Nigeria with 13 pieces of baggage, acting on the recommendations of colleagues and blogs about the high cost of items here. Three months since we arrived we have a fair idea of our monthly expenses, and while it is almost double compared to Islamabad, it is not as bad.

Here is what I learned from studying our grocery receipts, at $1=N150 exchange rate.

Local produce are still reasonably cheap. A kilo of red onions, potatoes, avocados, and pineapples only cost $2. Locally manufactured products are also not bad: 70 cents per 12-ounce bottle of Pepsi Light and 80 cents per 330ml can of Heineken. Even a liter of UHT milk is only $2, while a dozen eggs is $3.

But the “exotic” items that are clearly sought after by expats are a different story. I was shocked to learn that a kilo of rice is $12. This is usually basmati rice, although Thai rice and jasmine rice are also sold in most groceries. Coking oil, whether it’s corn, sunflower, vegetable or olive oil is about $25. We were told ice cream is $10, but we soon learned that a local brand or locally manufactured Nestle ice cream is $10 for 2 liter tub, while a pint of Snickers cost as much. Cheese is also expensive, but at least they’re available in great variety from cheddar to mozzarella, ementhal, edam, and so on. We paid nearly $7 for a 225g slice of cheddar cheese. On the other hand wine is surprisingly affordable, from $8 and up, especially for labels from South Africa. Instant noodles and pasta are also cheap, less than a dollar for a pack. Another affordable item is tea, like $1 for a box of 25 Lipton bags.

So clearly what drives the price of these items is influenced by the cost of shipping and distribution, not to mention what expats — usually employed by oil companies and multinational corporations — are willing to pay for. And speaking of expats, there are many Indian and Lebanese nationals here. They own the grocery shops we frequent, and it is nice to have access to spices, parathas, and biryani rice mixes. Not everything imported is pricey, those with Arabic or Russian print on the label cost less than the same brand from the US or UK, like toilettries. A generic or unknown brand of wipes is 50 percent cheaper than Pampers or Huggies, which cost about $6.

If we want to save on grocery expenses we obviously need to review what we consume, and that is what we’ve started doing: less cheese or fried food, more local fruits and vegetables. But our cook loves to bake and prepare cheesecake, pizzas, lasagna, omelette muffins, and quiche! She used to work for an American family with 2-3 children, and got used to preparing Western dishes. My husband and I were speechless when she gave us a shopping list for exotic items like cheese (ricotta, cheddar, mozarrela, cottage cheese and feta), pine nuts ($7 for a pack), stuffed olives, sesame seeds (very common in islamabad but haven’t seen any in Lagos yet), and red wine vinegar (easier to find balsamic and white wine vinegar for some reason). She is such a good cook anyway I told my husband let’s see and find out first what she’s going to make out of these.

To my joy, we just bought 2 kilos of fresh prawns for $30 when a frozen pack costs $20 for half a kilo. The caretaker of the school’s beach house actually brought 8 kilos worth, and it came down to 2 kilos after the cook cleaned it and removed the heads and shells.

I guess the trick here is to browse and try different places, until one has a fair idea on the price of goods and services. The one thing that is different here in Lagos is different stores carry different brands for the same products. Which means we usually need to go to two-three different places for basic staples like bread and butter (Shoprite), cooking oil and rice (Dream Plaza), and beer and wine (Game). It’s not fun when traffic is so unpredictable. At least in Bangkok, Cebu, and Islamabad the stores carry the same brands and we can get everything in one place.

Nike Davies Okundaye

It’s been a while since I quit my PR job that I met someone famous and important, and when I finally did I got a warm hug as well!

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Nike Davies Okundaye, one of Western Africa’s foremost batik artist and Nigeria’s pride, was the guest of honor during the American Women’s Club membership tea last Tuesday. She is well known for reviving the dying art of traditional cloth weaving and dying, and has established several training centers as well as traveled to the US and Europe to promote batik and adire, the traditional Yoruban hand-painted cloth that she’s wearing in the above photo. While her products are not cheap, the money she makes often always go into her art centers, training workshop, and philanthropic projects. Someday I will be able to add a genuine indigo-colored adire from her gallery to my fabric collection. And someday we might be able to visit her hometown as guests of her tour program.

Nike Center for Art & Culture

View her paintings & art for sale

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Masquerade Dancers

The whirling acrobatic masquerade dancers from Edo state were hands down the students’ favorite performers during the recent school celebration of Nigerian Cultre Day. With masks over their faces and colorful jumpsuits, they looked like masked harlequins, and they proved to be playful at times. The masquerade dance has also been referred to as a male dance and a warrior dance, because this is how they demonstrate their physical agility and strength. Other parts of Nigeria also have variants of the masquerade dance, usually as a part of religious or spiritual ritual.

I guess today is the day I can stop complaining to my husband that we have so little contact with the local culture. The school annually marks Nigeria’s independence day with a culture day. For the entire day classes are suspended, so the school community can enjoy the exhibits and performances not only by students but also by local artists, performers, and vendors.

