Saddam Hussein-- GUILTY!

I'm sure Saddam's guity verdict comes as no surprise to the rest of the world--himself included! I am not for the death penalty...never have been, never will be! It also coincidentaly comes right before the elections...wow!

If its that important to the world that he be hanged...when are we hanging the people responsible for colonization, slavery, Lumumba's death, AIDS...etc?

Also, how long has this country been asking for the removal of Rumsfeld and what good di it do the last time they asked for his removal? so exactly why are they bothering to ask for his removal again??????

You know I always have questions!

p/s
who else thinks Harold Ford has quiet sexiness??? or I'm I just attracted to intelligence?:) Call me Harold (said in my steamiest voice...)

(photo's courtesy of : defenselink.mil, bbc.co.uk, and wikipedia)

Zambian Politics

My eyes were teary while my mouth laughed in amusement as I was getting off the phone with Steven. He had just been informing me rather humourously that Vera Chiluba- our country's ex-presidents's ex-wife (bear with me...its not that complicated in a country with a VERY high divorce rate) had just been appointed to deputy minister of environment! I assumed he was just saying it to make me laugh...I mean come on...everybody knows she's bordering on illiterate...nobody could get away with appointing her to such an important position! well you know what they say about assumptions--they surely make an ass out of you!

It was confirmed for me by the BBC and other media
http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=482643
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6077988.stm
http://www.zambia.co.zm/articles/beloved_country.html -- this is sad and funny!

How in the world!!! and the passive Zambians-- how long shall they kill our profits, while we stand aside and look????

On a nice note about capitalism... there was a story in the news yesterday about a guy who discovered some letter written by many distressed people and posted to a pastor who had since gone on to be with the lord. The letters are about anything and everything from wanting to win the lottery to feeling sorry about an abortion. Well dude that found the letters is putting them on auction in ebay to make some money! So if you know you wrote to a pastor about a certain delicate situation...i would keep my eye on ebay!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/unanswered_prayers

Election '06

lol...I find it sooo funny that my yahoo account has me pegged for a republican and that I get soo much mail from them...then my hotmail account assumes I'm a democrat...and i receive a lot of mail from them too...
sad thing is...................................I have no priviledges to vote in this country and would be of no help to either party...I wonder if I should let them know...hhhmmm...but they are my only friends that write to me religiously......my mail boxes might be empty if i tell them!!!
I just got mail from www.steeleformaryland.com , www.GOP.com/laurabush , www.GOP.com/newt - I am finally friends with Laura and newt gingrich! I wonder if he knows I'm black...hhhmmmm! I have heard the guy speak...pretty scary stuff! If he ever becomes president--God forbid it! I will bleach my skin, buy a blonde wig and baby blue contact lenses!

and from hotmail I got mail from my buddy Barrack Obama--(who should hold off on running for president--unless he wants to waste money--which is a shame for an African to do!), Hillary, www.moveon.org just to name a few. So you see, I have friends in high places!

My popularity is soaring this year...if i can say so myself! I need to go freshen up and wait for the next email:)

P.W Botha

Botha died yesterday...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6105036.stm

crazy people always seem to live forever... i guess he needed time to repent or something!
How do you mourn for someone like that? read some of the comments in the link below
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6105178.stm

and how about those French bastards where involved in the Rwanda massacre? as if they hadn't done enough damage by creating fertile ground for the genocide!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6110646.stm

photo courtesy of the BBC

Ngosa Brother's

ok...so I know I've slacked off this week...but for good reason!
last friday I went to what I could describe as the best "Zambian singer" concert I have ever been to. It was held at the IMF offices in downtown DC. Ofcourse it wouldn't have been perfectly Zambian if they we're running on time...but 2 hours behind time was pushing it!!!

There was soooo much food we could have fed all of east Africa and then some! It was more professionaly put than most African concerts I have attended...! It was tad more on the religious side, but i went there more for the music than to pray really and trully...but also because I kind of think one of the singers was made for me....aaaaahhhh(sigh) Maaaattthhheeeww!!! He's got the whittest teeth ever...and boy can he whine that waist!

I screamed so much and laughed so hard...the oldest brother in the crew is a hoot! I hope you'll be able to view the video I uploaded.

Then I came home Saturday to write about Governor Ehrlich and his buddy Martin O'Malley for my political sociology class...how boring!

Kaunda USA '06

some info on KK's visit:

KK will make Appearance on "Dancing with the Stars"
When the founding President of Zambia, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, visits the U.S. as a guest of Project Concern International this November, his schedule includes a range of activities from being honored for his work against AIDS to being hosted for lunch by actor Sidney Poitier.
Dr. Kaunda, a leader of African independence in the 20th Century, now devotes his time to addressing the AIDS pandemic in Africa. To honor Dr. Kaunda, Project Concern will present the former president with a special recognition award at its 16th annual gala, which will be held at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines on Nov. 3.
Highlights of Dr. Kaunda's West Coast visit include:
San Diego:
-- Interview for University of California series, "Conversations in History"
-- Project Concern's 16th Annual Hands Across Borders gala
-- VIP Reception for 30 organizations named to Project Concern's 'Hope for Africa Honor Roll' for their work in human services
Los Angeles:
-- Speech at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council
-- Reception hosted by the Association of Zambians in California
-- Lunch meeting with actor Sidney Poitier
-- Appearance on "Dancing with the Stars" (Dr. Kaunda is an avid ballroom dancer)
Background:
The loss of Dr. Kaunda's son to AIDS and his country's ongoing crisis - more than 1 million people are HIV positive in Zambia - inspired Dr. Kaunda to launch a vigorous campaign in his retirement. Today, at the age of 82, he is a respected global advocate.
A relationship between Dr. Kaunda and San-Diego based Project Concern was forged as a result the organization's innovative work to combat AIDS in Zambia. In May 2006, Dr. Kaunda delivered closing remarks at Project Concern's Africa Forum. This unprecedented event connected more than 200 people from 16 African countries to share practical solutions in addressing AIDS and hunger as 'dual epidemics'. Active in the global AIDS response since the late 1980's, Project Concern's prevention, care, support and treatment programs reach millions of people in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the United States.
At a special reception prior Project Concern's gala on November 3, Dr. Kaunda will greet members of the "Hope for Africa Honor Roll" - more than 30 individuals and organizations in San Diego who are contributing their time, talent and money to address critical issues in Africa.
---
Project Concern International is a San Diego-based health and humanitarian aid organization dedicated to saving lives and building healthy communities around the world. With 45 years of experience, Project Concern has worked in 25 countries and today helps more than 3 million people lead healthy, productive lives. To learn more, visit http://www.ProjectConcern.org .

Traditions/ religions/ movement

O.K I have been meaning to talk out this but keep forgetting. There was a case in Engy where a moslem lady was asked to take off her "ninja" wear (a.k.a burka if you want to be politically correct). They claim it's necessary for her to wear it because its her religion. Now do you think an islamist nation would be that tolerant of me walking around with a huge Christian cross (a la 50 cents), and my traditional tumbuka animal skin attire with my boobs bear? so why should we be accepting of theirs?
My job doesn't allow me to wear a nose ring, and i gracefully took mine off...even though i could claim putting an ornament on my nose is part of my tradition and should be allowed!

should people move to other countries and expect things to be done just like it is in their country? what was the point of moving in the first place then?

if the poolicy at your work place says...no crosses or burka's then... thats what it means!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5411320.stm

Happy Zambia Independence Day!

Happy Independence day to all Zambians and all adopted Zambians and all Zambians by proxy? lol!

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/za.html

chisokone chisokone chisokone!!! ushasokone mwana wa ndoshi!
One Zambia- One Nation! Vote KK!

