A Life Less Ordinary.

I was in Heathrow airport, last August, when I encountered the first step out of my comfort zone.  I didn’t expect it.  After all I am not prejudiced, not particularly affected by stereotypes and, in fact, take steps to ensure I surround myself with a wide variety of people.  I had no idea that being the only white person in a departure lounge of Nigerian folks would make me feel awkward, intimidated and sweaty of palms.  Do not mistake this for fear in any way.  I simply felt different, like I could very easily make a fool of myself.  All of a sudden I felt silly in what I was wearing, my hair wasn’t cool and the newspaper I was carrying was irrelevant.  I felt that if someone had spoken to me I might have forgotten my own name in a panic to seem normal, un-phased, that I was used to getting flights in and out of Nigeria!!  How odd!  I think coming from Scotland doesn’t help.  Thinking about different cultures and ethnic backgrounds, African is probably the least represented in Scotland.  I realised, then and there, that I didn’t know any black people at all.  My family didn’t know any black people and in reality, despite the fact I was just about to embark on a few years living in Africa I knew absolutely nothing about the Nigerian culture, lifestyle, language, likes or dislikes.  Naïve . . . . Yes I was. 

I’ve been living in Lagos for eight months now.  It has changed me already.  I live a nice life but I have certainly left the comfort of ‘home’ at home.  I rarely feel bored and weeks and months fly by.  I still feel that awkward, odd feeling in many situations here but I’m adjusting.  I’m on a steep learning curve, I’m exhausted at the end of most days and I put that down to my mind being on constant overdrive.  I’m on the countdown to summer now (I’ll spend most of July and August in Scotland) but I have officially signed up for a second year in Nigeria.  I’ll try to share my experiences, thoughts, feelings and philosophies through my blog from now on.  Enjoy!