A real-life conversation, yesterday…
Me: Hey man, a friend of mine – a Nigerian, is coming over for a visit. Would you like to give us a ride from St. Louis?
Him: Is she a Moslem?
Not funny.
Browsing the archives for the Observations category.
The snow today was more than that of Friday in that it was more than two inches high on the ground. Like Friday, I had no idea how and when it started, but I found it on the ground when I pulled apart the curtains in my room. What I did next was unthinkable, as usual. I got into thick clothing, got on my bike and rode into campus to take pictures. Luckily, the sun was still out and my new gloves were comfortable enough to hold the camera with. Anyway, these are the photos from that eventful ride. Let those who said that I won’t be able to ride my bike in the snow/winter show themselves right now. My message for them comes from that famous two-word response from the South Carolina senator. No I won’t repeat it here. 😀
“Barking as a Second Language”
Seen on the door into the Department of Foreign Languages where I work. I found it funny.
I could have missed it had I not 
mistakenly pulled my curtain apart when I noticed that the colour outside was not what it was less than an hour earlier. In any case, I’m glad I pulled back the curtain because the snow, even though not as much as in the other parts of the country, was a wonderful reminder of the seasons, and why it is called a White Christmas. I’m glad that we don’t have a blizzard. It’s little enough to impress, so far, and plenty enough to look like a real White Christmas. Here are a few of the shots.
May 31: Short Story Behind the Door first published on Story Time
August 10: Made a first post on this blog. Well, not technically on this blog. It used to be this blog.
August 13: Arrived in the United States for the first time after travelling for almost twenty-four hours, and had my sorta first culture shock.
August 15: Discovered that America had mosquitoes too, and at first thought it had been sent after me from Nigeria.
August 16: Left Providence, Rhode Island for St. Louis Missouri, riding a Cadillac to Boston Massachussetts somewhere along the way.
August 17: Arrived at Edwardsville Illinois, and experienced my first and truly memorable power outage in America that lasted more than 12 hours.
August 18: Found out that I could be Jewish, after all.
August 21: Met Papa Rudy, my colleagues at the Department, and got a bicycle as a gift among many other surprises.
August 23: Visited Six Flags at St. Louis where I lost a camera.
August 25: Discovered the value of a quarter.
September 10: Moved from ktravula.wordpress.com to ktravula.com
September 29: Met Frank Warren of PostSecret.
September 29: Began writing Home Alone, Traveller, a poem.
October 3: Showed off my new camera.
October 5: Met Maya Angelou when she came to campus here at Edwardsville.
October 15: Visited Principia University. Became an American.
October 23: Wrote “America Tonight,” a poem on returning from a walk in the rain.
October 24: Visited the African American museum at Carbondale
October 27: Got news that short story Behind the Door will be published in an anthology in the UK in 2010.
November 11: Wrote my name on the “Berlin Wall” on Campus.
November 09: Published my translation of Richard Berengarten’s poem Volta online.
November 14: Visited Chicago, the windy city. Went to the Sears Towers, among other famous places.
November 21: Visited the museum at Cahokia, Illinois, and had my first taste of pounded yam at Nubia Cafe in St. Louis.
November 23: Visited the St. Louis Gateway Arch, and its Museum of Westward Expansion.
December 1: Wrote an unpublished poem titled This step, This spot.
December 2: Got a Secret Santa.
December 4: Found out that I couldn’t donate blood if I wanted to.
December 6: My poem Home Alone, Traveller and a few others published on Africanwriter.com
December 7: Fried Dodo to class for my students to eat on their last day of class.
December 10: Arrived in Washington DC where I’d gone to attend a Fulbright Event. I toured the city on foot, visiting the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol, the Washington Monument and the White House, taking pictures.
December 11: Published the 200th post on KTravula.com
December 12: Went to the White House, again.
December 15: Visited Howard University, Washington DC in the rain.
December 15: Visited Maryland, where I met a few Nigerian bloggers, and ate food and drank wine like no man’s business.
December 15: Poem America Tonight and a larger Home Alone, Traveller published on Canada’s Maple Tree Literary Supplement, Issue 5.
December 19: Found out who my Secret Santa was.
December 20: My short story Behind the Door reviewed for Critical Literature Review.
December 25: Saw real snow.