A Jolly time at the Fox

I keep hearing about these drink specials at this club/bar called the Jolly Fox. You couldn't even imagine this kind of deal--Tuesday nights, 25 cent well drinks until 11pm. I've wanted to go out, so I took the initiative and called Aimer because I figured he might be doing something. And sure enough he and his friends were planning to go to the Fox. So, I went back home (from work) and made myself cute. I called Paul and left a message to let him know what was going on like the good friend that I am.

Aimer called me back to say they were 3 minutes away. I had to stop by the ATM, so it took me about 15 minutes. When I got in, I called Aimer only to find out that he wasn't there :( Side note: I had to use my passport to get in because I lost my driver's license recently. I had to walk around alone without looking like a loser. I saw a girl I played high school volleyball with, but I only had a 5 second conversation with her. I went to the bathroom because I didn't know what else to do. Don't worry, I didn't hang out in there; I just had to curse Aimer in the privacy of a stall so that people wouldn't see my revealing facial expressions. Before leaving, I checked myself out in the mirror. I was wearing a teal shirt that Shikha gave me (it's one of the ones from Express that she has in a million different colors), jeans and flip flops. Also, I had on this really cute bracelet that matched perfectly. Anyway, the point is that while in the bathroom a girl commented, "Oh, that's a cute shirt." What she really meant was, "DAMN! You make that shirt look hot!" Of course, this is always a confidence booster, so I was ready to continue my aimless wandering.

Not 2 minutes after I left the bathroom, someone calls out my name. And guess who it is? Paul and this guy and "this guy's" friends. I know "this guy," but he's my brother's age. So, I was saved from the depths of dork-dom and pulled back into the realm of seemingly coolness. Thank goodness. I was introduced to "the friends." One girl's name was Imala (or something like that). It sounded atypical, so I wondered if it was ethnic. Guess what kind of name it turned out to be? You're right! Nigerian! How fun is that?! She also happened to be Ibo. She was totally in the mood to dance too, so I was encouraging her to go out there while trying to invite myself along. She wanted to, but there weren't that many people out there. I told her we could get the party started. Finally, they decided to get on the dance floor, and I tagged along. Imala chickened out, but this other girl stayed with me--she wasn't scared. Next thing you know, the whole group is out there, and naturally everyone else filed in. I made Paul dance with me even though he apparently dislikes it, and he kept saying "I'm sooo white." True...but he was just being too self conscious. Aimer finally calls to announce his arrival, so Paul and I went to meet him.

We talked, blah blah. I made Aimer dance with me too, which is also not one of his favorite activities. Blah blah, more talking and a little more dancing. BAM! It's midnight and the Fox closes. I headed back to Aimer's place where I end up staying till 4am. He gave me pointers on pool, some of his friends came over, he tried to make me hold his iguana (I told him it took me a year to become fond of Lei Lei's birds. There was no way I was going to hold his iguana.), and finally Aimer and I talked about homosexuality, AIDS, and our respective cultures. You know how it goes--a half hour conversation turned into two.

The Birthday Special

Thank ya'll for my b-day wishes!!!

The night before my bday, I called Nick and Paul to remind them of my birthday for 2 reasons:
1. I didn't want to be upset if they forgot.
2. I wanted to make them do something for me.

I left a message with Nick, but it turns out he was in Austin. He called to say "happy birthday," so I was satisfied enough. I got a hold of Paul who tried to scoff at me, but them he suggested we go out to lunch. We went to China House where I had curry chicken with fried rice, an egg roll, egg drop soup, and something else (I don't remember the name). And get this...the meal cost $4.30 so the bill was under $10 (not that I was paying)! Cheap, cheap, fun, fun.

Summer work

I started working in the gym last week. So far it's been painfully boring. No one comes. The most we've had so far was 6 people and 2 of them were my sisters. My co-worker, Chadd, is a cool guy. He'll be a senior at SHSU and he's on the football team. I also started working at the MLK Recreation Center this week from 1PM - 4PM. Today, there were almost 40 kids. They play ping-pong, fuseball, board games. video games, basketball, tether ball, and a few other things. It's kind of loud and hectic, but because there's so much to do, they remain occupied. However, I worry how long that will last.

Austin

This weekend I went tubing in Cayon Lake (near Austin) with Monica, Kate, Nicole Bernard, Sarah Chenault, Laura and her friends from Dallas. It was a total blast. Saturday morning (5:50AM) I left for Houston to go to Kate's house. We drove to Canyon Lake in her car. We got there around 11:30AM. By the time everyone arrived, we got to the river at 1PM. We floated in individual tubes and brought coolers of beer along with us. The tubes were scorching hot and the water was freezing cold, so they countered each other. The river had rapids at certain points, so one time our cooler flipped over and we lost some beer...

