It doesn't take much to make me happy, friends, family, fellowship. That's pretty much all I need. This holiday season was terrific because for the first time I can ever remember, I traveled extensively with family to meet family, and I had the chance to hang out with tons of friends. I spent a week in Nigeria, and I'll attempt to write as much as I can remember about what transpired. I might even post a picture... we'll see.
When I left Nigeria in September of 1987, I only packed for three weeks. There is no way I could know that it would take me nineteen years to return home.
I feel like there is something strange about me. Since I left I’ve been yearning to return. I missed my school, the weather, my friends, the way of life… When I finally realized I had a plane ticket and I was going back my heart was filled with joy. I have never looked forward to a trip so much. I tried to calm down Sunday morning because I didn’t want to be disappointed.
As we loaded our suitcases in the car Sunday afternoon, the reality still hadn’t hit me. It seemed like just one of many trips to the airport. When we finally arrived at the airport, I felt like I was in some sort of dream. I wasn’t hungry. I made sure I ate a huge meal early in the day, because I wanted to avoid the high price of airport food. I didn’t really know what to do with myself. I sat by a friendly lady and we immediately struck up a conversation. We had similar travel plans but different destinations. Once I had someone to talk to, I felt a lot calmer. I’m not sure why I like meeting people at the airport and on planes.
Finally it was time to board the plane. The plane was packed. Surprisingly, my new friend and I were sitting right next to each other on the plane. We were seated next to a couple with an infant. The stewards and stewardess convinced us to alter our seating arrangement so the couple would have more space. Anyways, even though the flight was almost eleven hours, I had a great time because everyone was friendly and talkative. I decided to sleep for 5 or so hours in order to prevent jetlag upon arrival. A few hours later we arrived in London. I’ve been to London a few times, always on layovers.
When we landed our cousin was waiting to pick us up. I don’t remember ever meeting him before that, but he was a pretty cool guy. He gave us a mini-tour of London cuz he lives pretty far away from the airport. Of course I forgot almost everything because there was so much information to keep track of. We had the chance to meet his wife and family. They were great hosts and helped me understand a little bit more about London. We had enough time to find out what everyone had been up to for the past 15 or so years, see family pictures and so on. After a few hours it was time to go. Kinda bittersweet. There’s so much I still don’t know, plus I’m not sure when I’m coming back. But when it’s time to go you have to say goodbye. So we said our goodbyes and returned to the airport.
We spent this time in the airport running around trying to make sure our luggage would make it on the flight with us because of a mix up. After talking with multiple people, someone was kind enough to take us to the gate and allow us to identify our bags. Thankfully they made it to Nigeria with us. But when I got on the plane I was a little shocked to see that 90% of the people on the plane were Nigerian. I have never been on a plane where a) everyone looked just like me and b) it was ethnically homogenous.
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