Two months and Egg shaped balls

Well here I am two months in and I can safely say the second month has been a much happier one than the first. I’m still learning things all the time such as we are apparently dead when are asleep (don’t quote me on that I was informed this at work), cockroaches are persistent little buggers but Raid will kill them eventually and never get undressed under a ceiling fan if you want to keep your limbs intact. Ouch.

Things that are becomingly weirdly normal now…

·         Having to fill the huge water buckets up during the week so we have water over the weekend for washing, flushing the toilets and cooking etc.

·         Washing my clothes by hand in a bucket, I’ve got a system going now so I’m quite good at it but even so I suspect that the thought of doing washing in a machine at home will never seem arduous ever again. I also ignore the fact that things never have that nice ‘clean’ feeling you get from a machine at home, that musty smell isn’t me right?

·         Haggling for transport, it’s normal now but none the less annoying!

·         Drinking beer, I was a spirits girl before but have turned to ‘Star’ and ‘Harp’ when we go out because it’s cheaper. I’m pretty sure I’ll revert as soon as I get home though.

·         Boiling my water and filtering it before it I can drink it, life really is ever so easy back home, oh for the ease of just putting your glass under a tap.

·         Accepting that Peppe is a way of life here. EVERYTHING comes with peppe, you learn to like it or never eat outside of your own home. Even the chips over the road at our local bar come with a side of Peppe.

In other news the Rugby World Cup starts today and I’m sure a few of you are aware that I actually had tickets to a couple of matches. I am trying not to be sad that I’m not in New Zealand right now but it was always a dream of mine to be at this world cup. I ended up applying for VSO after I had put into the ballot for tickets to all of the England group matches and a couple of the quarter finals at the RWC (which I never thought I’d get). When I got the email saying I had tickets to the England Vs Georgia match and one of the Quarter Finals I was over the moon to say the least, by this point I had already applied to VSO and was awaiting contact from them to find out if they wanted me to go to an assessment day. When I got the news that I was off to London to meet VSO I was also very happy and decided that I would see what happens after my assessment, they might not want me after all and I would have no tough decision to make. We now know they did otherwise this is a very cunning ruse I’m running and here I am in Nigeria.

So do I regret my decision? I have to be totally honest and say that there is a part of me that REALLY wishes I was in New Zealand right now. I know the country will always be there and it’s somewhere I plan on visiting after I’ve done VSO, but with it being such a rugby mad nation and me being such a rugby mad loon I really think it would’ve be awesome to have been there for the RWC and I’ve missed my opportunity for that at least. However, VSO is something I have also wanted to do almost since I left university when I first heard about it and looked into the possibility of doing it and everything timing wise in my life was telling me that now was the right time to go for it and more importantly they said yes. So whilst I am pining for my resold tickets I am also glad I’m here, mostly I’m just glad that I can actually get to watch the matches at the British Village, some are early starts because of the time difference but that’s a small price to pay in my book.

p.s. Tom I expect you to be on full Johnny Wilkinson duty in my absence, I will do the same here in Nigeria and even try to find someone to assist with the conversions no doubt through the now patented Johnny Wilkinson Secret Communication methods.