Letters from Nigeria – Ayetoro, 1972 August 7-10

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Diary

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The oddest sensation today is a feeling that going to Nigeria is perfectly natural – there is nothing else reasonable to do, since we have been preparing so long. We, of all the surprises, were ready on time for the bus which arrived late at 2:45. The trip to Toronto was marked by torrential downpour and our arrival by confusion provoked by that airport. Our first plane developed some kind of mechanical difficulty so our luggage was put on another larger plane – 1 hour late. Supper finally came about 10! And we (3) played cards until 12:30 AM.

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This day started about 3 AM when we woke up to breakfast with the sun shining, of course. Our only stop was in Dakar, Senegal, for fuel. It was the first time any of our crew had been there or flown this route, and although no one could get off, we all got a disorganised turn at standing on the landing platform. Very desert-looking. We arrived in Lagos and went through customs efficiently – no checking of luggage. 3 hours bus trip to Aiyetoro School. The scenery is completely incomparable but strangely believable.

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My first full day in Nigeria! Getting up at 7 AM was no trouble, except that I went to sleep until 7:50 and had to rush over to breakfast – of bacon and eggs, which I hate! Immediately afterwards we had the conference we were too tired to have last night and met everyone, if it did any good. Then we went to subject seminars to learn how to teach. The French was chaotic but due to a lost purse I had to retrieve I taught Form V – two boys. They are very good, fully fluent for talking and quite good in reading and dictation.

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The students gave us a “show” tonight. The Arts and Culture Club presented traditional Yoruba dances in costume. These kids are talented both in the dance and in the singing which accompanies it. There were four drum players, all boys except for one girl during one dance. The dancers (about 15 in all) were mostly girls, although 3 or 4 were boys. One dance and song represented some kind of spirit which really frightened the kids. A girl beside me explained and she was scared!

To a friend

August 10, 1972

You certainly are getting a spate of mail lately but I hope you don’t mind. Canada seems to be somewhere I graduated or maybe dreamed about, and here sounds and feels real. As usual, I am hopelessly inarticulate.

We arrived here the day before yesterday, Tuesday night. Our first look at Africa was from the airplane in Dakar, Senegal. We could only stand in the doorway, but even from that we could tell that the land was getting ready for a huge desert.

Our landing in Lagos was momentous. We could see the sea coast for about 15 minutes before flying over land which was covered thick with ballooning leaf trees. We were the only plane landing at the time, and CUSO must have been the magic word because they chalked our luggage without checking anything. Greyhound Nigeria buses were waiting to take us away, and someone must have taken our picture because an article appeared in the paper about 75 Canadian “experts” who had flown in.

The buses left the airport for Ayetoro, and we literally paraded through a densely populated main road. Whether it was Lagos or not I have no idea, but everyone was out to watch the spectacle we must have been. They drive like maniacs here (much worse than Montreal) on roads that have been chewed up by the heavy equipment used in the war. The army, by the way, is noticeably in evidence. The best part of the trip was when we stopped (almost in the middle of the road) for some market fruit. The orientation director bargained for a big basket full of oranges (which are naturally green) and banana (which are not uniformly sized).

We got to the school in the evening and still had to wait for supper. Immediately afterwards, the showers were busy and everyone went to bed. I still don’t know what time it is in relation to Canada but I think we wake up in the middle of our night. (7 A.M. is the middle of anyone’s night!) The school is at least as large as Milton-Park district but it is in many buildings with lots of green space. There are about 350 students here now out of a possible 1200. School starts at 8:10 with assembly, has break at 11:15 to 11:45, and finishes at 2 P.M. for lunch. Afternoon is off (too hot!) until 4:30 for games. By this time it is warm-cool, and by supper time at 7:15 the air is pleasant. Great temperature change throughout the day. From the students’ comments the food must be typical residence quality, but it is all new to me.

I hardly know how to describe my students, except as enthusiastic and extremely good. I talked to two form 5 boys yesterday who are fully fluent in French at a level compared to Grand 12 in Canada! I took form 2 this morning, and once I got them stirred up, they picked up the lesson quite quickly. Anything so that they can get up, move around and make noise. The first form was even better. We were doing vocabulary, and before I knew it they wanted to know the name of every single object in the room and if it wasn’t in the room, they pantomimed it. Not a word of English was spoken. Very noisy, but at least they know that the French language has noise as well as their own.

This evening the students put on a show of inherited dances and legends. I only understood what the student beside me described, but the music was understandable without any help. The only thing I could compare it to would be Tommy! These kids are so rhythmic that I was ashamed to have my muscles twitching – again!

I don’t know my next address, but I will try to put it on the back of this. Apparently mail here is not efficient, so don’t worry if there is no sequence. Please do write if you think it is worth it. I look forward to whatever’s coming. I am riding a high right now; I just hope I don’t come down too hard.

Map of locations to date

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Comments

[Isabel Gibson]

Ah, to be an expert. Delightful! You sound like you're doing well, despite (assumed) jet lag. I'd have been a wreck for several days.

[beentouring]

Jet lag is much worse now than when I was twenty-something.