National Strike!

It has been about a week since I have returned to Nigeria. It took me a little more than half of the week to slowly get back into gear and fight the jet lag--I don't know why it is so much more difficult this time around-- and sitting in class all day relearning basic Epi hasn't helped my energy level (read: snooze). It has been eerily quiet here too; since President Goodluck Jonathan (yes, that is his first and last name, I didn't invert it) decided to cut the fuel subsidies that has kept petrol prices so low for the Nigerians, the sudden increase in petrol prices has incited a nationwide strike that started on Monday and has continued... Not sure when it will be over. The labor unions are striking and maintaining their stance until the fuel subsidy is put back into place, but the federal government here doesn't seem to be budging. What does that mean for me? Well, I don't have a car, but since I rely on taxis to get everywhere, and most, if not all of the taxi drivers are on strike, I am basically under house arrest, since I don't have a means of transportation. Thankfully (or not), a few of our American colleagues at the CDC have been able to swing by and pick us up and drop us off to and from the office. None of the businesses are open either; I have been living on ramen for the last week, although I guess it isn't too diffent from how I was eating prior to the strike, haha...but I wasn't even able to get staples like milk and eggs until yesterday. One of the western style markets, catered more to the expat community here, opened for about 2 hours during lunch to allow the diplomatic community to stock up. It was craycray, to say the least-- kind of like that frenzied rush that hou see on the Price Is Right... Jess and I ran up and down the aisles, grabbing 8 cartons of milk, super huge crate of eggs, people were just hoarding food like there was an impending nuclear war or something... Not sure how long this Strike is going to last... People are going to need to make money and feed themselves soon, but I don't know how they are going to do it if they keep at this... Whole country has come to a standstill and day to day activities are crippled... Although it definitely makes for some easy traffic, since there are barely any cars on the road. I guess I should relish in the peace and quiet before everything starts to get crazy hectic again... Let's just hope that it doesn't deterioriate into some kind of chaos, although thr unrest in thr North from Boko Haram isn't helping the overall situation. Will update more when something actually happens o_O