Travel to Nigeria

Finally, after two weeks of packing, endless hours shopping, $1200 of inoculations and more paper work than it takes to make a small country, I am in Nigeria. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Mom and Pop dropped me off at the SEATAC airport at around 10:45 am on August 10. While Mom seemed more nervous than I was to be making the journey, Dad was excited for me and alot of their enthusiasm kept me energized for the trip. After waiting in line for a while, I sat at my gate and read the second book in the Twilight series. That series alone kept me sane through the rest of the exhausting day. After two and a half hours, or so, they let us board the plane. I didn’t get the window seat I was hoping for but it ended up being a good thing. I don’t remember drinking that much water but apparently I had.

The flight was 9 and a half hours long and was beautiful. I loved the plane and was actually sitting in the very last row. I was paranoid that my seat would be up against the wall and I wouldn’t be able to recline. However, instead I had the emergency exit behind me and actually had more room than everyone else. I had more storage space as well. Around 6 hours into the flight I realized we were flying over Greenland. Its amazing! The glaciers were huge and the backdrop was a constant river of ice. I know that the picture doesn’t do it justice (I blame the fact that I had to lean over a poor sleeping woman to even get the shot) but its one of the most incredible natural landscapes I have ever seen.

Shortly after this I watched the sunrise over England. I don’t ever recall just sitting and watching a full sunrise before. I can never sit still long enough and now that I truly have experienced this event...I wont ever have to do it again, right?

I arrived in Amsterdam at 7:30am on Saturday. I had no idea where to go or what to do. Thankfully, due to my astounding deductive powers and the plethora of signs written in English, I found where I needed to go. An entire booth titled "transfers" was clogged with travelers from all over the world. I waited in line for over an hour only to be told by the very kind woman at the window that my boarding pass was complete and with all of my other paperwork. Boy did I feel silly. Not as silly as the woman in the window wearing an entire baby blue uniform with matching hat.....but silly just the same. I then spent the next 6 unending hours sitting and waiting for my flight. I contemplated traveling around the city for a few hours until I saw the lines going to customs. Insane amounts of people were trying to cram into two little booths to get out of the airport and the last thing I wanted to do was get stuck in that, then get stuck trying to come back and end up missing my flight. Oh, come on.....you know me....I would totally get stuck.

So I waited. I wandered through shopping sections and even stopped for lunch. I found an ice cream shop with the best chocolate and toppings that I have ever seen. But finally I decided that I really couldn’t buy anything worthy of interest and headed to my boarding gate. Now my estimable roommate, Suzanne, had once warned me that they board flights really early in Amsterdam and to be ready to go a few hours ahead of schedule. I took her up on her advice and though it was only 10:30am and my flight didn’t leave until 1:10 pm, I went and stood in the boarding line. The line was unbelievable and so I checked the automated boarding screen at the gate to make sure my flight information was on it. Yup, all there. I went into the line and began the slow migration toward yet another security posting. At this point I felt like a pack mule because of my overweight backpack. An hour later I get to the front of the line where I go through security without a problem. That is, until I get to the lady checking passports and tickets. That kind lady (less silly uniform....and less kind, now that I think on it) told me that they wouldn’t be boarding my flight for another two hours and then (very loudly) announced that I needed to walk the wrong way through security and wait in the uncomfortable seats just outside the checkpoint area. Well, she didn’t call the seats uncomfortable but everyone knows the truth. This was only the beginning to the worst flight ever.

It takes too long to describe each element of this painful trip, and I don’t want to sound whiney, so instead I will summarize: middle seat between two very large Nigerian men, no cabin space for my oversized pack which found itself in my foot space for the 7 hour flight, yelling kids behind me, a woman who reclined her seat to the max in front of me, no air conditioning, one bathroom for 80 rows of 10 seats and only two flight attendants. Oh yes....this trip was horrific. But it did finally end and off I went to customs.

By this point I had joined with a handful of other AISL teachers exhausted from trips of their own. We followed the crowds down a broken escalator to the customs and baggage claim area. Another hour of standing in line. However, there was light at the end of the tunnel.....I got my stamp and rushed out to get my luggage. And so did everyone else. It took two hours for my luggage to appear and another hour to drive to the school.

I still don’t have my own flat so I am staying at a very nice couple's flat for a few days until everything is figured out. As you can see, the flat is beautiful and I was really excited to have a shower and nice bed.

Yes, I had a bout of massive hysteria when finally in a room alone but have much improved since then. The only down side was the two inch cockroach I found outside the bathroom this morning and the small effects from jet lag.

I have been told that the American Ambassador is to visit the school tomorrow...a first in over 40 years and we are having a huge BBQ to celebrate. I also have yet to see my room, take stock of my supplies or get my phone/computer systems going. I am confident that everything will happen and while the trip out to Nigeria may have been less than ideal, I know this is where I am supposed to be. The people are amazing and supportive and the culture is distinct and prominent. Now I just have to find my place among it.