Samora Machel

They are finally putting a real inquiry into the death of Samora Machel 10 whole years later! I will be surprised if they find a whole lot of evidence...I'm sure any one that saw or heard anything is dead now, or they would have spilt their guts a long time ago. Even though I was quite little at the time that his delegation crashed after leaving Zambia...I still remember feeling a sense of dread...u know like your grand-father just died after promising to take u ice-cream shopping...:)

Oh and on a Sad note...Lebo from Boom-Shaka died!! what's with all the good female South African singers popping off to sing for Jesus??? As usual I smell a conspiracy...we need to bring in the Ng'anga's to "smell the rats".

(Oh and Judy....I am still laughing about yesterday's conva! can't get over it. To the rest of you...mind your own beezwax!)

Excitey-Whitey!!!

well it appears that they have found oil in Zambia....that simply means we'll get a little rich, then we'll have a war, then the US will occupy us, then they'll offer free scholarships and refugee status to those of us that will survive...then in like 50 years or so we'll either be quite prosperous or like our good neighbours les Congolais!

I hate the way the BBC keeps implying Mwanawasa has improved the Economy of Zambia...dude hasn't done too much. He didn't cause the international copper "come back", nor did he cause the debt of Zambia to be cancelled. So I don't think he should be praised for work that he did not do!!! has UNZA been fixed up? does it have as many educated prof's as it used to? has UTH (the biggest hospital) got most of the things that it needs..i.e xray sheets, dialysis machines, PANADOL, nurses, doctors...etc(if its better, why is our PRESIDENT going to the UK for something as easy as stroke treatment? why has he no faith in his own hospital?) c'est terrible! Its sad how the media tells stories to portray the writters views and not what's really going on!...hey it seems that I do it too...but if you read the first blog i published u would know that I live by my own standards...and represent only ME! so its justified!

Got curves???

Damn I'm hot! It just always surprises me:) haha...any way...my birthday celebration came to a nice end today...its been 2 weeks of fun...and i thouroughly enjoyed myself thanks to great family and good friends.

ahhhhh! i can't twait for my next birthday:)

Oh and someone asked me why I haven't commented on the Zambian Election results...well coz they we're Bull Shit and will forever be bullshit! and even if Micheal Sata won...I would still think the results were bullshit. That's my story...and I'm sticking to it!

Diane Rehm

Can I just tell y'all that I hate how Diane Rehms speaks with a passion!!!! Don't get me wrong because I love her program...but I just can't stand how she talks! weired, but true.
I finally got a chance to see what she looks like and...not what I expected at all! i thought she would look older than she does coz she certainly sounds OLD!
and i don't have a phobia about old people because my favorite patients are actually old people... i just don't like the way the lady talks! I always have to change the radio station when i hear her...well honestly...I listen a little bit...then i change the station:)
This is her Bio...pretty impressive... http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/diane_rehm/ but I still don't like how she speaks!!!

Mau Mau Vs UK

All I can say is, if the Mau Mau win their case of abuse against the UK government. I will also be filling a complaint on behalf of Zambia! I don't care that I wasn't even a zygote at the time of their rule... but a sista needs money.
I am probably not as rich as i could have been because of them...who knows? what if I could have figured out a way to sail to the UK myself and conquered them? they didn't give me the chance...so I should charge them...hhhmmm...sounds like a plan!

On another note. I am tired of people in my class assuming people from third world countries are dumb..."why don't they just subsidise?" doomass...! read the dargone IMF S.A.P's!!

We might not be philosophers sitting around and thinking about stuff because we don't have the time to do that...we are always thinking about where our next meal will come from, who's going to die next, who's funeral will take priority to attend for that day, who's wedding to organize, who's children to adopt, who's going to get the educated of all the kids in the house...etc

oh crap I'm late for class...taataa!

The last king of Scotland

Photo's courtesy of www.imdb.com
This weekend I was away mulching off my aunt. I ate like a pig!! eat all you can eat cholesterol, fats, sugars, mmmmmmm salt!!!! The sucky thing was that there was an accident on the I-95 the day I left for Bethesda, and the day I got back! It took me approximately 2 hours to and from! how annoying!

The Bethesda food festival was in progress, so Bethesda was pretty busy. I forgot my camera at home because i was expecting to do a whole lot coz my fat lazy ass was looking for a nice cozy weekend sitting around with family! So i unfortunately had on some heels, biig mistake for all the walking we ended up doing thanks to STEVEN who messed up with the place we were supposed to go to! I could feel all the cholesterol and fats just seeping from my body with all the steps I took...thank God for refills!!!:)

So we went to see THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, and it was fun fun fun! there's quite a bit to laugh at if you understand the culture and all that. Forest Whitaker did an awesome job, and actually didn't pronouce as babdly as most American actors do when they fake an "African" accent. The Swahili pronounciation was quite believable.

This movie wasn't quite as horrid as the other Idi Amin movies which show him eating human flesh and highly abusing women. It showed a little bit about his sex party's and all, but nothing too vulgar. I have trouble believing the good doctors story that he really didn't know what was going on... I don't believe he could have been that stupid. Well maybe he could have been if he was doing one of the mad president's wives and expecting not to get caught...doomass!

Any way, If you haven't seen it yet, I would recommend that you do... its quite entertaining, especially since its inspired by true events.

The only thing I had issues with was...why is it that when they do movies about Africans, they typically seem to use African American actors for the parts??? Do Africans not know how to act? Kerry Washington is really pretty...but do we not have any pretty African women who could have played the part with a natural African accent??? I could have sworn I have seen beautiful African women...and I do that every morning when I look in the mirror!

I'm not trying to 'player hate' or whatever its called these days...but you will never find an African actor invited to play the part of Martin Luther King, or Malcom X, faking a "Black American" accent. So I don't see why it can be done the other way. Is the suggestion being made that African Americans are more superior??? Is that because they are "Americans"? or is it becaus ethey have lived near white people??? hey these are all valid questions... I am just throwing them out there! just like the Ugandan doctor says at the end of the movie to the good Scottish doctor "they will believe you because you're white". Very powerful statement. Also please don't tell me that people watched the movie because Forrest whitaker was in it because that's not true. Educated people will watch the movie because they know Idi Amin and it doesn't matter who the actor playing the part is.

If you also think back to the documentary on Liberia and how the "African Americans" were the only people allowed to stand for the country's elections in the birth of the country. The "locals" I guess were too dumb to know how to run the country.
***************************************************************
Oh i finally found some really good Liver pate from Balducci's... its been soooo long since I had some and i was really happy to amuse my taste buds with some.

ok...and on that interesting note...I will pen off and watch the Law and Order SVU marathon.

Mark Foley

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5400536.stm

Agony is:
signing a bill that bites you in the butt!!! it's funny, but its not funny if you get my drift. Now the democrats ofcourse are going to try to use this to their advantage- even though they have a Lewinsky scandal over their head! But finally the republicans can get off their high horses... just a lil'bit. Its too bad kids had to be involved....

Its my birfffdaay!

so its that special time of the year again.... and this year I didn't send out and annual reminder to the family and friends about it. I wanted to see who would remember...!
Cousin Kimmy ofcourse wins the trophy for cousin of the year!
the people at work are soooooo nice, they gave me the cheesiest assignment ever...needless to say i was bored with having nothing to do, but it was great to not get swamped today!

I have had phone calls from all over the world and i can truly say i am blessed and loved...not many people can say that.

