Opinions, Please!

Everyone has their own opinion here in Naija.

Lemme explain: a few days ago, my parents decided that they would make a second farm house for more chickens. So they’re building it now. But that doesn’t have anything to do with what I said above, but I just wanted to tell you just so you know. Anyway, months ago when the chickens weren’t fully grown, when people would come around to the house and talk and stuff, each of them had their own little “nugget of wisdom” about the chickens. For example, one of my friends fathers would always say something like, “did you make sure you’re keeping ‘em warm? Are you sure you can fit them all in?” And he’d go on like that all the time. And you know what’s the ridiculous thing? He has never owned a chicken farm in his life. And it’s not just him, either; everybody that we meet usually says something about something about something! What’s the most annoying part to me is that they act like they’re experts, when they actually aren’t. My parents just say “uh-huh” and “hmm”. I think it just goes through one ear and comes out the other. Which is good! Because I don’t know if the people who are telling them what they think they know have a brain anyways. Luckily, not everyone does it. And I also remember a lot of people doing it in the States as well.

Signing off,

The Traveler

Political Groups

Sounds really boring, right?

Well, this post isn't gonna be. I'm going to use a 12 year-old kids contemporary vocab (slanguage involved). Now, in Nigeria, just like in the US of A, there are political groups, like the Democrats and the Republicans. Here, there is the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party), and the AC (Action Congress). The PDP's symbol is an umbrella. The umbrella's made out of three colors, green, white, and red. And the AC's symbol is a traditional broom, native to Nigeria (I think). Here is a picture of one:

They're going toe to toe all the time, just like two other political parties that I know...one starts with d and the other starts with r. Anyway, PDP is larger than AC, and is in control of many different states. AC doesn't have many states under it's wing, but the ones that it does claim have been drastically changed for the good. In those states, there's not as much corruption, the cities are cleaner, it's overall nicer. PDP...well, let's just say that things stay the way they were before. Just less money in the civilians pockets, and more moolah in the PDP politicians'. Just about a few weeks ago, there was an election in our state, Osun, and AC won! Hurrah! Already, things are changing, like bigshot politicians don't get to have sirens on their cars, which makes them just a tad bit more humane. A lot of people were happy that day. It was so bad, my parents phones could barely call anyone, the network was so clogged. Good things are coming! Hopefully.

Hooray! 

Signing off,

The Traveler

Dry Season's Gone Already?

It's already going away!

If you've read Desert Tropics, I wrote that a few days ago, you'll know what Dry Season is supposed to be like. Extremely...uh...dry, and without a cloud in the sky. Hot in the day, cold at night. Well, there's something seriously wrong here. Right now, I'm looking out the window, and the sky is overcast. Gray. With more than a few clouds covering the atmosphere. Also, it's comfortably warm, like it usually is in the Rainy Season. And also, it's not getting extremely cold at night anymore! It's mild! Dry Season is already leaving, and it's been how long since it's started? About a few weeks? Or maybe even less! Global warming for ya. Since the globe is heating up and pollution is destroying Earth, one of the aftermaths of the destruction is no more seasons. Well, there will be, but not that much. Like right now, in Nigeria, it's pretty much Rainy Season all year round. It's not supposed to be that way! Raining all the time will be pretty gloomy. It's getting too much, and it's not gonna be good if we don't do something about it. Even though it hasn't rained since Dry Season started,  these clouds seem like they promise that there is going to be a downpour soon. Not good.

Signing off,
The Traveler

P.S: We ate Bar Jesus chicken. Delicious!

Christmas Party(?)

We're having a party for the villagers today.

The music is actually booming through the windows right now. It's gonna be held outside, but this party...we were volunteered. We really didn't have that much of a choice. Sucks, huh? From what I've seen and heard, the reason this party is going on is because these villagers just want to eat, and they think we have money, since we're foreigners from America!!!! The land of the free!!! The home of the brave!!! Oyibos don go far!!! The last sentence is a language from here called Pidgin English, and that sentence means, wow, foreigners are so advanced and civilized! Which isn't that true. You see, a lot of Nigerians have this stupid notion that anyone that isn't from Africa (excluding South Africa) is a bigshot and rich, and smart. All of you Americans reading, would you call every guy or gal you meet rich, a bigshot, and intelligent. Uh duh. No. Think about that guy you passed yesterday who was begging on the streets. It's ridiculous! Also, Nigerians wear a lot of wigs. It's pretty creepy, seeing all these women with curly blonde hair that's slightly lopsided and looks like a wet mop. I can't explain if you haven't seen it. Every woman that isn't older has a wig. They even get extensions and weaves for little girls! I know a lot of people do that everywhere, but here...it feels like it's on a whole other level. I'll take some pics and show it on here to give you an example sometime. Well, let me get back to the subject. So right now everyone is killing and cooking chickens from our farm, cooking meat, cooking meat, and making stews, and cooking meat. Did I mention any meat? You be seeing that many greens at this party!

Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate it (I don't myself)

Signing off,
The Traveler

Soldier Ants Again!!!!

Yep, now they're moving their colony!

We saw them a few days ago, a whole highway of them on a dry riverbed on our property. Here are the pictures:

Totally unrelated, but I don't think I'll ever get them in a pose like this again. These are our three goats: Mohawk, Right Ear, and Other Goat.

 Another picture of them, close up.

 This is one trail through our yard. I don't think this part is exactly our land, but it's right next to us so we explore in it.

 Here's the star of the show: the soldier ants moving their colony. You see that reddish path that is indented in the dirt? Yes, that's them. If you were there in the flesh, you would see hundreds of little "nurse ants" carrying larvae, walking on the backs of soldier ants.

That red mass right there are hundreds of 'em all in one place.

 

This is just one small example of their monstrous swarms. We were on a bridge over the riverbed, so we were pretty much safe from being torn apart. Alive.

On that happy note, Signing off,

The Traveler

Oops Again!

Well, I just found out that I never really published a post called 100th post. Eh heh heh...heh...

Oops is my hundreth post, but before that I had written a post in blogger called 100th post and it was published and everything. Now it's gone. What's wrong with you, Multilinks Telkom?

Signing off,
The Confused Traveler

Oops!

Wow, I am really embarrased, *look down uncomfortably, shuffle shoes.* The post labeled, 100th post, was not my 100th post. It was my 99th. Yeeah...um...well, anyway, this is the real hundreth post, and I ain't writing another little speech about how long I've been doing this and everything. Soooo...let's put that little incident past us, shall we? :) Please? :) :) :)

But, lemme talk about my newest discovery; large rodents are delicious. Don't say eew yet, 'cause I don't mean big rats: I mean woodcutters. They look almost like capybaras, except I think they're smaller and lighter. And, I bet (though I haven't tried it), they are tastier. We had some a few months ago. We had found this hunter, who gave us some. We payed him, though, and ate the leg. It was a little tough, and reminds me slightly of bat. It's pretty good. My Mom wouldn't come within five miles of it. She looked at it, and quickly walked away. I think even just seeing it threw her off. But my Dad, he'll eat anything. Here are the list of things he has eaten:

1. Dog (there's a dish with dog in it here. Please, don't start rallies against it; it's traditional, just like some European countries that eat cat brain. So shut up.)

2. Cat

3. Snake

4. Alligator

5. Horse (I told you, he's tried everything.)

6. Termites (fried and seasoned reasonably, it's pretty good. Okay more then pretty good, it's delicious!)

7. Goat Head Soup (Or Ise-Ewu here, I actually had a post about it.)

8. The Tongue of Different Animals (It's really tough. I'm not very fond of tongues.)

9. (I would advise queasy people to really stop reading right now, unless they want to throw up.) Cooked rat. (My Mom didn't know what it was until she ate it. lol. This was before I was born. Apparently, she liked it. Before she knew what it was!)

