Something Blue

If there's one thing this weekend has taught me, it's that you can make plans but God has the Master version

I hate to write long posts but there is no way yo make this any shorter. I apologize if your eyes hurt after a bit but hey it's your girl, bob-ij so you can pop some Advil or Tylenol on my behalf. No?


 This past weekend was a roller coaster. Plans changed so much that there were no plans anymore. It was the Caribana Weekend in Toronto and there was a Naeto C 10/10 concert being hosted by naijaura.com on Sunday 31, 2011. My sister (Ifie) and I happily purchased out tickets ti the event, eager to hear some Nigerian music. Our Ottawa crew was  also going to be there almost in full. What better way to have a reunion than to party hard on the biggest summer weekend in Toronto.


After buying affordable tickets on the Greyhound to Toronto from Montreal, the morning of our deprature, an extremely nice person purchased us $600 tickets to use the train and advised us to discard our bus ticket. (Yes this was real and very unexpected)


My little sister (Debbie) was due to arrrive Toronto on the sunday of the concert from Nigeria. We were really excited about this till my dad called on Saturday morning. The agent (who has bought our tickets several times) assumed the regular plans and purchased my little sister a ticket to Montreal. Given that she's 12 and travelling as an Unaccompanied Minor, my sister and I were the only people listed to pick her up.


So, ifie and I had to say goodbye to a perfectly planned party night on sunday and make our way to Montreal on the first train back. Goodbye to our outfits, a relaxing weekend since Monday was a civic holiday in Ontario and Goodbye to fun in general. The ticket had already been purchased and fees needed to be paid for the transfer. 


SAD and UPSET is an understatement of how we felt. We were so depressed about the change that we went shopping for shoes with our aunt and came back with full hands. 


After hearing the sad news that we will not be partying with them on sunday, a couple of our friends decided to go for sushi and hangout. What was a 6-person reservation, turned into a sushi party of 18 people! The poor host just gave us a separate room. In true Nigerian nature we yelled and even sang some Nigerian commercials tunes.


Hearing everyone try to look for alternate arrangements for ifie and I to stay/ go and come back was heart-warming. Our friend even offered to donate for a plane ticket, another offered his car, another offered to have a friend pick my baby sister up. None of these were feasible but the thoughts made me really emotional. They wanted a complete family and we were the missing link.


The hastened departure meant that I stayed awake till 6:30am putting in braids for my aunt that I initially promised to do before Monday evening. Ifie was helping braid the ends but in true Murphy's Law nature, she felt sick and had to go to bed. 


Three hours later we got into our 9:25am train at 9:23am, we barely made it. Our late arrival then put us on a train that was detaching from an original one straight to Montreal, and went to Ottawa first instead. A 7-hour train ride as opposed to a 5-hour one.


Getting to Montreal we entered a taxi from the train station and when we told the driver we were off to the airport. He took out our luggage and chased us away into a FREE shuttle. 


Already late to the airport, we raced in to find that our sister's flight had been delayed by 2 hours. Giving us and hour and a half waiting time.


That was the last straw. Ifie and I found a bench at the airport and took a long-needed nap. It all was well worth it when I saw my baby sister. I'd do it over and over again. And complain of course, but this is family, this is what I love. There is never a dull moment. I'm hanging tight on this roller-coaster; I scream and then I laugh.


If you were confused at any point in this story or at least flustered, then you have a really tiny taste of how we felt this weekend. So please raise your coffee cups to a stressful and not restful weekend but a lovely week to follow.

Yours Truantly,

Ij