Journalist - English 2013-06-07T18:24:13+02:00 Vasilis http://www.fvz-journaliste.nl/english.php vasilis@vasilis.nl tag:femkevanzeijl,2013:FemkevanZeijl Pivot Copyright (c) 2013, Authors of Femke van Zeijl 2013-06-07T18:15:00+02:00 2013-06-07T18:11:00+02:00 tag:femkevanzeijl,2013:FemkevanZeijl.401

When we met for the first time, Chika Unigwe was the immigrant. In Turnhout, the Flemish city where she lives with her Belgian husband and four sons, I interviewed the Nigerian writer about one of her books. Five years later the tables have been turned. I have moved to Lagos, Nigeria's biggest city, and Chika comes to see me. A good moment to compare our notes on life as a stranger. 'Belgians find it self evident that an immigrant eats chips.' (English version yet to be published) Read my interview with Chika Unigwe in OneWorld.

When we met for the first time, Chika Unigwe was the immigrant. In Turnhout, the Flemish city where she lives with her Belgian husband and four sons, I interviewed the Nigerian writer about one of her books. Five years later the tables have been turned. I have moved to Lagos, Nigeria's biggest city, and Chika comes to see me. A good moment to compare our notes on life as a stranger. 'Belgians find it self evident that an immigrant eats chips.'
(English version yet to be published)
Read my interview with Chika Unigwe in OneWorld. ]]> Femke 2013-04-14T11:29:00+02:00 2013-04-14T11:29:00+02:00 tag:femkevanzeijl,2013:FemkevanZeijl.399

A booming city of millions with an economy in overdrive. The urban development of Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, comes with its own dilemmas. One of the questions is what to do with the urban slums. Do you break them down, or do you try to improve them? In fishing community Makoko, the most famous slum of Lagos, built on poles in the water, an Amsterdam based Nigerian architect is trying to build, where others are demolishing. Read my article (in Dutch) on Makoko

A booming city of millions with an economy in overdrive. The urban development of Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, comes with its own dilemmas. One of the questions is what to do with the urban slums. Do you break them down, or do you try to improve them? In fishing community Makoko, the most famous slum of Lagos, built on poles in the water, an Amsterdam based Nigerian architect is trying to build, where others are demolishing.
Read my article (in Dutch) on Makoko ]]> Femke 2013-02-21T16:23:00+02:00 2013-02-21T15:22:00+02:00 tag:femkevanzeijl,2013:FemkevanZeijl.397

It seems a lifetime ago, my interview with Dutch late night radioshow 'Met het oog op morgen' just before I left for Nigeria. Over seven months later I listen to it again, now from an unstable internet connection in my Lagos apartment. 'An expensive little joke', I describe my moving to this metropole, one of the most expensive cities in the world. Every day confronts me with the high cost of living. The 'decent job' I spoke of I ended up not taking in the end. My freelancer's heart simply beats to firmly for such a thing. Listen to the interview in Dutch

It seems a lifetime ago, my interview with Dutch late night radioshow 'Met het oog op morgen' just before I left for Nigeria. Over seven months later I listen to it again, now from an unstable internet connection in my Lagos apartment. 'An expensive little joke', I describe my moving to this metropole, one of the most expensive cities in the world. Every day confronts me with the high cost of living. The 'decent job' I spoke of I ended up not taking in the end. My freelancer's heart simply beats to firmly for such a thing.
Listen to the interview in Dutch ]]> Femke 2013-02-11T11:06:00+02:00 2013-02-11T11:06:00+02:00 tag:femkevanzeijl,2013:FemkevanZeijl.395

A slightly outdated website does not mean that I am not writing. My column Femke becomes Funke appears almost every week on the Dutch website OneWorld.nl, and in English on several Nigerian sites. It covers all aspects of my new life in Lagos, Nigeria, from concocted electricity bills till Nigerian cuisine. The Nigerian sites are worth a visit, even if you have read the entries already. The comments of the Nigerian visitors tell a lot about the issues in Africa's most populous country. Find Femke becomes Funke on these websites: YNaija -- Premium Times Nigeria -- Citizensplatform

A slightly outdated website does not mean that I am not writing. My column Femke becomes Funke appears almost every week on the Dutch website OneWorld.nl, and in English on several Nigerian sites. It covers all aspects of my new life in Lagos, Nigeria, from concocted electricity bills till Nigerian cuisine. The Nigerian sites are worth a visit, even if you have read the entries already. The comments of the Nigerian visitors tell a lot about the issues in Africa's most populous country.
Find Femke becomes Funke on these websites:
YNaija -- Premium Times Nigeria -- Citizensplatform ]]> Femke 2012-11-11T13:30:00+02:00 2012-11-11T13:30:00+02:00 tag:femkevanzeijl,2013:FemkevanZeijl.393

After a couple of weeks in the Netherlands (a week longer than planned for reasons of Dutch bureaucracy) I have returned to Lagos. And I notice it right away. I have lost my skills. When I am buying a yam at the junction and are asked to pay 400 Naira for a sorry looking tuber, I try every trick in the book: the price does not go down even one Kobo. While I thought I had learnt the art of negotiating prices down so well from my friend Sola. Bargaining in Lagos requires special training and I am not about to graduate. Read my column on YNaija

