DAY 18 - Finally Kuzu is in Lagos!!!

After an exhausting packing trip to Istanbul, we were back home with Kuzu - yeap, you heard me correct!!! I brought my cat after a veryy long trip. 
Actually I had planned for everything and all the plans turned upside down!! I talked to the Airlines and made the reservation for her days in advance. As I was told that she needed a separate and special cage for the cabin, I almost forced my dad to search ALL petshops on Bagdat Street to find the required cage in sizes 45x35x23. Fortunately, my Kuzu was light enough to fit into cabin since she only weighed 5.5 kg with the cage while the limit was 6 kg. 
During the flight, she was supposed to sleep at least half of the time. However, she woke up even before I was on board. While going through the final security control, she did not want to come of the cage and the security girl was understanding enough as she let us by-pass the x-ray. :)
On the plane, the hostess was welcoming with a question: "poor dear, what are you supposed to do in Nigeria??" :)))) We received the sympathy of almost everyone as my Kuzu was silent and curious sitting in her cage. After we took off, she started screaming as she did not want to stay in it. It was OK since she just slept on my knees under the blanket until the last hour of the flight. Needless to say, there was again a delay with Turkish Airlines and we could not take off for two hours & waited in the plane.
Just before we arrive Lagos, Kuzu got nervous and uneasy trying to go off my knees. I did not get it first but then it was obvious to me that she needed to pee. My poor baby tried her best to wait until she found the litter but just before we landed, she peed in her cage. It was a desperate moment for me since it started smelling pee in the cabin (although I cleaned it all) and I did not know what to do. It was the moment where I understood moms travelling with babies to a certain extent. :))
Then we moved to the end of the business seats and waited there for the plane to land.
The story did not end even after we landed. While waiting for the luggage, this time she continued and  it started smelling even worse. 12 hours of travel with a cat and long-waiting hours for luggage, I was a real walking dead.
When I thought that we were ready to go after I got my luggage, this time we had another problem - the Quarantine guy asking for the papers for import allowance of the car. I was like WHATTTT?? For 10 minutes, I tried to explain him the cat was not to import and sell here, instead to live with me. I think he saw my desperate face and started asking famous question in Nigeria: what does your husband do (because all the girls at my age are married with at least 1 kid) and whether I'd like to get married in Nigeria after I told him that I am not married. :)))))) Then he let me go after I paid him 100 USD. Hillarious!!!


It was a way long trip but guess it was worth it as we are getting used to Lagos together with my sweety and happy to say "so far so good" :)
Enjoying my bed and the blanket under which she was hiding at the first few days:

Morning glory :)

Working with me on the dining room table :)

DAY 17 - Bye bye Enugu if we can!

After the second day of consumer visits, it was time to get back home and for me, to real home - Istanbul! The plan was to come back to Lagos with 3.40pm flight and then I'd stay around the airport until 1am flight to Istanbul. Perfect!!!!

Unlike Lagos, Enugu Airport was silent and not that crowded, which made me relaxed at the beginning (no photo unfortunately as I was told not to take photos again :)). There was no online check-in with the local airlines so when we got to check-in desk, a surprise was waiting for us: NO ELECTRICITY! OMG, there is no electricity (which I can perfectly understand) but there is NO generator at the AIRPORT!!!!???? I was first worried about the check-in but after a few minutes of waiting, the lady at the counter decided to provide the check-in tickets manually (without the computer). I was just happy about the check-in but then when I looked true the window, my happiness went away quickly. There was no plane and there would not be any soon as there was no electricity and no radar working to guide the planes to the airport. The woman at the counter was so relaxed and said it happened all the time & sometimes the flight got cancelled or delayed to the next day. WHATT?? DELAYY??? I had a flight in 10 hours so I needed to find a way to Lagos in this 10 hours. 

We passed the security control and found a sit at the waiting lounge. To be honest, I was really nervous but we began to joke about it rather than getting frustrated. Moki (brand manager) and Dipo (research manager) started explaining their horrible flight stories how it was cancelled, how they were left without cash, how the flight ended in somewhere else, so on. I was laughing but also was checking the planes to see if there was any landing. 

After stressful 1 hour, the lady announced that our plane has just arrived and would be leaving with 1 hour delay!!!! yaaaaaayyyyyy

Everything was perfectly fine and we arrived Lagos with 1 hour delay.

