I've always wanted to keep a journal-there was always something so. . idyllic about putting my thoughts down on paper,imprinting memories worth keeping  with my trusty Schneider pen.
I never actually got to it-until now.
There've been some changes in my life-i graduated from High school and i'm in University,Uniben.
I had to move from Lagos to Benin,and my life is in a different phase altogether.
I write-stories,poems,etc etc,but this journal is different. It's about my life and saving the thoughts and memories i know i'd want to remember in the future.
Like my topic says,i'm a teenager-17(ish),i'm studying Economics and Statistics,and chances are,this year or next,my dad'll enroll me for the ICAN exams.
Well that's enough of an introduction.
I'm gonna try to write something at least once every day.

I feel compelled to tell you that i am a bit of a brain. I'm like a nerd except i'm not socially inept. Not to blow my own trumpet or anything(okay,who am i kidding? If i don't blow my own trumpet,who will? ),i'm a helluva lot smarter(and not just book smarts) than most people my age and it shows in the way i think,write,talk etc.
Oh dear,i think i sound a wee bit conceited. *sigh*
Well enough of that. Today's entry:
I'm in Warri. School's on break because of the NUGA games so all of us were chased outta school on the 12th i think,and the games started a week after.
I had to go see the dentist and take out two of teeth. Two molars on both sides of my mouth.
It wasn't pretty. See,i've had problems with my teeth for like a year,and i refused to go to the dentist's(because i was scared)so i managed my teeth like that.
On Saturday(the 12th)a molar in the only side of my mouth that was working broke off piece by bloody piece when i was eating. So there i was,both sides of my mouth out of order. I couldn't eat(except with my incisors and canines). I had gotten to the point of no return.
It was time for me to toughen up and face my fears. I couldn't very well eat with my front teeth for the rest of my life,could i?
So i decided to go to the dentist's on Monday. I didn't leave on time and i had a couple of things to do in school and by the time i was done,it was too late to go.
So on Tuesday,we went to the dentistry in UBTH,we being my sister and i.
Did i forget to tell you that my sisters are in Uniben? They're twins and they're in 200l. One's reading my course-Ecostat and the other's reading Maths and Eco. There's three years between us but we're insanely close. I imagine you'll hear a lot about them and other members of my family as time goes on.
So anyways one of them followed me to the dentistry.
Good Lord,you should've been there. You shoulda seen people with swollen jaws so big it looked like mumps,all in varying states of pain.
I saw a couple of people come out of the OR with gauze/cotton wool in their mouths and blood pouring out of their mouths. Needless to say,that didn't do anything for my nerves.
My liver almost failed me.
I musta looked like a rabbit about to bolt because my sister tapped me and told me to stop staring at the blood in such a horrified way. I didn't know it showed.
So we waited. And waited. And waited.
I have to tell you,UBTH's dentistry dept(i don' know whether the whole hospital's like that) is the crappiest hospital i've ever been to,
No sense of order at all. Students and doctors were just walking up and down,and everything was beyond hap-hazard.
After a few hours(that's right,hours!)i finally got to go into the oral diagnosis room.
The nurse there wanted to take my blood pressure and when read my file she saw that i was under-age. The silly woman embarrased me,saying i was a kid and i didn't have any blood pressure. Mscheww. . Couldn't she have done it coded-ly?
In the end she took my weight and then the student doctor came in to examine my teeth.
At this point my temper was already at a boiling point. Waiting aimlesslyfor 5 hours'll do that to you.
The student doctor was a cutie,so that made me calmer. Marginally so,but calmer all the same.
He asked me a bunch of funny questions,like did i drink(to which i said yes)and he looked surprised. I smiled and said;'don't go thinking i drink beer oh,it'sj ust Smirnoff ice. I can't drink anything that's bitter' and he says 'okay,for a moment i was worried there).
He's got lovely teeth,i can't help but noticing. He really is a cutie.
The exam goes on for a bit and then i tell him i want to take out one of my bad teeth and leave the other one. Another doctor,a real one this time or at the very least a final year student comes in and says they'll have to take x-rays of both teeth first. Obviously,the one that was already in pieces(at least 90% of it had broken off) would be extracted,but the other one(at most 30% of it had broken off) might bot be extracted but they wouldn' be sure until after the x-rays.
I said cool and paid 1,500 for the x-rays. They told me an extraction was 2,500 each,and they couldn't do an extraction without an S & P which was 3,500. I said cool and we set an appointment for Wednesday. Inside me,my heart was going into over-drive.

