ktravula – a travelogue!

reflections on the world

Ah, Ah, I’m home.

This is nothing but freaky. I’ve living “under the bridge” for the past one and a half weeks for very good reason. The student accommodation on campus was already overwhelmed with requests when I decided to return here that there was no single spot for me or for anyone else for that matter. Don’t get me wrong. This “under the bridge” accommodation came with free breakfast, lunch and dinner, free laundry, free movie night and a ton of free goodies and pampering that I can’t quantify. It’s been a kind of overwhelming love that is not only rare, but genuine and delightful, and I can not thank the Schaefers enough for that. But trying to get back into the campus, rather than the spoilt student, mode of existence required a space among real students and it became quite an ordeal. By the time I put down my name to the list of waiting applicants, I was on number twenty or something.

What’s freaky then is the call I got from University Housing a few days ago that went like this:

“Hey, is that…”
“Yes,” I replied. “It’s me.”
“I got good news for you. I’ve found you a space on campus.”
“Really? That’s super. Where is it?”
“It’s at Cougar Village.”
“What?”
“At 431.”
“You’re kidding.”
“And at your old room. The same place you were earlier when you came here. You can move in from tomorrow.”

How it happened, I have no idea except that some mischievous spirit has put a hand in returning me to a spot of very many interesting memories. Sitting down here now on my old bed with a view of the surrounding trees, I write a post that has been dying to be written. Ah, ah, I’m home, and it feels good to be back. Now, you mischievous spirit, please show yourself now or forever remain silent. :o .

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Ah, Ah, I’m home. was published on August 28th, 2010, with the tags , , , under the adventures, Fun, Observations, Soliloquy category. There are currently 4 comments on this article so far.

The Last Cougar Village Night

My eyes are heavy in the forest of ghosts. The traveller – that’s me, actually – reclines on a soft sheetless bed. The sheets have now just arrived from the washing machine. By this time tomorrow, the bed will be empty. So will the wardrobe, living room and kitchen. This room, this building – a sponge of memories, pregnant with the mischiefs of a 10-month internship – will be empty. If it isn’t, at least I know that I won’t be here to enjoy its comforting embrace.

Funny how time flies. One day I was checking in and marvelling at a house designed just for me, when NEPA (or whatever it’s called) took power. Now I’m pulling out the sheets to leave the wonderful apartment just the way I met it – without the grapes, cookies, chocolate bars and wine, of course.

The Village itself has changed, from the brown red leaves of fall to the white wild winds of winter snow. It has evolved from a place where I almost couldn’t find my way around just after five minutes of stepping out of my apartment back in August. Now, it’s just a sprawl of land that I have learnt to call home. The peace of the lake, the mischief of the geese and the craftiness of the ugly menacing raccoon lurking by the trash can. What will I miss about this “village” the most beside the warm people, the police patrols, the bike trails and the basketball courts? Hmm, maybe the sense of safety and security that I get when I walk or sometimes cycle back home after a long day.

Of course, Cougar Village is not a village, except by the smallness of its population. By many standards, it is a small town with enough social amenities and a working government. For the rest – especially the animal population – let us write it down as an icing on an already pleasant living space cake. I think this could actually be the Eden the old folks talked much about. When I get out of here tomorrow evening. I will hope that right behind me at the gate will not be cherubs holding a flaming sword. It shall be goodbye Cougar Village, and its name will resound with me for more than a few mischievous reasons.

Photos by Ikechukwu Ohu.

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The Last Cougar Village Night was published on May 9th, 2010, with the tags , , under the Observations category. There are currently 6 comments on this article so far.

Jungle Fever

I translated a poem for my Slovenian poet and musician from English into Yoruba a few weeks ago. It was a very short but humorous piece of work. I’ve also recorded it for him in my own voice.

But while we were looking for an appropriate background sound for the poetry recital, he sent me the following:

“I put the voice of birds. This would actually stress that you read in an African language and it would give some jungle atmosphere.”

Even though the bird effect turned out pretty well in the end, I really couldn’t stop wondering about what his reasons for it really reflects. It sounds like there is definitely a wrong assumption somewhere in there. Or maybe it’s just me. There are birds in England, India and Canada too, right? If birds and the “jungle atmosphere” is enough to identify an African language, what animals would be required to make noise in the background if I were to read in an American language? A bear, perhaps? Hard rock? Or a gun shot? How far do we go until such assumptions just turn into a bunch of pointless categorizations?

It was not long ago that I discovered that many people here wouldn’t really believe that I’d never seen animals in the wild until I came to the United States. (I saw a monkey, a chimp, a gorilla, a zebra, a lion, an elephant, a camel, a fox, and an ostrich for the first time in a public zoo of what later became my University in Ibadan. I was about eight years old then. I later saw some baboons in the wild when I went to Kenya in 2005, but before then, beside dogs, chicken, cats, cattle and sheep, most of the animals I’ve seen have been in confinement.) Cougar Village alone however has a large population of deer, geese, raccoons, cats and squirrels than I’ve ever seen anywhere, walking free without confinement. And the geese are wilder than any I’ve ever seen anywhere. One day in the winter, I saw a lonely fox walking by itself on the highway close to where humans might be found walking innocently on a lonely day. Maybe Cougar Village was the kind of  jungle he meant!

