happy days r here again...
yep...happy days....i remember growing up in naija....these were the best days ever...i was probably writing my exams....but getting ready to go home for the holidays...many of you may not understand how happy i was....i waited in anticipation for a time when i would be at home with ma familia....you see going to a boarding school can be depressing...but going to a Nigerian boarding school was....in one word...an experience that can only be lived...never explained ...never imagined....so at this time of the year i always looked forward to good food, TV 247 ( when my dad wasn't screaming at us to go read our books on the holidays), sleeping on a comfortable bed with electricity 247, just going to the bathroom and turning on the tap....with reliable running water and not going to fetch water from a tap a block away... Christmas carol in my fabulous church and arguing with my siblings...and i was sure not gonna miss the dirty toilets, doing morning duties and seniors that would not mind their own business....and i loved exams....because i always did really well and got to rub it in my siblings and friends face....you see i was never the cool kid growing up...i hung out with cool people but i was always able to maintain my less than cool status...so the exams were my time to shine and laugh at all the cool kids when i learnt how badly they had performed...so yeah...these were happy days.....
so eventually exam were done, results were out and school was out...and i was able to go home....to the good food, the Christmas presents....( which was always two dresses, two shoes and maybe a purse).....you see in Nigeria we really do not have the whole Christmas present frenzy that i have experienced in north america....we had Christmas clothes....it was the one time in the year we got really expensive clothes and shoes...because we had to wear something new and expensive to church on Christmas and new year day...my family took it to an extreme by introducing the easter dress...lol...kind of funny...but that never lasted...eventually we stuck to just Christmas and new year dress....so yeah i also had that to look forward to....and my mom always picked the dresses out for me...i remember for one Christmas my mom had traveled to london and was gonna get our dresses from the uk...we were so exited...i was especially looking forward to wearing it to church and boasting that i was wearing some fancy designer....i imagined that my mom would get me something like what i saw in the movies and i would look like a movie star...or maybe a singer....but alas my friends....my mom bought me and my sister ( we were not twins but we always had the same dresses growing up...and its not like we could ever be mistaken for twins, she is super light skinned...what some people would call mulatto/ half caste)....continuing....yep my mom got us a skirt suit....and not like the cute type...like what Julia Robert wore in pretty woman....or Sandra bullock in miss congeniality....noooo...these suits were like ten times my size and the skirt was rather long...we looked like we attended deeper life....or we were Mennonites....but on a lighter note the shoes were fabulous ....mother has a wonderful taste in shoes....my mom was like her friend said we would look good in them....i remember thinking yeah ur friends are like 50 and i think she is a deeper life....lol....
so that was my London Christmas....i laugh when i remember it...but when i turned 16 my mom gave us money and was like go buy what you like....and i got myself my first jean pants, and nice top with some cleavage ( not too much though....) and a beautiful shoe....and that was my christmas dress....of course i could not wear it to church...so my mom had to get something sewn for me....but i was happy...i felt like a grown up....
and then there was the food....on Christmas day we always had too much food...the best food ever...when i younger it would be the day we ate chicken...but as i grew older we ate chicken every day so we had to come up with something better....beef...lol...jokes....but on that day we had cake, fried/jollof rice, chicken, salad, drinks, chinchin, starch and ovwo and candy....it was the bestest day ever...and after eating all that we would go over to our cousins and have even more.....there was always rice everywhere....i remember my parents telling me that when they were young Christmas day was special because they ate rice.....i remember thinking wow....we ate rice everyday growing up...my parents did not grow up poor....but they were not rich either....i thank God every day for such awesome parents who provided for us....and gave us only the best.....
on christmas day...the poverty of some families was also a little bit more apparent....i never experienced this but i remember seeing children go from door to door....to basically beg....they would celebrate Christmas like ever yother family and instead of ending the day playing they would go from door to door ....and i never thought there was anything wrong with this...until....now....
so on to a lighter note...i loved Christmas, i loved going to church on Christmas eve and listen to our fabulous choir sing the hallelujah....it was divine....and heavenly....i loved eating, dressing up and being with my family.....and new years day was even more awesome.....and i loved the loud noises from music...bangard ( i think that was it was called...) and cannot wait to celebrate new years with my family...who knows maybe i will get a dress.....
i decided to add this video...i love this songs..it makes me smile
so eventually exam were done, results were out and school was out...and i was able to go home....to the good food, the Christmas presents....( which was always two dresses, two shoes and maybe a purse).....you see in Nigeria we really do not have the whole Christmas present frenzy that i have experienced in north america....we had Christmas clothes....it was the one time in the year we got really expensive clothes and shoes...because we had to wear something new and expensive to church on Christmas and new year day...my family took it to an extreme by introducing the easter dress...lol...kind of funny...but that never lasted...eventually we stuck to just Christmas and new year dress....so yeah i also had that to look forward to....and my mom always picked the dresses out for me...i remember for one Christmas my mom had traveled to london and was gonna get our dresses from the uk...we were so exited...i was especially looking forward to wearing it to church and boasting that i was wearing some fancy designer....i imagined that my mom would get me something like what i saw in the movies and i would look like a movie star...or maybe a singer....but alas my friends....my mom bought me and my sister ( we were not twins but we always had the same dresses growing up...and its not like we could ever be mistaken for twins, she is super light skinned...what some people would call mulatto/ half caste)....continuing....yep my mom got us a skirt suit....and not like the cute type...like what Julia Robert wore in pretty woman....or Sandra bullock in miss congeniality....noooo...these suits were like ten times my size and the skirt was rather long...we looked like we attended deeper life....or we were Mennonites....but on a lighter note the shoes were fabulous ....mother has a wonderful taste in shoes....my mom was like her friend said we would look good in them....i remember thinking yeah ur friends are like 50 and i think she is a deeper life....lol....
so that was my London Christmas....i laugh when i remember it...but when i turned 16 my mom gave us money and was like go buy what you like....and i got myself my first jean pants, and nice top with some cleavage ( not too much though....) and a beautiful shoe....and that was my christmas dress....of course i could not wear it to church...so my mom had to get something sewn for me....but i was happy...i felt like a grown up....
and then there was the food....on Christmas day we always had too much food...the best food ever...when i younger it would be the day we ate chicken...but as i grew older we ate chicken every day so we had to come up with something better....beef...lol...jokes....but on that day we had cake, fried/jollof rice, chicken, salad, drinks, chinchin, starch and ovwo and candy....it was the bestest day ever...and after eating all that we would go over to our cousins and have even more.....there was always rice everywhere....i remember my parents telling me that when they were young Christmas day was special because they ate rice.....i remember thinking wow....we ate rice everyday growing up...my parents did not grow up poor....but they were not rich either....i thank God every day for such awesome parents who provided for us....and gave us only the best.....
on christmas day...the poverty of some families was also a little bit more apparent....i never experienced this but i remember seeing children go from door to door....to basically beg....they would celebrate Christmas like ever yother family and instead of ending the day playing they would go from door to door ....and i never thought there was anything wrong with this...until....now....
so on to a lighter note...i loved Christmas, i loved going to church on Christmas eve and listen to our fabulous choir sing the hallelujah....it was divine....and heavenly....i loved eating, dressing up and being with my family.....and new years day was even more awesome.....and i loved the loud noises from music...bangard ( i think that was it was called...) and cannot wait to celebrate new years with my family...who knows maybe i will get a dress.....
i decided to add this video...i love this songs..it makes me smile
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