Day 7: You Girls Are Looking Very American Today.

I am getting used to mornings here. I wake up to roosters, people laughing and singing, and the rev of motorbikes. It is quite refreshing to talk to God under these conditions. It doesn’t take long to get ready (since there is no need to do my hair or makeup) and then we walk over to the Clinic saying Good Morning to store owners and waving at their children. It is a very different scene than my normal routine in Fresno...

 

            We sat in on staff meeting at 8 am (where I finally met Pastor Ben) and started the day right at work with prayer and fellowship. Adrie and I have been working on an alphabetizing project the past two days so the first part of the morning I enjoyed reading every person who has come to Faith Alive whose last name started with a “D” or an “O”. It is a bit of a tedious assignment but it is important to get done and we are the only employees who actually have the ability to sit at a desk for a few hours instead of checking up on patients. We are hoping to be done soon since it bothers Adrie’s back and my brain.

 

            While we were filing away we had a huge surprise when two blonde oyibos walked into the office! White people in Jos! George and Naomi (not a married couple as George likes to point out) are here from Buckinghamshire, England, which is apparently right outside of London. They are in Jos for three weeks with a relief organization and have been assigned to different hospitals in the city to check out what God is doing. We got to spend lunchtime together and it was really nice to be around some Brits again (much love to Simeon, Louisa, and Rachel)! Naomi is going to be a med student and George is starting off his gap year, which will end hiking the Appalachian Trail from February to July. Needless to say they are pretty rad 18-year-olds.

 

            More filing followed by bartering with Helen about some jewelry she made us ended up making this one of our more tiring days. We got to come home early where I enjoyed another freezing cold bucket shower to help me wake up and feel clean! I started The Kite Runner, which I literally can’t put down, and feel very blessed that God has given me time to do some pleasure reading.

 

            Dinner with John and Kristin (it’s starting to sound like a talk show) gave way to conversation about marriage in Nigeria. Marriage here is much more like a contract than a relationship since the most important aspect of marriage is having children. Brides are “bought” in a sense that the family sits down with a potential suitor and spells out how much their daughter is worth. The man then spends the next few months completing the list, which is verified and approved by the village wedding coordinator on their wedding day. They have two ceremonies, one traditional followed by a “white wedding”, which can be months apart. Until the second “official” Christian ceremony the couple may not live together, even after the traditional service. All in all marriage isn’t a very big deal here. People rarely wear wedding rings, spend much of the time apart from their spouse, and husbands are allowed to take new wives if their original is not producing quality children. How different from our ideas of love, sex, and getting hitched in Vegas! I’m glad I will be able to marry the guy I love without my family wanting anything in return and without the pressure of planning two ceremonies. More than that, we will spend time together because we want to and I don’t think I will have to worry about him choosing someone else over me if I keep giving him girls. And I’ll wear a ring. And there will be lots of love. That sounds like a good plan.