Airdrop post - A trip to the East

This is my entry for the ongoing NomadCoin airdrop. I got to know about it from Jane's article two days ago, and she encouraged me to also take part in it.

At first, I didn't know what to write and I even forgot about the airdrop, but I remembered after Jane talked about it again in noise.cash. Well, I just made up my mind at that point to start writing about it immediately.

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An Eastern Easter trip

There is something peculiar with the people from the eastern part of Nigeria, and that is going back to their hometown during big celebrations like Christmas and Easter.

My family usually travels down to the East specifically Anambra State every year either during Christmas or Easter celebration, and the last time we did was in 2019. We couldn't go last year because of the covid-19 pandemic, so I'm hoping we do so this year.

The trip we had in 2019 was during the Easter celebration and a cousin of mine did her traditional wedding during the trip. I was in school then and we were only given one week Easter break, so I didn't travel with my mom and siblings.

I traveled in the company of my other cousin (the brother of the one getting married) who is also my roommate in school and we made use of a commercial vehicle.

When we got to the bus station, a full bus was already leaving so we were the first ones to board the next bus (how lucky!). We quickly claimed the front seats and then went to purchase the bus tickets, I remember it was ₦1500 (around $2 then).

Here comes the stressful part; waiting for the bus to get filled. It could take up to 3 hours for the bus to be filled because there were not many people. We decided to visit the restaurant at the bus station to get something to eat.

I wasn't in the mood to eat anything heavy so I just bought snacks and a bottle of coke. After eating, we went back to the park and noticed a lot of persons have boarded the bus, after a few more minutes it was full and we rolled out.

I love sitting by the window when traveling and I was lucky to be the one close to the window during that journey. My cousin and I fought with who should be sitting close to the window, but after a few minutes of argument, he gave it up.

As the journey progressed, I brought out my headphones and listened to music while feeling the breeze blow against my face. A few hours later, I could see the head bridge that crosses over the River Niger, which means we have almost gotten out of Delta state.

A few minutes later we got to the bridge and it's always intriguing anytime I see it, despite crossing it so many times. The bridge leads into a town known as Onitsha in Anambra state, which has one of the largest markets in West Africa.

The bus stopped at Onitsha Market so everyone can take a break. I had a good amount of money with me so I purchased a local delicacy popularly known as abacha (African salad).

Image source

We left Onitsha after a while and headed for the next town which was the final bus stop. After we got to the final bus stop, my cousin called his mom and asked her for directions to the house. Despite going there every year, we still don't know how to find our way there because a lot can change within a year.

The mom told us to give the phone to a commercial motorcycle rider and she described the place for him. We took two motorcycles and after some minutes, we arrived at the family house where I met my mom and siblings.

The marriage ceremony took place two days later, and it was very memorable with a lot to eat and drink. My cousin and I were placed in charge of the drinks and we took advantage of that to stock our room with lots of drinks.

The marriage ended and the next day was Easter Sunday. We all went to church and when we got back, some people started leaving for their various destinations. My school also gave us Easter Monday as part of the break, so I decided to leave that Monday.

Monday finally arrived and it was time for my cousin and me to leave. Luckily for us, one of our relatives who has a car was also leaving that day because he has to resume work, so we accompanied him and left very early that morning at about 5am.

The journey was more fun compared to when we used a commercial bus, it was very comfortable and we got back to Benin in less than 3 hours. I got enough rest when I finally got home, and the next day I went back to school.

Expecting another trip

I don't know yet if we will be traveling to the East for the Christmas celebration this year, I am really looking forward to it. I haven't heard anything about it from my parents, but I have been in school for the past two months, so maybe they have discussed it (fingers crossed).

I just imagined a scenario in my head if I and my cousin will be traveling together again during December and we get to the bus park

At the ticket stand

Me: Please I need 2 bus tickets

Attendant: what is your destination?

Me: Anambra State

Attendant: Alright, that would be ₦4000 ($8)

Me: No problem, please I will be paying with NomadCoin

Attendant (points to a banner close to the stand): scan the barcode to get our smartBCH address and send your payment there.

Me: Done. Please confirm if you have received it.

Attendant: Payment received. Here are your tickets. Have a nice trip

Me: Thanks

If you're interested in the airdrop and would like to participate, read this article to get details on how to go about it: NomadCoin airdrop is here

Thanks for reading 💗💗💗

September 25, 2021

My smartBCH address is 0x5D90400D9A0ba314cEeE93e184FF92C03fA90a7d