Lessons on love....

Do you need a lesson on love? Do you need help on up-ping your game? Do you think yu have game but could do with some refinement? Do you want to know how to interpret the signals?...Then stop wasting the petals on the poor flower wondering whether he loves you or loves you not and buy yourself a ticket to Singapore where you could get some lessons on good ol' love....If you think Im kidding, check this out Singapore students get intimate in lessons of love
What are you still sitting there for? Go on then!
:)

The unbelievable situation in Kenya

Of all the possible posts I imagined I would start 2008 with, one that involved reflections on the sad situation in my motherland was certainly never in the plan. There is much to be said about how atrocius and utterly ridiculous it is that a country that once was a beacon of hope and role model for the continent is now a subject of prayer and aid. That people who have co-existed for years can wake up one day and decide they dont like each other hence they shall chop each other up is abit too much for me to fathom. That the people we entrusted with the leadership of the country seem rather willing to let it burn up in pursuit of political ambitions is beyond belief. That in a span of one month, Kenya has gone from being the land of the safari,lots of wildlife and runners to 'really sorry to hear about what is going on in your country', 'is your family ok?' 'its so sad ....' is something I'm still getting my head around.

Like all Kenyans, I await the results of the current talks with bated breath, faith and optimism.

In the meantime, any Kenyan who has cast a stone;wielded or used a panga to maim or kill,torched a homestead or othe property;spread messages of fear, hatred,threat; chased a family from the only home they have known;caused the loss of a spouse,a child,a cow,a roof,an education...at/to/of a fellow Kenyan....may such a person (if missed by the justice system) carry that guilt to their grave and may the heavens deal with them as they deal fit! For we have 385,000++sq kms of land and a sovereignity that gives the right to Kenyans of all regions to live in whichever part of that space and no one should live in fear of his/her neighbour 45years after independence!!!!

Colombus bites the dust in Venezuela...again

Incredible! I cannot believe I forgot to post on this one.

Last week, in a discussion on post colonialism, this very interesting article from some goings on in Venezuela came to light. While Chavez has been in the limelight lately for a number of things, I have to give him some props for some of the moves.
Certainly I feel the pain of the education fraternity who now have to review texts BUT I suspect in years to come, history will be filled with some very interesting stories and if done well in a manner to preserve the heritage of the locale then it should make for a very good read!

Some immediate thoughts that come to mind as we were debating over the article and the image in it were;
a) Is the 'lower-half' of the world starting to fight back?
b) What will be the position of chaps like Colombus x years from now if this trend of 'getting erased' prevails? Will they disappear into historical oblivion and be replaced by 'modern time heroes' who will have 'erased' them?

Hmmm...I muse on..

Adjustments, maladjustments and sundances!

If someone knows of a magical spell, special soup, pills, happy juice or whatever else that would ease the adjustment from a 8am-5pm day to student life, please let me know where any of those remedies can be purchased!
Its not that I dont like homework or reading but its a whole new regiment and after x yrs out of the system one needs abit of time to get with the program. Submission of 2 topics and outlines for the first 2 papers are due next week. SO the current Q&A session going on in my head sounds something like this...
Am I panicking? No.
Do I have them ready? No
Should I have them ready? Well at least by Monday.
Its Saturday evening now, so should I be panicking? Errrrmmm

On another note perhaps I should also apologise to all those who requested that weather dance(because im African and apparently we have those)to increase the number of sunshine hours or in most cases to bring about some sunshine hours. It is evident thus far that my jig has had no impact on the situation. I followed all the steps but I think you need a saxon weather dancer for this one. If you find one please send him/her the memo. I'm willing to tip the piggy bank for this sort of a cause.

I'm a what...in a different area code...

You know the song no? So anyway, this is my new area code.So incase any one happens by this pier,give me a shout and we can go have us a cuppa on the pebbles!

In less than 48hours...

...I had to change area codes; move to new lands; abscond places I had know for 4 years without so much as a decent goodbye.

Well to be fair, I left KL in my head a couple of months ago or something like that but the actual movement in my head started in July when I got accepted to Sussex for my MA. The real physical movement was to be determined by one visa issuing officer. As a Kenyan, one of the most apprehensive moments is when one has to apply for visa to the northern hemisphere. Either I 'karma-ed' myself negatively or the theory that we dont really just get accepted to the north is true or maybe it was the universe telling me things.....after a 2 month long process of sleepless days, wondering nights or vice versa, the last words I remember are 'ill give it to you. Go to your studies and the back home and build your country.......'. That was on a Wednesday..orientation was on Saturday and classes were to start on Monday. The mind and body have a way of getting into logic and overdrive in an instant. I have never been so organised and logical in my life. Sleep was not an option, no big goodbye fests(none which are worthy f my 4 years tenure), no lunches with people and friends I had held for years, no last moments in kl with the twin towers/cheese naans/lunar bars e.t.c. It was get my sh** together and move like there is no manana.
I dare you to imagine how much stuff I had accumulated over 4years.Once you finish with that visual, now try packing it into 20kgs of baggage allowance (because you somehow found a flight at the 11th hour), then attempt to find winter clothes in a tropical country,then attempt to change rent contracts, pack desk in office, send goodbye emails to staff, request someone to pick you up at the airport on the other end at some ungodly hour,squeeze in some gooodbye dinner with the roomates, check all bills are paid, handover at the office,clear you taxes, pack whatever you can into a bag and all others into the trash can or boxes.....errrmmm MAYHEM.

The success behind such a venture lies in the combination of a supportive boss and colleagues, priceless roomates who volunteer to ship your stuff, Godsend friends who come and help you make sense of your packing or just hang out on your couch in support, friends who turn up at Zouk to enjoy one last drink with you even though they are still asking WTF?!, family who encourage you to keep up the fight and smile and cry with you all the way, amazing friends who pick you up at airports in the rain and slash at ridiculous hours, make you breakfast, put you on trains and proceed to open their homes to you when you need a breather,friends who champion your cause from the other end of the world and take time off their schedules to come welcome you to their lands...

Someone once said to be that i am mad. I feel like that sometimes but its a good mad. I'm mad and feel blessed in more ways than I can count. In my head I am still running and only now beginning to calm down and take stock of how far I have come. Its a change of lifestyle, thinking, dress code, diet amongst other things and I can ony trust that the graces and providence that have brought me thus far will prevail.

More than 1000 words...

Thats what they say about pictures. They leave an impression more than words could ever describe.Sometimes you come across an image that leaves an impression so big and yet one cant resist the urge to add words to it. This is my picture of the year scanned off a postcard cover collection from almost a year back.



It makes me think of past, present and future; of Confucius and his band of men; of great friendships that last a lifetime; of a bonds strengthened by hardship and yield; of spending one's twilight years with trusted friends; of a lone musician sitting atop a verdant green hill playing a flute while the wind blows gently, the daisies dance in the wind, the sunset is glorius and the river snakes its way through paddy fields in the valley below; of God and His awesomeness; of the importance of man living in harmony with his kind and nature; of gentleness; of wisdom; of a life well lived; of living life to its fullest; of men of valour and women of virtue and honour; of the circle of life; of things beyond my understanding...of more than a thousand words.