This week I have exciting news! Yours truly will be embarking on a blog tour of the Maryland/DC area to meet with my fans.
Kidding!
I will be in Maryland area this weekend but not for any blog related stuff. Alpa Chino has a family thing, somebody is celebrating decades of marriage, and I am tagging along on sidekick duty. So, if you are in the area and will be attending any Naija type events please look for me. The event is on Saturday in the DMV and I shall be wearing a pewter grey dress. Hope that narrows it down for you.
In other news, I have been using my dad's car to drive myself to work each day--under his supervision of course. I think the reason I didn't do well on my test the first time was because I wasn't comfortable enough behind the wheel? I am gradually getting there with daily practice. In my opinion, driving is not that hard. Its just passing the test that is the problem!
This past weekend, Mogaji, Night Owl, Alpa Chino, and I did the whole tourist thing. We went to Liberty Island (for the Statue of Liberty), Ellis Island, and then Coney Island.
The first two were fun. Although, we had to wait in line for TWO hours because we didn't buy advance tickets to get on the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. Here's a tip, if you are ever in New York and want to visit Liberty Island and/or Ellis Island, it is in your best interest to buy your tickets online about a week before you plan to visit. Especially in the summer. Otherwise you will be forced to stand in a line that is especially long on weekends.
Personally, Coney Island reminded me of Apapa Amusement Park (and not in a cute nostalgic way). First of all the train ride there from Manhattan was very long. Second, when we got there we realized that there was very little to do in the way of actual fun (aside from the beach) and then the whole place just looked so run down! So, not what I expected.
Sha, here are some pictures from our day out.
Clicking on the images will make them larger.
There are no pictures of us at Coney Island because by that time everybody was just done! Besides there was really nothing to take pictures of.
I am personally disappointed by the first rule. I mean honestly, why can't I bring my guns and knives with me?
This statue is very old and depicts 3 men trying to save a drowning man. Personally it looks like one man is trying to save the drowning victim while the other two just look on and say "mo gbe oh!"
Lady Liberty. NightOwl said he could see some side-boob. See the kind of mature friends I have?
Close up
Approaching Ellis Island on the ferry.
The immigration museum was kinda interesting. They had a lot of displays about immigration trends and what not.
I found it interesting the whole part about being "purchased". Technically its really not MY history, but it did make me pause for a second nonetheless.
I found out that majority of the slave trade was from west and central Africa and majority of the slaves were shipped to Brazil and the Caribbean. In fact, less than 10% of the slaves from Africa ended up in the US.
It was a good weekend. Although I couldn't do anything for most of Sunday because my feet hurt so bad from all the standing and walking around that I had to walk with a limp for the rest of the weekend and most of Monday.
This weekend should be interesting. I haven't been to Maryland in a while and I am looking forward to having those 4hours on the MegaBus on the way down there so that I can finally force Alpa Chino to watch a Bollywood movie with me.
By the way I have a poll on the right regarding the "Lagos School Daze" series. I'm thinking of compiling all the posts, and writing a few more stories, then publishing it as an e-book. It would be free to download and read but I'd like to know if anyone is remotely interested in reading it in the first place before I start all that work. So, vote in the poll!
