Two Days

In two days, we'll leave Nigeria for six months.

This time, it's back to the States for real! Not for three weeks, but half a year. It's what we've all been waiting for. Now it's time for us to go back to Durham, catch up with friends, get our lives back home started again. We had a little test thing back in April, so this time it's not going to be as shocking. But it'll still leave an impact, that's for sure. This isn't just something you decide to do overnight. Just like in '09 when we left for Nigeria, returning to America is a pretty big deal.

To be honest, I'm super super excited. I really want this, very badly. I know that the people we met here are going to miss us; some have already said "Just stay here!" I understand...whenever you leave some place for a while, people want to latch onto you. Even so (I'm being honest again here), I'm not giving Durham up, not happening. Yes, Nigeria has become a second home. Yes, Ife is a pretty nice place. But would a Nigerian like to be in a foreign country for years on end without returning to their home? I know a lot of Nigerians do that a lot, but I believe that they miss Nigeria after a while. And that's just human nature, I guess.

Another reason I want to leave is NEPA. *shudders* I certainly won't miss the inconsistent power supply. Or the messed up water system. Or malaria...

I will miss the people I've met. And some of the dishes here. And the relaxed atmosphere of Ife...

It's alright though. Nigeria isn't going anywhere. I'll be back in six months. So I'll enjoy Durham as much as I can!

Signing off,
The Traveler

P.S. I'm still debating over whether I should update this blog while in the States. If I continue posting in Durham, I probably won't be doing it as frequently. I don't want to get repetitive.

Iiiindoooomieeeee!

Iiiindoooomieeeee!

Indomie. I shudder whenever I hear little kids shriek that on commercials. On the radio, they're all like "Mommy, give us Indomie! Give us Indomie, Mommy!"

The bane of my existence.

Indomie is ramen, Naija style. And I hate it. Have I mentioned how much I hate it? It's all soggy and wet and the chicken flavoring doesn't even taste like chicken and the "spicy chili packet!" that comes with it isn't even spicy and oh please don't get me started.

To put it simply, it's really gross if you've had it over and over and over again like I have.

While we were driving to Lagos once, there was an Indomie commercial on the radio. And this woman was all like "You know grandkids, back in my day my mother always made me Indomie. It's my favorite food!"

This is impossible. Indomie was introduced to Nigeria in 1988.

Unless if the grandmother is 35, there's no way she could've eaten Indomie as a kid. Indomie, you liar!

LIES, LIES EVERYWHERE

Signing off,
The Traveler

Pictures

I have a camera now!

We had to visit a hospital in Ife, to go see some friends. They live there, because there's a whole residential area for the doctors.

This is the main road. To the right is the ambulance, and the building next to it is the cafeteria.

This looks like a barn or something. *shrugs*

This is a common tree in Nigeria. It reminds me of the pine trees in Durham.

This is another view of the hospital.

I told you I'd get a camera!

Signing off,

The Traveler

Group Reaction

This is going to be a short one.

So I was on the OAU campus today, I was buying some suya--a beef jerky sorta thing. I must have mentioned it in an earlier post so I'll let you do all of the hard work and find it. Because I'm lazy. DEAL WITH IT

As I was saying. I was buying some suya, and it was pretty dark. It was 8:45 PM after all. So all of the streetlights were on and there were all of these bright buildings and stuff. You know, how it should look? And people were going about doing weird stuff and I was there buying the suya on the street corner and everything was normal and--BAM. PHCN strikes again! All of the power goes out, simultaneously. Every building, every streetlight, goes dark. Here comes the cool part.

All of a sudden, I hear this huge collective sigh! Like, everyone on campus rolling their eyes and huffing in exasperation. I know it might not sound so cool, but it was an amazing experience. It was as if this experience kinda brought everyone together. We all hate PHCN's unreliability. So we can all unite under that. Alright, maybe it's not the best thing to agree on; hating the electric company? But it was still really cool to hear. Like this huge...wave of sound! You know, similar to that Marvel superhero, the one that can't say a word because if he does he'll like explode everything in sight or something like that? Because his voice is so loud and immense and all that stuff? (Okay, you can take my nerd creds away.)

