2010,
Doesn't that year sound like something from a science-fiction movie? Anyway, we're doing excellently. We're back in Ife for good. No more going back and forth between places. We have all of our things. Please read most of my recent posts and "Stuff has Shipped" for more info on our stuff. Well, now we have our HP Pavillion desktop back so we can post pictures. We have all of our comfortable mattreses and toys and games and books etc. It's pretty chilly for me right now. Since we're acclimated to the tropical climate, 75 degrees is chilly. Even though we didn't watch the Rose Parade and sort of missed the countdown, we had a blast. I wa actually just playing Spore a few minutes ago. Oh yeah, you guys in America and porbably Britain are still in 2009. I have one thing to say. Nigeria is a year ahead of America!
Signing off,
The Traveler
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Entertainment
Hello,
We've all been waiting for the container, so while we are waiting, we are trying to entertain ourselves. My realtive has a treasure trove of episodes from different series and a whole bunch of movies. We've been watching those. I've caught up on some things that I hadn't watched, like Speed Racer, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Up. I actually watched the whole series of Avatar. My friends are probably happy. They were trying to make me watch it for such a long time. It was really funny; I liked it. I've also been going on the internet on my relative's modem. It's much faster than ours. We're really just waiting at the moment.
Signing off,
The Traveler
We've all been waiting for the container, so while we are waiting, we are trying to entertain ourselves. My realtive has a treasure trove of episodes from different series and a whole bunch of movies. We've been watching those. I've caught up on some things that I hadn't watched, like Speed Racer, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Up. I actually watched the whole series of Avatar. My friends are probably happy. They were trying to make me watch it for such a long time. It was really funny; I liked it. I've also been going on the internet on my relative's modem. It's much faster than ours. We're really just waiting at the moment.
Signing off,
The Traveler
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Hoping to get everything
Good news,
We're hoping to get back to Ife on Saturday-Monday. While we're waiting, we've been looking at all of the ridiculously put together newspapers they have here. Nigerian papers need a lesson in grammar. It's almost like the newspaper companies don't have any editors. Almost all of the articles have mispelling, and/or punctuation mistakes, and/or misusage of words. I, an 11 yrs. old, could do a better job at editing than they did.
The comics are weird, too. Usually, if somebody makes a comic in parts, they make about six or seven panes in the funnies and continue next week. In Nigeria, there is this comic called Tunde Smatt. It's about a detective thatis trying to stop all of these crooks all over the place. This time the story was called "Just for the Money". They will put two very small panes with two tiny pictures and a few little sentences every week. You just can't follow the storyline. Come on Nigeria, you can do better than that!
Signing off,
The Traveler
We're hoping to get back to Ife on Saturday-Monday. While we're waiting, we've been looking at all of the ridiculously put together newspapers they have here. Nigerian papers need a lesson in grammar. It's almost like the newspaper companies don't have any editors. Almost all of the articles have mispelling, and/or punctuation mistakes, and/or misusage of words. I, an 11 yrs. old, could do a better job at editing than they did.
The comics are weird, too. Usually, if somebody makes a comic in parts, they make about six or seven panes in the funnies and continue next week. In Nigeria, there is this comic called Tunde Smatt. It's about a detective thatis trying to stop all of these crooks all over the place. This time the story was called "Just for the Money". They will put two very small panes with two tiny pictures and a few little sentences every week. You just can't follow the storyline. Come on Nigeria, you can do better than that!
Signing off,
The Traveler
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Have a cold
I have a cold,
I'm trying to recover so I haven't been outside or doing anything. We're still trying to get the container.
Signing off,
The Traveler
I'm trying to recover so I haven't been outside or doing anything. We're still trying to get the container.
Signing off,
The Traveler
Friday, December 11, 2009
Running
We've been going everywhere,
We are still staying in our relatives house. There wasn't any water, sowe went out to go to the marketplace. Do you remember "Crazy Roads" post? Well, it's worse walking than driving.
Ok, imagine a street with open gutters on either side. Now imagine the edges of the street to be crammed with four story buildings and tiny shack-like shops. Now imagine motorcycles driving to and fro, almost knocking you over. Oh I forgot; imagine no sidewalks at all. Now you can understand what we were walking through.
So we walked through the chaos. What I liked about walking that was better than driving was that you were emmersed more in the city than when you are riding. We got some water, came back home, and made some soaking gari (remember?) with moi moi, and which is like a bean pudding, and accra, which is a bean batter deep fried. We ate that, and started our homeschooling. We've been homeschooling our whole life. After we finished some of that, we ate for lunch more smoking gari and moi moi.
After we did that and just really goofed off, we went out again and looked in vain for some suya fish. Suya is beef and other meats grilled with a spicy seasoning. It's really good. There's suya, suya fish, and suya chicken. We were trying to find suya fish because my father said it was the best with smoking gari.
We couldn't find any, but we did find suya chicken. My father said it wasn't the best with smoking gari, but it would do. But the suya chicken was super good anyway. Smoking gari is very filling, plus chicken made my stomach feel like it was going to burst. And we went and got some more. You can tell how stuffed I am!
Signing off,
The Traveler
We are still staying in our relatives house. There wasn't any water, sowe went out to go to the marketplace. Do you remember "Crazy Roads" post? Well, it's worse walking than driving.
