I’m actually doing this, guys! I, Bolaji Gelax, blogging every day? Who would have thought!
Gosh, this #Blogmas thing ain’t exactly a pot of beans, but I’m loving it.
A little confession, yeah. I made most of my colleagues come up with possible topics I could write on. Then I bullied one or two of them into co-authoring with me (you’ll read them soon). I also got my office’s “husband material,” as we call him, to be both my editor and photographer.
Now, to how my days have been since this blogmas 2019 began. I begin the first draft of each post every night before I go to bed, work on it in the morning before leaving for work, start the editing during my lunch break and pick up from wherever we stopped at close of work, then I post. This also means, I’ve been going home late. All for you, my Gelax Chatroom lovers, all for you.
Now, let’s get started, but first, a fun fact about me.
FUN FACT: I love to write down how my day went, what happened to me, my thoughts, yada yada, mainly because I’m a private person. As talkative as I can be, I don’t exactly enjoy sharing details about my personal life or my innermost thoughts with people. That was until I started blogging. A lifestyle blogger has almost no secrets. Anyway, my before-blogging life made me fall in love with diary keeping. I started keeping diary from my first year in secondary school.
Today’s post contains some excerpts from my 2015 diary.
22/12/2015, 01:05 pm
“Hoo la lalala! I’m reporting live from Benin Republic… whoop! whoop!!
I am actually writing while on a toilet seat in Mercy Nwogwugwu‘s house right here in Benin and I am super happy. Even though we encountered a LOT of PROBLEMS last night while crossing the border and I mean LOTS, we finally got here at about 4am. It was a wonderful experience, one I’m sure I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
Mercy’s parents and siblings are super warm and accommodating and I am looking forward to the best Christmas & New Year celebration of my life. I am sure this is going to be the first best and I promise myself to keep having a swear Xmas henceforth. God help me, AMEN!”
So here is the gist… This has to be my favourite phrase. Has anyone else noticed I almost, always, use it in all of my posts?
Anyway, so really, here is the gist:
I hadn’t seen my Best Girl since we graduated a year before, and we both thought it would be nice to spend the Christmas holiday together. She had moved back to Abuja and I was back to where I started my life. Well, not exactly, but I was in Ondo state teaching at a primary school. Do you know I love children? Oh my gosh! I love love love children, and my teaching days in that school are the best and most fulfilling days of my life so far. (Gist for another day)
Yeah, we agreed that I’d follow her to Benin Republic where her parents lived but the problem was how to inform my dad I was leaving the country to celebrate Christmas with a friend and her family. If you know my dad, then you’ll know there was no way in this world I could have opened my mouth to say that to him. Even mumsy who is the one we always send to deliver difficult messages was not interested in crossing that line. Yup, I did what I had to do to get me out of the country without dad suspecting.
I would have loved to share the full gist but, *clears throat* the walls have ears. I’m still not too old for beating biko.
Anyway, the D-day came; I packed my box and off I went to meet up with my friend and her big brother. The ride was smooth, save when we had to change a deflated tyre, and for the life of me; I still can’t find the right excuse for why I did not get down from the car to help.
Yes, I sat inside the car like a proud bosslady while my friend and her brother, Dede, changed the tyre. Obviously, they were mad at me and even I was mad at myself but as I said earlier, I don’t know why I did that.
The first hitch came when we were to cross the border. I was the only one who didn’t have an ECOWAS passport and my student identity card was expired (remember I graduated a year before). The soldiers were ready to let my friend and her brother cross, but without me.
“Ah! How now? What are we going to tell my father?”
“Oga abeg now,” my girl started to plead with them. Her brother wasn’t pleased with all the drama and I was feeling bad that I was the one delaying us. One of the soldiers told me to sit down ‘cause they were not going to let me cross the border. He told me I would be returning to Nigeria with them after their shift in the morning. Hehehe… I can laugh about it now but it wasn’t funny then.
Long story short, I –we crossed the border😉
We were all tired and Dede was worried about the Beninese security. It wasn’t long before I understood why. Those guys are hostile, gosh! In my opinion, they do not like Nigerians a bit. My only relief was that the issue we had with them was not about my lack of passport, but for the fact that Dede’s car had a Nigerian plate number. We had to call my friend’s dad to come bail us. We also had to leave Dede’s car with them till the next day.
We eventually got home by 4am. I was knackered. We all were. But their mum was waiting for us with plates of steaming delicious meal (can’t remember what exactly)
This gist is looooonnnngggg, guys and we haven’t even scratched the fun-nest part of it yet. How about we pick it up from here tomorrow? Great! But first, I’ve got some bragging to do… hehehe
21st of December, 2015 was my first time travelling out of Nigeria. I now some haturrrs will say Benin Republic does not count as travelling out of Nigeria. News splash! I crossed the border.
Did you just say, “cross the border without passport?” Yes, I did. I’m the world’s greatest after all. Okay bye, catch y’all tomorrow, before someone stones me with their phone *tongue out*