My driver welcomed us at the gate and we went to nearest Sheraton for natural break and food until my flight.

While I was waiting for the flight at the lounge, a guy rushed into it to charge his laptop. He did not have the right plug for Nigeria and I was so generous and kind (with the positive feelings that I was going home :)) to lend the plug to him. Then we started chatted about what I was doing and the key question: where I was living. :) When I answer this question, the immediate reply has been "why" so far. And the trend did not change with this guy as well. I told him I was moving to Nigeria and he was shocked with my answer. We talked a few more words and then turned back to computer screens. After a few minutes, he asked the same question as he could not figure out why a girl like me (alone) would like to live in this country - which he described as the worst among African countries he had seen. I think I am developing an immunity to these type of questions / reactions as I found myself talking about the beauties of Nigeria (warm weather, easy life with driver & house keeper, good company & people, Africa experience, himm what else what else?? :))) and how I embraced it. Even I could not believe in myself how much I had digested everything in just three months. He was also surprised to see me so cool about the change and opened myself to the adventure. :)) Did I really embrace it faster than I thought? Now I cannot believe how fast a human-being can adapt to changing situations even in the negative direction.

Africa, here I come! what else can explain my feelings :)))

DAY 16 - Welcome to coal city - ENUGU

Ready for my third consumer immersion. This time I was more excited actually as the plan was to go to Enugu State and learn about the feminine care experience & brand preference of the consumers. To be honest, I did not have much information about Enugu and all I knew was it was on the east part of Nigeria. When somebody says "east", I am a bit worried as I was always told that Lagos was the safest part and all the trouble was in the "east". So were we going to the trouble now with all our freewill?? :))


If you'd really like to experience the meaning of "hectic", then best place to go is Lagos Domestic Airport. It was basically the airport with cues: one cue for check-in, the other for boarding pass control, another for security control and finally the last was for to get the bus to the plane. It was crazy and what is more crazy is that you cannot check-in online so you have to go through all these cues one by one. :)
At the same I was getting worried that we'd miss the flight, my teammates relieved me saying that we could jump from the cue to the front line if our flight gets closer - like 2 minute close!! :))) 
With all these cues, we made it and safely seated at our plane. 


Enugu is very different than Lagos. It is an Igbo state where one of the largest tribe in Nigeria resides. It is more like suburban town with houses (rather than apartments) in big gardens. The biggest difference was of course the traffic as it took us only 15 minutes to get to our city-center hotel from the airport. 
On the way from the airport, the team decided to withdraw money from one of the ATMs on the sides of the road. But don't imagine that it is an ATM machine standing on its own, rather it is an ATM machine protected by high steel doors. The driver honked and the security guys opened the door for us. While the others were withdrawing money, I stayed in the car surfing through the emails. I did not know this was a mistake as I was kicked out of the car by the driver saying that I needed to stay outside the car while we were waiting. WEIRD RULE #1 Then I called my boy friend to chat while waiting. WEIRD RULE #2 You can't talk on the phone as your phone can be the activator of an explosive. :)) Then I understood why the people were so paranoiac as they revealed the story that some terrorists shot a dozen of innocent people in front of this back a few years ago. They say those were the hard times and it is safer now. But WTFFFFFFFFFF, shot peoplee???? OMGGGGGGGGG


After this shock, we found our nice but isolated hotel before the start of consumer immersion. There was almost nobody except us but at least, it was a clean / decent hotel in the Igbo State. :)
Enjoy photos from the consumer homes that we visited and really stroke me:
This is the garden of the house where they wash the clothes and spread... 

Our shy consumer and her home! we started in English and then she switched to Igbo.. I could not take many pictures as her elder sis was a bit nervous due to our presence at their place!

Sweet Always user teen who was staying with her aunt to go to school in Enugu and who sang Always check check song from the beginning till the end :))

Our competitor user, Moki (Always brand manager) and myself:

and the closing notes are from Steve Jobs: 

• Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.Everything else is secondary
• Stay hungry, stay foolish!
• Sometimes life can hit you at the head with the brick, don't lose faith!