Ok, imagine a street with open gutters on either side. Now imagine the edges of the street to be crammed with four story buildings and tiny shack-like shops. Now imagine motorcycles driving to and fro, almost knocking you over. Oh I forgot; imagine no sidewalks at all. Now you can understand what we were walking through.
So we walked through the chaos. What I liked about walking that was better than driving was that you were emmersed more in the city than when you are riding. We got some water, came back home, and made some soaking gari (remember?) with moi moi, and which is like a bean pudding, and accra, which is a bean batter deep fried. We ate that, and started our homeschooling. We've been homeschooling our whole life. After we finished some of that, we ate for lunch more smoking gari and moi moi.
After we did that and just really goofed off, we went out again and looked in vain for some suya fish. Suya is beef and other meats grilled with a spicy seasoning. It's really good. There's suya, suya fish, and suya chicken. We were trying to find suya fish because my father said it was the best with smoking gari.
We couldn't find any, but we did find suya chicken. My father said it wasn't the best with smoking gari, but it would do. But the suya chicken was super good anyway. Smoking gari is very filling, plus chicken made my stomach feel like it was going to burst. And we went and got some more. You can tell how stuffed I am!
Signing off,
The Traveler
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Endless roads
Hello,
Today was a very hectic day. We were trying to find a company called Apex and we got a taxi. It was absolutely crazy. The taxi driver didn't know the address of where we were going. So we kept asking people all over Lagos (it felt like), and they kept telling us to go one way and then the other.
Then police pulled us over and asked us for a fine that was a perposterous amount: 50,000 Naira. To put things in perspective, I have 5,000 Naira to myself, which is about $31.00 USD. Now multiply that times 10. See what I'm saying? Fortunatley, I think they settled for 1,000 Naira.
When we finally found Apex, the stairs were blocked by a whole bunch of people trying to haul a huge printer up the stairs to who-knows-where. We couldn't get to the level of the building the company was based. Besides, it wouldn't have mattered anyway, because we found out that the building was closed. But luckily, a person trying to figure out what the people were doing on the stairs gave us the phone num. for Apex.
So we went back home, and got some roasted peanuts. They are extremely good here; they taste much more different than the ones in the U.S.A. We also bought some sugar. We bought some sugar so we could make some smoking gari. Smoking gari is a simple dish that consists of a grain (I think) called gari, water, sugar, lemon (optional), and anything else that you think tastes good. All you have to do is get a bowl, and a fork. Here are the steps:
Step 1: Pour the gari into a bowl.
Step 2: Pour the water into the bowl with the gari.
Step 3: If your using cube sugar, put one cube into the mixture and crush it and dissolve it. If you're using regular sugar, put a little bit of sugar in the gari and mix it.
Step 4: Squeeze some lemon into the smoking gari and mix.
Step 5: Put onto table with fork and eat. If you think it is not sweet enough or it isn't sour enough, add some more sugar and/or lemon.
How to eat: Take fork and tkae some gari. Let some of the water drain out, and eat.
How to eat with food: Take a piece of your food and put some in and keep it in your mouth. Take some gari and put some in too.
Enjoy!
Anyway, we also got some okra soup and some ice cream and ate dinner. We didn't make any smoking gari tonight. Maybe we'll do it tomorrow. And know, I'm writing on a blog called The Xplorer telling my readers what I'm doing. =D
Signing off,
The traveler
Today was a very hectic day. We were trying to find a company called Apex and we got a taxi. It was absolutely crazy. The taxi driver didn't know the address of where we were going. So we kept asking people all over Lagos (it felt like), and they kept telling us to go one way and then the other.
Then police pulled us over and asked us for a fine that was a perposterous amount: 50,000 Naira. To put things in perspective, I have 5,000 Naira to myself, which is about $31.00 USD. Now multiply that times 10. See what I'm saying? Fortunatley, I think they settled for 1,000 Naira.
When we finally found Apex, the stairs were blocked by a whole bunch of people trying to haul a huge printer up the stairs to who-knows-where. We couldn't get to the level of the building the company was based. Besides, it wouldn't have mattered anyway, because we found out that the building was closed. But luckily, a person trying to figure out what the people were doing on the stairs gave us the phone num. for Apex.
So we went back home, and got some roasted peanuts. They are extremely good here; they taste much more different than the ones in the U.S.A. We also bought some sugar. We bought some sugar so we could make some smoking gari. Smoking gari is a simple dish that consists of a grain (I think) called gari, water, sugar, lemon (optional), and anything else that you think tastes good. All you have to do is get a bowl, and a fork. Here are the steps:
Step 1: Pour the gari into a bowl.
Step 2: Pour the water into the bowl with the gari.
Step 3: If your using cube sugar, put one cube into the mixture and crush it and dissolve it. If you're using regular sugar, put a little bit of sugar in the gari and mix it.
Step 4: Squeeze some lemon into the smoking gari and mix.
Step 5: Put onto table with fork and eat. If you think it is not sweet enough or it isn't sour enough, add some more sugar and/or lemon.
How to eat: Take fork and tkae some gari. Let some of the water drain out, and eat.
How to eat with food: Take a piece of your food and put some in and keep it in your mouth. Take some gari and put some in too.
Enjoy!
Anyway, we also got some okra soup and some ice cream and ate dinner. We didn't make any smoking gari tonight. Maybe we'll do it tomorrow. And know, I'm writing on a blog called The Xplorer telling my readers what I'm doing. =D
Signing off,
The traveler
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Going to get the container! =-)
Finally!
