GottaLovet

I just got back from my trip to Africa and I am still tired. My body is still trying to adjust to the time zone change. I have been very tired at work and by the time I get home I sleep at about 7 pm. I dont have time to talk to friends and/or my bf. Andy understands. Hopefully, by this weekend I get my energy back.

The good news is I got home safely and I saw Andy and he’s in good health. While on “holiday” I also had the opportunity to see my family and see where I was born. I havent been to Nigeria since 1986. And times have changed.  The driving in Nigeria is terrible and the roads are bad. There are a lot of people, especially kids trying to sell you everything, even the kitchen sink. It was driving me crazy, but I understood they were all trying to survive.

Sometimes I wonder how a country, which is a member of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) be so rich and cant provide for their own people? The power is also non existent either. NEPA (National Electric Power Authority) or as the residents like to say “Never Expect Power Always” controlled the power in Nigeria. I loathe them. I had to watch a movie four times just to see the ending. While watching the movie, the power would go out and I had to wait til either the power comes back on to finish the movie. That was frustrating. NEPA has been renamed PHCN (Power Holding Company of Nigeria) or as the residents like to say “Please Hold Candles Now”.

And in some parts of Nigeria, there was no running water. You had to go to either a neighbor’s house or somewhere and buy water and fill them in barrels. And expect to bathe in cold water. You can bathe in warm water but you have to boil water to do so.

And the government is so corrupt its not even funny. While my family and I were going to Benin City, Nigeria (where I was born) we were stopped a few times by police officers because of a routine “police check”. All the driver did was stop, open his wallet, gave the cop some money and kept it moving. And you had to pay. There was no specific amount to pay…just pay something. I just think of it as “paying toll”. If you didnt stop at the “toll booth”, then the police will bang your car will a stick or may even shoot you. Maybe. They did have guns.

Other than that I had a decent time. I missed Andy a lot and I wanted to go home from the moment I arrived. My family didnt like the idea of my wanting to go home and talking about Andy but I didnt care. I’ve known Andy for 5 years and I only knew my relatives for about two seconds. 

Anyways, I had a good time. I will definitely go back again but this time with Andy.

I’m getting tired now. I will post pics sometime this weekend.