R.I.P. :(
http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html

DAY 14 - Long Weekend in Lagos

What would you do in Lagos over a three-day-weekend? You probably (and should) travel to other countries around here (Ghana, Cameroon, Senegal or even Kenya - Tanzania). What if you don't have your passport (for the temporary work permit application) with you, then you stay in town and ENJOY LAGOS!!! At least that's what we did for this weekend... And I did enjoy it and feel more  local now!!! :)


After we got lost on Friday  (kind of unpleasant welcome from US Consulate GOGOGOOGOGO :)) and ended up in a nice garden restaurant with awful meal but good music , we decided to go to a real nice restaurant with good food on Saturday night. Brenda suggested to go to this Brazilian barbecue place (if not US barbecue, we go to the Brazilian one!!) in VI called Churrasco. The set up was very nice as you pick one of the three menus: meat, chicken or seafood, and then they start serving the food until you faint. Plus you get side dishes from the open salad buffet! I don't even mention the drinks as you can find the different tastes of South Amerika as I had one of the best Pina Coladas in my life! 
Although the place is not the poshest ever, it looks very nice from the outside as it is just by the lagoon!

The next morning, I went for swimming in our nice pool with the ocean view. :) I hear JEALOUS JEALOUS JEALOUS :) Although it is winter here, who would say no for a swim when it is 28 degree Celsius out there - one of the best things about Nigeria!!

Then we decided to enjoy the sunny weather more and went to Eko Hotel in VI. Eko Hotel is probably one of the most active hotels hosting conventions, meetings, Gala dinners and the Fashion Show! Yes, when we got there, we learned that Lagos Fashion Show was starting on Wednesday and it was with the participation of Turkish companies. What a chance!! 

I loved Eko Hotel not only because of its pool side casual bar but also the delicious food at the Sky Bar/Restaurant which is located at the top of the hotel. I had the biggest king size prawn ever with delicious noodle as side! A definite must-go in Lagos.
Pool side bar with palm trees and relaxed people... It makes you feel that you are in a very exotic and indulging place rather than hectic Lagos atmosphere:)

Although I stayed in, I still enjoyed it and think I am getting used it faster than I thought! :) yayyyyy

DAY 12 - Happy Independence Day Nigeria (1 Oct 1960)!!

Key highlights of the Independence Day:

- Monday is official holiday so most people see it as a long weekend rather than a heroic celebration day!

- That's why; they just entertain themselves and the family so go for a vacation (out of town) or shopping (we were in this second group)
- We went to the biggest (out of three :)) shopping mall in Lagos - PALMS (http://thepalmsshopping.com/). It is a nice but small shopping mall with two (and only) hypermarkets (Shoprite & Game), pharmacies, shoe stores, Mango (only Mango in Lagos), Nike (only Nike in Lagos) and electronic shops (even an Apple store :)). Although it is small, we spent more than 2 hours there, which could be the world record for Palms :)) 
Nigeria's one of very few hypermarket Shoprite!

- On the way back, there was a talk on revolution and the people were calling in to express their feelings or the roadmap for a revolution, leading to better Nigeria! RE-VO-LU-TION??? I just came here, what revolution noww??

- Also we went to see a house in Banana Island. This is such a great neighborhood with outrageous prices however the houses can disappoint you with low quality construction. The door handles of the house were corroded already although it was brand new! Disappointing...

- We found an amazing Brazilian Barbecue place by the ocean in VI and the owner was Brazilian. Why would someone come all the way from Brazil and open a restaurant here??? Brenda says less competition and more money but I doubt that!!!

Cheers from Independent Nigeria! :)

DAY 11 - About to get shot while looking for the barbecue party!!!

I am a member of this expat community called internations.org and actually I find the site very useful to get to know around especially in a new place like this. A few days back, I saw an invitation for a barbecue party at the US Consulate on Friday evening. When I told this to my friends at the guest house, we all agreed to go there although we did not know anyone. But what could have happened? It was at the US Consulate (probably the safest place in Lagos) and we had an American citizen with us. Worst case, we could go there and enjoy the barbecue without paying attention to anyone. :))

Friday was a very busy day for me as I left the office very late and after that I went for house-hunting to see another house. When I got home, it was around 8pm and I totally forgot the party. Anyway, Brenda and Ike were ready waiting for me and Brenda said she already got the address of the consulate so that we could leave immediately to catch the party.

