adventure (finally)

Today was a v. good day. Well, morning had bad dreams etc., so not a good night of sleep, but around noon I proposed to Rashid that we go out to Kano on our own. Because the cars were all in use or in the repair shop (Kano roads eat cars, and the parts have to be imported usually), there was no one to drive us, tragically ; ) So we had no choice but to go out and actually travel.

Of course, as soon as we got started, it started pouring, the first sustained downpour of our time here. Nevertheless, we ventureed to the muddy side of the road, both sans rainjackets, and contemplated the taxi-hailing procedure. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Rashid's brother came biking up to us, worried. He had second thoughts about us going out by ourselves, and wanted to have Rashid talk to his dad, so that if something went wrong, the brother wasn't going to be responsible for letting his american cousin and friend get lost/robbed/etc. The brother had been extremely skeptical about taking a taxi (I think he was trying to say that they are below us and we should instead wait for a car) but Rashid's dad was cool with it and back to taxi-hailing we went.

The first three guys who came buy already had 4 or 5 people in the car, but they weren't going our way anyway. Finally we managed to ge a guy who only had three passengers already, and we piled in. Because we only started negotiations once we were in the car (due to our eagerness just to get a taxi that was going our way), we got robbed for 200 naira (1.5 dollars).

Once we got to the Sabon Gari (foreigners' quarter), where we were going to look for books. By we I mean, I was going to look for books, rashid just joined it. A bit of running about lost in the rain/mud streets, we eventually found the bookstore we were looking for, and I bought a couple shakespeare books that I had always meant to read (Lear and Tempest).

Then we took another taxi, which we really got ripped off for (shorter distance, 150 niara). But with Rashid's last-ditch negotiations, we decreased the cost from 'humiliatingly high' (200 naira) to 'just got gouged'. Anyway, we wandered the street looking for food, but by the time we got there everyplace was closed because it was the break between lunch and dinner (4pm). So we just got Lebanese soft-served icecream (v. good) and took another taxi to the western-style French cafe, where we ordered Western food at Western prices. It was quite satisfying.

And finally we returned home. Rashid's mother had been worried sick the whole time, terrified that we didn't know what we were doing, so she breathed a sigh of relief. All in all, we didn't do much, but achieved what we had set out to do (books). Would have done more exploring, but the rain put a damper on things. Perhaps tomorrow...

Reading festival roundup...

This is from weekend before Nigeria...

After an exhausting week in Amsterdam, we (Juliet Tim Ian and Andrew) traipsed from Gatwick to Farley via Reading (to drop off our bags) and then, joined by Harry (juliet's brother) back to Reading.

The first surprise was the smallish size of the fields; the whole festival was much more compact than V-festival, which sprawled for kilometers. The crowd was also much less gritty-northern-beer-drinker and more hipster (also, more teenagers). I suspect that this was because of the festival's close proximity to London.

So we got there around 5pm, which was later than I wanted to get there (I had been a bit antsy all afternoon, rushing people). But the only notable bands that we missed were Gogol Bordello and Guillemots.

The first band we went to see were Belle +Sebastian, whom I was completely unimpressed by. Andrew had been raving about their live show for months, but the problem is that live or recorded, they sound completely wishy-washy...Soft, no edge or interesting-nes, just sugary melody.

Then the yeah yeah yeahs came on the main stage, which was mildly entertaining. Music is rather crap (hmm, I'm being pretty critical in this review) but the lead singer wore neat sparkly iguana like outfits and masks.

Then came the Kaiser-Chiefs, who have a few good songs but resort to obnoxious crowd ordering (raise your hands. Dance. Lower hands. Raise them again. Simon say...) and formulaic songs with far too many 'woaahs'.

But Franz Ferdinand saved the day, with a blistering headline set. Tight playing from start (Michael) to encore (outsiders), and neat flourish of guest drummers during the encore. Good songs, good show. Not spectacular, but fun. We had a great view -- maybe four rows back, and we managed to more or less stay together through the surge and sway of the crowd (packed like sardines, you often don't have a choice about where you go...like being battered by human waves. Although it was tight, the crowd was peaceful, not frenzied. We did, however, lose Tim and Ian after a surge toward the end of the set, but we were reunited when the crowd dissipated.

