American Odyssey
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23. Homewards
All too soon, the week of cavorting with the inlaws has drawn to a close. Glad to be rid of late nights, Nigerian parties and all for a season! Once the small matter of a nine hour flight is navigated! Continue reading
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22. Aftermath
The aftermath of a proper Nigerian party is stupor. The less said about that the better. In our case, after the exertions of the past day, most of this was spent in bed till the persistent calls from W resulted in a rushed attempt to get to the Atlanta History Museum. That done, the evening… Continue reading
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21. D-Day
And so to the main day. First order of business: breakfast, for which there were at least forty people spread out all over the cafe at the hotel – cousins, nephews, nieces and a fair few friends of the family all making up the lot. Nigerian weddings are a village affair after all. I shudder… Continue reading
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20. Going Southern
Having spent the majority of the past few days waiting out the rain – often tropical out here – the chaps decided they wanted a meal one evening. After going back and forth on options, we settled on a steakhouse, allegedly one of the very best out here. Being the ultimate cynic that I am,… Continue reading
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19. Language (Non) Skills
Very often at these family dos, I’m usually the only non speaker of the Nigerian language common to the South West which most of the family speaks. This, in addition to my Enneagram 5 tendencies, often means that I am on the periphery of conversations. Once in a while, someone might catch themselves, announcing loudly… Continue reading
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18. Comparisons
When a reasonably large number of (successful?) people gather, what one does, or has done for work inevitably comes up. Sometimes (as at school reunions perhaps) it is about blatant competition – who succeeded, who didn’t, who stayed mid – at others (such as family reunions) it masquerades as catching up. For my sins, I… Continue reading
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17. Cheat Code
One small mercy it seems of travelling with little children, particularly a loquacious one, is that they are conversation starters which helps with glum, over worked border agents once in a while. My experiences of travelling to Trumpland before it became that are mixed, with more than one weird conversation around my reasons for coming… Continue reading
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16. Bedlam
Best descriptor of the day! Bags, trolleys, cabs, airport transfers, negotiations about what to watch and when, moaning about airport food. Take the chaos of two adults and two kids traveling, and add to that two teenagers, sprinkle on that inability of Nigerians to travel light, and bedlam underestimates the outcome. Overwhelmed. Continue reading
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15. Heatwave
Stepping out of the door just past noon to get my hair cut, it felt like a wall of heat hit me, in all its energy draining weight. The key driver for the long overdue haircut is the small matter of a family wedding in Trumplandia, for which a full assortment of family will be… Continue reading