10. Spaghetti. With Meatballs.

11. Mashed Butterfly!

Except for number 10, which was just random, all of these things are totally gross to the Western world, as you can tell. Except for some dishes. And these are only the stuff he has told me he has eaten. I've eaten a few of these things, but we're also planning on slaughtering one of our chickens very soon: Bar-Jesus Chicken. A character from a play that I was in here. He used to be the leader of the pack, strutting around proudly and cock-a-doodle-doing in every chickens face, until Black-and-White Chicken dethroned him. Apparently, it was an epic battle for them, because when Bar-Jesus Chicken came away, one of his eyes was swollen and he seemed deflated of all of his pompous bouyancy. Too bad! At least we'll get to eat him. In Nigeria, it's not strange for people to slaughter the animals that live in their yards, like after a while, we'll eat the goats, and some of the chickens, but not enough to have no one to steal eggs from. Speaking of that, the eggs from the hens are phenominal. Before you start saying that we are animal abusers (which we're not), let me explain that the eggs that hens lay aren't always full of chicks. You see, hens can't help but have eggs constantly, and they don't want every batch. So, sometimes, they just leave the eggs there after they're born. The chicks never grow, and the eggs stay just regular eggs. So, just say what you know. There is a saying here: he knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool. Think about what I wrote, and figure out the meaning. You can do it!

Signing off,
The Traveler

Desert Tropics

The title tells you everything about what the climate of Nigeria is like at certain times of the year. Dry Season: desert. Wet Season: tropical. Here is why:

We're getting into the Dry Season, as you should know by now (if you aren't just now reading this blog, or was sent to here by Pingy or Alphainventions), and it's a crazy clash of temperature! In the night, it becomes bone chilling cold. I've had to use a thick sleeping bag to cover myself these days when I go to sleep. And my family lives on the equator! A little unbeleivable, right? In the daytime, though, you try to wear the least heat-holding clothing as possible, because it gets HOT, man. I mean like put an egg on the pavement and it'll cook kinda hot. It is the norm to be covered in sweat by about 11:00 in the morning. And then, you're hair and skin and everything around you will get dry and dusty 24/7. Day and night. Why is this? Well, imagine Dry Season as the exact opposite of Winter. Instead of it becoming really cold, it gets really hot. Clouds in the sky all the time, not a cloud in sight. What else does that description sound like? Good class, a desert. It's like Nigeria gets transformed into the Sahara for a certain time in the year. The reason why it gets cold at night and hot in the day is because there are no clouds to trap the heat. So, unlike in rainy season when it's almost always rainy and overcast, there's not a cloud in the sky right now. Seriously, right now. I'm looking out the window and it's just blue. I don't know why that exactly is, but I do know that the cloudless sky lets the heat escape when it is night and the sun isn't warming our side of the planet. When it becomes daytime, though, there are no clouds to block the sun, therefore making the place a furnace. A dry, dusty, furnace. Oh yeah, I almost forgot...it's dusty because dust from the Sahara blows in from the north. So we get a layer of red dust on everything. And since no rain...well, as you can tell, it can get pretty red around here.

Then, there's Rainy Season. Rainy Season is a whole different matter. Imagine Rainy Season like Spring, except with a lot more rain, and the rain much, MUCH more violent. When I mean violent, it sounds like a hundred machine guns are shooting simultaneously at a giant echoey gong. And that's just the rain. When the thunder comes....you'd think that you're in Hurricane Racket. If you go outside, it really looks like a hurricane, with palm trees bending over and the whole world splitting apart. It's awesome! And pretty frightening at some times, but you can live through those. Rainy Season is what you'd imagine those pretty islands on tourism brochures to look like: warm sun, nice breezes, and plenty of fruit. Plenty of sweet, plump, fruit. And the rain washes away all of the dust from Dry Season. And then when Dry Season comes again, it drys up all the gross mud the Rainy Season makes. They're pretty much in perfect harmony.

Signing off,
The Traveler

Signing off again because he forgot to on his previous post and he's trying to make up for it,
The Traveler

Kings and Queens

My parents are forcing me to write this post.

It's more of an educational school project kind of thing than my regular ones. It's about the Kings and Queens of Nigeria. Yeah, there are full-fledged monarchs here like the Queen of England. And we've visited a few of them. You see, we've gone to a lot of their houses and talked about different things. I don't really understand how, (I'm guessing that there are many different groups, that's why), but there are many, many different monarchs here. Like we met one King yesterday, but we met a Queen a few weeks ago. She was a little crazy. Religion had gotten to her head, and she has this mission of hers to destroy all of her native culture's art and...well...culture. Sad, right? That's what I think too. She thinks that all of these beautiful art pieces and everything are works of the Devil, and that they should be destroyed. That's her culture that she's trying to destroy! And a whole lot of smart people have said time and again that without knowing who you are or where you come from, you are completely, totally lost. Maybe she's never read their qoutes. But, seriously, there are many people like her all over Nigeria, and we've met a few. You can believe in a religion, without destroying somebody else's! Anyway, I was talking about Kings and Queens. Well, most houses that belong to them look like this: the waiting room, with a throne for the King or Queen to sit on (it's usually the King who sits on it), and a whole bunch of potraits around the room of themselves, and other relatives, or presents given by different people. A lot of the potraits say, 'his majesty the king' or 'her majesty the queen' on them, and the date of the time the picture was taken under. Then, the King would sit down on the throne and we would talk. And talk. And I would have nothing to do. Other than having really big cars and traveling to the UK and back every five seconds, Kings and Queens don't really order people around anymore. They definitely have money, but they don't really have that much power over the people. There is this one king who is really special: The Ooni. I don't know if that is the correct way to say it, but anyway, the Ooni is descended directly to the very first people of Ife, our town. And the very first people lived thousands of years ago! Can you belive that? I'm not kidding! I bet, that if he did a DNA scan, it'd be really true. He and his spouse are really well off. Most of the time, they're in England, but they do come to Nigeria. I think he's in his 80s, so he's been around for a long time. He's also like a millionaire. In dollars, if I remember right.

Pink Mega Grapefruit

About a week ago, my Dad and I went to this old lumber mill that isn't in use anymore. Well, we're thinking of buying it so then we can make an automotive repair shop. It was pretty nice; it wasn't like completely broken down or anything, but the machinery looked extremely rusty. Supposedly, most of it is still operational. But, here comes the cons: it's not connected to the main grid. I think. If I heard right. There's no electricity coming to it, henceforth, how do we operate the computers and lifts and the things like that? How about the office, what about the lights? Well, they talked and talked and talked and talked. They is my father and the guy who owns it. I got bit by a couple of soldier ants, waiting. Then he took us inside his office, and there was this large green melon. I was hungry, and was imagining all the different ways I could eat it. Juicy, delicious. Yep, I was hungry. The outside was very smooth, with very tiny dark green spots over the light green outside. The owner of the place said that they were very tasty, and when put into a juice they were even better. He actually gave that one to us as a gift, and told us that he had a whole tree of them. My dad knew what they were; he used to eat them when he lived here. I asked him what it looked like inside, and he said that it was pink! That it was, actually, a gigantic pink-insides grapefruit! He said that it tastes like a grapefruit, just a little sweeter, and that it was a grapefruit, just much bigger. I was very surprised, so after we plucked several of them off the tree, and we went back to the car to go back home, I kept asking again and again if it really was true. Can they really be huge grapefruits? It sounds impossible! But, after a while I guess I tired him out, so he said I would see what it looked and tasted like when we got back home. When we did get back to the house, we cut it in half with a knife and saw that it really was pink! It had a very thick skin, almost half an inch thick, and the fruit itself, the skin, was a little hard and would pop inside your mouth with sweet juice. After a while, (I don’t think I was eating it right), my tongue started to feel all burnish and acidic, so I stopped eating it. But while it didn’t burn my mouth, it was fantastic!

