Day 0 ::: I was first introduced to the Spice Girls 14 years ago on a flight much like this one.  I was in 8^th grade and my family had decided to spend Christmas and New Years in Nigeria. I remember a couple things about that trip. 1) being so excited to miss so many days of school  2.) not being able to play on the girls basketball team upon returning because I had missed so many days of school (it's ok, I was really terrible), and  3.) The Spice Girls! My sister Peace and I were flipping through the radio stations on the armrest of our chairs. We were so young and so amazed by how big the plane was – 10-seat rows, miniature pillows, and most of all, our own personal headphones.   Yes! As we flipped through the stations,  we would tell each other when we found something worth listening to. It was our first introduction to world music.  And then…

”I’ll tell you what I want what I really really want. Yea tell me what you want what
you really really want. I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna…I wanna really really really wanna…”

Man, that song was so hot! You should’ve seen us! We were hardcore fans! Until this day I don’t think I’ve ever gotten so excited about a song. We were bouncing all over that plane! As our luck would have it, that song played multiple times and on multiple stations during our 8 hour flight.  But we had it covered.  We would more or less keep watch over the radio like security guards, scanning back and forth from station to station…and once we heard it, we’d alert the other.  That is a good memory!

p.s. the clouds are lovely up here :)