Hey YouTube World, it's me - Evelyn.
Every February for four years now, I have gone to Lagos, Nigeria to help organize a
social media conference.
Social Media Week is global.
The conferences take place in cities like LA, New York, London, Milan, and my friend
- I call her my forcibly adopted big sister - Ngozi Odita is audacious enough to be the
first person to bring that conference to an African nation.
She is ridiculous enough to do it, and I am ridiculous enough to want to be a part of
what she doing.
We are a really small team of mostly women which is stories in and of itself, and we
are usually so busy that I never come back with sufficient vlog footage.
Giving y'all a look into my experience
[Nigerian accent] just kind of falls by the wayside.
But I always try.
So here are four major parts of my annual Nigeria trip.
Starting with #1: the struggle to get yo visa.
I want everybody at all the Nigerian consulates to kick rocks with no shoes on.
I am waiting for my visa.
And my passport.
Because the visa goes inside the passport.
My visa is late, obviously.
My flight leaves in a few hours...from Dallas!
I live in Austin, so...
[screams]
I don't get.
[kisses teeth]
[screams]
I really don't get.
Why did it just get approved yesterday.
Approved.
Yesterday!
And I ---
[yells]
Why do my people vex me, oh! [sighs]
Listen to my words.
If you or somebody you know, your uncle, your daddy, your uncle-daddy, work at any of the
Nigerian consulates in the U.S., [Nigerian accent] show them my face!
Because -- because if I see them with my eye.
If my eyeball perceives their uh--- likeness.
I'm tired of this.
Punctuality is a European concept lookin--
Once I touch down in Lagos, it is an emotional rollercoaster again just trying to get from
the airport to find my ride 'cause I ain't got a phone that works, and people are rolling
up on me, and there really isn't any helpful signage.
It’s hot as hell.
Just hot!
But I’m in!
And then, for the next week I stay in the same building.
My job is usually social media focused, helping with all the different social media accounts
we have, keeping people informed via social media, via videos.
When sponsors are mad they go yell at Ngozi and then she comes tell them to yell
at me, so you know, it's a wonderful time.
Sometimes I’m answering questions from volunteers.
Sometimes I'm answering questions from attendees who are lost or confused.
And sometimes folks come at me sideways talking reckless forgetting that I’m not from there.
So who you talking to like that?
Hmm?
Did you want my-- did you want my help?
'Cause there's a way to get my help.
[giggles]
I'm usually way more quiet than I am in real life.
And that's because honestly, the way people speak to me is a culture shock.
I kind of just retreat into myself.
To be honest!
Which brings me to #2.
Every year at least one volunteer asks me "Evelyn, what can we do to help?
What you need help with?"
Usually because I'm looking very sad, um, and every year I say the same thing.
“Just make me laugh.”
Your spirit of comedy, of humor.
Your Naija shenanigans -- I need it all, okay?
And they never disappoint!
This year, our team was joined by my friend Kwabena and he's from Ghana, so you know hilarity
ensued!
Evelyn: So we back at the house.
This is jollof rice in Nigeria.
And this is a Ghanaian.
How do you feel?
Kwabena: This is such a disappointment.
Nigerian jollof.
Mm.
Look at this.
Look how light it is.
Wow!
Wow!!
It's just rice mixed with stew.
[Kelvin and Kwabena argue] Evelyn: Fight!
Fight!
Kwabena: If you go to a bush person's house in Ghana for jollof, you will not have this
bleached rice! What is this?
Kelvin: What bleached rice? Kwabena: This is not jollof!
Kelvin: See jollof here! That's fried rice.
- This is fried rice and this is jollof!
Kelvin: Ghana jollof looks like this because nobody's going to see this and think it's
jollof except a Ghanaian.
Kwabena: I won't have any of the plantain because the plantain is just sabotage.
It's just to trick me.
The plantain is to trick me because plantain is my favorite food.
This is Nigerian jollof - I'll give you the whole rundown.
If it's good, I'll be truthful.
