80/20 Reminisce
I have learnt to embrace every phase of my life with optimism and high expectations. I don’t dwell on the past. I adapt quickly to the present. And I look forward eagerly to a great future.
At present, Nigeria, my home country, is not my current reality. Except for news (the good, the bad and the downright ugly) and hot gist from my chummies back home all I have left are the memories of life as it was. Isn't that what life does to you? You never know when the ‘tables will turn’ and what seemed far fetched is breathing in the room right next to you.
Well. I miss Nigeria. I miss my Lagos.
I miss the heat, the dust, the craziness. The determination in the eyes of the trader hurrying off in the wee hours of the morning. The pride in the gait of the government worker, clutching a well-worn folder under the armpit of his frayed shirt that once used to be white. The grace in the stride of the young professional walking down the road flagging down Victoria Island bound taxis. Even the slight conceit in the eyes of the rich as he winds up the windows of his posh car, leaving the rest of us to melt in the sweltering heat. I miss it all.
I miss the brief connections between strangers, sharing political jokes as they ride home in public buses. I miss the radio jesters speaking the delightful and hilarious Pidgin English, entertaining weary passengers in rush hour traffic. I miss looking out for the sharp looking bankers with crooked ties and smudged makeup after a long hard day.
O, what about the neighborliness? How people gather on ‘environmental’ Saturdays to cut grasses and clean gutters (if only they remained clean). I miss how you knew your neighbor’s name and maybe even what she did for a living.
There are things I do not miss however, and I am not blind to the many inadequacies of the nation I call home. But then I consider my current reality and it’s… well a different kind of reality.
I do not know my neighbors in this highly organized and efficient American state where I now live and study. I get nervous smiles when I say hello.
But power is constant and as long as I have enough money to pay for it I’m good.
I rarely see people walking around and laughing heartily as they do in my neighborhood back at home.
But there are no open filthy gutters and the pool is always clean.
Every day is the same here; the neighborhood looks empty as if everyone has moved away.
But I can have hot water whenever I want and I don’t need a kettle or stove to make that happen.
Here or there. This or that?
I don’t dwell on the past. I adapt quickly to the present. And I look forward eagerly to a great future.
Enough reminiscing for today.
Grad school project calling. :)
