Season To Be Thankful

November is known as the month of giving thanks and spending time with your family and friends. I have a lot to be thankful for this year: God for all the blessings he has bestowed on my life,my family and friends for their love and support, different journeys and experiences I have been able to embark on with the help of my scholarship program The Tiger Woods Foundation, my study abroad program Spanish Studies Abroad, and my institution Ithaca College.

One of those experiences this month was my trip to London for the very first time. I went to visit my aunt and her family who moved there five years ago. When I arrived to London, I was quickly reminded of what soon awaits me once I arrive in New York City the cold fall weather, fast paced lifestyle and extensive metro system, everyone speaking English and seeing English signs. But London was a reversal of America. For starters the driver seat is on the right side rather than the left side. The fast lane when driving is on the right which is our slow lane in the States.

However, London is really expensive compared to America for example when you buy an oyster card (which is the card for bus and train similar to a metro card) it can be used for both bus and train but the fares are different and you are charged based on the distance of your journey. I felt that was outrageous and confusing because in NYC there is just one flat rate and it doesn't matter the distance of your journey. The payment is for both the train and the bus. Thankfully, my fourteen year old cousin accompanied me throughout my time there.  When I took the bus for the first time in London, I felt like a little kid because their public buses are similar to our time squares tour buses. As a result, I ran up to the upper deck with my cousin and sat at the front of the bus enjoying the ride lol. My cousin couldn't help but laugh at how excited I was to ride the upper deck.

On the first night my cousin and I went to see the Aladdin play. I was surprised to find out that the program aka playbill did not accompany the tickets. Basically, there were two different types of programs: a very small one with the actors and actresses biographies for 4 pounds and a huge program with all the plays stage performance pictures for 8 pounds, but if you buy both it was 10 pounds. I felt it was a huge rip off because I am used to all of that being included in the price of your tickets. The show was amazing my cousin and I really enjoyed ourselves. Afterwards, my cousins and I spent time talking about the differences and similarities between our two countries. It was funny to see the various words we used to mean the same and at times found ourselves not understanding what the other was saying because of those words (e.g candy vs. sweets, curling wand vs. roller etc). As my trip to London was slowly coming to an end, I went to visit a friend who was studying abroad in London and she took me to an African event where I meant new people and  I was able to see how much London loves culture especially African culture. My trip to London was very much needed and I was grateful to spend time with my family and friends.

Remember the young girl I wrote about in my last blog who is half German and half Nigerian? I saw her again on the bus on our way to school. She told me that after our last conversation during the cooking class I inspired her to do more research about the Nigerian culture and most importantly her family's roots. Furthermore,  she was able to confirm  my statement of a people's identity is more defined by their tribes than by the country itself. She was so fascinated by the different aspects of our culture that she wants to one day visit Nigeria and experience the culture. I was amazed by how me reminiscing about my time in Nigeria could influence another person to explore their roots.

Thanksgiving Day has finally arrived and it was the first time I have ever spent it without family and friends. At this moment homesickness was at an all time high because I was thinking of all the great, delicious, and fulfilling food and the good times with family and friends. Thankfully, Spanish Studies Abroad arranged a Thanksgiving lunch for us (which was pretty amazing in my opinion) where we laughed, talked about how we were and expressed what we were thankful for. I really enjoyed the dinner,  the program did well even though many of was away from home.

I am thankful for the way God has protected me through all my trips around Europe while still doing well in classes and learning a new language. This month marks my last month taking Spanish courses and a month before it is time for me to return back to the city.

Year 2016 will surely be a year to remember.

When Boredom Strikes & Once Again America Is The Center Of Attention

As a lot of you know I am studying abroad in Spain for a  semester embarking on life changing experiences and meeting people from all over the world. But what many of you don't know is that the Spanish lifestyle can get boring at times for a city girl such as myself because you end up doing the same activities (beach days, climbing the various mountains, attending classes, nightlife, and taking siestas) constantly every week and there is no element of surprise. I started to think what can I do to keep myself busy and entertained during my last few weeks here in Spain.

