First Thankful Thursday of 2010

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Hello and welcome to the first Thankful Thursday of 2010! On my way home from my parents’ place, my head was spinning with a million things I could write about but since I didn’t pull over the side of the road and write it down, all the ideas are gone. Well, all except one: I thought I’d start the year by reflecting on what I think the Thankful Thursday posts have done for me, in particular how I really think that they have made me a more appreciative person who recognizes the many ways she’s been blessed. I can’t believe how much more often I say “Thank God!” It’s a reflex now: I say it when I pull into the parking lot assigned to me at home, whether I’ve been gone from home for 10 minutes or 10 hours, I say it when I miss two steps, trip and don’t … Continue reading →

Traveling to Nigeria: bathroom “necessities”

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When I came back from Nigeria at the end of 2008, there were some things I knew I’d do differently next time. Today I’m going to talk about the things I’ll bring with me next time to make bathroom-related activities more comfortable. Both sides of my family come from extremely modest backgrounds. Today, neither of my grandparents’ homes have running water, so no flushing toilets or showers: the bathroom is a room with a hole in the ground, and baths are taken in another room where you draw a bucket or two of water from the well and act as your own shower. My morning baths were ice cold. It didn’t occur to me to boil some water and add it to my well water to make it a bit warmer like one of my smart friends who went to Naija last year did; I adopted the “When in Rome…” … Continue reading →

Welcome, 2010!

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Happy New Year! I wish you only good things in 2010. Both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve were Thursdays, and instead of putting up thankful posts, I was busy spending time in person and by phone with my loved ones—family and friends. They are people who show up regularly in my thankful posts, so it’s only appropriate that they were the ones who were occupying my time. They also serve as a handy excuse, since you would feel pretty bad chastising me for being absent on my blog in light of what I was busy doing, wouldn’t you? (I must confess that I got an average of eight hours of sleep each night all through the holidays…it was so decadent! This was the first year that I truly got to enjoy the fact that my place of employment is closed between Christmas Eve and New Year’s day, because I … Continue reading →

If real Nigerians can handle their pepper, what does that make me?

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Although I’m the eldest child in my family, I get no respect and I’m actually considered the wimp. First off, I’m the shortest of the four of us. It’s so unfair that age and height aren’t directly correlated. I’m not the only eldest child who happens to be shorter than her siblings; I think it’s a deliberate thing, probably meant to keep us from being too full of ourselves: imagine how much bossier and in charge I would be if I was taller than those brothers of mine who drive me nuts, and if I was also stronger than them. It would also really be handy if the elder of my younger brothers couldn’t lift me off the ground. And my sister, two years younger than I, shouldn’t be allowed to be both taller than me and in the habit of wearing heels in my presence, should she? But she … Continue reading →

Thankful for the internet and the people I’ve met through it

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I hate to be repetitive but God has blessed me with amazing friends. This week, I’m thankful for the online friends that I have yet to meet in person. First up is Seye, web developer and internet rockstar who I have been blessed to know for over a year now. If I had to describe him in two words, I’d use enthusiastic and helpful. From our first contact, to his reactions to life, I was charmed by how excited he gets about things and how he loves people and helping them out. In fact he has to be careful not to be taken advantage of by people (hmm, maybe I shouldn’t mention that here…). If I mention something related to web design or development that frustrates me Seye will drop what he’s working on and try to help me in whatever way he can, even when I tell him I … Continue reading →

Talking to family and friends in Nigeria

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As you know I’m Nigerian by parentage: both my parents are Yoruba. I even lived in Nigeria for three years (between the ages of three and six), but I have lived in Canada for the past 24 years. And in these 24 years (a scary number that makes me feel quite old), I have visited Nigeria twice: the first time was seven years after moving to Canada and the second time was fifteen years later (last year). This last visit was the best, and I know my visits will only get better and hopefully not as much time will pass between them (by God’s grace). Since the last visit, I’ve been corresponding with family members and friends by phone and email more regularly. And one thing I notice is that I communicate slightly differently with these friends and family members. It’s not deliberate, and I’m not talking about my accent … Continue reading →