Nigerian Journal #2

Just in case you missed the end of my last blog, here is my cell phone # again: 011-234-703-381-7692.

And for the photos:

http://www.wallawalla.edu/campus-life/spiritual-life/gallery/nigeria07

After a short, but good night’s sleep we headed for the regional airport to get a flight for Owerri in the south east part of Nigeria. I thought you might be interested in the “IRS” plane. Is that where our tax $s are going?

The part of Nigeria that we flew over for the one hour journey was quite lush. And not only did we enjoy the scenery, but we got a full lunch with sandwich and fruit dish, in the comfort of a full size plane! So, the cost, distance, and time of flight is the same as Seattle to my home city in the Northwest. But the size of the plane, the meals served, and comfort, is not the same!

We are staying in a nice hotel downtown Owerri. I have a lovely daylight view of the city from my room window. Since we didn’t have anything pressing on the agenda today, I decided to go for a walk around the town. But when I’m in new places like this, I take a local with me. James’ brother, Ben was my guide. Thank the Lord! Because the first thing I did was take a photo of the hotel. The guard at the gate told Ben that I should not take any photos around here, because it is near to government buildings and a prison is nearby. Not long ago they arrested some tourists who were taking scenic photos from the hotel windows and interrogated them for a few hours before releasing them! Some of you will remember my Ghana and Tanzania experiences of taking photos of the wrong places! So you will not find a lot of photos from around here. However, I hope to get more when we go out into the villages.

I had one advantage, however: I blended in, and did not look like a foreigner. Everybody thinks I’m a Nigerian – as long as I keep my mouth shut, “I can pass!”

Mango season is long past. But I see some green ones on some trees here in town; so there is hope that a hidden one or two might be lurking in the foliage!