Signing off,
The Traveler

MY LIFE IS FULL OF WORDS

AND NUMBERS

It mostly involves a lot of this:

And this:

So as you can tell, I've been rather busy. It's been so much fun, learning C++ and Calculus. Plus, my math teacher let me borrow his Kindle DX for a week and a half. How awesome is that?! Now I can read my e-books on a proper e-book reader! Sorry laptop, but you're staring at words on your screen for too long will give anyone a headache.

Speaking of books, I've also been snooping about in the old library. We have a decent collection of books (my Granpa's old collection), and most of them are from the 60s and 70s. I found a couple of good ones (1984 is one of them) , and I tried reading The Iliad too. I'm sorry to say I failed. :P Who knew the Greeks could make such confusing literature?

Anyway, there are a lot of really old Nigerian magazines. It's almost like travelling back in time. You get to see what people cared about back then, what issues they had and what accomplishments they had achieved. Maybe I'll talk more about that later.

I know this is a short post, and it's more of an update about what I've been up to. But that's okay! I'll try to find more interesting things to talk about next time. :)

Signing off,

The Traveler

P.S. I was looking around my blog, and I saw my old "Favorite Sites" widget on the right-hand side. I haven't changed it for years; one of my sites on there is "GMail (ESPECIALLY BUZZ)". I remember when I used to talk to my friends through Buzz! I didn't even have a Facebook account. Ah...memories.

Stuff Can Get Boring

That title might seem like an obvious (and vague) thing to say.

Well, I can agree. But it got your attention, right? :P Anyways, stuff really can get boring. For example, have you ever realized how much you depend on electricity? Stop for a second, and think about what you're using to read this blog. Whether it's a tablet PC, a laptop, a desktop, a smartphone--it has definitely got something to do with electricity. If you're reading this after sunset wait a minute. What if you couldn't turn on the lamp next to you because there was no electricity? You wouldn't be able to read at night. And if you use an electric stove you definitely wouldn't be doing any cooking soon. Do you see where I am going with this? In the modern world with all of it's digital thingamajigs, an individual without access to electricity is seriously handicapped. And trust me, it can be boring; I've experienced this firsthand. I've talked about this frequently in the past so I'm not going to go over how unstable PHCN's service is again. All I'm saying is that you really don't understand how boring things can get without electricity. How can I check my mail? Or even turn on a light?

I've been thinking a lot on the differences between America and Nigeria. I was wrong to say that there wasn't a shock when we came back here. Now, I've changed my mind. I was shocked when we came back to an unstable cycle of power outages and electricity. Whenever PHCN starts to act up, I always wish I have a good book to read. Unfortunately a lot of my books are digital, and battery life doesn't last forever.

The only upside to all of this is that I spend more time with my family and stuff. You know, talking to my parents about some weird video I saw on YouTube or petting one of our cats. And I love drawing, so sometimes I'll just sketch, write things down. I'll get hit with inspiration and I'll write down a chapter or two of my novel. These things are nice, but they shouldn't be forced on us. We should be able to choose when we want to go digital and non-digital. We don't need PHCN to decide that for us.

Signing off,
The Traveler

Gone and Back Again

So. We're back in Ife.

I thought it would take me a little bit to get accustomed to Nigeria again. I am not exaggerating to you when I say that I barely blinked an eye. There was no huge shock. We deal with NEPA (or PHCN as it's called now) just as we've always had. I really don't feel a change. I walk my dog in the morning like I've always had. I go around, goofing off on my laptop, thinking about weird stuff like I've always had here. I wasn't expecting to be like shocked into oblivion like ERMAHGERD WHAT THE POOP IS THIS I MEAN HUHWHUH HUUUUUHH

Okay I'll stop that now.

I think you get what I'm trying to say. It's actually sorta cool. When I get to the States I immediately switch into "America mode". When I'm here in Nigeria? "Nigeria mode". No culture shock, nothing. I guess the problem is that I've been listening to crap from a whole bunch of people, telling me that when I go from Nigeria to America or vice versa I'll suddenly have to learn everything all over again. I'll be a fish outta water, so out there and confused but in a sort of good, happy way. Now that last sentence really doesn't make sense. Whatever! I've got a rule: never edit posts. Just write them how they are and let 'em loose!

Hey, on an unrelated note, I've noticed that there are only like 3 photos in this whole darn blog. Well, that isn't going to do! I've got four years worth of writing on this site, so I'm going to have to explain Nigeria to you guys visually as well. I'll be working on that, but to be honest we don't have a camera at the moment. Actually, the last time we owned a (working) camera was in...2010? 2011? Something like that. Anyway, don't worry! I've got it under control.

