The Reality Of Life Back Then

Back in the days when I was still a child, we were treated so perfectly just because of village life. I lived most of my life in a village where things could happen, and others would run just to help me.

Julia M Cameron
Celebration has been the other of the day, as Christmas celebration only comes once in a blue moon.

To be candid, we loved eating prepared Cassandra flakes, popularly known as Gary (Eba). This is what we were used to, and eating rice, the general food of nowadays, was not the same as when I was still a child, and I'm the village. My parents would only cook rice anytime there was a celebration.

The food we were raised with was this same Eba, and running away from it was not it, as it has become part of our lives.

My dad would not joke about it, even though there are other foods like yam, plantains, and the like. He loved eating this same Eba constantly but with the support of plantains. If there are no plantains as part of his food, it means his food is yet to be completed. This is why my mum always loved to prepare his food alongside the plantains.

When Christmas arrived, we would smile with rice, as every home would and must cook rice. The air would be filled with different kinds of aromas. So, we served people even though they prepared their rice especially. It was a culture and what I have been raised with. People would also serve you with rice, as they have this orientation of giving us reciprocal. They had seen it as a blessing.

After eating rice that celebration day, the next day we will eat rice again would be another celebration day. We have three celebration days, which are Christmas, New Year (first of January), and Easter. Not all the celebration days cook rice anyway, but it is mostly cooked during the Christmas and New Year periods.

These days and back in the day are two different things entirely. When I started growing up, civilization started taking place, most especially in my area. Everyone started widening their eyes to grab the culture of the white people (this is what my dad called it). People started eating this same rice we always eat once in a blue moon every day. It is how the other of the day, most especially to the children.

My children cannot do without eating rice daily; in fact, my two youngest children do not eat Eba (prepared cassava flakes); instead would go for rice. They can eat rice even if they see it every moment, but my husband and my first girl happened to still be keeping the culture of those days. It was just as if my daughter had lived with us when it was happening, or maybe it was an inheritance.

One day when I traveled home from the city, my mum asked if I would prefer rice since I was with my first daughter. I was surprised to hear that from her. Although it was so many years before I started visiting my parents, just because of distance. I had to ask my mum, “What happened when you mentioned rice? Why not the usual swallow daily?”

She replied, “The reason for this may not be clear to you.”.

Her response kept me in the dark, as I wanted to clear the air. I asked her, but she was not ready to tell me the reason; instead, she said it was best known to her and those who had this same mentality back in the day.

I went to visit my friend and was surprised to see rice prepared in their kitchen. She even asked me if she should prepare rice for me, but I was left in shock. I asked her the same question I had asked my mum, but she did not give me a tangible reply; I instead said civilization was just the reason. I just accepted it that way, but then I did not just keep quiet; instead, I had to ask my dad to give me the cogent reason why rice is now eaten frequently in the house instead of the usual once in a blue moon. My dad did not hesitate to give me the reply I was waiting to hear: “Money and civilization.”.

I later got the reason rice was eaten once in a blue moon in the village and the whole area I came from those days. To be sincere, rice is now eaten frequently, unlike before.