Slacking a bit, but here's an update

Hello! I apologize for slacking on updating this blog. I could try giving you several excuses, but in the end, I have just been neglectful. I know it's been over a month since I last wrote. I promise to start being better about writing. What has happened in my life lately...

• Teresa and I flew back to the US on February 9th for some SAS training in Atlanta. I was able to spend a weekend back home with family before starting the class, so that was pretty nice. We spent a little over 2 weeks in the US. I brushed up on all my biostatistics and SAS skills. I ate lots of delicious food and indulged in some Lean Pockets and pizza... turns out I really just enjoy processed frozen foods. Then we arrived back in Abuja on the 27th. 
• Jet lag is incredibly hard to get over. I seem to have more of a problem with it coming back to Nigeria. The fact that I had a whole row of 4 seats on the Frankfurt-Abuja leg of the flight probably didn't help. I slept the whole way down, but it was daytime in Abuja. So by the time I got back into the city, I was wide awake. It took me almost a week to actually be back on a normal-feeling sleep schedule. 
• The first full week of March was a busy time at the office. We had a visit from some Atlanta consultants to help the office develop a business continuity plan aka if something terrible happens, how do we keep things running plan. At the same time, we had a 2 day visit from Dr. Tom Frieden, the Director of CDC. Very important man, very important visit. He's much shorter than I thought he'd be. I don't know why I thought he'd be super tall, but he's not. I think the feeling is equivalent to seeing the Mona Lisa. Very important, hear about it all the time- much smaller than you thought it would be. I think the visit went well... I'm not important enough to actually know what's going on.
• Other work things... not much to report. Doing a few things here and there, but no main project to report about. 
• I've started playing Ultimate Frisbee and have come to realize what a fun game it is! It gives me something else to do and I've met quite a few new people through playing. I also like to believe it helps me stay in shape, however I think I'm counteracting any calories I'm burning by eating way too many cookies and lots of candy. 
• I'm slowly trying to think about my next steps after my contract ends here in Nigeria. I have to look for a new job! I may apply for a second year with the fellowship, but would like to try to be placed elsewhere. Africa has been great, but I think I want to try Southeast Asia. Also because then I'll be closer to family. And I think it'd be an awesome new adventure.

To be very honest, I don't have too much to report. It's starting to get warmer and warmer here. The rainy season is coming, I've heard. So we'll see what Abuja is like then. Mango season has arrived, so I've been trying to enjoy that as much as possible. However, we have learned that mango juice definitely stains clothing. That's all I have for now, but I swear to write more and do so more often. Sorry for the neglect!

Happy Year of the Dragon!

To recap the past month:

The strike ended after a week and things pretty much went back to normal. Fuel prices went up a little bit and has made riding taxis a little more expensive, but not anything staggering. Now I just have to haggle with the taxi drivers a little more. That's nothing too special.

One day, Teresa and I took a very fun cab ride in the morning to work. It turns out he had no idea where he was going so we drove all around the Wuse and Maitama neighborhoods. One might have guessed that we were being kidnapped, but don't worry. We weren't. He just was a little clueless. And I'm not even sure he was a taxi driver since he went down a one-way ramp to get onto the highway. Then we proceeded to drive in the wrong direction on this highway. It was both comical and terrifying. He then couldn't find a way to get onto a ramp to get us OFF the highway. To put it mildly, I did not keep his number to call him again for his services.

Chinese New Year in Nigeria was great! We went to a gathering for the Taiwan Trade Commission. (Taiwan does not have an embassy since it's not recognized as an independent country here.) They had HOT POT, nian gao and tang yuan! It was delicious. We pretty much ate ourselves into a food coma. An amazing way to ring in the Year of the Dragon. I never expected to eat so much good food in Nigeria! I wish I could have celebrated with my family (Dad, I'm still waiting for my red envelope) but it was nice to have other Chinese people and new friends to celebrate it with.