My mother who forgets our birthdays every year...did it again...and i have to remind her in an ever so gentle way that if she doesn't improve...we'll put her in a nursing home:)

Shooting in schools

I think its appaling that every other day there's shooting in schools... I think the government needs to put check points at schools just like they do at the airports. We are so obsessed with terrorists...we forget that we have crazy people in the country!

If I was a parent I would be petrified everytime my kids went to school wondering if someone was going to shoot them, or if THEY were going to shoot someone. The latter is highly doubtful as I wouldn't allow guns in the house anyway...but who knows?? Can you ever really know your children???

Ubuntu...

Clinton my black buddy in a white body refered to this system at a meeting in England...they are right--he is the first BLACK president! I wish i heard it pronounce the word... that would have been soooo funny!

Based on that, I was watching "Life and debt" the Jamaican documentary on the issues of debt and the IMF. One of the songs highly resonates with me..."circumstances made me who I am, was I born a voilent man?"..... are people born the way they are or does society make them who they become? some studies show that there are gene's for gay people and genes for thieves and murderers... who knows?

The Pope finally kicked Milingo out! I think pope John Paul had a bit of a soft spot for him, coz he seriously did like a million and one things that should have had his ass excommunicated long before he was. On the other hand, where is the church's forgiveness? didn't Jesus say for give as you would like to be forgiven? eh?

On a fun note... the Chinese believe men should eat penises of other animals (dogs, TIGERS ...etc) to increase their virility....what happened to good old fashioned fertility pills????? There's a restaurant there that serves penises with prices up to $5000'ish.... now see, if you want to play with money...donate it to the foundation of Manena...and me love you long time! You wont need to eat any dog penises....

Brain drain

I picked up a story on Zambia's brain drain on the BBC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5362958.stm

quite honestly I commend all who do bed side health care work in Zambia, coz i don't think I could hack it!! My cousin(who is in medical school) and I were talking the other day about conditions of working in the health care industry in Zambia. The doctors have no real equipment to diagnose a problem and you're better off going to a witch doctor at times... because its all guess work! that's why the doctors leave the country for places where they can practice to the best of their abilities and make more money. The nurses aren't better off either. I can not imagine being the only person available for 10 patients or more. Well it happens in the USA too on really bad days, but atleast in Zambia i guess you can just delegate most of the work to the patients family members. You would have a huge law suit if you dared do that here in a USA hospital though:)

Domestic Violence

Last night the bloody people upstairs had a fight. Little did they know miss 911 lives right below their floor! Yes I said it! I have no fear of dailling 911. I called security on an 80 year old lady who said "you don't know me!" (implying i don't know what she's capable of), so i called security on her ass coz she didn't "know me" either!

So any shway, it took 911 10 minutes to get there even though I had told them, I thought someone was being hit, and they were shouting in loud voices. the people upstairs are Chinese/japanese/korean...etc u know what i mean! I heard mrs chinatown screaming in her language and things being knocked around as mr chinatown conitnued to shout things (and probably kung-fu'd her!). Well I hope I saved a life, or atleast he wont try to do it again because he'll be scared someone will call the police again. My only disappointment was that i was the only one who called it in, and i called 30 minutes after the whole mess started because i was hoping they could just stop at some point...and then i got scared someone would probably die on my watch...!

This week...

I have a flu/cold/allergies going on. So this whole weekend i spent sipping tea with honey, pumping my body with all sorts of pills, many warm baths, using breathe rites (because i've been snoring- and i doubt that they work...) and feeling sorry for myself!

well i did a lot of research for my papers, so i guess thats positive. T.V absolutely bored me...where is law and order when you need it????? Yesterday all the movies on Life time involved a lover killing their partner...etc, and today there was too much love going on...no healthy balance. So i threw in the pride and prejudice dvd for the hundredth time and ...oh Mr Daaaaaarcy!!!

In the news... a Kenyan author was in the new york times talking about how important using his language is... which is kind of like a follow up to the story i have below. He talks about how they used to be beaten in colonial times if they spoke anything other than English, and how the kenyatta and moi era's were also against using languages other than english. It reminded me of how we used to be fined or punished in my high school days if we so much as uttered a non-english word on the school grounds! Viva colonisation! Bwaana surely conquered us!
And as much as people like to go on and on about how bad Kenneth Kaunda (a.k.a KK, Super K, father Zambia). I think he tried his best. When he chucked out Zungu's and promoted "africanism" he was trying to preserve our culture. After years of the people being repressed and not able to practice their customs correctly... i don't see how this was "very wrong". As far as the economy... the man didn't know about running a country because he had no experience, and neither did anyone else. So mistakes were bound to be made, and they were.

Then yesterday i discovered that Fed-ex was supposed to be sending me a package from new york on thursday. How about my package went from new york, to new jersey, to BALTIMORE, MD, to new jersey again, then to Memphis tennessee as of yesterday. So i called to ask them why my package came to baltimore and had to be sent to flipping memphis? the guy on customer service told me it was "standard procedure". Dumb planning if you ask me. How do you transport something to where its supposed to go, then take it the opposite direction? That is not economically sound!

I had also hit an emotional pot hole this week, so i had to relax, relate and release some of that tension. Any way, that's what i get for worrying about other people's issues.

Malcom X just came on and i'm going to watch it. I need to get in touch with my "blackness" okay? okay. Go tribe of shabazz!

Are African languages important?

that was the topic for thursdays have your say on the bbc:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5072596.stm

its interesting to see African languages being fearlessly... ! If we as Africans can not defend and recognize our languages as important... it will only give enough reasons to the rest of the international community to not recognize them either!
As you can tell, i am still mad at my schools international studies/ development program for not having any mandatory African languages as requirements!

London

I am supposed to go to London tonight... still waiting on my passport to come back from the British consulate... so if i get it back by 4pm, i can go to the airport and fly out in good time to make it for breakfast with my mummy! I will be back on sunday though... i know it seems like a dumb trip... but it all started last friday when my mum decided she wanted me to go this weekend because she will be there. So i sent out my passport to the british consulate for my visa...forgetting that monday is a holiday and that my passport would only get to the consulate in new york on tue/wednesday. So i guess now i wait to see if they "expedited my order". I doubt it, but i'm still keeping the faith!

This is another reason why i want to work for an international organization coz that way, I could have a diplomatic passport and then i could just up and leave!

Zambian elections

The Zambian elections this year will be very interesting....

It turns out the Chinese amabassador made a comment about holding off on investments in Zambia because they are afraid of who might win...cracked me up! so ofcourse if the people they invest in want them to keep bringing money into the country, they need to vote for the person backed by the chinese government...woo hoo! forget democracy! Well if the country had oil or something of value, the USA would have stepped in by now to oust the Chinese and their bags of money!

and then... the western world was planning on putting economis sanctions on Sudan.... hahahahahahaha... what difference will that make????

Spontaneous!

This weekend i worked... i was supposed to go out friday night, but the weather was horrid! So the girls and I changed our minds. Then last night i came home from work, changed into my pajama's...then got a call from the gang who wanted to plan an outing for wednesday...and I in my wisdom was already on my second glass of wine and dancing around the house. So I declared that we needed to go out...and we did!

Padonia sucked, michaels sucked, and the still sucked, but we had fun talking and laughing and enjoying our drinks. It was a pleasant change from our usual outings. I was not hang over...which is great.

Crocodile Hunter

The crocodile hunter died... I felt a little sad for the kids... but really this is why i would never marry anyone who does crazy things for jobs such as hunting crocodiles... hunters get killed! I would never marry a person in the army, a race car driver, a mountain climber, a crocodile hunter...etc i can think of more!

that's just unnecessary heartache...wondering if he'll survive again. Well i guess if he made a couple millions here and there...i might now worry so much...:)

Sudan vs Sovereignty

The Sudanese government in their wisdom rejected a UN security council resolution to send UN forces to Darfur stating the governments "sovereignty" would be lost! exactly how much sovereignty should the international community allow Sudan to have? should we wait till a 1000 more people are dead? how about 200 000 more for good measure? If the US could go into Iraq to "liberate" the people, why not do the same for the Sudan?

