ktravula – a travelogue!

Browsing the archives for the Travelling category.

Lagos, Last Week

I managed to capture a little of Lagos on my camera last week.

(Most of the parts captured in this photo post were in the business district of the Island, definitely well managed than many other parts of the mainland that elicited my earlier complaints. In any case, it should be said that the city has greatly improved under a new leadership. I could say the same for my state here. But that’s a story for another day.)

In one of these pictures, you will see the Lagos Lagoon, a pedestrian bridge, commercial motorbikes, plantain chips (snacks), and – in the last shot – the National Theatre.

This is Lagos. Well, some parts of it. Enjoy.

Lagos, Last Week was published on May 24th, 2010, with the tags , , , under the Observations, Travelling category. There are currently 7 comments on this article so far.

From the E to the L

The journey back home started with a short trip to St. Louis in company of a friend, and a Professor from my University who had graciously volunteered to give me a ride. Not having slept at all throughout the previous night, I succumbed to sleep many times before I found myself – quite in time – at the Lambert Airport, again. After removing my shoes and jacket, and after checking in the two big bags that I was permitted to check in, I hopped on the plane to discover that I had got a window-side seat once more.

I’ve never understood this, and right now I know that it’s more than just a mere coincidence that EVERY time I have travelled by plane throughout the last ten months, I got a window-side seat. The flight was booked for me by the Fulbright people so I believe that someone must have delighted in placing me at the best spot for action on flight. I thank him/her. By the time I got on the next plane from NY to France as well, I was on the window-side again, although on a different side of the plane. And needless to say, I slept off before take-off in those two instances. There goes the hope of the Fulbright flight arrangement officer for a detailed report of a plane take-off from St. Louis and New York City. Sorry pal :). I however got a good shot of the landings. I’m thinking of making a Youtube video of them, but don’t bet on seeing them soon. My internet here doesn’t even do well with uploading pictures, so videos are out of it.

I was in New York long enough to have a decent meal of the day in good company of a friend and fellow Fulbright teacher in NY who had agreed to meet me, and then I headed out. No thanks again to the special arrangement of my flight officer, I didn’t have enough time to visit the supposed charming city of lights. Come on, was an eight-hour layover too much to ask for? 🙁 In any case, now you have your wish, I’m now at home thinking of how much fun I could have had visiting Time’s Square, checking out Ground Zero, The Empire State Building and the United Nations’ Building. What about the Statue of Liberty, the Metropolitan Museums and Long Island? Well, you can have your New York City. I’ll keep my Chicago memories.

We at least have Oprah and Obama! Who do you have? And don’t tell me Letterman.

From the E to the L was published on May 18th, 2010, with the tags , , , , , , , under the adventures, Observations, Travelling category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.

Departures

Today, I attended a potluck lunch in my department to mark the end of the semester. It was a gathering of friends and colleagues most of who work in the foreign language teaching lab. On Saturday, I had attended a get-together of international students who had arranged to send us (Reham and I) forth from the US with a small get-together. Both events reminded me of the transience of time, the value of friendship, and the strength of communality. We ate, we chatted, and we exchanged ideas. A few of them, I might not see again in a long time. Many others, I would be seeing again soon. In short it has been a week of goodbyes.

A week ago, Reham and I were hosted in the house of Prof Schaefer the International Programmes Director for the first time. I met his wife, and another scholar from Ibadan who was just completing his PhD thesis. I also met their cats, and got a chance to admire the beauty of their well situated, and well decorated house with artworks from all over the world. He had collaborated with universities and communities in Nigeria for many decades. On Friday this week, there will be a final get-together with the staff of my department to celebrate one of us, and an informal send-forth for both Reham and I. I look forward to it.

Today, I will be visiting the University Centre in East St. Louis. Famous for many of its arts and culture events like poetry readings, spoken word performances, drama etc, the centre boasts of patrons like Eugene B. Redmond the publisher of the famous Drumvoices Revue, among many greats. I’ve never made it to that campus of the University, and I hope to rectify that today.

Departures was published on May 4th, 2010, with the tags , , , , , under the adventures, Fun, Travelling category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.

Henry Iwenofu

Remember Henry Iwenofu, the Nigerian proprietor of the African food place at St. Louis that first gave me an experience of home? You can read the post here.

He is now the candidate again for the State of Missouri’s House of Rep. 71st District under the Democratic Party

His Meet & Greet Fundraiser event will take place in St. Louis tomorrow. I’d like to drop by there if I can. A great guy. I wish him all the best.

Henry Iwenofu was published on April 28th, 2010, with the tags , , , , under the News, Travelling category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.

Questions and Answers

Q: When exactly in May do you leave for Nigeria, and what is your flight itinerary?

A: I don’t know. When that day comes, a helicopter from the White House is going to land near the KTravulake, commando style, and smuggle me out before anyone knows, and drop me right at the base of the Statue of Liberty in NY where a boat will ferry me to the JFK airport. From then the Air Force Ten will pick me up and drop me into France since all commercial airplanes are no longer flying in there because of the volcanic ash clouds. After a few hours in the streets of France speaking poor French and confirming to myself once and for all that all the French I claim to speak is nothing but trash African Vernacular French, I will hop onto the Air France Concorde plane brought back from retirement just for my sake, and fly home into Lagos’s unsuspecting but hot embrace. French expressions learnt so far: “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?”, “Je t’aime”, “Tu est belle.” and “Merde!” Why none of these have to do with getting directions, finding the nearest restaurant, or getting out of trouble is beyond me. My French friends are the most mischievous kind. From the sound of them, I know I’ll be getting into trouble. Ah, wish me luck. I’m gonna need it. 🙂

Q: What is the ONE experience that you will miss the most about the United States. I’d like to know.

A: Beside access to fast and stable internet and electricity access, it must be the opportunity to ride my bike every day on the bike trails around Edwardsville. Somehow, I wish I could change that about Nigeria’s high dependence on fuel and motorized vehicles. If we could only develop the bicycle transport system and make laws to construct paths for bicycle users. The sad fact is that there are no good roads for vehicles either, so bicycles are not a priority. And that is sad, considering how much we pay for fuel, and how much of the environment is destroyed by continues gas emissions, and how more affordable, and more sustainable a bicycle is as a means of transportation. The groups http://www.bicycles-for-humanity.org and http://bikesfortheworld.org are currently involved in securing used and unused bikes from people in developed countries, and sending them to developing countries. How could one claim such for the many thousands of elderly, poor or simply interested people in Nigeria who could have otherwise benefited from the programme if the environment in which they live does not even support a safe use of such a simple and yet effective means of transportation? Sad.

Here’s an article on cycling in berlin (thanks to Loomnie.com)

Questions and Answers was published on April 22nd, 2010, with the tags , , , , under the Opinion, Soliloquy, Travelling category. There are currently 2 comments on this article so far.