ktravula – a travelogue!

10 Reasons To Speak Your Native Language in America

10. You can exclude other people whenever you want.

9. You can learn it without having to pay money, so why not?

8. English already has enough speakers.

7. There’s no better way to be unique in a strange land.

6. It gives you practise, because if you don’t use it, you lose it.

5. It brings you close to those who share your background and cultural similarity.

4. You are sustaining a cultural legacy onto a new generation.

3. It encourages/promotes diversity.

2. It’s easier to speak.

1. It shows that you’re still in touch with “home”.

10 Reasons Why I DON’T Miss Home

This is the flip side of the monthly argument that started here. I suggest that you read it first.

10. Food. When you think about it, there is really nothing so spectacular about Nigerian food that one can’t do without it for a year. Yea, you can call it a case of sour grapes conditioned by inevitability, but this is my story and I’m sticking to it. Give me panini with potato pudding and chicken sauce. On a more serious note, the American continent is filled with a diverse list of amazing cuisines, and I’m glad to share in them.

9. Books. I like the ease with which I can buy books here. It doesn’t make me a fan of paper books over electronic ones, but there are so many paperbacks that are always keepsake materials.

8. People. There is something beautiful in being able to maintain a personal space, individuality, and not worry about a certain crowdiness that is characteristics of so many streets I know. It is a sense of violation from the piercing stares of strangers. I have not had much of that here. There is no pressure to speak to anyone one meets on the road, or share a bus stop with.

7. NEPA. No further comments. #lightupNigeria.

6. Mosquitoes.

5. Family. So many people have gone to great lengths to make me feel so much at home here, and I will definitely miss their warmth and support when it’s time for me to say goodbye.

4. Love. No comments. See #5 above.

3. New Experiences. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine, Winter, Spring, Kwanzaa, Martin Luther King’s Birthday… etc. There are definitely many things to look forward to.

2. Friends. See 5 above. Plus, it seems that I am closer to many of my Nigerian friends now than when I was back home.

1. Well, it’s called a “home”, not a “house”. Home is in the heart, and it goes where the heart is.

PS: Much of this list is tongue-in-cheek anyway. Next month, I’ll tell you a few hostile experiences that I’ve had in Edwardsville that reminded me of how similar people are all over the world, both in goodness and in not-so-goodness. Happy Halloween. See you in November.

(Picture credits: The Cougar Lake “Lantern”, taken from a photo exhibition of sights of SIUE.)

10 Reasons Why I Miss Home

10. Food. There is a certain pain in hearing the words fufu, amala, iyan, gbegiri, ewédú or egúsí from this distance. And no, I will not go into St. Louis just because of them, although once in a while it might be worth it. From now on, I forbid anyone to mention the following words to me in online chats: snail, okú ekó, panla or ponmo. Or akpu, ogbono and afang. All the defaulters will take turns to host me in their houses as soon as I return home.

9. Books. It is very funny to admit that I am now a slow reader. I am surrounded by televisions and internet with twitter beeps, facebook status updates and Skype chats. That is when I’m not busy worrying about class. When will I get the time to complete these great books?

8. People. This is not to say that I was much of a crowd person back home anyway, but let me just say – for the records – that I wish that I could sometimes take a ride in a noisy, old, half-wrecked and incredibly reckless public bus plying an equally bad road on a rainy day, either in Lagos or in Ibadan – just for simple pleasures.

7. NEPA. Or PHCN as they call it now. What is life without occasional and sometimes incessant power outages? The advantages include boredom (necessary to complete books), depression plus high testosterone levels (necessary to write poems), and idleness (necessary for communication and moonlight/candle light stories).

6. Dogs. Eight months seems like a long time to wait before seeing Scotty, Rex, Bobby, Tessie and Snoopy with her new puppies. Do they miss me too?

5. Family. Yea, yea. There is definitely the over rated family experience, but, what can I say. There’s no place like home. This time, I hope the honeymoon will last for more than a month before we get back to the screams: “Kolaaa! Who if not you left the front door open for the dogs to walk in and jump on the couch!?” Aaaaargh. I miss that.

4. Love. Do not ask me for more on this. There is no law against desiring a reconnection with home on a romantic level.

3. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. I have seen a few episodes here in Illinois, and I can also say that the TV programming here is enchanting. However, I can’t wait to be able to see NTA’s version again. How could I explain my hurt that I was not able to see the first time a Nigerian won the top prize of 10 Million Naira?

2. Friends. Although I expect that many of them would have moved on from their current positions by the time I get back home, and the congenial landscape would have definitely changed in some way, I do hope to see them again.

1. Well, it’s called “home”, and there’s no place like home.

Read the “10 Reasons Why I DON’T Miss Home” here.

10 Reasons Why I Love The Cold Weather

10. It is definitely better than the hot weather. 190920091337

9. It’s given me an excuse to shop for some really nice clothes and shoes.

8. It gives me a reason to always be in a crowd. It definitely helps when one is in a community of people.

7. I have to take hot baths everyday.

6. I don’t get to sweat much.

5. It is cozy. It gives me an excuse to stay in bed longer.

4. I definitely look better than I looked two months ago, and for that, I credit the cold.

3. It has provided an excuse for me to get/sit close to those who smoke, just so that I can get a little whiff of their hot smoke, without holding the cigarettes in my hands. Wait a minute. Is this a good thing or not?

2. It will at least give me a chance to see snow. I can’t wait to see the Cougar Lake freeze over so I can walk on it.

1. It gives me an excuse to eat more food, fatten up, drink tea, coffee and hot chocolates.

See you all next month, and thank you for being there. Thank you T, for making me write this. Have a nice Anniversary Celebration tomorrow, Nigeria. May you have something to celebrate.

10 Reasons Why I Hate The Cold Weather

300920091469 10. It lasts for too long. I’ve been here since August, and from what I hear, it will get colder and colder until March.

9. It has cost me a fortune in buying coats, gloves, and boots, hats and shawls that I might not need anymore by the time I leave here in the spring.

8. It has a way of showing me out of a crowd. Wearing three shirts and a sweater, it’s never hard to pick me out of a crowd, especially when everyone else is wearing just one shirt and jeans each, and some in shorts.

7. I have to take hot baths every day.

6. It is windy, and often unpredictable.

5. It keeps me in bed longer.

4. It has dried up my skin, and now my palms look like a snake changing skins. I also think I’m getting fairer complexioned.

3. It’s unavoidable, inescapable. Being claustrophobic. I know that there will be a time when it will make me feel like I’ve been stacked in a cold freezer, with nowhere to go, and it will feel like the end of the world. What will I do then?

2. It will soon prevent me from riding my bike when it starts snowing, or typing blog posts when I have to wear gloves all day.

1. Nobody seems to have anything else to say to me when I broach the topic other than: “Oh no, this is not cold yet. Wait until a few weeks/months time.”

Watch out for 10 reasons why I Love The Cold Weather

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