As the driver sped through the streets of Port Harcourt, I looked out the window stuck in a state of complete shock.
Everything looked completely different.
Port Harcourt, nestled in Rivers State, southern Nigeria, no longer matched my memories. I remembered a coastal city, coined “the garden city”, with a population of less than a million. The city I saw in front of me seemed to have experienced very rapid urbanization.
As I tried to reconcile my memories with the images that I was confronted with, my son engaged my sister in an intense question and answer session. I overheard him ask questions about the cars, the buildings, the roads, the transportation system, the people, the security, and my sister patiently responded to each of his questions. I realized that he was doing this to help his mind sort through the puzzle of wrapping his head around all he had heard about Africa versus what he was seeing.
Secretly, I was very pleased that my sister was there to answer some of his very difficult questions, while I silently worked through my own shock.
It was a lot to take in at once, and I felt like calling my father to discuss what was going through my mind, and then I remembered that we had planned to completely surprise him with this trip – he didn’t even know that we were there and I wasn’t about to ruin the surprise!
I couldn’t wait to discuss my observations with him and hear his thoughts, and then I smiled as I reflected on all the “firsts” I was about to experience.
It would be the first time that I would be seeing my sister’s husband, the first time that I would be seeing my brother’s wife, the first time that I would be seeing some of my nieces and nephews, and it would be the first time I would be seeing my brother after almost 30 years! How I missed the reassuring presence of my big brother!
My brother – the intellectual and computer guru who could fix anything and find a path through the most complex of situations. His deep love for the inner workings of computers from childhood had always filled me with awe. The thought that after so many years of phone calls, emails, texts and video I would be able to finally see him again, filled me with so much excitement.
All of sudden I felt the car slowing to a stop, and I was jolted out of my thoughts.
We had arrived at my sister’s home, and a very full house was waiting to reconnect with us…
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6