As soon as I realized that there was nothing more I could do about my NYSC situation in Abuja, I proceeded to start my Vacation in the beautiful city.
The accommodation was provided for me by my very good long-time friend Elemi, and so I managed to save $180 on rent.
When I arrived, we made our way to a local bar down the road to grab a drink and reminisce. It's been 3 years since we last saw each other, and 6 years before that. So for me, it felt surreal that I was here, chilling with the big boy.
The next major outing was on a Sunday evening, we had earlier attended a Seminar sponsored by FTX for FTX AFRICA, and I met a few of the online friends I had made on Twitter, we exchanged pleasantries and contacts and I got a merch too.
One of our friends had planned an outing that evening with us also, but since she was running late, we proceeded to go somewhere else to watch the Man Utd Vs Chelsea match that ended in a draw. At about 7:30 pm, we made our way to the outdoor bar we had selected for the hangout. It was a lovely scene, karaoke, live band deck (for later), and a bubbling environment. The waiter found us a seat and we ordered our drinks, reminisced on the past, the struggles, the present, and talked about the future (our supposed host had not arrived). At around 9 pm, she arrived and ordered us BBQ fish, the size was nothing like the foil wrap. It was fun catching up with her as I struggled with the decision to relocate to the new city.
Within the week, I opted to cook, so we made our way to the local market and bought chicken and other ingredients I needed. I went on to prepare a nice meal of pepper soup and rice for Elemi, Mon Dieu, he enjoyed every bit of it lol. I reached out to another friend of mine and we planned for Wednesday.
On Wednesday, I visited two art galleries, the first I have been to in the country, it was an amazing experience. I love art, but I can't draw to save my life.
There was a bull made from parts, and i thought, ahh, the BULL is here, a sign that trading was going to be better that week. turned out to be a dip week instead. Never meet your heroes and all that i guess
While there, my friend made her way to us and we talked about where to go, i wanted a rooftop bar, i missed those from my time in Bangkok, and unfortunately, we don't have none of that in my small city. We found one, B2B it was called lol, i wondered, "Business to Business" noooo, Bombay to Beirut its called. The food reminded me of Asia, we lost ourselves and got a bill of $65. Might seem like nothing, but that's a lot for me for one dinner.
On Thursday, Belemo graced us with his presence, the only Married one amongst us. It was fun to hang and banter with him. He did win us in a game of bowling with the help of the computer glitch though, (he'll deny it).
I flew back to my city on Friday as my family needed me back to assist them due to the season and all the work we needed to do.
In General, my trip wasn't a total waste of time and i did enjoy every bit of my stay, so much, i considered relocating to Abuja and had long talks with my family, but the cost of rent humbled me. I will surely visit sometime this year when my finances speak the same language as my heart.
Thank you for reading my piece!!!