I fell in Love

So today was one of the best days I’ve had in a long long time. I honestly had the time of my life today. My heart is singing with joy even now.

I’ll start with yesterday. Yesterday I was frustrated and at my wits end. I was worried about bills, rent that’s coming, food, basic things like soap, deodorant, etc. In any case, God reminded me that it was okay to ask for help sometimes so I text my sweet friend, Opuda and he promised to help me out, so I went to bed encouraged.

This morning I woke up to an alert, and brand new bills. I didn’t care about the new bill, because I had enough for it. I’m never mad at bills, I’m usually just grateful I can pay them.

Anyway God had told me to get out of my routine today, so I decided to take a walk with my flat mate to her boyfriend’s office, and we had to walk through the park, and let me tell you, my heart started to sing. Walking through the park today made me so happy, it’s insane. I was literally skipping and dancing and hopping.

The flowers, the plants, the grass, the sun, the kids, the play equipment, the bicycles, the rollerblades, the kids, the picnics, that one guy that was taking photos, the people in the little cafe drinking sodas. Everything about it screamed home. My heart finally feels at home.

I thought I loved Abuja, but Istanbul is my new favorite city. Abuja might be my first love, (city) but Istanbul is my new, and so much better love. It’s the first place I’ve truly felt at home. Like my spirit and soul. The first place that’s truly fit me as a person. You know how you’re wandering through life, knowing you don’t fit in anywhere around you, and you finally find a place that fits you? That’s Istanbul for me.

It’s cultured, yet modern; it’s fashionable, it’s vibrant and youthful, yet ancient and rich. It’s not dirty, yet it’s not too clean. There’s old houses and new houses, condos and apartment buildings.

The young men are fineeeeeeeeee with perfectly oiled and styled hair and delicately trimmed beards. The middle aged men are bumping 50Cent jams from the 00’s at ridiculously high levels in their cabs as they speed off to drop you off at your destination or pushing carts full of all kinds of sweets and treats for the kids at home. The older men are either lewd and inappropriate, or friendly and warm as they eat lunch on the porch of the neighborhood family friendly restaurant, or kind and fatherly as they give you an item for free in their used furniture and home appliances shop.

The kids are too adorable. This little girl waved at me today with her ice cream lollipop in one hand, and the other holding her dad’s hand as they strolled down the sidewalk. The little boys play soccer in the middle of the streets, and move to the side when a car passes by. They also hide when you try to photograph them. The little girls sit on the porches and play with themselves while grandma combs their hair.

The middle aged women are shy, and family oriented, usually wearing hijabs, and pushing prams, yet it’s perfectly normal to see an older lady with greying side burns standing on her porch holding the paper and smoking a cigarette, the younger women are usually in a hurry, jeans, converses, and backpacks with hair cascading down their backs.

Today I fell in love with a city, and it was soooooo much fun. I‘m so grateful to God for making me get out of my comfort zone today, for pushing me out of Lagos, and for blessing me with a new place for my soul to love.

Love, Yoma.