I left home when I was 16. Home is Lagos in Nigeria, but before you ask (or think).. No, I am not Nigerian, I'm Indian.. No, I do not speak the language.. And no, home is not on the beach in a mud hut for all you ignorant creeps out there.
The reason I left Lagos was because all my friends were older and leaving to go to uni and Lagos is only the best place on earth when you have people you love around to do silly things and make dumb mistakes with. But more importantly, I left because I was always pretty average at school in subjects like science and maths, and Lagos didn't offer any creative subjects which sucked and made me feel like a dumb ass, so obviously I was ready to run away to a land of more opportunities.
Somehow my convincing powers worked on my parents and I came back to London to study the most creative of courses that I could find: Film Studies, Media Studies and English Literature. I then went on to study Fashion Management and Marketing followed by Creative Writing but that's another story for another time.
Since the age of 16, my family have come to London to visit me and my big sis a couple of times a year and their longest stays are usually in the summer. Unfortunately this year they had to leave a few weeks earlier because my little sister starts a new high school in Lagos and as it is American, it begins in mid-august (as opposed to mid September like British schools).
Anyway, this summer was the best! It was spent eating out in beautiful restaurants a lot, eating mum's to-die-for home cooked food a lot, watching great films, watching bad Indian soaps, touring through London and laughing so hard.
I love spending time with my family and I only feel that irritation you get from living with people for too long like 1% of the time!
It's definitely a good thing we moved out young because our relationships with our parents developed immensely and we got a lot closer as a unit. I now look forward to seeing them so much, and make soo much time for them when they're here because I miss them like hell when they're gone.
My parents have always let me pursue whatever it is that I wanted to dp, and they have always supported my decisions.. Well maybe not all the decisions I made regarding boys, but most of my other decisions were adequate enough for them to back me on. I am seriously blessed to have such an understanding, crazy, fun, exciting, sentimental and fabulous family.
I hate whenever they leave because the 3 bedroom flat we live in gets sooo quiet with just me and Alex around, so I'm writing this post to remember the good times we had this summer and to take my mind off the little pieces in my heart that are breaking yet again from saying goodbye.
All of the pictures above were taken at J in Primrose Hill. J is my favourite Italian restaurant in the whole of London and possibly the whole wide world because the environment is so intimiate and warm, and the food is divine. Being a Chainani means you need to love food and that's probably why all of us look soo happy in all of these pictures.. Most of them were taken after we had eaten!
The reason I left Lagos was because all my friends were older and leaving to go to uni and Lagos is only the best place on earth when you have people you love around to do silly things and make dumb mistakes with. But more importantly, I left because I was always pretty average at school in subjects like science and maths, and Lagos didn't offer any creative subjects which sucked and made me feel like a dumb ass, so obviously I was ready to run away to a land of more opportunities.
Somehow my convincing powers worked on my parents and I came back to London to study the most creative of courses that I could find: Film Studies, Media Studies and English Literature. I then went on to study Fashion Management and Marketing followed by Creative Writing but that's another story for another time.
Since the age of 16, my family have come to London to visit me and my big sis a couple of times a year and their longest stays are usually in the summer. Unfortunately this year they had to leave a few weeks earlier because my little sister starts a new high school in Lagos and as it is American, it begins in mid-august (as opposed to mid September like British schools).
Anyway, this summer was the best! It was spent eating out in beautiful restaurants a lot, eating mum's to-die-for home cooked food a lot, watching great films, watching bad Indian soaps, touring through London and laughing so hard.
I love spending time with my family and I only feel that irritation you get from living with people for too long like 1% of the time!
It's definitely a good thing we moved out young because our relationships with our parents developed immensely and we got a lot closer as a unit. I now look forward to seeing them so much, and make soo much time for them when they're here because I miss them like hell when they're gone.
My parents have always let me pursue whatever it is that I wanted to dp, and they have always supported my decisions.. Well maybe not all the decisions I made regarding boys, but most of my other decisions were adequate enough for them to back me on. I am seriously blessed to have such an understanding, crazy, fun, exciting, sentimental and fabulous family.
I hate whenever they leave because the 3 bedroom flat we live in gets sooo quiet with just me and Alex around, so I'm writing this post to remember the good times we had this summer and to take my mind off the little pieces in my heart that are breaking yet again from saying goodbye.
Here's a little glimpse into the wonderful worldwind that is a Chainani summer.
Birthday Boy at Phoenix!
The newest member of our family!
Here we are smiling like fools even though we are very aware that we over-paid this fella by a gazillion for a pretty shitty caricature of us!
All of the pictures above were taken at J in Primrose Hill. J is my favourite Italian restaurant in the whole of London and possibly the whole wide world because the environment is so intimiate and warm, and the food is divine. Being a Chainani means you need to love food and that's probably why all of us look soo happy in all of these pictures.. Most of them were taken after we had eaten!
Birthday Boy Number Two!
My sister's and I have definitely come a long way from holding hands with our dad while walking through the park to primary school every morning singing songs from The Sound of Music, and getting our parents to park round the corner from our high school so that we could walk in without them embarrassing us. Now I attach myself onto them like glue whenever I see them and all I want to do is to make them proud. If I am even half of what they are when I'm a parent, then I'll be so grateful.
Of course every relationship with your parents is a turbulent one but we got so lucky with ours that I would never, ever change a thing. I have to wait another few months until I get my mum's unbeatable home-cooking, listen to my dad's wise words of wisdom, and beat up my little sister, Reana, because of her one direction obsession.. But it's definitely worth the wait. Couting down the days! xoxo
No comments:
Post a Comment