We're back in Lagos to get the container that we've been waiting for. Finally, I'll have all my books, I'll have my Spore video game and others, we'll have steady electricity (courtesy of the forklift battery that my parents bought), extra silverware, my guitar all of my younger sister's Barbies, dolls, and the like, and all of my toys, too. This is absolutley great. The only thing I really have to play with at home right now is my DS, our ThinkPad, my golden compass book, my two journals, and my notepad. So this is going to be excellent! We're back for the third time at my relative's house in Lagos. This time we're coming back with the container!
Signing off,
The Traveler
We're back in Lagos to get the container that we've been waiting for. Finally, I'll have all my books, I'll have my Spore video game and others, we'll have steady electricity (courtesy of the forklift battery that my parents bought), extra silverware, my guitar all of my younger sister's Barbies, dolls, and the like, and all of my toys, too. This is absolutley great. The only thing I really have to play with at home right now is my DS, our ThinkPad, my golden compass book, my two journals, and my notepad. So this is going to be excellent! We're back for the third time at my relative's house in Lagos. This time we're coming back with the container!
Signing off,
The Traveler
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Back Home
We're back,
We came back to Ife to wait for the container to get lifted off the boat. The ride back to Ife was horrible. Our taxi broke down three times, and the driver got some people to help, but they barely did anything to help. We were so tired when we got to the house.
Our backyard is gigantic. We even have antelopes in it. We have clusters of bamboo stalks and a fresh spring water river. There's a hotel that's next door, and they hired some workers to clear the land. So my Dad went over and told them to clear some of our land so we could make a farm for fun. He also told them not to touch the bamboo or the river. They messed up both. They bulldozed most of the bamboo, and clogged the river. My parents are going to tell them to clear river as soon as they can.
Other than that, everything is okay. I have a Ninendo DS charger now that uses the Nigerian voltages. Now I can play my games. We also now get to see the bright moon at night. That's really what's going on.
Signing off,
The Traveler
We came back to Ife to wait for the container to get lifted off the boat. The ride back to Ife was horrible. Our taxi broke down three times, and the driver got some people to help, but they barely did anything to help. We were so tired when we got to the house.
Our backyard is gigantic. We even have antelopes in it. We have clusters of bamboo stalks and a fresh spring water river. There's a hotel that's next door, and they hired some workers to clear the land. So my Dad went over and told them to clear some of our land so we could make a farm for fun. He also told them not to touch the bamboo or the river. They messed up both. They bulldozed most of the bamboo, and clogged the river. My parents are going to tell them to clear river as soon as they can.
Other than that, everything is okay. I have a Ninendo DS charger now that uses the Nigerian voltages. Now I can play my games. We also now get to see the bright moon at night. That's really what's going on.
Signing off,
The Traveler
Back in Ife
Back home!
We came back to Ife to stay for a few days before the container gets off the boat. The taxi drive here was horrible; the car broke down three times, and we had to get some people to "fix" it, even though they really didn't. Everyone was tired when we got out of the car. Then our driver asked for extra money after he had added about 2 hours from his torn up car.
We came back to Ife to stay for a few days before the container gets off the boat. The taxi drive here was horrible; the car broke down three times, and we had to get some people to "fix" it, even though they really didn't. Everyone was tired when we got out of the car. Then our driver asked for extra money after he had added about 2 hours from his torn up car.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Lagos to Ibadan and back again!
Well,
From what I've heard from my parents, we're going to Ibadan again tommorow around 9:00 Nigerian time, which will be about 3:00 in the morning in Eastern U.S.A time. After we do some errands there, our taxi will drive us back to Lagos. Ibadan from Lagos is about an hour and a half drive. I don't really understand why we're going there, but I'm hoping it'll be fun.
We're still trying to get our stuff; the people who are holding it I think are making it difficult. But we're definitley getting our things. In our container, we have our desktop computer, which is the only way I can play my video games (Spore, The Golden Compass, etc.), all of our books (including The Subtle Knife, the second book in one of my favorite series of all time: His Dark Materials), our toys, our other clothes, and other things. It's not like there's a chance of us not getting our things, it's just that I'm impatient and I want everything to move faster. We're comfortable at the moment, because our relative's generator is running the house right now. Everything is going smoothly.
Signing off,
The Traveler
From what I've heard from my parents, we're going to Ibadan again tommorow around 9:00 Nigerian time, which will be about 3:00 in the morning in Eastern U.S.A time. After we do some errands there, our taxi will drive us back to Lagos. Ibadan from Lagos is about an hour and a half drive. I don't really understand why we're going there, but I'm hoping it'll be fun.
We're still trying to get our stuff; the people who are holding it I think are making it difficult. But we're definitley getting our things. In our container, we have our desktop computer, which is the only way I can play my video games (Spore, The Golden Compass, etc.), all of our books (including The Subtle Knife, the second book in one of my favorite series of all time: His Dark Materials), our toys, our other clothes, and other things. It's not like there's a chance of us not getting our things, it's just that I'm impatient and I want everything to move faster. We're comfortable at the moment, because our relative's generator is running the house right now. Everything is going smoothly.