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The problem with my teeth was caused by overindulgence in sweets,ice-cream,chocolate etc. My dad had always warned me about my sugar intake,and when i say always,i mean always.
You know all those practical fathers that teach their kids practical lessons? That's my dad.
When my teeth problem started,he told me with not a little glee that he would not be involved in my tooth matter.
I would pay my dentist bills myself,he said.
This was a lesson in facing the consequences of my actions,being responsible for what i do and all that Zen crap.
When my dad said this,i told myself that i would give him time. When he saw his favorite daughter(okay favorite is a bit of a misnomer-my dad doesn't have any favorites;i just happen to be his last girl and the one closest to him. My sisters are closer to our mother,while i'm closer to him-i'm a daddy's girl) in pain,he wouldn't be able to stand it,right? WRONG. He was able to stand it pretty well.
For the one year my teeth bothered me when i was still in Lag,he told me to handle it myself andhe never got involved.
So i knew i was gonna have to pay the bills myself. My cousin had extracted a tooth a few years back,and she'd paid less than 1,500(including x-rays and all). Factoring in inflation,the fact that i was getting rid of two teeth,i'd told myself that everything would be less than 5k. I'd recently opened a new account with some of my money and i couldn't access that money for the next two weeks,so all the money i had in the world,my life savings and my blood amounted to exactly 5k. This was what i went to the dentist's with. Throughout the bus ride back to Uselu(we live off campus in Uselu),my mind was reeling. 2,500 x 2 for the extraction. 1,500 for the x-rays. 3,500 for the S and P. Altogether,10,000 naira. Where the bloody hell would i get the extra 5k from? I have a mortal fear of borrowing money from anyone,and even if i overcame that-my sisters were broke. Plus,the little money they had left would be spent transporting themselves to Lagos for the holidays. They were leaving the next da(Wednesday),the same day of my procedure. This was Tuesday afternoon. When i got home,i was very subdued. My mind was travelling in so many different directions i almost felt that my thoughts would fall out of my ears. My cousin noticed my mood and asked me what was up. I told her. She told me to ask my dad. "He won't give the money',i said. I'd called him the day before to tell him that i was going to the dentist's,and he told me that didn't concern him. She told me that possibly he didn't know how expensive it would be. Where did he want me to get the extra money from? She said i should call him,and tell him that i hadn't eaten for two days. She said i should tell him that i would soon die. She laughed. I laughed too,but i got the point-i was to be as dramatic as possible. She also said i should call my mom first. Woman power and al that,i reasoned. So i called my mom and told her everything. She told me to call my dad. I gathered my courage and did so. "What?",he said rather gruffly. My dad doesn't believe in exchanging pleasantries on the phone-at least not with me. He knows that when i call him i almost always want something,so i might as well get on with it. He's right.
Quivering,i told him what was happening. I told him the price. I told him that i hadn't eaten for 3 days. I said tha if i died,he would know who to blame. And then,a stroke of genius. I asked him whether he wanted me to friend an 'uncle' and get the money from said 'uncle'. He burst out laughing. Me and Aristos? Ludicrous thought. "Ok. I'll send the money now and then you can withdraw it today if it enters before 4 snce it's already past 3",he said,chuckling.
I nearly fell off the chair. "Ehn? How much are you sending?",i asked,scarcely believing my ears. "Is it not 10k you said you need?",he asked. "Yes daddy. Oh God,thank you. Thank you soo much. I love you daddy". He laughed. Why would you not love me when you've aready gotten what you want from me?,he asked. "If you like,after they remove it you can go and start licking sweets again",he said and ended the call.
Dude i was soo happy. Seriously. I went to hug my cousin. Hell,i hugged everyone. All the worrying over where to get the money from evaporated,and i was in a glorious mood.

