I promise the headline of this post is not at all meant to be sensational. There actually was a time today that I said to myself, ‘so na so persin go just die? And inside Canada for that mata? After all the Lagos hustle nor kee me?’
Today was a day of many firsts. I took the GO train from Stouffville to downtown Toronto. I’m so glad for Z my host who dropped me off at the station and gave me directions to find my way. I was going downtown for a job interview, one of those ones they call survival jobs- jobs you do here as a newly landed immigrant to keep body and soul together. These roles are mostly telemarketing or debt collection roles.
Even though I initially lost my way after I arrived the train station in Toronto, finding the venue of the interview wasn’t as difficult. The interview was fast- In & Out. They speak to you about the job, you agree to their terms, they’ll schedule you for the 2nd level of interviews another day.
When I was done with the interview, I decided to explore downtown a little bit and chanced upon Toronto Eaton centre. Eaton centre is the place where my career mentor asked for a meeting with me next week, so I said why not explore now, ahead of later. As I was browsing through the stores, I sighted this smoothie bar. My excitement knew no bounds. Since I arrived Canada, this was the 1st smoothie bar I had been able to access. Everywhere else I had been to here had been fast food joints- McDonald’s, Pizza Pizza, Pizza Hut and all other orishirishi junk food.
In my excitement, I ordered a green smoothie – Kale, Spinach & Strawberry. Then something caught my eye- I could add spirulina to the smoothie if I so wished. I graciously told the server to add spirulina and ordered the largest cup because it was the cheapest considering size and I really need my plant vitamins and minerals. Adding spirulina to the smoothie was my undoing. By the time I arrived back in Stouffville, I was already nauseous. Not fully comprehending why I was feeling that way, I went to eat some raw Ginger to control the nausea. Apparently Ginger and spirulina are not best friends at all.
And there the nightmare began. I began to stool and vomit. My stomach was in twists. I was in excruciating pain. I threw up at least 8 times and managed to scare my hosts- T & Z. Unfortunately, in Ontario, new immigrants do not receive government health insurance until after 90 days. I was just 8 days in, and I hadn’t yet paid for private health insurance. At some point, I really thought I was going to die from the violent vomiting.
Thanks to Z’s dad who is a medical doctor here, they gave me pills to stem the vomiting and itching and it made me drowsy. I finally fell asleep at 2 am after throwing up all the contents of my stomach.
Wherever you are reading this, please just thank God for my life. All the prayers of my mother, father, siblings, boyfriend and girlfriends have not been in vain. A word of advice if, like me, you want to try spirulina, first read up about it here.
