Journey back home from school.

Hello, everyone.

I welcome you to my blog. It's the festive season, and I have not traveled home since March. I have been in school even during the holidays, all because they were too short, and wasting money on transportation for such a short break was a no for me, so I stayed back in school, though it was boring staying alone as a lot of people traveled.

_{designed on canva.}

It's the festive season, and the school left everyone in shock as a memo was released stating that the break was scheduled for just one week again. Another short break, and I was left thinking again if I should go home or not. All the plans I had mapped out for Christmas had to change; even my family that planned to travel to the village did not travel again, so it was going to be less stressful for me.

I left my room at around 6:20 am to go to the park where I was to board a bus to Abakiliki. It's the festive season, so I was not surprised when I was told at the park that from Abia to Abakiliki, which used to be 3,000 naira ($3), is now 5,000 naira ($5), a more than 50% increment. I paid, but with a heavy heart because I am now tampering with the money I am not supposed to touch. The only question ringing in my head was, if from Abia to Abakiliki I am charged 5,000 naira, how much will they charge from Abakiliki to cross River State?

We left the park at around 8 a.m., and the number of military checkpoints on the road was alarming. I felt like after every two kilometers, you see the military men all asking drivers for money and threatening they won't let them go if they don't pay. It was time-wasting and energy-consuming to stop after every few kilometers to please these men and do their bidding.

I arrived in Abakiliki at around 12 p.m; a 3-hour journey turned into 4 hours, all because of the time wasted at the checkpoints. I had to board another vehicle heading to Cross River State, which is my final destination. Here, I was shocked to hear that they now charge 5,000 ($5) naira to cross River State; it used to be between the range of 2,000 naira ($2) and 2,500 naira ($2.5). The price of transportation skyrockets with no explanation, and nobody is asking questions.

_{at the park in abakiliki.}

We wasted about 30 minutes at the park trying to wait for other passengers. At around 12:30 p.m, the vehicle moved, and we were en route to cross River State Ikom, to be precise. I arrived home at exactly 3 p.m, took a shower, washed away all the school stress, and headed straight to the kitchen. Indeed, there's no place like home; a meal I buy for a lot of tokens in school were given to me in large quantity for free.

_{Dinner (rice, meat and salad). No place like home.}

Thanks for reading my post and compliments of the season.