The Trip - Parte Terza

We've been back now a little less than a week. But it feels like mentally, I am not here yet. Having spent a year back now, I sort of know what to expect during seasons (not just weather but yeah weather as well) and knowing doesn't always prepare you.

I dread the rainy season approaching because of how much it REALLY affecting living in Lagos and working where we do.

Anytime we go on a trip outside Nigeria (Lagos, particularly), there's a jolt to your system when you return. And it take a few days just to adjust back to this reality.

So for a few moments, permit me to escape my reality and go to place that I thought was incredible in many ways. 

The Trip - Parte Terza (Italian for Part 3). 


So we left Madrid after a couple of days for Rome to reunite with Chris and Mary. 

But wait, it wasn't that easy. We chose Ryan Air - a low cost airline and I have to be honest, they would have to be at least $100 per ticket cheaper than everyone else for me to fly them again. What we went through was comical and I am sure the people watching security at the airport had a good laugh if they caught us on camera.

Now I know that's an unfair tease but it's too much to write on here. If you me personally, just ask when next you see me and I will indulge you in the gory details.  

Again...delayed flights had us there later than we planned but by the time we got there, it was good to see the rest of the Travel party. 


After waiting about an hour for our Bus ride, we spent about 40 minutes on said Bus to Termini, a major Bus/Train Depot. 


On the Bus ride, we saw really just how much history existed in Italy and we were in awe...old walls littered the place and yes there was a charm about it. We all felt it. To the regulars and it's residents, it may have been common but for us, wow! And that was just the ride. 


Now, I can go on and on about Rome but I will try to keep it short.


I count London to be one of my favorite cities in the world. But let me say that if I could speak Italian, Rome won't be too far behind. The weather was amazing and it was really the best part of the trip. 


We got into our Guest House after walking the 1.9KM from the Bus Terminal (we couldn't figure out the bus situation but thanks to google maps, my inlaws think I can find my way to the moon and back). The host couldn't have been more helpful.

As soon as we unloaded our stuff, we knew we had to start with the Pièce de résistance of all things Rome - Colosseo. I have to be honest, on the tram heading there, I had no idea what to think...

The Colosseum

My jaw dropped. It's situated in the heart of the city and it's imposing in every way. We got off the tram right in front of the structure. We had initially planned to see it the next day but none of us had any desire to wait. 

Inside the Colosseum

Thankfully we bought Roma Passes which gave us access without waiting for in line and my did the chills run through my body and we strolled in. "This is where scores of Christians were martyred!" I thought to myself. 

In it's day, the Colosseum hosted 80,000 people - and you could picture it as you toured. 

A typical Post-Gladiator Battle Conversation

Amy in Awe

Once we were done, I looked at the time and the map and decided we had to go to the Vatican that same evening. Everyone else obliged and 45 minutes later, we were in the City State within a City. 

Preparations during Holy Week

St. Peter's Basilica

They seem happy to be there

 We walked around and agreed to come back the following day. I felt like a little kid though...being there at night! Amazing. They had already set up chairs for all the Easter activities.

Interesting Outfit for a Security Guard

The next day, when we got to the Vatican, the ground swell of people had begun and lines to go into St. Peter's Basilica stretched too far for the eyes to see. We had to see the Sistine Chapel (Capela Sistina). 

Just then, we stumbled into a guy who said he can get us in on a guided tour to do all we wanted to do for 35 Euros each which will also help us bypass the lines. It was a no brainer. 

The Groundswell at the Vatican

Our tour guide Silvio was nice, energetic and seemed to be in love with two things - Roman History and Cigarettes. Nonetheless he did a fantastic job especially when we got to the Sistine Chapel. There, he was completely silent. 

Silvio at the beginning of the tour

More Silvio

That Awesome moment when you walk into the Sistine Chapel and look up

We needed that just to wow at the sheer brilliance of Michelangelo.   

More of the ceiling and wall

 After that, we made our way to the third piece of History we wanted to see and that was the Pantheon. 

The Pantheon

Now let me say this, if you plan to visit Rome for only a short time i.e. 2 or 3 days, pick just a handful of places and things to go to and see/do otherwise, you'll realize that anything less than a couple of weeks just isn't enough. 

