Hello Everyone,

And a very Happy New Month to you! If this is your first time listening, I want to welcome you and also say that I am happy you are here.

In my next few blog posts, I will be sharing about my trip to Nigeria.

In the last podcast episode, I had mentioned that my younger brother had passed away and I had gone home to Nigeria to pay my respects and be part of the funeral. In the time I was there, I was in the city Lafia and for some reason, we had little to no electricity.

In the US, people might worry about the lack of electricity being an issue but there, my family members did not seem to be worried about it. They only planned to cook just the amount of food that was needed for the people who were home, and the need to have their phones charged which they would do by turning on the generator.

I, on the other hand, was not loving this. It was HOT and no electricity meant no cold water and or cold anything to drink… Yes, I will say that I have become too accustomed to having cold water from the fridge.

Moving on. ..

To cook, one had to go to the market. Now, going to the market is not like going to Walmart/ Meijer/ Kroger or Publix or any of your neighborhood grocer here in the States. Going to the market was more like going to a farmers market and then some. Most of the fresh produce that was sold was grown by the people selling it or was sold by people who bought from people who grew it. Depending on what you needed to buy, you might need to go to a certain market, at a certain time or day but, for the most part, you would find what you needed.

We arrived at the market and I will tell you it has been a while since I saw that many people in the same spot. It was loud, and a bit chaotic. There were people in stalls, people selling their wares on wheelbarrows, girls/ women selling stuff on metal trays very well balanced on their heads. I had missed this, it was good to see this again.

There is sooooo much fresh foods my dears and the sun shining on these fresh foods I would say made it all the more appealing to me. There were tomatoes, peppers, green vegetables, beef, fish, fruits, sugar cane, and so much more.

A few things to note:

-Should you desire and or decide to travel and visit the markets; you should know that the meats especially beef is not wrapped and or sold from the refrigerator (like in the States) but it is sold right there on top of the table. It is pretty much from the butcher house to the market and when you purchase it, it is from the butcher house to your house. The butcher or meat seller would usually swat of the flies to keep them away but you know those things do not get the message so they come back. I will tell you that when you purchase your meat, wash it at home and cook it thoroughly- there is no such thing as rare or medium-rare cooking here!

-Some of the fruits and vegetables are sold off mats on the floor and or from the wheelbarrow. The one thing I will advise you is that do not let this deter you, buy the quantity you need or want and then wash it when you get home and then enjoy your purchase.

I will give you an example: when we got there, we were offered the African garden egg (in the States I will say it looks like the Thai eggplant) and spicy peanut butter which I ate with relish. I cannot tell you how long it has been since I had this combo but I will say it was delicious. We also found guava in the market and I washed mine with bottled water and ate a little bit of it. The skin was too dense for me, I am used to the guava we have in southern Nigeria where the skin is thin and the middle of the guava is pink- you see in the pic the middle of the guava is not pink.

There was so much food and I WILL add that if I was going to strictly have a mostly vegetarian diet, it would be easy to do it when I am home because the fresh “organic” food is very very cheap. And you can get it every single day- no such thing as seasonal and so on.

One caveat I will add to all this talk of food is that if as an American you mention you are traveling to Nigeria and or other countries you have to see your primary care doc and or visit the international clinic before you travel. You would be told what you can eat and the medication you should have -anti-typhoid, anti-malaria and diarrhea medicine to name a few. Listen to your medical team and do what they tell you.

I washed my fruits with bottled water and drank bottled water and prayed to not be sick and thank God I was not. I had made up my mind that I will not be afraid to eat good food and I tell you, I enjoyed everything I ate.

So if you want to travel, keep these points in mind