Ok so the weather in DC is brilliant, going on holiday tomorrow morning, work is finished for the day, can I ask for more? Mind you I am slightly running around like a headless chicken armed with a list of things to do. I keep forgetting to do small chores like I'll write the check to pay my rent but walk past the apartment building office or I'll buy lunch but forget to pick up cutlery, sauces etc. I also got lost in Silver Spring yesterday for more than an hour! I was walking in the complete opposite direction to the one I was given. I have an uncle who works with me and suffers from a combination symptom I call bypolamnesia. I think he might be rubbing off on me.
Whilst I was running my errands though I noticed Americans are their own 'make-me-feel-good' drug. They shower each other with compliments even when there isn't a grain of truth in it. Like this woman who bumped into some folks I gathered were old acquantances and they were cheering and saying hi to each other. One of them tells her 'you look good though ,girl. real nice' and then you hear the other lot humming and nodding like background singers 'uhuh, aint she, aint she?' when this woman looks like the backside of a dog gave her the kiss of death! Honest! I had to do a double take, are these people serious?!?!
Another peculiar observation; A republican senator, Arlen Specter, who served as a Pennsylvania republican for almost 30 years announced today he's switching parties. He wants to be a democrat! politicans never seize to amaze me, did he trip and hit his head?
Speaking of tripping and hitting one's head, I've found a karate club that practises shotokan as well. This is good because Americans are much more into the other styles or a different type of martial arts. So I'm off to check them out, perhaps even join, today. God knows when I'm supposed to pack and get ready to fly. pff!Greetings from a bypolamnesia sufferer(in silence).
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
jump and wave!
Though still in pain I'm trying to liven up my spirits for TnT. I come into work with a smile on my face humming chirpy bird songs only to find out one of our main correspondents in Baidoa got captured by Al-Shabab and put in prison, the radio station he worked for got shut down. To top that we have health officials warning people to wear masks due to the swine flu sweeping the nation and the rest of the world!
I sincerely hope I can switch off my news gathering antenna or I'll just spend my entire holiday in a depressed state.
I spent most of my weekend indoors to recuperate but I did drift off to Adams Morgan on Saturday eve to check out this Mexican place. It was not too bad a treat, the food was well-cooked and bearably spicy. But the area was just buzzing with hungry men and women wearing cum-get-me outfits!! Jaw dropping I tell ya modesty has gone out of the window! And everyone was fair game, they were out in full force ready to pull regardless! I hurried my alien self home after I felt like my skin was peeled off my body with their hungry eyes.
It is a lively area with tons of clubs and restaurants to check out but the only way you'll survive there is to go with the FBI as your bodyguards!
Countdown to TnT continues... only 1 day to go!
I sincerely hope I can switch off my news gathering antenna or I'll just spend my entire holiday in a depressed state.
I spent most of my weekend indoors to recuperate but I did drift off to Adams Morgan on Saturday eve to check out this Mexican place. It was not too bad a treat, the food was well-cooked and bearably spicy. But the area was just buzzing with hungry men and women wearing cum-get-me outfits!! Jaw dropping I tell ya modesty has gone out of the window! And everyone was fair game, they were out in full force ready to pull regardless! I hurried my alien self home after I felt like my skin was peeled off my body with their hungry eyes.
It is a lively area with tons of clubs and restaurants to check out but the only way you'll survive there is to go with the FBI as your bodyguards!
Countdown to TnT continues... only 1 day to go!
Friday, April 24, 2009
take me home now!
I am exhausted. I been at work from 7am yesterday morning til 1am this morning only to go home and come back at 5am and I'm still here! Just finished doing the news recap. Being knackered is an understatement. But I am happy my crossfire discussions and the report I did for the CSI event last night are done and dusted. Somalia has become a permanent fixture in the world news lately. It's frustrating to hear all these issues constantly being discussed with nobody coming up with any real solutions.
On a lighthearted note at work, I was a guest again at Inquiry today where we discussed miniskirts! lool. How do Africans view wearing miniskirts? Go figure!
I am ready to go home and recuperate. I'm thinking of going to the cinema to make up for a horrible film I saw last Saturday.
A dreadful piece of film to watch, I was literally looking forward to the credits. The actresses were weirdly boring. Imagine old tapioca eating minnesotan women who had a culture clash with some redneck Texans! Blah!
On a lighthearted note at work, I was a guest again at Inquiry today where we discussed miniskirts! lool. How do Africans view wearing miniskirts? Go figure!
I am ready to go home and recuperate. I'm thinking of going to the cinema to make up for a horrible film I saw last Saturday.
