ENUGU

Day 1: The Village

Today was a very early day! My tour guide and I got up after a long night in Lagos at the Owambe party and started our long drive to Enugu. When I was a little boy I would always hear my parents talking about my grandfather but I never got the chance to meet him. I wanted to travel to where he lived now to learn a little more about my culture and where I come from. I was so excited to see the village that my dad grew up in as well before moving to Lagos with my mom.

The village was quite small. It was very different from the city; it almost felt like we were in two totally different continents. The village had a small market that woman were selling locally made goods at. The house in picture below is part of a larger compound where a whole family lives together so that they are all together, and the outdoor space is a common meeting place for the families.

We ate at the market and my tour guide told me to try the yams. He explained to me that yams are a staple food for the Ibo people and they are also one of the biggest crops that the people farm in that region.

Day 2: Visiting Okeke

I wanted to make sure I got to my grandfather’s grave before I left Enugu. I thought it would be nice to send a picture to my dad. My parents never fully explained to me why Okeke stopped talking to them but I know that it was soon after they got married. Today, in Enugu, I learned that marriages were normally arranged. The dad often picked a suitor for his daughter and the dad had to approve of it. It was not normal to marry someone outside the Ibo tribe, which now makes more sense on why he didn’t love my mom.

I learned all about familial standards of the Ibo people. Family to the Ibo was very important, and the father of the family was very much in charge of what went on at home. I found it strange that grandfather never reached out because I learned that they considered the birth of boy to be more joyful than girl. This is because the family line continues with a boy not a girl, and the wife had greater acceptance into husband’s family if she provided them with a boy, which Mom did do, twice.

The graveyard was very beautiful, it was clearly well kept. It took me awhile to find the gravestone but I finally did. It is the stone on the very left in the picture below!

Okeke’s gravestone!

Day 3: Church

Today I went to the local church to experience a ceremony to see what it was like compared to the ceremonies in Lagos. My family is christian so Sunday’s are an important day for my family. The ceremony was pretty long, almost two hours. There was a lot of singing and dancing. One thing I really enjoyed was how the whole community takes the time to practice their religion and takes the day to spend time with their families.

The beautiful alter was constructed by one of the members on the village.

Ahhh my last day here in Nigeria finally over. I am very sad to have to get on a flight back to school tomorrow morning, but I am excited to be able to tell my friends and professors about the amazing experiences that I had here. I have learned so much about my culture and I was really happy to see my parents.