Signing off,

The Traveler

One-Rock Mountains

Have you ever seen a mountain made out of one giant rock?


Well, we just saw a few yesterday. Nigeria is amazing; here, the mountains are gigantic rocks! Their huge, sometimes towering over cities. You can even see houses, farms, and churches on some. And I’m not lying. If I remember right, the mountain over Old Buka is just one big rock. That’s just one example of them. They are everywhere. We took a two hour drive to Akure in Ondo State. And on the way, we saw some of the best formations yet. Some were as large as regular mountains; the one-rock mounds are usually more rounded and shorter than the run-of-the-mill mountain. You could see rows of crops on some, and trees covered them. Golden weeds covered it like a blanket, with it's rocky ground breaking out here and there. There was this one mountain, with bright crimson trees and rocks that looked to clean and perfect, dotting it's giant parent. There were some other trees with yellow leaves, bright white trunks sticking out of the browns and greens. It reminded me of fall, the whole landscape. Sometimes we'd drive around the base of one. There was this one point, where you would look at the edge of the horizon, and see huge mounds, tinted blue by the atmosphere. There were these three huge clusters of them; it looked as if a giant slipped, and their foot ripped and kicked up the ground. Other than that, we stayed there for about five hours at an old friend's house, watching The Simpsons. Other than the stuff I already mentioned, I won't bother you with the details, or you might fall asleep.

Signing off,
The Traveler

Dry Season?

FINALLY!

We think we might actually be getting into Dry Season. Global warming is really doing a number on the earth; My dad told me that when he was little, by this time, we would have been in the thick of Dry Season for a while. Sad. And even with this Dry Season, it's still not the full thing: it might rain every once and a while. Back in his day, it barely rained in November at all. I'm already to feel the effects slightly: I'm drinking a whole lot of water, and it's starting to get hot, the unbearable kind of hot that you kind escape and it feels like you're getting dried. Not roasted. Dried. It's really not that bad. Well, my Dad and I are going on another wild ride one-day trip to Lagos tomorrow. Again. It'll be pretty fun, since I've got Incarceron to read and The Hunger Games to re-read. Speaking of that, have you guys checked out our new group work blog, The Xplorer: Review Edition? It's really good, if I do say so myself, with all kinds of info on music, movies, books, and video games. Good thing is that there are no spoilers, whatsoever. So like I say on that blog, GO AWAY IF YOU WANT THAT KINDA STUFF. Alright?

Well, that it,

Signing off,
The Traveler

Black Sky

Have you ever heard of a black sky?


I don't mean thunder cloud black.

I don't mean night black.

I mean black. Black.
If you go to Obafemi Awolowo University around when the sun starts setting, or even at our house, the sky will become black for about an hour. Don't believe me? Well, I won't tell you what it is. You'll have to comment in your guesses. I'll give you the answer. No earlier.
P.S. We've passed the 200th chicken in chicken counting. Read Chicken Counting.
Signing off,
The Traveler with his lips sealed

Chicken Counting

It's been a few hours since we went chicken counting. You heard that right. I said chicken counting. My Dad told me earlier in the day to come with me to help him with the chicken farm in back. I was all ready to jump out of my seat and go there when he also informed me that it would be in the evening, so no need to rush. At the near end of the day, a brought a little table with a pen to write down. My father would go inside the chicken house, take one of the chickens, and put it on a little blue-green weigher. Most of them were 4 pounds, 4 pounds and 18 ounces, and 4 pounds and ten ounces. "2." "2.2" "2.1." (we were writing in kilograms, since every other country in the world except the US write down weights in that format) I wrote down all the weights. The farm is separated into three houses. The 1st house is only gonna be for the biggest; only 4 lbs and higher. Once we had a real big one; 5 pounds 12 ounces! That's pretty big for the chicken's that we're growing to sell for Christmas. Nigerians like to buy live or dead chickens for Christmas to eat. We'll be one of the sellers. It wasn't that boring. It only took half a lifetime. After I had written down the stats of 151 chickens we called it a night and went back home.

Signing off,
The Traveler

P.S.: Inconsistent writing cause the internet is so bad in our location.

Jammed

I haven't posted for six days.

Because of Multilinks.

You thought I was trying to hold back on you guys? No way! The internet connection is way too slow. It hasn't been acting right for a few days now. So, now that I've explained my absence, let me tell you about the longest trip to Osogbo we have ever been on.

My parents needed to get a tool from my friend's father, so we were on our way to Osogbo. I was really sleepy for some reason (the car does that to me) and I had a nap, though I was a little frustrated because Ife to Osogbo isn't that long a ride. I'd have to cut my nap short. I really wished that the ride would just be a little longer. Unfortunately, I got my wish. When I woke up, I was still pretty tired, and I really just wanted to fall back asleep, but I heard a lot of commotion going on, and there were people moving back and forth past the car. We must be in Osogbo already, I thought, waking myself up as I looked outside the car. We weren't in Osogbo. We were on the highway. And there were people walking on the highway. And the cars weren't moving. It was the slowest moving highway in history; people parked their cars and started walking outside and talking to people in buses out the window, running around...it was strange. "How long have we been driving?" I asked. "You mean how long have we been parked here," my mother corrected sarcastically. Well, I found out that we left Osogbo at about four o' clock. And it was five o' eight. Osogbo is a thirty minute drive. At least I got a good nap! It was really interesting to watch the people walk by, though. When the cars started moving, though, everyone would dash to the cars and rev them up. Finally, we did get to Osogbo, and we did come back (at like six or seven in the night!). But I'm not done. The night was as bright as day. The moon was almost completely full, and it was like a spotlight. It was daytime without all the colors. It was amazing! I wish I could have taken a picture of it, but my DSi didn't register the light. Which was annoying. I'll try next time.

Signing off,
The Traveler

Xplore My Blog!

Instead of me telling you guys about all of my Xploring, Xplore my blog yourself. Go ahead and look at where I've been, where I'm going, search my blog for interesting posts you might like, and vote on the random poll! Nothing has really happened today, so why don't you find a post that might be a bit more interesting?