After that it was a long walk to the taxi, and then back to Farley, where we all promptly crashed to sleep.
Next day we woke up 'early' and made our leisurely way to Reading by 2pm. We setup our yellow blanket some distance from the main stage and lounged in the sun all afternoon (the weekend was mercifully rain-free). Tim and I wandered around chatting to random people, and Ian went off to meet up with a cousin who lives in Reading (which set the stage for the only problem of the weekend).

Vaguely listened to The Cribs, who sounded good, but we didn't really pay attention. Ran into the crowd to watch The Futureheads, who were v. disappointing. I had been impressed by their second album, but live they just weren't interesting or entertaining -- instead they did obnoxious crowd-commanding (ego trip).

Dirty Pretty Things, the followup, were the perfect antidote to the futureheads, playing stomping, raw versions of their songs with no-nonsense. Got in close and had a great view in the crowd.

After dpt finished, we failed to meetup with Ian, because of a combination of bad planning (Ian didn't want to make a plan ahead of time), bad thinking (my on the spot plan of 'icecream stand' proved flawed...there were six in the main area alone), and bad luck (cell phone network was down). After a while of guarding icecream stands, we gave up (it turns out that he never got the message and instead was waiting by mexican stands).

So, sans Ian, we headed off to see Clap Your Hands, who weren't on the main stage but were on a tent stage. The show wasn't as fantastic as the concert in march -- the tent was too big, the atmosphere wasn't the same (no light-man!), but it was pretty good nonetheless.

Back to teh main stage to catch The Streets, who were thoroughly mediocre...ironic hip hop doesn't work so well in a festival. Lots of crowd bossing. which Tim and I disobeyed and were chastised by a cute girl "are you british? Do you speak english" -- even if were foreigners, it was pretty obvious that the whole crowd was crouching...We just chose to disobey. At least he finished with "Fit But You Know It".

After he finished, we immediately plunged into the crowd to get a good spot for the Arctic Monkeys. The crowd was absurdly dense, making the Franz Ferdinand crowd look like a midnight subway carriage. Forcing our way through the wall of people, we got to a good spot maybe 8 rows back. When the arctic monkeys came on it was absurd...The crowd went crazy, wildly bouncing up and down against each other. We were surged a bit back where things were a tiny bit more calm, but still hectic,and we formed a box where we bouncing for the whole show. It was great, the crowd was enthusiastic (knew all the lyrics to every song) and the band were more 'tight' and full than on the album. Threw Juliet up into the air...

We had to recover for a few minutes after the show, but soon we were ready to go, running around full speed, then grooving outside The Fratellis tent show. Tim chatted up some teenage girls (and I'm being generous).

The final show we saw was The Raconteurs, on a tent stage not the main stage. They were a great way to close the evening, with Jack Black's (of White Stripes fame) ridiculous solos and great coves of other bands' songs, including Nancy Sinatra's 'bang bang', 'teenage kicks', and bowie's It ain't easy. More throwing juliet into the air. There was an obnoxious dancer next to us...she was so bad it made me want to throw up. Doing cheerleader moves completely out of tune with the music...I've never seen anyone that bad. But she didn't bother us, and we had a great time.

Then it was all over and we wearily made our way to the taxi area, where we met up with Ian shortly after I nearly got in a fight with a couple of piss-drunk poles who were harassing Juliet -- Tim and Juliet both jumped up too, but another, older, polish guy pulled them away.

Back at Farley, we didn't do anything but Tim, Juliet and I chatted and relaxed until nearly 3am, still full of energy fro the shows...

more nigeria notes...