Other than that, I don't have anything extremely exciting to report. The weather is getting hotter and hotter, which means I keep the a/c on a lot more and turn it down. I'm going to miss Harmattan weather with its cool nights. For those readers who don't know, I'll be heading to Atlanta for 2 weeks of statistical analysis software training this month. Exciting! Just a little something to break up the time I have left in Nigeria.

Starting 2012 off with Some Excitement

Greetings! I am back in Nigeria and made it back into the country just in time to be part of history. If you haven’t read the news yet, Nigeria is currently having a National Strike in protest against the fuel subsidy removal. We are just about wrapping up Day 4 of the strike. What does that mean? You should probably Google it because my explanation will be limited, totally inadequate, and probably convoluted. You could try http://tmaettig.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/strike/ for an explanation from someone who understands what is going on much better than I do. 

As for me, it means life in Nigeria is just a little more challenging. There are barely any taxis operating, so I’ve had trouble getting to work every day. There’s a complicated explanation but what it comes down to is- work cannot transport me to and from the office. So that makes life a little difficult. Teresa and I have been getting rides from different people, which is extremely kind of them to help us out. We were finally able to buy a little produce, milk and eggs today, so our house now has something beyond crackers and ramen to sustain us. For the most part, I can say I don’t feel unsafe. Maybe this is naïve of me to think, but I haven’t felt at all threatened. The streets are quieter (thus making it hard to get around and meaning I’m essentially under house arrest when I’m not at work), but other than that, I haven’t seen very much with my own eyes. That might also be due to the fact that I’ve been at a training while at work during the day, so I’m not sitting in front of a computer getting news updates on what is going on around Nigeria. I know the strike has affected flights coming in and out of Nigeria. I guess if people aren’t working at the airport, you can’t exactly have normal air traffic. Essentially all domestic flights have been cancelled and very limited international flights have been able to make it in and out of the country. It’s probably a blessing I arrived last week before all this chaos started.

To add to all the fun, the country (or at least certain areas) is under a state of emergency after all of the Boko Haram business since the Christmas bombing. Well.. Life is never dull. TIA! Nigeria is an incredibly interesting place to learn about. I’ve learned a lot in the last few days. No wahala for the most part, but please keep us and everyone here in Nigeria in your thoughts and prayers. Hope for the best!

And as always: It’s not a hardship, it’s an adventure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Special shout out to my traveling chicken in Belize!)

Happy Holidays!

Tomorrow night, I'm flying back to Wisconsin to spend the holidays with my family. I'm strangely excited to wear a winter jacket and wear holiday socks. It's been hard to get into the festive holiday spirit when it's still 90 degrees outside and sunny. However it is Harmattan season, so the evenings have cooled down quite a bit. I love the weather now. I wish it would stay this way, but I have been warned that soon the weather will turn and we will hit triple digits.

I have nothing really important to report about the last week, but here are some highlights:

• Last Friday, I had an amazing dinner with some new friends at a Lebanese restaurant. We had spinach pies, stuffed grape leaves, lamb, hummus, and other delicious goodies. The food was fantastic, probably some of the best I've had in Abuja (other than the Chinese place we go to).
• The past week has been interesting in respect to taxis. People keep telling me there is a fuel crisis in Abuja and the lines of cars waiting to get gas at gas stations are extremely long. I've had to pay more for taxis recently than I ever have in the past. However yesterday I noticed the lines at the gas station were no longer as long as they were before. No matter how many taxi drivers I talk to, no one seems to be able to explain what happened.
• Washing my sheets by hand is really rather difficult, but I gave it my best attempt.
• There is a spider that hangs out above the water heater in my bathroom. He and I have come to an understanding that as long as he stays up there, I won't attempt to kill him. But the minute he comes down, he takes his life into his own hands because I will chase him down with my shoe (which is what I did with the last spider I saw in the apartment).
• I have mosquito bites everywhere. I have no idea where I got them from, but I am so itchy. I have definitely upped my chances of developing malaria in the last few days.
• Many people are on leave at work, so the office has gotten very quiet. It's kind of nice.
• My face is healing pretty nicely and didn't end up being as bad as I imagined it would be. So I'm now ready to go home and take Christmas pictures with my family!

