“I left Nigeria in December 2016. I came into the United States to study. I am presently doing my LL.M at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. I am in the Corporate and Commercial Law track. Leaving Nigeria, as at that time, was the last thing on my mind – I never had it mind to travel. In fact, I was waiting to resume for my LL.M at the University of Ibadan but as God would have it, He perfected everything in little time.
Living abroad felt a bid strange at first. The first strange thing I had to deal with was cold. December is winter. When I landed at the airport, the winter cold gave me a dirty slap.lol. I wasn’t properly dressed for winter when I arrived the US I had just my regular jeans on, I didn’t know I was supposed to double it. Then, my jacket was not as thick as it should be for that kind of weather. I remember just talking to myself, wondering how I’d cope with this kind of life. That day, the weather was about – 1 degrees.
In the end, I came down with a flu. There was another winter night that was so bad, my hands were red because my gloves were not so thick. Earlier that night, I got home and I opened the tap to feel warm. That would turn out to be a huge mistake. For a while, I didn’t feel my hands at all. My hands ached me all through the night. They have begun to say that the winter this year will be worse so I have prepared myself; over-prepared sef. I got my Canadian jacket and I got high boots too.
Since I got here, I have learnt to be independent. I love to be around people especially family and friends, even on the journey to the United States I wasn’t alone, I came over here with my friend. However after school work started, we had different schedules so I’ve learnt to be my own best friend. I used to be very picky about food and once I get used to a particular taste I don’t like to try another but now I have learnt how to try new foods. Here, I eat Asian foods and leaves – Pad Thai (Rice noodles), curry soups and Lemon grass soup.
They taste really good.
I miss my family the most, then I my friends. I miss Ola Mummy’s Amala, gbegiri and ewedu. Indianapolis has a bad bus system. It runs every one hour sometimes it comes late. Then for a trip that is just 8minutes, the bus will take 50 minutes because of the many stops. The best mode of transport is a private car. I miss jumping on an Okada and zooming off to anywhere I am headed.
This might sound strange but I miss the noise we have in Naija. All around you, you have company – there’s the honking of horns from cars, the noise from the girl selling corn, the noise from a carpenter’s workshop few houses away, the noise of bus conductors calling out to passengers. Here, it’s all so different. It is so quiet that I don’t even know my neighbours. Everyone just minds their business.”
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