A lot of people feel because Sudan is a million miles from America that they are not affected by what happens...little do they know that the displaced people have to become refugees somewhere, and there's nothing worse than forced displacement as we've seen with the victims of hurricane Katrina...

Now the African Union which is really not much at all has been asked to leave... Its surprising that the Sudanese government and the rebels can sleep well at night.

Glad Zambia doesn't have oil....

A country belongs to its poor

that is Manena's theory on state and structure!

I believe that a country belongs to those that can not afford to leave it. The reason it can not belong to the rich is that, if things aren't going well, they have the opportunity to get out and live in another country!

Oh school and i are bonding today, and i no longer feel like a dummy... I think i'm getting there its pretty exciting. Being the adult student in the class seems managable...who knows?

I also want Koffi Annans job... so he better watch out!

any way I need to force myself to sleep as i have to go to work at 5a.m really sucky, but worth the sacrifice!

ola!

okay, so i know its been a while since i last wrote, but you know what...a lot has been going on!

well last week i wrote a whole thing about teachers in baltimore city and the debate they had on NPR, but then it didn't save, and i was too lazy to write it over. The bottom line was, why are children not held responsible for their academic achievements????

Surviver's new episode has races against each other...interesting. I didn't believe their theory that in places people tend to stick together by race...but then i went to a training session last week, and lo and behold, the asians sat in the row in front of me, the white people sat in the row accross from me, and all the black people sat besides me....lol that was really funny!

Oh then i had 2 people i know threaten to commit suicide in the same week...drama for your mama.

Then school started, my stress level has increased by like 1000% i am quetsioning my self about choices i have made and all this other crazy stuff! well we'll see as time goes on. Many people feel i'm crazy for pursuing something that wont pay me as much as the job i do right now... but something tells me i'm on the right path...and even if i'm not... its okay right?

and 2 people i haven't heard from in like a looooooooooong time called me out of the blues! its really crazy!

Finally, 2 of my instructors have stressedthe importance of reading the news...:) i love life. it always amazes me!

White supremists

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14426542/

These people never cease to amuse me!! So on a nice summer night, instead of swimming, or relaxing outside...these punks decide to go spraying racial slurs on cars????

Well to be honest, i would not move into that area with all those attacks going on. Just the other year, they burnt down some new homes being built in the area for fear of "minorities" moving in. Tough cookies!!!

JonBenet Ramsey

So finally there is justice for someone in the world.....and the sicko Karr declared that he loved her....what an ass hole! too bad her mother died before this psycho was caught!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4800919.stm

I don't know what I would have done if someone had killed my daughter and i couldn't find out who... extremely devastating!

World call for HIV testing

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4793413.stm

So there's a call for all of us to have our HIV tests done by the world health organization... and i found it soooooo funny that the doctor making the calls name is "De Cock" thats soooooo flippin hillarious. He made it hard for me to concentrate on the important stuff he was trying to say with his funny name! but i suppose the bottom line is-- get tested people! know your status!

Airlines and A-rabs

So the Dar-gon A-rabs just messed up our lives again right? now you can't bring your own booze in the hand laguage when you fly! damned those terrorists! they don't even drink alcohol and they should have been sensitive to our needs and not used liquids!

I think they seriously need to send out memo's before they do things so we can go over it with them and evaluate the damned plans before we all have to start taking ships to other continents. I would seriously like to understand what they will achieve by killing many people. What exactly did september 11 2001 achieve for them???

typical black neighborhood

*fried chicken store...i.e Tyrones fried chicken a.k.a TFC baby!
*liquor store
*bail bond place-
*little place of worship
*chinese nic-nac store with the bullet proof glass around the store owners.
*few houses in between and the cycle continues!
********************************************************************************
I digress:

The country is apparently on "code red" exactly what does that mean? should I have a bag packed ready to start running when all hell breaks loose..., should I have a months supply of food in the house? a years? should we be heading out of the country like the lebanese? or maybe move to utah, iowa...etc I don't suppose the terrorists would want to go there. Also, how is red different from other codes? do we assume when we're on code yellow we're 'safe'? or should we just keep a standard bag packed and ready for war???

*******************************************************************************
more digression:

Fantasia barino has a new movie coming out and i'm going to watch it!...so whatchu gon do 'bout it?

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5253606.stm

I am surprised the BBC beat me to this story! I remember doing a paper on this in college, and i am glad once again, that I was not born in the parts of the world that practice this B.S! Some people that wrote into the forum on BBC are weiredos... how about, one said that when your wife is circumcised you can trust her....and another said that she/he hasn't seen any woman who suffers from complications from FGM because the circumcision is done by proffessionals. well maybe in her hood its done correctly, but what about the refugees from sudan...a great many are moslem and practice this.... they are too poor to afford real equipment for proper surgical removal of all "unwanted" female parts. Do we know how many die in the process or how many have complications with child labor and delivery?

http://www.religioustolerance.org/fem_cirm.htm
In this debate, we learn of the quote from the quran, where mohammed "don't cut off too much" or "don't cut off as much as you would like" isn't that discouraging the process? or doesn't he seem like he's promoting hoodectomy? which most women like because it removes a little of the skin from the clitoris and makes it more pleasurable for her... you know like male circumcision. Also if this is religious.... why would God make you with parts that you don't need? I can't think of anything on my body that I don't need. Well the extra fat... but that's not from God.... that's from me and my gluttony! Besides, in the Zambian community...its just extra padding!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_circumcision
There are 3 types of circumcision...
The skin in type 2 and 3 is held together by thorns or sewn closed with anything available. when its time for child labour... the opening of the vigina has to be torn open again for the baby to come out...then sewn shut for youur husbands pleasure... then opened again for your second child, then sewn again...etc...you get the picture. This opening and sewing causes tissue to harden making it harder and more painful every time its done again. And if its shut too tight, i think hubby has to cut it open a little bit before sex if he needs to.

Sayonara

My last day with the little girl is tomorrow... I feel a little sad....I was getting used to this! Well apart from our one tiff the othe rnight, she has been soooooooo well behaved its unbelievable! I wasn't home with her today, but I called to check up on her and I was told she has been doing everything exactly as I asked her to...! that's awesome! She also called me "just to say hi" so I guess we've really bonded...:) I'm just sooo good at this PR stuff!

Today was girls night out and I think I laughed a tad bit too much. None of us had any alcoholic bevarages though...me because its almost that time of the month and I'm bloated...and my boobs swelled and hurt...so I should be in a bad mood...but not till next week I think. The joys of being a woman...

I have to work tomorrow... yeah looking forward to some sunday activity. I also have what I think will be a great gig monday... they will have me working in the easiest place possible. I can't wait! besides, my manager said if I like it, I can have the position forever. So keep your fingers crossed that I'll love it.

I think working the 3-11 shift has turned me into a night owl... what to do...?

lmao!

I'm Laughing My Arse Off! I think the little girl is mad at me!!! teeheeheehee! its soooooo flipping funny... well i was only telling her truth!!! My bed is past her bed...and she normally sleeps after me... so i am really scared to go to bed.... she seems like she'll have my head tonite...teeheeheehee... oh my... i guess i had too much wine... i am tooo amused with her right now!

Naysayers

Why is it that the world seems to have more naysayers than people that want to encourage me? you can not believe how many people tell me what they think I should do and how often they think I am making a mistake in my life. So far I am still alive and well without using any of their ideas!!!