Signing off,
The Traveler

The Rest of the Story

Let me finish this thing once and for all. So we drove down a side-road next to Glory 2 Glory. It was an uneven one, with houses on either side and people walking around. Finally, we drove into the parking lot of this automotive place. It was about two stories. Most automotive mechanic places in Nigeria don't have the right equipment. Actually, the mechanics do a trial and error thing to find out what's wrong with the car. Most of the time, they break it further! So we went inside, my dad saying he had to do something with someone about some car. Don't ask me what. I was just following along for the ride. We went to the lifts (these people had the right equipment) and looked at this '09 Infiniti. I don't know the exact build. A whole bunch of mechanics were swarming around it, trying to figure out what was wrong. Even though they had good tools, they did not get good training. They were as good as the regular mechanics, which is bad. They looked pretty confused, and they didn't seem very organized. I just stood and watched. My Dad jumped in and started looking at everything for about...mmm...I don't know....fifteen minutes?! It doesn't sound that long, but think about it; I'm not into fixing cars, there was nothing to do, and there was nothing to look at. It felt like a lifetime. So I went back inside for a minute, messing around with this HP tablet PC. It was interesting, but definitely not for me. Just by looking at it, I knew it graphics and CPU wasn't high enough for me to do some real gaming. It would probably be extremely choppy. Finally, my Dad came back with a few of the mechanics, and they took the laptop up the stairs. I followed. We went up to the second level, which could only be accessed by some really freaky stairs. They were outside, and since the building wasn't completely finished yet, there were no rails! I really didn't want to fall from that height. It would hurt. But, we went up to the top, and they were on the computer, pointing at the "miscombotulator" and "finisher clamp," or something strange like that. And they stayed there for what felt like two lifetimes. I just looked out the windows, waiting. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting. And finally getting up, and going back downstairs. Then, they went back to the car, and worked on it some more! Which took three lifetimes! And they took it off the lift, and started using a device called the scanner. Which took four lifetimes! I thought I'd stay there till I turned 80, but finally, we said good-bye, and went. Happily. But I'm not done yet! Far from it! I suggested that we should get some more Rice Krispies from Glory 2 Glory; we were running out. So we got that since it was only just next door, and got back in the car. We drove over to "town" (main part of Ife), and got some bulbs. Our house's old bulbs had started to die out. Then we were about to drive home (happily) when my Dad remembered inconveniently that we had to go all the way back to town and get some shovels. So we did that, which took five lifetimes, and finally came back home. Thank goodness!

Signing off,
The Traveler

I Opened a Coconut!

I opened a coconut! Okay, doesn't sound that amazing, but it is. You see stereotypical coconuts on TV; you know: a brown roundish thing with three dark spots on the top. The TV character will usually take a straw and poke it right through one of the dark spots, and start drinking a white liquid called "coconut milk." It ain't true. Listen: coconuts do not look like brown roundish things. With the husk on, they are green or yellow, smooth, and oval shaped. Not small and brown. After you take this off of the tree, you take a machete (or any kind of really sharp knife) and rip the husk off. The inside is dry, and very course and fabricie (not a real word), like a rough carpet. It's tan in color. In the middle of this thick husk is the iconic coconut that most people who live in non-tropical climates are familiar with. No need to describe that. But you can't just put a straw through the dark circles! If you try that, you'll have a crumpled piece of plastic. The little sphere is crazy hard. It's so hard to get through, you have to use a hammer to crack the shell and pry it open. But you've got another problem when you crack it open. What about the juice? You have to get a cup and let it all drain out. And the juice itself tastes nothing and looks nothing like milk. It's clear, like water, and tastes slightly sweet. It is extremely refreshing. The white hard inside is another obstacle in eating your snack. I tried to use a knife to cut off the hard shell, but got cut and stabbed a couple of times. Don't try that technique. But the drink and the white insides is a great reward for all of the trouble. If you haven't tried real coconut (not the one in Whole Foods) then you haven't lived. SO GOOD!

Signing off,
The Traveler

P.S. I'll have to continue my story tomorrow. My Mom is kicking me off again.

Wait a Little Longer

 

I couldn’t write today because I was super busy downloading updates for the computer so it won’t crash like two days ago. It’s really late here, and I just finished the dishes. I started late. So, I can’t really write a lot or I’ll get in trouble.

Signing off,

The Traveler

Long Day Yesterday

I didn't sleep that much the other night. I was pretty much tossing and turning and everything. It's one of those night's when it seems like there isn't one comfortable spot on your mattress to rest on. It's very irritating. Unfortunately, I really needed that sleep for the day that was in store for me.

I woke up to the sound of my mother telling me that there was something wrong with the laptop. I checked it out, and Microsoft was claiming that our Windows 7 Ultimate operating system wasn't genuine. There was a black screen, and the words, "Windows is not Genuine" at the bottom right corner of the laptop screen. Now, it is; we put in the corret product key and everything when installing it. It was genuine! I looked up on the internet what to do, and found out that it was a common problem among Windows 7 users. Anyway, long story short (so I don't bore to death the non-techies) I fixed the genuine problem today. But we're talking about yesterday, right? So, we were freaking over that then, and my Dad said that we need to run some errands. I got dressed into my day clothes, and we went. We drove really close to the street that Glory 2 Glory's on, and....wait, my Mother is prying my fingers off the keyboard; she says I gotta get off. It's too late in the night to write a long blog. I'll continue tommorow, I guess.

Signing off,
The Traveler

Our Car Broke Down. Again.

Yes, it did. We were driving to Osogbo, the capital of Osun state (our own) to visit some friends. My friend's father owns a car wash, and we visited it and everything to say high and to ask if his children and spouse were at the home. The car wash is only a few streets away, mind. He said yes, and made sure he would call them to open the gate for us to their house. Most houses here have gates, like this:

As you can see, the wall surrounds the house, protecting it. Talk about a picket fence! So we asked him to make sure his children would open the gate, and we went on our way. We drove about two streets away from the house, when everyone noticed the car's hood was smoking blue, foul smoke. Then, it stopped moving. Luckily, we were so close. It would have been pretty messed up if we were on the main road! We went to go check it out. My Dad phrased as, "a pipe popped," or something. A pipe fell out of it's hole, and oil was running through it. I think. I really don't know. My Mom had to steer while my Dad had to push from behind most of the way to the house. We had two great advantages, though: 1- the road was downhill. It made for a pretty fun ride. And 2- We were so close to the house, we didn't have to push for long. Oh yeah, and I almost forgot 3- The fix was supposed to be pretty easy, so we weren't grounded there. Good thing my parents owned an AAMCO! My Dad really knows how to fix cars. He asked my friend's Dad if he could bring transmission fluid (or something like that) over the phone, and I went to go sit down and talk with the kids we came to meet with in the first place. My younger sister had a playmate who was around her age, and they played (can you guess?) The PowerBluff Girls. Oops, did I write that incorrectly? ;) Good thing is that we got the car fixed and we rode home, but I don't think the fix is permanent. There's still some blue smoke coming out of it. I think it'll get fixed tomorrow.

Signing off,

The Blossom-Bubble-Buttercup-hater Traveler

P.S.  NEPA has been gone for a month now. We've been running off of the inverter and the generator. The NEPA HQ for Ife said it would definitely be fixed in the night or today. By yesterday, I mean two days ago.

Seriously signing off this time,

The Traveler

Some Pictures of Old Buka

There's this place on campus (Obafemi Awolowo University) called old buka. It's like an all-in-one strip mall. It has everything, from lights, to roasting fish, to fish pepper soup. Fish pepper soup is (for Americans like me and others) the spiciest thing in the whole universe. It consists of a fish, like Tilapia, and a peppery broth. It's delicious and horrifying at the same time. Here are a few pictures if old buka and fish pepper soup. Note: Old Buka is named Old Buka because it's old. Don't assume that the buildings in the place are the common thing everywhere in Nigeria.

My mom and I eating fish pepper soup.

A back alley in old buka.

A strange metal box hanging over everything in old buka.

 The hill the old buka is on. One of the many hills on campus. Campus is HUGE! Actually, my dad says that it has the largest campus size in the whole world. Go ahead, look it up, because I haven't!

Outside of the fish pepper soup joint. My dad was sitting out here, eating.

 Artistic view of a Sprite bottle that I was drinking (random, but cool).

 Myself, laid back in the shop

My mom's half-eaten soup. Don't try to eat the screen. 

My mom and I eating. My sister's are on the other bench.

I asked this Okada man to pose with his bike. Okada is one of the most common transport in Nigeria. They swarm like bees in the streets. I'll write more about them in another post.

A picture of the Department of Dramatic Arts on campus.

Inside the theater of the Department of Dramatic Arts.

A picture of the parking lot outside of the department. See the Okadas riding around?

I don't really know what this part of the department's for.

The statues that have been here since my father lived here.

A statue of Ola Rotimi.

