Postcards...
The one where I lost count
This may be a bit dated because I’ve been back for so long that I don’t remember what I was doing in Europe. But you see yeah, I promised you a “postcard blog” you have to manage this one. Tell the kidnappers of spring to release her abeg!
For the first time in my career, I finally feel like I’m exactly where I need to be. Things have been going great with that and I can’t complain about the fast-paced life I’m living now. However, my last trip to Berlin almost ended me. I caught a respiratory bug that’s still upsetting my lungs almost 2 months later. For whatever reason, it was snowing in the middle of April (hence the sub). My body has been fighting back for all the out-of-whack situations I’ve put it through this year, it’s June and I’m still begging the air in Lagos to agree with me.
Anyway, a time was had on the second leg of my trip. It felt like my soul was finally healing from the pandemic when I completed the adrenaline-jostling ride from Lewisham to Heathrow arriving barely 5 minutes before check-in closed. I accepted the ill-thought risk but it was worth the extra 30 minutes I spent laughing with my stepmom.
Now this letter will be more disjointed than I planned because it is now July and I’ve been on 2 more eventful trips in the homeland and experienced some of the most challenging periods of my adult life while all that was going on. Why did I think I could move houses in LAGOS in the middle of travel? Like WHY? Between dishonest and incompetent artisans and a labour strike that rendered the whole country powerless for close to 4 days, I was FIGHTING FOR MY LIFE!
Nahhh… everything I deeply enjoyed lost its allure in the past few months. I’ve stress-eaten my body into a ball of knots and creaky joints due to a lack of healthy movements. You know how I mentioned goals at the beginning of the year? please the goal now is to stay alive o because na person wey dey alive go fit achieve goals this Barbie is just trying to breathe deeply.
While gathering content for this letter I wrote little notes and made short recordings of my thoughts thinking I would give y’all a banger *laughs in Layi Wasabi* because I no sabi anything that period. Anyway, I’ll try putting them together in less than 3 paragraphs so I can share all the fun things I enjoyed in the past 3 months.
I visited the Genocide monument at Kigali and got re-radicalised in favour of women. this coincided with the release of one of my favourite Netflix shows so I struggled to convey my anger at the things I saw with words but I will some time soon. For now, enjoy the unfinished draft of that letter;
"In the City of a thousand hills…
The women survived the worst
Hello gentle reader… ‘tis the season of ballrooms, gown and spicy gossip again. If you didn’t already know, one of my favourite Netflix shows was out last week and I spent my weekend in watching it alone without the iridescent chatter from show haters before I finished it.
It’s only my second day in this city so tell me why my brother hired portable-lite as my driver and he tried to make a U-turn in the bus lane (BRT) in Lagos 🤣🤣🤣. Thankfully I woke up from that delirious nightmare before real fear set in. Why did that interest me? It did because I told myself it wasn’t real until I opened my eyes like Inception and everything just fell away. I fell back in a plastic slumber until morning but I woke up rested (I guess a win is a win after all).”
In Nairobi, I had a brief brush with an ex-friend who tried to corner me into an indecent proposal with drugs I did not recognise. Usually, all the warnings meant to protect women from sexual assault refer to an aggressor who might be a stranger or someone you may not have known that well. They rarely help against friends, family, familiar adults, caregivers and all the other known aggressors we encounter in our existence. Maybe I’ll expand on this later but I want to appreciate the efforts of my colleague and homegirls in Nairobi who got me to safety and surrounded me with love and laughter to ease me back into a safer presence. Like London, Nairobi & Kigali de-stressed me and let me be myself in many ways.
I found a new love for bubble makers, went ziplining, enjoyed archery, and opened my mind enough to try unfamiliar cuisines. Nothing beats good ole shopping at the Masai mara markets for brass jewellery and colourful shukas except hanging with my girls of course! Unfortunately, I could not keep up with the energy required for nightlife in Nairobi because I ran back home at half 12 after a night of activities that began at 6pm. All my 30+ jokes got a bit too real that night when I tapped out after dancing for 40 minutes in the club hot tears. Anyway, I’ll finish this segment by saying Africa is truly a country. No explanations I’m afraid
Things I enjoyed so far…
Watching the sunrise/set
Reading the Bridgeton books before watching season 3
Nora Robert’s Irish Romance series
Nyama Choma (the East African equivalent of Suya made with goat/beef)
New Albums from some of my favourite Nigerian artists like Victony, Ayra Starr, and Simi
Playing Tems’ Love me Jeje like a soundtrack to my life
Putting akwabanga oil in my meals. IYKYK
Doing work that matters at my job
Speaking up for myself
Well folks, I hope with these many words of mine I’ve been able to atone for my long silence. I don’t promise that it will not happen again but you can find solace in the fact that I will not abandon this blog for the next 10 years (hold me to this if I don’t write for 6months straight). Until next time
Stay Jiggy
xx
Picturesssssssss!