Been BERRY busy!

Hello honey boos!

First things first... NDO! PELE! FORGIVE ME, POR FAVOR! I'm so sorry it's been a little while. Truthfully, I just kinda needed a break. A social/internet blackout - turned off my BBM, [almost] deactivated my Facebook account, stopped reading blogs, etc. Sometimes, a girl just needs time to herself, ya know? Anyways, I'm back now, so look forward to more regular posts from yours truly.

Erm, 2012 Batch B corpers shoulda come out of camp yesterday (Tuesday). I hope you managed to have some amount of FUN! Now it's time for more stress :) My advice to you is to take time to breathe and relax this weekend - as long as you have submitted your posting letters and are waiting to hear back from the prospective employer OR you have received an acceptance letter from the employer and you have registered at your local government. It's going to be a looooooooooooong year.

Oooh, I have maybe 3 months maximum left to go!!!! #NYSCPassingOutCountdown (I love how I just make up twitter tags and I haven't got a twitter account.

Anyways, I took some time out to get a little creative a la my CD. And I've got pictures!!! My model is, ermmm, related to me somehow. If you know me personally, DON'T COMMENT and give me away o!

MAKE-UP

Before

After

After

My "model" said she liked the make-up because she still looked like herself after I was done. *smiles*

JEWELRY

This is just one piece I made. I was too tired to finish the others, but will post them accordingly.

FASCINATOR

In my CD, we were taught using this material called 'Sinamay.' But I wanted to try something different and found some felt material that I liked. It's not the best, but hey, I did it all by my oneses, without any supervision. 

So that's it! Oh, guess what I discovered today... tun tun DUN... I've TOTALLY forgotten how to tie a gele! *the HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

Ah well, I'll practice another day.

Gotta leave youse... and I promise I won't be gone as long this time. 

God bless, hugs, kisses!

Berry. 

Breaking NYSC news on AJBU FM/TV...

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,

I am your host, Berry Choco Latte aka Candy Berry (I got a new nickname this weekend), and here is our top story on the NYSC Nigeria front... *FYI, my accent is easy to understand, unlike some dreadful newscasters on radio and tv - I dunno where they get theirs from*

In any case, NYSC Stops Posting Corps Members to the North - The NYSC Director General has mandated that 14,850 corps members who were posted to the following states: Bauchi, Gombe, Plateau, Kano, and Kaduna can apply for redeployment to other states. This is following numerous protests, calls and pleading from Batch B corps members, parents, and the public in general asking for the security of corpers. The previous stance by the NYSC DG was that the constitution called for all states to receive corps members. However, in light of the increase in violence (bombings and shootings a la Boko Haram), corps members posted to the region are expected to report to the Abuja NYSC headquarters for redeployment letters. In addition, corpers sent to Borno and Yobe States will complete their orientation camp 3-week period in Benue and Nasarawa States, respectively.

I think this is GREAT NEWS! The security and wellbeing of corps members and citizens in general is of utmost importance. Kudos to the DG for listening to the people.

Now if only the other Nigerian leaders would do the same...

Thank you for tuning in for today's NYSC news. As always, I am your Berryful hostess.

Have a great day.

Under the sun AND in the rain...

Hello Berryboos/Booberries!

How are y'all doing? I'm doing pretty good. I had General CD last week Friday - as usual, a disaster with all the pushing, shoving, yelling just to get CD cards signed. As if it wasn't bad enough, our LGI (local government inspector) decided to combine signing the cards with our June Monthly Clearance. Well, before I left the house, I mentally prepared myself for a looooooooooong, stressful day. I was pleasantly surprised to be done before 2:30pm - It pays to be friendly with your NYSC officials.

Anyways, the reason why we started Monthly Clearance last week (wait, have I done a post on Monthly Clearance yet? I'll check and if not, expect a post soon) - so we started it early because 2012 Batch B Corps members are heading to their various camps TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!! Fun times... Not really :p

The reason why I titled my post 'Under the sun AND in the rain' is because we are now at the beginning of the rainy season. I feel like I must alert my fellow aje-butter corpers to bring a raincoat/umbrellas/wellingtons to deal with the rain. I personally don't know what camp is like when it rains continuously - the one afternoon it rained during my camp, everyone took cover. However, the NYSC anthem says to

"lift our nation high, under the sun or in the rain..."

It might depend on your camp officials, but I wish you even more luck than I wish Batch A Corps members.

For your review, check out my series of posts on Surviving NYSC Camp:

• Guide to Surviving Camp - Items you need
• Guide to Surviving Camp - What NOT to bring
• Guide to Surviving Camp - Arrival and Registration
• Guide to Surviving Camp - Platoon Registration
• Day and Night in NYSC Camp

Alrighty, gotta go! Work calls. Enjoy the next 3 weeks in camp.

Very tight big hugs and cuddles from me because the weather's frightful!

Berry.