Home to Nigeria!

Hello Everyone!

As I said previously, I travelled to Nigeria in the summer. I was so excited to go back because I had not been back in a few years and family could not come and visit either due to the pandemic. I had booked my flight like three months prior, so I was sure I was going. A couple of weeks before the trip my airline started to move my flight. There was nothing they did not do to the flight, and at a point they increased the number of stopovers I would have to encounter. I had to call them and rectify things a couple of times till my date was confirmed.

I flew through Amsterdam with my friend and we landed in Muritala Muhammed Airport, Lagos the next evening or so. Immigration took forever and finally we were able to get our luggage and I was on my way home! I had to quarantine after which I did the day 8 test and was free to move around. I spent most of July doing wedding preparations as I came home for my sister’s wedding. In between though, I was able to go to other places.

I had not been to a natural hair salon since leaving Nigeria, so that was one of the first things I did. I went to My Wash and Go in Victoria Island and I loved it. the only thing was they told me they could not trim my hair which i had hoped to do. I got the oil treatment and a proper washing out and blowdrying of my hair. they usually accept walk ins, but since covid, you have to book on their website to ensure social distancing guidelines are observed.

I also went dress fitting with my sister on several occasions. We went to fit her white wedding dress and her traditional outfits. Closer to the wedding I went to another salon near my house to do my hair. I did a ponytail hairstyle- my siblings and I had previously gone to the market to get the curly hair extensions. We used the bus, and I think being away from Lagos for so long had made me forget how different the bus system was. The mini hustler in me had relaxed a lot and I was not used to the bustle of moving with public transport anymore. First of all, we had to wait a while to get a bus, and then when we got one, we had to come down on the bridge as it was faster for everyone. As I was disembarking, my sweatpants caught on a nail on the seat of the bus, and the next thing I heard was a ripping sound. I quickly came down and discovered that behold, my sweatpants had torn. Thankfully I had on shorts under, but I had to walk around the market in torn trousers.

Images taken by Timi Oshin Studios

I also had my nails done at the salon. This was my first experience fixing big girl nails and I was so excited. I do not think I will be fixing them again though because I did not like the after-effects of what they did to my nails. I broke one by mistake and I hit one of them hard on a surface which caused an injury to my own nail (it started to change colour). I did enjoy the fancy attitude that came with the nails though.

I went out with friends and family and tried a bunch of new restaurants. I went to Quid by De Brit for my sister’s bridal dinner- the food is really good but the price is pretty steep for the quantity.

Then I went to Moonshine Cafe with my friend- I liked the Chapman drink, but again it was expensive in my opinion. I also went to Calabar kitchen for local cuisine and I really enjoyed the food and being with my family. the quantity was commensurate to the price and they had everything. I had pounded yam and banga soup with snails, goat meat and fish. The only thing to me was that the ambience, which resembled an upscale bukka was a bit different from what I was used to. I also went on a lunch date with my friends and we went to Orchid House, a Thai restaurant in Ikeja, Lagos. The location was perfect- also we went on a Sunday so minimal traffic, the food was really good and the company was fun. The quantity of food was good for the price, and we ordered three items to share among four people, and everyone was replete at the end.

Nearing the end of my trip, I fell sick and had a cold, sore throat and I lost my voice for a while. I went to the hospital and did a couple of covid tests – they attended to me outside and did not let me into the hospital till it was confirmed I did not have covid. Thankfully all the symptoms went in time for me to travel and my return trip was uneventful asides from the fact that the airline delayed it by so many hours.

I thoroughly enjoyed the holiday and only wished I had been able to do more and visit with more friends in the time frame.