Last night [three days ago] we went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. Chinese in nigeria, I am happy to report, tastes just like Chinese at home. Interesting cultural melange: sitting in Kano with a Nigerian family, eating American-style chinese food with, improbably enough, chopin playing in the background...
***
Yesterday evening [ie three days ago before chinese] went out and played soccer with Rashid, his brothers, and some Pakistani friends. Football, universal language, balh blah blah. i embarrassed myself with an abysmal lack of fitness -- damn the summer spent in front of a computer, and the heat.
***
Rashid and I spent much of our time sitting in the shady driveway, conversing about life, the universe, and everything, like old men on their wooden porch. Had some really good conversations.
***
Spent this afternoon [day after chinese, two days ago] driving around with rashid, his brother, and a friend. Did a bunch of visits to Rashid's extended family (I was just a sack of potatos). Then we went and saw the real Kano: polo fields and golf course. Enjoyed watching the polo practice -- one of my long-term 'things to do' is learn to ride a horse. Seems exciting and fun -- and polo seems v. fun too.
***
I've probably committed to a week more here than I should have. It's not a disaster, but there isn't much to do. Life is slow, and we are spending lots of time doing nothing...
***
Kano is a sprawling and full of spread out low-lying mud or (mostly painted) concrete, Jacksonville-style buildings...Not nearly as compact as many other developing world city.
***
Ach! I've now been twice-mocked by Rashid and even Rashid's brother (who has a good but somewhat shaky grasp of english) for sounding british! The second time I actually noticed it myself...not accent per se but intonation. Horrible though...
***
All of the religious people we've met have been v. nice, so it was a bit of shocking reminder about the oppressive nature of religion to see giant billboards on the entrance of the Kano University that say "Earn Respect...Dress Decently" with pictures of hair-covering women...
***
The most depressing thing here is listening to Rashid's brother and old friend (who lived in the US for a few years) talk about Nigeria. they (esp. the friend) are relentlessly cynical and bitter about the country "every agreement has to do about money" "of course our people are too dumb to..." "that politician must have made this law because his brother...". And there's the (tragic?) hope that "things will be differnet when we are in power", that "we will change it."
***


For the first time in a while I was laid low by food poisoning last night [two nights ago]. We ate some street food that just looked dodgy...only had a bit, and that's probably what saved me from getting violently sick (merely tossing and turning all night with an unquiet stomach). Everyone else was okay, but I'm a weak foreigner etc.

In general, however, today was better than yesterday...Woke up early (9am) to go to the KLM office to convert our e-tickets into paper tickets, because the airport can't handle e-tickets.

Then we went off to explore the Kano markets. Not spectacular, but reasonably interesting -- more or less like any 3rd world market. Notably clean, though, and the sellers were surprisingly subdued -- very few tried to aggressively hawk their wares at the tourist. I would have liked to spend more time there, but Rashid's brother (our guide/driver) walked us rather quickly in and out. I think that he didn't see any appeal/interest in the grubby market.

Next we went around the traditional dye pits, which had 4 colors: light blue, blue, navy blue, and blue-black. The pits were essentially 3 foot wide short cylinders, in which the workers placed textiles in a bath of ash and indigo for 1/2 hour to 4 hours, depending on the 'color'. In Morocco, if I remember, the pits were much bigger, like small pools. But that might be because I was smaller...Still, the color(s?) was nice.

Finally we ending our day of travel with the University of Kano, which was a massive, sprawling conglomeration of run-down concrete buildings. Lots of money is spend on the buildings, but none on maintenance, so everything is dirty, yellowing, peeling, chipped, and broken. The exams results were publicly posted on the walls, so everyone could see everyone elses results.

Ate late lunch at the Lebanese club (there are many Lebanese all over West Africa, and they are relatively prosperous). Like everything here, it exudes an almost unbearable aura of decline. This old buildings has been repainted in a couple decades, the linens inside are all soiled and stained; the wall are dirty and blotchy. According to Rashid it was once v. popular and happening; now it is empty and listless. In general much of the infrastructure here seems likewise 'wasted': houses haven't been painted; streetlamps were laid out two decades ago but now stand darkened; roads haven't been repaved in similar amount of time.

Of course this isn't universally true -- there is a shiny new Lebanese-owned French cafe, lots of grand new houses, etc. But they stand beside so many once grand now neglected houses.



A late start to today [actually today], but we got out to the first-world style pharmacy, with above-west prices, where I bought bug spray -- damn mosquitoes have eaten me alive.