I haven't even talked about the food...from the nice Mama (as we called her) who's restaurant we stumbled into before we found our guest house to the nice couple by the Vatican with the non tourist prices and the Pizzarito Pastarito we had our last supper (coincidentally on Holy Thursday as well)...muah, bravo. I would return to all those places in a heart beat and Rome, I assure you this, if the Lord wills, I will be back!  

Mama's Kitchen

Mama's food offerings

Thanking God for Mama!

Pizzarito Pastarito

I have hundreds of more pictures but I thought I'd stop at this. I have a massive album on Facebook for those who are friends with me on there. 

The worst part of the trip was when we tried casual dinning at what seemed to be a hot spot. It took forever for them to seat us and we certainly were treated like foreigners that didn't have any business being there. And the food was eh...

We did learn in that experience that eating out in Rome isn't about food. It's about well...eating out. It's an event. People are there for hours and they order starters...after that, go out and smoke. Then main course, and go smoke...you get the picture. 

We left Rome Friday afternoon for London where we would spend the rest of our time. But that I'll leave for the fourth and final part of the trip.

Nigerians can sleep anywhere and at anytime

Not much outside of work goes on in my life during the week. And that's saying much about what I do. In fact not much goes on during the weekend either.

Amy marks time based on activities we have planned i.e. who's coming to visit, where are we visiting...those types of activities.

So the highlight of my week was when while visiting my parents, I was offered Nkwobi a.k.a. isi ewu a.ka. goat head. 

Two things you need to know about Nigerians (there are more than two things you need to know but work with me here) - They can sleep anywhere. I mean, drive around and you'll see people sleeping on bridges, park cars (on the the car not in!), benches by the highways.

The other thing you need to know is that no part of an animal deemed edible is wasted.

Back to the goat head brouhaha. It's not like this is my first time. In fact, I have had goat head once before but it's been over 10 years. I remembered liking it. This time (don't tell my parents), not so much. Sure parts of it tasted fine but I wasn't sure what I was eating.

It was fatty and gooey and at one point, the eye came up for consumption. I passed.

If you are brave and of course, if you can find the head of a goat somewhere at your local grocery store (and the many other local ingredients), here is a recipe.

My plate of "Goat-Head"

Now before I get criticized by any Nigerians reading this (I've been called "lost" many times), I will try it again...maybe not anytime soon but for sure, within the next 10 years.

As I mentioned before, Nigerians can sleep anywhere so I will take it upon myself to take pictures when I can of them doing just that. Here's the "Nigerians can sleep anywhere Picture of the Week!"

Sleeping on an Okada

This takes talent...to be able to balance a full body on the bike and have the hutzpah to fall asleep like that exposed to all the elements! Wow!

One more thing, if anyone from the Nigerian Embassy in Atlanta is reading this, could you pleasing stop dancing around and give my parents-in-law a visa? We would both much appreciate their pending visit. Their initials are CPS and MLS.

My So Called Life

I have to admit something to you all...I have a pretty boring life. Sure you might think, wait, you once hung out with Cuba Gooding Jr. No, I didn't. I stalked him at a hotel in Albuquerque, NM and told him we were related. He took a picture with me and said scram.

Me and Cuba before the cops came to restrain me

Sure, I moved back to Nigerian with Amy and promised her all sorts of adventures. Unfortunately, the most excitement we have occurs when we discover something we miss from the States at the local grocery store. Our typical day involves going to work (by land or sea), working (as accountants, mind you) and coming home (again, land or sea), dinner (whatever we can bring ourselves to make), Seinfeld on DVD and then bedtime. Lately, I have joined Amy in the mornings to start working off the ever increasing waistline.

