Friday 25th April- My frist television appearance and shopping for Cheiftancy!!

In the morning Benson took us to the Government House to meet the Chief of Staff to the Governor of Abia State and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Deputy Governor of Abia State. The Chief of Staff was a very friendly man who studied in the USA so had a jolly American accent. His was wearing bright traditional style clothing that looked like it was patterned with mitochondria. I was also wearing a traditional wrapper that I had made into an English style pencil skirt and a puffy sleeved shirt my own has yellow horses on jumping in green grass. He seemed to enjoy the effort I have been making and was happy to look through photos in my camera of our residents in Amaudo 1 and the ever so photogenic bunch at Amaudo 2. When we went to see the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Deputy Governor of Abia State, he was also very friendly and had spent time living in America. He was interested in the rehabilitation work going on in Amaudo because he himself spent some time working in a celebrity rehabilitation in America, I feel we could share some very interesting both sad and funny stories if it wasn’t for patient confidentiality. He decided that he would film us for the television and some photographers also came in to snap us for the paper. V/Rev did a speech on Amaudo and he then made a response. In his response he gave me a very long and grand introduction about how much I had sacrificed and suffered to leave my wonderful country and come through the dessert to suffer in Nigeria and blah blah blah…he made me blush because its not like that at all. I have not really suffered in Nigeria minus my throwing up at passport control, lost baggage, broken computer, broken I pod but other than that I have been comfortable. He praised my service and asked for people to be encouraged by my coming to Nigeria and to make plans to do voluntary work themselves here in Nigeria. He also promised to find me a suitably fine Nigerian man so that I will marry a Nigerian and come to live here. I couldn’t help laughing a little. I hope the camera didn’t catch my face at that point because it could be interpreted in the wrong way. Maybe I will marry a Nigerian. Who knows? I certainly seem to be given quite a large amount of choices over here. Two residents asked so far… Comfort said she will marry me for 100 Naira, Promise said he would marry me for 3,000 naira. Eunice the nurse said I am welcome to marry her brother and the list continues.

When we got back to Bensons office we spoke about my cheiftancy. He called two secretaries and a driver and told them to take me for lunch and then to the market to pick clothing and then to the tailor to get my measurements. They were under strict instruction to look after me well, give me good advice and not to allow me to walk any distance in the sun. The car must be used whenever we were going along a road. I should not enter bike. Travelling out in this manner felt very funny. It was like that stupid chick flick where the clumsy, geeky ugly girl gets told she is actually a princess and they start treating her like one and she goes ‘Oh deary me! What’s going on? How do I do this? What’s so special about me?’ For lunch I ate a chicken pie. It was funny being the only one eating and I got a bit self-conscious. Bensons girls were tall and slim with long legs and pretty faces. It felt especially funny for them to be dressed more English than I did. I began to wonder what I was looking like, if it was funny to be in Nigerian wrapper tailored clothing. Its quite ironic how greater lengths you can see some people here go to fixing weave-on to get Caucasian style hair, wearing western clothing, and its not uncommon to use bleach to lighten the skin. I can’t help wondering how they feel about me enjoying the wrappers, fixing attachments over my own hair (although it irritated me so much it only lasted 4 days!) and settling in to the Nigerian cuisine. I am always getting told off for scratching my bites because it makes them red and scatters my skin. I keep telling them that I do not really care, in England people do not admire my electric white skin and I would rather put on fake tan or tights before wearing a skirt. I am not sure if I should admit it but it does feel quite nice having my bright white skin admired I am so use to thinking it is a bad thing….will I reach for the fake tan as soon as the English summer times comes? I can not even really imagine being in England. My friend Laura Carter has just returned from her travels and said that English is miserable, cold, rainy, expensive, boring and she wishes she were still away.

When we got to the market we had our first disagreement. My chief schema was different to their own, I wanted to be wearing george (an expensive wrapper that is characterised either by looking similar to Scottish tartan or having embodied open flowers on) and a lace blouse. They said this was for older women and because I am young and petite I should wear a lace shirt and blouse. I was not convinced because I do not really like lace but I do not want to be laughed at so I phoned Benson. He said that if I was confused I should just buy both and decide on the day! He is too good to me. I was then taken to choose high heel shoes and a matching handbag. I feel slightly bad about how much money I am spending of his. I feel it will be a very grand day. When I got home I phoned mum and told her to send out my make up because the girls had serious concern I had left it all in England and that I would need it for my Cheiftancy. I have actually missed make up a hell of a lot. My skin has been very poor and coming out in spots and because I am white everyone notices it and for some strange reason I get people thinking that my misfortunate skin is an exciting topic of conversation. It can/does knock my confidence, but over here you just have to remember that it is not considered rude nor is it intended to cause any offence, it just takes some getting use to.