Woe is me. It seems that in America there exists this terrible three letter word called TAX. It is a confusing and befuddling thing, and I have been poring over the forms for days now, and I still cannot understand what I am meant to write on my form.

You see, in my country, we don't pay tax. Well companies pay some sort of corporate tax, but we as individuals do not. And I have no idea where to begin, or how much the tax actually is anyway. I guess as an international student, I won't have to pay tax anyway, but I still have to file, and there lies the problem. Forms are so confusing, and I'd much rather go to sleep than fill out my tax form, but the deadline is approaching, so I shall suck it up and get to it.

DIGRESSION: Here is a picture of Maitama, where I live in Abuja (in Nigeria). *sigh* I miss home terribly

I have a piece in the Saint Leo art show that's coming up on Thursday. It's only a portrait drawing, and I don't think I am going to win or anything, but it's all terribly exciting. The other entries are really beautiful, but there was this particular entry that irked me.

It was, no doubt, a wonderful piece. It was a painting of the map of the world, and some Hausa-Sudanese women in their djallabiahs, hijabs, and burqas, all very colourful. The title of the painting was The Children of Darfur. However, what bothered me about the painting was that all the countries of the world were painted black, and then the WHOLE OF AFRICA was painted red.

- But the title is: The Children of DARFUR - not Africa. Why paint Africa red?

I think I would have been much less annoyed had she painted only SUDAN red, since that is
where Darfur is. I don't think that if there was a humanitarian crisis in France one would paint all of Europe red, now do you? Seriously, Africa is not a country, it's a continent with 52 countries, and every country is as profoundly different from the other as can possibly be. I'm Nigerian, and there are a million Nigerians that I don't understand when they speak because I only speak two out of the 250 + languages we speak in Nigeria. Just TWO. Painting the whole of Africa red might make an observer imagine that Darfur is all of Africa, or that Darfur is another name for Africa pretty much like when we call the USA America. I had to drink a glass of cold water to get rid of my annoyance. I can't do anything about it. I can't make her un-paint it anyway. It's still a beautiful painting.

Alright, I'm in the middle of a rant, and I might as well continue ranting. I hate the way Africa is depicted in the media. Everyone thinks we're starving, and we're not. Half the time I secretly wonder whether they store these hungry looking children that they show on TV in a warehouse somewhere and pull them out only when it's time to make a documentary.

I am not saying that there are not poor people in Africa, but what I am trying to get across is
that the MAJORITY of us make a decent living, and live decent, fun, interesting lives. There are those who are very rich, and there are those who are very poor, and there's everyone else in between. My country Nigeria for example, is not a poor country by ANY means. At all. Yes, there are poor people in the country, but outsiders do not know the history and the reasons behind a lot of what poverty that exists.

Number one, MAJORITY of Nigerians are educated. We put an extremely high premium on Education, and for a Nigerian child, dropping out, or doing badly in school is just not an option. It isn't done. That's probably the reason why most of us are overachievers. When we go to school, it's not just for ourselves; there are our parents to make proud, our other relatives, our parents' friends, the neighbours, even the mallam ( Hausa man) that lives on the other side of town will ask you about your progress in school.

Number two, we have a GREAT time in Nigeria. Every Nigerian student in America anxiously counts down the days until they can get back home. There's so much to do. There are clubs to go to, movies to see, beaches to hang out on, speed boats to take out, island houses to have parties in, plays at the theatre and TerraKulture, the Durbah in Kano, fashion shows, art shows, poetry jams, the British Council puts on this great youth event called Words and Pictures (WAPI). We get to meet celebrities, read our poetry and basically any other art thing we have going on. There are always the soccer matches which are a national past time, and then there's the food! Nothing compares to it. The atmosphere in Nigeria is simply magical. No wonder we were voted the happiest place on earth.

