Everyone in the world has a hometown whether they know about it or not. We all come from families who can trace their origin to certain communities or towns in various parts of the world. Some people stay in their town of origin while some of us stay far away from where we come from and occasionally visit our town from time to time.
The name of my hometown is Awgbu which is located in Orumba North local government area of Anambra state. The local dialect is Igbo which is the general language in the eastern part of Nigeria but it has a slight variation from the ones I have heard from neighboring towns. Most people in the town are predominantly farmers while a few are fishermen.
I rarely visit my hometown except on rare occasions and the last time I did was back in 2019 when I went to a friend's wedding ceremony. When I was a kid, my family usually travel to my hometown every 2 years but as the economic situation of the country deteriorated, we reduced the frequency of traveling.
My hometown used to have a very rural-like look which isn't surprising considering it isn't a big town but the last time I visited, it now has a modern look with tarred roads, street lights, and borehole water, unlike before when we usually get our water from streams and rivers. Most of the indigenes keep livestock at home which is mostly for personal consumption
There are four market days in my town and there are; Eke, Nkwo, Ofor, and Orie market days but it seems Eke market day is the most popular because that's usually when my grandmom goes to the market. The best time to be in my town is during festive periods because that's when something peculiar usually happens; masquerade displays! And the most elegant of those masquerades is the ijele which is called the king of all masquerades
I mostly visit my hometown during festive periods and that's when the masquerades usually come out. I used to be terrified of them in the past because of the way they look and my mom told me they aren't humans but spirits. As time went on, I realized they were humans and I was no longer afraid of them. They usually go around with bells on their waist to alert people of their presence and anybody caught by them will be flogged by the huge canes they carry around.
One thing I also love about my hometown is the food. Even though I still eat most of our local delicacies in my current city of residence, they don't taste the same as when I eat them in my hometown, it's like there's a secret ingredient that only takes effect only when the food is cooked in my hometown 馃槅. One very popular delicacy in my hometown is the African salad, A.K.A Abacha.
There's one weird thing about the people in my hometown that many people don't know about; they don't harm snakes, especially pythons. Pythons are sacred and aren't harmed whenever they are encountered and surprisingly, they don't harm the indigenes as well (at least that's what my mom told me).
I remember seeing a small snake in the bathroom of my grandmom's house during one of my visits and I raised alarm but my uncle came and just used a stick to push the snake out while I just stare in shock. My hometown is becoming more modern as years go by and in a way, I miss the way it used to be when I was a kid but at the same time I'm still glad to see it transforming and catching up with the rest of the country.
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