The diary game: A day out to watch festivity (17/12/2024)

Good evening and compliment of the season from me, @destinedhanik to every members of this group. I wanna share my fun filled day with you all. Christmas is always a special time as it comes with all kinds of festivity. So in my state, Akwa Ibom, we have 31 local governments and since we have 31 days in December, each day is given to each local government to display everything kind of entertainment and historical information about themselves. I decided to drag my friend on a particular day so that we go see what is happening at the venue and it was fun.

When I woke up, I observed my morning prayers, then went ahead to do some chores which was cleaning up of the house, then I washed some clothes. This took till about 9am. After washing the clothes, I decided to wash my hair since I'll be braiding it that same day. As a lady, cleanliness should be part of us because we have a lot to lose if we do not keep ourselves and homes clean.

After all the clean up of both the house and myself, I decided to have some breakfast because breakfast is very important especially if one will be going out. It will give one the energy to work until afternoon. My breakfast was pap with bread and after taking breakfast, I rested small before leaving the house to my hairdresser's place to braid my hair. This was in the afternoon at about 12pm.

Breakfast is ready

My afternoon activity which was first of all, braiding my hair took two hours because I told my hairdresser to make the braiding tiny since I was not adding any extension and I needed it to last long. She finished at about 2pm and when she was through, I went with my friend to the Christmas village, that is the venue where all the 32 local government display their activities daily. It was the day fur a particular local government called 'Mbo'.

Just beginning the hair

We are done

At the Christmas village, as we just entered, we realized Mbo local government were just making their entry. They had masquerades in different costumes, with dancers and drummers. Other people were watching but from a safe distance tho I'm not sure the masquerades would have attacked anyone.

The masquerades displaying on stage

Mbo is one of the local government making up five local government in the Oro nation. Mbo local government was created in 1989. They speak Oron language. They are known for their unique dressing which is wrapper with white chieftaincy shirt, red cap and a staff or rod. They dint joke with fishing activities and do not lack seafood like periwinkles, crayfish, fishes, etc.

You can see them with their unique dressing behinde

This large thing is what the Mbo people call their boat. According to them, it is Noah's boat which they use for transportation. They were showcasing their dancing skills around it while some people were sitting in the boat.

Another cultural display by the Mbos was the Ekpes. These were different from the masquerades and they were also colourful.

The Ekpes

Taking a shot

My friend asked me to stand close to the Ekpe for a shot but fear didn't allow me

With my friend

We had to part ways and go back home in the evening. When I got back, I refreshed and decided to make dinner to eat. Since I already had soup, I had to make garri and warm the soup. After eating, I relaxed with an episodic movie titled 'Hanna'. The movie is a thriller and I have watched only two episodes. I can't wait to finish it. So, that was how I spent my day. I had a great time going out to see what was happening. Wishing you a merry Christmas.