TIVANGO

The summer breeze was heating directly

on her skin,

penetrating deep into her bikinis to burn her flesh. She felt

good to be relaxed at the North Eve Beach, watching

teenagers playing volleyball and some busy roaming around the

Castaways bar. She felt less of a stranger. It was like she grew up in

Chicago. And she grinned in memory of the events which occurred

whenever she visited the place with her parents, every summer, they

made it a point to visit Lake Michigan, which is one of the largest

lakes in the world, sometimes they visited the Play Pen, just to

watch boaters tying up and partying.

It was really overwhelming, to

have light conversations with people from around Chicago, this is

how she got to know that Chicago is an amazing place for the

middle class, and a very tough place to live for the working class.

The Chicago Loop, the business district, where many people live

in the neighborhoods. However, there is Eaglewood and Austin

which are well known for high crime and insecurity, these places

are characterized by high poverty and continuous shootings. The

Rivalries amongst north-siders (the white color people) and South

siders (the blue color people) makes sports and politics crazier in

the city.

However, over the years, Chicago has been labelled a city of high

crime and violence, people overlooked the beauty of the city...which

is what she sees every time she visits the city and it felt amazing.

She always visited bull statue which is believed to be having good

luck on its balls, and once you touch its testicles, you will be blessed for your whole life. She did this occasionally for her parents' soul

to rest in peace.

Well, moving to Chicago felt like a huge achievement for Tivango

even though it was temporary. After her parents died in a car

accident in Eaglewood, she made it a point to visit Chicago every

year just to recollect some memories. And yes, to get some closure

since she believed their spirits were still roaming in Chicago. She

enjoyed Chicago more than any other place. Besides, it reminding

her of her old folks, she enjoyed the cool breeze and also the free

lifestyle of the people.

She felt like there was no reason for her to live in Africa and it

didn't bother her much that sometimes she spent more than six

seasons away from her country, she had no reason to be there, only

a huge empty mention which was definitely haunted by ghosts.

Looking for relatives who abandoned her when she was a little kid

would be a total waste. However she missed Africa sometimes, the

amazing visits to the Great Zimbabwe ruins (which her parents said

were important "they resemble African Craft Work, there are very

important" her father would emphasize, however, she understood

little by then, because she was only twelve. She also remembered

visiting the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, The Great Sahara Desert in

Botswana and sometimes the Durban Beach just to relax. Well, it

wasn't really interesting, sometimes because with her parents being

explores it meant she had to spend the rest of her life travelling, she

never made any friends.

Tivango being a very intelligent girl always wanted to be a

medical doctor. However, that became a dream that hung on fragile

hopes. In an attempt to own her parents' interests, she became an explorer.

She had promised on their burial day, that she will visit

The Amazon Rainforest one day, just to fulfil their dreams.

Well, when summer hit Chicago, Tivango asked to join an

exploring crew to the Amazon, which went to study the lifestyle of

reptiles, which included seventeen species of highly venomous

snakes, seven species of pit viper and about ten species of croon

snakes. However, Tivango main interest was on the Eunectes

Murinus (Green Anacondas), the longest snakes in the amazon

which are approximately five meters in length, even though they

were told not to go near anacondas, she managed to capture their

behavior from a distance. How they survived, she captured many

videos and pictures. Which were helpful.

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