Finally joined Twitter

Simple, short, sweet note today.

You can now follow me on le Twitter - @BerryChocoLatte

Buhbye!

Tales from Camp!

Soooooo, I've got a friend who's currently serving in Akure. I know her from the US and the last time I saw her, she was waaaaaaaaaaay excited about moving back to Nigeria and coming to serve. She's the one whose room in camp I put up in an earlier post.

Well she's got more pics for me to share with you. Like I said, during the daytime, when there are activities, camp can be fun. Even at night with the different events - drama competitions, talent competitions, pageants and more. Or just going to Mami Market to cool off with a hot, freshly cooked meal and some drinks and music.

Byyyyyyyyy the right

Platoon Number X, forwarrrrrd march!

Slooooooooow march!

Oodles of Noodles with Plantain, Egg and Turkey. Sure beats the camp-provided meals, which I never ate.

Cultural Dance Competition



Man-O-War Activity



Miss NYSC Camp - Akure

I don't miss camp. But I had some interesting times. Thanks Miss Loooooooooooms for the pictures. You're almost outta there!

Biiiiiiiiiiig waaaaaarm HUG from me! I give really good hugs - well, guys say I do.

Berry!

Buttery Update!

Hello friends!

How are ya? So... in addition to the high of winning the Popular Vote for Best Tutorial Blog on the Nigerian Blog Awards 2012, I got some extra good news this week!

I was offered a contract position at the company where I served - with REAL, ACTUAL, BRAIN-USING work to do! Funnest times, aye? So I started on Wednesday and things are pretty good so far. One drawback is my NONE-addiction to coffee may start up again, but it tastes oh-so-very-good!

What else? Ooh, my friend/cousin (depending on what year it is) Chidynma is featured on a new single with Ebisan, titled "Time Of Our Lives." Since I had nothing to do for 2+ weeks, we decided I'd be Chidynma's unofficial travel/road manager and I got to follow her and Ebisan to their interview with Olisa at The Beat 99.9FM!

Note to radio stations in Nigeria: I would really appreciate it if you provided cupcakes, muffins, donuts and juice/tea/coffee/water for your morning show guests. I'm just saying.

Go here to listen to their song on Bella Naija. Ebisan ft Chidynma - Time of our Lives

Alrighty, I'm outtie!

:-*

Yaaaaaaaaaay, I wonnnnnn!!!!!!!

Well, kind of.

Ok, so if you've been following my posts, you know that I begged and pleaded with the most berryful people on earth to nominate and vote for moi to win a Nigerian Blog Award. Well, the winners were announced via a Live Twitter event, starting at 10pm Nigerian time. In a show of being pathetic, I sleep-stalked the whole affair. I was already asleep by midnight and they hadn't gotten near the 'Best Tutorial Blog' category. So I'd sleep, wake up, refresh page... 'Best Health Blog'... Sleep, wake up, refresh page... 'Best Photography Blog'... Sleep, wake up, refresh page... 'Best Relationship Blog'... Sleep, wake up, refresh page... And the 'Best Nigerian Blog will be announced in a few minutes.' Wha, the wha what? *scrolls down and voila!*

There it is!!!!!!!!! Thanks to you, and you, and you and you and youuu (sang to the tune in Sound of Music) this blog won the popular vote for Best Tutorial Blog. *victory dance!!!!!!*

I've got a teeny-tiny question now though... Erm, dear NBA, sooooo since some of the categories (mine included) had different winners for the Judges Choice and Popular Vote, erm who gets the final winning slot? I ask this so I know whether to buy a dress and give a winning speech OR not buy a dress and give a concession speech - either way, I'm giving a speech :D

Anyways, I'm tres excited and now it'll be hard for me to go back to sleep but I had to say Thank Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu all!

*goes to dance JJC - African Skank and Psy - Gangnam Style at the exact same time*

Hugs, handshakes, high fives, pecks, kisses and SMOOCHES!

Babies in NYSC Orientation Camps...

Hi guys n gals!

So I've been keeping tabs on the latest set of corps members - they've just arrived to their Orientation camps and the stories and terror some of them are having are simply hilarious! My friend posted a picture of her room in despair, and I told her to remember that I was in a corridor-converted-into-a-room, so she should count herself lucky for having space.

Her next status was that there were 2 babies in the room... I'm sorry, WHA? QUE? She's joking, right? Apparently another lady in her camp came with a 12-day old baby! However, she was yelled at and sent back home by NYSC officials.

Well, 10 minutes later, another friend posted the following picture of a baby in an orientation camp somewhere...

I have to ask now why a woman would bring a child to the orientation camp. Concerning babies in camp though, NYSC states on their website:

  •  Will Pregnant Women and nursing Mothers be registered in the Orientation Camp?

