Hmm, In Nigeria We Would've...

One of the interesting things about being back in the US for a month and a half has been how often we compare life here to what it was like for us in Nigeria, or how we think Nigerians would've reacted to certain situations. One of the first examples of this was the day after we left Nigeria. We spent a few days in Amsterdam with my brother and the first thing that was obvious (besides how cold it was - 60's F) was how much water was everywhere. The Netherlands is right on the ocean, and it rained while we were there. It's a country where canals criss cross the landscape resulting in beautifully green pastures for cows and sheep. Now irrigation wasn't so odd, but seeing fountains there strictly for the beauty of watching water cascade in arches from the mouths of strange creatures sculpted from bronze certainly was. It struck us that in Nigeria it would've seemed wasteful and extravagant, especially in the dry part of the year we experienced in March and April. In the Netherlands, it was a nice display for people to watch in the park.

Barbara has now been through the first week and a half of her residency program here in Portland, and the first week was largely orientation. I should probably let her tell this story, but I'm not sure when she'll have time (she came home after a 16 hour workday on Sunday :( ). During orientation, she and her fellow new interns were given a briefing on how to use a rather expensive mask when dealing with patients who have tuberculosis, which is transmitted via the air. She turned to another intern who did a medical rotation in west Africa and asked, "Did you ever wear anything for tuberculosis in Africa?" No, was the immediate response. The person instructing them in the use of the mask said that in the past 20 or so years, he's only had to use it about 5 times. In Nigeria, there was no counting how many patients you would come across with tuberculosis in a single day, and Barbara never wore a mask. She'd wash up after every patient, and the kids with it would often sneeze on her, but thank God she didn't catch it. It struck me that the real difference here isn't that you're particularly likely to catch it (if you were, Barbara would have it by now), but rather that because it's so uncommon here, if you were to pass it on to another patient you'd be in for a world of trouble. It wasn't economical, and certainly not practical to wear a mask for every patient in Nigeria that had the disease. The American Lung Association puts TB at about 5.1 cases per 100,000 Americans. However, around the world, there's a new infection every second, according to the World Health Organization.

There's countless other times that we think about how our life here is different from life in Nigeria. Traditional Nigerian clothing seems much more practical than western wear. In the US, we shop all sorts of different stores until we find something that we like the fabric, style, and fit of. Traditional Nigerian clothes were tailored after the fabric was chosen to a style that you discussed with the tailor (the photo is of the tailor that made Barbara's two Nigerian outfits). How much easier is that! I've also discovered that even though I didn't spend a whole lot of time in cars in Nigeria, the freedom of expression used with the car horn has translated somewhat into my bones. I honk at other cars a lot more freely here, and Barb laughs at me everytime.

I think one of the questions that arises is really what we learn from comparing the two cultures, and that's pretty hard to say. It's not something I feel like I'll have figured out in a month and a half, or even probably a year and a half. It's going to take a long time. I will say that some of the comparisons really have informed me about how people are different in different cultures. We value different things and we react to the same events differently. I don't think I'd have as much insight into that if had spent less time in Nigeria, and I also think I'd understand to a much greater extent if I'd spent more time there. Some of the comparisons are merely, ok, we're different and that's ok. Others are more along the lines of, hmm, we really seem to have things backward here, or hmm, they've missed the boat on that over there. Both places could use change, and both places could learn from each other. One question that has plagued me is whether or not the good things from both are compatible in the same society, and for many of them, I just don't know.

We're In Portland!

Today our stuff arrived at our new home in Portland and the long process of unpacking begins. The picture here is of us at Grinnell Lake in Glacier National Park, which is located in northwest Montana, a cold and desolate place that just happens to be amazingly beautiful. Our friend Jason assures us that the part of Montana he comes from is far more boring, so we're not as jealous of his hometown as we might've been.

We left Madison on the 9th after selling our old house, and arrived here in Portland on the 15th. In the meantime, we went to Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, Devil's Tower, and spent two days hiking in Glacier. Yes, we stopped at Wall Drug. Yes, it's just as unexciting as everyone who's been there claims it to be. It's really just a big store. That's it. Plus, you can only get legal drugs. I'm certain that most other places that sell drugs from or up against a wall sell the good stuff, but Wall Drug was a disappointment in that regard. Oh, and we saw the battle field where Custer made his last stand in one of those famous moments of ill-addvised machismo that pervades American culture (the Alamo, anyone?).

Anyway, we had a really good time in Glacier, and although we couldn't actually go to any of the glaciers (the trails were closed because they were still too dangerous from the snow), we could see them from lower down. Plus, there was lots of other snow. We went up to Logan Pass and enjoyed a good snowball fight. Actually, I threw a snowball at Barb and she yelled at me and that was it. Actually, I didn't even throw it AT her, I intentionally threw it in front of her and she STILL yelled at me. Next time I'll probably just hit her to make it worth the response I'm destined to get. So Logan pass was covered in snow even in June, which was really fun becase it was about 70 F out and so the snow was nice and refreshing. And there was a Dutch biker gang.

So we drove on through eastern Washington/Oregon which is a miserably desolate part of the country, but were excited to reach Portland where there was once again trees and greenery. The weather out here is beautifully sunny every day. Most days we've been able to see Mt. Hood while driving around. Anyway, we miss you folks and will be writing more about Nigeria again once we get settled in. Who knows when that will be given how many boxes we have! We won't have internet at home for another week or so either. Happy 1st day of summer!