Signing off,
The Traveler
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Night in Nigeria
You believe how bright it is in the night in Ife,
Our house is on the edge of the border of Ife pretty much, so we don't live in town proper, as they say. That means there isn't as much pollution where we are, and on a clear night when there's a full moon, it is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. So, my father and I went outside to turn off our little blue generator.
Like I've said before, N.E.P.A isn't stable. Well, technically, the real name for the electric company for Nigeria is P.H.C.N. Power Holder Company of Nigeria is what that stands for. But people still call it N.E.P.A.
Anyway, we were outside, and I looked around. The moon was so bright, the shadows of the roof, trees, and myself were all very sharp and distinct. I would almost compare the brightness to the intensity of a strobe light. Every blade of grass was distinct. The only difference between this moonlight and daylight is that this light bleached almost all the colors out of everything. Since Nigeria's at the equator, the moon and the sun and moon are sometimes exactly in the middle of the sky. It was awesome. And even though the moon was so bright, I could still see stars much more clearly than I could in Durham, NC. I think I even saw Mars. My father told me that when he was little, he would bring out a chair into his yard, and talk with a friend or lay there and relax and look at the stars.
There was also another beautiful event I shared with my father and my little sister who is 4 years younger than me. We were all looking up at the stars, when my father said, "look, look at the ground before the lights go out." I had no idea what he was talking about, so I looked at the ground, and saw, to my astonishment, a blur of complex flashing lights, blinking on and off. The only way I could describe how I felt was wow. It was really cool. The lights on the ground were fireflies. Well, that's enough for today...
Signing off,
The Traveler
Our house is on the edge of the border of Ife pretty much, so we don't live in town proper, as they say. That means there isn't as much pollution where we are, and on a clear night when there's a full moon, it is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. So, my father and I went outside to turn off our little blue generator.
Like I've said before, N.E.P.A isn't stable. Well, technically, the real name for the electric company for Nigeria is P.H.C.N. Power Holder Company of Nigeria is what that stands for. But people still call it N.E.P.A.
Anyway, we were outside, and I looked around. The moon was so bright, the shadows of the roof, trees, and myself were all very sharp and distinct. I would almost compare the brightness to the intensity of a strobe light. Every blade of grass was distinct. The only difference between this moonlight and daylight is that this light bleached almost all the colors out of everything. Since Nigeria's at the equator, the moon and the sun and moon are sometimes exactly in the middle of the sky. It was awesome. And even though the moon was so bright, I could still see stars much more clearly than I could in Durham, NC. I think I even saw Mars. My father told me that when he was little, he would bring out a chair into his yard, and talk with a friend or lay there and relax and look at the stars.
There was also another beautiful event I shared with my father and my little sister who is 4 years younger than me. We were all looking up at the stars, when my father said, "look, look at the ground before the lights go out." I had no idea what he was talking about, so I looked at the ground, and saw, to my astonishment, a blur of complex flashing lights, blinking on and off. The only way I could describe how I felt was wow. It was really cool. The lights on the ground were fireflies. Well, that's enough for today...
Signing off,
The Traveler
Saturday, November 28, 2009
6 FOLLOWERS!
I'm so happy,
I've got 5 new followers, which gives me a total of six! Thanks to Danny21 who has stuck with this blog for almost two months now. We're about to drive to Lagos tommorow so then we can pick up our container that I talked about in an earlier post.
I really, really want to post some pictures, but I'm still using the Think Pad, which doesn't have an SD slot. Don't worry though, if we can find a cord that can connect the camera and the laptop, I'll post a whole treasure trove of pictures on the site.
I also have some great news; I met two new friends! One is 13, the other 11. They are also from America, and they are staying in Nigeria awhile too. This is really exciting for me, because even though we've been interacting with a lot of people, we hadn't met anyone close to my age.
Signing off happily
The Traveler
I've got 5 new followers, which gives me a total of six! Thanks to Danny21 who has stuck with this blog for almost two months now. We're about to drive to Lagos tommorow so then we can pick up our container that I talked about in an earlier post.
I really, really want to post some pictures, but I'm still using the Think Pad, which doesn't have an SD slot. Don't worry though, if we can find a cord that can connect the camera and the laptop, I'll post a whole treasure trove of pictures on the site.
I also have some great news; I met two new friends! One is 13, the other 11. They are also from America, and they are staying in Nigeria awhile too. This is really exciting for me, because even though we've been interacting with a lot of people, we hadn't met anyone close to my age.
Signing off happily
The Traveler
Friday, November 27, 2009
Runnig some errands
We're going to be going soon to the market,
We need some more supplies and stuff, so we're soon going to go get a taxi or something to go to the market. Nothing really eventful at the moment, I'll post something later on in the day. It's about 11:30 here.
Signing off,
The Traveler
We need some more supplies and stuff, so we're soon going to go get a taxi or something to go to the market. Nothing really eventful at the moment, I'll post something later on in the day. It's about 11:30 here.
Signing off,
The Traveler
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Is it just me?
Hey
Haven't written in a while because we've been having horrible internet connection with our mobile modem. Is it just this Mozilla Firefox messing up, or is blogger having a renovation? Right now I'm typing in plain text, with no pictures whatsoever. It looks like a site from the 80's or 90's.
Anyway, we've had some fun since I've last posted. We had this dish that called Eeshe Ewu. Well, at least that how the name sounds. Eeshe Ewu literally translates to goat head soup. It was definitely the best dishes I've had so far. Almost every part of the head was used, and was sitting in a really spicy sauce, topped with raw onions. It was delicious. The ear was one of the tastiest parts for me. It was chewy in some parts, and soft and flavorful in others. It was really good.
