Another Jos morning: roosters, conversation, sunshine, and the hope of another fabulous day. Adrie and I opted out of a trip to Bakin Kogi and Kafanchan for the day in order to get some of our projects done at the Clinic. I spent part of my day in Biana’s office printing finished documents and airline confirmations and another part speaking with Pastor Ben about discipleship curriculum. The printing went well but talking with Ben was better. We went over the outline for the flow of topics for the class and I was really glad when he told me he thought I did the best job possible. (Of course we ran into a few snags considering I misheard “Word” for “Work” and thought he was telling me to put a whole section dedicated to doing things. Instead he was talking about the importance of the Bible. Obviously.) He then went on to tell me that there was something he needed to speak to me about before I left Jos. Ben had spent time with my cousin Evan when he visited the Clinic back in April. Evan had mentioned to Ben that I was coming in September and that he believed the two of us would have a strong bond. Over the past few weeks I can definitely say that is true; Ben has been a huge part of this trip and my spiritual well-being here. What I didn’t realize is that I have been that same support to Ben since I arrived. It was a really neat conversation, saying Thank You to someone for being who they are! He told me that even though I was leaving early he knows we will stay in contact (“Bless the Lord for cross-country communication!”) and I assured him that I will be back in Nigeria at some point in my life. When doesn’t matter right now.
After such a positive start to my day I was a completely thrown off when I walked into the middle of my first Dr. Chris rant. I tried to sneak past him into the Biana’s office to finish my work but he decided I needed to be a part of this outrage. Details aren’t important, he was incredibly angry at a situation from the day before, and just needed some people around to hear him out before he saw patients. I can’t say I was too thrilled to be one of those people but I think it is good to have a release with supportive friends before facing the rest of the world. When he went downstairs it was lunchtime and I was ready for some food and a rest.
Power naps always bring me back to normal functioning so after getting up from some Jack Johnson and a little shut-eye I was ready to get back to the Clinic. With the extra hands from MCC and the fact that Fridays are usually less busy, Adrie and I did not have much to do. We decided to check up with people back home and get our hostel booked for London. We hoped to be back to our flat when the work day was over at 4:00 but realized that since the group was not back from Bakin Kogi we would have to wait in order to properly lock up. This all turned out to be ok since we ran into some problems booking our reservations and had to call Louisa to get things all worked out for our accommodations once we get to England. Thankfully after a couple phone calls, internet searching, and frustration, we got four nights at a pretty nice place in central London for about $100. Not too shabby! When we finally got our confirmation number we were twenty minutes late to dinner so when we got to the flat we told Baba to go home and got everything cleaned up in the kitchen ourselves.
It is all night prayer tonight (first Friday of the month!) but we opted for a quieter time at home since we are getting up to help get ready for the sewing school graduation in the morning. Of course, with all the church loudspeakers that are set up in our neighborhood it may actually be easier to fall asleep upstairs in the Clinic... We watched Obama speak shortly on the financial crisis, talked for a bit about holiday traditions, and went to bed early with a book in hand.
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