I like to
think of myself as a retired amebo. If people ask me what I used to do before I
started living for Jesus that I no longer do, I'll point to amebo behaviour. An
amebo is a person who displays a cluster of behaviours ranging from gossiping
to backbiting to excessive gist-scouting and really just thriving on idle talk.
Hopefully you get the drift. I believe that deciding to intentionally live for
Christ has caused me to become more aware of ways in which I still display
traces of my old self. So maybe there are still traces of this amebo
'skill-set' that make this week's post possible.
From the
conversations I've overheard and the things I've seen, people are becoming very
health conscious. Before I left Nigeria, the adults in my life used to get
upset about 'meatless meals' and portion sizes that didn't correspond with
their physical sizes. But now, I'm seing that older educated folks are forgoing
dinner, replacing white carbs with whole grains, and even drinking water
instead of five-alive juice! What sorcery is this?! They're even being
picky about their fruits and vegetables: avoiding sugary fruits and insisting
on not over-cooking their vegetables! I'm thinking the #FitFam movement is
surely expanding. But maybe it's just that the health reports from the doctors
are teaching people the hard health lessons.
There's also
the growing natural/healthy hair movement. Until I was ten years old, I
had a very full and long afro. Hairdressers were mean to me and would push me
aside because my hair was supposedly difficult to make. On the contrary, I have
soft hair that feels like cotton wool and is not at all difficult to make. They
were just closed-minded to it because it was foreign to them. Like in the
western world, relaxers were in and natural hair was 'backward' to most people.
But here we are in 2015, and like the rest of the world, we in Nigeria have
joined the bandwagon and natural hair is the new cool. The mummies and sisis
are rocking dreads; TWAs (teeny weeny Afros aka low cut afros) and
even my Ipaja hair stylists know to only relax the new growth. It's an
interesting thing to observe!
However,
renovation and maintenance are still not 'in'. Personal space and order are
also still foreign concepts.
I remember when
I landed at the Lagos airport, I was welcomed by the absence of a functioning
fan or A.C in 30degrees Celsius weather. To me, it made sense to let
people breathe by standing a step or two behind them. But apparently,
that's oyinbo behaviour, because people just walked into my
front as if I was invincible.
I think I'm
still invincible because it happened again today: first at the hospital, then
at the supermarket. At the hospital, the child in front of me was coughing and
it made sense to let her have her cough bubble to herself, lest I add on to my
health issues. But that bubble was enough room for three older women to
causally walk in front of me on the queue. Yes, people, I've found my super
power: I think I'm invisible.
I was too weak
to to put up a fight at the hospital. But about four hours later at the
supermarket, while I was in line at the cashier, some lady just dropped her
grocery basket in front of me. I decided not to embrace my super power; I
refused to be invisible. I looked at the basket and then looked at her, but she
said nothing, as though she didn't understand my unspoken question. So I said,
"you're after me right"? Then she said "yes, of
course".
So maybe they
just like to try you in this Lagos. If you confront them, they'll act normal;
if you keep quiet, they'll pretend you're invisible. It just means you can't be
quiet in this Lagos. I've had days in Canada where I went about my days without
speaking to anyone. My mum would call me in the middle of the day and when I
said I hadn't spoken on that day, she'd be astonished. Here in Lagos, there are
laws and expected behaviours, but we just do our thing and pretend there aren't
rules. I think that's why everyone shouts.
I'm feeling
sick and homesick this week. I'm convinced it's the generator fumes from my
sewing lesson location that has my lungs revolting, but we'll wait till the
blood test get back. In true Nigerian fashion, I now have two SIM cards, I
almost feel like I have arrived as a true Lagos babe. Lol! Maybe when I have
funds on both SIMS I'll attain big girl status. For now, it's whichever network
has service in the remote areas I'm visiting that gets my money.
How's life
wherever you are this week? Yes that's a real question; let me know in the
comments section. Wait, is this considered amebo behaviour too?