My sister absolutely loves this other snack/dessert/appetizer called pouf pouf (but don't rely on my spelling of it) and it's really good. They're like soft sweet balls of fried dough. They can be huge, too. We had some at a restaurant on O.A.U, and I had a pouf pouf that was almost bigger than my hand. And that's just some of the awesome food they have here.
Signing off,
The Traveler(with a busted modem)
Haven't written in a while because we've been having horrible internet connection with our mobile modem. Is it just this Mozilla Firefox messing up, or is blogger having a renovation? Right now I'm typing in plain text, with no pictures whatsoever. It looks like a site from the 80's or 90's.
Anyway, we've had some fun since I've last posted. We had this dish that called Eeshe Ewu. Well, at least that how the name sounds. Eeshe Ewu literally translates to goat head soup. It was definitely the best dishes I've had so far. Almost every part of the head was used, and was sitting in a really spicy sauce, topped with raw onions. It was delicious. The ear was one of the tastiest parts for me. It was chewy in some parts, and soft and flavorful in others. It was really good.
My sister absolutely loves this other snack/dessert/appetizer called pouf pouf (but don't rely on my spelling of it) and it's really good. They're like soft sweet balls of fried dough. They can be huge, too. We had some at a restaurant on O.A.U, and I had a pouf pouf that was almost bigger than my hand. And that's just some of the awesome food they have here.
Signing off,
The Traveler(with a busted modem)
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Soccer (or Football as they call it here)
Wow,
Nigerians really really like soccer. Well, let me explain what I mean by that. I started noticing this fact the minute we landed.
When we got of the plane and were in the baggage claim area, there were a whole bunch of signs everywhere. Each one had a yellow soccer ball on them and said, 'The world will be one in 2010'. So I guessed that these signs were reffering to a huge football event that was going to happen next year.
There were also similar signs that had a whole bunch of people screaming and waving Nigerian flags (the flag has three vertical stripes, two greens on either side and one white in the middle). Above them were the words 'We're so excited for 2010.' Now I knew something was up about Nigerians and football.
When we were in Lagos (read my previous posts for more info) I asked one of my friends what his most favorite thing to do in the world. He replied, 'football is my favorite thing to do. I play it all the time.' Now, I think he was reffering to the Nigerian football, which is soccer. Actually America is the only country that calls football soccer.
And when we were taking a tour of Lagos my pointed out the two ex-national football stadiums. 'That one is the newer one,' he said, pointing out an almost hidden building with abstract concrete blocks surrounding it's outer wall. 'And that's the older one,' he pointed at an abstract building that was pretty large. Now I was almost convinced that Nigerians are absolutely in love with the game.
And just today I've been totally convinced. We were eating at Mr. Banwills, a restaurant on O.A.U campus, when we decided to go outside. My family all sat down at the table, and my father told me to look down at another restaurant with a whole bunch of people huddled around it. They looked really excited about something. Students would start screaming and jumping up and down, looking through the door at whatever was going on inside there. Every once and a while, more people would join the group and get in on some of the action. I asked my father, 'what are they doing?' 'They're watching soccer,' he replied back. Then I knew that Nigerian are die-hard football fans.
Here's another interesting fact: Americe is probably the only country in the world that doesn't like football. The Nigerian, British, Kenyan, Ghanian, Brazzilian, South African, and many other countries love football. And what are the countries that like American Football? The only one that I know on is America.
Signing off,
The Traveler
Nigerians really really like soccer. Well, let me explain what I mean by that. I started noticing this fact the minute we landed.
When we got of the plane and were in the baggage claim area, there were a whole bunch of signs everywhere. Each one had a yellow soccer ball on them and said, 'The world will be one in 2010'. So I guessed that these signs were reffering to a huge football event that was going to happen next year.
There were also similar signs that had a whole bunch of people screaming and waving Nigerian flags (the flag has three vertical stripes, two greens on either side and one white in the middle). Above them were the words 'We're so excited for 2010.' Now I knew something was up about Nigerians and football.
When we were in Lagos (read my previous posts for more info) I asked one of my friends what his most favorite thing to do in the world. He replied, 'football is my favorite thing to do. I play it all the time.' Now, I think he was reffering to the Nigerian football, which is soccer. Actually America is the only country that calls football soccer.
And when we were taking a tour of Lagos my pointed out the two ex-national football stadiums. 'That one is the newer one,' he said, pointing out an almost hidden building with abstract concrete blocks surrounding it's outer wall. 'And that's the older one,' he pointed at an abstract building that was pretty large. Now I was almost convinced that Nigerians are absolutely in love with the game.
And just today I've been totally convinced. We were eating at Mr. Banwills, a restaurant on O.A.U campus, when we decided to go outside. My family all sat down at the table, and my father told me to look down at another restaurant with a whole bunch of people huddled around it. They looked really excited about something. Students would start screaming and jumping up and down, looking through the door at whatever was going on inside there. Every once and a while, more people would join the group and get in on some of the action. I asked my father, 'what are they doing?' 'They're watching soccer,' he replied back. Then I knew that Nigerian are die-hard football fans.
