Bukola Oriola, Author at Bukola Oriola

Suicide On a Treadmill

April 3, 2014 By Bukola Oriola

I have been walking for three weeks now as a form of exercise from my online walking class and my legs hurt. In fact, it started with shin splints on the left leg, needless to say that at the end of the first week, I felt as if I had just lost my virginity with the pains I was feeling in the ball joints of my hips. It is the third week now and thankfully, those pains are gone, but new pains developed like the sprout of a new seed in the garden. This time, my right knee hurts, my laps feel tired, and I just feel like giving up, but I cannot.

When I started three weeks ago, it was my first time on the treadmill. When I entered the school gym (by the way, I pay for the gym in my tuition but never use it) there were two girls on the treadmill. I asked one of them to help me. I told her, “I don’t know how to use the treadmill. It is my first time.” She was nice to me and decided to show me. First, she asked me to step on the side by putting my legs at the edge of the treadmill before starting the machine. She said, “Press the Quick Start” and it will start, then you can step on it.” I did then the machine asked for my weight. At this time, I entered my weight and started walking holding the bars in front of me for dear life.

My pace was about 17 point something and I completed one mile in 22 minutes. I walked for three miles, which I completed in 55 minutes, but when I looked in the exercise specification, my walking was poor because I was supposed to complete my one mile in 14 minutes and three miles in 35 minutes. Three days after, which was a Monday, I went back to the gym. This time, I asked one of the front desk assistants to help me. I even asked her how to make the machine go faster. She showed me and I was going at 5.7KPH. I held on so tight onto the bars, as I was going so fast on the machine. I thought I was going to pass out on the machine. I had gone a little over half a mile when my instructor entered the gym and came to me. Looking concerned as if one of her students was about to commit suicide on a treadmill, she stopped the machine and said, “You are not supposed to hold on to the bars. It is also too fast, you have to be able to walk without holding on.”

I was short of breath, I was panting. I was light headed. My legs were jittery. I was hot and sweating. Then, I tried to speak. Struggling to get my words out I said, “I didn’t know that. This is new to me.” I felt like sitting down, I rested my back on one of the bars of the treadmill. After a short moment, I felt a little better. Then she said, “You can use the treadmill for your weekly training log, but not the walking assignment. You have to walk outside or on the school walking track.” Well, every week, we have to log in our walking exercise in an excel spread sheet that she provided for us, but then, she also asks us specific question about walking on a separate sheet that we have to turn in every week.

When I started this class, I knew that walking was a good and light form of exercise but never knew that it is a form that can help with burning calories and losing weight. It’s been three weeks and I have lost close to 10 pounds. Although, I drink a slimming tea which has also helped, but I noticed that the walking has helped to tighten my abdomen and I feel really light in my body.

Two days ago, I decided to walk outside since the weather was nice. The winter snow has melted. The brown soil is showing and the trees just lay bear with no leaves or snow. In fact, the ponds have melted too and there were ducks and geese swimming in the pond along the Mississippi Regional Park Wedgewood Trail in Coon Rapids. I walked almost a mile and half with my son, Sam who was riding his bicycle. On our way, we met two dogs – a nice white little dog, called Bailey and a black not so nice dog. The black Labrador was in a fenced house and he could not help himself but bark at us on our way back on the trail. Meanwhile, while we were going, we had met Bailey and her owner walked past us. On our way back, Bailey looked like she wants to say hello, so I looked at her and said, “hello!” in a soft voice. Then, I turned to her owner to ask, “Can I pet her?” He said, “Yes.” I bent down and pet her on the head and under her arms and Sam left his bicycle to come and pet the dog too. Petting Bailey lasted about a minute or two and we continued to head back home facing the wind as I walked while Sam rode his bicycle. At the end of the walk, my laps and right knee hurt. As for the right knee, I guess it is because it has not healed from hurting when I fell in the icy snow four weeks ago in front on my apartment.

I have not reached my goal, but I am not giving up. I have improved in my pace and complete time, but is not at 14 minutes yet. I have five more weeks to go to reach my goal. I hope to bring you good news at the end of this class and exercise. I just want to encourage you today not to give up on whatever you want to achieve. It may take long, it may not, but just keep going and you will achieve it.

Thanks for reading. I hope to talk to you again through my blogs. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please, send me a note – fill out the contact form. I want to hear from you. You can also get my recent posts by signing up to receive updates.

Bye for now, until next time.

The Italian Taste Lasagna

February 13, 2014 By Bukola Oriola

If you have a dish you have never tried but will like to cook, perhaps, my lasagna cooking story will inspire you to give it a trial. I ate lasagna for the first time about five years ago at a friend’s house. She made it herself. I was visiting her with another friend when she told us the story of how she looked up the recipe, and made her own home made lasagna. According to her, it tasted better than the restaurant served menu, which she described as, “Too watery and tasteless.” Then, she said, “I will now make my own lasagna whenever I want to eat it.”