Then we visited the Summit school, which was v. nice. A success story/heart warming/etc. Rashid had been the first pupil, after his mum pushed the Ghanian couple to restart teaching after they had quit the university b/c of beurocracy there. Now it has grown from one pupil to over 500 pupils; from a small garage to a modestly sized-leafy school ground with a small library (named after Rashid!). Of course, the school has faced all sorts of problems from government regulations (three years to register; now they are being forced to expand to 9 years of schooling because the government has passed a law that requires all primary schools to also provide secondary education). But it's managed to thrive despite this...

from Farley to Nigeria

Recollections from after Reading Festival before Nigeria:
Went blackberry picking with Tim, Andrew Fine (friend from Harvard), Juliet, Zoe (Juliet's sister) Travis (another friend from Harvard) and Juliet's dad, then watched Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail. Otherwise did absolutely nothing. Recovering from a week of nonstop party...fun can be very exhausting. We all came down with colds at the end.

Then Juliet and I went to London for a couple of days, where our only notable activities were exploring Camden markets, watching A Scanner Darkly (our first movie date!) and meeting Juliet's grandmother (very interesting and intelligent, but slightly hobbled by Alzheimer's. Knows 6 languages; born in Czechoslovakia, moved to Palestine, then London during the war, where she worked as a translator in the US Army).

Then it was back to Farley the day before Nigeria. Main highlight was Juliet, displaying her marvelous hand-eye coordination and elegant grace, smashed the water-jug into her glass, sending glass shards flying past me and into her mother's hair. After a moment of stunned silence, everyone burst into laughter and water spilt everywhere. Her dad promptly vacuumed the diner table, leaving long scratches in the wood.
***
Food here is quite interesting....Lots of plantains, lots of fried food. Usually a meal will consist of meat (often spicy fried chicken) and rice or fried potatoes with either plantains or a spicy sauce to make a stew. Today breakfast was oatmeal + yams + spicy anchovy saucy.

I'm not getting enough veggies! And eating too much fried food.

Had tuoh yesterday, which was a really good ground up rice-mash.
***
Days here thus far have been limited in excitement and adventure; mostly just relaxing inside their gated house, which is not super-opulent but v. nice by Nigerian standards (sprawling, lots of rooms + TVs + couches etc.). Poorly maintained in parts (chipped tiles, ungreased sliding windows). I'll push for more outside exploration in a couple days, but content to relax and recuperate for now...

In general my impression has been that Kano is like any other poor african city; no more or less dangerous. The main differences come from islam, which affects landscape (mosques) and how people dress (mainly women).
***
Gender treatment here is distinctly different than west...Women almost all wear something covering their hair. Some w/ black hajib (sp?) in Wahhabi-stark style, others with more traditional Nigerian colorful hair covers. No veils though. Inside the house there is very limited interaction between women and men. No strict divisions, but everyone tends to keep to themselves. Men eat separately, but women set the table for them. Women do, however, drive cars freely....

I don't quite know what to make of it. This division is bad -- lack of familiarity breeds contempt, as any all-boys school attests -- but there aren't (or don't seem to be) hard and fast rules...little that you can point to and say this is objectively wrong. It's not laws; its culture.

Not sure how representative my experience is...this is a religious family (pray 5 times a day) but not super-religious.
***
Showering is interesting....Although there is water 24/7 (unlike electricity) there isn't enough pressure for the shower to work, so I have to fill up a bucket with cold water and then dump it over my head. Quite a shock. But more bearable because it is hot and dry outside (upper 30s, no clouds, no rain...) and it stays that way all day, barely any dip at nighttime.

In Nigeria...

Savored a gin and tonic on the flight to Abuja...Last drop of alcohol
for two weeks! Strong though...
***
Debarked at Abuja and promptly sauntered off in the wrong direction; hit a
wall of people asking for my boarding pass, but all I had was a flimsy
plastic paper labeled 'transit passenger'. They were extremely
skeptical, then realized what I had done, berated me, and finally let
me go.
***
Now writing from Abuja-Kano flight. On the way to Abuja I at next to this perfectly nice, fat Indian woman who insisted on telling to me; asking questions and telling me about her reasonably interesting life. Somehow I'm afraid that it was patently obvious that I couldn't care less...

