Surviving the African Parent

 

  It doesn't happen often, but when it does, I marvel. Generations in a kitchen. My grandma, my mom and me In the kitchen At the same time... Then the novelty wears off... and reality sets in. While it sounds awe inspiring people from three different generations in one kitchen is no joke! Imagine how things turn out! It can go from peace to chaos in seconds... Grandma cutting up a frozen fish for her 'fresh fish stew' , my mom cooking a soup and lil ol' me trying to make 'amala' (plantain flour) for dinner. It's not fun. Especially when everyone wants everything done THEIR way but it's family.  I love it and won't have it any other way.

  Cookouts are the best... or the worst. However you choose to see them. you can choose to focus on the mosquitoes and the inconvenience of setting up and packing up (to be honest, I always do initially) Or you can look at how fun it is sitting out to eat with family and friends while watching a movie...and the satisfying feeling that comes at the end of it all when you're ready to go to bed. There are so many things that can be done at cookouts. With my family, its a 'bole' (roasted plantain) and fish affair, with a movie on the side. Once we get past the yelling, screaming and other annoyances that come with being the organizers of an event, its usually always one of the best times ever!

 

 

  You know how they say 'great minds think alike?' Well, I share a great mind with a special someone and we think alike in several ways... including how to spend our free time. My mom introduced me to art. Hence, I adore anything that gets the creative juices running-  drawing, crafting, just about anything along those lines. More importantly, my mom introduced me to shopping. Every once in a while, I love going to the mall... book shopping, clothes shopping, shoe shopping, even window shopping...  Looking for the best bargains, the hidden treasures in secret parts of the shelves (like that dress that just happens to be on the wrong rack), and marking them for later are some of the best parts of it. Much to my brothers' horror, going into the mall is never a one-stop trip- it starts out as one stop and ends up as fourteen stops.  Yikes! Writing now, I can see why they get frustrated, but what can I do? It's just because I have a great mind.

 

  We were lost. In a foreign city, In a foreign state. With nothing but the GPS to guide us. How did we get to this point though? Now I think of it, I have no idea. there was absolutely no problem until we wound up at the airport while we were trying to drive home. I don't mean we passed the airport, I mean the GPS took us through the airport. At this point, we had no choice but to go where the device led us. And lead us it did. We went through the parking spots, passed the plane hangars (from afar), drove under part of a runway (don't ask), passed the domestic AND international departure AND arrival terminals... You understand now why I said we were lost right? What could I do? Watch my mom drive while my brothers and I ate cookies whilst laughing at our situation. Even mom began to laugh at a point. It was ridiculous. It wasn't so bad though.  As least this time we got lost because of the GPS we were clearly still in civilization but that's a story for another day.