Back to Jos
on Julia in Nigeria (Nigeria), 09/Mar/2008 17:26, 34 days ago
Admittedly there has been a slight delay since the last post in November. I didn’t quite get around to it in December, and I went back to the UK over Christmas and New Year. I have now been back for three weeks and everything feels pretty normal again. I suppose you do get a fresh sense of African street life compared to life back home: the vibrant colours all the women wear,people carrying huge pots of yams on their heads as well as carrying babies on their backs, and the hustle and bustle of the lively street markets full of loud negotiations on price all seems a world away from Bolton! ( see the picture) But you get used to it remarkably quickly.I have been enjoying life back at the school, and it has been great to see all the kids again. I managed to bring back a whole suitcase of new toys, games and equipment thanks to the great January sales, generous donations and presents from friends and family. So it has been lovely to watch the kids’ reactions to all the new things, and it has injected new excitement into the same old activities. I am still making them practice saying the same type of things, but if there are new toys on offer, it makes everything a lot more exciting!I am lucky to have a full time assistant now, who is a natural with the children so I am training her up to be“me” when I go. We still spend lots of time in the classrooms though working with the other teachers.Outside of work it has been great to meet up with my friends again, and I have seen lots of the other volunteers at the weekends as you can see. I am now living with two other volunteers….in house number 4 here!....and you can see the new place in the pictures.This week there will be 40 volunteers all together in Jos as we are having a meeting with all the VSO volunteers in the central and northern regions in Nigeria. Whatever we end up doing for the seminars etc, it will be good to catch up with everyone again!