PLANTAIN RANT; All eyes on you
As we journeyed 2 days on one of the pot-hole full
roads of Nigeria, lots of matters weighed on my mind. One of the most
predominant was food and love. I don’t really eat much. I just love good food,
well don’t we all?
My deliberations usually don’t drag for long. Few minutes in every 6 hours. After all, 6 years in the boarding house had my entire body system ingrained to adaptation. Anybody who passed through Nesto College and couldn’t adapt is probably not from the “Oyo” tribe. You just can’t! It’s a second nature.
The major concern however was surviving this one year journey without plantain. Could I? How could I? Dare I? Round and around my thoughts went.
My deliberations usually don’t drag for long. Few minutes in every 6 hours. After all, 6 years in the boarding house had my entire body system ingrained to adaptation. Anybody who passed through Nesto College and couldn’t adapt is probably not from the “Oyo” tribe. You just can’t! It’s a second nature.
The major concern however was surviving this one year journey without plantain. Could I? How could I? Dare I? Round and around my thoughts went.
But luck smiled at me, Maami market of Amada camp had a variety of
“restaurants”. Could you even call them that? Somehow, there was always enough
for everyone and luckily you could get someone who speaks your language. Go
figures, yeah.
It was awfully expensive but not unbearable. So I made a move. If I could adapt to having rice every other day, at least make the situation much more palatable right? Plantain! Plantain!! Plantain!!!
Plantain is characteristically sexy and attractive. If you don’t like it, you’re probably weird or weirder. How could you not? Think about it lush appearance. Curved, straight or a mix of both; it’s yet the same budding fleshiness. By heavens, you have a taste of plantain pottage! It is a slice of paradise.
At the painful cost of 4 thin slices for #100, I bought it. Not per bunch or piece, per slice dear friend. Life was smooth, until Mama Farouq sold me tacky, stricken, carbide-ripened plantain as “my palatable”. I mean, I could bear all things but not a misrepresentation of dear plantain.
I took a couple of hours to flash back to my beautiful plantainful life in Ogbomosho and struck a compromise. It is one of the toughest decisions made yet; I will not settle for pitiful plantain. It’s the best or nothing. I made my peace and painfully moved on.
This evening however, after a rather stressful day with hunger pangs mocking my insides. Emmanuel Ossai, had one of the most tantalizing bowlful of plantain I’ve seen in a while on his status. He had the rare gut of telling me it was only #200’s worth. The bland plate of spaghetti I feasted on suddenly tasted like chalk.
It was awfully expensive but not unbearable. So I made a move. If I could adapt to having rice every other day, at least make the situation much more palatable right? Plantain! Plantain!! Plantain!!!
Plantain is characteristically sexy and attractive. If you don’t like it, you’re probably weird or weirder. How could you not? Think about it lush appearance. Curved, straight or a mix of both; it’s yet the same budding fleshiness. By heavens, you have a taste of plantain pottage! It is a slice of paradise.
At the painful cost of 4 thin slices for #100, I bought it. Not per bunch or piece, per slice dear friend. Life was smooth, until Mama Farouq sold me tacky, stricken, carbide-ripened plantain as “my palatable”. I mean, I could bear all things but not a misrepresentation of dear plantain.
I took a couple of hours to flash back to my beautiful plantainful life in Ogbomosho and struck a compromise. It is one of the toughest decisions made yet; I will not settle for pitiful plantain. It’s the best or nothing. I made my peace and painfully moved on.
This evening however, after a rather stressful day with hunger pangs mocking my insides. Emmanuel Ossai, had one of the most tantalizing bowlful of plantain I’ve seen in a while on his status. He had the rare gut of telling me it was only #200’s worth. The bland plate of spaghetti I feasted on suddenly tasted like chalk.
Emmanuel, I understand this wasn’t intentional, it
was a suicide mission. I’m not angry, I’m just very very mad!
Many thanks to everyone who's reading.
Stay on.
Love, M
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