  No. There will be strenuous exercises in the Camp which may jeopadise the health of the mother 

and the unborn child. In the same vein, babies are not allowed in the Camp, 

so nursing mothers will also not be registered

It always broke my heart to see women with infants and young children go through the stress of coming to our local government office or CD and have to fight their way through the lines to get their cards signed. At least in my local government, my LGI always made it a point to make sure that pregnant women or women with children got first priority. 

How can NYSC serve these women better, I ask? Like I said, during the registration process, I believe they should be given priority and preference to stay in their states of residence. That would be a good first step. This should be noted on their registration form, so that while call up letters are sent out, they are automatically waived from attending camp - but given the necessary instructions on getting paid allowance, signing the 'Book of Life' (this book that has every corps members' contact information), etc. 

My thoughts...

Look who was featured on Bella Naija!!!!!

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii,

Before I get to it, you know the new drill - PLEASE VOTE FOR MEEEEEEEEEEEE! Click on the Nigerian Blog Awards and select 'Aje-Butter's Guide to NYSC' for the Best Tutorial Blog! Thank you in advance :)

Back to regularly scheduled programming...

I was so pleased yesterday morning when my friend sent a BBM saying she'd seen my article featured on Bella Naija! Of course I had to spread the word on my BB and Facebook (no Twitter cos I feel like I might be doing too darn much - although my sister thinks I should get an account).

Anyways, if you've been reading my blog, there's nothing new in the article. It was really just a summary of the whole year that I wanted to share with others.

Here's a link to the article: An Aje-Butter's Guide to NYSC.

Yay me!

Have a berry lovely day berryboos!

Kiss kiss hug hug, big kiss, little kiss.

Eeeek! Re-votes and 2012 Batch C corpers go to camp!

Hello ladies and gentlemen!

I hope you're all well. So first things first... I might need you to revote for my blog as BEST TUTORIAL BLOG for the Nigerian Blog Awards. Apparently there was a snafu last week and some votes were not counted :(. So pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease re-vote. I feel bad cos I got sick of the US elections campaigning, and just when the end has come (Congratulations President Obama), I'm asking for votes. Please don't get sick of me *hugs and kisses*

Next Eeek reason! The 2012 Batch C corpers Orientation Camp started yesterday and I didn't put up a post to encourage and wish them well :(. Soooooooo sorry. Meanwhile, I had auditions for a play at church The Waterbrook on Saturday night. One of the new members got on stage to audition and mentioned that he was about to start NYSC and was going to camp this week. I called out to him "Hey, you should read my blog." And he goes "What blog is that?" I go "Aje-Butter's Guide to NYSC." And he says "YOU'RE AJE-BUTTER?!" And I squealed with delight "OMG! People read my blog. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay." And then I apologized for interrupting the auditions - oops!

Anyways, I saw him yesterday at our rehearsals. He got posted to Lagos and he'd been to camp to register yesterday. The first thing he said to me was "Berry, you didn't prepare me for how bad it was!" *slaps hand to forehead, hiding face and running away* What I think I mentioned in passing in a previous post was that I went to Orientation Camp on Day 2, at about 4/5pm. At that point, a lot of people had already registered. Well, my new friend got to Iyana-Ipaja at 4:45am as the first person in line. Unbeknownst to him, some people had already gotten there the night before and slept there overnight. Between being sent back and forth to get seats, register, get accommodation and whatnot, he didn't leave the camp until 6:30pm. That's over 12 hours. Whereas, when I registered, I was done in 6 hours. Sawry... future corps members take note! He did say though that about 700 corpers couldn't register yesterday because NYSC officials at the camp RAN OUT  of registration forms. SERIOUSLY? Do I need to write another 'Dear NYSC' letter? (See first one here).

Well, to all the new corps members, I wish you all the very best! If you're going to brave it in camp, do it with an open mind and a pleasant attitude. Being friendly with your platoon leaders and others will only help you if you need something. Don't forget to send your stories! Have fun and Godspeed.

Luv,
Berryliciously on vacay.

NYSC 2012 Batch C Call-Up Letters

And from what I've heard from a few people, it isn't pretty. :(

But I'm pretty sure I mentioned more than once that foreign grads aren't allowed a preference concerning where they serve. Even from my batch, that was the new thing. I feel like I should put out a warning now - some people might approach him you to pay them to secure a desired posting. Please be extremely careful. A lot of people have lost money like that. It might be easier to redeploy after camp - mostly based on health grounds.

On a lighter note, I saw some corpers on the road today and my thought was, "Hahahahaha, poor kids!" :p

Don't forget to vote this blog for BEST TUTORIAL BLOG!!! do it at Nigerian Blog Awards