2022: Retro
As I stare at the skyline with the sun setting in Dakar this last day of the year, I’m yet again trying to answer the question “What happened this year?”. Here’s hoping I remember the important stuff to share with y’all.
In a number of ways, the year was filled with good surprises for me and my siblings, as a lot of interesting changes happened for us.
Learnings
If you’ve been reading these retros, you probably recall that I was in the market for a hi-fi system. Guess what? I finally did. I was able to build an amplifier with the generous help of the instructions from Amp Camp and Moode audio for Apple Airplay 1 support (I’ll probably cover this in another story). The basic components are as follows:
- Amplifier
- Preamplifier
- Carbon turntable
- Raspberry Pi 4
- Klipsch Reference Speakers
I significantly improved my French this year as I travelled extensively through francophone West Africa and was able to interact in every day scenario and spoke the most french in my anglophone group 😂 (I’m probably still an A2 in the proficiency level but feel closer to a B1 🤞🏾).
Lastly, I saw significance progress in my Rust skills as I had to make some optimizations using multi-threading at work.
Family and Friends
As always, I’d like to give thanks for the Almighty for keeping my parents, siblings and friends in good health to which I say Alihamdulilah and to them for being awesome humans while going through life.
I’m especially proud of my siblings for their achievements this year, as one of them decided to pursue a Masters program in the UK, another finished her Law School program with a First Class and is now a fully fledged Lawyer in the Nigerian Bar with the rest doing great in their respective undergraduate programs.
Travel
I had the opportunity of traveling a lot this year and I’ve been able to visit six cities in five countries. However, the highlight of these travels was being able to see my folks after being away for over two years.
In the coming year, I plan to visit more cities around the world.
Vie Courante (Everyday Life)
Earlier in the year, the Russian forces decided to plunge the people of Ukraine into uncertain times as their national sovereignty is being challenged.
The global response was incredibly supportive of the Ukrainians which left me with a bittersweet feeling, sweet because innocent people being displaced are feeling welcomed all around the world and bitter because immigrating under such circumstance is incredibly stressful especially when it’s totally avoidable.
Also, bitter because this same violent displacement of people have been happening all around the world especially in the Middle East and Africa but there has always being a lackluster response from neighbors and countries of the world in helping people get to safety.
As we sunset the year 2022, I’d like to share a parting thought which goes “If preserving your culture requires the ill-treatment of another group of people, it’s probably time to audit your culture”. Thanks for reading and hope the new year ushers in great things.