Murals on the outside walls of the theater.

Those are enough pictures for all of you to look at at the moment. More pictures later,

Signing off,

The Traveler

Flooding

Oh, I almost forgot: It rained all over the house! It poured last night so hard, and some of the windows were open in my parent's bedroom. And they were open! Water was flooding in, completely drenching my baby sister's bed and making the floor look like a giant puddle. We had to put newspaper all over the ground to soak up the water before it made an even bigger mess. It looked really cool; the water droplets on the ground made interesting designs. We took some towels and put it right under the windows so the water would fall on them instead of the floor. Fortunately, we got the place dry. Unfortunately, we missed a daily issue of The Gaurdian.

Signing off,
The Traveler

Tired

I'm a little tired right now. I don't know why. I slept for a while, I ate breakfast and everything, so I guess I'm just tired for tired's sake. It's early morning, so there's nothing to post at the moment. It's overcast and temperature is warm. That's it.

Signing off,
The Traveler

The Perfect Mud

I couldn't write yesterday cause stupid internet wasn't working. Well, now I'm back on; hurray for multilinks! Yesterday, I found this mud; it was the perfect kind. I know, sounds weird, but it was. I mean, it was extreeemely smooth, and felt almost like clay. So anyway, I was digging a hole, and that was where I found the mud. I kept digging, feeling bad that I had to destroy the perfect smooth mud, when I made even better mud! It was mixed with the clay enriched dirt to make the best, most smooth mud in the world! I showed my sisters, and they were like, "whoa" and "cool." Then, I went back inside. Later in the day, the mud stiffened until it was soft enough to be molded into balls. I threw it at our cement wall, just to see what would happen....and it just stuck there. I peeled it off, and balled it back into a ball; eco-friendly reusable mud! It was really fun to play with. Then, I put some tap water over the stiffened mud in the hole and...bam, back to the watery mud! It's the coolest mud recipe ever; I better patent the concoction!

Chicken's Stretch

I know, sounds weird, but they do. If they're really tired or something, you'll see them fan out their wings. Their wingspan is surprisingly wide. Not that impressive sounding yet? Well listen to this: Nigerian chickens fly! The ones in our yard actually fly up into the trees and sleep there like regular birds! They even fly over our cement wall! Their really loud flyers, though: whenever they flap their wings as they fly, you can hear loud whoosh, whoosh, swoosh in succession. And usually, the cockerels will fly up someplace high, and then, when they get up there, they'll start cock-a-doodle-dooing. What I think is pretty stupid on human's part, is the name cock-a-doodle-doo for the sound the roosters make. They don't even sound like that! It's hard to explain what they really sound like. Or maybe just chickens outside of America sound different? Well, I didn't hang out with many chickens back in the states, so I don't know. Anyone on a farm with chickens, do they really sound like that?

Signing off,
The Traveler

Happy HALLOWEEN!!

Okay, well, happy Halloween for everyone in the states and elsewhere. Halloween is not a Nigerian holiday, so we'd look pretty weird going from door to door with plastic fangs in out mouths, saying "trick or treat" and asking for candy. They'd probably think we went off the deep end, so none of that this year. But, if I was in the U.S.A. and I could celebrate, I know exactly what I'd be. I would be the three scariest things on earth: no internet connection, textured plastic, and The Lion King 2. Duh duh duh! Those three things are the scariest things in the world!!! Lemme explain:

No internet connection- No Google Buzz?! No YouTube?!?! No Google Earth?!?!?! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Textured plastic- The most annoying sensation to fingernails known to the human race. Totally irritating. It makes me flinch just thinking about it.

The Lion King 2- Corniest movie in existence. Sorry Kiara and Kovu fans; it is. A movie my sisters forced me into watching: DON'T WATCH IT. Only if you want to see lions kissing, and a monkey singing something about crazy moons and baboons swooning. Yeah, it's that bad. Leave it to Disney to make the most embarrassing romance scenes known to cartoons. And on top of all that, the animation was definitely not the best. And there was no story! Okay, well maybe there was, but it was so shallow, your ankles would be perfectly dry if you waded in it. Please, save yourself the pain and steer clear away from it, alright?

That's what I would be. The three scariest things in all of the world!!!

Mwahahahaha!
The Traveler (Dramatic!)

A Little Bit More About Birds

Guess what? Just after I had written yesterday about birds and stuff, I had another adventure with them! This is what happened:

I had finished my post and published it on my blog, and went to go eat my breakfast of Quaker's Oatmeal. I always put butter, milk, and sugar in mine. After that, I went about doing the usual: reading, doing schoolwork, when I heard a very strange bird call. I was in the back of the house, near the office room, when I heard a sound like somebody clicking their tongue on the roof of their mouth. They were fast, and they came one after the other rapidly. I heard the sound, and I walked into the office, since it was louder there. Through the window, I saw the bird. It had orange wings and back, a white chest, blue head and beak, and a wide wingspan. I mean, it was wide for it's size. It also moved differently; it would hop, and sort of fan out it's wings as it turned, and perked it's head up, as if it was trying to see something. I think it's a male, since he was the one calling, but I don't know jack about birds anyway. I know that's a pretty vague description, but are there any birdologists that know the name for this species? It lives in a subtropical climate (we are in Nigeria, after all), and the description is pretty much all I know about it. Thanks,

Signing off,
The Traveler

Rainy

It's really overcast as usual in the rainy season, and I'm just sitting inside, listening to the birds. Man, do those animals know how to sing! Their songs are very different than the ones we have in Durham. But, I've also heard some bird calls that sound exactly like what I heard back there! Weird. So, we aren't really doing anything. It's morning, I just woke up. That's really it for now,

Signing off,

The Traveler

RAIN! THUNDER! LIGHTNING! BOOM!

HEY! I'M GOING TO RIGHT EVERYTHING IN CAPITAL LETTERS AND END ALL MY SENTENCES WITH EXCLAMATION POINTS IN THIS POST (THERE WILL BE NO COMMAS) TO REPRESENT HOW STRONG IT JUST RAINED! WE WERE SITTING IN THE LIVING ROOM I WAS PLAYING ON MY WII (I WAS TRYING TO GET SOME MORE STARS SO I COULD ADVANCE IN SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2) WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN IT STARTED RAINING! INSTANTLY! THERE WAS NO WARNING IT JUST STARTED RAINING OUT OF NOWHERE! SINCE WE HAVE A METAL ROOF WHICH HELPS COOL THINGS DOWN THE DIN  WAS AMAZING! YOU COULD BARELY HEAR YOURSELF TALK! WHICH WAS TOTALLY AWESOME! AND THEN THE THUNDER AND LIGHTNING CAME ROLLING IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT WAS THE LOUDEST THING EVER! MY TEXT DOESN'T DO IT JUSTICE! THERE WERE TWO THUNDER CRACKS THAT SOUNDED LIKE GUNSHOTS OUTSIDE OUR HOUSE! NO KIDDING! I EVEN FLINCHED IN MY SEAT THAT'S HOW LOUD IT WAS! IT WAS C-R-A-Z-Y TO THE MILLIONTH POWER!!! THEN IF YOU LOOK OUTSIDE YOU SAW A WALL OF RAIN! IT LOOKED LIKE AN ACTUAL WALL! WE COULD BARELY SEE THE BUILDING NEXT TO US! EVERYTHING LOOKED GRAY! AND THEN I WENT OUTSIDE AND THE GROUND WAS LIKE A LAKE! WATER WAS E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E! MY SANDALS GOT DAMP! GOOD THING THEY'RE WATERPROOF! OK I'M ENDING MY POST NOW! RIGHTING IN CAPITALS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS IS SO WICKED COOL!

