Afro-hiking Internship

Living as an Afro-European has it's ups and downs, just like every other situation. In this Blog we try to document some highlights in our lives, telling our stories raw but with a touch of lemon.

So the day started with the wish for the rain to show its best sides and flood the streets so i won't be able to go to work and therefore not go hiking in the mountains with my Co-workers (i'm just an intern) ;-)

My Grandmama used to say to my father: Mmadu choro ihu eligwe, o ngboaha ka mmiri ga na ga nje -The only time you want to see the stars, the rain will show it's grace-. The rain showed it's grace, but in a fairly measured amount so it was a trekking day picked out by the gods of Amadioha themselves. Amadioha (the god of thunder and lightning) is one of the famous gods of the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria.

After what seemed like a two hours drive up to our destination, we were privileged to be given a grand tour of the house of a major artist and explorer of the 20th century Paul Kassecker. During the first world war, he had worked as a War illustrator and taken part in a lot of other creative press publishes. He also received a lot of accolades. Funny enough he had gone  to the same school I attend now. *____*

Paul Kassecker himself.... Source: http://www.st-ilgen.at/web/seiten/Hochschwabmuseum/ausstellung%202012.htm

http://www.bergfex.at/sommer/rund-um-den-hochschwab/highlights/1893-hochschwabmuseum-beim-bodenbauer-in-st-ilgen/

http://www.bergfex.at/sommer/rund-um-den-hochschwab/highlights/1893-hochschwabmuseum-beim-bodenbauer-in-st-ilgen/

Oh and the guy was also a stone collector. 

This place is basically where the water for the city I live in comes from. One just gotta love miniature works.

Kassecher's home which is now a museum called: Hochschwab museum

A miniature topography  and Kassecher's hiking equipments

Visiting goats before you start a journey this death defying is very much vital.

 I still can't believe I spent my afternoon surrounded by mountains and these splendid views.

 It was such a nice opportunity

This is a mountain goat

 And finally reaching our destination at the Häuslalm, we had a drink and got back our energy to walk back down, with each and everyone of us with a mesmerising awe of nature. Getting down, the network bars got their strengths back and took us to our digital worlds.
Afterwards, we had a colorful dessert and drove back to the city.


I am so grateful I got invited, and despite my being african and don't get all hikecited like the Austrians, I must say it was a very eyeopening experience and I do see myself doing it again in the nearest future. *____*

This is Georg. He likes hiking and obviously facial hair. Georg has misplaced a lot of his phones; What he said about that was: "It is because of people like me that smartphone companies are profiting". However many phones he has misplaced, he has no favorite music genre, he is open for news... Two years ago, Georg visited Lagos, Nigeria to research on his masters thesis, there he had a lot of life changing experiences, which we have on tape. We are so excited to have a great story as his and can't wait to share the outcome. 

Thanks Georg!







Nur im Krieg und in der Liebe ist alles erlaubt!

Living on One Dollar A Day

It probably sounds like an incredibly easy thing to do.

'Maybe the cereal box in the cupboard will last for three or four days, and then there's still some potatoes or yams somewhere in the store and there's probably some bread in the fridge too, I sighted a few cartons of milk and juice in the fridge the other day and I've always got some garri in reserve. So if I split up each food into respective days and save up the money, I could have enough money for other days that lack food. As easy as that!'

However, we forget about the simplest, but very essential things; like toilet paper, electricity, bus fares, soap and so on... But for over 1.1 BILLION PEOPLE, life as we know it doesn't just go without saying. I just watched the movie, or documentary rather, Living on One Dollar and caught myself wondering if I could ever manage this:

But just this morning, I watched a TV programme about the most popular 5-star hotel in Russia. I'm not going to go into the details, but in the end they showed a woman living in a suite there and she boasted about 2 "paintings" which hung on her wall, that consisted of Dollar notes and Russian Rubles I think and then she said she didn't have any other wishes than to be healthy and happy, so she better spend her money while she is still alive and kicking.

I still wonder how those kind of people can look up to you, chin high and say, "I'm drinking a €24 000 wine and it tastes exquisitely ". I mean, if you don't know what to spend your money on, why don't you give it to people who really need it ??!

With my mere 15 years of age, I was once given the honor to attend a seminar called "TOUCH-STREETWISE: Responding to Street Violence", even though I was just there as a Radio-presenter. I just thought all I would do was interview a few people there, get free lunch and a CD and be on my way, but I never did expect to be moved by anything I would see, hear or feel while I was there.

I came back home and informed my dad that I wanted to be a youth-street worker, thinking that he was going to be as enthusiastic about my sudden change of plans as I was. All he said was, "This is not your fatherland", I stood there waiting to hear more but didn't get the approval I wanted, although I promised myself to do just that when I felt the time had come.

The interviews that changed my life for good ;)

Somehow, after that seminar, there were countless brochures and advertisements of help organisations and programmes for exchange students to help researches and things like that everywhere, or maybe I just suddenly became aware of them, and that only fueled my growing fire even more to want to help!! 

This is just one of the countless brochures I mentioned above ;)

And so with all that said, Obum and I have decided to no longer look away. We have resoluted to take part in one of these programmes and help in any way possible after our final exams in two years time :( 

It is surely going to be a time to remember, I know that already!!

I'm not urging anyone to join in, I'm just saying it doesn't hurt to try, and besides, it's not so bad a way of losing weight ;)

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!