Unceromonious Arrival!

Touchdown Lagos! I was pretty sure I'd be stranded at the airport for a few days because after three weeks of blatantly ignoring the simplest of my questions, my internship administration probably had no idea I was even arriving. Unexpectedly I was greeted right at the plane by a tall Nigerian man in a black suit and bright red tie who grabbed my bags, showed me my name on a list and deftly maneuvered me through all the customs lines. This was my first lesson in Africa – formality and structure may be dead but shit gets done.

At the hotel, the receptionist gets a bell man to take my luggage and I meet some of my future housemates, Aditya and Michael, before following the bell man to my room. He walks me away from the boys room to my room, shuts the door behind him and enters. Red flags immediately go up as I realize I’m in my hotel room with a strange man in a strange land. He turns around and gets right to the point:

Chris: “Can we meet up later tonight?”

Me: “Uhh.. I’ll be going to the restaurant with my friends.. you know the boys in the other room?”

Chris: “No I mean can we hook up later”

Me: “Haha.. are you joking? I have a boyfriend”

Chris: “Is he white?” (WTF!???)

Me: “No. Umm I have to go down and ask for the wireless password”

Chris: “It’s ok if you have a boyfriend – we can just hook up – I can come to your room later on"

Fuhreaked out, I run out of my room barefooted to go find my friends. After laughing for 5 straight minutes over my plight, Adi goes up to Chris and like the wonderful Indian that he is, talks him down diplomatically. An American would go to the manager, an African would go for a fight, but the Indian way always works. Within two minutes Chris is apologizing to me, giving Adi hugs and nodding in agreement at the fact that I'm a guest in his country. Adi and I were definitely going to be friends.

Despite this unceremonious welcome, the first night is relaxing as the three of us dip our feet into the hotel pool, drink wine and talk about what's in store. Lagos is going to be interesting...