After a couple of weeks in the Netherlands (a week longer than planned for reasons of Dutch bureaucracy) I have returned to Lagos. And I notice it right away. I have lost my skills. When I am buying a yam at the junction and are asked to pay 400 Naira for a sorry looking tuber, I try every trick in the book: the price does not go down even one Kobo. While I thought I had learnt the art of negotiating prices down so well from my friend Sola. Bargaining in Lagos requires special training and I am not about to graduate.
Read my column on YNaija ]]> Femke 2012-10-06T16:39:00+02:00 2012-10-05T23:47:00+02:00 tag:femkevanzeijl,2013:FemkevanZeijl.390

Sometimes it can make you cry. And really serious pepper soup does not allow you to talk while eating. It is of my favourite dishes from the Nigerian kitchen, though its spicyness takes getting used to. The good thing: because of the pepper, it is best taken with a cold STAR lager. A heaven made match. Pepper soup comes with many things, like fish (yummy), 'assorted' meat (like don't ask what kind), goat, snail or chicken. I used to stick to catfish, but last week I stopped being a fishtarian: I killed a chicken. The fowl ended up in the delicious chicken pepper soup Elnathan John prepared, who besides a brilliant writer, is also an excellent cook. For the recipe of Elnathan's chicken pepper soup click 'more'

Sometimes it can make you cry. And really serious pepper soup does not allow you to talk while eating. It is of my favourite dishes from the Nigerian kitchen, though its spicyness takes getting used to. The good thing: because of the pepper, it is best taken with a cold STAR lager. A heaven made match. Pepper soup comes with many things, like fish (yummy), 'assorted' meat (like don't ask what kind), goat, snail or chicken. I used to stick to catfish, but last week I stopped being a fishtarian: I killed a chicken. The fowl ended up in the delicious chicken pepper soup Elnathan John prepared, who besides a brilliant writer, is also an excellent cook.
For the recipe of Elnathan's chicken pepper soup click 'more'Ingredients:
- two small onions
- four small bell peppers
- red pepper to taste (which is a lot if you are Yoruba)
- garlic to taste (which to many Nigerians means none)
- fresh scent leaves, or if in Europe, fresh flat leaf parsley
- curry powder
- dried thyme
- 1 kg of chicken in large chunks

Put everything apart from the last three ingredients in a food processor and grind. I must confess I disregard Elnathan's advice here, who said the mixture for the broth should be ground by hand. But what have we got those well equipped European kitchens with 24/7 electricity for if you cannot use your machinery? Don't blitz it into baby food though, just use the pulse. Add some vegetable oil and grind again, ever so shortly. Smell. Already you know this is going to be good. The Nigerians have a way of combining the most common ingredients, creating kitchen magic. And it is so deceivingly simple that one wonders: why haven't I thought of this before?

Pour mixture in a pot and let it soften on the fire. Add curry and thyme to taste to the mixture and bake it a bit to let out the flavour. Then add plenty of water. The next ingredient I have resisted using for a very long time: Maggi cubes. I happen to think Maggi is a curse to African cuisine. It is used in virtually everything but birthday cakes and makes all dishes taste the same. I could do the politically correct thing and say you have to prepare a broth the day before, but instead let's be practical: throw in those Maggi cubes and get it over with. Let simmer. Then slide the pieces of chicken gently in the broth (pepper soup gives serious stains and you don't want them all over your kitchen). Put the lid on and leave it on a low fire.

Piping hot, that is the way it should be served. In most Nigerian bukkas (local restaurants) or joints you will get it that way and pay no more than 700 Naira (3.50 euros). Do not fall for nonsense in expensive restaurants called 'local seafood pepper soup'. it will be overpriced, not pepperish at all and for some reason, luke warm (How come you wait for your food for two hours and when in finally arrives, it is cold?). Anyway. Better make your own. You know now how simple it is. And if you manage to control yourself: leave it overnight. The next day, it tastes even better. ]]> Femke 2012-10-05T13:43:00+02:00 2012-08-28T09:35:00+02:00 tag:femkevanzeijl,2013:FemkevanZeijl.389

You have to forget everything you have ever learnt about priority, traffic rules or the highway code. Think Darwin instead. This is the survival of the fittest. Recalibrate your mind in this manner. Wilma, the bright red Toyota I had shipped, and I started driving in the streets of Africa's biggest city a week ago. This is what we've learnt so far. Read How Femke becomes Funke on YNaija.

You have to forget everything you have ever learnt about priority, traffic rules or the highway code. Think Darwin instead. This is the survival of the fittest. Recalibrate your mind in this manner. Wilma, the bright red Toyota I had shipped, and I started driving in the streets of Africa's biggest city a week ago. This is what we've learnt so far.
Read How Femke becomes Funke on YNaija. ]]> Femke 2012-08-01T16:00:00+02:00 2012-08-01T16:00:00+02:00 tag:femkevanzeijl,2013:FemkevanZeijl.387

Lagos' most famous slum, built on the water of the lagoon, is being partly demolished. Entire families, some of whom have been living there for generations, are getting homeless in the process. I took a gondola to cross the quarter euphemistically known as 'Lagos' Venice' to report on the demolition. And found that sympathy for the Makoko residents amongst my Nigerian friends was not as widespread as I had thought. Read my column at YNaija

Lagos' most famous slum, built on the water of the lagoon, is being partly demolished. Entire families, some of whom have been living there for generations, are getting homeless in the process. I took a gondola to cross the quarter euphemistically known as 'Lagos' Venice' to report on the demolition. And found that sympathy for the Makoko residents amongst my Nigerian friends was not as widespread as I had thought.
Read my column at YNaija ]]> Femke