KD city

I'm in Kaduna, blogging from my phone at 3am. After a day of dayjob jawjaw yesterday I went in search of kaduna treats. The first lebanese restaurant listed in the guide book had closed down, the second-Byblos- was not yet open for the evening's business. The driver then took me to a quiet road and told me the nearest gate was also a lebanese restaurant. It didn't look like much. He went inside and soon enough a middle eastern guy in his mid thirties came and welcomed me to Sou's Place.

Inside we came to an open courtyard with thatched huts and banana trees, and a larger dance floor space to the side. I ordered a Heineken and pizza with no cheese- there was no fatoush. The guy came to chat. He had a slightly nervous stance, like a bird on a branch. He told me his place is a favoured hang out with the big men of kaduna.I suggested he tile the low walls with small moroccan tiles. He thought for a second and said I am going to do that- that is a good idea. The converstion was a little stilted. He left me for a while.

Then, two white guys arrived. I thought at first they were gay because of the beefy arms and shaven heads, until I caught some of the conversation. They were American soldiers, swapping combat stories.One told an exciteable tale of swooping down a valley in Afghanistan in an Apache and conducting an 'L formation' ambush and 'taking out' nine men.His language was peppered with tactical acronyms, such as 'QRF's' and 'J amps'. I considered the reality of war, and the video game version of it this man had. There was a necessity to his converstion nonetheless. He had to talk about these things- the reality of the lives that were lost insisting within the boy wonder magic of his talk...

After about an hour my pizza came. The base was layered with cheese. Oh well.

Back in the hotel,
I watched Chelsea in the second half against a Norwegian team. The ground was half empty. I was too tired to be bored, and too bored to be tired.

And now I cannot sleep. The radio-alarm clock keeps making a noise and there is no way of turning it off without
smashing it.