Wednesday 12 October 2011

So I'm dreaming BIG

I consider myself a very social person. Bar the past six months when I became a hermit (not proud of it, but it was hard hanging around people that just seemed to have their lives together...so I didn't), you can always count on me to be gregarious and looking for the next adventure. I remember, for example deciding spur of the moment to travel to DC with my then future bf to see Obama get inaugurated. Don't be fooled, this was nowhere near as glamorous as it sounds. Imagine waking up at  3am, walking 2 miles to the muddy field, waiting in the below freezing temperatures for 6 hours, all to witness a 20 minute speech. Still it was fun (picture a wistful smile on my face). 

Anyway, the point is I'm up for anything, just let it be different, let it be entertaining, I'll be there. But in order to live that lifestyle, I have to be in that environment and PH is not that environment. It just isn't. I think I'm waking up to smell the coffee.

The problem is PH doesn't have a culture of going out. This is in part due to all the security risks of the past half decade, but even before that it wasn't really in the blood. PH is more a stay home and entertain yourself, visit your friends, go to a wedding, kiss your kids goodnight and go to sleep kind of a place. It doesn't have the work-hard-play-hard attitude of Lagos, or the too-much-money-let's-party vibe of Abuja. PH revolves around quiet gatherings, family, and 'occasions'. For example, you hear of a man above 24 in a nightclub and the first question is: What was he doing there? Doesn't he have a home to go to?

I went to Lagos last weekend and I could have died of envy. See my mates, working in banks, law firms, publishing houses, making bank, and living Lagos. We got together for a drink at Radisson Bleu, this bar in the Radisson hotel overlooking the lagoon. All around me were Buppies, wearing suits and cocktail dresses, jeans and ankara. We sipped drinks all night (I stuck to my beloved Chapman, double Campari thank you very much) and told hilarious stories and I met at least three interesting people. I was like fish in water after trying to survive on land...I'd been suffocating without even realizing it! Ok, that's a tad dramatic...

Either way I had an excellent time and sunk into a pensive state wondering if I made the right choice. What exactly do I have going for me in PH? How was I going to survive without outdoor bars with uber trendy French names? Que depression, followed closely by mild anxiety and acute ambivalence.

Then, I sort of snapped to attention. Who was I kidding? I'm not a Lagos babe. First of all, where would I work? I'm into construction. I want to build bridges and highways. I want to design whole new cities. I want to change the landscape. Exactly where in Lagos does that fit? Also, in construction, you keep crazy hours. During my internship, I worked 6.30am to 4pm daily. I had almost no social life but I loved every second of it. Well not every second - on more than one occasion I couldn't make it out of my car and into my house, so I'd park and fall asleep behind the wheel...for a solid 5 hours! Oh, also the pay was excellent so that definitely helped.

But, and it's a big one, I was forgetting the most important part: I love a challenge. Even more than I love being social. In Lagos, life would be fun and cool and full of laughs, but I'd just be a spectator, a participant. Now imagine if I could actually turn PH around. Make it a place where Buppies can actually find fun, instead of biding their time. Because make no mistake, there are tons of Buppies in PH. All the oil companies, law firms, banks, they employ them by the hundreds. But they go to work, go home, watch box set dvds of Game of Thrones, sleep, then repeat. It's up to me (lol, delusions of grandeur much?) to take them by the hand and say: Look, fun!

So I have dreams: Port Harcourt Social Club

A group of like minded people that meet once a month or so and do really fun things. I'm thinking weekend bbqs and pool parties, football tournaments, tennis matches, spa retreats, happy hours and of course, clubbing nights.

Also, let's think bigger. Why not have theatre performances, opera, gallery openings, etc? It could work, there just needs to be interest.

Right now, there's only one member, moi. But watch this space people. There's nothing I like more than a project.

If anyone would like to be part of PHSC (hmm, I might look for a cooler acronym for this) or know someone who would be perfect for it, then just let me know in the comments.

Till next time,

L.

PS, if you're looking for fun, run Google in Pidgin. It's good for at least 5 minutes of smiles. Better yet, read the Bible in Pidgin. (John 1:1--From wen taim bigin na im di word dey, and di word dey wit God, and God kpa kpa Imsef na im bi di word.) Funny enough, after you get over the initial snickering, the Bible actually starts to make more sense. Go figure.

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