I'm moving to Nigeria next week. and although I am super excited to join Yomi and start this new chapter in our lives, I'll miss all my friends terribly! So here I've started this blog so that you guys can easily keep in touch and find out what I'm up to. I hope the internet connection is convenient enough to keep this thing up.
So we've been buying up a ton of stuff for our new home in Lagos. Renting an apartment is not like it is here....first, because there's no credit there, you have to put 2 years rent down up front. So we had to take a loan out to RENT! Then, the apartments don't come like they do in the states. We had to buy all our appliances - refrigerator, stove, even bathroom hardware -- towel bars, toilet roll holders, a generator since the electricity always goes out, and I think some drilling was involved to make sure we have a source of water. Our tiny little New York apartment which I will miss so much is a big mess.
Yesterday was my last day at Unilever so that this next week I'll spend getting personal affairs in order. For example, I got 3 months worth of malaria prevention pills today. After 3 months, I think I will stop ingesting the drugs and take my chances. It might make for some sick days, but hopefully my immune system will build itself up so that the symptoms hit me less and less. The pharmacist was actually Nigerian, and when he found out I was moving there, his demeanor changed to friendly. Somehow my prescription went from $137 to $5. OK, some of that was because the insurance didn't go through correctly, but I still think I would have paid a little more had it been someone else. And from what I can tell so far, his friendliness is example of what's to come!
So we've been buying up a ton of stuff for our new home in Lagos. Renting an apartment is not like it is here....first, because there's no credit there, you have to put 2 years rent down up front. So we had to take a loan out to RENT! Then, the apartments don't come like they do in the states. We had to buy all our appliances - refrigerator, stove, even bathroom hardware -- towel bars, toilet roll holders, a generator since the electricity always goes out, and I think some drilling was involved to make sure we have a source of water. Our tiny little New York apartment which I will miss so much is a big mess.
Yesterday was my last day at Unilever so that this next week I'll spend getting personal affairs in order. For example, I got 3 months worth of malaria prevention pills today. After 3 months, I think I will stop ingesting the drugs and take my chances. It might make for some sick days, but hopefully my immune system will build itself up so that the symptoms hit me less and less. The pharmacist was actually Nigerian, and when he found out I was moving there, his demeanor changed to friendly. Somehow my prescription went from $137 to $5. OK, some of that was because the insurance didn't go through correctly, but I still think I would have paid a little more had it been someone else. And from what I can tell so far, his friendliness is example of what's to come!
