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Abuja, capital of Nigeria
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We (Osa and I) left San Diego in a one-way rental SUV to LAX.  We had so much stuff to take with us that a regular car wouldn't cut it.  Particularly space-consuming was a computer that was donated to the non-profit Osa was starting.  (More about the non-profit later.)  So, we drove 2 hours to LA, waited around at the airport, took a 9 hour flight to London where we had a 7 hour layover, then a 6 hour flight from London to Abuja, and finally a 5 hour car ride from Abuja to Kano.  As you can imagine we arrived in Kano as zombies but we made it.  It wasn't all bad of course.  In London during the layover, Osa got to spend a few hours with her friend Julia and I got to eat some fish & chips.  When we arrived in a Abuja we spent a few hours getting a tour courtesy of Osa's uncle Mason.  Then the ride to Kano was very interesting but I can only remember bits and pieces through my napping.

Perils of driving in Kano
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Also, while English is the official language of Nigeria, the slang is a little different.  When we first arrived in Abuja, we went briefly to Mason's home.  They offered us a bed to take a nap in when we arrived but we declined being a little wired from just getting out of the airport.  We were about to head out on our tour when Mason asked me if I would like to ease myself.  I was relaxing on the couch pretty happily and said "No, I feel pretty relaxed." which apparently was funny.  It turns out that "ease" yourself is their way of saying "go to the bathroom".  Not my only run-in with confusion of that type...

Wall around the original Kano City
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Nigeria is a really interesting place.  The part of Nigeria we stayed in is predominantly Muslim.  Many nights at about 4AM there were prayer loudspeakers that would blast out Arabic prayers at high volume.  I'm not sure what they were saying of course but it was interesting that no one complains about the noise.  Can you imagine the whining in the US if that kind of thing happened?  Tribal affiliations are a big deal there too.  Most Nigerians seem to be very aware of what tribe they belong to and have general stereotypes of the other tribes.  In Kano, the Hausa tribe is the dominant one and Hausa is as common as English to hear spoken.  Another tribe called the Fulani are also present and seem to be on the same team as the Hausas for the most part.  Somehow when I hear the word "tribe" I think of a relatively small group of people.  Well, in the case of Nigeria it isn't really like that.  Nigeria has about 137 million people.  Of those the Hausa/Fulani combo is about 40 million people.  With that kind of size, the tribes compete as political groups for control and influence over the country.  The primary foil for the Hausa/Fulani mix is the Yoruba tribe but there are a bunch of others that aren't as influential alone but I suppose team up to be heard.

Guard at the Emir of Kano's Palace
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According to CIA information, the per capita income of Nigeria is about $900 per year.  The interesting thing is that I think the people there are on average happier than people in the US.  My guess is that community is stronger than luxury when it comes to happiness.  So, while we are munching on popcorn watching a rented movie at home they are finding entertainment together in the community.  Groups of friends seem to be more fun/satisfying and certainly better at supporting each other when times are tough.  Anyway, that line of thought is the basis of my theory on why they are happy even if the living circumstances for many look pretty difficult.

Dressed in traditional attire
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Aside from the people, I saw a lot of chickens, cows, lizards, and LOTS of goats.  I even saw a "bush rat" for sale along the road.  Looked to be about the size of an opossum and some sort of rodent looking thing.  I didn't get a very close look as we went by but it was neat anyway!  They have mosquitos there and the little bastards are armed with Malaria to even up the odds a little.  While we were there, Osa's sister got Malaria and so did Osa.  I was taking anti-malarial drugs so all I got was a cold.  (Still coughing for some reason.)  I expected that contracting malaria was going to be a big deal but I guess not for people who have been exposed before.  Basically, they both just popped the right pills and the next day they were fine.  Who knew?

The traffic in Nigeria was an adventure all its own.  I'm not sure how to explain the way it differed from other places like Mexico City or Istanbul but it had its own flavor somehow.  The roads are flooded with guys on small 100cc motorcycles built by Chinese companies.  The guys on them flow around all the cars like water.  It's pretty amazing how few accidents there are relative to how many it looks like there will be.  I suppose in general it is the same as most other developing countries.  All traffic rules are more like rough guidelines that may or may not be followed.  Somehow it works!

The police essentially work for tips.  They don't get paid much officially so they supplement their income through bribes, etc.  Nigeria seems to be a little nicer than Mexico in that regard.  The police don't seem to have as bad of an attitude.  Friendlier and not nearly as threatening.  That stated, in general it seems best to avoid the cops and people seem to try hard not to stop when asked unless the police seem really serious about it...

A few other thoughts...  While we were there the season was called "Harmattan" or something similar.  Basically, at that time there are large dust storms that blow south from the Sahara and fill the air with really fine dust.  Some days were so dusty you could look at the sun without squinting.  Some of the pictures are really hazy.  That is the dust and not pollution.  The power authority of Nigeria is NEPA and they seem to have great difficulty providing energy.  The power went out daily, sometimes for long periods of time.  When the power was out the water pump was too so in order to take a shower or wash dishes, etc. the generator had to be started.  With the generator though, everything went back to normal so it wasn't that disruptive.

There was so much I saw there that I don't have the patience to type out...  lots of great people, interesting history, etc.

I mentioned the non-profit organization that Osa is starting earlier.  It's called "Peace Medics Nigeria".  She received a grant to launch a pilot program in Kano.  The concept behind the group is that in a society where there are so many competing interests, one of the few areas diverse groups can agree and collaborate on is public health.  By working together in one arena it is hoped that the reality that they can work together in many other areas will become self-evident.  The pilot program is going to start by focusing on Polio.  Polio was nearly eradicated but a rumor was started that there was a sterilizing agent in the vaccine that would cause people who received it to be unable to bear children.  The idea was that the West was trying to eliminate Muslims or something.  Anyway, the result was that many children didn't get the vaccinations and the polio rate soared.  The government has stepped in to encourage people to vaccinate their children and this group will be trying to achieve the same end by using a diverse group of medical professionals representing the various groups in a united voice.  If the pilot goes well then additional funding will be pursued and the effort can be extended to other cities.  (Osa has an MD from a University in Ukraine and a Master's in Public Health from San Diego State University so doing this stuff is right up her alley.)

Our trip ended with a short stay in the UK where we attended the wedding of a friend of hers and I had a chance to meet many of the people I had heard about.  In particular, I got to meet Osa's closest child-hood friend Julia.  It was a bit of a challenge to go from the heat and dust of Nigeria to the frigid cold of London.  It even snowed a little bit while we were there!  I did manage to climb aboard the "London Eye" and see the view from it.  It is basically a giant ferris wheel that instead of seats has fully enclosed glass pods that have a large elliptical bench in the middle and room for mabye 20 people if it was packed.  Pretty cool engineering feat.