You Make Me Feel Like Dancing

Today we began at the history museum (but they don't allow pics!). It had great artifacts. They have stuff dating back to the Stone Age which were found in Nigeria. They also had stuff from the Nok culture which is one of the oldest Iron Age cultures in the world (900 BC-200 AD). They also had a display on currency which was interesting b/c with a cup of cowry shells you could pay the bride wealth for a wife or you could buy a slave. [Note to those who don't know what bride price is, it is a gift to the bride's family to ease their pain at loosing their daughter in marriage, more or less. It is not the buying of a wife]. Feathers were also used as currency but it didn't specify what kind of feathers--it must have been special kind of birds. Being from KY, I also found the tobacco roll an interesting form of currency.

After the museum we shopped a little bit. This morning was sunny and warm--perhaps the sunniest of our trip. We stopped at Mr. Biggs for fast food lunch. I thought fried rice would be safe, but they put too much pepper in it for my tastes. In the afternoon we met with a paramount chief (aka king) who is the traditional leader of this whole area. In Africa, most places have both traditional rulers working along side of state governments. Often their domain is separate, but sometimes there is conflict b/c they are ruling over the same areas (i.e., divorce).

He was a nice guy and sounded very old, but it was hard to tell by looking at him. He wore a green robe and it was simple regalia compared to the Asante king (however, that may be a factor of the time he received us). He is a dr. but I'm not for sure if that is med or PhD. Our meeting began with a Christian prayer (90% of Jos in Christian, but just north of here is primarily Muslim and shira law). I asked him if there is a queen mother like in Asante (Ghana) culture, and he said that his wife is a queen and she is concerned with women's affairs. He also emphasized that politics does not mean killing everybody. This area is very peaceful and someone asked how he helps mediate disputes in other areas. His answer I thought was interesting--many people blame the conflicts on religion (which oversimplifies the problem), but then he asks them if they all serve one God and when they answer yes he says then why do you fight?

This evening was perhaps the highlight thus far. We returned to campus for a performance from the theater dept. It was EXCELLENT. The play was written by a male graduate as well as being acted by the students. They did a fabulous job. They began with African dance (I'm not for sure if it was traditional or modern as modern incorporates the traditional). Forget belly dancing--if you want an abdominal workout get in touch with your inner African (which is more difficult for some of us who are rhythmically challenged). The play was called "Trading Places" and it was about how much work women do and how little respect they get from their husbands in the "traditional" villages. It also dealt with the issues of domestic abuse, both physical and verbal (which are still serious problems in the US). I thought they did a great job of addressing these themes in a very entertaining way.

BTW postcards have been impossible to find. We are working on it, but this is something we should have brought up with the minister of tourism! I also have more pics, but the computer isn't reading the camera.