The tantalizing scent of jollof rice and smoke travels through the sandy air and fills every room of the hectic home. The busy roads echo throughout the household and compliment the bustle of the constant conversation from long-lost relatives. Hair pinned, wide-grinned and flamboyant in dress, senior Chigozie Okuagu grows closer with distant family members through laughter and new found memories before the new year.

Okuagu, a first-generation American and Kansas native has not visited her parents home country of Nigeria since 2003. The long awaited trip sparked excitement from Okuagu and her fellow siblings as it would be a new experience for the younger ones. Although this excitement was met with several layovers, early leaving flights and almost four days of traveling by plane and car, the Okuagus took these delays as extra opportunities to explore the country of Nigeria even more.

“It was a nice break from normal society,” Okuagu said. “It opened my eyes to a whole new world.”

Saying goodbye to the unsurmounted number of variables in the airports, Okuagu reached her final destination of Abatete village in the state of Anambra as she met up with the rest of her family who left over a week earlier from Kansas City. Once there, Okuagu shared her cousin’s home alongside the rest of the family for almost a month before traveling back to Overland Park. Here, Okuagu was able to connect more with her cousins since everyone was within walking distance in the gated community. This short distance made it easier for everyone to celebrate Mass during the holidays and the parties that followed Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

“It was good to be able to see my relatives, they encouraged me to learn more about our family history, and I think it made me into a more wholesome person looking back at it now,” Okuagu said.

Okuagu spent most of her time with her family, especially during Mass during most of the week, including holidays. In Abatete and in Nigeria as a whole, religion is dominant in everyday life. In contrast to America, there is no separation of church & state. However, Mass in the village was different. It was longer, more frequent and was in pure Ibo, one of the many native languages of Nigeria. Younger sister and sophomore Munachi Okuagu noted the strong religious aspect of the culture there. It is so strongly intertwined with the people in Nigeria that “in the name of the holy ghost” could be seen on a bottle of water or alongside a “welcome in” sign for a store.  

“It was a culture shock, honestly,” Munachi said. “But it was good to have reinforcements for our own faith.”

Although time was spread between family and Mass, Okuagu found enjoyment in the road trips she took alongside her cousins. Everyone bundled into one car to travel to the nearest grocery store 30 minutes away on slim, uneven roads. At the grocery store there was more cell service than in Abatete, but being used to not checking her phone, the advantages of breaking away from society outweighed using social media. Since she had limited access to internet service, Okuagu dove into some history of the surrounding area of the village. Her father, Raymond Okuagu, took her with her uncles to visit the home of Chinua Achebe, the author of “Things Fall Apart”, her paternal grandmother’s house and roadside retailers on the way back to Abatete.  

It was a trip long overdue for her siblings and something she has been looking forward to since 2003. The whole family enjoyed it so much this year, according to older sister and alumna Chioma Okuagu, that it may become an every other year informal family reunion.

“It was easy to take all the sights and sounds, everything back in after so long, but it was a nice break from college,” Chioma said.

Though their break was not traditional in any sense of the word, the Okuagus found a stronger sense of their culture on their trip to Nigeria. Their Christmas was not filled with many presents nor their New Year’s Eve with many bottles of sparkling grape juice, but in the end, it was all worthwhile to spend it with their family, according to Okuagus. However, it made saying goodbye bittersweet when the month was up. Yet, Okuagu will have her mother’s traditional Nigerian cooking, albums of pictures and family jokes to remind her of excitement for the next trip.

“Nigeria was the present. We’re really grateful to have gotten this opportunity because not many people get this experience in their lifetime,” Munachi said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime vacation I won’t forget.”