Cornucopia of Stories: Vol I

I can't believe I have been away for so long! I wanted to do this for so long but work coupled with laziness has made the blog suffer. This blog is like a lover that you will always be in love with and no matter how far apart, it will always find its way back! I am a firm believer that African writers are underrated and overlooked especially among African youths, and more should be done to encourage reading of our indigenous books as we have so many amazing storywriters. So I have decided to read more African, especially Nigerian books. I started with some of the nine most popular ones. Enjoy and please leave suggestions below!


Swallow Sefi Atta
    Swallow is written by the same author who wrote Everything Good Will Come, which if you haven't read by the way you are greatly missing and almost makes me disappointed in you. I wanted to reread it and then saw Swallow in its stead. It was a good read, it explores the lives of two friends in Lagos living their everyday lives and the hustle that comes with Lagos living. It expatiates on how that hustle pushes people to do extreme things like swallowing drugs in condoms in order to make ends meet in Lagos. Like they always say Lagos is not for a "suegbe". I really enjoyed reading it so much so that during an interview I went for, the interviewer asked me what book I was currently reading at the moment and I went on about the book, condom and all, its safe to say I didn't get the job. Apart from the Lagos hustle, complacency of relationship is also one of the themes. How we tend to stay with people because we have given them so many years of our lives, bank savings or whatever it may be and we feel we do not deserve better.

I Do Not Come to You by Chance Adaobi Nwaubani
Now after I read this book, I found a way to incorporate the title into my everyday speech. This book made me laugh and in some ways have sympathy for Yahoo boys. The book follows the life of Kingsley who represents most Nigerian youths who have noble dreams of working decent jobs but due to primal nature of humans to survive are pushed to the dark world of swindling the white man. Now if you read this book please let me know what you feel about the ending cause it kinda left me confused.  Like I don't want to ruin it for those who have not read it, but if you have please did he continue??

Everyday is for the Thief  Teju Cole
Now please do not come for me, but this was my least enjoyable book. Maybe I have not gained the literary maturity to appreciate this kind of novel. I did enjoy the exploration of the city of Lagos but I am a character driven person and I found myself searching to know more about the unnamed narrator. There's no contest about it, Teju Cole is an amazing author and his descriptive analysis is so vivid, it feels like you are walking the streets of Lagos with this stranger whose name you did not know. If you ever want to know more about Lagos and some of its history, I recommend this.

Open City Teju Cole
Similar writing style to the previous one but set in New York instead. There was more character exploration of the protagonist but not so much that finishing the book you feel like you truly know Julius . It did make me realize that rape could be committed without the perpetrator even remembering, and how the victim would always carry the burden all their lives. It did not fully explore the topic as I would have liked but it sure made me want to listen and read the classics like Tchaikovsky.

Ghana Must Go Taiye Selasi
This book deserves a standing ovation. I was jealous, sympathetic, angry and in love with every character. So beautifully written, that I started to see the gray in a black and white situation. It explores the life of a migrant Ghanian-Nigerian family in American and the fraility of life migrants experience. I think I enjoyed the book so much because I could see myself in them, as a Nigerian immigrant myself, I fear failure more than anything. The impeding fear of not being the best looms over migrants as we constantly feel the pressure to validate our presence in a foreign land. One word, beautiful!

The Secret Lives of the Four Wives (The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives) Lola Shoneyin
First of all, Lola is freaking awesome and also Wole Soyinka's daughter in law, so of course he must have read it and enjoyed it. One thing I extremely loved about this book is how easy it was to read. So enjoyable and funny without jeopardizing the very important message of the book. The book beautifully and expertly manifests the strength, insecurities and self-flagellation women go through. One of the best books I have ever had the pleasure to read.

One of my favorite lines from the book:
"Don't think I can't see the challenges ahead of me... Men will hurt and ridicule me but I won't let them hold me back. I will remain in the land of the living. I am back now and the world is spread before me like an egg cracked open."


The Fishermen Chigozie Obioma
This book was one of the Librarian picks at my library and I can definitely see why. It follows the lives of four brothers in Akure and how a prophecy impacts their lives. In short juju is real! I'm kidding, it was a tremendous book. I gave it to my aunt who grew up in Akure to read and she truly loved it. It is definitely one of my favorites and Chigozie is truly a magical storywriter! Grab your copy now!!!

