That time I went back to Asia... Or "Thailand & Timor-Leste Adventures"

I've been on the African continent for less than a year, but I've already been back to Asia twice. One of the trips was not even planned, but I'll write more about that below.

Both of my travel routes 

Just when my work was starting to get a little overwhelming, I asked for some vacation time. I definitely needed an escape. Even when my job was not this stressful, I had to board a plane at least two times a year. It just relaxes me. Since I began this job I have been travelling a lot for work - Niger, Sokoto, Kwara, Cross River... but travelling for work (in Nigeria) is not as fun as I thought it would be... Neither the hotels, nor the food, nor the measly per diem I get make me excited to leave my bed. In fact they leave me more stressed out than I would be if I just stayed home. Anyway, I have a website that I check obsessively. If you're a travel junkie, you're probably aware of it. It's called sky scanner. Simply put in your current location and search everywhere (yes you read that right).

When I put it in, I somehow imagined that my next trip would be to somewhere in Africa. After all I am in Africa, so the proximity should equate to cheap prices right? WRONG. The ticket from Abuja to Thailand showed me $620 round-trip. Although I had been to Thailand twice and was looking for a new country to explore it was too cheap to pass up. I mean what's not to love about Thailand? I jumped on it immediately, thus making it my second most visited country excluding countries I've lived in (the winner being Japan with a total of 5 visits).

 The week before I left for my vacation was a particularly stressful one. I had a workshop training in Calabar, and my flight back to Abuja left me less than 24 hours to pack before I boarded the flights to Thailand. Additionally, it was in the middle of the Ebola scare in Nigeria, which left me terrified that I would spend the entirety of my 12 day vacation in quarantine.

Thailand (September 1-13, 2014)

Interesting fact: I've been to all but 3 cities shown on this map

 The journey from Abuja to Addis via Ethiopian air was uneventful, but the plane from Addis to Bangkok was much smaller than I anticipated. Luckily for me, a really nice Polish guy named David sat next to me, and we had really good conversation. He gave me his number to contact him in Bangkok so we could meet up when I returned (I was heading to Phuket), and promised that he would one day visit Nigeria as well (not holding my breath on that one).

Hotel Room Selfie

When I got to Bangkok however, I made the mistake of being too truthful and letting them know I had been in Nigeria within the last 24 hours (I could have just claimed I came from Addis I think). Well I hadn't thought to bring my yellow card (with all my immunization records) and I was coming from a country that had Ebola... I was screwed. My only saving grace was that I had a US passport, otherwise they may not have let me in the country. After making me pay 500 THB (about $15) for a yellow fever shot and making sure I didn't have Ebola, I was free to leave (a mere 2 hours later - ugh). I was so exhausted so I immediately booked my ticket for Phuket for the next day (I had just missed the last flight) so I could take the shuttle over to the domestic airport (you cannot board without a ticket) for the next day. Not caring about my budget I checked into the nice hotel at the airport Amari Hotel Don Mueang, ordered myself some room service, and watched Korean television until I passed out (there's no Korean TV in Nigeria, stop judging me!)

Thai Delciousness

 The next morning I took a plane to paradise. I got to the place I was staying -. Since I was travelling alone, I booked myself a private room in a backpacker hostel. That way, I had my own privacy but could meet other young ones. It was fantastic. Despite having been to that part of Thailand before - I visited Krabi and Koh Phi Phi on my 2010 backpacking tour - I hadn't been to Phuket itself. That Island is CRAZY! I booked myself a ton of tours to keep myself occupied. I got massages and took a cooking class. I found a place that had cross-fit. I partied at night with other like-minded people. I shopped till I dropped. I became famous for the few days I was there, men would yell out "Hello Beautiful eyes, it's you again". People guessed I was from every country under the sun. I can see why I love being in Asia - I love the attention and being exotic.

I went on several tours, and I even took a cooking class, so if you need me to whip you up some Tom Yum Gai,  let's just go to a Thai Restaurant let me know.

James Bond Island

Beach at Sunset with Beer

 While I was in Phuket, I found out I had won a travel scholarship to visit East Timor for a mobile health workshop the following month (October). I was over the moon. I left Phuket back to Bangkok, where I did all the things I had not done on previous trips to Bangkok. Then, I was told my flight had been moved a day later, so Ethiopian air put me in a hotel, paid for all my meals and gave me a $250 travel voucher for my next trip. Totally worth it, and a much needed vacation.

  Timor Leste (October 19 - 26, 2014)

Sunset from Timor Plaza, Dili

 About a month and a half later , I was off to Dili in East Timor (also known as Timor-Leste). At the time of departure, I could not fathom what a massive undertaking it would be to visit such a remote part of the world from Abuja. My first two flights were with Lufthansa. I would go from Abuja to Frankfurt, then to Singapore before getting to go to Dili. The layover at Frankfurt was 7 hours so I decided to make the most of my time by seeing the city. In the end Frankfurt wasn't really that great (sorry).

Vino Verde

 My trip to Timor-Leste was amazing. My first international, professional workshop, and I got to meet people from all different countries, and endless networking opportunities. What I learned was invaluable. How to implement a successful m-Health program and the varying stages one must go through.

