Being African

  I always thought that going to school in a third world country with African descent I won't have to be faced with ignorant questions and looked down on with pity. But alas, I thought wrong.
 As classes began and I started asking and answering questions in my classes, I was always asked the same question by my teachers " did you school in the UK or US?". They were surprised that an African like myself could be so knowledgeable and speak standard English. On one of the many days after class, I was sitting with one of the Caribbean girls I had just met and we began to talk. She asked me if I had to learn English because I knew I was leaving my country Nigeria. The first instinct that came to my mind was to lash out on her, but I decided not to and calmly explained to her that English was our first language. People kept on asking me "oh you're from Africa you must know "A" she is from Africa as well". "A" usually was from Botswana or Kenya or some other African country. I took it as my  duty to educate them, so I explained to them it  was just like me asking them if they knew a fellow classmate from Jamaica or Antigua.
 These questions became more outrageous as I had encounters with more people. I was having a conversation with my friends and we were all talking about our countries and then one of them said she wanted to visit Africa and asked me how long the flight from there to Africa was and what the African airport was called. At first I looked at  her puzzled and confused, but she was really serious. I told her that there were 54 countries in Africa and I couldn't possibly know the name of all the airports. I made her understand that one country in Africa was ten times bigger than a Caribbean country and had numerous airports.
  What amazed me the most was that I wasn't being asked this ridiculous questions by the Americans but by the Caribbeans. I was often looked down upon like a charity case, like I depended on the money they donated to Africa to pay my fees. So I decided to show some of my friends pictures of Lagos and they were surprised that it wasn't just trees and wild animal roaming about the streets but actual infrastructures, skyscrapers, buildings they didn't even have.I recall one of them saying, "I'm never donating money to Africa again, they have all these buildings and amazing houses". I just stood there smiling. I'm not trying to say there isn't poverty in Africa but its not like the media portrays it, like we Africans are just stack illiterates playing with lions and hopping on trees like monkeys. I was glad I was able to make them see Africa from a different angle.
I was questioned why I wasn't wearing my African attire and if my father was a King. They believed that only the royals in Africa got to get an education and travel out. Till this day I'm still asked such questions.
I have come to understand that there will always be that stereotype associated with being African.

This is my city Lagos, Nigeria

A Year and a Half

  When posed with the question "what school are you in?" and I reply St George's university Grenada, I see the confused look on peoples faces trying to figure out where Grenada is and what the hell I'm doing there. So I quickly add its in the Caribbean and their face suddenly lit up. Then I get the reaction I always get from everyone "OMG you must be having so much fun, I wish I was you". I just chuckle because I know that's not the case. Don't get me wrong I love Grenada, the amazing sunset, the beaches, its friendly people and most of all my school but it could get really boring atimes.

    Going to school in Grenada was a last minute decision my parents made. At first I was sad because I was looking forward to joining my sisters in school , but after going through the schools website I was so thrilled and fascinated by the campus. I started counting down the days to my departure and my new life. 

 When I arrived at the Maurice Bishop International airport Grenada I was amazed at how small the airport and runway were. I was so worn out from the seventeen hours flight and couldn't wait to settle in. So I grabbed my luggage and headed out to the taxi stand. The taxi man was friendly and tried to make I and my sister feel welcomed. On the drive to my school from the airport, I kept staring out the window and taking in the view. We finally arrived at my school and the RA handed me the keys to my room and laid out the rules to me. I was going to be in a suite with eight other girls with whom I would be sharing the kitchen area and laundry room, but sharing a room with two girls. My room was empty when I entered but one of my room mates must have arrived cause one of the beds was made. I began to unpack my things with the help of my sister. I was so glad she came to help me settle in. When we were done unpacking my things I grabbed a couple of clothes and we headed to the hotel where my sister was going to be staying for the next couple of days.

 Orientation was to begin the next day, I overslept and missed the bus so I decided to take the local bus which had St George's written on it assuming it was heading to my school. After a couple of minutes on the ride down I realized that I could not recognize any of the buildings we passed on the previous day. So I beckoned on the conductor and asked him if the bus was heading to SGU and he told me no. He told me where to get off and catch the next bus heading to my school. When I finally arrived at my school I was so exhausted and sweaty from the hot blazing sun. The orientation was fun but I couldn't wait for it to be over seeing that I left the hotel in a hurry and hadn't had breakfast. I headed to the student centre to grab something to eat and get top-up (airtime) for my phone. 

  There was going to be a party that night for new students so I decided to sleep in my room instead of my sister's hotel room so I could go with my suite mates and get to know them. I had a hard time understanding my room mates when they spoke . They where from Trinidad and had this sing-song accent which I wasn't accustomed to, so I had to keep saying what did you say or just pretend I understood and smile at them like a fool. The suite across me had boys in it and they were friends with some of my suite mates so we all went for the party together. 

 I thought I had seen it in all in music videos, but the way they danced to the soca was beyond me. The guy beside me tapped me and said its like they are having sex with clothes on. I just watched in awe and felt out of place. I was happy when I saw one of the girls I met during orientation so we decided to move away from the crowd and loud music and walk to the beach. We met this drunk guy at the beach who kept pestering us to dance with him and give him our numbers. After much contemplation we decided to give him a fake number so he would let us be. A few hours later my room mates beckoned on us that they were ready to leave so we left.

 The next day I went to Grand Anse beach with my sister and we ended up going on this four hour boat cruise that included snorkelling. Me being I chicken that I'm I didn't snorkel. The boat cruise was so much fun and they had amazing food too. When we were done at the beach I decided to do grocery with my sister because classes were about to start in two days and she was going to leave. We got to the Spice land mall which was too small to be given the title "mall". Everything was so expensive, I got all I needed and headed back to my room. My sister was to leave the next day that was when it dawned on me that I was going to be in a country thousand miles away from home where I knew no one and had no family. Although I was used to being away from my parents cause I went to boarding school, but it was different now, then I could pick up the phone and call and know they will come visit me if I wanted.But now we were in two different countries in different continents. I was feeling so nostalgic so I decided to call my friends back home but got no answer, I forgot Grenada and Nigeria are in different time zones and they were probably fast asleep. 

 Classes began the next day, I was glad I had made a friend who was in all my classes. We went for classes together and did almost everything together. After awhile I made a couple more friends and became used to my new life away  from home.I love the fact that I got to meet new people from different countries and learn about other cultures other than mine. I got along with my room mates and we had no issues. I had watched too many horror movies of  people having psycho room mates and prayed I wouldn't be in that situation.I was relieved that I had sane room mates and everything was falling in to place for me.

 It has been a year and a half and I love every bit of it. I'm looking forward to what the island holds for me next semester.

Below is a picture of some of the friends I made :)