,

.

I don't know why they keep deleting my posts. I'm tired of re-writing it so that entry's gone.
Suffice it to say,i got the extractions and everything done on Wednesday. On thursday,i travelled to Warri. My dad's younger brother and his family live there. I went to hang out with my cousins and just flex for a bit.

I thought about that but i want to see people's replies. In the Journal section people can't post replies to any of my topics.

I got up the next day and waited for Dr. Cutie(a.la Dr Terry)'s call. And don't go thinking too far-he collected my number only because the x-ray machine was bad and he wanted to call me when it was fixed so i wouldn't have to wait in the hospital for hours. When he called,i left home. When i got there the machine was still broken and i had to wait for a couple of hours. Dr Cutie was really nice-he kept checking up on me and giving me updates and all. Apart from being a cutie,he was a real sweetheart. He kept assuring me that the anaesthesia would make sure it didn't hurt,that i shouldn't be afraid etc. When i finally got into the OR,he was there. He wasn't the one performing the procedure but he was there all the same. The other doctor had those cool surgical masks on,like the ones i see on Grey's Anatomy. So i got into the dentist's chair(which was huge and pretty cool and braced myself). The doctor brought out a needle full of anaesthesia. I gulped. As you've probably deduced,i'm afraid of needles. He squirted a bi t of the anaesthesia into the air(to test it)and brought it closer. I felt one of my legs involuntarily move off the dentist's chair. Eating with my front teeth for the rest of my life didn't seem that bad anymore. I mean,i would manage. I musta looked like a rabbit about to bolt(again!)because Dr Cutie came around to tell me to just calm down. "It'll be over before you know it",he said. For some reason i didn't wanna look like a weakling so i gulped. Again. "Okay,let's do this",i said. If they noticed the quiver in my voice,they didn't say anything. Who the hell developed such torture?,i wondered. Technology's grown in leaps and bounds over the past 50 years. We've flown to the moon,solved problems of quantum physics,made robots,the list goes one,and we still couldn't invent an alternative to injections? What sort of barbaric practice is that,sticking sharp thingies into innocent people all day long,in manners reminiscent of middle age torture? All these thoughts ran through my mind in a matter of seconds. The needle got closer. Why is he moving the bloody needle in slow motion?,i asked myself.
I figure he was moving it at a pretty normal speed,but you know how the mind gets in tense situation. The needle got closer,and i couldn't look. I closed my eyes tightly and i swore i wasn't gonna open them till he was done. The seconds that passed seemed like hours. "Open wide",the dentist said. "Do they want me to tear my mouth? How much wider can i open it?",i thought mutinously,but opened wider all the same. And then i felt it- a sharp prick in my lower jaw. The injecting of a local anaesthetic is very painful. I should know-i googled it,and the dentist didn't use any of the pain reducing methods i saw there;he just stuck it in. It hurt,but i didn't yell or anything. Not with a needle in my mouth. When i feel pain,i grit my teeth and bear it. I imagine it hurts me just as much as it hurts the other person,but i don't show it. The dentist and Dr. Cutie told me i was really brave and really strong-that he' d known patients who'd leapt out of the chairs on seeing the needle. As i had contemplated that same course of action a few minutes before,i didn't exactly feel very brave.
I'd done the S & P earlier.and you wouldn't believe the stuff that came out of my mouth. Plaque,mortar and some tiny pieces of tartar. It was mortifying-i had no idea all that stuff was there. I brush twice a day,i floss,i eat orbit after meals,and still? Mortifying,i tell ya. Okay it prolly wasn't as bad as i'm making it sound,but it was bad to me and that's good enough. The dentist seemed to sense my mild embarrassment,for he chuckled and said i shouldn't beat myself up about it. "There are some things a toothbrush cannot remove,no matter how often and how dilligently you brush",he said,gesturing towards a particularly rock-like piece he'd just scraped off. "That's why you need to have an exam every six months",he added. I nodded my head in respinse(since my mouth was otherwise occupied-with blood and other gross stuff i had to spit out every few minutes). When he saw the extent of damage both teeth had,he kept asking me how i'd lived with the pain for a year. I told him i'd dealt with it. Most times drugs didn't work so i'd just close my eyes,let the pain was over me and wait it out. Anybody that's ever had a toothache knows there's nothing as painful as it. Trust me,this is something i wouldn't wish on my enemies(okay w might wish it on some of my enemies if i had any,but,i digress). "You have a high pain threshold",the dentist said. "Childbirth won't be difficult for you". I gagged. Childbirth. Now there was a terrifying thought. I suddenly had a flash of me sitting up on an OR table,screaming,blood streaming out of my nether regions,my baby poking it's head out of said nether regions and my husband looking like he was about to faint. Lovely picture,i thought sarcastically,glaring at the doctor for putting the picture in my head. I loved kids and everything,but i wasn't ready to have one any time soon. Perish the thought.
So anyways,back to the extraction. The doctor pressed the injection's head and the anaesthesia flowed in. That hurt too. Then we waited for a few minutes,and he asked how it felt. At first,all i felt was a tingling sensation,and then after a few more minutes one side of my tongue felt heavy. He said we were good to go and then injected anesthesia into the other side of my mouth.