SIGNING OFF!
THE TRAVELER!

A Piece of America(n Food)

We went to Glory 2 Glory again today and went on a shopping splurge! I picked out a cereal I wanted, my baby sister picked out hers, (we got Rice Krispies and Fruit n' Fiber), we got snickers, we even got real milk! I say real milk like this because in Nigeria, most of the milk is dehydrated. It tastes like real milk and everything, but I myself am lazy, and I like just pouring it from the carton into the bowl. Even though it's 6:58, all my and my two sibling each ate one bowl of cereal. In the night! We usually get Kellogs Cornflakes, but we wanted to switch it up a little, and it was worth it. Now I'm full with loud Rice Krispies!

Signing off,
The Traveler

More Riding

I'm pretty much biking everyday now on our awesome land. I like to go off-roading on a dirt path. Feeling the wheels skidding is really cool, and then some of the bumps energize you. We have a natural spring in the back, and my parents made a canal so it could flow again, since some bamboo blocked it's way. The stream is super clear like glass, and nice and cold on my hands. There's also a farm of corn in the back that some people put there 

(after we allowed them, that is). I've gone into it a few times. And then, the bamboo grows in clumps, and they spread out and look like giant mushrooms, which is really weird, and funny at the same time. There's also raw iron floating in the stream; it looks like little orange clouds. I've touched it before, and it flattens onto my fingers. It's also fun to jump from island to island in the stream as well, exploring everything that's there. Well, that's my land,

Signing off,

The Traveler

Biking Back and Forth

We were just cycling to and fro on our main road: my little sister, my mother, and myself. I went down a route I had never biked down before, and we said we'd stop at a sign for a church. There are churches everywhere in Nigeria: it's almost like Nigeria's infested with them. You'll see one around the corner, and you go down that street, and you'll see another church, and then you turn down another street and you see three more churches! They're everywhere! Now, I'm not saying that a church is a bad thing; I respect all kinds religions and people, and it's definitely not a bad thing to have a church you go to or anything like that. But there are churches EVERYWHERE. You might see one or two mosques, but then for each mosque there's a hundred churches. Maybe they should also invest some of the money from churches to other things like renovating buildings?

Signing off,
The Traveler

Dying Clothes

My grandparents wanted some Nigerian dresses and stuff before they left, but we couldn't get it on time....or something like that (I wasn't really concerned). We got the cloths before they left, though. They wanted it custom made, which also includes the designs, everything. I've gotten some stuff custom made, too. It's a pretty cool looking blue shirt. It's nice. So anyway, they told us what they wanted, and we got some people on campus (campus of the university that's down the street from us) to dye it. My Grandpa wanted an agbada. Or at least, I think he wanted one. An agbada is like a huge, flowing shirt that has sleeves, and doesn't at the same time...well, it's  kind of difficult to explain. You'd have to see it for yourself, because I don't know how to explain it. I don't know what my Grandma wants, but let me stop talking about them. Do you know that traditionally, women wear a wrap on their heads called a Gele? It usually matches the clothing that she has on, and it's always colorful. I've even seen some that have a sheen to it! Other than that...well, it's early in the morning, so I have nothing else to write about. My family's sleep.

Signing off,
The Traveler

Grinding

My parents are trying to grind some corn and stuff to make feed for some chicks that we bought. We're actually making a farm...a chicken farm, that is. So we've got like a thousand chickens (literally) in a chicken coop that we built on our plot of land. They're cute, like yellow tennis balls, and they like to huddle. Sometimes they're so up on each other, the floor looks like a yellow rug! Yeah, so anyway, they're trying to grind some feed for them, but there's a problem: NEPA. Of course, NEPA has to come...or is it go?...and ruin everything for us whenever the company wants to. They're pretty stupid. They've been flickering all day: It'll stay for hours, then, all of a sudden, it goes out, making the grinder shut down, which means we can't grind feed, and the feed can't be made,   and the chicks can't eat. Luckily, NEPA is on at the moment, in full force. We're doing fine other than that, though. My younger sister was quizzing me about the Power Puff Girls. She told me to name them, and here's what I put: BubbleBum, BigheadBlossom, Buttercuppy, Mrs. Tell a Bella, Mr. Mayher, and Mr. Plutonium. Obviously, I messed up their names on purpose; frankly, I'm sick of the TV series that my siblings have informed me about so much. You'd be too if you were a 12 year old boy that had passed his superhero kindergarten girl age years before too. Well, for all I know, you might be!

That's a rap,

Signing off,
The Traveler

Just got Civ V

We got it: the newest game in the turn-based strategy series, Civilization V. It's really REALLY good! They have this art-deco style that is soooo slick, and the graphics are amazing. Plus some of the new features, like moving units onto the sea without building any ships saves a lot of time! Also, the city bombardment is an awesome feature, so then if an enemy is near your city, you can actually destroy them. Also the new leaders TALK. They TALK!!! And on high settings in the graphics panel in options they look ultra real. I think the use Physx technology, so that's why their clothes move so realistically.

Well, I won't spoil anything else,

Signing off,

The Traveler

Ignorance (America and Nigeria)

On this blog, I've proved time and again that America is wrong about a lot of stereotypes about Nigeria and Africa in general, but don't feel too bad! Nigerians are as ignorant about America as Americans are about Nigeria. Here are a few examples:

My father, is a very smart and cultured person like my mother. But when he was young and living in Nigeria, he thought that this was a solid fact in America: At any time, anywhere, no matter the situation, Americans would break out in dance and song like in a musical! Seriously!!!! It sounds ridiculous, I know, but some of the things we say about Africa will make Nigerians weep with laughter. But, it's still funny to see their picture of America. Listen to this story, and if it doesn't make you laugh, I don't know what will:

We know this guy who comes sometimes to our house. You know, he's an acquaintance. Well, anyway, one time he came over, and started talking to my little sister. "Have you ever seen this?" He asked her, showing her a...well I'd spoil it if I say what it is, so keep on listening. "This is a real African thing. You haven't seen anything like this before overthere." "Overthere" is what some Nigerians refer to America as. "This is very African. Do you know what this is called?" He waved it at her. She looks at him as if he fell off the deep end. She said flatly, "It's called an umbrella." Okay, lemme let that sink in for a moment. The guy didn't know that we had umbrellas in America. He thought that the umbrella was native to Africa, and that it didn't rain in America!!!! Then my mother told him that it rains in America. "Eh?" She said it again. "Huh?" She tried one last time. "Hmm?" He couldn't even believe it! Now, I don't know about you, but even though I've been gone for a year now, I think I remember that there was rain in the states.

There are so many stories like this, like one where one guy thought that in America, trucks and cars transformed into robots to fight evil (I think he watched too much Transformers), another where (This one's common) America is made up of two cities: New York, and LA, and one where all black people rap. But if you think about it, we do the exact same things. Most people think that Africa is just a couple of huts on the savanna (My mother used to think that when she was young) and that Africans were still in little villages, running around with loincloths. So now you know that ignorance is an international disease, from Nigerians, to the Japanese, Italians, Americans...everyone.