To all my Wisconsin readers (mainly the ones located around the Milwaukee area), I'd love to see you when I'm home!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Day I Closed a Taxi Door on My Face

I seem to be picking up stories left and right here in Abuja. And today gets to go down in the history books to prove my complete and utter clumsiness. After I was driven to work this morning, I paid, got out of the taxi, and proceeded to close the door on my face. I'm not sure how or why I did this nor do I understand how I lack the depth perception to know where my face is in relation to the car door. Regardless, I slammed the corner of the door on my face, right into the bridge of my nose and close to my eye. I am now sporting a really attractive scratch on my face and am starting to feel the bruising around my eye. Oh and I lost my contact in the process. If you know me, you know that I'm a blind bat. So today I get to work with only 1 good eye. It's going to be a long day... I'm starting to think I need to bring an extra pair of contacts to work just for times like this. I'll try to post a picture soon of the beautiful disaster we can now call my face.

It's December and I want to see snow

Life in Abuja is winding down slowly. Teresa is heading back to the States today, so I will have approximately 2 weeks by myself. Let's just hope I don't destroy the house before she comes back. The past few weekends, I've had the chance to go out and meet lots of new people in Abuja. It has helped me expand my social circle and see what else is out there. Work has been surprisingly busy. I've had a few projects thrown at me, so I've been trying to wade through a lot of new information and learn about the programs here. Abuja is growing on me. It has its days of pure frustration but I really don't mind it here. The city is pretty easy to live in. I have nothing unusually interesting to report, but for all you readers hailing from the Midwest- I'll be back in the area around Christmas! Wisconsin, you better provide me with some snow while I'm home!!!

Happy World AIDS Day

Yesterday the US Mission in Nigeria hosted a World AIDS Day Fair event, which I helped coordinate. World AIDS Day is actually today, the 1st, but the Nigerian government was having several events. In order to not clash with those events and since the ambassador had to attend some of them, we held our events yesterday. The day highlighted the importance of preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV as a way to achieve an “HIV-free” next generation and the ultimate global community goal of “getting to zero.” The official ceremony began with a welcome address from the Nigeria PEPFAR coordinator. She also gave an overview of the activities that were lined up for the day: speeches from special guests, vendor sales to benefit women with HIV/AIDS, blood donation, HIV testing and counseling, and educational sessions. Next, the director for the newly created Nigeria Centre for Disease Control within the Federal Ministry of Health spoke. He talked about the effect HIV/AIDS has had on Nigeria, the efforts Nigeria is going through to address this public health problem, and the role the US government has had in helping Nigeria in the fight against HIV/AIDS. After Professor Nasidi’s remarks, two different testimonials were given. The first one was given by an organization made up of Nigerian women who make Nigerian handmade products called Women of Hope. The proceeds of this organization go to support Nigerian women and children affected by HIV/AIDS. The second testimonial was given by an HIV-positive woman who benefitted from PMTCT and has two children who are HIV-negative. Then the US Ambassador of Nigeria gave a short speech on the work PEPFAR has done in Nigeria and how there were and will continue to be collaborative efforts between the Government of Nigeria and the US Government to fight HIV/AIDS. Upon the conclusion of the ambassador’s speech, the World AIDS Day Fair activities began. And I did some shopping. The Women of Hope organization sold different handmade quilted products, while the woman who gave her testimonial during the official ceremony sold beaded necklaces. Many people working for the USG came to donate blood and get tested for HIV. The educational sessions were provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Department of Defense (DOD) and included talks about tuberculosis, HIV prevention and general information, HIV modes of transmission, blood safety, the epidemiology of HIV in Nigeria, and why malaria matters. The day concluded around 2PM. It was a crazy day, but I’m glad I was able to participate and help coordinate things.