The Thing Around Your Neck Chimamanda Adiche
What's my list without the lady of the hour, Ms Adiche! In the light of honesty, I did not like Adiche a whole lot when I read Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun. Granted I read them when I was 12 and 13 respectively and most likely did not have the maturity to appreciate her style of concluding her novels, but it was more because she always left me hanging. I never felt complete at the end but now that I am in my 20s, I see what a great talent she is and what all the fuss is about. Personally, this is my favorite work of hers. It is a collection of amazing stories that truly hits home. My favorites were the title story, "The Arrangers of Marriage", "On Monday of Last Week" and "The Shivering."

An excerpt from The Thing Around Your Neck
“At night, something would wrap itself around your neck, something that very nearly choked you before you fell asleep..."

“The thing that nearly choked you before you fell asleep, started to loosen, to let go.”


Americanah Chimamanda Adiche
If you have not read this book them where in the world have you been. If you want a glimpse into what life is as a Nigerian in America, this is a good place to start. It is so accurate, except of course I wish my love life was half as exciting as Ifemelus'. I saw myself in Ifemelu, I saw myself hating her and also being disgusted and irritated by her. That to me is what makes a book, when you don't just have one feeling towards a character but a plethora of emotions. This is definitely a must read, I am sure this book is available almost everywhere!
  Some of my favorite lines.

“Dear Non-American Black, when you make the choice to come to America, you become black. Stop arguing. Stop saying I'm Jamaican or I'm Ghanaian. America doesn't care.”  

“She rested her head against his and felt, for the first time, what she would often feel with him: a self-affection. He made her like herself.''


I hope you enjoyed this and if you have any novel suggestions, holler! My next nine is on my Good Reads. Remember, keep your feet to the ground and keep reaching for the stars!

Seunla


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Things you should know before you graduate! The blunt truth

So you graduate from college and if you are lucky you’ve got a job waiting for you (well, lucky you) but if you are like the rest of us you are thrown into this unknown and often cruel world no one actually really tells you about. Since it recently happened to me, I am here to tell you things I wish I knew and also to officially go on record and say adulthood sucks!

1)      Have a plan

I wouldn’t say I didn’t have a plan, I knew I wanted a break but I did not articulate how long of a break I wanted. So if you know you want to get a job, start applying from your junior year or your senior year. Do not wait till you get out of school and be like me thinking things will take care of themselves, believe me they do not! If you want to travel and take a break before entering the job force, make sure you have a clear cut plan of how long you want your break to be. I repeat, HAVE A PLAN!

2)      Have a back up plan/job

I cannot stress this enough. A professor I had once said your first job won’t be your dream job and I remember thinking in that class that advice was not for me, it turns out I played myself. So apply and go for that job interview you don’t necessarily want. In fact, have multiple back ups if you can. Getting a masters might also be a great back up, you could always become a professional student!

3)      Job search is a big pain in the a**

Now this they don’t tell you or they do but we don’t listen, I am not too sure which one it is. Do you know how many jobs I applied to and how many I felt were the perfect fit for me? Be prepared it is such a draining process psychologically. The strain from applying, then waiting for a response and if you are lucky you get a phone interview. Then you do not hear back from the interviewer and you are wondering if you are so bad that they could not even take the time to send you a rejection mail. Till date, I have sent so many enquires and mails to my interviewers asking if I made it to the second interview phase and all till now, no response!

4)      Patience is really a virtue in the hiring process

 So you apply for a job and you may not hear from them for 3 weeks and then they take their time to interview you and get back to you. Its like they are deliberating trying to torture you. The most annoying one to me is when they really don’t want you and they bring up the experience excuse, like I went through 2 interviews and you have been with my resume for 3 weeks and you just realized I do not have the experience you require! Like you really just wasted both our times.

5)      Keep applying

 I can not stress this enough, keep applying make linkedIn your facebook. Seriously, I use LinkedIn more than I use both facebook and twitter combined.

