Things I've Noticed

No, I'm not neglecting my blog...I'm just busy. I've been out about here in Port Harcourt and still find the scenery interesting. I try not to look too hard or I attract traffic vendors with all manner of items from boxers to autobiographies. My girls like to point at colorful things so this got us stuck with a determined vendor selling dvd's...you know he had to hold up the Barney. I did not give in. I did ask about sunglasses though, you know I have to look all cool when riding around. I will definitely be shopping for a pair soon. Maybe two to indulge myself. Okay, so I've noticed some random things around here I'm going to share...

I've noticed people have no problem picking their noses, even in the middle of a conversation. Make of that what you will.

The aforementioned traffic vendors are just that. People who sell things to drivers in traffic. I've come to think every time I venture out, if you don't have clothes for work, you could buy an outfit on your way there, namely men. Sorry Muslimah, maybe up North. You can shop while you drive. In traffic you are accosted by vendors selling phone cards, boxers, dvds & cds, books, remote controls, watches...etc. I've seen negotiating where the driver will take it, look at it and ask how much. If the price isn't right they say no, give it back and totally ignore the vendor while talking to a passenger or staring straight ahead. The vendor then tries to force the item onto the driver repeatedly while lowering his price. Usually if traffic starts moving the vendor will give in and offer something really low which the driver may or may not accept. In one case he accepted the item but didn't get a chance to pay because traffic was moving, when it stopped again the vendor caught up and he paid. You know I was wondering when and how money changed hands so quickly!

I’ve walked into shops where the salespeople are literally laid out on a cot or lolling in their chairs…had me wondering if they were open for business or what. Branching off on that, if you get something that doesn’t have a price on it, be prepared for a wait to find out how much it is. I got stuck in line behind a guy who did this. I don’t know what the heck some people who sit in chairs on aisles are supposed to be doing. I asked one of them where the hair bows were, she gestured vaguely to her left so I’m looking around for hair bows, when the lady I was looking over asked me how she could help me. I guess that’s what the first chair lady meant, for me to ask the lady next to her. She directed me upstairs and they in turn told me there were none on Sundays…what the heck? They were selling everything else. I was baffled. Maybe she meant they ran out, but she didn’t say that, she said not on Sunday, but on Monday yes. Whateva. Maybe if I learn this pigeon English I will have better success.

I could never drive here. Traffic is chaotic and there are no lines betweens lanes, but generally people seem to know, except the few impatient idiots who create a lane in a tight space. And there's a lot of horn honking going on at all times.


There are bars on every domestic window, and houses are built inside a medium to high wall. Sometimes topped with steel and miscellany so sharp looking, you simply wouldn't dare. Ours? Barbed wire.

You can get nearly anything from sandals to a live chicken on the roadside here.


There are no sidewalks.



People say, "You are welcome," to welcome you in any instance, to their home, store, when you return from somewhere, etc. At first I wondered what I said thank you to, for them to say that to me. It was all about context though, so I caught on quickly.


Any naija folks can feel free to correct me. These are things I've observed.