Shopping 4U

 

Weekly shopping trips happen on Tuesday evenings, with a bus provided for a limited number of staff going to one of the acceptable supermarkets in Abuja. My early experiences were very educational, as I learned what I could get, where to find it, and how often it might be available. I really couldn't think past, "Does anyone know where to buy foil?" 

Now I am more accepting of the produce I find and can sit back and reflect on the experience of shopping in Abuja. First, we pick up an armed guard with an AK-47 and wearing camo.  He rides shotgun (literally) to provide a deterrent to kidnappers. One bus forgot to pick up their body guard, and we all got an earful from the angry security officer. 

We unload at the store and mask up. Depending on the store, and the week, we might find milk and cheese, and I am tempted to hoard when I see tonic water. However, I am going to have to carry everything I buy and so I don't go crazy.  Many cans and packages look like they came from the UK 5 years ago.  I have bought some real mistakes, like pounded yam powder and frozen fish sticks. But I have also learned how where to find decent coffee and crackers. Our diet is quite simple, and I can always find chicken, eggs and bread.

4U is one of our regular stores, and it has a great deli for fresh hummus and olives. Before entering I visit the food van parked out front to order a shawarma or Chinese to go. I avoid making eye contact with the fruit and nut vendors. These men and women hang around the parking area with the season's fruit piled into their head pans. The men carry oranges and bananas, the women have  avocado, where the little girls always carry nuts. Once I made the mistake of asking one the price of a hand of bananas. A large group immediately surrounded me, hounding me to buy their produce. Things got out of hand when produce started falling from over head and landing on me.

I learned to make it to the safety of the bus before asking for bananas. It is easier to negotiate a price when you are able to get away. One of my colleagues believes in doing her good deeds each week by giving out 1000 Naira notes as gifts. You can imagine the scene like t-shirts being fired from a cannon. The crowd goes wild. 

Most of what I have seen of this country is from the bus window on our weekly shopping trip. I window shop the huge variety of plants for sale along the side of the road. I wish we could stop and I could buy some, but then again, where would I put them? I enjoy the flame trees that blaze with orange red flowers all over town.  I try to take pictures of all the hawkers selling cheap goods through car windows. I understand why I am discouraged from taking a taxi when we pass a car so dilapidated and loud it hardly runs. Still, 6 passengers will pile in, often fighting off others for a seat. The tuk tuks (known as keke here) are fun to watch, but strictly not for expats. Riding one of those you would be just asking to be robbed.

I do appreciate a talkative Uber driver. They can explain some oddities on the side of the road. Like why men sit on upturned wheelbarrows by the side of the road. Apparently they are waiting to be hired for the day (although I still don't understand why I see them sitting there in the evenings); and why we suddenly encounter oncoming traffic on our right of way. 

Other scenes need no explanation.  I am amazed that a women can urinate on the side of the road without undressing, squatting down or dislodging the load she is balancing on her head. Remarkable and shameless.  On the whole most Abujans dress much better than us expats. It is rare to see a woman without a wig or elaborate hairstyle, dressed to the nines in sequins and ruffles. The men, also, would never go out dirty or in jeans. 

A combination of COVID and safety measures have severely restricted my movements around this country; down to one shopping trip a week. I heard one other staff member declare that if next year is the same, then she's not coming back. But I wonder if life was any different before COVID. Did expats travel down to Lagos for the weekend? Did they go out camping or hiking in the bush? I am sorry to say that my life will probably not change that much as an expat in Abuja in the future.  And now I look back on my childhood and days as a young expat wife with amazement. No, traveling in Nigeria will never be like that again.