Feeling Homesick
Today I miss Nigeria. The easy lifestyle . No big brother watching you 24/7. I miss the food - its never really the same when you cook it over here- I miss the sunshine, the beach, the slower pace, the 'backwardness' of things and I don't mean this in a bad way at all, its just that I can't put my finger on the proper word to use. I can't really describe the yearning I have at this very moment. I just took a look at the Plateau State website and pictures they had on the site just brought everything back to me( and I am not even from Plateau State). I could FEEL what was going on in the pictures the heat, the people, what they would be saying, and the languid pace of things. Oh, words absolutely escape me today.
Its strange but I have found since moving here five and a half years ago, I am even more Nigerian than I was when I lived in Nigeria. I am a little more eager to speak pidgin English, seek out fellow Nigerians, have purely Nigerians only parties, eat the food, listen to the Nigerian Pastors on SKY's Christian channels, watch BEN TV and I can spend hours browsing the web looking for interesting things going on there Lagoslive is a really good website. I log on often to the Genevieve website as well - I just wish they would follow the footsteps of Ovation and find an outlet here to sell their magazine. Its one of the best ones to come out of Nigeria in a long time.
The irony of it all is if you ask the question 'Would you move back to Nigeria then?' My answer will still be 'No'. I guess I am one of those people who love Nigeria from a distance and enjoy going back for a couple of weeks each year, and thats enough for me. Besides, I don't think I am up to coping with NEPA!!!
Its strange but I have found since moving here five and a half years ago, I am even more Nigerian than I was when I lived in Nigeria. I am a little more eager to speak pidgin English, seek out fellow Nigerians, have purely Nigerians only parties, eat the food, listen to the Nigerian Pastors on SKY's Christian channels, watch BEN TV and I can spend hours browsing the web looking for interesting things going on there Lagoslive is a really good website. I log on often to the Genevieve website as well - I just wish they would follow the footsteps of Ovation and find an outlet here to sell their magazine. Its one of the best ones to come out of Nigeria in a long time.
The irony of it all is if you ask the question 'Would you move back to Nigeria then?' My answer will still be 'No'. I guess I am one of those people who love Nigeria from a distance and enjoy going back for a couple of weeks each year, and thats enough for me. Besides, I don't think I am up to coping with NEPA!!!
posted by Pilgrimage to Self at 11:25 am
1 Comments:
I know exactly what you mean about Nigeria. I was away for 11 years (even I have a hard time believing that it was so long) and while I was away I missed home a lot and sought out Nigerian company, books, etc - for a while, at least.
However, the longer I stayed away and the more settled I felt in my new life and I started to feel that I could be happy living away from home indefinitely. That's when I knew I had to come back and, at least, experience Nigerian life as an adult (I was a teenager when I left).
Some things are definitely taking some getting used to e.g. erratic electricity, crazy driving, BAD traffic, the overly aggressive behaviour you encounter from many people daily, the need to bribe to get things done, etc. There are also the cultural differences e.g. I have come to appreciate irony and sexism is a DEFINITE no-no.
Luckily for me, my brother made this transition a year ago and my sister and I moved back together, so I have people to share this experience with.
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