Nigerian Reunion Weekend (A Loong Post)

So, I went for the Nigerian Reunion in NY. Why? Because it was in New York, I had no July 4th plans, and Alpa Chino wanted to go. I actually said no at first because I went last year, when it was in Vegas, and even though I had fun, I had fun because I got to see Vegas (finally) and observe Nigerians act like Nigerians (take that however you like).

However, the second time around was not as exciting. First, the hotel was in Long Island. This is not the "funnest" place in NY and in order to enjoy Long Island you need a car. So, we got a rental for the weekend. It was a nice hotel and I enjoyed my stay there, but I felt so bad for the hotel staff and management as well as any guests that just happened to be at the hotel during the reunion. In fact, I am quite sure that if NRC approaches another Marriott hotel to host the next reunion, the hotel will think thrice before agreeing to anything.

This was Alpa Chino's first reunion and it will be his last. He wanted to experience it and now that he has, he has decided that he will be just fine if he never attends another one again. According to him, the best part of the reunion was the show on Sunday--the last day. I agree. If you plan to attend the next Nigerian reunion and are wondering which events are worth it, I suggest the events on the last day. The show and the after party are probably your best bet for a good time. The rest of the weekend will probably be a wash.


We got to the hotel on Friday, after work, and stayed through the weekend. When we got to the hotel front desk to check in, I had an interesting little experience with one of the hotel receptionists. We were at the front desk while she looked up our reservation, and when she saw the two names on the reservation this is what happened:

Hotel lady: Is he (gestures toward Alpa Chino) the other person on the reservation?
Me: Yep.
Hotel lady: So you'll be needing two beds then? It says on the reservation that you asked for one bed.
Me: (as I realize what her problem is, I laugh). No, its correct. Its just the one bed.
Hotel lady: Okay.
Me: (smirking) Is there a problem?
Hotel lady: No. No problem.

See her life? I thought hotel staff were usually discreet? Afterall, hotels are the location of choice for numerous illicit rendezvous. Not that this was illicit, but why was she being so weird about it? Alpa Chino and I had a good laugh about it later (in the one bed suite).

On Friday, there was really nothing going on except a panel discussion on Nigeria, speed dating (which Mogaji and I went for last year just for kicks), and the "welcome party". This welcome party was held at C-PAC, in Brooklyn, and once I heard that--I knew I would not be attending. I don't have any beef with Brooklyn, truly, but I do not want to visit there unless I have to. A Nigerian reunion party does not qualify as a "have to" occasion. Call me a snob, but I don't care. There are maybe a few blocks in Brooklyn that are okay but that entire borough is truly not the place for me. However, many Nigerians live there (and love it). So, Friday's party was in Brooklyn and I did not go. I was tired from work, it was in Brooklyn (which meant a 20minute drive from the hotel one way), and I just wasn't in the mood. A few of my friends did go to that first party and I was told that it was "okay". One of my friends actually used the word "ghetto" when describing the place. The other two parties were held at Amazura; a club in Jamaica, Queens which is not much of an improvement from Brooklyn IMHO. It is around the area near the LIRR Jamaica station and, although the club is huge, it really is quite horrible looking.

On Saturday the "main event", aside from the party that night, was the picnic at Valley Stream State Park. I did not have high hopes for the picnic and even though we were promised "food and refreshments", as we drove to the park I took the precaution of searching the GPS for nearby restaurants in case we had to find food elsewhere. We did. We got to the park at about 4pm (the picnic was supposed to end at 6pm) and there was no food. People were basically sitting around on park benches talking and hanging out. Apparently, the organizers had forgotten the food. A friend of mine later joked that we were lucky they didn't forget that they had organized the picnic as well!

We ended up going to Roosevelt Field Mall and spent the rest of the day there.

The party on Saturday was okay. It wasn't just Nigerians there, and there was a mix of Nigerian, American, and Caribbean music. Alpa Chino was happy to hear some of his favorite reggae/dancehall songs since these songs are not very popular where he lives. I don't know how familiar you are with reggae/dancehall but some of their songs are "me-rixes" of popular Top 40 songs. For instance there is this song called Rompin' Shop that is actually a "me-rix" of Neyo's Ms. Independent. They played it at the party and Alpa Chino LOVES to torture me with the ridiculous lyrics. I will share some with you:

You ah my mista
You ah my miss
Kill me wid di cocky
Kill me wid di tightness
And when you a come
Whispa someting like dis
I can't stop f**king you

He knows how stupid (and hilarious) I think the song is, so he likes to randomly sing that part of the song to see my reaction.

He also heard--for the very first time--2face's song, Implication, and I had to spend the rest of the weekend being tortured with conversations like:
Me: Can you help me pick up that thing over there.
Alpa Chino: No.
Me: Why not?
Alpa Chino: Because of the...(pregnant pause) Implication, Implication, Implication...(breaks out into song).
Me: (laughing loudly) Ode.

See his life? I actually think that is a great song. Although I am not quite sure what 2face is saying during certain parts of the song.

I am sure many of you know this already but, part of the allure of the reunion is the ability to meet, mingle, and HOOKUP. I think if you do the math you will find that at the reunions the guys outnumber the girls (mostly). For the single and looking ladies out there this may seem like a positive, but do not arrive at the reunion hoping to meet the love of your life. Some of these guys are in a class of their own when it comes to toasting--in a bad way. One guy actually tried to talk to me, during Sunday's concert, with Alpa Chino sitting right next to me. I guess the guy thought that Alpa Chino was just some random stranger that I had allowed to place a hand on my thigh. I had to ignore him because the situation was so ridiculous. Another person actually told a girl that she looked "much better than the other day", in an attempt to tell her she looked nice. It was hilarious because the girl let him have it and actually told him he was terrible at toasting and needed some lessons.

On Sunday there was the show and after party. Awards were handed out to "famous" Nigerians (mostly in entertainment). Nnenna from ANTM was there, Ramsey Noah, Gbenga Akinnagbe (of The Wire, The Good Wife, etc), Ini Edo, Banky, and M.I (Mr. Incredible). I also learned, to my surprise, that Dele Momodu (of Ovation) is actually planning to run for the Nigerian presidency in 2011. He got to speak to the crowd for a bit. But, people didn't really like the way he talked about Babangida and there was quite a bit of yelling after he was done.


Overall, it was an interesting experience and not a bad way to spend July 4th weekend. If next year's reunion is in a place I have never been to, I will take advantage of the discounted hotel and airfare but I will probably not attend any of the events--except maybe the show on the last day.

Lagos School Daze returns in the next post.