Already I can tell it has some things on it.
And It's light.
You know it doesn't have that color.
It's not that -- having that -- the stew hasn't gone inside.
Evelyn: Oh my God.
Kwabena: And the rice is like big, big rice.
So I don't know.
Kwabena: It's because of the stew.
The stew is very light.
Like, this is Google.
Look at how light it is.
It looks like something White people cook.
Evelyn: Wow!! Kwabena: I'm sorry.
Kwabena: If you look at the Ghanaian jollof.
This is Nigerian jollof.
And you can look at Ghanaian jollof on Google.
Bobby: [impersonating Donald Trump] Okay, let me tell you something about Ghanaian jollof,
alright?
See, it's not really rice.
It's alternative rice.
Sad!
Oluwatosin: Fake news!
Bobby: Fake rice! [laughs] Fake rice.
Oluwatosin: Now we are going to give you the Nigerian jollof.
The jollof that is going to change your life.
This jollof has been prepared by the grandmama with the big bum bum.
[laughs]
Kwabena: My name is Kwabena, and I am Kwesi Nkrumah.
[laughs] and I am from Ghana.
This jollof has been a journey that has been worth taking.
Oluwatosin: I feel like we Nigerians just need to hold hands and pray.
Kwabena: Who will do the opening prayer?
Oluwatosin: We need an opening prayer!
- Heavenly Father.
In the name of j--Jesus.
[laughs] She almost said jollof!
Kwabena: It's the same thing!
- Then, it was wine.
Today, it is jollof.
- Hallelujah!!
Yes!!
[applause]
- Jesus, do your thing.
[laughs]
Kwabena: We have passed it onto the Kenyan to taste it.
Evelyn: Ok, the flavor is a lot better.
Oluwatosin: The greatness is showing.
Evelyn: And you were right, it should be warmed.
It does make a difference if it was hot, 'cause it's not hot, you know what I'm saying. Group: Yes.
- Preach. Evelyn: But it's good!
Group: That woman is true! She is a great woman!
A great person!
Pass it on!
- And now, we're with the American.
- Jesus take the wheel.
- Fix it, Jesus!
Bobby: Before the American makes a comment, she should remember that Nigerians sometimes
kidnap people.
[laughs]
Kwabena: Bear in mind, this afternoon she didn't touch her jollof.
She only ate the plantain.
- Wow, she keeps going!
Roxanne: It is good. I like it.
Group: Why are you still eating?
Why are you still eating?
Kwabena: Ok.
This is the verdict.
This jollof is nice.
Right?
Because it's more -- it has more -- the grains.
Group: [groans] Excuses, excuses!
Kwabena: No, no, no! Oluwatosin: As compared to Ghanaian bullet rice?!?
[laughs]
Kwabena: As compared to the jollof rice they've given me over the week, this jollof rice has
uniform consistency or color.
It's not like some orange and some white.
So it does well on consistency or the body. - Okay!
Kwabena: Number two. - Two!
Kwabena: It's actually -- the stew actually entered the rice small.
You actually can taste the stew.
It's spicy.
And they did something that Ghanaians do, they've put some green peas in there.
Like, this girl called them and told them---
Oluwatosin: I feel like you're reaching too much!
You are reaching too much!!
Kwabena: This jollof is good.
This jollof is good but I don't-- it hasn't taken my, like --
- Because it's cold!!!
It's cold!
- It makes a difference when it's warm!
[group chatter]
Kwabena: The jollof is good.
But it's not the best jollof I've had in my life.
[group groans]
Evelyn:It's really just rice.
Roxanne: I mean, at the end of the day.
Evelyn: It's delicious.
Roxanne: It's great.
It's great.
But.
Evelyn: It's just rice.
Roxanne: Yeah, it's not that serious.
There’s always a moment during Social Media Week where I disappear.
Uh, I run away.
I might sit in the bathroom for a while.
I might walk down the street.
Uh, go somewhere get a drink, a beverage, you know what I'm saying.