And I am sure that this is how it is in most other African countries, perhaps not so as much as in Nigeria, but in most, except Zimbabwe, which has economic issues, and other countries that are war torn. I wish the media would show the beautiful/happy side of African countries. Every time I watch TV here, I almost can't believe that I live in the country that their talking about. I keep wondering "where do they find these people/places?" AND they NEVER say anything about the effort that local organisations are making to assist the less privileged people in the society. It always has to be some international organisation that swoops down and saves the day when I know for a fact all the good that local organisations do and how much progress they make. For example, KIND (a Nigerian organisation) in association with other local charitable organisations produced the Vagina Monologues (Performance Poster pictured LEFT) in Lagos and Abuja and performed a special version of the hit play which had been rewritten to speak specifically to the Nigerian woman (with permission from the author of course) in celebration of all Nigerian women and to raise awareness for Women's empowerment and the education of the Girl Child.

So, in order to balance the picture that the media today has portrayed about my home, here are some pictures, firstly of my country Nigeria, and a link to the Facebook Group called The Africa They Never Show You. It is a group created and contributed to by African Students all over the world, determined to show the world what their home really looks like. The picture painted of us in the media is terribly embarrassing to say the least. There are poor people in America and Europe but we don't flash them on TV ceaselessly. Let's talk about all the good stuff African countries have to offer. Let's face it, there are scenes of breathtaking beauty that you will never witness anywhere else in the world, my country's economy is growing in leaps and bounds, and there has never been a better time to invest. And no, I do not have a tiger in my backyard. It is just as likely to bite me as you.

This term has had A LOT of plays, speeches, talks, and every possible similar thing you can think of. I couldn't catch them all, and frankly I was too tired to anyway, but I did go to some. The talk on Thoreau in the Age of the iPod was AMAZING! It was funny, and interesting, and packed! I had to attend for extra credit in my Honours class, but by the time it was over, I was so glad my professor made me go. It also featured this much talked about Dove commercial whose message is so clear: 'Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does.'

I missed the1984 plays though, which made me rather sad because I was curious to see how it would be adapted for stage. I've read the book many times though, so it wasn't a terrible let
down. Oooh, but something exciting did happen to me! I came out of a cancelled class to discover that CAB (the Campus Activity Board) had brought a WIND-TUNNEL thingamajig where you could practice sky diving without actually...well.. diving out of the sky. I know they had a waiting list, and I know it was full, and I know it wasn't my turn, but I just hung around, and someone didn't show up, and quick as lightning I slipped into one of the diving suits and put on the helmet, and noone was the wiser.

And then Karma caught up with me. I had to go first, and I was terrified. The instructors told me to just let myself fall onto this huge horrid fan that was creating the air current, and when I finally swallowed my fear and did, it blew me into the air. It felt like I was falling, but I wasn't.It was sooooooooo cool!!! I want to do it again! Oh I do love CAB!!!

Yay for Spring Break, another American tradition that has made my life sweeter! (Oh yes, and thank you God for Thanksgiving break, and all other breaks that you see fit to insert in the school year, Amen.)

I have to get through mid-terms first though. That's always the catch now isn't it. School administrators dangle Spring Break in front of you like a juicy carrot (okay, I don't really like carrots, I'm not a donkey - I like mangoes ) - like a juicy mango, and then they set your professors on you with terrible million page assignments, and papers that take all night to complete. And if you get through the barrage of work without losing your mind, then you can go wherever you please, and with a clear conscience too.

My fate is not to be so *sob*. I have a paper on Dante's Inferno due the moment I step back into Florida. I'm just gonna take my book with me and work on it with my best friends.

Speaking of which, I have NO IDEA where I am going for Spring Break. I keep hearing about this place called Cancun. All my Nigerian guy friends that went to school abroad are singing the praises of Cancun during Spring Break. I think for that reason I just might not go there. Knowing guys.....

Continue reading "Spring Break" »

Love is in the air, and right now you can't go anywhere on campus without encountering couples holding hands and staring deep into each other's eyes as they amble around school (this usually leads to them bumping into something at some point). I'm not celebrating Valentine's day this year, but CAB definitely is! Some enterprising students set up a gift delivery service for couples wanting to give their loved ones Valentine's Day pressies. Just a dollar, and the object of your affection receives a rose, or a teddy or a card on Valentine's Day! I think it's pretty cool.

The first week of the second semester is over, and I am completely worn out. I have seven classes this semester, and I'm actually beginning to wonder if I've taken on too much. I am so grateful for the weekend because I get to sleep it off and do homework. Looking forward to all the events this semester, and to Spring Break.

