When is it SAFE to take pride in our country?

IT'S BEEN ALMOST FIVE MONTHS NOW!!
140 DAYS OF TERROR, HORROR AND WEEPING SINCE MOTHERS AND FATHERS HAVE BEEN DEPRIVED OF THEIR DAUGHTERS, SIBLINGS OF THEIR SISTERS AND AUNTIES AND UNCLES OF THEIR NIECES.

STILL I AM SURE I DO NOT SPEAK FOR MYSELF ALONE WHEN I SAY I HAVE NOT SEEN ANY CHANGE! 

Still the same cries that no ears care to heed:

Just because this atrocity is no longer on the news does not mean that it has been forgotten in anyway. The abduction of over 200 girls from a small town in Nigeria may not be as exciting as pouring a bucket of ice water over ones head -not for a cause but for the sake of it- or as traumatizing as Nicki Minaj's 'Anaconda' video.


I don't know if the Nigerian government is just too willing to look the other way or if they, for some unknown reason, cannot seem to come to a somewhat peaceful agreement with those monsters. What I know is that something has to be done. And it has to be done fast.

How are we Nigerians supposed to take pride in our beloved country when we don't even feel safe in it? I'm not even going to start with the unemployment rate or health issues. 
Imagine how different and beautiful Nigeria would be if the government just put in a quarter of what is flowing into their personal bank accounts monthly into security. 
If we can't boast about being Africans, how then do we expect the generations after us to love where they come from?


I find it extremely hard to believe the lyrics of this song, yet I know every word is true.








Nur im Krieg und in der Liebe ist alles erlaubt!

Summer schooling like a BOSS!

Living as an Afro-European has it's ups and downs, just like every other situation. In this blog we are going to lay out all our secrets bare with a touch of Lemon.

It was a random Thursday and I was getting my teaching grove on when all of a sudden the sun came out and my life got a bit better. 

Seeing the look on my students' faces, an idea bulb exploded in my head. What if we took the lesson outside so they can see: 

-How green a green leaf is, 
-How blindingly yellow the sun shines
-How it feels like to be on a real swing... you know, stuff like that.

Most of the pictures were taken by this talented damsel Confidence, in the pink top- note that she is just four years old, so please excuse the strange pictures you will see along the way!

 

For some reason completely unknown to me, she seems to be unable to pronounce the alphabets 'J' and 'S'. 'J' baffles me the most, on a good day it sounds like 'dtze'. Which means James would be pronounced 'Dtzems' and John would be 'Dtzon'. 

'S' pronounced as 'esu' or 'etzu' sounds a bit acceptable, but I must admit that I still am perplexed! 

This, my fellow readers, is Mercy. He is by far the happiest 9-month old baby I have EVER seen. He is literally ALWAYS smiling and moving and shouting!

I don't know if it's normal, but he HATES his baby walker and will cling to every tiny hair on your eyebrow if he has to just so you take him out of his walker, because as far as he is concerned, your legs are waaay softer than the hard floor so why should he learn to walk there.

He also has this thing with eating adult food and hating baby food like it was the cookie monster itself. This boy, with only two milk teeth in his gum will eat the driest bread, hottest rice, strongest lolly without even caring. 

I'm not sure why she thought her sandals were important, but somehow they were and she used the opportunity to show the world how much her favorite sandals mean to her.

She found her foot really fascinating. Why you ask? Because it's the only thing that can actually survive the longest in her favorite sandals. Sounds legit...I guess!

She actually made Obum act like she was eating sand just for the picture! A professional I must say.

This, my friend, is Goodness aka Goodelicious *-*. She is the inventor of the word 'otzomi?' ,it took me a while to get what exactly she wants from me when she says that, but I'm almost always sure she wants something from me... an answer or so.

otzomi? = me too? (= also me?)

She even has a teddy bear named after her and she hates it more than anything! 

By the time we got home it was already midday and our stomachs were grumbling. Thank God for their mother because somehow she made my favorite meal... INDOMIEEE !!!!

Nur in Krieg und in der Liebe ist alles erlaubt!

Having African Neighbours

You think being an African and living in a non-African country is hard? Then try being an African, living in a non-African country AND having African neighbours. That, my friend is hardship! And then if they somehow have kids... You're done!

I am proud to say that in my 5 years and 4 months here in Austria, and 4 times of relocating from 3 different "subcities", I still have to cope with the bountiful African neighbours who surround our recent apartment. There is no day I can seem to look out my window and not see an African pass by our house or knock on the door. 

And so I have stopped looking out the window facing the street, and have now resigned myself to peeping through the one that shows the garden.

Thus, to avoid getting visitors that were "just driving up and down the street and somehow saw your name on the door and decided to stop by", my dad "forgot" to put our name on the door bell of the new apartment even though we were supposed to. 

How on earth having African neighbours can in any way be disturbing you ask?
Lemme make this clear for you then with the help of illustration...