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Jungle Fever was published on April 14th, 2010, with the tags , , , , , under the Observations, Opinion, Soliloquy, Travelling category. There are currently 3 comments on this article so far.

10 Reasons Why Cougar Village Is NOT A Village

IMG_0609#1. It doesn’t have mosquitoes.

#2. Almost everyone here has a car, and there are adequate traffic signs on its perfectly tarred, perfectly networked roads. There are traffic lights where necessary, and the signs tell the cars when to stop and where not to. It has an efficient transport system – nice large buses free for students and all other residents – that arrives on schedule.

#3. Everyone who lives there is educated, at least beyond four years of University education. Does that count?

#4. Cougar Village has a standard post office. Every apartment has a mailbox into which letters are safely delivered. All is part of the bill.

#5. It’s an expensive place to live in, one that gives good service for the money paid.

#6. It has regular police patrols.

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#7. It has wireless internet access, and electric power supply 24/7. This is notwithstanding that one time exception. There is an active telephone and data jacks in every room, and GSM service actually works there. Let’s just say it has all the basic utilities necessary for a sane, civilized survival.

(NB: I heard the word “generator” yesterday for the first time in three weeks – from my Nigerian friend on the internet, and it sounded strange to the ears. Pardon me Nigeria for forgetting what that word, and others like “conductor”, “danfo”, “LASTMA” and “PHCN/NEPA”, means.)

#8. It has a laundry service which you have to pay for, of course.

#9. It has wide recreation centres that include basketball, tennis and sand volleyball courts.

#10. I live there, duh!

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10 Reasons Why Cougar Village Is NOT A Village was published on August 31st, 2009, with the tags , , , , , , , , , under the Observations category. There are currently 5 comments on this article so far.

10 Reasons Why Cougar Village Is A Village

Cougar Village#1. It has a lake.

#2. It is peaceful, quiet and romantic, and many people who live there would rather ride their bikes, or walk, than ride in their cars. One could hear the bird chirps and the frogs’ mating calls during long walks beside the lake.

#3. My flatmate, in addition to not knowing who Halle Berry is, also has never heard of the song/phenomenon “We Are the World.” Does this count?

#4. It has plenty deers, plenty geese, plenty cats and squirrels. It used to have two live cougars, but since one died and the other was donated to an animal centre, it doesn’t anymore.

#5. It is removed from school, and even far removed from downtown Edwardsville.

#6. It doesn’t have a public drinking bar.

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#7. It has had a power outage at least once this month, which lasted for more than 12 hours.

#8. Almost everyone knows someone who knows someone that everyone knows. It only has 62 buildings – in which are 496 apartments. Each apartment has an average of three residents, so you know how many we are. We can’t form a local council in Nigeria even if we try.

#9. The buses that go there do so only on schedule – 15 minutes interval.

#10. It is called a Village, duh!

Watch out for 10 Reasons Why Cougar Village Is NOT A Village.

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10 Reasons Why Cougar Village Is A Village was published on August 30th, 2009, with the tags , , , under the Observations category. There are currently 5 comments on this article so far.

Edwardsville

Here are a few first photos I took here at Edwardsville. Enjoy.

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Edwardsville was published on August 18th, 2009, with the tags , , , , , , , , under the Observations category. There are currently 1 comment on this article so far.

A Little About Cougar Village

A lit shed overlooking the Cougar LakeI now reside at Cougar Village, a student accommodation area a short walking distance from the main campus of SIUe.

It is a beautiful and restful students village with many identical apartments. I share a room with an undergraduate of Pharmacy who is also from Illinois.

I got lost earlier today while trying to locate my apartment. It was made worse by the rain of which I had been warned earlier in the day at www.weather.com. I had gone out in the morning to attend the International Students Orientation Programme organised by the International Students Services for dozens of international students to the University. Myself and Reham from Egypt were the only Fulbright FLTA scholars there. We had met earlier at Providence so it was just a happy reunion. For some strange reason, her flight did not land at the same time as mine so I hadn’t seen her since I left Providence in my Cadillac.

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Later in the evening, my roommate Chris gave me a ride back to campus so that I could get connected to the internet. I missed the campus bus from campus, and I decided to walk back. That turned out to be a very liberating experience, and I also got to take some really nice photos of the campus, especially the beautiful Cougar Lake. On my way to campus, I saw a nice deer grazing on the grass. According to Chris, it was so tame that one could go and stroke its head. Impressive. While at Providence, I had chanced on a few squirrels playing without any worries around we humans. I give America one thing: it respects its animals. Back home, the first reflex is always to find a weapon anytime you spot game. It is a cardinal sin to let one escape when the cooking cauldron awaits agape. Africans thrive on the murder/hunting of game. It is a thrilling endeavour. Because it’s fun? Because we’re hungry? Because they’re pests?

Now I have sufficient explanation for the speed with which the squirrels on my old campus in Ibadan flee in the opposite direction whenever I open my palms and call them to come and eat some nuts: their parents and great grand parents must have told them of our kind. “When you see those guys, run as fast as you can, or else you’ll end up in the cooking pot!”. And they always often do. That is why the squirrel in Edwardsville has a higher life expectancy than one in Ibadan.

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A Little About Cougar Village was published on August 18th, 2009, with the tags , , , , , under the Observations, Soliloquy category. There are currently 2 comments on this article so far.

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