Memories

I've been having thoughts, as of late, of when I was a little kid, in Nigeria, before coming to the U.S.  I was born in Gusau or what used to be called Gusau, Sokoto State.  I heard they changed the name of the town I was born.  Anyway, I was born in Gusau and was there till just before we left for America.  I can remember the days, months leading up to our departure.  I can remember we left Gusau and were in our house in Festac.  I loved that house.  It was a new development, at the time.  The front had cobblestones and it had a roundabout. I can remember flying on the plane and being terrified.  Before our departure, my friends and I had been talking about how you can find out if your plane will crash by the color of the clouds.  If the clouds were white to blue, you were safe.  If the clouds were yellow to orange, you'd be fine, but would experience extreme turbulence.  BUT, if they clouds were red, your plane would crash and you would die.  Mind you, we were five and this was the conversation we were having.  lol.  So, as we flew, I was very mindful of the clouds.  For the whole trip, they were white to blue, so I was happy that our plane wasn't going to crash.  So, we land in America.  Things were certainly different from what I knew in Nigeria.  I remember the first time I saw green grapes.  I thought they were unripe tomatoes that were really small and just needed time to ripen.  The first time I ate a Red Delicious apple, I used my teeth to scrape the skin to get to the white "meat".  I did this while we were in my mom's car and the friend she was talking to corrected me and told me I was supposed to eat the whole thing.  I can also remember my first day in 2nd grade.  My mom had come to my class to tell me that I could walk home by myself and I would be able to take swimming lessons.  When my instructor asked me what my mom said, I spoke broken to her and she couldn't understand a lick of what I was saying, my classmates had to translate.  Memories.  It's amazing the things we remember, what we hold on to and let go of.  I usually ask people what their earliest memories are and I get different answers.  My earliest memory is of when my sister was born and was brought home.  I remember how angry I was that she was home, cause now I had to share my mom and dad, moreso my mom.  lol.  Now, she's my best friend and can't imagine life without her.  That's it.  If I remember anything, I'll be sure to let you know.  lol.  Take care.