Well, Signing off,
The Traveler

We're In America!

Yes!

I'm writing this post in the same room that I wrote my first post three years ago. It sounds crazy when you state it that way. But we are back, in Durham NC. Things are different than what I expected. For example I thought that I would have a tougher time reintegrating into my old life. Fortunately that wasn't the case. Everything seemed to just...click. I instantly just fell into my old ways and everything. It was a piece of cake :) One thing I was not expecting was the drastic change in temperature. Boy was I in for a shock. I must look ridiculous to the neighbors and such, walking around in a jacket while they where t-shirts and shorts. I really don't wanna relive that so why don't we just change the subject. Another thing that I had to get used to was constant electricity and water. In the beginning I was expecting every minute for the lights to go out or the TV  to shut off or something. But surprisingly, it never does. And I'm always staring at my laptop screen, just waiting for that "plugged in, battery full" icon to change to the "unplugged, battery at 56%" message of death. But. It never does. Getting back in touch with friends is so great. I think that has to be my favorite thing about being back in the States. Plus the food! Yeah, that beats all of them. Food is great. I've never told you guys how much I love food. Food is so awesome that I love it so much that--okay, time to change the topic again before we go completely off the subject.

But what are the things I miss? My pets has to be one of the biggest. I miss my dog. I miss my cats. Heck, I even miss Brownie. Luckily we're bringing them to Durham in August so that's cool. But until then, I keep making the mistake of thinking that Shep is gonna come bounding around the corner like a crazy.

It's been too fun to be back. 'Nuff said.

Signing off,
The Traveler

An Edit and an Update

Remember that post I wrote about Lagos undergoing renovation?

It's not only Lagos. I was wrong about that. This is happening all over the country. Even here in Ife. Ife is considered a rural sort of place by most Nigerians. A place where nothing is happening to put it simply. (To be honest, sometimes I agree with them. :P) Even here--though the progress is much slower than in Lagos--I'm starting to see differences than when we first came to Nigeria. In 2009, there was no pizza delivery. Now there is. So what if the pizza tastes like fuel? It's still pizza delivery. In 2009, there was no fiber optic cabling. Guess what? They're lying down the foundations for that right now. Do you see what I mean? It's not blazing fast progress, but it's progress nonetheless. Heck, it's more than what we had back in '09. That's gotta mean something. Besides, Ife is always getting bigger, at a freakishly fast rate. Our city in the States, Durham, has a population of 228,000 sumthin. Ife's population is 372,000. And that's a rough approximation. I think you're starting to see what I'm talking about. Ife is going to become one of the biggest cities in Nigeria in couple of decades. And with a growing middle-class in Nigeria anyway, you're going to need more amenities if you want to avert discontent from the masses. Maybe that's why the government is allowing foreign companies to fill in these spots.

Here's the update part: We're leaving in a week for Durham and my laptop is completely messed up. At first I thought it was my HDD. I was sort of right; it was part of the problem, but I also think that my graphics card could also be going bad due to overheating. Not good news, right? Well, at least I can go and see my friends again back in America! That is going to be too much fun. (Goodness, I wish that I had posted more pictures in the last 3 years! I have to get a camera...)

Signing off,
The Traveller

200th Post!

Yes, I've hit it!

Another milestone for this blog. It took me a while, but I made it! :D So now that I've gotten to this point, I'm going to take a look back at my first posts on this blog, back in 2009. Goodness. That was four years ago. It shocks me to see it so blatantly; right in front of my face. I made this blog back in 2009. Well, at least I've seen how much progress I've made! Some of my earlier posts look so...ignorant from my perspective now. Of course, you can't blame me; I was thrown into a completely different culture. New foods, new experiences. Surprisingly I haven't even written all of my adventures in this blog. There are just so many which have helped me to realize...I'm not so ignorant anymore. I know what an Okada is. I've learned a bit of the native languages. I've met new people. I definitely would not have participated in the WRO in Abu Dhabi if I had never come to Nigeria. So many things would be so different. When we first arrived in Nigeria I didn't know how to take care of a dog. Well, now I do. I can say pretty confidently that if I hadn't come here I would have never gotten Shep. Or Night. Or Harry Potter. I would have never met the friends I've made here. But you know what? I'm ready to go back home too.

