Here at last

Where do I start?  So much has happened in the last four days that I don't really know where to begin.  At 4:45am on Saturday morning we landed at Abuja airport, went fishing for our 12 cases on the baggage carousel and thankfully landed them all.  Catching a couple of porters with empty trolleys was our next task but we managed, promising them that our friend would  have something for them once we got through customs.  We got through customs and there was no sign of Ricky from Mission Africa who was going to meet us.  What do we do now?  It was a relief when we went outside to find Ricky, his father and brother in law, two MA drivers and two large vehicles waiting for us.  They sorted out the porters, filled the minibus with our cases and we were off through Abuja in convoy by 6:30am.
Our journey to Jos was an education in driving Nigerian style.  To start with they drive on the right so I thought our driver had actually got into the passenger side (I'm still trying to get into the driver's seat instead of the passenger's).  Actually, saying they drive on the right isn't really accurate - they drive on whichever side there aren't potholes, using the horn to tell others that they're coming so get out of the way.  You can't drive in Nigeria if your horn doesn't work, you'd be flattened.  We're going to leave it a little while before we get behind the wheel although the car we've bought from a departing missionary family has arrived and looks good (if a little scratched but that's also not a bad thing).
On the four hour journey to Jos I lost count of the number of army checkpoints we went through.  They were all very polite and our driver handled them as a matter of course but that will take some getting used to.  Ruth received her first proposition of marriage from one of the soldiers but, having had no sleep on the plane, she didn't make the most of it, she's still unattached.
Once the sun came up I was enjoying looking at the stalls by the side of the road.  There are some amazing company names - the "God is Able Block Company" or how would you like to have your teeth done by "The Lord's Chosen Charismatic Dental Clinc"?  More fascinating things were the cactus fences, guaranteed to keep out marauders if there are no gaps, the ornate piles of fruit and vegetables on roadside stalls and the amazing volcanic rock formations as we neared Jos.

The Baptist Hostel

By now we'd got a second wind and were no longer so tired although I certainly knew the meaning of being travel-stained.  We were taken to the house of Pamela Gaiya (a Northern Irish MAer but married to a Nigerian) for a breakfast that was nearly lunch (since we've been here there's been a lot of eating).  Then it was off to the Baptist Hostel where we'll have to stay for at least a couple of weeks until our house at TCNN in Bukuru has been renovated (at the moment the roof is leaking and as I'm writing this whilst the rain pours down outside I can appreciate the damage that a leaky roof will do in the rainy season: at least it's warm rain).  We've got the place to ourselves which is great - plenty of space and the garden's lovely with mango trees (although the season doesn't start until April), lemon trees, banana plants, swings, a trampoline and a traditional little house on the top of a huge boulder.  The disadvantage is that there are some mosques quite close.  As it's ramadan they seem to be working overtime with loudspeaker services at 12pm, 3am, 4:30am 5am so my nights are rather disturbed.  The days are warm but not too hot and sometimes giving torrential rain.  They're also very full so we're going to bed very early and getting up very early too, especially as school starts tomorrow at 8:05am for James and Ruth.
That's it for now.  Next time I'll write about our trip to TCNN to meet the Provost, Dr Tersur Aben, and to see our new house.  The question uppermost in my mind of course was, "Would there be mango trees in the garden?"  Find out next time.

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