10 things I like about Iwo

I still can't believe that it's been 5 months since I moved to Iwo. Like I've not only implied in earlier posts but also stated, life here has been a very intriguing experience. 

1. Amidst all the experiences, one thing that has stood out for me here is what I call 'blissful backwardness'. Iwo is a town where you'd rediscover things you had thought had gone out of style. Coming from a city where we've moved on to biscuits like orange-blue-pack Cream Crackers, Hob-Nobs and Digestive (the N25 ones), it was exciting for me to rediscover 'Temitope' biscuit (pictured below) here some days ago. I remember them being tougher to chew but I find them softer and more enjoyable now. If you didn't eat this biscuit growing up, you are uncool. 

2. I've also rediscovered 'Kuli-kuli'. For a town located in the west, I find it surprising how popular they are here. Prior to the move to Iwo, I hadn't seen this snack in over a decade. Now, I find myself eating it every other day. Oh, you find 'Baba Dudu' out here, too.

3. I wear a genuine smile when random children on the streets bend their knees to greet me because they don't have to do so but they do. Out here, showing respect is a continuous act, even to people you don't know.

4. Evening walks; where some of my best thinking and dreaming is done. The cool evening breeze and greenness of the atmosphere make this very precious.

5. The toys the kids create (pictured below). Sometimes, an illusion is just enough.

An empty pack of sardines, 4 bottle tops, 2 lollipop sticks and a rope to pull

6. The cleanliness of the streets

7. The typographical errors on sign posts make me chuckle

8. Cheap cost of living. The distance an okada man or a keke-ist would charge N150-N200 for in Lagos, would be N50 here.

9. There's this bakery by my house, I look forward to going past it every morning and getting slapped in the face by the smell of fresh bakery bread. Not from Shoprite or Barcelos, but from Ise Oluwa bakery. 

10. Expanding my Yoruba vocabulary. Ex: 'ifa'mi', the thing with which you draw water from a well, is also called 'doro'.


PS: It's a town, not a village :P