According to the address, the Consulate was in Victoria Island (15 minute drive away from Ikoyi) just by the ocean. It was perfect and we were pretty hungry. We arrived at the very first gate. There was security and when we told them we were looking for the party at the Consulate, they just told us to go straight and ask the security at the second gate. We were driving to find the second gate and then saw an entrance armored and protected by armed soldiers. We thought it was the right place from the extreme security we usually see US buildings but it did not seem that there was a party around. 

With all his goodwill, my driver (Kingsley) slowed down and stopped to ask whether the armed guy knew where the barbecue party was. Suddenlt, the guy started shouting "GOGOGOGOGOOGOGOGOGOOGOGOGOOGOOOOOOOOOO". Lastly I yelled at Kingsley let's goooooooo!!!! The guy was seriously planning to shoot us and my poor driver was trying to find the party place! I and Brenda were shocked but Kingsley was upset more about the rudeness of the security! This is Nigeria and this is Nigerian of thinking as they say :)))

Luckily, Brenda had a back-up option which she found-out on nigerianlife.com and there was a live band playing in the garden of a conference center. Although the food was really poor, the band and the spontaneous singers of the band made our night! :)

A little taste of the music! just listen :)

When I got back home, I saw an email from the party owner saying that the party was at the US Consulate Recreational Center in Ikoyi!! Of course, I did not disclose this small detail to my friends :)) but it was another fun night in Lagos!

DAY 10 - Second consumer immersion!!!!

After the first high-heels-jumping-in-the-rain experience, I was ready for my second consumer visit. This time it was smoother than the first one because it was a focus group discussion conducted by a research agency. All I needed to do was to be there and listen to the consumers! Great, it sounds pretty easy!!! Easy?? In Nigeria??? :))

I went there with a friend from Research & Development (Brenda - she is my roommate at the guest house as well) and we were pretty equipped as we bought our lunch on the way in case there is no lunch at the agency. I had the address and we easily found the street. However; the play was an old building which had an entrance from the gas station. It was weird actually as why would a research agency have a gas station entrance? We later learned that there was a hotel behind the gas station and the research was at that hotel. Hotel? Research?  When she saw me shocked, Brenda explained to me that in Nigeria consumer focus groups were happening in hotels as most research agencies do not have the necessary facilities. 

This is the place where the research was happening. Hardly call a hotel... :)

 

We went into the hotel and the set-up was that one of them rooms was the discussion room where the moderator and the respondents were discussing and in the other room P&G people were watching the discussion through a flat TV. But the facilities were pretty poor (as you can see above) and the connection was really bad as we were hardly listening. At some point the team decided to go into the discussion room to watch it live and I decided to follow them after I use the bathroom! But it was a big mistake!!!

At the time I was out from the bathroom, everybody was gone (normally) and the door was closed (normally). But I did not think that it was locked!!! Since everybody (except me) was in the other room and all the stuff (bags, luggages) was in this room, the lady from the agency had locked the door of the room that I was in. 

The first feeling was panic! OMG, what am I supposed to do?? Although I had my cell phone with me, I did not know whom to call: P&G office, general manager, my manager in Geneva!!! All stupid options passed my mind very quickly until I re-gained the control. I started knocking the door to ask for help but noone seemed to be around! Sh.t!! what am I supposed to do? what am I supposed to do? Then a birilliant idea came to me: CALL THE RECEPTION! And here is the conversation:

- Hi, I am locked in a room!!! help me plz
- Hi Mam, are you locked in a room? what do you mean? you don't have the keys?
- If I had the keys, I would have opened it. Of course, I don't have the keys. Plz. help me!
- OK, which room is it?
- Hmm, I have no idea! :))
- You are locked in a room which you don't know the number?
- Hmm, focus group room.
- It cannot be focus group room mam, there are 9 people doing discussion there.
- No, not the discussion room, the watching room...


This hilarious conversation ended with some voices in the corridor! I ran to the door and started knocking the door again asking for help! And the same set of conversation happened there again: - help me, I'm locked here - don't you have the keys - if I had, I wouldn't bother you.... then finally the lady from the agency came and opened the door! Hugged me with apologies!! Hugg?? :)))) 


I am waiting for the new adventures on my third consumer visit to the east of Nigeria next week. Stay tuned!! :)