Wouldn't it be nice...Staci Lyn

Ever since I was very young I traveled with my family. My first vacation was to Florida to go to Disney World. Obviously I was too young to remember or even know what was going on at the time, but I watch home videos to relive the moment. As my sister and I got older my parents took us farther and farther away from home, and soon out of the country. First we traveled to London and Paris then a couple years later they decided to take us to Nigeria. My father had been traveling there since I was 9 and wanted to take me when I was older. When we traveled out of the country the first time it was only a week and a half, but this trip was a week longer and the plane ride was 8 hours longer. I wasn’t afraid of flying, but I was afraid of being away from home.

Just like Sarah I wanted to get away and see other parts of the world. There were certain parts of the world that I wanted to see more than others and I was ready to leave ASAP. I love to travel and see new places but I didn’t know what Nigeria had in store for me. Since my father traveled there frequently he had friends who lived there and was familiar with the country. Luckily I had him to guide me unlike Sarah. Fortunately my sister brought her iPod so we could watch American television and listen to American music. I needed that to feel at home and not think about being in a different country at night. They also had computers so I could communicate with my friends back home. As much as I loved being away and in a different country it wasn’t easy to explain how much I loved home and how much I missed it. I didn’t want to offend my friends in Africa, but I really wanted to sleep in my own bed and have all my things with me. Being in Nigeria taught me a lot, but I felt like I needed to be home after a certain time.

Being in another country that isn’t the same as your own can be mind boggling. I knew of the culture and I have Nigerian friends here in America, but there is something different about the people there. When Sarah first moved, her father was trying to shoot off his gun in the back yard, which didn’t make Sarah’s mom too happy. There are social norms and taboos that I wasn’t used to. Unlike America, the kids in Nigeria are extremely polite and respectful of elders and people of authority. The government and clergymen were usually of higher power. Since my father is a pastor he was treated differently than others. It was refreshing to see such young people with amazing attitudes and such respect for other people in general. It took some getting used to curtseys and bows than hugs and handshakes