First move, first story, first recording

I sat.

My firt "official" interview with my grandfather. A conscious interview out of many informal interviews, conversations, snippets of sentences about my grandfather's life in Nigeria. Listened to throughout my childhood.

I grew up with my grandfather's story of how he travelled from Lebanon to Nigeria by boat. As a little girl who asked countless and countless of questions to whomever would give me answers, this one story would always come up as lips would impart words to sparkling, curious wide eyes and perked up ears. Chin settled on hands.

My little head would extend a little whenever I needed to ask a clarifying question. Or just blurt out the often used words that enveloped my character: "really?!".... "no way!" Appropriate facial expression followed.

Now 29, I sat with a recorder in my hand -- an investment that I realized could be time-consuming without the ability to automatically transcribe the oral conversation to digital --- acutely aware of how formal it feels to "prepare" for a story. Ignoring awareness, I start, I listen and I concentrate as my jeddo begins his story about the journey he took to Africa.

Years in Formation

Born in Warri, raised in Port Harcourt, I had lived in Nigeria until the ripe age of thriteen. A ripe age to begin my journey of confusion starting from a 4-6 hour one way ticket from Nigeria, land of my birth, to Lebanon, land of my ancestry (not counting the fact that like almost everyone else in this country we most probably immigrated from somewhere else to an area not even called "Lebanon" yet), to living in Beirut for 10 years, to living in the US for 5 years and back again....

As years flew by during my stay in Lebanon, I became more and more aware of my own "personal history," aware of myself as a Lebanese having lived in Nigeria and how that could possibly make me different from everyone else around me.

Of course, its well known that Lebanese communities have and still live in Nigeria..... from big city Lagos to small-big town Port Harcourt ... but eventually I came to understand that living in Port Harcourt, a town with a small Lebanese community may have made all the difference, in my character, my thoughts, my movements, my feelings.... the question always came to my mind as a young girl...if I grew up in Lebanon...what kind of person would I have grown up to be? At the time...my answer almost always ended up with.... Lebanese ...

An Introduction

"Nigerianese" is a blog that aims to offer antedotes and stories of the migration of a particular Lebanese family to Nigeria - my family.

Based on my family's memories, my grandfather's accounts and additional research of Lebanese migration to Africa- specifically Nigeria- I hope to take you (the reader) through a kaleidoscope of stories and antecdotes of migration and settlement, of growing up an "expat" or a "Third Culture Kid," of perceptions, of bias, of thoughts .... as the world seemingly gets smaller and smaller blurring or widening the line between difference and similarity.

Through memories, thoughts, interviews with my family or merely just family conversations --- I hope to "go with the flow" on the accounts and research that may come my way or (as is usually the case) I "dive" into.

My audience? .... whoever is interested or not interested ... family, friends, strangers, critics... all will really depend on which road OR roads I end up taking... I think?!

So for the moment, welcome and enjoy! :)