Recently when i was changing/ quitting my job, I had a million and one people tell me I wasn't going to make it without that job....its been a month and i haven't been evicted, nor have I slept hungry. I will not live my life scared to take chances anymore...I have nothing to loose really...and if I die trying, at leasts I can say I tried right? I have worked too damned hard to get to where I am today, and I am not about to risk it all playing some dumb game. But, by the same token, I wont just sit idle, and wait for my future. I am going after it!

Coz seriously, if I was going to die this early... I would have died when I lived in the shady part of west Baltimore. You all remember that when I first moved to Baltimore without a credit history and all that good stuff that I need to get an apartment, I lived in some shady area where drugs were sold at every corner and gunshots were a nightly activity. I used to get off work at 10pm and take 2 buses from one end of town to another... and get home at midnight to be met in the street by rude rats the size of cats and some slim shady wanna be's. Every weekend the popo were on heavy patrol and collected several of the guys on a regular basis.

Now, if i survived that shit...and my mama... you can throw me Bosnia, Rwanda and Iraq...and I can survive them too! So whats a little life crisis??? People, learn to loosen up when you're speaking in terms of "manena" I'm a surviver...and I will keep on trekking, aint no shame in my game!

p/s
I aint got my college money together yet and school starts at the end of this month:) so for those of you that wnat to help a sista out, I take Visa, Mastercard, cash and money orders only. I don't trust y'all's personal checks!
oh and I really miss you!!!. ( You know who you are)

Fidel Castro

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/244974.stm

so Fidel is on his way out I guess... he's getting old and somehow I feel a little saddened that we're loosing some of the worlds great leaders. I know in most peoples eye... especially in the US, Fidel is like a monster of some kind. My thing is, certain countries need a dictator...look at what his done with the country. 98% literacy and health care available to all??? thats awesome!! Zambia is "a democratic republic" and we neither have that high of a literacy level nor health care for all. So who said a communist dictator is bad? we would take him any day in Zambia if he could achieve the same results.

Viva Fidel Castro!!!

Nshima

I absolutely hate it when people say Nshima is tasteless and has no nutritional value... who's nshima are they eating?????
according to FAO (food and agricultural organization):
http://www.fao.org/docrep/T0395E/T0395E03.htm#Nutritional%20value%20of%20maize

We can clearly see that Nshima has nutritional value.... just like rice and potatoes....
And when Nshima is made right...i.e when I make it... it has a sweet taste to it when you eat it by itself... so learn how to make it before you knock it. Its like making mashed potatoes. If you don't add the right ingredients you get disgusting mashed potatoes!

Important Issue to me

My name is Manena. I am originally from Zambia and have lived in the United States for five years. I speak four Zambian languages, English and some French. I have currently enrolled into Towson University’s International Studies/ International development program because being from a third world country; poverty is a great issue for me. I have also been living in Baltimore city for the last four years, and I believe poverty is a great issue in this city too from what I have observed.

I grew up in a country with people living on less than a dollar a day, people starving, the highest rate of orphans, at least one in five people are HIV positive, eighty percent of the population is illiterate, and the health care system is disastrous to say the least. I was in great shock when I moved to Baltimore to find that most of the problems I observed in Zambia where the same problems they were facing here in a “rich” nation. The problems in my country are highly complex and I understand they can’t be sorted by just fixing one thing.

I have great concern for all the wars in the world, for this increases refugees and poverty. Poverty also breeds more terrorists and crime because desperate times call for desperate measures. Poor people leave way for others to be prejudiced against them and also for stronger people to abuse them. For the young, this is more problematic because when they grow up, they either become the tormentors or the perpetually abused.

There is also a tendency for the poor to die of curable diseases because they can not afford health care when sick or prescreening check ups, or medication once their maladies have been identified.

For the most part, poverty is exacerbated by some corrupt leaders who have either been elected or have come into power through a coup d'état. They misuse money that is sent in by donors to assist the country’s poor and they abuse any available sources of income for their own benefit. There are a few great leaders who are trying to make a difference in their countries are have many obstacles to deal with in order for changes to take effect or make an impact.

I have a great interest in learning more about the global economy and how countries relate to one another. I think an integral part to ending some of the world paucity is to understand cause and effect. The more people become less ignorant of the situation, the better able we’ll be as a people to come up with solutions to this global issue. I am confident that poverty in most nations can be alleviated in some way if more people are informed about the various issues that cause or can potentially cause poverty.

I'm hoping the BBC will hire me as a reporter after reading my blog, and i am a very funny person...so call me:)

hurray- 1000

my other blog has achieved 1000 hits! thanks to the readers...its awesome!

in the news today...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5220490.stm It would seem like all they need to do is find out which flights arrived from nigeria in order to find this boys parents... or they can alternatively call the Nigerian embassy and have the boy tell them which town he came from right? Also if his parents are illegal in the UK, they might not claim him from Bangladesh, lest they're found out.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5217424.stm : another reason why I am happy I am not in any danger of sharia law!!! Sorry islam...:)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/5222644.stm : smells fishy! was she like drunk to fall down the stairs at 4a.m? or did someone just throw her down the stairs so she couldn't win?

Just to make sure I'm not the only one reading about death... I put it out there to enjoy with you. My faithful readers:)

Nsync

So the N'sync boy came out and said he was gay...whooptidoo! I can't believe that made the news and the fact that Mary is becoming a mother before me didn't!

I also discovered that the little girl has not seen Pride and prejudice, or sense and sensibility! So guess what were watching today...? you guessed it! She has been good at following orders so far...and and I'm loving this mummy biz! I always wanted a little sister when i was growing up, but like I said... my mum messed that up... so now i have a little bro...

Oh and have you heard about Manny's? (male nanny's) its a strange concept for these days... although I remember having a manny when we we're growing up... I certainly wouldn't want one caring for my kids though I don't think!

I also found out why its important to have matrons that come round and teach young women what to do when they have periods or before getting married...some things are really necessary even though they look like useless chores! Power to nachimbusa's!

Postpartum depression/ psychosis

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14024728/

I am glad Mrs Yates got sent to a mental institution instead of being sent to jail for the murder of her children. Its high time people recognized postpartum depression and psychosis for what it is. If Mrs Yates had gone to prison I would have asked that her husband and health care workers who were well aware that she was suffering from these disorders should have been sent to jail too for leaving her alone with the kids. They knew she was sick...and they chose to ignore what was wrong with her. Also it was stated before that they knew she was depressed after the first child I think...and most studies of postpartum depression and psychosis show that the more children you have after that... the more depressed or psychotic you become. They said that they chose to have more children because they were catholic and couldn't use birthcontrol. More reasons why I am pro birth control right here!!!

I used to wonder at our dog fifi and other bitches...(finally got to use the word without meaning harm haha) when they would eat a puppy! that was disgusting! and then we would hear of a lone goon who was rumored to have thrown her newborn baby in a trash can, or body of water. I was very distressed and wondered how such a thing can be done... but alas...after reading a few articles I found that its actually a disorder.

This week away from my house...

ok, so as you know I am living away from my house for the next 2 weeks playing mummy to a challenging 11 year old. Well friday i picked her up from one house in rockville and took her to Virginia to a play date. How about I forgot to feed her before her play date??? oopsy! well in my defense though, she was getting there at 6pm which is in good time to eat with her little friend right?