I saved this as a draft, but now I no longer have a desire to finish the story. All in all it was fun, and good to see WashU folk.

Goggles of Fun

Like usual, I took my sisters to the pool, but Tuesday was extra fun because of Ezinne's discovery of goggles. It all started with Chinyere, her friend, and their goggles. Chinyere just got a new pair, so she offered to let me play with her old ones. I had already discovered their magic, so I jumped at the offer. Now, you may wonder "What's so special about goggles?" Well, the most obvious answer is that you can see clearly underwater without hurting your eyes. But, my favorite reasons come from the enlightenment of Ezinne, "With goggles, you can breathe underwater" and "You can hear underwater with goggles." She was so funny; I couldn't stop laughing at her. Later, I discovered that you can sink to the bottom of the pool, lay down, and look up at the sky (with goggles, of course). I made the rest of them try it because it was so cool; however, Ezinne was sinking to the bottom without goggles, so she couldn't fully enjoy the experience. When I told her that you could see the sky with the goggles, she exclaimed, "Really!?!" After she tried it, she said, "It was beautiful."

Graduation Party

So there were suppose to be 50-60 people, but in reality there were about 20 (sort of a let down). None of my friends came--Jolene was in Houston, Paul had a soccer game, and Nick went to Las Vegas. I really wished some of my friends were there especially ya'll because it was a total cultural experience. My brother's girlfriend and army friend came, and Chinyere's friend was there too. The menu consisted of fruit, veggie, and chesse/cracker trays for appetizers. Then the main course was rice and stew, fufu and soup, bbq chicken, mai mai, and salad. We also got a huge marble cake with buttercream icing.

The party was scheduled to start at 2pm, but the bulk of the crowd didn't come until around 3pm. At 4pm, we started the formal ceremony. My dad got up and welcomed everyone and because there were a few non-Nigerians there he tried to introduce our culture to them, but I thought his manner was kinda hostile. He would say, stuff like America is not the best place in the world...my kids see certain things and they say so and so has this and so and so has that...blah blah. He did say that they were all welcome and we are all here to have a good time. He also tried to explain what was going on, so I don't want to make it seem all bad.

One of the things he explained was how he and my mom are chiefs. Chiefdom is a huge deal in African culture and demands a lot of respect. It was really funny because at one point my dad said "now my wife had something to say" and the other men were saying "all right, all right let "Igolo One" speak. Then my mom corrected them saying, "Actually it's "Igola Oma" and everyone started laughing and cheering because my mom (a white American) corrected the Nigerian men. It was great.

There's another very important tradition involving the kola nut. The kola nut is always around whenever there is any special occasion whether it's a birth, a marriage, a funeral, etc. It begins with the youngest son of the host. He brings it out and passes it to the next oldest male relative. This continues until it gets to the oldest, male relative of the hosting family. Then it gets passed to someone (I'm not sure of the specifics) from a different village that has the closest relationship with the hosting family. The kola nut is then passed to a person from each of the 6 villages (if present) from within Naze. Then it goes back to the host who then asks someone to bless it. The youngest son of the host cuts the kola (usually there is more than one). Those who have a title (like chief) get the first piece and then it is passed around the circle. Now it is very important that you pass the kola to the correct person otherwise you could be fined. This importance was displayed because there were two arguements about whether the person passing the kola was passing it to the correct person. They all started to argue in Igbo and they would all try to calm themselves, so that they could explain it in English. I kept asking my aunt what was going on. The rules about who to pass it to seem very complicated, and I don't understand them. And note that women are not involved in kola nut ceremony.

Together the introduction and the kola passing probably took an hour. We were all getting restless. Finally we got to eat. I ate in my brother's room with his friends, Ezinne, and my cousin Chi Chi. Then my dad came in wanting me to dance with him. We got down with our bad Nigerians selves and people stuck money on our foreheads. As far as presents go, everyone gave me money. By the time everyone was gone, it was 9:30pm. I was pooped by the end.

