Me, Myself and I

RE-CULTURE SHOCK

I was speaking to a friend on the phone this evening; she is in the process of moving back to Naija and as the days draw nearer she is starting to get nervous about the prospect of leaving the somewhat organised life she has lived in the UK for the past 2 years for all the hustle and bustle of naija. As expected she has a lot to sort out in terms of property, documents, etc and this is only from the 2 years she has been here. This got me wondering if I was in the same position, it wouldnt be just 11years worth of stuff I would be having to contend with!
Dont get me wrong ; I love my country, I really do, but every time I pay a visit it's more obvious to me that that country is so far from the state in which I left it. There have been some positive changes, i must say but it also appears to me that the pace of life is becoming more and more frantic, the sense of desperation more heightened, even the weather seems to be more unbearable!
I went back for christmas holidays a few years ago and had to catch a local flight from Lagos to PH after we arrived. We purchased our tickets in plenty of time and then proceeded to board the flight; the problem was so did about 200 other passengers! That's right; the flight had been overbooked. As I raced across the tarmac to the plane under the hot sun, I thought to myself, 'is this for real? Even when we got to the plane I was still doing my polite 'excuse me please' and 'sorry' as I jostled with everyone else trying desperately to get on that plane. I then heard my aunt shouting to me, 'what are you doing down there?! Come up quickly or else you are not going to get a seat, oh!' Panicking at the fact that I might be left behind all sense of curtesy left me.I started elbowing anyone that got in my way; old, young, madam, oga, I didnt care! I was going to get on that plane if it killed me!! My poor cousin (who had never been to Naija before) ended up struggling with a much older woman for the last seat on the plane and won in the end, much to woman's annoyance. But somehow she still managed to 'share' a seat with some guy at the back of the plane (dont ask me how). I just thank God we got home in one peice.
The other issue I find myself contending with is the weather. Looking back at the outfits I used to wear back then I think to myself, 'how on earth could I have worn that and not been stifled to death?!' From the long-sleeved fitted body-hugging suits (BLACK), even turtle-neck sweaters and sweatshirts - all in the name of fashion! I would still choose the sun and the heat any day, anytime to the miserable british weather but now when I go back home I can just about wear t-shirts with sleeves, let alone long-sleeves.
It also seems, even my digestive system has to re-adjust to some of the local delicacies. I used to be able to eat anything back then with no problems whatsoever; isi-ewu, suya, etc. But the last time I had some bole (roast plantain) back home it gave me such an upset stomach it wasnt even funny. Now I've had bole here in London, but y'all know its not just the same, but for some reason the same thing that makes it taste so good back then seems to be the same thing that turned my insides. And as for the isi-ewu incident, I'm not even going to go into that.
Basically my point is even though I'm still naija to the core , there are certain things I will have to re-adjust my body and mind to when I decide to brave it back there for good (God knows when that will be!) At the end of the day, there's still no place like home.

posted by Beautifully Human @ 12:55 AM