Here's another interesting fact: Americe is probably the only country in the world that doesn't like football. The Nigerian, British, Kenyan, Ghanian, Brazzilian, South African, and many other countries love football. And what are the countries that like American Football? The only one that I know on is America.
Signing off,
The Traveler
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Ibadan
We just went to Ibadan, a city close to Ife. Ibadan is much bigger than Ife, and Ife is bigger than Durham NC, the city we used to live in. Ibadan's streets are wider than the ones in Ife, but they really need them. We got in a huge traffic jam with all kinds of cars honking and everything. It was actually pretty fun, because then Igot to see the details of the city.
Ibadan doesn't really look like lagos (I'll post more pics of Lagos later on), but it feels almost as big and as bustling! The town we're living in is Ife, and it's really nice. Hundreds of shops are lined up, back to back, on the road. The shops are really cool, because you can find practically anything in one place. The only problems I see with Ife is that there seems to be no entertainment places like movie theaters and the like.
Lagos is much bigger than Ife and nothing like it. The buildings are much more solid and they have all kinds of entertainment. The only problem with Lagos is that it's too smoggy, too much traffic, too many people, and too much heat. Ibadan is a mix between the two. It's really big like Lagos (but not as big as it), but it looks a lot more like Ife.
Soon we're also going to be meeting the Vice Chancellor of OAU, so then we talk about business ideas. My mother and father wnat to start a movie theater in Ife so the students won't be dying of boredom.
So every thing is going along great, and for you Americans out there, if I say in my blog, for instance 'I'm eating chips,' I'm actually saying, 'I'm eating fries.' And if I say, 'I'm eating crisps tonight,' I actually mean, 'I'm eating chips tonight.' You see, Nigeria was influenced a lot by British culture, and those are how the british say fries and chips. Just something you might want to know!
Signing off,
The Traveler
Ibadan doesn't really look like lagos (I'll post more pics of Lagos later on), but it feels almost as big and as bustling! The town we're living in is Ife, and it's really nice. Hundreds of shops are lined up, back to back, on the road. The shops are really cool, because you can find practically anything in one place. The only problems I see with Ife is that there seems to be no entertainment places like movie theaters and the like.
Lagos is much bigger than Ife and nothing like it. The buildings are much more solid and they have all kinds of entertainment. The only problem with Lagos is that it's too smoggy, too much traffic, too many people, and too much heat. Ibadan is a mix between the two. It's really big like Lagos (but not as big as it), but it looks a lot more like Ife.
Soon we're also going to be meeting the Vice Chancellor of OAU, so then we talk about business ideas. My mother and father wnat to start a movie theater in Ife so the students won't be dying of boredom.
So every thing is going along great, and for you Americans out there, if I say in my blog, for instance 'I'm eating chips,' I'm actually saying, 'I'm eating fries.' And if I say, 'I'm eating crisps tonight,' I actually mean, 'I'm eating chips tonight.' You see, Nigeria was influenced a lot by British culture, and those are how the british say fries and chips. Just something you might want to know!
Signing off,
The Traveler
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Trapped in the House
That's right,
We're trapped in our own house. Since we don't have a car (because our minivan is still coming on the ship), we've been using friends cars, but our friend decides he doesn't want to arrive on time. So right now at this moment, we are trapped in this house. My father is at this moment about to get on a motorbike to go to OAU (Obafemi Awolowo University) to see if someone can help us. I've eaten two eggs and one fourth of a cup (I mean a small glass cup) of a watery soup. My father has it worse. He's only had a little bit of an EVA water bottle. EVA is a water company owned by The Coca-Cola Company of Nigeria. As you can tell, we are a little hungry. We also have a soldier ants problem. Here's some links to tell you more for the Army Ants: http://www.armyants.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_ant Well any way, they've invaded they yard which is not good at all, but we just got some ant killer stuff and we're about to take them down.
That's it for now,
The Traveler
P.S: my father just came back with food and we're stuffed.
We're trapped in our own house. Since we don't have a car (because our minivan is still coming on the ship), we've been using friends cars, but our friend decides he doesn't want to arrive on time. So right now at this moment, we are trapped in this house. My father is at this moment about to get on a motorbike to go to OAU (Obafemi Awolowo University) to see if someone can help us. I've eaten two eggs and one fourth of a cup (I mean a small glass cup) of a watery soup. My father has it worse. He's only had a little bit of an EVA water bottle. EVA is a water company owned by The Coca-Cola Company of Nigeria. As you can tell, we are a little hungry. We also have a soldier ants problem. Here's some links to tell you more for the Army Ants: http://www.armyants.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_ant Well any way, they've invaded they yard which is not good at all, but we just got some ant killer stuff and we're about to take them down.
That's it for now,
The Traveler
P.S: my father just came back with food and we're stuffed.