6)      Do something you love and try not to get depressed:

This is easier said than done, but find time for something you love, or you would go crazy! Find a new lobby or use your downtime to get into whatever you never had time to do before.

7)      Pray! Pray!

8)      Save! Save!
Make sure you are saving while you are in school because you won’t know how important it is until you’re broke, like $0.25 in your account broke and believe me it is not a pleasant feeling.

Finally, things always get better and you are never alone.

Yours,

Seunla

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Graduate Depression

I would apologize, but the abandonment has been on both sides. Please come back, I need you. I have made jejune attempts to revive this blog but now I have become pedantic. You see, I had a plan and like most things in my life, things never go as intended.

I had delineated my life, since I thought as a young adult, I would have more control but I have come to learn life never gives you the lemons to even make lemonade. Like my father used to say, "I am going through the wilderness!" I have obeyed every single rule in the book, but life is adamant at giving me the middle finger and whispering plangently in my ears, "I don't care!"

I was going to travel the world, after I graduated in May. Not literally the whole world, I am definitely not stupid but go to a few places in Europe and Africa but that did not work out. To be fair, I still traveled to England where I got to see some of my most favorite people on Earth. It rejuvenated me as I saw my friends being happy following their dreams and living life.

It's so funny that when you graduate, after congratulations comes the big question, "what are your plans," and I find myself saying I am taking it one day at a time and I dislike myself a little for saying that because its such a cop out statement. I do not even know which is more depressing, job applications or interviews. Then you hate yourself more for getting a tiny bolt of jealousy when things are working out for the people you care about. I would just like to say adulthood sucks!

Its so bad I have not gone to any shopping site in a month, normally I would just throw things in my cart and wait for that next pay check but now, nothing over the horizon so there's no point in even putting anything in the shopping cart. I have always been independent and I think the fear of losing my independence either financially or emotionally cripples me. For example, a few months ago if my mum offered to give me money for gas I would tell her not to worry about it, but now "in my dark times" I collect it. Another thing is moving back home, my first year in uni, I asked a friend why she has so much load and she said she had left her parents home, apart from holidays she was not going to live there anymore. So I think moving out of my cute apartment back to my mum's house really took a toll on me.

Well not to be sad, as I read from a blogger going through a similar predicament, THIS TOO SHALL PASS! I have also learnt to be grateful and hopeful. So this is feeble attempt at telling you I am back and you should come back too. Please keep me in your prayers and offer advice on navigating these dark tunnels.

Ever yours,
Seunla

NOLA DIARIES II

I just realized I have a lot of pictures and so I decided to burden you guys with it. Enjoy!!

Yep, that's a semi-naked woman, she doesn't let you take pictures of her without a tip. I think it's fair, tip and you get to see the nip :) 

The whole french quarter turns into a  club as soon as the sun goes down. 

They use fancy cups to serve their grenade, so I guess go there!

My friends and I were so scared to go near the shop. We saw 3 cats and thought the witches from our villages had finally found us in America

It's an Irish pub, but you still have to be 21 to get in. So much for it being Irish

Mississippi River

Crawfish souffle 

They have a free jazz show but you must buy a drink, my friend got milk and cookies (overpriced) so you sure can get anything you want, lol! Don't ask me why she got milk and cookies.

She looked so much like Rumplestiltskin, it was quite scary 

BEST CHICKEN AND WAFFLES! The chicken was so juicy, I had a foodgasm and Deshawn (a guy who works there), holler at me when you get a degree. lol 

learn how to cook, well if you have the money to take their overly expensive class. I mean gumbo its just okro and rice, how hard can it be. 

The Haunted Tour Guide. 

Bon fils, bon frere et bon ami. Best gravestone I have seen, simple but all one aims to be, a good son/daughter, sibling and friend.

He said he was famous.

Jackson Square

Shrimp Po-boys with shrimp gumbo

What can I say, I'm black and I love chicken.

There was this cute boy who called himself lil' caramel who performed with his dad, cutest jazz performance I've ever seen. If only he was 24 and not 7.

I've forgotten what I wished for.

Ah the people of New Orleans!

Mardi-Gras me!

The notorious voodoo queen, Marie Laveat. Fun Fact, in NOLA they don't bury underground because of the high water level. They stack bodies in tomb-like things that can hold up to 20 bodies, CREEPY!

