On Catch up
Hola friend! 👋🏼
In the past weeks that I haven’t written to you, many things have happened. I can’t write it all as individual letters so here’s a quick catch-up.
Wedding - I attended a wedding in Abuja and it was over by the time we got to the venue. Imagine I and Thelma in shock after attending weddings in Lagos for the past 3 years by 6pm only to get to this wedding at 3 and they were done. At least we got pictures with the bride and groom and found our way to a restaurant to eat our disappointment in pasta like true ex-Lagos babes. (Lagos wedding is something else. If you are invited to a wedding in another state, consider going early.)
Post-wedding - There was typically no traffic in Abuja until yesterday. It was a literal standstill and we sat still in our Keke until it was time to move and our Keke couldn’t move. The driver asked us to get down so he would try to push it. We couldn’t walk for long in 4 inches heels. We saw a bench in front of a house, sat there, took off our shoes, and walked to the estate gate barefoot. “I didn’t know road was this hard oh” Thelma kept chanting till we got to the estate gate and took a keke home.
The fall of a woman is not the end of her life -
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again
Thank God I didn’t end up like Humpty Dumpty when I fell ass flat while stretching in the gym on Friday. (If you fall like I did, quickly rise to your feet and begin pressing your phone. Any time you waste on the floor can attract attention and as a hot girl, you don’t want that)
The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo - I’m on my 8th book of the year and one of the books I’ve enjoyed is The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo. If you ask Thelma, she’ll tell you I’m one of Evelyn’s husbands and she won’t be entirely wrong. The story is so well written that I had to remind myself severally that this is fiction.
Below are two of the sentences I enjoyed:
“No one is just a victim or a victor. Everyone is somewhere in between. People who go around casting themselves as one or the other are not only kidding themselves, but they’re also painfully unoriginal.”
“People are messy, and love can be ugly. I’m inclined to always err on the side of compassion.”
Love, spies, and street names - I enjoyed this podcast episode so much. I learned a handful of Nigerian history about street names - Alfred Rewane and his role in racial segregation in Lagos, Kofoworola Abayomi born Kofoworola James who changed his surname to his wife’s, Oyinkan Abayomi, and the role they played in Nigeria.
What users want vs What’s new - Some repair work took place in my room. On getting back, I noticed that my heater’s switch is now above my bed no longer by the bathroom. When I asked why the electrician told me that this is the new way to do it so that when I wake up it’s easier for me to put on the heater. But it hasn’t been easier for me. I’m not used to this way and I forget to put the heater on or off. (Reminds me to always ask users what they want or understand what works for them and why before changing stuff and expecting them to like it because it’s what’s new)
This newsletter was written while watching my dad peel ginger and garlic on my bed because I’d been postponing doing it for him.
Until next week,
Chidsss