A dreadful piece of film to watch, I was literally looking forward to the credits. The actresses were weirdly boring. Imagine old tapioca eating minnesotan women who had a culture clash with some redneck Texans! Blah!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
a day of nothingness
Today has been literally a time wasted. Not on purpose as I planned to cover an event I was sent to but it turned out to be tomorrow instead. And I didn't go to the office this morning as I was meant to be working through the night. I went all the way to the venue only to be told 'sorry it is not until tomorrow evening'. Pff. I don't like it when my day's not productive. For some reason it has put me out of my usual sense of good spirit.
At work this week I was assigned to cover the 'crossfire', a daily discussion program that hosts two people with differing views on a particular topic. I actually enjoyed it. I'll be working on my last one for the week, which will cover integration issues concerning Somalis living in the Diaspora.
Over the weekend I managed to do my shopping in preparation for my TnT trip and I also finally bought some lamps for my living and bedroom. I can stop reading in the hallway now lol.
If nothing drastic comes up I'm planning on going home in August. I can't wait. I miss home so much. If it wasn't for work DC would be a lonely/boring place.
At work this week I was assigned to cover the 'crossfire', a daily discussion program that hosts two people with differing views on a particular topic. I actually enjoyed it. I'll be working on my last one for the week, which will cover integration issues concerning Somalis living in the Diaspora.
Over the weekend I managed to do my shopping in preparation for my TnT trip and I also finally bought some lamps for my living and bedroom. I can stop reading in the hallway now lol.
If nothing drastic comes up I'm planning on going home in August. I can't wait. I miss home so much. If it wasn't for work DC would be a lonely/boring place.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
countdown to TnT has started!
I'm really excited about Trini; sun, sea and gorgeous beaches to unwind on, especially after the week I've had. Piracymania all the way, if I'm not preparing a report, interview or news item on piracy I was being interviewed for TV and radio on piracy. And even when I do clock off at work I still need to stay glued to the radio, TV and my google alerts just in case there was any breaking news on the matter. Phew! It looks like we haven't reached the end though as the plight continues on the shores of my country. The highlights of the week were when I was interviewed on VOA's In Focus, which is the TV section of VOA Africa, and when I interviewed Ahmedou Ould-Abdalla, the UN's special envoy to Somalia, both dealt with piracy.
What gets a bit on my nerves is that nobody is addressing the problem of which piracy is a symptom, the lawlessness of my country. The underlying problem of what has now become a worldwide phenomenon has been going on for many years and people were simply ignoring it but now that some Somalis have taken matters in to their own hand and businesses ferried by sea have been affected, everyone is all ears. Where was the world's media when international ships were illegally dumping biochemical, nuclear and biological waste on the shores of Somalia? Where were they when they were cleanig our coast from all its fish, leaving nothing for the local fishermen to live on? How were they expected to cope and feed their families with no government supporting them and no law defending their rights to survival? Were they expected to continue starving in silence? Piracy is an offspring of this problem and therefore the only solution lies inland, by bringing stability and security back to the streets of Somalia. The world can send as many warships as it desires, it will not solve the problem until the root cause is addressed. I do not support piracy by any means, whether it is off the coast of Somalia or Indonesia but I do condemn the world for watching people starve in silence and only come running when their livelihood is in danger. The local fishermen who have not turned to piracy are still being severely being affected by this crisis and ships continue to dump their toxic waste on the Somali shores, killing thousands along the way. Who's speaking on behalf of them? Yet pirates kidnap one American life and the world's focus shifts on him, like his life is more important than the thousands that die everyday on the coast of Somalia. They killed three pirates to free captain Richard Phillips and the surviving one is now destined to be tried in New York. Whilst the family of the captain has captured the world's sympathy and affection, no one is blinking an eyelid to the families who are mourning their sons' deaths whilst living in severely poor conditions. They did not send their sons to commit piracy activities and are suffereing just like any other family would suffer the death of a family member. Furthermore those boys, by the way, had little other choice but to turn to the path they chose as they lived in a country where there is no governing law or security and hasn't been over 18 years. There are no job opportunities, no education, no safety, no healthcare, nothing of the everyday things we take for granted. They are alien to a functioning country. Their lives were at risk everyday as the gun is the only rule of law that demands respect in Somalia. Keeping that in your mind, imagine what you would do if someone offered you a few hundred dollars to merely kidnap an unarmed ship when your yearly income is below that?
Anyway moving on to more harmonous topics, I just came back from a good run around my area and for some reason that has lifted my spirits. I look forward to a hectic week ahead and even more to the week following as I fly off to soak in some long-awaited sunshine and a dip in the seas of Trinidad. A break from piracmania! (Obama is there at the moment, wonder if I can catch him there lol.)
