Artiscence

Let me warn you right now, this here is me showing you too many pictures of and gushing about Nigerian Houses. Yeah, I know, of all things to gush about. By the way, if I ever retire and choose to go back to Nigeria, I hope to reside in one of these lovely buildings in Magodo. I have been out of Nigeria for so long that one of the things that caught my interest when I went back were the houses, especially Magodo Estate, a prestigious estate in Lagos state, Nigeria. Aren't these just lovely houses? I tell you, Nigerians don't build houses, they build mini mansions (when they can afford it). As long as you have the money to buy a plot of land (or a few acres), you are at liberty to build on it as you want. In the shape, size, and color that you want.  An Art Shop in Magodo In Nigeria, for the most part, people typically buy lands, rather than houses, and so, when thy build houses, it tends to reflect the taste of the owner. So no two houses ...

Way back in May while I was in Nigeria, my family and I went to visit my sister and her husband.  They live in Ibadan, about 2hrs drive from Lagos (congested Lagos-Ibadan express way traffic factored in).  If the traffic was any worse than that, we might have been on the road a few more hours. My sister and her husband had just gotten married and they both attend the University of Ibadan. While there, they prepared amala and ewedu soup with goat meat . Yum!  Because eating such a heavy meal in the afternoon can make you drowsy, we decided to go to the University of Ibadan Zoological Garden and stroll around.  The temperature was high but offset by the cool breeze through the garden. There were lots of people at the zoo, especially school kids on excursions. Ah, I remember those days of excursions. Once a semester, a class would go on an excursion with two or more teachers acting as chaperones. The trips are usually outdoors like Olumo...

I am a native of Nigeria and I came to the United States in the fall of 2004. I have not been back to my home country....until recently.  My dad called me in the beginning of the year and asked if I would like to go home (to Nigeria) later in spring. I took a moment to think of all the things I should be doing that spring. Topmost on my mind was my Qualifying exam, finishing off my classes prerequisites as a PhD student, becoming a Teaching Assistant and of course lab work. All these went through my mind in a spilt second and I replied -yes- to my dad.  Wait! Despite all I had to do academically, I told my dad I would like to go to Nigeria in spring? Yes.  I realized that the opportunity might not present itself anytime soon if I missed going. And secondly, I am what I now refer to as a professional student, which means at any point in time that I have something to do or somewhere to go, I can always think of a few academic reasons why it's not the ...