So after two hundred posts, I've learned a whole world of info on this country. Not as complete as my experience in America. Actually, I don't think it will ever be as complete as my knowledge of the States. But I'm okay with that. :)

Signing off,
The Traveler

Plans

Hey everyone,

My life for the past few days has been a little hectic. Well, to be precise, my parents' lives have been a little hectic. They have all of this planning to do for our trip back to the US. I still can't believe it whenever I write that out. Our trip back. It's really happening. I've already told all my friends over there and they're pretty psyched like I am. I wonder how much has changed? I've looked at my neighborhood in Google Earth a couple of times, but it looks the same. Wow, I must sound redundant. How many posts have I made like these? But I still can't help but think about it. It's like...it's like if you lived in a faraway country for a couple of years with barely any contact with your friends and family back home. Actually...that's exactly what it is. :P The contact stuff is mostly our area's fault. For the longest time we haven't had phone or internet access, but if you've been following this blog for a while you already know about that. And if not, trust me. I've mentioned those two problems a lot. Now that the internet is solved our phone reception is even worse than usual. Meh, whatevs. I'll get over it right? Until we find a solution there's no point in going on about it. Anyway, that's really what's been on my mind the most these days. Going back to Durham.

Signing off,
The Traveller

Connected Like Crazy

Best news ever!

We have broadband satellite internet access! One megabyte per second, 32 GB download limit for each month. It’s crazy! I’m still trying to adapt to using the internet anytime I want. I can surf YouTube. I can get that IDE I’ve been eyeing for the past few days. I can keep up to date with all of the blogs that I like (including this one). You really REALLY can’t appreciate the internet until you’ve been severed from it. But I think I’ve said that a hundred times before. J Now I’m able to go to Khan Academy, play online games…the list goes on. We’re using an Internet Service Provider called YahClick. It’s pretty good…most of the time. Like when we picked up the equipment for the dish—that was a hassle! We thought it would be a quick easy process. How we were so wrong. It took us more than an hour to get it, and that was after threatening the YahClick office that we won’t buy from them if they don’t bring the darn stuff. And right now is another annoying moment with this ISP. It claims that we’ve surpassed our daily bandwidth limit which is 1.2 GB. This is pretty much impossible. We haven’t come close to downloading a GB of data in one day. So we’re going to Lagos tomorrow anyway. We’re planning on telling them off. I’m sort of laughing right now. Isn’t it a little ridiculous? A few weeks ago, we were pretty much offline. Now, we have one of the fastest internet connections in town. Yeah, there are other broadband satellite setups about Ife, but they’re usually shared. That means that the download/upload speeds are unbearably slow. What do you have to say about that, Multilinks?! Satellite internet, for the win!

(now I can upload my harlem shake video now…>:D)

Signing off,

The Traveler (ONLINE)

Changes Time!

No, I'm not talking about my life,

I'm talking about the city of Lagos. We're actually there right now; I'm writing this from our hotel room. But I'm not here to talk about hotels. I'm here to talk about restaurants. I'll explain, but first, let me tell you this story. We went to Dominoes yesterday. While we were eating we also got some Coldstone ice cream as well. Today, we ate at Johnny Rockets. Of course, this might sound normal to most Americans. But only a year ago these restaurants did not exist in Nigeria. And that's the interesting part. All of these American franchises are moving in as fast as they can. I bet that give it a few years, Dominoes will be seen nationwide. To put it simply, foreign businesses are interested in the Nigerian market. What does that mean? Well, Lagos, and Nigeria in general might be going through major changes in the near future. We might be seeing Radioshacks, Wal-Marts, all of the shops and stores you see in America here. The question now is whether if that is a good thing or not. Well, I'll like it. But of course, I'm biased. I'm homesick, I like the familiar brand names and such. But what if these bigger companies come in and sweep all of the local businesses to the side? One good thing is that these Nigerian branches are actually owned and run by Nigerians. So, that means that foreigners won't be able to completely take over. Overall though, this is a huge sign of progress. It brings a lot of hope to this country, and with a rising middle-class worldwide, Nigeria doesn't have any choice but to upgrade. I mean, look up Eko Atlantic!

Signing off,
The Hopeful Traveller

Hello World

Yes, I’ve been learning C++.