I was a bit worried-yeah,my tongue was heavy but i cold still feel it. Didn't anaesthesia mean numbness? I wasn't supposed to feel anything,was i?
The dentist brought out the drill. It was mildly scary,yes,but nothing like the mind-numbing terror i felt at the sight of the needle. I told him i could still feel my mouth and he said i should just wait. So i waited,and he put the drill in my tooth and started drilling away. It was horrible-because i could feel everything. I could feel him drilling,and i could feel him pulling my tooth up and down. The only thing that stopped me from walking out there and then was the thought of future tooth-aches. Nothing in my life has ever destabilized me as much as my toothaches did. Could i really handle that pain for even longer? And how would i eat? I imagined eating a piece of chicken through a straw and the thought made me smile(sorta-i imagine my smile was pretty grotesque,what with my mouth wide open and blood gushing out of it). It really,really hurt. I had to stop the dentist twice,just to give me a breather. He said because i had such a high pain threshold,and because i drink alcohol,the anaesthesia wasn't as effective on me as it was on other people.'Couldn't they get a stronger anaesthetic?,i wondered. After a few seconds he was at it again. I squeezed my hands into tight balls and crossed my legs. I could feel my eyes fill with tears-and i never cry. That's how much it hurt. When he saw the tears in my eyes(my face remained the same-the only sign that i was in pain was the tears in my eyes;but i wasn't crying or anything-the tears were just there),he told me that the tooth was already mobile and it would soon be over. True enough,in a few seconds he pulled my molar out,in all it's toothy glory. It was beyond cool. Bits of the crown was gone, it was long(the part in my gum) and pink-ish and as weird as this sounds,it was actually kinda pretty. The whole thing took less than ten minutes. He started working on the other one,which was more difficult since there was no crown left(there was a little bit but it was negligible). About 15 minutes later,he was done.
People had been calling me all day;my mom,my aunt,my cousin Esohe(the same one who told me to call my dad),my sisters etc. I couldn't pick their calls(what with the drill in my mouth and all)so i hadn't picked any of their calls for about 2 hours. I knew they were worried but i couldn't pick their calls when i was in the O.R. It got so bad that after the S & P i just had to call my sister and tell her that no one should call me anymore because i was about to start the extraction,that i would call them when i was done.
So when i finished,i paid up,the doctors wrote a prescription and gave me all sorts of advice about how i had to eat swallowable foods for the next two weeks,use salt and warm water 8 times a day etc etc.
By then it was around 4.15p.m,and UBTH closes by 4. My phone had started ringing again. It got to a point when the doctor asked if i was the last born,with the way everyone was worried. I told him i was the second to the last,but everyone insisted on treating me like a baby.
Why were they so worried? Did they think someone would kidnap me in the hospital or what? Or that i couldn't find my way back home? It's very embarrasing when everyone treats you like a kid.
When my cousin called she said my mom had been going crazy,calling her and saying she couldn't reach me and what was going on. My mom's very prone to paranoia and i knew immediately that she woulda been concocting outlandish scenes about how something bad must have happened to me,how maybe i'd reacted to the anaesthesia and passed out and the doctors couldn't bring me back to consciousness etc etc,or something even worse. Paranoid,i tell ya. She worries too much. I told Anty Esohe(even though she's my cousin she's like 10 years older than i am so i call her aunty)that i was perfectly fine,i hadn't passed out or died,and i was through with the procedure. By this time i'd trekked out to the main gate and was about to take a bike to Uselu market. The clouds were gloomy and i figured it would start raining pretty soon.
"Where are you?",sister Esohe asked. "Can you find your way back home?",she added. "Of course i can. What do you take me for?",i asked,miffed. "Maybe you should wait a bit so that i can come and pick you up",she suggested. "Don't worry. I'm already on the bike,and i'll be home soon. Quit worrying. I'm fine",i said,and that was that. I got on a bike and we sped off to Uselu market. From Uselu market i took another bike to one of the interior streets where my house was. The three of us stay with our aunt and Uncle(sis Esohe's parents). Her mom 's my mom's big sister,and since their mother passed away when they were young,she's more of a mother to them than a sister. So big mummy(that's what we call her)is more like my grandma than my aunt,and coincidentally,big daddy(that's what we call her husband)is related to me from my dad's side. They're middle-aged and all their kids apart from Sis Esohe have left home. So now they have this big house(it's a storey building)that's practically empty and they like having people around so it's a win-win situation for everyone. I got down from the bike and paid him off. The minute i entered the house,the rain started. "Perfect timing",i thought with a smile. Big mummy has a provision store and the whole downstairs is a clinic(she's a nurse) plus a pharmacy store.

