Coming from a very different culture, a very different system, and a very different form of society, some things you meet in Nigeria are more than startling. The first time I stopped a taxi and told the guy where I wanted to go to and he simply said "no" and left I didn't really knew what just happened to me. The first few weeks I kept on wondering what was inside the plastic bottles that women carried on their heads and apparently sold to people, the content was indefinable. I also wondered what those guys with all the tools on their head were trying to do, before I finally found out that they are tailors and shoemakers (well, I would have finally found out about the tailors when I just recently met our office boy outside the gate on the street, only wearing his boxers, while all our drivers and the security guards were sourrunding him and the tailor, who was fixing his pants.

Things are so so different here. Everything is so different. I still feel that way sometimes when I am trying to do something I haven't done so far and I have to figure how it's done around here. Sometimes I wish I just knew, I wish things were as natural to me as they are to everyone else. Of course I cannot expect that. Where I grew up things are different. It's part of the challenge, to find out how to go about things and manage everyday life when you seem to know nothing about the way things are done. No book can teach you how to, it's something you will never learn from afar.

Listening to people, paying attention to detail, some sensitivity to culture and religion and an open-minded attitude help you a lot around here. I have learned a little bit of pidgin while I was here, and it works wonders on taxi drivers, sellers in the market and everyone else you want to charm. Today I was conducting some interviews for a work-related research project at Wuse market. People were really suspicious seeing a white girl wandering around, asking them about taxes. Telling them "I no dey work for government, oga. Me only won ask some questions" made them trust me at least a little bit more. Knowing that sometimes only aggression can get your point across helps in all sorts of discussions.Walking or spending time outside is generally considered strange, especially if you are white - so you shouldn't be surprised if every (!!) car that drives by honks at you while you are walking. It is also advisable to be aware of the fact that you are automatically equated to money; keeping that in mind will help you understand a lot of things better. Knowing that Friday is Mosque day prevents you from wearing any sort of "provocative" outfit (at least it should, I actually forgot today and I was wearing a short skirt - so far my had didn't get chopped off) and it also makes sure you don't try to make appointments with anyone on Friday afternoon (in general, that's not a good idea anyways..), even if people are not Muslim, the traffic in town is just crazy, so you better just stay at your office.

I am slowly starting to think about what I will bring back once I go back home (which is really soon) - and I am not talking of souvenirs. Most definitely I have made new experiences. I have lived a totally different life here; I had to get used to things I had never thought of before. It was the right decision to come here, despite everything. I will miss this crazy country.