But this year I ran away to do a collab.
I did a collab-o!
I finally met Bellesa Africa here on YouTube.
Her name is Kangai and if you haven't watched her channel or you don't know anything about
her, she is a makeup artist beauty guru based in Kenya.
And I have watched her videos for years so when I found out she was gonna be at this conference?
Hey!
[Kenyan accent] I rejoiced!
In a sea of West Africans [Kenyan accent] I would find my Kenyan refuge.
Y'all know I jump back and forth from Nigerian to Kenyan accents.
It's difficult, really.
It's very-- it's quite hard.
So I am in Nigeria with my favorite Kenyan.
Ayyye!!
- The one, Kangai: What's up, y'all! - The only, Kangai: As I look at my suitcase.
-Kangai!! Kangai: Ayyye!
Bellesa Africa and she's about to beat my face!
Kangai: I is!
Let's do this!
Dreams do come true!
Kenyans don't subscribe to channels.
They will watch your videos, but they will not subscribe.
So growing as a YouTuber has taken much longer than if I sat or if I lived in the States
or in Europe or elsewhere, you know what I mean?
You know that whole thing where you-- you grow by proxy, meaning because you hang out
with "xyz", you know what I mean?
We don't have that there.
The whole idea of...it's like a movement elsewhere, you know what I mean?
Yeah, it's not like a culture of YouTube.
Yeah, exactly.
But it's actually growing.
There's niches that are being explored these days.
Yeah, so it's actually actually becoming something that people are like "Oh, okay.
Maybe I should try this" which is a great thing.
[flexes]
And then after five or six days the conference is over.
People go home.
Oh, why are there mad people here?
Why are there still mad people here?!
Roxanne: Is it still raining??
And I only have time and emotional and physical energy for one touristy activity before I
go home too.
So this year, we went to Lekki Conservation Center, home of the longest canopy bridge
in Africa.
Right now, we're at Lekki Conservation Center.
Going into the forest.
Rainforest?
Jungle?
I don't know where we are.
But it's finna be cool.
N'dada: Eve, why are you not snapchatting?
'Cause I'm taking a vlog!
Ngozi: She's vlogging this.
It's really hard one handed.
N'dada: It is hard once you get a little incline.
N'dada: Stop playing!!
N'dada: Kwabena!!
Dab on 'em!
Ahh!
If you wanna know how high we are, these are the tops of trees!
Ayye!
That is wild!!
Ooooh!!
[laughs]
[rapping] We at the top of the trees, oooh!
At the top of the trees, oooh!
Oooh!
At the top of the jungle --- ahhh!
Say hi everybody!
Group: Hey!
Ayye!
N'dada: We didn't die!
And that’s it, you know!
I fly home.
I go back to work.
Everybody thinks I was on vacation, and I've probably come back more tired than I was when
I left.
Here is a stack of Naira -- is this Naira?
Yeah.
If you wanna know what the monies look like.
It's very gross to touch.
I like the plastic ones, but like, the old paper ones.
I mean old paper money in general is disgusting, but um, the plastic ones are pretty cool.
Oh and Kwabena gave me a Ghanaian money.
So here's a Ghanaian money.
It's a cedi?
I think it's called a cedi?
I never actually spend money when I'm in Nigeria because I don't go anywhere.
So I take the same stack of money back and forth.
Even though it's stressful, I'm always grateful that I get to go, grateful that I get to be
a part of it because it's important work!
I think it’s very important work.
Africa as a region, as a continent gets left out of a lot of conversations about social
media, the future of technology which don't really make sense because we begat everything!
So I just try to support people who think big enough vision to make stuff like this
happen.
So ima be there next year, God willing.
My visa is good for another year, okay, it's a two-year visa.
Um, trouble don't last always.
In the comments let me know if you’ve ever been to the Motherland.
If haven't and you want to go, where would you want to visit?
Alright, let's talk about it!
[Nigerian accent] And I will see you on the Internet somewhere.
[laughs] Bye!