Article for Janded
I started writting this article a while back - previous blog 'Why can’t Hausa marry Yoruba, Ibo marry Yoruba, Yoruba marry Oyinbo...and L marry a blond Japanese guy named Han?
So it follows....
‘Will you marry me? Would you marry me regardless – just for me, just for love – just for us?’ I’ll openly admit that the topic of marriage is a painful subject for me, but that’s my history, and a very clouded one at that. However, more and more recently I’m finding myself plagued by the guilt of desertion. I’ll freely admit that I’m in the midst of my first ‘real’ relationship with a fellow country-woman. But as my sister duly notes, ‘This guy you never like to do anything straight sha…’ The girl is not Yoruba.
‘Sha’ is like a colloquial term, for ‘you unknowing, non-natives’; like ‘jo’, ‘I beg’, ‘how far’, etc – they’re expressions used to give emphasis to points. In our own version of the famous British grammar best seller, ‘Eats, Shoots and Leaves’, (namely ‘Pigeon Pigeon: D’ Correct Broken’) you’ll probably find it in the glossary of terms. You’re straying… but I’m on a pothole ridden yellow thinly tarmac road, so I shall continue.
Don’t get me wrong; I’ve fallen lustfully head over heels with a bite size proportion of the population. But apart from a 2 week telephone relationship at age 16/17, a sweet, complicated and seemingly doomed holiday romance (a little more recently – though still mentally pre-pubescent, on my part), not to mention a heavy dose of the unrequited variety, I’d still say that I was a relative novice in dealing with women from my own ‘cape of good hope.’
But if I could make a list of the differences between Yoruba, Hausa or Ibo women (note, I rarely make lists. Oh I make cd lists, and in my youth I was known to make lists of all the women I intended on making out with before my 16th birthday – Sam Fox was right on top and that chick who did that song ‘Boys, Boys, Boys….oooh Sabrina, you made the boy’s dorm a fun place on many a rainy night. And despite what people say, Sam you have more than two things going for you). The list would probably have only one line...... –
I promised a friend i'll give it to her to put on her webzine so check out janded a sort of new age magazine for young nigerians living abroad. i think the site is in the middle of a face lift, but keep an eye on it. It's gonna be pretty cool. Plus i've got to thank a really good friend of mine, N - she's my Eats, Shoots and Leaves mentor.
So it follows....
‘Will you marry me? Would you marry me regardless – just for me, just for love – just for us?’ I’ll openly admit that the topic of marriage is a painful subject for me, but that’s my history, and a very clouded one at that. However, more and more recently I’m finding myself plagued by the guilt of desertion. I’ll freely admit that I’m in the midst of my first ‘real’ relationship with a fellow country-woman. But as my sister duly notes, ‘This guy you never like to do anything straight sha…’ The girl is not Yoruba.
‘Sha’ is like a colloquial term, for ‘you unknowing, non-natives’; like ‘jo’, ‘I beg’, ‘how far’, etc – they’re expressions used to give emphasis to points. In our own version of the famous British grammar best seller, ‘Eats, Shoots and Leaves’, (namely ‘Pigeon Pigeon: D’ Correct Broken’) you’ll probably find it in the glossary of terms. You’re straying… but I’m on a pothole ridden yellow thinly tarmac road, so I shall continue.
Don’t get me wrong; I’ve fallen lustfully head over heels with a bite size proportion of the population. But apart from a 2 week telephone relationship at age 16/17, a sweet, complicated and seemingly doomed holiday romance (a little more recently – though still mentally pre-pubescent, on my part), not to mention a heavy dose of the unrequited variety, I’d still say that I was a relative novice in dealing with women from my own ‘cape of good hope.’
But if I could make a list of the differences between Yoruba, Hausa or Ibo women (note, I rarely make lists. Oh I make cd lists, and in my youth I was known to make lists of all the women I intended on making out with before my 16th birthday – Sam Fox was right on top and that chick who did that song ‘Boys, Boys, Boys….oooh Sabrina, you made the boy’s dorm a fun place on many a rainy night. And despite what people say, Sam you have more than two things going for you). The list would probably have only one line...... –
I promised a friend i'll give it to her to put on her webzine so check out janded a sort of new age magazine for young nigerians living abroad. i think the site is in the middle of a face lift, but keep an eye on it. It's gonna be pretty cool. Plus i've got to thank a really good friend of mine, N - she's my Eats, Shoots and Leaves mentor.
posted by frieddodo at 11.5.05
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