1. They come to "play" (EAT). 

You are forced to say yes, after all, how could you say no? 

"I'm busy"

"Ooh it's no problem, we'll be reaaaally quiet"   

"No. You don't understand, you are NEVER quiet" 

 "I promise we will be this time....pleaaaaaase O.O" 

You see, you just DON'T say no -.- 


Minutes- and I seriously mean minutes- later, they get hungry and you start to ask yourself if they wake up every morning just to disturb your peace. 

They may look cute and all, but don't let yourself be deceived, they are extremely cute when they aren't necessarily jealous of your peace and quiet.

2. They come to drink.

They do not think anything of your being busy. They ask you unnecessary questions whenever they feel like it and God knows ignoring them will cause even more agony. You answer whenever is needed of you.

Approximately 7.5 minutes after having eaten, a drink is requested. And as I said, it is useless to ignore and if you accidentally do ignore in this case, you will find glass shards on your kitchen floor and begin to regret ever letting them in.

They smile at you and reassure you that your getting up and getting them drinks yourself was indeed the right decision.

3. They come to make sure you don't get work done.

I don't think I have to say much here, the fact that this post is uploaded 2 days after the pictures were taken hopefully does explain everything.

All she did was write her name. Don't ask why!

4. They come to poke their noses into your business and lie on your bed.

They don't compliment you on your work, instead they argue about who gets to turn the next page.

Then when they get stressed out from arguing and turning pages, they lie on your bed...and start to fight until someone is on the floor, crying or just admiring the wood.

5. They come to touch...EVERYTHING

She learned to play part of the intro of Rihanna's 'Stay', but still, she was too loud and disturbing!!!  

I hope you now understand what I was trying to point out in the beginning. Having African neighbours can be terrifying, but I love this pair no matter what!! 

Nur im Krieg und in der Liebe ist alles erlaubt!

How Africa is Portrayed in The Media

I'm sure we've all seen one of these kind of pictures somewhere, somehow before now.

http://i49.tinypic.com/fbw3yx.jpg

I bet you haven't seen this young man smile before!  

The following scenes are not as unpopular as we (hopefully) would all like them to be. 

I would bet any money that these kids and their families didn't choose to pick up a weapon, live on the street, beg for food, flee whatever is left their homes, be deprived of the right to live and actually feel alive at whim. 

http://www.afronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Afro_darfur_war.jpg

http://37.media.tumblr.com/d5c08c57a170c122e8966d776e725ef6/tumblr_my2sabO2RK1rfgmbqo3_500.jpg

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02226/poverty_2226036b.jpg

http://wa1.www.unesco.org/most/p95im1.jpg

And so I am at sixes and sevens with an issue. Is the media actually trying to help us (Africa) in someway or another by publicizing only the baddest of the worst sides of my beloved home or are they just looking for a means to rub the fact that she has been exploited and drained of every nameworthy reputation in her face? 
Because if they actually are, then I can't see what they strive to achieve by showing the world pictures of starving kids and throwing quotes like "EVERY SECOND IN AFRICA, A CHILD DIES..." our way, like the seconds in Africa tick faster or something. 

http://kateturner45.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/w430-68de7.jpg

This is one of the pictures that come to my mind whenever I see an advert updating me about how much practically no one cares about Africa. 

And by the way, who even makes these pictures? Do they feed these kids after their sufferings have been documented? 

I lived in Nigeria for 11 years and NOT ONE DAY did I see a naked child crying, arms stretched out with flies in it's eyes. 
What I saw day after day was strangers offering to pay the bus fares of school children who had no money to take a bus home. 
I saw strangers offer you food when they sure as heck knew that they didn't even have enough for themselves. 
I saw my sister take in a small child that was crying under the rain, fed and clothed him till his mother came back.
I saw kiosk "malams" give sweets and biscuits to my brother just for sitting and talking to him for a few hours.

I did NOT see children die every second. 

I don't act surprised anymore when someone tells me that he/she would never go back to Africa voluntarily unless they have to, because it is "not as safe as it is here".

The media tells us what to wear. 
The media tells us what we are to look like.
The media tells us what kind of friends we are supposed to have.
The media tells us what are meant to eat.
The media tells us what cell phone and laptop and tablet to get next.
The media tells us where we want to be at and where we don't.
The media tells us what size we are to wear to feel accepted.
The media tells us not to live our lives and tells us who and what we are to imitate.

So when the media tells you that Africa is "not as safe as it is here", you listen and you repeat that a few times in front of your mirror to make sure it comes across convincingly the next time you are asked when you plan to visit your homeland.

A friend of mine told me today, "The looks of a person doesn't tell you the slightest bit about his or her character, background, family or life." I used to wonder why people, especially youngsters, tend to judge others according to their appearance, but then I realized that it actually isn't that easy NOT to judge someone based on their looks when looks are the first things you see.

I don't know about you, but this is how I see Africa:

It's just my name, it's just my skin holding the border #George Ezra

Nur im Krieg und in der Liebe ist alles erlaubt!