Then i received this email today written by an irrate Zambian woman, who is mad that her cousin/friend stole her man...so in retaliation she wrote a list of all the men that the girl has slept with since she was thirteen...she's like "for those of you that chose to ignore her when she took your men... i am seeking revenge for mine...:)". It's sooo funny really, she has the girls picture there and all. The girl is really cute...but her men are kinda disgusting! why was a girl under 19 sleeping with VJ Mwaanga and his son? isn't that sick? she has Wezi Mkandawire there too, and he's the only one that makes sense enuff to be doing her!

So anyway, I had all these plans of things to do with the little girl, but she's not home...she went off to a play date... so I'm sitting here starring at the walls and using somebody else's wireless connection. Which is the same thing I do at home...but for some reason it bores me here:) strange innit??

I want to go downtown or something to keep my mind occupied...but it looks like its going to rain... so we can forget a sista getting soaked coz my chocolate skin might melt off.

Ok I'm gone for now... I'm reading -the end of poverty by jefferey sachs... interesting...after that I have illicit by moises naim... So far sachs seems to have most of "manena's theories" in his books...so i think i like him:)

Cousin Kimmy

I was thinking this morning i have no clue how cousin Kimmy and i got detached at the hip...but i gather it was for a good reason because whenever we were together... dumb things always seemed to happen, such as:

a) When my family was moving to England...I packed cousin kimmy in a suit case hoping no one would find her till we got to England...(hey i was a tiny-tot, and had no clue how the airport worked. Now Kimmy could have died of air deprivation or starvation, or both...but some adult found her...and i don't recall getting in trouble...maybe i repressed that memory.

b) Kimmy and i were playing a game where we jumped from a drum to a chair over a burning brazier. (we had no nintendo at that time, coz if we did, we would have made one of the super mario bro's jump over something like the kids do now!) Well smart ass Kimmy fell into the fire and burnt her arm. Again, I do not recall what our punishment was, coz we seriously knew better.

c) We were playing over a flight of stairs...Kimmy as usual falls and this time breaks her arm...hmmm I repressed the punishment here too...

d) We were standing at the gate in Avondale knowing full well we were not allowed to, then we saw Kimmy's mum heading towards the house like close enuff to see us. How about dumb and dumber ran back to the house and sat on the sofa pretending to read books! well...this punishment i do remember coz that was the first and only time Kimmy's mum pinched me...and we burst out laughing when she was gone!

I really don't know who's idea all our dumb plans were...but i gather they were Kim's ideas because she a leo... and they are fearless and like to try dumb games. Well Kim and I don't jump over things now...xcept the scale:) coz we're all growd up in all the right places...hahahahahaha! besides...she now lives in corn fields...what could we possibly do wrong there??? then again its muzunguville...(I really don't mean u Mike...u know we're cool!)

Babies and ignorance.

Ok, so like I had a patient today who's name was like stapinopolus...you know something in those lines... how about the ignorant doctor that sent him to us had written in the patients chart that he's HISPANIC. I mean anyone that knows anything can tell that the name sounds greek...all he had to do was ask the guy where he was from. The guy speaks good english with an accent, but i find that most health care people have a phobia of speaking to foreigners or anyone with an accent.

Oh and my assignment today was the easiest I have ever had in my life!!! It was like I was getting paid just to smile...!

So this week half the pregnant women that I know are giving/ have given birth. I went to one of the babies today and she is soooooo cuttteeee!!! I sat there holding her and smelling that sweet baby scent and I thought- my God, I want one of these thingy's!

I think i would be a good mama for like the first 2 days... then after that, its societies fault that I can't hack it as a mom. I mean seriously. Any way, just for practice, I'm gonna be mommy to an 11 year old for the next 2 weeks, and I'm excited... I like nothing more than telling people what to do...that's not to say I'm bossy coz I'm really not, I just like giving orders. My mum (pot calling the kettle black) called ME bossy.

Yesterday...

I just watched Yesterday. Its a South African movie about a woman who lives in a village and discovers she has AIDS. The woman who's name is 'yesterday' has a young daughter and her husband works in Jo'burg and sees her maybe twice a year or so. It really doesn't say how they contracted HIV, but I guess the viewer has to fill in the blanks and infer that the husband was probably screwing around in the city and got sick. The village they live in seems to lack a certain level of the usual Zambian village cameraderie. The women are nosey and talkative.... like most women! There are no men...maybe because they have all gone to work in the mines.

Some parts in the movie are a load of doodoo....e.g when yesterday goes to the city to let her husband know she has AIDS and he might have it too. He flips and knocks the hell out of her! she goes home black and blue with a swollen lip. Then he comes home all skinny with sores all over and bad skin... you know, like most black AIDS patients look. Then she takes him in and consoles him when he cries about how he discovered he had the virus! He doesn't appologize for their 'little incident' and she just simply takes him in. Now she either has some psychiatric issues or she's just very forgiving. I wouldn't forgive a man so easily if he was my only sexual partner and I discovered I had contracted AIDS from him and he hit me for informing him of this. I would let his damned ass take care of his damned self for a while... then maybe i would feel sorry and help him out.

The film writter also displays the lack of medical services in rural S.A. The doctor can only be seen on tuesdays from like 9-5 or something like that. The doctor is very friendly and understanding once you get in to see her.

The writter also shows how ignorant people can be about AIDS. The village ladies want yesterday's man kicked out the moment they discover he has AIDS because they think that somehow he'll bleed on them, or make them sick somehow. So she has to build him a hut outside the village because the hospital is too full to take him and the villagers want him out pronto!

Finally I don't know why she had to leave her child to the school teacher. Where are her relatives and his??? they are living in his village so he must have a mother/ father/ sister/ brother/ cousins or something... but we don't see any. That's one thing we in Zambia have plenty of- relatives!

I guess the old adage 'its better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all' stands true in this movie. Leleti Khumalo looks beautiful as ever.

I also read on msnbc that a guy who contracted HIV when he received blood as a baby is still alive 23 years later and has married and has a baby. his wife and baby are HIV negative. I thought it was a beautiful story and i hope he last more years. The doctors predicted he would be dead by age 3.

Also in the news... hooters chairman found dead. Hhhhmmm I wonder if he has a son who's single and wants to marry me:)

Milingo- thurr u go agin!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5176508.stm

Thurr he go agin acting all ignorant! I guess the pope forgot about him for a few seconds and let him out of the house...I bet they wont be making that mistake again!

Israel v. Palestine

ok. so show of hands... how many of you are irritated by the constant war in Gaza city????
It seems the only way to end the war between these two countries is for Korea to drop a bomb right in the city!!! How can two "religious" groups fight for so long and try to teach peace? I'm sooo tired of people killing each other like they have nothing better to do!

Believe me, I understand where they are both coming from with the fighting...but someone has to draw the line somewhere, or be willing to let bygones be bygones or like I said, have Korea/Iran bomb their arses and end the whole mess!

My other annoyance for today is that I think nurses take too many bloody tests, I have been on 3 job interviews, and have been hired on the spot...but i had to take tests at all the locations... and its bloody annoying! I mean I know they need to be safe and all, but knowing things on paper and actually doing things are two different things. Today they gave me a test on premature babies.... I got a 100% and have never worked with premies... they were all common sense questions if you're in the health care field... but I would never be comfortable taking care of a premie!

I'm just soooo annoyed! :)

conte partiro- FRANCE!

I am soooo happy Italy won, it was a great game! I went over to watch it at my friend Jenee's house in George town... she had awesome food and lots of drinks...and many other people. Great place to network. Jenee is such a people person!!

It was pretty stressful though when the teams where still tied and depending on penalties... I got a headache from the pressure of it all! On the way home i had great fun talking to strangers about the game...honking...etc

Who done it?

I was thinking that if I was assasinated, we really wouldn't know by whom. I for some reason get all sorts of people accusing me of things I didn't do.