So try to smarten up,

Signing off, 

The Traveler

Nothing Happening 2

All that's been really going on is that we just ate a delicious snack made of plantain that my dad made called Ipekere. It's really good, like potato chips! They're crunchy and round and...just absolutely delicious. Sorry! I don't want to make you angry, but it's to good not to mention. I'll send a picture of it soon. It's about to rain, I think, and it looks like a lot. It usually rains around in the afternoon. This is rare in the Rainy Season. Nothing else,

Signing off,

The Traveler

A Little History

Hey,

I've been reading an old book about Nigerian cultures in our library. The library is really old, so it has a layer of dust on everything. They have everything; The Odyssey, a really old edition of Ripley's Believe it or Not, and a really, REALLY old version of Oxford University's dictionary. So, anyway, my Dad found this book on Nigerian culture in there, and was reading, showing the rest of us how he remembered when the Nigerian National Theater didn't look as crappy as it does now, and how this was there and that was here. After a while, I went and looked at it myself. I was amazed at how much amazing stuff about the different cultures in Nigeria was in there. Like for example, the Yoruba used hieroglyphs to talk long distance with other towns. There was a lot of symbol work going on, like for example, if there is a shrine, and a road leads to it, the people put palm fronds across it. That means, "no trespassing." But if you wanted to talk to your friend down the street, you'd use the talking drum, a drum that sounds like a person speaking Yoruba! It was like a cell phone!!! Other cultures used hieroglyphs, too. It's really interesting to learn about my ancestry, since my Dad is socially and mostly ancestrally on my grandpa's side Yoruba. And they made delicious foods like a paste they made for a rite of passage with kolanut (a really bitter nut, after you eat it, though, it becomes sweet), honey, dried fish, spices, and everything! They also made a sweet called Adun; I'm going to research it after I write this, I wanna know what it is. That's pretty much all I remember right now,

Signing off,
The Traveler

My Sister's B-Day!

It's my baby sister's birthday today,

And we're having a blast. She's turning four. We went to this general store that has just about everything called Glory 2 Glory. It has everything: drinks, oil, sugar, flour, candy, sweets, cookies, and lots of known brands like Snickers, Pringles, and Kit-Kat. We got about everything on the shelves. I ate half a Snicker bar (my younger sister (8) ate the other half), some strawberry wafers, about half of the pringles, some cookies, some more cookies, and some more cookies! Now I'm feeling sick. But it was good while it lasted!!! We played some Super Mario Galaxy 2, too (my baby sister told us what to do). We had a lot of fun. Our oven isn't working at the moment, so we were going to bake a cake and some cupcake at our friend's house in Osogbo, about a forty minute drive from Ife. We got some cake mixes from the States; our aunt put it in The Package. But, it was raining a lot today, and when it rains a lot, NEPA goes out a lot. It's a fact of life here in Nigeria. And the oven needs electricity. Only if we want a crappy cake, we're going to hold off of that, and try to go tommorow to bake the stuff. Delicious!

Signing off,
The Nauseous Traveler

Awesome Games!

The games are awesome!

I love Super Mario Galaxy 2, but it's wicked hard. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is really good too. Heck ALL OF THEM ARE GOOD!!! And the DSi is really nice; it even has a built in camera!

Signing off,
The Traveler

The Package's Coming Today

Guess what?

The Package should be coming today. I checked the tracking number, and it said it's been forwarded for delivery! That means it's handed over the package to the local mail people, and they're bringing it to Ile-Ife! Super Mario Galaxy 2, here I come!

Tommorow!

The Package is coming TOMMOROW!!!! :):):););0;)

Nothing Happening

nothing going on. you're not missing out on anything right now. we're stranded without a car. good thing is that the package is coming in two days.

The Package 2

The Pacakage is in Lagos now,

I just checked on the DHL tracking site. They say there's a clearance delay right now. But I'll tell you right now, if they try any funny business, we're killing them. One time, they delayed so long, we called them up and forced them to bring it here. They better not try it again,

Signing off,
The Traveler

Won a Prize

Nothing's been happening,

except that we might have won a prize from Coca-Cola. My sister found a bottle cap a few days ago, and it had a code under it. Your supposed to SMS it to 33665, and you can win 15,000, 20,000, or 25,000 Naira. That's about a thousand dollars or a more. We're going to split it 50/50; I was the one who told her what it was. So we might win some cash. It'll go towards my MacBook Pro,

Signing off,
The Traveler

The Package

The Package got sent yesterday,

Now all we gotta do is wait for next week (Tuesday). For some reason, on DHL you can’t just track right away; you’ve got to wait (for us, we have to wait till the afternoon of today, US time). It’s really frustrating, but at least DHL is cheaper than UPS. UPS $667 to ship here! Using DHL, we save about a hundred and twenty dollars. It’s not a whole lot of money, but you can buy two video games and a used one for that. Anyway, I’ve gotten to the ninth book in the Pandragon series (Raven Rise). For those of you who don’t know, it’s a series of ten books by D. J. MacHale, the director of Flight 29 Down and all that stuff. It’s a really good book, and now everything’s hitting the fan in this one. Don’t worry, Pendragon readers! I won’t spoil anything! Nothing else happening,

Signing off,

The Traveler

P.S I wrote this in Word 2010, since we don’t want to waste credit on the internet.

Lifting Out the Engine

Pulley, chain, car engine,

Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right? Well, actually, it's not. My Dad's working on a car at this very moment, where there's something wrong with the engine. So what they planned to do was to lift it with a pulley and chain. The pulley is hanging from a sturdy cashew tree branch, and all they had to do was tie the chains to the engine and use your arms and legs to lift it up. Then they tied the chains that they used to pull it into the air onto another cashew tree branch. And they work on it that way. It was pretty weird looking. Right now they're lowering it back down into the hood. It's a really good thing the branch didn't break,

Signing off,
The Traveler

Dry Season

It's becoming dry season now; it's not a completely huge change, but things like it's not getting as muggy and humid is a tell-tale clue. It hasn't started getting extremely dry yet (it hasn't gotten very hot, either), but it's getting there. I don't know why, but to me at least, it looks like all of the fruits start becoming ripe in the dry season. Well, we don't have all of the fruits in our yard, but we have a lot, nevertheless. Like, for example, we have almonds, cashews, guavas, limes, oranges, bananas, mangoes, plantains, pineapples, tomatoes, and peppers all in our walled compound!!! The guavas are ripe, and I think pineapples are year round (so are bananas and plantains), so I guess I can't say that all the fruits get ripe in the dry season. We also have a whole bunch of chickens, and three goats. We've named most of them: Chickens-Hen (has six chicks), Bar Jesus Chicken (a character from the play I acted in, see "Visit"), Boldy, Boldy Jr., Black-and-White Chicken, and Other Hen. Goats- Right-Ear, (no name), and Mohawk. We used to have a dog (my friend, who has a dog, is gonna be really mad at me for not telling her) that my sisters named Pud-Pud. He got run over, and I didn't really want to talk about him in my blog because it was too sad. We're planning on getting another one, though. We also have another bout of soldier ants in the yard (again), and they're grouped around the palm tree. They're going for the oily palm kernels, the seeds of the palm tree. They're fairly good, just add a little bit of salt and you're good to go. They don't look edible, but they are. We already got attacked by the soldier ants a few times; we'll try to keep away from them. Trying to keep safe,

Signing off,
The Traveler

Constant Electricity

Guess what?

We now have constant electricity! I don't know if i've ever mentioned this, but in Nigeria, don’t expect to get electricity 24/7, even if you pay your bills! You see, Nigeria has only one electricity company: NEPA (Nigerian Electric Power Authority). Well, actually, it’s been renamed PHCN (Power Holder Company of Nigeria) but everyone still calls it NEPA. NEPA’s got some problems: there can be power outages at anytime, anywhere. It gets worse in big cities, and gets better in smaller cities. I don’t know what’s wrong with them, but it’s bad. There are some rare spots that have constant electricity, but pretty much everywhere else has problems. So, a lot of people have generators. Most people in the states don’t know about generators, but all they are, are big motor-looking things that generate personal electricity when NEPA is malfunctioning. We have one too: it looks red and is pretty big, and loud. But generators need fuel, and fuel needs money. Luckily, about a day of generator would drain half of the tank, and NEPA doesn’t usually go out for the long. We also have something else called an inverter, which charges a battery that we have (it weighs a ton, literally) and when NEPA goes, it automatically gives us electricity. And it makes no sound. And it can last for as long as a week! NEPA never stays out for that long. And it only takes about 8 hours to charge! So, in other words, we have 24/7 electricity. My parents want to share this stuff with the other Nigerians who only know about generators. We’re also trying to teach ourselves and them about solar energy and wind power. I’m just glad we’ve got the power!