For someone who was hearing the name of the food for the first time, I asked, “What is lasagna?” She said, “It’s a kind of pasta that you boil first and then layer it with cheese and other spices, including meat before putting it in the oven to bake.” She prefers chicken, so the lasagna she cooked that day was with chicken. For a second, I thought that was a lot of work, in addition to a bunch of ingredients that I have no clue about. I tasted the food, but was not too excited about the taste.

Since then, I never ate the dish. Whenever I came across it, I remembered what she had said about not cooking it

right at other places, and I thought that if I wasn’t really excited about the taste of the one I ate at her house, I would be better off with another choice rather than soiling my taste buds. However, I was able to overcome my fear one day when lasagna was served during one of my public presentations. I can’t remember which presentation it was. It was beef lasagna. I took a little bit in my plate, and I regretted not taking more. The spaghetti sauce used made it delicious. I thought that the cook was generous with the sauce. Biting into the pasta with ground beef and sauce left a lasting flavor on my gustatory cell. The pasta was soft, the sauce sank between my teeth, and I enjoyed every bite that I took.

It was an unexpected experience that I really liked. Since then, I have been looking for lasagna. In fact, I bought a box of lasagna from Cub Foods sometimes ago, but never cooked it. I did not know how. I was also kind of lazy at looking out for the recipe online, so all I could do was talk about it with anybody that cared to listen whenever I craved it.

However, something happened today. I was able to cook my own “Italian taste” lasagna, as was described by my friend, Annette, who helped me out during the shopping process at Walmart. Well, I had run to Walmart for a little grocery shopping, especially rice. The store sells a particular kind of Jasmine rice that I prefer to cook. While on the isle, pushing my cart with my son, Samuel, suddenly, he screamed, “Grandma Annette.” Then, someone by the refrigerator turned to look, and indeed, it was Annette. We exchanged greetings, hugged, and she asked, “What has brought you in here.” I said, “I came to get few groceries.” She went on to explain how her grandchildren sent her on the errand to get some items for their parent’s (Annette’s children) valentine surprise party at Grandma’s House.

I asked about her husband, Jim, and she said, he went to get a drink because he was thirsty. Jim came back with a cup of coke from Subway and gave it to Annette. Annette turned to me and said, “You can have a drink, it is diet coke, although, I know you like regular.” I took a sip and returned her cup in her cart, and said goodbye. But it was not good bye yet.

We parted but reunited at another isle. I stopped by the pasta and I picked up a box of lasagna. One box said, “Oven Ready Lasagna,” and I was interested in knowing more about that. Then, I asked Annette for help. I told her that I will like to make my own “Bukola Style Lasagna.” She was really helpful, she helped me with the three different kinds of cheese that goes on it and asked if I had dried basil and oregano. According to her, the basil is not as important as the oregano, because, “The oregano is what gives it the Italian taste.” I said to her, “I have basil and oregano at home, but I will like to add other spices like knorr cube and even hebanero pepper.” She said, “You can add whatever you like but you need meat in it and the spaghetti sauce.” She read the directions behind the box and we found that “Oven Ready Lasagna” means that it does not need to be pre-boiled before layering. I was excited because, the boiling part, for in-explainable reasons, has been my bone of contention. I just was not really keen for doing that first.

Afterwards, I went to Cub Foods to buy ground beef and two jars of Rago spaghetti sauce. I thought to myself, “After

classes’ tomorrow afternoon, I will come home to satisfy my soul by cooking this lasagna to eat.” When I got home to cook as I had thought yesterday, I found that I had run out of dried basil and oregano. I ran back to Cub Foods to get them because I really wanted the taste I had kept on my taste buds for a long time to come back in my mouth.

While cooking the sauce and the meat, I tasted it and that taste came right back. I mixed up all the content and spices as directed on the lasagna box and after about seventy minutes, my lasagna was ready to be served. I served Samuel, but he did not want it. However, I really enjoyed my lasagna. I am glad that I took the bold step to try a food that I had craved for a very long time by cooking it myself for the first time. I hope that you can do the same.

Bye for now, until next time.

Rain Taxi Presents Nigerian Author, Okey Ndibe

January 27, 2014 By Bukola Oriola

Rain Taxi is set to present Nigerian author, Okey Ndibe on Friday, February 21, at 7:00 pm. The event, which will hold at 514 SE 2nd St, Minneapolis will feature the author’s new book entitled Foreign Gods, Inc.