I showed her my teeth(or my lack thereof) and the prescription.
Oh,did i mention that i brought the tooth home? The first one was whole but the other one was in bits and pieces(therefore useless)and so he asked me whether i wanted to carry it with me. "Heck,yeah",i said. Carrying home a memento of my ordeal would be beyond cool. Plus,my tooth was a pretty tooth. So he washed it for me and wrapped it up in his used surgical mask. I took it with me when i left. So i showed it to big mummy. We oohed and aahed over it,and then she gave me the drugs. Since i wasn't supposed to chew anything she made garri(eba)for me and i had to eat it before i could take the drugs. I hardly ever eat swallow-i'm more of a rice person so i simply couldn't imagine how and what i was gonna eat for the next two weeks. I called my dad when i got home to tell him that i'd done it. He asked whether it had hurt and when i said yes,he said good. I smiled and shook my head. He would never change,my old man,and i liked it that way. I took a picture of the tooth and uploaded it on fb(getting loads of comments). Then i took the drugs and slept off.
Dr Cutie called me the next morning to find out how my teeth were and all that. Mom and my sisters called the night before. On Thursday morning,i travelled to Warri to go see my Uncle and my cousins,and that's where i've been since.
Today i'm travelling back to Benin,because school's supposed to resume on the 28th(that's on Monday).
My Uncle's wife and i went shopping yesterday,y'know buying provisions in bulk,bag of rice,custard,oil,sardines,soap,milk,coffee,cocoa etc etc;the usual stuff.
Right now i'm waiting for Bro Kayode to come drive me to Benin. Bro Kayode is a cousin of mine who lives in Benin.
At this point,i feel i should tell you that my dad's father had 9 wives and almost 30 children(although some of them died). That's right,my dad has 21 living siblings. Which means his siblings have their own kids too. Which means i have a LOT of cousins,and that's from my dad's side alone. So you'll be seeing lots of references to cousins,aunts,first cousins once removed,etc etc.

Please how did this get in the front page?!!!!! I was expecting to read something more entertaining, not a visit to the dentist! Haba!

*grins*
It's not a story-it's a journal. If i wanted to make it more entertaining,i suppose i could make up salacious stories about aristos,drugs and sex. However,sometimes the most entertaining thing in real-life is sometimes something as simple as a trip to the dentist. In any case,this isn't a story,it's a journal that's pretty much about day to day experiences. I'm just getting started. I imagine it'll heat up as time goes by.
If it doesn't entertain you,then don't read it.