What gets a bit on my nerves is that nobody is addressing the problem of which piracy is a symptom, the lawlessness of my country. The underlying problem of what has now become a worldwide phenomenon has been going on for many years and people were simply ignoring it but now that some Somalis have taken matters in to their own hand and businesses ferried by sea have been affected, everyone is all ears. Where was the world's media when international ships were illegally dumping biochemical, nuclear and biological waste on the shores of Somalia? Where were they when they were cleanig our coast from all its fish, leaving nothing for the local fishermen to live on? How were they expected to cope and feed their families with no government supporting them and no law defending their rights to survival? Were they expected to continue starving in silence? Piracy is an offspring of this problem and therefore the only solution lies inland, by bringing stability and security back to the streets of Somalia. The world can send as many warships as it desires, it will not solve the problem until the root cause is addressed. I do not support piracy by any means, whether it is off the coast of Somalia or Indonesia but I do condemn the world for watching people starve in silence and only come running when their livelihood is in danger. The local fishermen who have not turned to piracy are still being severely being affected by this crisis and ships continue to dump their toxic waste on the Somali shores, killing thousands along the way. Who's speaking on behalf of them? Yet pirates kidnap one American life and the world's focus shifts on him, like his life is more important than the thousands that die everyday on the coast of Somalia. They killed three pirates to free captain Richard Phillips and the surviving one is now destined to be tried in New York. Whilst the family of the captain has captured the world's sympathy and affection, no one is blinking an eyelid to the families who are mourning their sons' deaths whilst living in severely poor conditions. They did not send their sons to commit piracy activities and are suffereing just like any other family would suffer the death of a family member. Furthermore those boys, by the way, had little other choice but to turn to the path they chose as they lived in a country where there is no governing law or security and hasn't been over 18 years. There are no job opportunities, no education, no safety, no healthcare, nothing of the everyday things we take for granted. They are alien to a functioning country. Their lives were at risk everyday as the gun is the only rule of law that demands respect in Somalia. Keeping that in your mind, imagine what you would do if someone offered you a few hundred dollars to merely kidnap an unarmed ship when your yearly income is below that?
Anyway moving on to more harmonous topics, I just came back from a good run around my area and for some reason that has lifted my spirits. I look forward to a hectic week ahead and even more to the week following as I fly off to soak in some long-awaited sunshine and a dip in the seas of Trinidad. A break from piracmania! (Obama is there at the moment, wonder if I can catch him there lol.)
Saturday, April 11, 2009
to share a thought
I just watched a documentary on the National Geography channel on Lesotho's national park. I learned some fascinating details whilst watching; Lesotho is actually a separate kingdom entirely surrounded by South Africa and had gained its independence in the 60's from Great Britain.
The guy who was doing the documentary had to drive 20 miles up the steepest and most bumpiest roads starting from South Africa's border with Lesotho to the heart of Lesotho. On the way he faced a breakdown of the car and had to change two of the wheels twice all whilst driving through hot sunshine that drastically changed for misty frostbite. But when he got to the top and walked through the national park, the view was simply breathtaking. The mountains and landscape were so vast and picturesque. It must be one of the very few naturally preserved parks in the world that highlights the African beauty.
The guy who was doing the documentary had to drive 20 miles up the steepest and most bumpiest roads starting from South Africa's border with Lesotho to the heart of Lesotho. On the way he faced a breakdown of the car and had to change two of the wheels twice all whilst driving through hot sunshine that drastically changed for misty frostbite. But when he got to the top and walked through the national park, the view was simply breathtaking. The mountains and landscape were so vast and picturesque. It must be one of the very few naturally preserved parks in the world that highlights the African beauty.
a wee bit homesick
I've had a very restful Saturday where I spent most of the day with my books, diary and thoughts. My thoughts wandered past the Atlantic, via London and into Leicester. I miss home. I miss mum's cuddles and playfights with me teeny siblings. I realised how much I used to rely on my family's presence in my life as I picked up the phone or jumped on the train whenever they crossed my line of thoughts. It brought me a great deal of peace and joyful tranquility.
Maybe the universe is telling me to buckle up and face the world, adult! I guess I have to hold my own hand as I strive through the suppressing of my need to relinquish and look at the bigger picture that lies ahead.
Maybe the universe is telling me to buckle up and face the world, adult! I guess I have to hold my own hand as I strive through the suppressing of my need to relinquish and look at the bigger picture that lies ahead.
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