The Unexpected Marriage proposal

Believe or not, within 48 hours of being back in Nigeria, I got a marriage proposal, albeit from a total stranger! No wonder people asked if I was going to Nigeria in search of a husband…..

I was sitting in the Company airport shuttle with some other employees waiting for the bus to leave for our various hotels when out of no where one of guys in the bus asked me for my phone number. I had exchanged a few words with him earlier and although I was not particularly interested in this guy, I didn’t see any harm in making friends at my new location, so I gave him my recently acquired local mobile number. I got a call from him that night while I was enjoying my snails and French fries dinner; he wanted to know if I was ok. We chatted for a few minutes and said goodnight.

The next morning, I found out that I had forgotten to ask when the shuttle would come to the hotel to pick me up for my flight to Warri. I remembered I had the guy’s number from last night’s call and for a minute, I was glad I had given him my number. I called him and he informed me that the shuttle times are available at the reception with a phone number to contact the shuttle office. I thanked him and got off the phone.
I arrived at Osubi airstrip in Warri safely and once again I was thankful for the safe arrival of my four suitcases. With the help of the company’s welcome team, I was sitting in the company shuttle 10 minutes after I collected my last suitcase from the belt. The drive to the company’s guest house was uneventful, we had a police escort driving in front of the bus but there was no sign of any unrest. The roads were free and we were parked at the guest house reception in no time.

I arrived at the guest house to find out that the accommodation reserved for me was less than adequate for myself and my 6 pieces of luggage ( I had left 2 pieces of luggage with one of my new colleagues during my assignment preview trip). The room was way too small with very little closet space and to make matters worse the bathroom was outside the room. When the guy who was showing me to my accommodation announced that the bathroom was shared by two rooms in the house, I had heard enough. I told him, I couldn’t stay in the room and would like another one. I knew that there were better accommodations in the company guest house as I stayed in a room much bigger than the one I was just offered during my 5 day assignment preview trip, a few weeks back.

I ended up in a hotel that night because the receptionist at the company guest house informed me that they had no other vacant rooms. I checked into Wellington hotel in Warri as it was recommended as the safest hotel in town by a colleague, I won’t endorse the hotel because I was not impressed by their facilities, but they had bigger rooms with the bathroom inside the room so it was ok. They did have an AVIS car rental service. Although it worked differently from what I was used to in the US as it came with a driver ,that was pretty cool.
While I was in the hotel my new friend gave me a call to check that I arrived Warri safely, but when I got subsequent calls from him, I ignored the call as I was not in the best of moods after my accommodation hitch. He tried to call back a few more times, to the point where I found it annoying so I decided to ignore subsequent calls from him.

At this point I would like to let you know that my temporary housing issue was sorted out the next day when the HR on boarding team and the guest managers found me better accommodations at the guest house and apologized for my inconvenience. Now back to my marriage proposal…..

The next day, I got a few more calls from him which I ignored. Later in the day, I started getting some calls from another number which was unknown to me. I ignored the first 4 calls but picked up the call the fifth time around and was greeted by a complete stranger. The woman at the other end of the line introduced herself as a big sister to the guy I had given my number in Lagos and proceeded to tell me a little bit about their family and then she informed me that her brother wanted to marry me. I calmly told her that I found the request very surprising since her brother was a total stranger to me, to which she told me that it was understandable, but she would like for me to get to know her brother and hopefully marry into her “good” family.

That concludes the story of my first marriage proposal in Nigeria, and I said 1st because since then I have gotten a second one. And to answer any burning questions anyone may have; No I don’t see marriage to any of these two guys in my near future as I am not particularly interested in any of them but you never know, so stay tuned……

Arriving in Lagos

I arrived in Lagos July 6th, 2010 with an Aifrance flight. I have been traveling for almost 24 hours.... the flight from Paris to Lagos was delayed for over 3 hours. The good thing about traveling in an upper class cabin was the ability to alight early from the aircraft and beat immigration lines so I was done with immigration processing in no time.
As I stood in front of the luggage belt waiting for my luggage, I couldn't help but reflect on the reality of what I had just done. I just gave up my beautiful home in Katy, TX, being close to my immediate family who were all living in the US, great friends, and a 6 figure salary, not to mention an environment where things work as they should for the most part, to come back to Nigeria.... The fact that I was already missing my kids did not help matters as I plunged into a state of panic. What was I thinking? What if I totally hated living in Nigeria? What if this works out to be bad for my career? For my kids? The What if's continued to parade in my mind until I was jolted awake by someone asking "madam you haven't seen any of your bags?" I realized that the luggage had started coming out. I got all four suitcases and apart from one with a broken handle, everything seemed intact, even the unlocked luggage.

I was met outside the airport by my distant aunt who came to pick up a letter from my mom, and my company's logistic staff who pushed my cart and directed me to the company's shuttle bus. I spent my first night back in one of the guest suites at Protea hotel in Maryland. It was the best hotel I had stayed in Nigeria so far. Much nicer than Eko Suites in Victoria Island. The room was clean, the garden tub in my room was clean enough that I could have had a nice long bath but I was hungry and tired and opted for a quick shower before dinner. Their food was also much better than the food at Eko suites so if you ever need a hotel in Lagos, I would recommend Protea hotel in Maryland.
After dinner I returned to my room and called my family, I especially needed to hear my 2 year olds voice. I knew the next two months will be very long and lonely. I had made a very tough decision to leave my two sons behind with my parents while I set up in Nigeria to ensure a smooth transition for them. I went to bed on my first night in Nigeria missing a lot of things....but top on that list were my boys.