SUSPECT 1: She accused me of trying to steal her boyfriend who was Indian...and I have nothing against Indians, but I just wouldn't date one in Zambia...most of them are skankz! So any way, the story was that I took the dummy to a stylish lodge in Lusaka, booked a room and decided to strip for him. He claims he ran out of the room and went home. Now that's BS by itself because WHO THE HELL WOULD TURN ME DOWN??? come on now, be realistic! anyway the bastard had the guts to ask me out after his girlfriend stopped talking to me, because she believed! When her mother died, I decided to be a big girl about the situation, and i sent her a "bridge over the water" type mail, and she wrote back to say she "forgave me" needless to say, that was the last I spoke to her ass... Forgive me for WHAT?? any way, she was the one addicted to witch doctors, so i thought either her man would put a fatwah on me, or she would curse me somehow!

#2: Used to be my friend, then we lost track of each other, then she appeared on the scene again and was dating one of my male friends. So any way, they were having problems and I had no clue. Apparently she was mad that he was spending a lot of time with me, and I guess I would be mad too if my man was spending a lot of time at some chicks house! Girlfriend got pregnant, and before she could let her man know... someone spotted him leaving my house at 6a.m. He had spent the night there as a platonic friend, just like he had done many times before. Then boyfriend borrowed some money from me, and gave me a gold chain as collateral... but I had no idea girlfriend had bought it for him to wear at all times...so she sees it around my neck and heads off to have an abortion because I had caused her "emotional trauma". O.K now exactly how did I do that??? If she had just asked me, I could have told her I had a crush on her boyfriends older brother...and her boyfriend knew not to try anything with me. Infact, when his mother told him to date me, we had a laughing spell!!! Up to now, she still looks at me funny. She could have saved a life if she spoke to me. So maybe I felt guilty at first.

Psycho #3: honey child used to be related to me. One day she gets "an email" at her job to say she's an illegal immigrant...I guess...and dumbass decides I must have sent it because I was on vacation In England at the time it was sent. That's how ignorant people think. They have difficulty reasoning and use evidence that would never fly in court as their guide. Then she confesses in an email to family and friends that she had "married for citizenship" not so smart! and If i was as evil and she was making me seem... I could have simply sent a copy of that email to the british home office and her ass would be selling tomatoes on the road side in Chingola or some village near by!

The list goes on... but I would keep my eye on pastor idiot, and monsignor crazy...especially now that the light bulb outside my house is out, and its a little dark and scary. I am also watching a person with the initial D...hmmmm I have my eyes on you buddy!

Italy for the win!

ok, being that I own an Italy femaly supporter jersey... I guess I belong to the Italians! The grand-finally will be awesome! Maybe after the games are over I'll be thinking better and talking about other things that matter...i.e Gay marriage.

I think I have having some emotional problems right now... I can't really say I'm PMS'ing because it not "that time of the month" yet. The reason I think that is, I burst into happy tears when Zidane swapped sweaty shits with Figo... I was sooooo moved by that for some reason. No people I am not pregnant...but I think the contraceptive I'm on might be making me ultra sensitive (and yes I got that from a condom packet)! I cried like I personally know those guys...talk about psycho!

The fireworks in my hood were very disappointing yesterday...:( Zambia does better on guy fawkes day!) (wait! why is Zambia celebrating guy fawkes day anyway?????)

I am going back to work next week I promise! I was hoping to "find myself" this week, but I forgot to look:) haha I'm soooooooo funny! I think I need to settle for some sushi and wine.
taa-
(photo courtesy of www.foxsport.com)

July 4th

Well I am looking forward to the excitement of today...nice braii' s and fireworks. I am glad i am not working this week...too much excitement!

I discovered a pair of shorts with my name on it... haven't seen those shorts since 2004...surprised they still fit my fat ass! Oh and I took a walk yesterday...I am sooo proud of my achievements! I also got done taking my braids out...and lets just say...I am not getting any micro braids for a while!

Today is a law and order/ monk marathon....aaahhhhh bliss!

I also can't wait for the football match this afternoon

Damnit!

dear brazil,
you have no idea how mad I am at you at the moment....! I had high hopes in you and look what you done did!!!! As of this moment I have no choice but to support Germany....no wait France...no wait Germany...gosh dag it!, and its all your fault I am so confused right now, its not a good time for you to try to make it up to me especially since i bought me a brasil tee-shirt. I demand a refund for being a fan.

Love me... xoxo

p/s
I'm drinking any way!

HELP!

My hair is driving me nuts!!! I have been at it for hours and it still looks like I haven't made any progress... oh and my brother chose the T.V over listening to me bitch about stuff...:) nice... I will remember this day brother...:)

This week in my life...

So after a long silence...which was just due to my laziness to get on my blog...I have finally torn myself from my couch and decided to post something today...

Its been a pretty fun week. Over the weekend I had gone to DC to spend time with my cousin and my aunt. We ended up in Adams Morgan...and boy! the place never changes... I had all these memories of when Mwai and I were regulars there:) I guess I've become an old fart because it seemed "kiddie-busy" to me. Don't get me wrong...I enjoyed the dinner and the night out... but too many dar-gon kids were out!!!

I had a pretty rental car which i got while the dent on my car (caused by an accident in march) was being fixed. Lets see....oh! my last day at work was yesterday, I went out for dinner and my work buddies bought me breakfast and lunch.

during a tele-conference on wednesday with some ex-roma girls association members.... i was selected to be co-secretary of all north American members... I must have been drunk to accept!! I am still trying to find an excuse to back out...:) I'll give you the details of the confrence at a later date.

I am trying to take my braids out and having such a horrible time! Also Towson University has accepted all my credits from previous schools...you dunno how thrilled I am!

Agony is...if a stranger can tell what you're thinking!!! I am tired of strangers telling me what I'm thinking and being correct... so i am working on my facial expressions...or lack there of. I need to be less animated..:) fat chance!

p/s
I have another date tonight...waaahhhh:)

Another good reason to drink!!

So Ghana beat USA!!!! cheers!!! and the big babies are going on about a penalty kick... they forget that during the italy game they won coz of an own goal by the italian...

oh well i will celebrate with a drink...power people

World refugee day

happy world refugee day to all the fugees of the world, to all displaced people and to those have have willingly left their country for greener pastures in another country... I had to make myself fit in somewhere so i could celebrate with a drink!

Well guys, I'm in the process of doing something rather dangerous, and i recognize it as such...but yet here I am going full force at it??? a bit warped don't you think? I feel like a fly lured into a spiders web...knowing full well the dangers that go with it, but walking in anyway. "come into my parlour..." said the spider to the fly... don't worry its nothing illegal! it just involves a man...;)

soccer today...

woah! shame on Italy for scoring and own goal... pathetic play! what was with all the offsides, yellow and red cards????? that was like some vicious play!

GGGGGOOOOOOOOOO GHHHHAANNNAAAA!

Thank God it's friday!

Today has been pretty eventful, i have met with a friend who lives in Indiana for a spontaneous lunch in Frederick, and i have been to DC and i have a date for dinner...that's a bit too much eating and activity for one day...and they wonder why i'm getting fat! I have attached a picture of my friend and her husband at their wedding last year. They are an awesome couple!

I missed my soccer games due to all this socializing, but its all good! I also put in my 2 weeks notice at my job...aahhh I'm giddy with excitement and terror at the same time!

It is the anniversary of the soweto school children massacre today, so keep those warriors in your memory (30 years ago!).