But anyway, there is some big news that I have for everybody. Coming March (or April), we’ll be heading back to the States for a month. Then in August (or something like that) we’ll be going back for real. About 6 months. Then we’ll be going back in forth—six months here, six months in USA. So I’ve been wondering, should I continue this blog while in America? I mean, The Traveler is just about my travels in other places. If I’m gonna be home, what’ll my posts be like? Like this, maybe:

Sitting Down

Hey, I’m sitting down! I’ve been experiencing real crazy stuff like, yesterday, my Cheerios were not actually Cheerios! I thought they were Cheerios until I tasted them, and then I saw…they were actually Fruit Loops! I should’ve gotten a clue from the box but I was sorta out of it that day. Anyway, my dog chased this squirrel all around the yard and that was totally

Yeah, something like that.  I might as well become a Twitter addict if my posts become like that. But I thought of something. Maybe continuing the blog in America isn’t such a bad idea. I mean, I’ve been looking at the people who have been visiting my site, and a lot are from England, China, all kinds of places. I guess it would be cool for them to read about an American kid’s view on American life. I don’t know, I think it could work. Write about America in America for the world, write about Nigeria in Nigeria for Americans. It’s not the most unique thing in the world but for teens like me who are interested in different places it would be a useful guide. Even people in California might want to hear about my experience in North Carolina. So you get my drift. I think it could work.

Signing off,

The Traveler

A Little Philosophical Stuff

So I’ve been sick for a while,

A week or so to be exact. Obviously, it’s not been fun. The sickness is like a combination between a really, REALLY bad cold and malaria. The first day I had a sore throat. Second day, my sinuses were so messed up that if I bent down I felt as if my head would split open. Third to seventh day: migraines, and my chest was so constricted that if I walked from the living room to our gate, I’d have to stop and take a break for a couple of minutes before going back inside. And here’s where things get a little interesting; I learned something from this. Actually, I’m happy that my chest was so constricted I could barely breathe. Why? I learned a valuable lesson which takes most people years to learn. You have to take things slowly. I know you’re probably saying, “well duh. Of course.” But really, it was a big lesson for me. Your goal will still be there even if you take a while to get there. That doesn’t mean that you should procrastinate! I’m completely against that. But don’t kill yourself in the process of getting to wherever you’re trying to get to. Oh yeah, speaking of killing yourself, I was watching Inception with some friends a few days ago, and we paused it to go get something, don’t remember what. We were at that part with the crazy wife lady inside DiCaprio’s head. And she was talking about how she should kill herself so she can wake up, back to reality. Even though she already was in reality. And my friend said, “You know, I sometimes feel like that. I mean, reality could be one big dream that someone’s having.” So that’s the big problem that people have been battling with for centuries. Is reality real. Are we figments of someone’s imagination. Is there an afterlife. Blah blah blah. Well, if you’d ask me, “Hey Traveller, what do you think of this whole reality thing?” I’d say, “I dunno.” Because I don’t. And here’s the best part: to me, it doesn’t matter that much. If we’re in a dream or even a simulation like the Matrix, our fantasy world isn’t any less real than whatever lies beyond. This has been said over and over again, even scientifically. Look at it from a scientific point of view: whatever your senses report to your brain is pretty much your reality. I mean, you’re reading this using some sort of electronic device. Your eyes are reading these words, and because your eyes can see them you instantly believe that they’re a part of your reality. And your skin can feel your clothes. You believe that your clothes a part of your reality. If you perceive your world through your senses then that is your reality. Even your dreams are realities. I can feel and see things in dreams. Why should they be any less real than right here, right now? You could say that dreams don’t usually incorporate all five senses. So if I blindfold you, you can’t see. Does that mean that the world around you isn’t real anymore? The dream realities are weird, I have to admit. I mean, sometimes even the laws of physics don’t even apply. But all I’m trying to say is anything that sends information through your senses to your brain is a part of your reality. I guess what I’m trying to say is that even if this universe is a dream or a super advanced version of the Sims, that’s fine. It’s not going to make a difference to you or me. But that also means something else. If you believe in an afterlife or reincarnation, I don’t believe you should sitting around to die so you can move on to the next phase. Because if you think the way I was saying, you know about every reality is a reality, then this phase is just as important as the other. The grass is not greener on the other side. Even if it is, like I said earlier, take your time. If you don’t how will you be able to enjoy anything?

Signing off,

The Traveller