I'm surprised by how white this flight is -- probably 20-25% percent.
I expected 10%ish...Probably because lots of people from Abuja going
to Amsterdam via Kano.
***
[written on day 2] So I got into the airport and made my way to the
rather dinky passport control. Spotted Rashid from the back of the
heinously long long, and he motioned me to another kaftan (male
robe-like clothing) wearing guy, who jabbered at me very quickly and
tried to whisk me through the passport barriers. An armed guard stoped
us and much shouting commenced. I sat there completely bewhildered as
these two robed strangers argued and gesticulated wildly. Suddenly
everything was cleraed up and I jus twalked past the passport guards,
to the consternation of thelong line (getting a visa was unnecessary,
I guess).

Then my escort disappeared and I was accosted by another guard, who
demanded to know how much money I had on me. I answered evasively and
he dmanded that i give him money to be allowed to take currency into
the country. My unnamed escort (guardian angel?) appears out of
nowhere again, and the issue is resolved.

Outside I met Rashid's dad and his two half-brothers. Everyone was
exceedingly polite. As we got into the 80s mercedes and drove 30
minutes into the city, Rashid explained to me the situation. The main
difficulty is that the house only gets mainline power for 2-3 hours a
day, and they have to run a diesel generator for the rest of the
evening (I can only imagine how expensive it is to power a house on
diesel, including AC although it is older, window-style one).

We had a nice diner, which I will detail tomorrow, and then went to
sleep. I'm staying next to rashid in the guest house. Have to run now,
internet time out. Tomorrow I'll try to write about the food, showers,
and daytime activities...

present day

Last weekend was wonderful, as usual. Friday night we had a dinner at a nice restaurant in Soho picked by Juliet -- she took Zach Sam and I out to dinner as a way of saying thank you for letting her stay the summer (instead of trying to figure out how/whether she should pay rent etc). Then we went out and all got a bit drunk at a bar nearby.

Then Sat. I slept in because I was exhausted from a week of waking up at 7am for the FT and then staying out at night with Juliet (who didn't wake up until 11 or noon!). Juliet got called in to work at the New York Times office in London because they were short-staffed and needed help because of the terrorism story (she had met the head of the bureau through a mutual friend). She did some interesting work -- more interestng than anything I've done in two weeks at the FT -- and she even got paid! Then in the evening we went to Farley (juliet's house). We missed dinner because we got on the wrong train...Oy.

Then Sunday was a day of lazy adventures in the countryside. Slept in, went out for a walk picking blackberries, just relaxed watching TV and listening to music.

Now Juliet has gone to Scotland for a family vacation, but Tim and Ian will be in London on Wednesday/Thursday, and Juliet will be back on Friday. Going camping Friday-Monday at a music festival (v-festival).

Still catchup

Not this weekend, but the weekend before:
Firstly, I lost my cell phone in unfortunate circumstances. By ‘lost’ I mean ‘left behind’. Felt like a complete moron, and I’ve lost all of my saved contacts, but there is some silver lining: I haven’t lost my cell number because I still have my US sim card, and we are re-subscribing for cell-plans in Sept, which gets one a discount on cell phones.

Otherwise, spent time with Juliet, visiting Baker st. and Regeant's Park, primrose hill overlooking London, and then we had dinner at a small, nice Russian restaurant. Spent the evening out at Camden bars (Barfly). Unfortunately no bands, just DJ, but it was good nonetheless. Took forever to get back because although we caught the last tube it died at Pimloco, forcing us to continue our voyage by bus.

Sunday morning we explored more of London, including a visit to speaker’s corner, where a whirlwind of crazies (fundamentalists, anti-Semitic nuts, god-saves-preachers) give sermons, attacking a mixed crowd of curious, hecklers, and devotees. It’s a rambunctious living marketplace of ideas (albeit screwy ones). Lunch was our usual favourite, food at Marks and Spencer. Evening we spent exploring a hip Indian-Asian area of East London (Bricklane and Spittalfield's market). Then we cooked some risotto for dinner, throwing in a few interesting herbs for fun.