ktravula – a travelogue!

Browsing ktravula – a travelogue! blog archives for December, 2009.

Sunday, abridged

I left the hotel in Washington DC at around ten in company of my very charming host Bumight, who had volunteered to give me a lift from the hotel and a ride through Howard University. The tour was in the cold rain, but was worth it. Later, I was pleased to get a chance to participate in the cooking my own breakfast.

I then went to the University of Maryland as well and sat through a class group discussion that had students from three different continents.

Later, I went, along with blogger and radio personality Vera Ezimora, to the home of a Nigerian writer and literary critic Ikhide Ikheloa who had graciously offered to host me and drive me back to the airport in the morning. All these he did, and more. I had never eaten so much food at one sitting in my entire life. It was also my first time of finishing a whole bottle of red wine at one sitting. It was Malbec, a fine wine from Argentina. Mr Ikheloa has lived in the United States since 1982 when he decided on a whim to move from the prosperity of old Nigeria in search of adventure. It was another home away from home with stories, music, jokes, laughter and fun.

The morning of Sunday started with promise, in spite of the very cold rain. I left the hotel in Washington DC an hour before check out time in company of my very charming host Bumight, who had come all the way from Maryland to drive get me out of the capital. It was with her that I got a free ride-through tour of Howard University in Maryland where she’s a student of medicine. The tour was extensive and we almost froze our fingers off while walking in the freezing and dripping weather, taking pictures. I later went to Hyatsville where I did a little cooking for my own breakfast.

The Nigerian slice of the American blogging world is dominated, I believe, by a few young but strong Nigerian ladies many of who reside in the state of Maryland. On this visit, I was privileged to have met four of them. Bumight’s blog, like many others, express the different peculiarities of living, particularly as a student in a foreign country, but it has a medical slant, understandably. These days, you’re most likely to find her on twitter sharing thought or just being randomly funny. Can you guess what’s written on that shirt she’s wearing in this picture?

My travelling body was soon transferred from her hand, after a delicious breakfast, into the hands of another blogger Vera Ezimora whose online presence is almost greatly disproportional to her height and (almost) gentle speech. But don’t take my word for it. I’ve been told that while standing beside me, people of normal height look like dwarfs. Vera and I went to the University of Maryland where she’s currently a student. I sat through almost one and a half hour of class group discussion that dwelt on the different types of empathy. After those tortuous hours (of my life that I can never get back, of listening to them deliberate in at least four different accents of the English language – from at least three different continents), I am never going to see empathy in the same light ever again.

Then there was a brief interlude outside of the class, a short respite, where I met some two new faces from the Nigeria: Chinny and Sweet&Sour, who complained that I made them look short. See how one of them tried to get to my height level by jumping up high. I was meeting them for the very first time.

Nigerian writer and literary critic Ikhide Ikheloa who had graciously offered to host me and drive me back to the airport in the morning. All these he did, and more. I had never eaten so much food at one sitting in my entire life. It was also my first time of finishing a whole bottle of red wine at one sitting. It was Malbec, a fine wine from Argentina. Mr Ikheloa has lived in the United States since 1982 when he decided on a whim to move from the prosperity of old Nigeria in search of adventure. It was another home away from home with stories, music, jokes, laughter and fun.

Howard University

This one looks like a shrine I spent the beginning of Sunday on a foot and drive-through sight-seeing tour of the famous Howard University in Washington DC and its major famous spots. The trip was made possible thanks to a Nigerian friend and a student of the University, who drove all the way to pick me up and give me a tour even in the freezing rain.

The buildings in these photos include the iconic Founder’s Hall, the school gate, the school yard with all the fraternity trees and signs, the Arts and Science building, the medical sciences building, the “Founder’s Walk” area and the Howard Place, a building named after the General Oliver Otis Howard who the University itself was named after. He was an American civil war hero who also became the University’s first president.

The University was founded in the year 1866 as a theological seminary for African-American clergymen, but quickly expanded into a full-fledged University. One of its notable Alumni is Edward Brooke, the first African-American to be elected into the US Senate.

At The Airport Again

My trip to the East has brought me great rewards, just like the fortune cookie predicted. I have tried to count my blessings but they were too much to number, so I have stopped.

I’m heading back right now to the Midwest. My flight was cancelled this morning due to the fog that had settled all over the Washington DC area. It was rescheduled to the afternoon, and I’m here once again reading faces and counting time. I hope there is someone waiting for me at St. Louis when I get there. They must have waited too long for me to get in touch with them. All that time, I was here agitated and wondering how to get access to the Airport internet. I have now succeeded, after some payment. I hope the email I just sent to my University has been delivered, and is seen on time.

There’s so much to tell you about the East Coast. I will begin as soon as I find the time to. I am grateful for good times: The Fulbright Organization, The State Department, my fellow FLTAs from Nigeria (Mohammed, Folake, Morakinyo, Shade, Omar, Zainab, Clement and Nanchin), my new and old friends (Diana, Tulika, Maha, Hilal, Osama among many others), my host for the night – the Nigerian writer Ikhide Ikheloa (and his family), and all the other new people I was meeting face-to-face for the first time: Bumight, Vera, Sweet&Sour and Chinny. There was also Tyrone at the hotel parking lot who was very nice. I will remember Maryland, DC, and this experience, because of them.

Till later.

G is for Goodbye

Oh no, not another alphabetic title, you say! Well, my time in this enchanting city is now over. In less than eight hours from this moment, I will be entering another mode of transportation out of the District of Columbia.

We have just had a wonderful session of international dancing in the ballroom of our wonderful hotel…

We have also been given certificates of participation, and the shirt pins that will mark us from now on as “Fulbright Fellows” for the rest of our lives.

We have shed our tears and said our goodbyes. For many of us going back to different parts of the country, we would not be seeing each other again until we return home. But what a great time we had.

The photo was taken at the base of the Washington Monument

350 At The White House

We went back to the White House today, this time to see the North side of the building. And it was there where we saw the 350 volunteers with placards demonstrating in front of the gate – under the watch of one police car – to petition the President of the United States to pay more attention to climate change, and to do the right thing at Copenhagen, in Denmark, where the conference on climate change would take place.

On the 350 Website, the mission states that “350.org is an international campaign dedicated to building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis–the solutions that science and justice demand.”

It continues: “Our focus is on the number 350–as in parts per million, the level scientists have identified as the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere. But 350 is more than a number–it’s a symbol of where we need to head as a planet.

To tackle climate change we need to move quickly, and we need to act in unison—and 2009 will be an absolutely crucial year. This December, world leaders will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark to craft a new global treaty on cutting emissions. The problem is, the treaty currently on the table doesn’t meet the severity of the climate crisis—it doesn’t pass the 350 test.”

Anyway, it was night and freezing, and they had been there in front of the White House since the day began, calling attention and taking pictures to be sent all over the world. Nothing doing, we joined them holding candles and taking pictures with the 350 sign held up high. Here’s the freedom to assemble and protest as guaranteed under the US constitution, but is not afforded to millions of citizens in many around the world. Here was the seat of power, and yet here were citizens, making their presence with simple, dignified protests and demonstrations on climate change. We shared stories with them, exchanged contacts and ideas, and then made our way back home, again on foot in the freezing weather, but feeling much, much pleased.

You may f ollow 350 on Twitter.

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