I'm hoping this second semester is going to be so much better than the first. The first was quite interesting, being a new student, and an international one at that, but this term, I'm looking forward to really settling into the swing of things. I'd like to explore Florida more, and I'm going to have a crazy work load (eighteen credits over seven classes)

Christmas was great, but it didn't snow :( That means I have to wait another whole year to see snow. At first I was excited at the prospect of staying here over Christmas and seeing snow, but once I got to Maryland, I immediately regretted it. I had NO IDEA how cold it gets in this country. At home in the cold season, I've never had to wear anything more than a simple sweater or cardigan, now I was wishing for a face mask and a full body suit. Despite my initial excitement, I am sad to say that spent the whole of winter glued to a bowl of hot soup and wishing for the sunny, hot beaches of Nigeria.

This term has been something else. It was like stimulus overload, times four. Living in America, I have found, is very different from visiting America. When you visit a country, even though you visit multiple times a year like I used to, you only get to deal with the good, not the bad. In order to encounter the bad aspects of a country, unless you are especially unlucky, you have to become something more than the casual visitor.

I liked America because, for example, the sun didn't set until eight at night, which meant more time to shop, but I also didn't realize that some states have a non-existent transportation system. Neither did I realise that I would never be warm enough here, nor that I would be more or less forced to speak English all the time, if not by direct request, but by the utterly confused expressions of the people around me when I delved into another language, even when I spoke languages that I expected should be more familiar to them like French and Spanish. Bah, speaking English is boring. Some things can never be expressed in English.

Also, the culture in American schools, and then Saint Leo, is markedly different....

*whispers* I have never seen people wear such short shorts in broad daylight before!! It took me quite a while to get used to that. You would NOT be able to do that in my country, no matter how hot it gets. There's no law against it, but people, yes, people on the street that don't know you, would not let you get ten feet. They'd drag you back to your house and demand you put some proper clothes on.

The Cheerleading thing is another thing we don't do. I guess more or less the crowd cheers, but we don't have a specific group of people whose job it is to egg the home team on. It's actually rather cool. I love watching their routines. I saw Bring It On in high school on movie night. My love affair with "magic fingers" was born.
On the bright side, I am SUPER excited

I CANNOT wait for Christmas. I know all of my friends are going to Nigeria for Christmas, and they're going to have a great time in Abuja without me, but I am DETERMINED to see, and touch snow. I know this must sound absurd to a lot of people here, but I have never seen snow in my life, except on television, and that's not much of an experience. Now, however, I'm going to get my chance!

Snowmen, here I come!!!!

Speaking of Christmas, we had a beautiful nativity play and a HUGE Christmas tree in the middle of the square between the new Student Centre and the new Cafeteria.I've fallen in love with that tree. It's just so big and imposing, and Christmas-y.

*sigh*

Just got back from a basketball game. I'd forgotten how entertained I used to be by basketball. I went late though, at 4:53pm, but I still caught a lot of action. I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. This week was the last week of classes, and finals start on Monday (actually they've already started for me since I had my English final on Thursday), and I've been neck deep in last minute homework and studying. I recorded most of the time I was there. We lost unfortunately. :( But it was a close win for the Flaglers anyway. 75 to 73. If you didn't see the game, and you're bummed because you missed it, sorry, I can't give you a blow by blow. I'm not good at that sort of thing. I will post a clip of a few shots the Lions made here later.
In other news this week, I went to see Cedric Liqueur perform. He was in the Cannon Memorial Library on Wednesday, December 5 to perform a poem by Sappho (She was one of the most prominent female Greek poets of the 6th century. - Learned that in class..heh heh). It was unbelievable. Mr.Liqueur is able to express such a vast variety of emotions with just his eyes and mouth. I was speechless for most of the rendition, and then when he had a free moment, I jumped over a few people's legs and got a picture with him. Swell, innit?

Ah, I do not feel good. I arrived in Maryland after a somewhat scary flight ( I can't remember how many times I prayed the rosary), and slept all day. I didn't know I was so tired until I hit the couch. Today I went to get my glasses (they're so damn cute!!!). I actually picked out a guy's pair for my second pair, but they look so good on me. It's been quite a week for me though.