Lovely piece, bookmarking this page,

New Entry:
1:21 p.m,Saturday 26th of March,2011.
Just entering Benin. There's crazy traffic at Ugbowo. I'm tempted to just get out of the car and take a bike home-except where would i put my stuff?
I'm not a girly girl,but even i have to pack a bag when i'm travelling. Just one bag actually-i couldn't carry more than one. You should see my sisters when they're travelling. 3,4 bags. One for clothes,one for shoes,one small one with make-up and other unmentionables. . So they tote 3 to 4 bags up and down all the time,even when they're spending as little as two weeks away. Me? Tufiakwa. Everything must enter one bag. Anything that doesn't stays behind.
This trip wasn't long-3 hours(ish). I bought a can of Smirnoff on the way.  the heat in Benin is terrible. It's as hot as Lagos was six months ago. Which makes me wonder;if Benin is so hot now,then the heat in Lagos will be boiling people's blood. That's  the major reason why i didn't go to Lagos. It's too bloody hot!
P.s-Entries will vary in length,depending on what happens that day.
Double P.s-I usually write in third person,not first,so if there's anything weird with my tenses or whatever,please forgive the errors until i get used to writing in first person.

dare0834:

Lovely piece, bookmarking this page,

Thanks!

am sooo loving this, @ poster,pls continue ur journal joor, no mind em 'bad belle' pple, (^^^)

Atreides:

*grins*
It's not a story-it's a journal. If i wanted to make it more entertaining,i suppose i could make up salacious stories about aristos,drugs and sex. However,sometimes the most entertaining thing in real-life is sometimes something as simple as a trip to the dentist. In any case,this isn't a story,it's a journal that's pretty much about day to day experiences. I'm just getting started. I imagine it'll heat up as time goes by.
If it doesn't entertain you,then don't read it.

Lol, no offense meant, I sometimes get carried away with the anonymity one enjoys on forums like this, It makes me write things I wouldn't dream of saying to anybody on a normal day. On the up side, I like the way you write, you have a gift for expressing your thoughts in a very articulate manner.

What the hell is someones visit to a dentist doing on the front page? Smh. *hisses, and works out*

holusormi:

am sooo loving this, @ poster,pls continue your journal joor, no mind em 'bad belle' pple, (^^^)

nice thread

tyson55:

What the hell is someones visit to a dentist doing on the front page? Smh. *hisses, and works out*

no one asks you to post afterall your not paying to use nairaland so take a chill pill

Chuks84:

Lol, no offense meant, I sometimes get carried away with the anonymity one enjoys on forums like this, It makes me write things I wouldn't dream of saying to anybody on a normal day. On the up side, I like the way you write, you have a gift for expressing your thoughts in a very articulate manner.

None taken .
And thanks. . .
To everyone who's reading this: Let me say this again,this isn't a story,it's a journal-so it's pace will be a bit slower than a normal story.

tyson55:

What the hell is someones visit to a dentist doing on the front page? Smh. *hisses, and works out*

Odabo!
Make sure you don't 'work' back in.

@Atreides, pls send your email to me. Mine is fisayo@entrepreneurshipsecret.com ASAP

this'll be my bedtime story tonight
keep on!!!

I love the way you use words especially the adjectives! "Toothy Glory" "Dr Cutie" and that "Bloody pink lovely tooth"

Keep it up, am sure you'll make a great writer soon.

And could you also separate your writings into paragraphs to make them more readable, kudos!

Nice!!! keep it up.
. BTW, keep away from Dr. Cutie, his calls are getting too regular!¬!

Nice pieace,i must confess that you are making me love naira land when i have vowed to stop commenting here due to the calibre of post i read here all the time,i like the suspense of waiting to read your next write up. Keep it up and hope you stay safe.

Good work, Atreides. But please as someone has pointed out you need to space your writing with paragraphs. Easier on the eyes

p.s. what's the legal age for drinking in Nigeria? do we even have one? Smirnoff Ice is alcoholic lol