According to a Rain taxi’s online publication, the book, published by Soho Press is an expose on the life of a Nigerian taxi driver, Ike in the US. Ndibe uses the life of a frustrated divorcee to explore the “questions of race, identity, and the commodification of the sacred,” by telling “the story of Nigerian-born New York City cab driver Ike, as [a] complicated … character as any in contemporary literature.”

The book has been referred to as, “A taut, literary thriller… that wrestles with bad faith and the post-colonial condition in equal measure, and a more than worthy follow-up to Arrows of Rain, Ndibe’s first novel, by Rain Taxi.

In addition, Ernest Emenyonu called it, “A blueprint for the second generation of African novelists.”

Rain Taxi encourages the Twin Cities community to join the organization for a “reading and discussion with this important writer in the beautiful new heated galleries of The Soap Factory, dedicated to supporting artists and engaging audiences through the production and presentation of contemporary art in a unique and historic environment—now celebrating its 25th year as a laboratory for artistic experimentation and innovation.”

The event is free and open to the public, with a reception to follow. Books will be available for sale at the event, courtesy of Magers & Quinn Booksellers.

Read more about Okey Ndibe at http://www.raintaxi.com/reading-series/

Bye for now, until next time.

What a Good Boss!

January 26, 2014 By Bukola Oriola

A good boss is the one who helps his subordinates. I witnessed a perfect example of that at the Anoka Auto Zone by Ferry Street. It was seven degrees outside when I pulled up in front of the auto retail store to get new wiper blades and a battery check. After checking the battery, the auto sales representative, Steve said to me, “Your battery is weak; although, it is not bad, you can still get some use out of it.” I hesitated. I had been stranded too many times, especially during this fierce winter season as a result of dead car. Few days ago, I had to call for help from a friend, Annette, who drove all the way from Andover to Anoka with her husband, Jim, to help me jumpstart my car.

Noticing quickly that I was skeptical about keeping the battery, he asked, “Does it not work after you have parked it for a long time, like two weeks or more? Or, does it just stop working each time you park it?” he was trying to find out why I was hesitant to see if I should proceed for a purchase. I told him, “The car just wouldn’t start sometimes. I don’t have to park it for long. During the winter season, it has been acting out badly and I have been stranded many times.” He said, “Okay, let’s look at the batteries available. Then, I asked, “Will you change it for me?” He responded, “Yes. Then, we went back into the store.

When I first I entered the store to get attention from the sales representatives, he was the first to come forward, but he was kind of a little bit nervous. I could tell he was probably a new staff at the store. One of his colleagues nudges him forward with his hands to take on the job. Sheepishly, he said, “Hello, how can we help you?” I told him that I wanted wiper blades and needed my battery checked to see if I needed a new one.

“No problem,” he said. “What is the make of the car?” He asked. “2009 KIA Spectra, I replied.” I was looking at the computer screen as he searched for wiper blades. There were various price ranges and I chose the range within my budget. It was about $17. He went into the display area and picked the wiper blades, then came back to look for the battery tester tool. He seemed to have a little trouble finding the tool, but one of his colleagues pointed it out to him. As he grabbed it to go outside with me, a female colleague advised him to leave the wiper blades on the cash register first, check on the battery to see if I would be making a purchase, so that I could pay for both at once. Then, he turned to me to ask, “Would you like to buy a new battery if you needed one?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Okay,” left the wiper blades on the cash register and proceeded to go out.

I followed him and quickly went to open the car to get the bonnet open. After, we agreed that I wanted a new battery; he went back to his computer to search for the right one. Thereafter, he went to get the new battery to install in my car. I paid for the battery and wiper blades, including a car tune for my gas tank. Installing the battery in seven degrees weather in Minnesota was not fun. Steve did not have gloves on and taking the old battery was not too difficult but putting the new one in was like a herculean task. He seemed to be struggling with it. I had to go inside the shop with my son to wait, and watch as he tried to install the battery.

“I wish that I could help. I wish it was summer and not winter,” I thought, as I pitied him for struggling with the installation in such a cold weather condition outside. He took several trips back and forth the store to get one tool or the other to work. At some point, I heard one of his colleagues said, “Good night boss.” I looked to see who the boss was, and I found that it was an older man who was attending to a customer at the cash register when I had walked into the shop. He impressed me when he got to Steve and stopped. I was watching to see if he would stop to give him a hand or just say good night and walk away. He was the good boss. He stopped. He then, gave Steve a hand. He was working on it for a while when another colleague of Steve went outside to join them.