Monday: Veteran's Day
I was honestly confused. I don't even know what Veteran's Day is about, but my guess is it's to honour old army dudes and dudettes. My uni also thought it would be great to combine it with some good old community service. That, I was also clueless about. I thought we were going to hang around school and wash some cars and stuff. I had no idea we would be going to different places and working on lots of diverse stuff. I initially wanted to go to the Thrift store that was on the list of places to serve, but it was all filled up, so I ended up going to the Boys and Girls club with Pauleisha's team. Rest of the pics are in the Veteran's Day Collection.

At first, it felt like the place was overflowing with students, and it seemed like there were more uni kids than actual kids, but we played an American version of "Form a big circle." I was tempted to say "Like your mother's cooking pot" *lol* The kids were sweet. And I met a guy that I never knew was in my year. Honestly, I'd never seen him before. But he was nice. No.... there is no potential of a love interest there, so stop wishing.

Tuesday: My Speech
It was fantastic!! If I say so myself. I delivered a speech, aided with a powerpoint presentation on Facial Scarifications in Nigeria and Western Africa which I wrote a fantastic essay on previously, and my professor was just blown away. Ahhh, the sweet smell of success. Not quite the smell of overdue homework which is about to choke me at this point.

Wednesday: Intercultural Food Night and My Culinary Debut

Cooking Nigerian food takes so long. Honestly, there is no fast way to do it. Darling Charla-Maye let us use her kitchen, so that made things so much easier. Of course, we left them a pot of rice and chicken in thanksgiving (no pun intended). Our food turned out to be more than a hit. After setting out all the food in the warmers, I nipped back to my room to shower quickly and change because cooking for six hours left me smelling like onions and cayenne pepper. So in the spirit of the International thingy, I slipped into my ankara skirt that billows as I hurry down the stairs. It's simply marvellous.
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The food is gone. All I met was upturned plates, and forks and spoons. We had cleaned out in under three minutes reportedly. I didn't even get to see people eat my own food! But it was great because all the other countries still had full pans of food. See the pictures here Nigeria rocks everybody!! But we specials already knew that.

Some of the kids here don't dress so badly. Actually, they wear some pretty cool looking clothes (at least, some of them) I couldn't resist camping out on the walkway and waiting for some fly looking chico or chica to walk past.

I just love the way the vivid blue peeks out of his hoodie. He could be a model..I think. Then I found this other guy with a cool monogram on his jacket, so I just had to have him in here.

Check out Russel's cool bag. It's a nice bag, not fantastic, but I just realised that what drew me to it was the fact that it was slung across the shoulders of a GUY. Yay! A man bag!

Allow me to indulge myself. That bag is clearly unisex, but I'll just go on and pray for the day that guys realise the benefit of handbags and stop lugging all their stuff around in their bottomless pockets.

Being Nigerian, before college, I'd almost never heard of the Freshman 15. Those legendary pounds that you're supposed to put on in your first semester of school. So Seventeen and CosmoGirl mentioned them a few times, but I never really paid any notice because it was all alien to me. Until I got to Saint Leo. It turns out, not only have I gained the dreaded Freshman 15, but the name should be amended to the Freshman 75.

Yes, I have gained 75 whole pounds since August 20. Isn't that just swell? Now I have a closet full of clothes that I can't wear, but on the upside, it's made me quite creative about finding what to wear each day. I have 2 pairs of jeans that still fit, but they groan as I put them on, and one has already burst its seam in (thankfully) a discreet location. I began to suspect that all was not well when I wore my high-heeled boots to Mass one day, and during the walk back, my legs began to shake uncontrollably, all of their own accord. Turns out they couldn't support my weight in addition to the incline of the boots anymore. It was take off the boots or collapse on the sidewalk. When I got back to my room, I wiped the dirty soles of my feet with a napkin and hopped on the scale.......

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L-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-N-N-G-G-G S-I-L-E-N-C-E.................................

The next day, I decided to visit the more than well equipped gym, for the first time since I arrived at school, and for the third time in my entire life.....

.......The price we have to pay for pancakes...