Monday, November 16, 2009
So Sorry Everyone
I'm really sorry everybody,
I've been so busy and so distracted by the many things that are happening to me I almost forgot about this blog. Plus the electricity and water Nigeria isn't stable. Well, anyway, let me fill everyone up on the events that have been happening. We've moved into our new house. Okay, well it's not really new, it was my grandpa's and no one's been in it to really clean for 9 years. It's definetly livable, and realy pleasant, just a little work is needed here and there. OAU (Obafemi Awolowo University) is practically right down the street from our house, and my father said it's the most beautiful university in not just all of Nigeria, maybe Africa. And it is really nice. Students walk around, pretty bored, I guess, cause I haven't seen anything to entertain them except for the universities dramatic arts theater. And sillouhetting everything on campus are these two large mountains. Anyway, most of the time we go to the campus to have fun or get work done and things. We also have two really nice helpers. The only reason we have house help is that one, even though my father is Nigerian, he's forgetten most of the Nigerian dishes, and two, this house is to dusty for only a family to do. Well, those two helpers cook awesomely. They've made all of these delicious (and some spicy) dishes like Jollof Rice, Egusi Soup, Ewedu Soup, and rice with stew. I'm having a pretty good time so far. I mean, I'm not having a blast, but I'm not absolutely bored either. I hope all of my friends are reading this, because I have to tell them something: I'm ahead of you still!!!
I've been so busy and so distracted by the many things that are happening to me I almost forgot about this blog. Plus the electricity and water Nigeria isn't stable. Well, anyway, let me fill everyone up on the events that have been happening. We've moved into our new house. Okay, well it's not really new, it was my grandpa's and no one's been in it to really clean for 9 years. It's definetly livable, and realy pleasant, just a little work is needed here and there. OAU (Obafemi Awolowo University) is practically right down the street from our house, and my father said it's the most beautiful university in not just all of Nigeria, maybe Africa. And it is really nice. Students walk around, pretty bored, I guess, cause I haven't seen anything to entertain them except for the universities dramatic arts theater. And sillouhetting everything on campus are these two large mountains. Anyway, most of the time we go to the campus to have fun or get work done and things. We also have two really nice helpers. The only reason we have house help is that one, even though my father is Nigerian, he's forgetten most of the Nigerian dishes, and two, this house is to dusty for only a family to do. Well, those two helpers cook awesomely. They've made all of these delicious (and some spicy) dishes like Jollof Rice, Egusi Soup, Ewedu Soup, and rice with stew. I'm having a pretty good time so far. I mean, I'm not having a blast, but I'm not absolutely bored either. I hope all of my friends are reading this, because I have to tell them something: I'm ahead of you still!!!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Crazy Roads!
Hello Everyone,
Well, I've recovered and everything is going excellently. Now I didn't say according to plans, just that things were going well. More on that later. Anyway, I had a lot of fun today. We're in Lagos staying with a friend and we're going to go to our real home (in Nigeria), in the town of Ile-Ife on Tuesday. Until then, we'll keep xploring t5he city of Lagos. We drove out today with one of our relatives driving us (we're sooo lucky). The streets are C-R-A-Z-Y. People will walk right in front of you, they could be five inches away from your bumper, they don't care. Cars are weaving in and out of traffic, nearly bumping you into who-knows-where. At some points, I almost gasped. We were driving in the congested street, with shops melding into shops on the sides, when a man came and rapped on our car. So then my relative asked him what his problem was, and he said a rapid string of Yoruba, one of the native languages of Nigeria. My father then told me that he said that he didn't want us to drive that way, or something like that. It was really fun riding on the streets. Like they say getting there is only half the fun. Anyway, we went to the Lagos University, or Uni Lag, and it was a nice break from the hustle and bustle in the city. Have you heard of UMass? It's a university in Amherst Massachusetts. Like Uni Lag, it's secluded and peaceful, and most the people you see walking around are students. Also Uni Lag has a nice park. The park is on a swamp near the longest bridge in Nigeria that goes over a large body of water. We also had the best fast food I have ever tasted. Unlike like american fast food places that sell fried chicken and french fries and hamburgers, the Nigerian Fast Food places sell spicy unfried chicken with coke or 5alive, a Nigerian drink. When I say spicy I don't mean american "Spicy hot sauce" or "super hot chicken wings", I mean a paste drizzled on chicken made of chopped chilis and jalepenos and the like. Once you have it, you can never go back to blandish tasting McDonalds. After that, we got out some delicious sugar cane from one the people that were running out on the street trying to sell the things. To eat sugar cane, you bite into it, chew it, then spit out the leftover fibers. After we got back on the road back to our friends house. That was when madness happened. These people called self aqccainting police men will get into the road and "Conduct traffic", but really they're just trying to cause choas. Literally.