ESPN- Zambia

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=zambia&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

something i found on espn...the nyanja english translation seemed a little fake, what the translator was saying didn't match what the little girl was saying! well the parts that i could hear any way!

people are priceless!

hello good people! Today i have not been feeling very well all i want to do is sleep...and fart.
So any way I caught the England v T&T game...alll i can say is GGGOOOOOOO T&T!!!! England played pretty badly even though they won... I expected better from them than what i saw.

Also, I just hate the way people go to places and don't bother learning about what the real deal is with the country they are visiting. For instance I came across a blog from I guess it was a girl from sweden/ norway. She was raving about how the initiation ceremonies in Zambia are soo sexist and how she didn't understand why women needed to be taught what to do in the bedroom. Now ok, if teaching women what to do with men is sooooo backward, why then do women in developed nations read cosmopolitan magazines, karma sutra and watch porn? sex sells and helps you maintain relationships. The only way to do it in Zambia is to physically teach yound women how its done because in the past they never had TV's, nor magazines that would act as intruction manuals! If you are lucky i may give a brief history on the Zambian Initiation ceremonies.


Another individual was going on about bride price or as we say lobola. They were going on about how the man is buying the woman...now woah! what is the purpose of an engagement ring? a big diamond one at that? doesn't that sound like a man buying a woman? The bride price is not to buy a woman as many people might think. Lobola is to show appreciation to the family for having raised a beautiful woman who was also going to be a good wife.

Remember: people are priceless...only a fool would put a monetary value to another person!

USA-Czeched!

OMG! how about the USA football team taking up netball or something???? 3-0???? WTF???? and they are playing ITALY on saturday...hhhhmmmmm! well any way with the investigation going on for the Italian team....they might get lucky! but 3-0???? woah!

can't wait for Ghana v Italy though... i am not sure who I'm for.

conva with a gangsta!

This is the conversation between me and the gansta i met on the train friday night. Take note, he had a mouth full of gold teeth, tatoo's all over his neck..i.e R.I.P lil troy...etc. He wore a black leather jacket and sagging blue jeans (it was 80 degrees by the way!). My stupidity or lack of judgement led me to sit right behind him, and as soon as my butt touched the seat, he turned around and gave me a huge grin blinding my vision.

Gangsta gold: hi baby wwaassuup?
me (with the OMG look): I'm good how u doin?
gansta gold: watchu doin on the train so late by yourself? can i take you home?
me (why was i born so damned fine!): I live in Baltimore
gangsta gold: in the HOOD????? now why you do that? don't you got a job? why you have to live there boo?
me: I DON'T live in the HOOD!
gangsta gold: well all of baltimore is a hood! so what part of Africa are you from?
me: ethiopia (lolololol)
gangsta gold: so what kind of men you date...like Africans, or African American? you know like other ethiopians i know only date ethiopians. so what kind os men you like?
me: just MEN!
gangsta gold: oh so like me... you want me to show you a good time? i can cook you dinner and we can just ride around town, and you can see my house..huh?
me: (weak smile on my face) hhmmm.
gangsta gold: so give me your number (pulls out his phone, giving me a glipse of what looked like a gun..?)
me: aaahhhh 410.......etc (fear over took me, so i gave him my home number and not my cell phone number. well how about this fool tried to call me..?)
gangsta gold: i need to make sure u aint lying to me. (so I quickly pretend my phone is ringing and i pretend to turn it off) boo i aint heard your phone ring...!
me: that's because it was on vibrate...
gangsta gold: so what's your name?
me: (gosh-dag-it why do i not know any ethiopian names?) Hanna
gangsta gold: ama call u Hanna! we can get together for dinner aight?
me: (running off the train and glad that he wasn't following me) ok. bye!

Arch-Bishop Mazombwe

so friday turned out to be interesting. I got a new job YYYYEEEAAHH! (as if I didn't know i was getting it!), the window of my car died...on a rainy day if i may add. Who expects an automatic car window to just not go up one day? Then i got hit on by a gangster with gold teeth and bad breath on the metro! just lovely! I'll give map out our conversation later.

Then I went to the Basilica of the national shrine of the immaculate conception (enuff words?) in washington DC for the firt time. I then went on to meet the Arch-bishop of Zambia- Merdado Mazombwe (and i thought my name was funny!).

I have never been a room where i felt so loved and like a star. His holiness was traveling with a delegation of the Zambian catholic womens league. Majority of the women were friends of my mothers..who is also in the organization..duh. So i got many hugs and kisses and ooohh and aaahhhs about how fat I've become. Thanks guys! that did wonders for my self esteem! little roundilox my dear- you have competition!

All jokes aside. I had an inspiring evening. The Arch-bishop described what plans the diosese of Zambia have for improving the economy and alleviating poverty. He says there are plans to build a new hospital and a new university both of which are very important to Zambia. He further went onto explain that 80% of the population in Zambia is illiterate! I knew it was a large number... but I never thought it would be that many! He talked about several orphans that he has helped and is continuing to help, and other plans of things to come. Most importantly he spoke of the need for us to love one another and stick together because "one finger can not kill a louse". We then had representatives of the ex Roma girls secondary school (RGSS) association explain to us how to go about sponsoring a child from RGSS for tuition and books. Lastly a member of the womens organization summed up what was discussed at their meeting (the world union of catholic women- or something of that nature!)

We had other speakers, i.e people that had once lived in Zambia and really want to go back. They talked about what they have been doing to help with the development of Zambia and i was really touched by everyone. So I guess you're all wondering what I'll do about it...well

my theory is...if they call me to help with the building of the hospital, I will have my bags packed in a jiffy. But don't hold me to that...I'm middle aged if we use Zambian standards, so my moods change:)

Zambia Orphans of AIDS

There is a Zambia Orphans of AIDS fundraiser at the IMF friday 16 of June from 6pm to 11pm, feel free to drop by or to order tickets ($30- or $20 with student ID), or just feel free to make a donation to the program organizers...

cheers!

Talking about Global Reaction to Zarqawi's Death - Newsweek: International Editions - MSNBC.com

Quote :

Global Reaction to Zarqawi's Death - Newsweek: International Editions - MSNBC.com

I had no idea how to feel about this man that had killed Nick Berg. There is no joy at knowing that he is dead because it doesn't bring back Nick... but i guess we could say the dudes been stopped from killing anyone else innit???

world cup- Togo!

O.k guys, wouldn't it be AWESOME if like Togo won the world cup?????? I am sooo excited they made it in... I don't know why. Maybe because they're as famous as Zambia.... who knows?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2006/fixtures/default.stm

Viva Manena!

O.M.G!...its happening!...or has it already happened?...aaarrrgghhh... but alas! the show MUST go on! Weirdo just got weirder...its amazing...is that why I'm enthralled? wwaahhh...
one day I will be able to tell you the tale.
As for now... VIVA MANENA...VIIIIIVVVVA!

Power of attorney

its amazing how many people don't have a living will/ advanced directives! why do people find it hard to decide what they would like done with their bodies once their brain can no longer function? I myself have no living will...i'll get round to it some day...:)

In the mean time, if something out of order happens to me... I elect my mother as power of attorney, if something happens to her before me, I elect my brother as my power of attorney. They can do with me as they please...

I don't understand what the problem was with the Terri Shiavo case. Why didn't the husband just hand her over to his in-laws if he was so eager to get married and be done with her? he claims its because she had mentioned that she would rather die than live like a cabbage. But who is to say she hadn't changed her mind and just hadn't mentioned that? Her parents were prepared to care for her and keep her alive... what was the big deal with hubby?

Verily I say to you, if I am married and something out of order happens to me, hubby kindly return my body to my family(immediate/extended) they will know what to do with me. Hopefully I'll have my Living will/ advanced directives written by then..ha!