I stood by the roadside, waiting for when there would be a halt in traffic for me to cross the highway. The vehicles kept passing at top speed. I made a few attempts whenever the next car approaching was a few meters away. I would change my mind and stay back with the fear that I couldn't beat the speed of the approaching vehicle.
Relief came my way when a motorcycle stopped by my side and asked where I was going.
"Legacy Private school junction," I responded.
He told me the fare, and I hurriedly climbed, and off we went to the junction.
My sister was eagerly waiting to welcome me. She called me every now and then from my time of departure in the village until I climbed the motorcycle that was taking me to the legacy junction, behind which her house was located.
It was my first time in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria. Coming from a village setting where one could have a short nap before the next vehicle passed on the road, the traffic level in Abuja was strange to me.
I met my sister standing at the junction in anticipation of my arrival.
"Welcome to Abuja. How was your journey? I hope it wasn't stressful."
"The journey was awesome, though the long hours of seating a little a little aches by the waist," I responded to her. "I spent almost an hour waiting for traffic to halt so that I could cross the highway, but it never did. Cars were moving at high speed as if they were being pursued."
"That's Abuja for you," my sister giggled.
She ushered me in and didn't waste time setting the table for me.
"Take your shower and have this fruit before I get done with what I am doing in the kitchen," she instructed.
I went to have my shower immediately before settling down in the dining room to take the fruit.
"What is this like, a melon?" I asked myself as I assessed what was on the plate.
The melon that I knew wasn't an edible fruit. It is the type in which the seeds are separated and dried for the preparation of soup. Egusi is the local name of the soup. The reddish nature of the one in front of me cleared my doubt that it wasn't the melon that I knew.
I finally cut a small portion to have a taste. I spit it out as soon as it got into my mouth. My sister walked in to meet my squeezed face.
"What happened? Don't you like it?" She asked me.
"What is this?"
"Watermelon," she responded to me.
"How do you eat this tasteless fruit?"
My sister couldn't hold back her laughter. Abdul, her son, laughed too. "It could be that it's because you are eating it for the first time. Don't worry; with time, you will like it."
In another few minutes, she served me rice and stew with fish. I ate to satisfaction before having a long chat with my sister about life in the village.
The following morning, she woke up early to prepare breakfast because she was traveling to another city to buy commodities that she sells in her shop.
"I will be dropping Abdul off at school this morning before traveling to Kano. Once it is 1 p.m., prepare noodles for him. He will be returning home by 1:30 p.m."
I went into the kitchen at exactly 1 p.m. to prepare the noodles. I picked up two sachets as instructed by my sister.
"This must be a new version of spaghetti," I told myself after tearing the wrap to see the content. "The cooking process must be the same with spaghetti," I concluded.
I fried onions, tomatoes, and other ingredients for a few minutes before adding water, seasoning cubes, and other ingredients. I nodded my head in approval of the taste when I tasted the solution before adding the noodles. I emptied the two sachets of noodles into the fried tomatoes and added more water. I went and relaxed in the living room. I planned to check back 20 minutes later.
When I went to check, I noticed that the appearance of what I was preparing was different from how spaghetti appears when cooked. The noodles had dissolved into something I didn't understand. I dropped the food from the fire and served myself.
When I placed the first spoon in my mouth, it was obvious that many things were wrong. Too much salt. Too much seasoning. In fact, everything added was in excess. I ate a small quantity.
Abdul came back from school, and I served him. He couldn't swallow the first spoon he put in his mouth.
"What is this, uncle?" He asked me as he walked to the kitchen to rinse his mouth.
"It's noddles," I responded.
"Noodles? This type of noddle is strange. I don't like it."
I went to the kitchen and met part of the bread that was being taken for breakfast. Abdul prepared tea and ate the bread with it.
A few hours later, my sister returned from her journey. I didn't wait for her to ask me how my day went before narrating to her how I cooked noodles that turned out to be something else.
"Noodles is not spaghetti," she laughed, tears rolling out of her eyes. "The seasoning that comes with it is enough to prepare it. It doesn't spend half the time that spaghetti spends on the fire before getting done."
While my sister saw it as funny, I was unhappy and felt like a fish out of water.
"I will take my time to acclimatize to this city life before making any future moves to eat or prepare anything for the first time," I told her.
Years later, I blended with city life. I got used to the high traffic of vehicles and started finding my way around the city like every other dweller in the city does. Watermelon became my best fruit, and, of course, cooking noodles became as easy as breathing in oxygen.
!LOLZ
!ALIVE
!PIZZA
Wow so happy you get used to it,it's not easy to change environment expecially when you are going to city.
The traffic when crossing the highway and the vehicle passing at top speed is crazy,
The eating of the watermelon too was so funny, and the noddles part.
I almost cry when you describe how you cook it, but am so glad you blended with the city life and can now make noddles as easy as breathing air.
Yea. It happened eighteen years when I left the village to the city in search of university education. Thank you for the awesome reply.
Yes it true if you are new in a place you don't know .you we feel like it stressful
That's very true.
Yes ooo
The similar traffic and added pollution related issues I face when I need to visit to the capital due to its dense population. About foods? Oh my god, I don't wanna remember the awful taste of water in another city, there I was really the fish without water.
New places comes with new challenges for us to adapt. Loved reading your piece.
Almost all the sense organs reacts to a new environment uniquely. The good thing is that, they have ways to acclimatize and blend. Thank you for the commendation.
Welcome.
Thank you, @theinkwell
The experience in a new place can be very confusing and traumatic, fortunately you were able to adapt to the city and continue with a new life and of course being able to prepare noodles.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Good day.
A new place comes with a new challenge. After some time, I was able to adapt to the change. Thank you for stopping by.
Hahaha 😀 village life and city life aren't the same and it looks odd to one just visiting the city for the first time but as time goes on, they become acclimatised to the system. So interesting story and I enjoyed it, too.
Thank you for reading, @princessbusayo. City life comes with its challenges. One would thank God if there is no health challenge attached. Some people do experience such.
Yea. The health challenge is one problem. It's my pleasure.
Hahaha it take bit by bit to get to adapt to a new environment
#dreemerforlife#
Yea... It's a process that takes time. Thank you for stopping by.
You are highly welcome
It happens to all of us, getting to a new place takes time to adjust to the norms of the locality.
#dreemerforlife
You are right. It requires time to acclimatize with a new environment. Thank you for stopping by.
You're welcome.
No one is totally ready to face a new context so fast, but it's perseverance what it takes to adapt everywhere. Seems your protagonist did it!
It takes an effort adapt. It was a personal story. Thank you for stopping by.
Visiting new places always feel strange but as time goes on, you get used to the place.
#dreemerforlife
Exactly... One would feel like JJC first before becoming landlord, 😂
Watermelon is tasteless ke 😂😂, it must've taken a lot of time for you to finally blend in.
That noodles part really got me 😂😂
#dreemport
When someone that have been taking fruit like pineapple, oranges, and likes all his life taste watermelon for the first time, it will take a little time to blend, 😂. Thank you for stopping by.
Fr tho 😂😂😂