We joined other teachers in scrambling to buy fabrics and getting tailors to suit us up. As it turns out, this is the one day when the school is transformed from the red, white, blue, and khaki colors of the uniform to a dazzling variety of prints and patterns. Families wore matching outfits, but the women with the most elaborate headdresses were the real head turners.

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I particularly enjoyed the bazaar, naturally. The organizers had the foresight to set a price limit on vendors, so the students will be able to afford the items sold. Vendors who sold beads, earrings, bangles; music instruments; carved canes; kalabash art and baskets probably made a killing in spite of the price ceiling. They quickly ran out of drums and basket bags from Ghana.

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The food was also great. I know I wanted to go back for more joloff rice and suya (barbecued beef). And there was enough to feed the students, parents, staff as well as the participating artists who shared with students their skills on henna painting, hair tying, storytelling, and beading.

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This year’s celebration focused on the state of Edo, and we had representatives from the capital of Benin joining in the festivities. The students performed a royal dance and a fashion show. This video clip features a dance troupe doing the “real thing.”

Cricket Anyone?

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Cricket is like religion in Pakistan. In Nigeria, it comes next to soccer. But for some strange reason, it felt weird to watch the game played by the school’s expat staff today with Alan Jackson warbling Chattahochee in the background. Doesn’t mean we didn’t have fun. Many of the players have never played cricket before, and some claimed they have never even seen it played. And when you’re dealing with a lot of folks who are only familar with baseball or softball, explaining cricket is even harder, because the same terms mean something else. But who cares when everyone is having fun, even if  half the audience don’t know what’s going on!

Masks at Lekki Market

I tried to enjoy the last day of our four-day weekend by going to Lekki Market today. We were told it is the best place in Lagos when it comes to African handicraft. Although most stalls were also closed due to the Id holiday, I was not disappointed with the ones that were open.

There were shops that sold nothing but bead necklaces, and artist’s galleries featuring batik art, painting, and wood carvings — tons of wood carvings. Then I stumbled on a shop that sold masks, and thought of my girlfriends Bernadine and Bingo and Hazel, who all collect masks and would probably kill me if I didn’t buy them one.

The owner of the shop was really nice and helpful. He was patient in explaining to me the different kinds of masks, most of which came from West Africa. He showed reproductions that cost $25-30 and the genuine antiques that were actually used in ceremonies, about $1,000. The reproductions, only 4-5 years old, actually look like antiques, too. If I bought a pair, usually a male and female of same design, the price is lower.

I think if I’m going to be an ‘expert” on African handicraft I need to visit the market at least once a month, even if I don’t buy much. It’s so fun to talk to the shop owners who are proud of their wares. The guy in the next stall got jealous and invited me to take photograph his display, too. he must have heard me explain that I was only interested in taking pictures to show to friends, who might pick something they want me to buy.

Balogun Market in Lagos Island

Living in the same compound where you work can be limiting at times. I was starting to feel sorry for myself, that except for a day at the beach I never really had a chance to experience the local culture. That is until an opportunity came to shop for fabrics in Balogun market came up this weekend.

It’s Nigerian Culture Day at the end of the month, and everyone in school is expected to wear native outfits. Our driver brought his tailor to measure us, but the only fabrics he brought were too expensive. So we hopped in the car and drove to Lagos Island, where Balogun market is.

What an interesting place it was. Besides clothes and fabrics there were vendors selling ginormous snails the size of grapefruit, kitchen wares, meat, movies on DVD, car accessories, handbags, beads, and vegetables. The air reeked of smoked fish and dried shrimps. One woman selling catfish was scraping mudwater from a pothole to fill up her basin.

But it wasn’t as fun as Southeast Asian markets. The vendors, like their counterparts in shopping malls and groceries, were a humorless bunch. I couldn’t even haggle. Taking pictures was also a problem. Even when I got one person’s permission to photograph their wares another one would block my view and demanded money. But others were okay with it, and even asked people to step aside. Our tailor told us that not too long ago he wouldn’t have let us go there because it wasn’t safe for foreigners, but the new administration did a good job of cleaning up the streets. We even saw some policemen hanging around.

I won’t mind going back there, that’s for sure.

Leapin’ Lizards

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The lizards here in the school compound are so different from anything I’ve ever seen before my fascination with them is making me and my son follow them around. They are huge, colorful, and fast. They sometimes remind me of the velociraptors from “Jurassic Park” and make me shudder.

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I’ve always been afraid of lizards, and I’m referring to the brown geckos that are common in the Philippines and Thailand. Part of the reason is my brother used to show me  their wiggling dismembered tail. The other reason is they love to go after the flying insects that are attracted to ceiling lights, then have the bad habit of falling off the ceiling and landing on me while I’m asleep. Luckily for us the Nigerian lizards usually run away (and they are fast) from humans whenever we get too close.

Expat Food in Nigeria

One of the things I like about our new school is that instead of a cafeteria we have a “food court.” Since classes started this week I’ve been getting my lunch from the Indian food stand. They sell saffron rice, somozas, paratha rolls, and chicken lollipops. Yesterday lunch was fried rice and chicken suya, a popular Nigeria streetfood, and boy was it spicy. For a change I decided to have roast chicken and cheese on panini sandwich, and it was yummy and went well with the fresh fruits that our cook packed for me.

