
My time back home has been eventful yet uneventful. There’s been this calm. I thought I’d be fully outside, but I’m not. I’m on a mission to change that, though.
I’ve decided to keep track of my time in Nigeria, but I decided too late. Well, not too late; I could have started documenting more intentionally if it had come to my head earlier.
I’m writing this on day 18 of my stay in Nigeria, and it’s crazy how time has passed. It's almost three weeks already. I feel like I’ve just been going with the flow, but I want to start intentionally planning my time in Nigeria.
I truly want to make the most of it and enjoy my time here. The downside to being here right now is that I don’t have a lot of friends. I don’t even think I had many friends before I left, but the few I had no longer live here.
It would have been so much easier to be all about moving around if I had people to do it with, but honestly, I’ve always loved to move solo, so I need to get back into that. I have vague ideas of things I want to do, and I need to get them itemized and figure out when I want to do what.
I saw an ad for a book club on Instagram. I’d only be able to attend one meeting, but I’m like, what’s the harm in reading the book and going there? I’m not fully decided on it yet, but that’s one of the things I’m considering.
Before coming, I wondered how unfamiliar Nigeria would feel. I say unfamiliar because I knew it would be familiar, but I just wondered the degree to which certain things would be unfamiliar. I don’t think it’s been very unfamiliar.
I’m trying to get used to using cash and transfer to pay for things. I mean, in most cases, you can pay by card, but apparently, Uber drivers prefer when you pay by cash or transfer. I don’t like that at all. It’s like I’m done with the ride, and I just want to open the door and leave, and then I remember I have to pay.
I’m unfamiliar with the area I'm currently in, which makes it annoying to just get little things here and there. I also don’t drive. Seriously, why don’t I know how to drive? Things would be so much easier for me if I could drive.
There’s also the subject of how expensive things have gotten in Nigeria and how I don’t understand the currency or what things are supposed to cost. I am reluctant to buy items from small stalls because I don’t know what they are supposed to cost or if I’m being cheated.
I’m intimidated by it. I saw butter for over 9000 Naira, and I’m like, there’s no way. I bought a tin of sardines for N1300 and a half dozen eggs for N1500, and I’m like, there’s no way.
I saw one of my friends in person for the first time. We started talking on Twitter in 2022 and formed a very good friendship. We went to this popsicle place that had really good popsicles. I was honestly surprised by the variety of flavours they had. I can’t wait to go there again.
My time in Nigeria has coincided with the rainy season. I think it’s fairly okay, but considering I have been beaten by rain twice, maybe it’s not so okay. I was walking home from the gym. It was a drizzle when I left the gym, and I just hoped it’d remain that way. It did not.
It was Eid, and I visited a friend and had ram meat. I hadn’t eaten ram meat in forever, and completely forgot what it tasted like. I had one bite and was like, "What is going on? This is absolutely amazing." I couldn’t comprehend how good it was.
The major thing you miss living abroad is the food. I eat enough Nigerian food, but it’s basic. I remember eating sweet potatoes everywhere I went when I first arrived. Potatoes are my favourite food, and Nigerian sweet potatoes are just out of this world.
Anyway, I’m just here to have a good time.







