How Yaji almost disgraced me.

                                           

Hey People!

Remember the Abroad gist I was giving you guys?

Well, it continues here….

So, I have heard from a lot of people (Pssst, Miss B) how certain food items are not allowed into some countries and how sometimes one could get flagged or even fined for carrying said items…

Well, Yours truly decided not to take any food items along when travelling so as to avoid stories that touch the heart. So I happily packed my bags but just as I was about to leave the house, I thought about yaji. 
What Northern person doesn’t have yaji handy, just in case?

That is how I took my yaji along oh.
I arrived the abroad with my yaji and was very convinced that carrying it along was  a very wise decision as the blandness of the plane food almost got me sick. I said to myself ‘Thank God you carried your yaji because if this is how the abroad food is, then there shall be wahala…

Moving on...

I got my bags and was struggling with them when I heard ‘do you have any agricultural something something in your bag?’  I am not sure if it was the phoney the lady was speaking or my ears were temporarily blocked but I truly did not hear the rest of it after agricultural….

Now the problem was this.... at the point, I could not decide if yaji was agricultural something……so I walked up to the lady asking and nodded (better to be told nah, you are clean than to be nabbed, right?)

After the nod, she directed me to a guy who asked where I was coming from.
“Nigeria” I said, and I would have raised 2 fingers in the air, Naija style but fear did not gree me. 
He smiled.
I smiled back at him

Do you have kilishi? He asked

Me: No

Him: Egusi?

Me: No

Him: Crayfish?

Me: No

At this point, he is probably thinking which kind fake naija person be this and I was  thinking to myself “looks like I am crushing this thing”. 

Crushing it!

Then he asked:

Him: So, what do you have?

Me: *crickets*

Him: *waiting for answer*

Me: *blank*

He looked at me, I looked at him.

He smiled, I smiled,
He was waiting….

Are you wondering why I was quiet?

Ewoooooo!!!

I was quiet because I did not know the name of yaji in English!

I tried. I tried hard and in my most humble, meek voice, 
I said “yaji”….

Him: What was that?

Me: Yaji…

Then I tried to explain what yaji is to him… he said "oh, ok. Can I see it?" Behold, that was when village people decided to gather…. I had no idea which of my bags had the yaji. Remember it was at the last minute I decided to go with the yaji? Well, the truth is that I was not the one that actually put the yaji in the bag so I had no clue where it was!

I held my head in anguish and thought “they have followed me” Brother man was waiting for me to make a move. I decided to say the truth. I told him I was trying to figure out which of the bags had the yaji and he waited…

I finally found the yaji and I showed it to him. He looked at it, smiled (again!) and let me go. I thanked him and walked out of the airport into a very windy road, with no clue which way to go and one of my bags fell off the trolley… 

Yup, I was a mess after about 24 hours in transit but I made it out with my yaji in tow…

And that is how yaji almost disgrace me in the abroad.

Before I conclude, please who knows what yaji is called in English?
Help me. Please. Because I cannot come and go and embarrass myself anymore. 

Oh, have a great International Day of the girl child... 
#GirlPower 
#CelebrateGirls
#GodBlessGirls 
#MommaOfGirls 
#CrushTheGlassCeiling