Here at the University of Alicante there is an office called Centro Superior de Idiomas (Center of Languages) which is the building that deals with the language courses for all students  (both international and domestic). In addition, each month they provide activities for international students to participate as a way to let us meet people and learn about the living culture in Alicante and other parts of Spain. There are cooking courses, winery tastings, snorkeling, trips to Barcelona, Granada and Valencia, tickets to soccer games etc. Anywho, I became very bored and was starting to miss the excitement of home, but as luck would have it  a classmate (who is a Cardiologist in Canada, but his roots are in  Iran) of mine suggested I accompany him to a tapas cooking lesson since it was his last day in Spain. Since I never participated in an activity, I decided to give it a try.

The cooking class took place at a nice small restaurant called Restobar Gema Penalva where we learned how to make croquettes, ensalada rusa, calamares, and tortilla patatas with red wine or sangria. It was a wonderful experience, I was able to learn new Spanish recipes and meet new people who I would not have met in the classroom setting. Most importantly, I met a girl who was half German and half Nigerian (Igbo to be exact) it caught me completely off guard. Initially, when she introduced herself she mainly said she was German and a part of me was in disbelief because I felt there was more to her than that. After doing a little investigation-- asking her what her full name was, if both of her parents were German-- I then able to discover she was also half Nigerian.

From there we started a conversation about Nigerian culture (which was mainly led by me) because she had never been to Nigeria and knows little about the Nigerian culture or her roots. Therefore, I was telling everyone about my personal experience as a Nigerian-American and the lovely and life changing aspects about my beloved country. I expressed to my fellow sister that people identify themselves more with their tribe more than the country itself. For example, she and I are both Nigerians but we are descendants from different tribes; I am from Edo State or Benin and her father's side of the family is from Igboland. Through this, I was able to inform her about the differences between our two tribes despite being from the same country. I assured her that regardless of our differences we all still consider each other as family.  Overall, I was happy I went to the tapas cooking class because I was able to learn new dishes to bring back home and was able to meet a fellow sister of mine and talk and about my Nigerian culture.

*** Election Day Has Finally Arrived and the Results Are In !***

Shockingly, the Spaniards were so consumed by the election race as Americans were because they continuously asked us what we thought about the elections and who we wanted to be our next president. Many of us expressed how this election is probably the most unorthodox in US history because how can an inexperienced person in politics who disregards the humanity and respect of women, people of color, immigrants, muslims, and homosexuals have the potential of becoming the next president of the United States of America? On the other hand, a more than qualified woman was losing the trust of her country and potentially the election due to her past with classified emails.

Many people were certain that Trump had no chance of winning the election. Personally, a part of me wanted to believe that Trump had no opportunity of winning but that was not the case. I have learned that in our culture of America, many people tend to publicly say one thing and then behind close doors do the complete opposite.  I noticed this to be true before I left to Spain, (e.g it was more culturally acceptable to say yes I am going to vote for Clinton to prevent backlash for saying they will vote for Trump.) Therefore, when Trump became our newly elected president I wasn't in total shock because I realized that I prepared myself for the worst case scenario as the election results grew closer. Afterwards, I spoke to my parents and they were both in disbelief; my mother said there is reason why God chose him to be the president and my father was so sick to his stomach that he was unable to decipher what had just occurred. After the elections back in Spain, the Europeans basically said good luck to America, but a number of them also said we will just have to see what he does and hope for the best. I do not know why, but I feel like NY will be the one lucky state  that will thrive through these next four years of Trump presidency. A part of me is like, "Efosa, just stay in Europe for the next 4 years”.

Honestly, I was thinking about staying in Spain until my visa expires,  have my mom send me my Nigerian passport and stay there for some time or go and lay low  in China for a while. But I realized that  running away from America will not solve the issues our country is plagued by  because in actuality there is no one country that is perfect and there are still great things in America that I can't just desert it . The next step that needs to be taken are young adults researching about politicians at the local level who are capable of being president in the near future so that we don't have another election similar to this year. Truthfully, I know with the Grace of God I will still be successful regardless of who is in presidency.

All we can do is just wait and see what type of legacy Trump will lead.

That’s it for now everyone !