A Weekend Trip to Ibadan: Weddings, Friends, and Unexpected Adventures

Last weekend, I travelled to Ibadan for the wedding of a coursemate. Ibadan is not far from Abeokuta, which is the place I am studying, and it is just an hour and a half away from Abeokuta. Before finally making the decision to leave, I had some contemplations about it because the wedding was on a Sunday and I am not accustomed to Ibadan.

The number of times I have been to Ibadan in my entire life should not be more than 4 to 5 times, and they are moments that I cannot even remember where I went. I didn't go alone, I simply went with family or friends in a private car, and it had been a long while, so anything I knew about navigating Ibadan, I had forgotten.

Aside from the fact that I wanted to travel to Ibadan for my friend's wedding, the secondary reason for wanting to go to Ibadan was to visit Pearl. It had been a while since we saw each other, and I wanted to know where she stays at Ibadan. The only way I can visit her and still attend the wedding is to have travelled to Ibadan on Friday, get to her place on Saturday, and visit the wedding on Sunday, but the issue I had was that there was nobody I knew in Ibadan that I could stay with for those 3 days unless I chose to book a hotel.

I was perplexed about the whole situation, and didn't know what to do. I was about to give up on travelling until a friend of mine called me to tell me he was travelling for the same event on Friday, and I thought to ask him if it was possible to come along with him. I was so glad when he agreed that I could come along. It resolved all my stress from thinking about what I should do.

Apparently my friend was going to his sister's place at Ibadan and she stayed in a single room self contain apartment. I was surprised with the possible incovenience I may place on them, the sister agreed I should come around. I was so happy with the help and was able to travel with my friend that Friday.

Meeting with Pearl at Ibadan...

The next day, I set out to meet Pearl at the place where she stayed in Ibadan. I had not been there before, but I got directions on how to get her location from my place. I set out almost at noon, and in about 30 minutes, I was already at her place or not far from her place, as I had to wait for almost 15 minutes for Pearl to pick me up from where she asked me to wait for her.

I must confess, I got a little bit pissed from the waiting, especially after knowing that her house was less than 5 minutes away from where she asked me to wait for her.

Pearl's mom was so happy to see me, she gave me a welcome hug, went in to take out old photos of Pearl when she was a lot younger, and brought them to me to check. Thereafter, she asked me what I would eat and I requested Amala and Ewedu, which she went in to prepare for me. I assisted Pearl in cutting the Ewedu while looking at her old pictures. Pearl had been so cute since she was little.

Before the meal was ready, I had spent some time playing FIFA with her elder brother in her room. Out of the 4 games we played, I only won the first game, and he won the rest. I anticipated he would win because he played the game more often, while for me, it was my first time playing it this year.

Hangout with Pearl...

Before getting to Ibadan, Pearl had promised that she would take me out to some places, but after I got there, I waited for over two hours trying to signal to Pearl when we would be hanging out, but she gave an excuse, trying to put the blame on me for not coming early. I could get the sense of what she was trying to do there.

I waited for an extra 3 hours, but yet Pearl was not ready. I wasn't happy, but I didn't bother her about it because I saw she was busy helping her mom with some things. It was about 6 hours after my arrival that she said we should start heading out, and at this time, it was evening and the day was getting dark. We could not spend a lot of time outside because of how late we left.

Regardless of the time we left, we still had fun together. We got sharwarma, but I didn't like it when I tasted it, and at the same time, we decided to try out the ice-creams available in the store.

Before we left, we had to get meatpies for everyone at home. I had the opportunity to bond with the Pearl family—her mom, her brother, her dad, and her aunties—before taking my leave.

The Wedding...

On Sunday morning, which was the wedding day, I had to go to church before setting out to the wedding. This was the first time I was attending a Muslim wedding, and I planned on going to the wedding with Pearl. On getting there, I was surprised that males and females were not allowed to sit together. Pearl was my guest, and she did not know anybody, so I had to leave the seat I was given to somewhere else where I could sit with Pearl. I do not understand the reason for the rules, but I have learned to respect other people's beliefs.

I was not able to take pictures of the bride and groom together, but I took pictures with my friend and with only the groom before leaving. The groom, who is my friend, was not easy to access as he is the man of the day but I managed to before leaving the occasion.