Taking Advantage of Every Opportunity!

I was interviewing a friend, or rather big sister Ebube ^-^, on Monday for my first radio broadcast -that will be put up as soon as possible- when this question came up: 

"If you had the choice between staying here in Austria and moving back to Nigeria, what would you choose?"

Before then, I had always criticized this actually beautiful country I am privileged to be a part of, saying the Austrians...

1.  are so hostile and unfriendly;

2.  are never contented with what they have and take what they have for granted;

3.  were born with a silver in their mouths and don't know what it's like to have gone through hardship;

Courtesy of The Zimbabwean

Courtesy of National Geographic

4.  will see these picture in textbooks or in documentaries and the first thing to come to their minds will be: Africa is sooo poor! They will probably never know how much fun it actually is, especially when you've got your friends or family at your side.


However, her answer made me stop and think. I could either see it like this:

I have had to move to a country thousands of miles way from home leaving behind a part of my family and ALL my friends. I have had to learn a language that I hadn't even known of it's existence. I have had to get used to a foreign culture and blanket mine whenever I went outside my door. I have had to forget my African way of thinking and adapt to the European. POOR ME!

                                                             OR

I may have had to face some difficulties in the first few years of my stay here, but it's about time I stopped asking, "Why did my dad have to choose Austria of all places?!" and started asking,"How do I make the best out of my stay here and take advantage of EVERY opportunity, no matter how little or irrelevant it might seem to be?" 


So right now, I plan to accept and appreciate things as they are, make the best of everything I can, enjoy life and all the doors it opens and respect the fact that some doors are just meant to remain closed! 


All these and more have just been a few minutes from where I live, but instead of noticing and appreciating them, I have spent the past few years mourning and asking "Why?!"

Courtesy of Olympus Fotoforum
Grazer Murinsel. A plattform afloat the sea Mur.

Courtesy of Wikipedia
Schlossberg.
 An arms museum and clocktower at the top of a huge, beautiful  mountain.

Courtesy of  Deutsches-Architektur-Forum
The Graz Art Museum. An extravagant architectural artwork in the middle of the city. 

Courtesy of  Das Wirthaus
Schloss Eggenberg. A beautiful palace built in the 17th century, just 15 minutes away!

So in this manner, I want to say a big thank you to my big sister Ebube for changing my perspective of seeing everything around me, with this answer:

"[...] Here in Austria you have a huge gap of chances to choose what you want to be, but in Nigeria, even if you studied, you could stay unemployed [...] Everybody is important here, but in Nigeria it's difficult. I would like to stay in Austria, but on the other side, Nigeria is my HOME"

Nur im Krieg und in der Liebe ist alles erlaubt!

Reminiscing The Old Days

Mama Akpos asked her son Akpos to wash some fresh vegetables. Akpos did as his mother asked him to. At the dining table, Mama Akpos asked her son Akpos:

Mama Akpos: Ah Ah! Why this vegetables kon dey taste like this naa?

Akpos: Mama I wash am like you tell me naa, I even put extra soap join!

Speaking of vegetables, my father just returned from a one month visit to our village in Nigeria today -after almost 10 years of Europe- bringing with him the pleasant scent of fresh Africa: olugbu (bitter leave), utazi, ugu (Pumpkin leaves), nchowu (scent leave) and other varieties  leaves and herbs. Now the jolly was not only in the seeing, tasting or smelling, rather in the washing and chopping! 4 HOURS ON THE GO!! 

Ugu leaves *-* (good for the blood ;D) 

The jolly is still there, with extra emphasis on the loudspeaker in the corner ;) 

Scent leaves (the name really does justice to the wonderful scent)

Oha (I'm not aware of the english name O.O )

I am now going to take this opportunity to boast to my African readers about the goodies my dad brought us from Nigeria, because I tell you, 6 years without any sign of Africa is not easy oo !

We finally have abundant egusi (melon seed)

Ukwa (African bread fruit) my all time favourite

Ever wondered how african hair grows overnight? Then we have that cool-puffy-teddybear-like hair? Well, this is all that is needed for the magic, except maybe someone, who is willing and ready to sit for hours braiding your hair. 

ATTACHMENTS (synthetic hair) !!!

Up next: My cultural pride...ANKARA! I soo cannot wait to rock them in church on sunday, though I still have to do some mending on practically EVERYTHING... (speaking of church; Happy Easther to y'all)!

Who's feeling my "Kiri kiri Star" too?

Surprisingly, all of that was cocooned into this Bag aka "Ghana must go"...don't mind the Ikea bag.

Before I forget, which of you have ever eaten termite aka "Aku"? It is one thing you would want to look for when it's stormng in Africa. This reminds me of the raining season in Nigeria :")

It may look irritating, but it is one of the best snack ever!
In courtesy of Nairaland Forum

Nur im Krieg und in der Liebe ist alles erlaubt!