At last, the new battery was installed. The colleague who went outside asked if I had paid for the battery, and I said, “Yes, do you want to see the receipt?” He said, “Yes,” and I reached in my purse to get the receipt. When I handed over the receipt to him, he held onto it. So, I asked, “Can I have my receipt back?” He said, “Yes, but I need to give you back $15. I was surprised. I said, “I bought wiper blades too.” He said, I know, but I still need to give you $15 back. Well, it turned out that he actually gave me $16 and some cents. While he was giving me the change, I saw Steve and his boss coming into the store. I asked his colleague who was giving me money back for the name of the boss, and he said, “Jeff.” I said, “He is a good guy.” He replied, “Yes.”

I could not help myself, when Jeff came in, I said to him, “You are a very good boss. Thank you so much. He smiled and said, “Thank you.” Meanwhile, I had reached in my purse for a little tip for Steve for the work on the car. I gave him my little tip and said, “It’s a tip for you. Thank you so much.” He replied with a smile too, “Thank you.” I left the store and went to start my car. The car started with a very nice sound, so I knew the old battery was not just weak, but was almost bad. I tried my wiper blades, which flew on the windshield. Then, one of Steve’s colleagues, who had gone out to install it ran out to fix it. I came out of the car to ask what was wrong with it, and he said, “Sorry about that, I just put it there, I couldn’t install it when the bonnet was up.” He fixed it and I was a happy customer. I waved bye to them, Steve came out to ask if the battery was working, and Jeff, who was back outside to leave, said, “Yes.” I waved goodbye to them, smiling. Happy that they did an impressive job, I drove away.

Bye for now, until next time.

Why You Can Talk to Kids About Human Trafficking

January 25, 2014 By Bukola Oriola

At The Enitan Story table with my son, Sam at Empower Freedom Conference

I was sitting beside my seven year old son, Sam outside of the auditorium of the Calvary Church, listening to Stephanie Page, a speaker at the Empower Ladies Conference entitled Proclaim Freedom, when he said, “She’s talking about you.” He thought the speaker was talking about me because he heard Page said the word, “human trafficking” in a statement she had made in her presentation. Empower Ladies Conference was a human trafficking awareness event, which we attended as vendor for The Enitan Story.

About 20 vendors were displayed on the red and light brown ceramic tile floor hallway facing the church’s auditorium. The Enitan Story shared a table with Family Life Ministries, a couple counselling program in Brooklyn Park. As I sat at my table glancing here and there, nicely made handmade jewelry were displayed on the table covered in black table cloth in front of the bag display table on my left hand side. There were other exhibits, including handmade bags, purses, crafts and things at the venue. United 1 Front is another nonprofit working with aftercare givers for victims of human trafficking in the Twin Cities. A considerable amount of crowd gathered for the two-day event. Perhaps, about 100 guests were present.

Fierce Freedom, a nonprofit focusing on education and awareness in Eau Claire, Wisconsin is one of the three organizations that the event was raising funds for. The other two were Stories Café and People Serving People. Founder of Fierce Freedom, Jenny Almquist had come to get coffee from the Ray’s Roast Coffee table displayed opposite The Enitan Story’s table when she invited us to join her upfront, close to the auditorium in order to listen to the speaker. I promised to join her and went into one of the classrooms facing the hallway to get a chair. Sam got one too. For a minute, Sam went to the mirror on the display stand by The Fierce Freedom’s table checking himself out. I didn’t even know it was a mirror until Almquist told me later that she saw Sam checking himself out in the mirror. She said, “He is so cute. He was looking at himself and checking out his teeth.” I could not hold my laughter back when I said, “I had no clue that was a mirror.” I was seeing it from the back, so I thought it was a sign of the organization used to display scarfs, because a scarf was sitting on it.

Well, I was curious about why my son thought that the speaker was talking about me for mentioning “human trafficking” in her statement. He said, “Because you do human trafficking.” Then, I said to him, I do human trafficking advocacy.” He struggled to pronounce advocacy for a minute, but I helped him to pronounce it and also asked him to say “human trafficking advocacy.” I told him that “I am doing human trafficking advocacy because I want to help others.

I am not surprised that he knows my work has to do with human trafficking. When I began to produce Imprisoned Show at the North Metro TV in Blaine, I used to take him to the studio in his car seat, where he sat or took a nap during our production. In that process, he has learned about the topic that his mother has been working on.

I began Kids Against Trafficking on the show to sensitize children about the issue of human trafficking at their level. Human trafficking awareness does not have to be revealed to children in a gory state; it can be taught in a way that will help them learn about the issue.

Bye for now, until next time.

Suicide On a Treadmill

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The Italian Taste Lasagna

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Rain Taxi Presents Nigerian Author, Okey Ndibe

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What a Good Boss!

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Why You Can Talk to Kids About Human Trafficking

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