Friends from High School

I went over to Nick's last night to hang out. We were talking to his mom who was talking to her guy friend over webcam. For some reason I found it kinda strange. Then we stopped by the Jolly Fox (a club/bar) in Huntsville. It was a Nick's friend's birthday. We didn't stay long, but I saw a ton of people I recognized from high school. It was quite strange. I also saw Aimer who wanted to buy me a drink, but Nick wanted to leave (he was my ride). I told Aimer that I applied to the restaurant (Margarita's) where he works, but they hadn't called me back. I think we'll be talking later, and maybe he can help me get the job. After we left the club, we stopped by Paul's place. We probably stayed about a half hour. It was nice being together again with them. They'll both be around for the summer, so now I have two friends in Huntsville to hang out with.

I'm really tired because I've been putting these posters together all day for my graduation party tomorrow. I've made posters with lots of pictures to represent each year of college along with my plans for post-graduation. My cousin said lots of people are coming, and my mom has been planning for 50-60 people.

Possible job

Job searching is such a pain. I still haven't quite yet found a summer job, which will probably force me to work more for my old boss. However, this may not be as bad as I have made it out to seem. I have an interview at the end of June for an office position at this real estate firm here in Huntsville. The job doesn't start until August 15, which I was a little bummed about. Now, I'm starting to think if I can get a decent job (like this one), I will stay in Huntsville until I go off to the Peace Corps. This way I can spend time with my family and save up money in order to start paying off school loans and so that I have more money when I return.

Wooo Cardinals!!

I went to the Cardinals game in Houston yesterday with Laura (a girl from the volleyball team who graduated last year) and her friends Bill and William. We sat amongst a crowd of Astro fans yelling and cheering for the Cardinals wearing homemade wife-beaters that said "I heart Cardinal boys." They won 11-9 with Reggie Sanders hitting a grand slam (early on in the game). During the game, they would do fun things on the big screens such as the "Kiss Cam" where they zoomed in on couples who would then kiss. There was this one elderly couple who started making out and they posted a big "censor" sign. It was quite funny. They also showed this younger couple and after they kissed the big screen said "Will you marry me so and so?" He put a ring on her finger, and she looked so happy but embarressed. You could hear the whole stadium say "awwwwwwwww."

Speaking of engagements, it seems like so many people from high school are getting engaged/married. One girl emails me asking if I'll be around for her wedding. One girl's facebook profile announced her engagement, and today after church I was just talking to a girl who is also engaged. I was so surprised, although I shouldn't be. You know how that kind of thing freaks me out, but thinking about it, I've concluded that I'm mostly freaked out about it because I can't understand how all these people are getting engaged when I have never had a boyfriend that has lasted more than 4 months!?!? It's kind of depressing AND the other day Chinyere was being silly and telling us our fortunes. Do you know what mine was? She said I would never get married or have any children because I was an independent woman who is picky and loves to travel. While I see the reasons as positive, it's the results that offend me. I asked her if I would at least have a boyfriend, but she had already started talking about Ezinne and Jr.'s futures. Ezinne is suppose to be the first one to marry. She'll be rich and have two children who she'll spoil, and she'll give lots of money to our parents but none to her siblings. Jr. will marry and have 3 or 4 children. Her predictions were amusing but all too real sounding.

Now on to other things.

As far as the job update: I met with my old boss and I'll be working for him starting June 13 at night from 6-9PM as a proctor of open gym. He said if I wanted to work with his other day projects that I should let him know, but I'm still looking for a different day job.

Some random incidents:

While I was at the pool with Chinyere some guy was trying to get my attention. When I finally noticed,
he said "Ezinne?"
I replied, "no, I'm her older sister."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure?"
"What's your name then?"
"Adannaa"
"Well, I don't have my contacts in, but man you look just alike," while shaking his head.

Apparently, we also sound exactly alike on the telephone, and just to confirm it I played a trick on Paul. He called me the other night to see what I was up to. We decided I'd come over to watch a movie. He was going to take a shower first, so I told him to call me when he was done. The phone rang about a half hour later and because I knew it was him I ordered Ezinne to pick up the phone.
"Hello," Ezinne said offering the offical greeting.
"Yo," Paul answered thinking it was me.
"Hello?" Ezinne responds.
"Adannaa?"
"No, this is her sister Ezinne."
"Oh! Ya'll sound just alike."
How scary that we both look/talk/act alike.

I came to the realization that my thoughts about boyfriends and friends is slightly wrong. I now can see how it's possible for your boyfriend and friends might hang out. You know how you can have different groups of friends who you don't hang out with togheter? That can now be applied to the boyfriend/friends scenario. However, (I said only slightly wrong) boyfriends and close friends must be able to get along otherwise the one with the boyfriend and friends will be miserable and unhappy. I mean if those who are close to you can't stand each other, there can be no other result than misery and unhappiness.