My view every morning before I hope on the boat to work

On Saturday, we took a break from our regular Saturday activities and went to the beach (just the second time since we've been here) with friends of ours. It rained. Can't win. I will say this though, we had good food and good company and I fear I am losing Amy to a 3 year old (my childhood friend's first son, Kamsie) who insists she's the only one he can hang out with. Trying to pry Kamsie from Amy (part due to jealousy), I engaged him in conversation. "Kamsie, what do you want to be when you grow up?" I asked. Honestly, I expected the usual...doctor, scientist, firefighter, even superman! "King," he responded. He wasn't laughing/ What a kid?! I guess we should be expecting a coup d'etat in about 20+ years or sooner depending on his mood. If that happens, I won't be returning with Amy before he decides he wants her to carry him around like he practically demanded on Saturday.

At the beach, Amy was a minor celebrity with all the local beach goers wanting to take pictures with her. It was a little chilly so she was still in a sundress. I am sure if she'd switched to swim wear, they would have had to shut down the beach. I maintained my cool and warned the boys that if they were taking pictures with her, they couldn't touch her. I meant it.

Eleko Beach

Wale cooking lunch

The highlight of my day

See what I mean about my boring life?

In the movie, "The Italian Job (Remake)", when all the thieves were deciding what to do with their loot, Edward Norton's character suggested he wanted one of everything each of them wanted. When he executed his plan, he did just that and was criticized for his lack of imagination. And that is one thing we have in common...a lack of imagination.   

That's all I have. I need to write more often but I fear alienating more people if I do. I wish Amy would write instead of me but she doesn't have as much patience for mindless blabber like I do. Well, my phone just rang...a coworker wants me to join him at the canteen. I will let you know if anything exciting happens on my way there.

Simple Things

I am awful at keeping a blog. So I want to apologize for the few people that read this to keep tabs on how Amy and I are doing. I have no excuse other than a mixture of laziness and busyness. So here goes a brief updates on the going on in the last little bit.

Firstly a bit of sad news (for those who don't already know). A part of chaos theory suggests that "something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world." That notion is known as the Butterfly Effect. Over 20 years ago, a young professor would take a job at a small college in the southeast part of Kansas, Pittsburg State University. Over the course of the next several years, half a dozen of his nephews and niece would follow his lead and attend that University. All my siblings are included in that list and the man is now the late Dr. Chris Ibeh who passed away sadly last week.

I only mention all that because without God using him the way He did, I won't be in the position I am today, married to a great woman (whom I met in Pittsburg). In addition, I am Uncle to some wonderful kids and a member of a great church family as well as an awesome family by marriage. If I could say one more thing to him, it'll be, "Thank You for having the foresight to recommend that I and the rest of my siblings join you in Pittsburg. All our lives have been positively affected and that of future generations."

Hard to pivot to anything else but I will try to...

Last Monday was a Public holiday (awesome, right) but I was awaken to a phone from the Company to join several of my colleagues in the nations capital, Abuja for some top secret activities. Now, it's been so long since I've been in the city and I must say, I am always pleasantly surprised about how more organized it is. This was supposed to be an overnight trip but thanks to Amy who packed my bags, I was prepared to stay 3 nights which ended being the duration of the trip. Unfortunately, I left her in this crazy city. She did very well I must say. I would say the trip went well except for the sleeping situation. One night was spent at what I can only describe as a -5 Star Hotel (yes, negative).

I won't mention the name of the Hotel but I won't be going back. I would rather sleep in the back of a flat bed truck. It was so bad that I slept in my day clothes wishing I had a piece in case someone broke into the paper lock.

The only lock that worked was the Dead bolt which even Henry's Shoulders would have knocked down

On to more simpler matters . We have a colleague (I'll call him Charles to protect his identity) who is also a repatriate like me...i.e. he spent most of the last decade and a half schooling and working in the US and UK. He's been back for just a little while and like us miss the simple things like basked biscuits. Well, Stephanie Lee, our dear friend who now lives in Korea inspired us to make ours from scratch. I'll let the pictures do the talking.  

Rolling the Dough prepping it to be cut out

Our roller is a tube of cling wrap - Necessity, the mother of Inventions

Baking...and waiting

The Finished Product

Both Amy and Charles graded the finished product with high praise. I have since adjusted the recipes twice and the 3rd time has received rave reviews from my guinea pigs! I can't seem to make enough (3 batches since Friday are all gone) so I have to get baking some more today. One more thing...I got my first traffic citation on Sunday. Not worth going into.