Well, I've recovered and everything is going excellently. Now I didn't say according to plans, just that things were going well. More on that later. Anyway, I had a lot of fun today. We're in Lagos staying with a friend and we're going to go to our real home (in Nigeria), in the town of Ile-Ife on Tuesday. Until then, we'll keep xploring t5he city of Lagos. We drove out today with one of our relatives driving us (we're sooo lucky). The streets are C-R-A-Z-Y. People will walk right in front of you, they could be five inches away from your bumper, they don't care. Cars are weaving in and out of traffic, nearly bumping you into who-knows-where. At some points, I almost gasped. We were driving in the congested street, with shops melding into shops on the sides, when a man came and rapped on our car. So then my relative asked him what his problem was, and he said a rapid string of Yoruba, one of the native languages of Nigeria. My father then told me that he said that he didn't want us to drive that way, or something like that. It was really fun riding on the streets. Like they say getting there is only half the fun. Anyway, we went to the Lagos University, or Uni Lag, and it was a nice break from the hustle and bustle in the city. Have you heard of UMass? It's a university in Amherst Massachusetts. Like Uni Lag, it's secluded and peaceful, and most the people you see walking around are students. Also Uni Lag has a nice park. The park is on a swamp near the longest bridge in Nigeria that goes over a large body of water. We also had the best fast food I have ever tasted. Unlike like american fast food places that sell fried chicken and french fries and hamburgers, the Nigerian Fast Food places sell spicy unfried chicken with coke or 5alive, a Nigerian drink. When I say spicy I don't mean american "Spicy hot sauce" or "super hot chicken wings", I mean a paste drizzled on chicken made of chopped chilis and jalepenos and the like. Once you have it, you can never go back to blandish tasting McDonalds. After that, we got out some delicious sugar cane from one the people that were running out on the street trying to sell the things. To eat sugar cane, you bite into it, chew it, then spit out the leftover fibers. After we got back on the road back to our friends house. That was when madness happened. These people called self aqccainting police men will get into the road and "Conduct traffic", but really they're just trying to cause choas. Literally.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Sorry
So sorry,
I haven't posted in a while because I've been on a British Airways plane for almost two days...well, I'm in Lagos, Nigeria, and it's been great. I had some Okra soup, a soup made of okra, sometimes with crab, somked fish, and beef, and eaten with a doughy substance called Ebba. Really tired at the moment, can't post for long. We're going to live in Ife, but our house isn't fully built so we're waiting.
Signing off,
The Traveler
I haven't posted in a while because I've been on a British Airways plane for almost two days...well, I'm in Lagos, Nigeria, and it's been great. I had some Okra soup, a soup made of okra, sometimes with crab, somked fish, and beef, and eaten with a doughy substance called Ebba. Really tired at the moment, can't post for long. We're going to live in Ife, but our house isn't fully built so we're waiting.
Signing off,
The Traveler
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Stuff has shipped
This is excellent,
Our furniture and ecquipment we'll use in Nigeria just got loaded off of this huge Penske truck. You could've lived inside side of the truck if you wanted to. Our stuff is being shipped now, so then everything will get to Nigeria next year. And (I've probably said this before) we're leaving on October 28. So for a few months, we won't have any computers (except our centuries old IBM Thinkpad laptops with ancient ATI Radeon graphics), no beds (at least for me, my parents will buy their own bed), and barely any books, toys, or boardgames! This sounds like a nightmare, I know, but it actually isn't that bad. We'll get to explore a lot of the town we're living in Nigeria without all of those distractions. Well, more updates later,
The Traveler
Our furniture and ecquipment we'll use in Nigeria just got loaded off of this huge Penske truck. You could've lived inside side of the truck if you wanted to. Our stuff is being shipped now, so then everything will get to Nigeria next year. And (I've probably said this before) we're leaving on October 28. So for a few months, we won't have any computers (except our centuries old IBM Thinkpad laptops with ancient ATI Radeon graphics), no beds (at least for me, my parents will buy their own bed), and barely any books, toys, or boardgames! This sounds like a nightmare, I know, but it actually isn't that bad. We'll get to explore a lot of the town we're living in Nigeria without all of those distractions. Well, more updates later,
The Traveler
P.S: We're not bringing our flatscreen TV because our voltage wouldn't work in Nigeria. We'll probably get a TV later in 2010, but hey, you never know what might happen. ;)
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
My Pictures
Hello,
I got the pictures I promised, here they are...
I got the pictures I promised, here they are...
This is Lagos, Nigeria
Here's another picture of Lagos. Lagos is the 15th most populous city on Earth.
Here's another picture of Lagos. Lagos is the 15th most populous city on Earth.This is a picture that we took on the top of the Eiffel Tower showing Paris France.
A picture of the Eiffel Tower that we took.
A picture that we took in London England.
There you go.
The Traveler
Sick, sick, sick
Hi,
Since I'll be moving to nigeria with my family I had to get all of the Vaccines. Some of them made me really sick, like these pills I'm taking have made me throw up! I woke up two times feeling like I was going to hurl. At least I know these are the regular side affects for some people. The good thing is that I only have to take only one more pill.
Signing off,
Xplorer
Since I'll be moving to nigeria with my family I had to get all of the Vaccines. Some of them made me really sick, like these pills I'm taking have made me throw up! I woke up two times feeling like I was going to hurl. At least I know these are the regular side affects for some people. The good thing is that I only have to take only one more pill.
Signing off,
Xplorer
Monday, October 19, 2009
Welcome to Adventure!
Hello,
My name is The Traveler, and i'll be posting my xplorations and adventures right here in the blog called The Xplorer. I've been outside the country about four or five times. I've been to France, London, and Nigeria, and I'm only 11! Don't believe me? I'll post some pictures in my next blog. Anyway, I'm moving to Nigeria, a country in West Africa that has awesome cuisine, amazing cities and very kind people. We'll be moving on October 28, so soon i'll be talking all about Nigeria. More info about Nigeria will be told later in other posts. Until then, signing off.
The Traveler
My name is The Traveler, and i'll be posting my xplorations and adventures right here in the blog called The Xplorer. I've been outside the country about four or five times. I've been to France, London, and Nigeria, and I'm only 11! Don't believe me? I'll post some pictures in my next blog. Anyway, I'm moving to Nigeria, a country in West Africa that has awesome cuisine, amazing cities and very kind people. We'll be moving on October 28, so soon i'll be talking all about Nigeria. More info about Nigeria will be told later in other posts. Until then, signing off.
The Traveler
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