The 336th good thing about Lagos: learning to tie the Gele

 Many Nigerian women regularly wear something to cover their hair.  It's an easy solution when facing a bad hair day, and it's also an attractive way to accessorize an outfit.  Recently the American Women's Club had an evening activity where we learned to tie a head tie, sometimes called head wrap -- the formal head-dress is called a "gele."  I'm always in awe at the big gele that you see on the heads of Nigerian women at dressy events like weddings, and even church services.  Before weddings, the female guests are often given a gele of a certain color when they indicate they will attend.  The fabric may be different depending on if the guest is a friend or family of the bride or the groom.  But this practice of dressing alike, called aso-ebi, is sometimes manifested in guests from a particular group all using the same fabric to make their clothing, and sometimes it is women all wearing gele of the same fabric.  But even when the fabric is the same, the styles can differ wildly.

 I have been to a gele wrapping training session before, but it was time for a refresher course. 

Our Nigerian trainer was delightful and really knew her stuff.  She could tie the gele on others or on herself and it always looked good.

 The necessary item under the visible scarf is a hair net -- more sturdy than what a food service worker would wear.  It holds all the hair in and also gives the gele something to grip onto.

 She first showed us how to do a casual everyday head tie, with this turban style wrap using a soft scarf like a pashmina.

 I think this always looks great on black women and it sometimes looks good on white women, but not as consistently.  I would love to use this style, but I don't think I look very good with it.

We then practiced wrapping the formal gele.  The fabric that is used for this is very crisp -- I don't know if they use starch or something else.  But wrapping it around is very noisy and it almost feels like paper.  But it will hold the fold and can spread out very large and hold its shape for a long time. 

 I think these large and elaborate gele are so great -- I love to see all the different styles.

 The process can be difficult for the beginner.

 

And the finished product often looks a little odd on a white woman, in my opinion.

 But some women look great with a gele.  Here she is using the ase-oke cloth -- a traditional fabric that is made from narrow strips sewn together.  It's not as stiff as the other silk-type fabric.

It was fun to practice and experiment, but I doubt I'll be wearing a gele for an event any time soon.

The 324th good thing about Lagos: artists focusing on the issue of water

Last spring I went to a very interesting and unusual musical performance and photography and art exhibit which had been travelling to many venues in the country.  It was titled "Water No Get Enemy" after a famous Fela Kuti song.  Fela is probably the most famous Nigerian musical performer and was a pioneer of Afrobeat music.  But the exhibit really didn't have anything to do with him -- they just used the title of his song as a title and theme.  The organizers of this exhibition wanted to generate a consciousness about water and the problems of water supply and usage now and in the future.  The availability of a clean water supply is a huge problem in Nigeria, especially in the overpopulated metropolis of Lagos.  The infrastructure is not there to supply many in the population with running water at all -- many people are forced to buy jerry cans of water from sellers on the streets who pull them loaded in trailers.  And, of course, that water is just for cleaning.  We all have to buy purified water for drinking and cooking.  Many Nigerians buy plastic bags of water for drinking, while those with more means buy water in bottles, large and small.  Of course, this creates a huge increase of waste from all these bottles too.  Anyway, they had this exhibit of art with water as the focus and the concert I attended  was really wonderful.  It featured a Dutch pianist, Marcel Worms, who chose piano works of many styles and periods, that were composed with water as an inspiration.  He performed these works while a slide show of water photos were scrolling on a nearby screen.  It wasn't a super high-tech display -- that doesn't happen much in Lagos -- but it was still effective.  He spoke a bit to help interpret the works he would play.

 

 

Of course, I live a life of privilege in Lagos, but we still have issues with water.  Bad plumbing causes many breaks and ensuing floods.  Our water out of the tap is often brownish or heavily chlorinated, so I sometimes cringe to even wash with it.  And now and then, often with no explanation, we have no water coming out of the taps at all.  But for the most part, we have bottled water deliveries that take care of our need for purified water and I can use that for a sponge bath if my faucets are dry.  We are blessed to be spared the problems that many of the Nigerian poor deal with daily.  I remember when I was doing interviews for the AWC scholarship program and a college student was telling about the overcrowding in the hostel she lived in (what we in the States refer to as a dorm room).  She talked about how often the other girls in her room would use her bucket.  This bucket of water was what she used to wash with each day.  I'm sure college students in the USA would have a very difficult time adapting to those living conditions.  And I know in rural areas access to clean water is often a very troublesome issue.  I know it takes more than artists raising consciousness to deal with these issues.  I hope government officials are watching and will start working to address these challenges.

The 322nd good thing about Lagos: New sights of odd things in the Abeokuta market

 Last April I had an opportunity to visit Abeokuta with a group of girlfriends.  I had been there before (blogged here, here. and here.)  But I like the place, and it's always fun to have a day trip with friends.  We had a great day and I ended up having some new adventures. 

We started out visiting Olomu Rock, and the area where people hid out for years during various wars.

 We greeted the women at the shrine behind the rock and gave them a financial offering.

This time, instead of taking the easy stairs to the top of the rock, I took the ancient route, which began with some ladders between the rocks.

 It had some walkways,

and a final scramble up the side of the rock.  Fun!

 Made it to the top!

Some kids who were up on top looking for opportunities to "help" knew how to make an effective pose for photos.

Some fun dancing with one of the children up there.

 

One friend had family visiting from the States and so they took a picture on top with our entourage for the day.  Along with the policemen, I thought it was cute how the company security guys dressed up for the day looking very dapper in suits and ties.  Ladies don't travel unaccompanied in Nigeria!

 

Down from the rock, we headed to the market. 

 

There was normal stuff on the street, but then we headed back  into a different market.  I had never been to this part of Abeokuta before.  We found the ju-ju market! 

There was  some normal stuff, vegetables, gourds,

 some stuff that looked kind of normal, but I wasn't sure what this was....

 and then lots of weird stuff.  These are things that are believed to have some magical powers.

 

 Dried lizards and other animal parts,

 rocks, powders, natural soaps,

 bells and blades,

 and lots of rats on sticks.  Not sure what they were used for.  I failed to get a picture of it, but I have a good mental image of a little girl standing in a doorway holding a cellphone to her ear, with her other hand holding a rat on a stick.

 skulls of monkeys and who knows what else,

 

 lots of animal skins and parts,

 and then there's onions and other normal stuff right next to the strange stuff.

 

 Need some dried frogs?

 They had this pan covered up with the cloth, smoking something and the woman lifted the cloth to let us see what was inside:  rat on a stick!  Yum!  We declined to purchase any.

shells and horns

 not sure what these spiny things are -- we asked them, but I didn't understand what the guy said.

 and then some normal looking dried fish

 and gourds.

Ready for a nap?

 We decided to take a quick peek back at the fabric market.  This is my favorite building, the maternity center with the anatomical painting on the wall.  Of course we had to buy some fabric -- can't go to Abeokuta without fabric shopping.

 

And on the drive back we stopped along the road at the place where they sell yam pounders.  I've already got a couple of these.  They're kind of fun decorations -- never pounded yam in them, though.

 Some serious bargaining going on.

 Successful negotiations!  And then back to face the traffic back to Lagos on the drive home.

Fun day!