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NOLA Diaries: Part 1

The man on a tricycle

best andouille sausage also!

I can't believe I have been away for so long. I know my excuses are getting old and my ever declining page views show that you have deserted me. A few weeks ago, I went to New Orleans for spring break and it was a quite enjoyable and memorable. It might be puzzling why we went to NOLA instead of South Beach or Cancun; first of all I did not want to see the same people I want a break from and secondly cash-flow! We decided to drive, that is, four of us decided to drive cross country with only three of us knowing how to drive and out of the three, only two us quite confident in our driving, well it was quite an adventure.

We left Dekalb around 9:30 am in a Toyota Yaris, quite a small car, but we were so giggly and excited. It was a 13 hour drive but we had a few gas and bathroom stops so it became a 15 hour drive. We went through 4 states: Arkansas, Tennessee (Memphis), Mississippi and Missouri. We got to our hotel at 12:30 am and we went straight to bed. Now we are wanted the best experience on a very thrifty budget so the first thing we checked were free things to do in NOLA. 

First of all, always check the weather when you travel, we left cold and freezing Illinois and jumped straight into rainy New Orleans. The first day we debated going to Florida but when we thought about the drive and hotel cancellation we decided to sit our behinds down and make the best of the trip. Free breakfast was part of our package in the hotel so we had to wake up around 7:30 am to have breakfast after which we went back to bed and then proceeded to Walmart to stock up on basic stuff like bread, peanut butter, water and may I say they have such a wide range of make up for colored girls in their stores! In Illinois, you never see Black Opal in drug stores but in New Orleans even cover girl's products were predominately for colored girls which was refreshing. I digress, so we decided to take the car and just drive around, so armed with our list from trip advisor we set out to downtown NOLA. When we got there, we drove around and saw different parking garages but then we are cheap and none of our parents own oil rigs in Nigeria, we saw one for $5 which was quite far but it offered a free shuttle service to where we could take a trolley. So after we got on the shuttle and the very charismatic driver started talking and making us laugh, (remember we are single and on spring break) so we welcomed the innocent flirtation and maybe we got a little carried away with it. Truth be told the guy was so nice and telling us what to do that we forgot to ask when the shuttle stopped running and even the name of the parking garage (my friend even forgot her purse). Well we took the trolley to Frenchman street and it was amazing, with the picturesque wall paintings (we took over 30 minutes taking pictures at a single spot) and then we got hungry. We ate at a hot dog spot (try the andouille sausage, its a masterpiece) and the guys are so nice there. After we got to the spot where the shuttle dropped us, that's when it dawned on us we had no idea how to get to our car. I think we did not realize how lost we were until we had walked around for like 30 minutes and asked if anyone knew a parking garage that offered a free shuttle, it was nothing short of embarrassing. My friend remembered the company who ran the garage but apparently they ran multiple garages and I remembered the garage was behind the highway which did not help either. After 3 hours of walking around, a few freaking out moments and an helpful bus driver we got to the garage. It was like homecoming, we ran to the gate with so much gusto only for us to realize the gate was locked. We did not know whether to cry or laugh, I think we did a little of both but at least we knew where the car was. We took a cab back to the hotel and had to wake up early the next day to get the car which was, thankfully, still there. The one good thing that came out of our ordeal was we knew our place around and we were like pros navigating the streets of New Orleans.
Another reason we went to NOLA was of course for the food, mind blowing! It's like the people are so happy and carefree it reflects in how they live their lives.
Food you must eat
1) Jambalaya/ Crawfish
2) Pralines, the best and affordable is from Leah's Pralines
3) Po-boys from Johnny's place, cheap but they only accept cash though
4) BEIGNETS of course from Cafe Du Monde, if there's one thing you do to prove you went to NOLA, this is it!
5) Have a hot dog, preferable andouille sausage
6) Have an alligator
7) This is strictly for above 21, have a hurricane and hand grenade. They are relative sweet so you tend to take a lot, then get drunk.

Our cute and faithful car

NOLA trolleys, its kinda cool

Bourbon is good, but Frenchman Street is the hidden treasure

The Hotel 

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