Now our cook is terrific, too. We only eat lunch at the cafeteria cause we want to observe the students. But after school we can’t wait to check what the cook has prepared for dinner. We certainly enjoyed her chili, baked fish, beef suya, and chicken curry. And she’s not bad with baked goodies either. My personal favorite are the tortilla that she cuts and bakes into chips with lots of garlic. I didn’t even need to dip these in the salsa sauce she also prepares. Today she had cinnamon rolls waiting for us when we got home.

I cn’t wait to see what else she’d make. It seems we can continue to enjoy the same dishes and some new ones here in Lagos. She always has a fresh bowl of salad and fruits in the fridge. The fruits here are actually sweet. James ate two bananas one night, when he used to only take a nibble or two. He also enjoys sucking and chewing pineapple bits. I love green apples but usually don’t have much after Brian picks the fruit bowl first. It’s that good.

We finally had a chance to check out the commisary yesterday, and it was disappointingly smaller and nt as well stocked as the one in Islamabad. Of course the one in Lagos is for consulate personnel only, and the one in Islamabad is part of the embassy compound. So I think we’ll be spending most of our grocery money on the local groceries, supermarkets, and wet markets. Fortunately there seems to be several to choose from, and they don’t necessarily carry the same brands. Our favorite is actually a 5-minute walk from our flats, the “Try N’ Carry” mini-mart. It reminds us of Harold’s in Islamabad, and their prices are more reasonable. So we’re not going to worry too much if I decide to cook and need some spices or rice.

Well, we survived our first week in Lagos, Nigeria and never came close to re-packing our bags screaming to be taken to the airport. That’s the advantage of having little or no expectations about this place. After reading and hearing unflattering comments and negative reviews about the second biggest city in Africa (in terms of population), we were pleasantly surprised that it is not as bad or as expensive as we were told. Of course we live on campus in Victoria Island, and have only seen parts of the mainland, Lekki and Ikoyi.

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1004 Estates and Civic Building

We do miss Islamabad, it is a lot prettier with the hills, trees, and flowers plus wide streets and minimal traffic. But I was thrilled to walk in a couple of malls and supermarkets here nonetheless. The shelves carry some familiar brands and labels, such as Dove, Pampers, and Colgate. But milk, rice, and olive oil are incredibly expensive, while pasta, beer, and wine are surprisingly cheap. The toys are also pricey, like a box of Matchbox cars that cost $5 in Pakistan and $10 in the US is selling for $30 here.

“Do you know how far China is from here,” my husband teased me.

The people seem friendly. At least the local staff in school and at the US Consulate are ready to greet you. But the sales ladies are surly. They look bored but get annoyed when you ask them a question. At least everyone speaks English and all signs are in English.

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Most of the locals look colorful in clothes with bold prints. I enjoy watching those with elaborate headdresses and those who wear their babies around their waist. And they look so graceful when they carry all kinds of things, like a jumbo sack of water bottles or basket of produce, perfectly balanced on their heads. The men are not to be outdone, because they also love to dress up, some of them in cotton with lace trimmings.

We like our place, too. When we first arrived it felt like we were still in the US, because the furnishings are very modern and Western. We even have an AC in the kitchen. (The intermittent brownouts do remind us we live in a developing country.) After adding the rugs we brought from Pakistan, some wall decorations and sarongs from Thailand, and our framed photos it now feels very comfortable. Even James likes to spend more time in his room today after we spread his toys and added two colorful batik artwork left by the previous music teacher.

The adjustment period has been the most difficult aspect of our arrival. We’re always tired, sleepy, and feeling a lot of stress. There is so much to do and a lot of information to digest, with classes starting in two days. We had to get acquainted with the newly-hired cook/steward, nanny, and driver; negotiating and discussing their work schedule, duties, and salaries after being in their country for only a few days. Even if everyone speaks English different terms are used sometimes. We had to learn a whole new set of procedures for preparing lesson plans and new software for attendance and grading. Where is the printing room? Where can we get supplies?

And we not only had to adjust to our Mac laptops (damn, where’s the taskbar for the minimized windows?), but also had to get our toddler used to a different sleeping schedule, new nanny, new environment, and often had to leave him screaming and crying when we go to work. He is a smart kid. As soon as I pick up my bag or the nanny walks in he starts crying and would cling to me. I hope things will improve when he starts daycare/playgroup this Monday. It’s only 5 minutes from school, and he’ll be with some familiar faces, two other toddlers of our colleagues everyday for half a day.

James' Nursery School

James' Nursery School

While I worry about our son’s well-being I have relaxed a bit about malaria. There are not as many mosquitoes here compared to Islamabad or the Philippines. And we live in a compound with other families, so James gets to play with other teachers’ kids, whose ages range from 18 months to maybe 14 or 15. It’s like having so many cousins to play with. Right outside our building is the pool, playground, and soccer field. From where I sit, James is in a good place. As long as he’s happy and safe, that’s what matters.

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