Signing off,

The Traveler

We Saw A Nigerian Film (Being Made)!

Hey,

 Yesterday, my father and I were driving to this village. I didn't know where we were going then, but we were being guided by one of my father's friends here. We drove one the roads, and I looked up at the tall hills surrounding us. It was a really awesome sight. We drove for a few minutes, getting farther away from Ile-Ife, when we entered the village. Now, most of you guys in the states and UK think a village is a place in the middle of nowhere with five huts and about twenty people, suffering. Well, forgot all that trash. We went to a real village. And it was amazing. There were was a wide, winding dirt road that was the main one, and then side paths branched from there. You could see a giant hill with trees growing all over it, and it looked really peaceful, even though kids were playing and running and screaming everywhere. There were people frying Accra (more on that later), kids smoking gari (look at), other people people drinking palm wine (the extract from the palm tree. It's not really alcoholic), and other people frying fish. The fish looked really, really good. So anyway, it was pretty cool. Then, totally out of context, were these big shiny looking Chryslers and Mercedes that looked like the ones in Victoria Island, Lagos. I was confused, and trying to figure out what was going on. My father and I were being dragged around by his friend, who was introducing us to these people in costume. Some had fake rifles, others had slingshots. I was trying to figure out what was going on. At first I thought it was guerrilla theater, but then I saw a guy who looked pretty ticked off and was screaming at all the supposed actors. The friend of my fathers dragged us along and made us follow the people. Then we saw a guy with a camera. Finally it clicked; it was a Nollywood movie! Nollywood is (duh) the Nigerian film industry. Honestly, the movies are done very poorly, with horrible acting and even worse effects. And each movie is the exact same story as the one after it: there's this guy and his girlfriend. They're about to get married, but his ex-fiance still wants him and wants revenge, so she goes to a shaman dude and tells him to put a curse on them. Then everything goes crazy and ghosts start appearing and several relatives close to the unfortunate couple get murdered. In the end, though, a higher spirit comes and sets everything right. Or there's this other story about a village back in time that has a curse on it or there was a family feud and everything hits the fan. And it's the SAME THING EVERY TIME. I can't take it. But I have to admit, it was kinda cool to see the actors really do it. We watched one scene being made, and then went. I had a really good time,

Signing off,
The Traveler

Visit

So sorry,

I haven't been on my blog for so long cause I pretty much had my hands full over the past couple of weeks. My grandparents, best friend's father, and aunt all came at almost the same time. The day after I wrote to everyone, my father and I had to drive to Lagos and back in one day to get this and find that and just general businessy type stuff. If you remember, Lagos is a three-hour drive, so we really spent all day on the road. And then, my aunt was here and we had to set up a bed and everything, and we had to go back to Lagos to get everything else done with everyone. And when we were in Lagos this time we picked up our grandparents and my best friend's father. I also had to act in a play! Then we went back to Ife with everyone on board, and the craziest thing happened: our car died. It was the worst timing ever in the history of timing. Right now, at the moment we are still without a car, but my parents know what's wrong with it and we're going to fix it. The car's computer died. For some of you who don't know, each car of modern days have computers that run everything. And ours died. Swell. Our specific car computer isn't in Nigeria, so we can't go buy one here. Fortunately, my aunt send The Package, which is filled with all kinds of stuff that we need (or want). It's really sweet: sometimes you can have oreos inside, or books, or even toothpaste. Anything that we can't get here, it gets shipped once every two months. In this one, I'm getting Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and a Nintendo DSi (White) Mario & Luigi bundle. Listen, it might look like it, but I'm not a Mario fan. I've never even played it before! But I've heard that these games are supposed to be the best, so I'm trying em out. My grandparents bought all my stuff and got it sent to my aunts house, so she can send it to us. So anyway, my parents are going to order a new car computer (they're actually going to order it today), send it to my aunt, and she'll ship it in The Package. I really, REALLY want this package, since it has all of these awesome games, and it'll fix our car. Hopefully we'll be getting it in a week or two. Don't worry, you'll all know when it arrives; I'll be talking about how cool the games are for days! This post is as long as it's going to get,

Signing off,
The Traveler

Obstacle Course

We didn't really have that much of a blast,

Because there weren't that many people, which meant some of the activities were closed. We did go to the beach (in the night), and we played around there for about 15 minutes. We also swung on a little swing-thing. I wanted to walk on this sandbar which lead to another part of the shore. We didn't get to do that this time. Le (or La) Campagne was pretty nice, and I even tried to somehow perhaps complete their obstacle course. It had two cement walls that you had to climb over, and a trench with multicolored strings that were tied to the top so then you were forced to do a belly slide across the sand to the other side. There were also logs that were vertically propped up for you to step on them. It was crazy! The men's record (finishing time) was 2 min. 30 sec. The women haven't even finished the course yet, let alone make a record. As you guessed, I got stuck at the third challenge, pretty much. I cheated and passed by the ones that were too hard. My Dad did a lot, while my Mom, my sisters, and myself were all afraid that he might break his back. Luckily he didn't! The chalet that we stayed in was pretty nice, with three bedrooms, living room, dining room, and bar. There were some electrical problems at first, I guess since the house hadn't been stayed in for a while. We called the electricians, and they took care of it. We got to stay in the bunk-beds, which were next to the regular bed in the first bedroom. I took bottom, my sister took top. I tried to use our Lenovo at the place, since they said they had internet connection in the brochure for the resort. Their server was malfunctioning, unfortunately, and our Multilinks Telkom internet modem was too far away from any poles. That was fine, though, cause I got to play my father's ancient Civilization III game. They already came out with a IV, and they're already about to publish a V!! And my father's using a game from 2001 that doesn't have any good graphics. It wasn't half bad, though. Oldie but a goody.

Signing off,
The Traveler

We're Going Tomorrow

We're going tomorrow,

To Lagos, real early in the morning. We'll have to wake up at like 6:00 in the morning!!! Nowadays, I usually wake up at 10:00, maybe 10:30. This is gonna be tough. Our car broke down too (the transmission broke) but my dad will be able to fix it. He knows a lot about the insides of cars. But it'll take a few days to fix it. Right now we're borrowing a friend's. We just ate dinner, and I can barely write. Lemme get off before I do something stupid,

Signing off,
The Traveler

Going Back to Lagos

We're going back to Lagos on Sunday,

And we're staying at a beach resort! It's called Le Campagne (or La Campagne, I can't remember) and it has all of these boat rides and a big swimming pool and an obstacle course. There's a library too, so I can read something. Speaking of Beach Resorts, when we go to Sao Tome, we're staying at a four star beach resort. It's called Ilheu Das Rolas, and it has the largest saltwater pool in all of Africa. They have hikes and trails and (I've heard) really good ocean diving. There are also some awesome volcano formations I want to check out. The ancient volcanoes are dead, and the only thing left of them are the shafts. Here's a link to check more on Sao Tome: Sao Tome info link. Actually Ilheu das Rolas is a seperate island off the southern tip of Sao Tome. There are only about 200 inhabitants, all working in tourism or the resort. I hope the pool isn't too salty; that'd be gross!

Signing off,
The Traveler