Late Night Thoughts

I certainly hope that this is not the kind of blogger I have become, the type who writes posts at odd hours of the night. Oh well. Right now, this is seems to be more convenient for me so I’ll just go with the flow.

This week has been extremely hectic. I'm so grateful for this weekend, and so far I’ve had the opportunity to kick back and relax. Was supposed to go on a day trip with a friend but I just couldn't be bothered. I ended up not showing up at the designated meeting point and she happily went along without me. I really do believe that everything works out together for good though. Turns out, that she showed up at the friend’s house we were supposed to go hang out at, and he'd gone all Jamie Oliver on her, full course lunch, table set for two (I strongly suspect, she refuses to confirm) and all the works. So you see? My laziness paid off, because three would have been a very awkward crowd indeed.

I'm desperately looking for a new church to worship at. I attended a Nigerian one the other week but I’m not sure I was really feeling it. I've decided to visit a few over the next couple weeks and hopefully I’ll find a place where I can feel a connection. I miss my regular church terribly, like an ache in the heart, a restless longing, you get my drift.

I love my classes though, and my H.O.D is just amazing. On the first day of a class we had with him, he split us into teams and made us work on team building exercises. There's no better way to quickly bond with a group of strangers than when you have a task ahead of you than you need to complete in a limited time frame. It was a race against the clock, adrenaline pumping, loads of giggles and sharing of ideas. Initially, I was a bit apprehensive but it turned out to be a whole load of fun. We all left the lecture theatre that day, arm in arm singing kumbaya having become fast friends.

Maybe later on I’ll do a post about all the zany characters in my group, after I get to know them a bit better.

On Friday evening, there was a liquid dinner/ getting to know each other type of thing for the Postgrad students. Seeing as I don't drink, I ended up spending the evening with the most hilarious Chinese dude who entertained me for hours about his adventures as a school boy in Japan. I will say one thing though, for all those women who think Nigerian men are just the worst and most unfaithful of the male specie, Japanese men seem to be a strong contender for the "Most Wayward Husband" prize if my new friend is to be believed.

I'm enjoying being a student again a bit more now. It’s fun to just throw on jeans and a t-shirt, and not having to worry about looking professional, polished and put together. This ain't the streets of Abuja. No one is scooping me, so I am allowed to be a bum if I so please.

I ate fried plantain today so I’m in a very happy mood. All I need now is some delicious moin-moin and sharwarma from 'Chicken Capitol' and I’m good to go.

The other day, a friend told me about some Nigerian girls who absolutely refuse to even look at Non-Nigerian men. I have to say that I’m a lot more open minded than that. Before some people create a ruckus, I’m not saying I’ll be coming home with a Parisian fiancé named Pierre, but I know that the same God who made the people of the Nigerian nation also made people from other parts of the world. I am one of the people who strongly believes than xenophobia, tribalism, racism, and ethnocentrism are from the pit of hell. A horrid way of thinking that causes people to be narrow minded and experience life in one-dimension. I try as much as possible to avoid people who act that way. Once, I was having lunch with a couple of friends, and the discussion turned to the issue of settling down. I was shocked and greatly horrified to hear one of my friends systematically run down the people from all the other villages in her Home State. You'd have thought she was talking about people from a distant land. I was appalled. "So basically" I said "you're of the opinion that only the people from your community are sane right?” She shrugged "Basically" she said. That's the kind of thinking that puts Nigeria in trouble.

Enough of my randomness.

This is probably the most random and non-coherent post I have ever written on this blog. Like I said earlier, I'm just going with the flow.

The last thing I want to say is this. I have absolutely no regrets about the life-changing decisions that I recently took. If anything, it was in a sense liberating. I really feel like I’m much less apprehensive about change. I hope that the next time I have to be decisive about the course of my life, I will do so with much less anxiety and a lot more faith.

My prayer for all my readers today is that you find the strength to pursue your dreams and live purpose driven lives. Again, very random and off topic, but please just stick with me on this.

Till much later then.

Cheers