Souvenirs from Dili

We flew in this plane to Manufahi

Oh, and I got to fly in a med-evac plane. We even witnessed a historic signing between the NGO and the Telecom organization. Plus great Portuguese/Indonesian influenced food and wine. It was amazing. Because the time was so short (just a week) I spent more time flying than actually in Dili. On my return I stuffed my face with goodies at the Singapore Airport, and was forced to check my luggage at the Frankfurt airport (long story) which gave me a chance to go shopping (again I am very aware of the fortune of being a US citizen in situations like this... so lucky). I got home thoroughly exhausted, and honestly have been trying to recover ever since.   But I have a feeling it won't be that long before I'm back on the continent again (I'm looking at you Seoul)

P.S. I didn't go into too much detail about the trips as this is a Nigeria blog, but if we're facebook friends check out the Albums (click on the name to access it). I've got tons of pictures:

• Thailand
• Timor Leste 

Flip Side of the Coin: The Expat Bubble

I'd mentioned before that I'd like to try (in as much as it is possible) to write the positives I can see about Nigeria. To be honest, a part of me feels like that is a dis-service to honest discourse that needs to be had about what exactly is the matter with Nigeria, but I promised my parents I would try not to make this an (overly) political blog, as freedom of speech is not as much a guaranteed right here as I am used to in America.

Ironically, the first positive thing I am going to talk about in Nigeria is not related to Nigerians, but to living as an expat in Nigeria. It can also apply to the (upper)middle class to wealthy Nigerians, but they still get to live outside the expat bubble unless they actively choose not to, so it's a bit different. I don't get to live in the bubble per say, as I am in a rather unique situation, but I get to interact with those that do, and it's where I am most comfortable. You see I feel I am as much an expat in Nigeria as let's say, Korean-Americans are in Korea, they are, but they aren't... (I call myself a returnee, I guess, and there are others like me)

For the Health Conscious - Eating Gluten-Free

What most Nigerians said when they heard I was vegetarian

I should start of by saying; I have the world’s most accommodating mother. My freshman year of college, I decided to become a vegetarian. A Nigerian vegetarian is almost unheard of. I think she realized at an early age that I wasn't a "normal" Nigerian kid anyways. My mom learnt (excuse my British spelling – learned to you Americans) to modify her cooking for me. She didn't have to, but she did and I love her for it.

I'm not dead ...yet

Nope, I haven't forgotten my blog.  In fact, I have somewhere between 7 and 10 new posts coming up. In the past three weeks though, I have been traveling quite a bit for work, often with unstable electricity and/or internet connection (and security, but that's another story). I usually have a computer with me though, so I just type my feelings into MS Word, and eventually I will upload them here. It takes a bit of work (not the typing but the editing) to make the posts presentable, and add in photos and links etc. Kudos to the people who blog professionally, and even more so to my favorite video blog of all time Eat Your Kimchi (Simon and Martina, I don't know how you do it, and although I don't watch your videos anymore because they make me miss Korea too much - coping mechanism, suck it- I have mad respect for you). Matter of fact I have took the day off work today, so I am catching up on much needed relaxation time.

So where are you from? (Part 2)

Let's continue where I left off.

So, In Part One, I had told you my mother is 100% Nigerian, but I may be lying. Her grandmother and mother were almost as light as I am. She has cousins just as light as I am. In that region of Nigeria, there are many people who are light. So my hypothesis is that since that region has had interaction with white people for centuries, maybe somebody's daddy was a random sailor from a ship who headed back to Europe, and it was never talked about.  It’s our ongoing family joke. But I don't know if it's true or not. And it doesn't really even matter.

So where are you from? (Part 1)

Disclaimer: People have been asking for this post, and I was reluctant to write it. I felt that my ethnic background, and what I aim to achieve with this blog, are totally separate entities and therefore irrelevant. I don’t want to take away from the discourse, but in the end I was convinced to go ahead and write it, to give people an insight as to what shaped my decision to come to Nigeria.

JM2K: Just my two Kobo; the first of many...

I have decided I am going to have a portion of my blog where I voice certain things I am thinking about what I have seen so far. They won't necessarily be long or elaborate posts, just observations here and there about any and everything that crosses my mind. Opinion posts if you will (which shouldn't be confused with my informational ones). In my head, I even have delusions of grandeur fantasies of filming myself. We'll see what happens with that. Since I probably will barely be able to keep up with writing I won't make any promises.

Ma Raison d'etre : What I hope to achieve

Good, not so good and bad.

This blog exists for me to express all and any feelings I might have about life in Nigeria. I started it because I think a lot everyday about why I am in Nigeria, how I got here, and what I can do to make it better. I don't know if that is a lot, but it's worth a try. Every little bit helps, right? 

You moved where? How I ended up here.

My mom had been suggesting I move to Nigeria for a while. As you may or may not be aware, I had been living in Korea for quite some time. I knew it was time to leave, but I was being stubborn. You see life was comfortable there, and while I could not do what I dreamed of, I had everything I needed to be physically satiated, although mentally (when I allowed myself a moment with my thoughts) I was torn and confused.