of love, life and living it up
Saturday, January 28, 2006
birthdays, the twist and holiday
frist of all, thanks to all who sent me merry christmas and happy new year messages via sms, email and messenger. and my sincere apoogies for not being around to wish you the same in good time. well, better late than never. merry christmas all, and a happy new year ... now i know y'all can't hold that against me. si you know kenyans still wish you a happy new year and ask you all about christmas all the way into march. i used to wonder about it, but now i see its advantages.
disclaimer:
any typos in this post are to be ignored, cos i am sufficiently inebriated courtesy of my brother and i have a feeling this shall be the general tone of my entire weekend.
i was at home for the christmas holidays, and it was awesome. i have great memories of drinking, partying and nyama choma, catching up with people i hadn't seen in ages and having sleep overs when a couple of hours in a dimly lit moderately noisy bar would not do it for me. i managed to squeeze in two holidays - does that make sense? you are on holiday then you go on a holiday - which has left me sufficiently broke for the next couple of months. only for my bank balance to go through this all over again next time. go figure.
some of the best things about being at home was the bonding. i cannot explain how beautiful it was to sit with my grandpa and watch him make me mutura as we talked about everything and nothing (despite my obvious short comings in vernacular) or my grandma's customary way of saying goodbye to me by giving me a jogoo that i am meant to eat, all by myself. talking to my parents was really cool. the animosity is gone, and i am able to relate to them in an adult manner and they take me seriously and respect my opinion. maybe i'm not through growing up, but i'm most definately on my way.
i discovered that i am averse to noise that i do not make myself. i remember going to the movies with my cousin and mr. teddy and wondering if it was possible to ask someone to reduce the volume. and i was serious. same goes for noisy bars and locals in which you are unable to have a decent conversation if you number more than three at the table. i refuse to shout over music as i beat my stories, not to mention the fact that others are also shouting, so you are constantly going "hmm? what? ati? EH?!" it is because of this that i frequent what people my age call old people bars, with minimal noise and almost no fights. and you can tell them to reduce the volume, which does alot for its appeal.
speaking of age, it's my birthday today. YAY! for the love of god, no "go, go, go (is that the right number of go's?) shAwri, it's your birthday" cos 50 cent irritates me to no end. for all you people out there who buy his music, how gullible can you be? (can't even blame that one on the brandy, he really does get on my nerves) and i will shoot anyone who goes "G-G-G-G-G-G-G-UNIT!" repeatedly and without mercy.
what i realised is that i have grown alot, and even with people i had sworn to be BFF (best friends forever) don't seem to be on the same page as me anymore and in some cases have written entirely different books. it was hard to accept that, even harder when certain people i had lened on during the most difficult times in my life simply didn't want to hang out and just talk. we have all moved on, and not necessarily in the same direction.
i was saddened by the drought and the hunger going on. i am a farm girl at heart, and it literally broke my heart to see plots of maize stunted in growth and bean plants barely a couple of inches off the ground dried up and withered. i know how much people depend on that for their sustinence. what makes me get mad is that those who had the ability to ease the suffering of wanainchi knew. the weather people, the scientists and experts at KARI and KETRI (who are underpaid to the point of absurdity) had informed them about it. heck, even i knew about it, and this is from an entirely different continent and time zone, with nothing but my fascination for the environment and weather patterns to guide me. but no, there was the entire bananas and oranges fiasco going on, and even we as kenyans were blindsighted by this fascination of how silly kenyan politics can get. when i think about this, i get mad at myself. even as i went to game parks, i was informed by the warden that the animals are dying, and in large numbers. many had migrated elsewhere because of lack of food and water, a clear sign that things are thick. apparently even the wildebeest have more sense that the policy makers in our countries do.
sheng. i don't know much about it, given that i grew up in an area where it was either kikuyu, swahili and not much english. so i always get confused when i get home and partake in conversations. i know this dude who at some point was most comfortable speaking sheng and i english and thats how we would carry out our coversations. he would be hilarized (yes, in my vocabulary that word exists) everytime i went like "stop! what does rwabe mean?" and he would have to explain "ni so mbili, as in two thao, yaani two thousand bob."
SIDE BAR
there is a peculiar way way that we have of expressing ourselves where i come from. it is possible to "beat" stories that go "upwards, downwards and sideways' (for those who can, translate into kikuyu/kiembu/kikamba and you'll get the general drift)
that have no legs (no basis whatsoever) and thus "be touched" by that fact. "grandmother stories" translates into gossip that should only come up when you are idle amd so on and so forth.
so you can imagine my amusement when i heard that ngomas can be smat. i was like "huh? smart?" that's what my sis and i always tell each other, that we look smart. "hapana, smat. hebu just lenga that 'r' you keep ponouncing." i fear i may never get a hang of this sheng thing. probably why people always say jambo when they see me coming (translation: delusional kenyan from abroad wit money to waste, but maybe its just me).
speaking of ngomas, i have just discovered kenyan music in the 1960's. sad that fadhili williams and the rest were perpetual paupers while their music was being downloaded by various wazungus left right and centre with copyright belonging to music copyright society of kenya. hmm, that sounds like another post in the making.
twist is the greatest! so far i have listened to bachelor boy twist, african twist, bush baby twist, angelike twist, twist ni nzuri ... the list goes on and on. all kenyan. it is impossible in my opinion not to be enthralled by a song that goes "mimi ni bachelor boy/ nitaoa kutoka wapi/ na siku zinapita ... etc etc (daudu kabaka) surely i dont need to go to american sites to look for kenyan music, and even then i had to look really really hard. so watch this space for my own site where you can listen and download kenyan music (all legal, as soon as i can get a hold of the music copyright society of kenya who are as elusve as ... well just plain unattainable) of all sorts, from the twist that has a hold of me at the moment to all those miscelleneous kenyan celebs that you keep hearing and reading about to those gospel choirs that give you a nostalgia shockeverytime you hear them. again, this is in the works, so any ideas, comments, suggestions, criticisms will be greatly appreciated.
i have always been told i am an old soul - not every one can understand what an early twenties gal would possibly see in opera, music several decades before her time and a belief in chivalry - well (this is a very bad segue so blame the alcohol) it is my birthday, so i am allowed to demand birthday wishes, salutations, gifts ( i like chocolate, jewelery, breakfast in bed, hard to attain music and other music so take note) i am not shy in announcing my birthday. i would take out an ad if i could afford it just because i wouldn't want anybody to use the excuse that they didn't know.
i miss birhtdays at home. they were always a big affaire,so much so that i didnt wait for christmas presents cos i was counting on my birthday. i miss the big deal my mother would make over it, the whole birthday party with all the food and kids runing around. we would then all be called together and told to sing happy bithday and give words of wisdom to the birthday person. we would then be told about the traditions concerning birth in our tribe (4 ululations for a girl, 5 for a boy) and we would have to re-enact it. literally. if it was your birthday you had to be born again (with shouts that it was a girl or a boy) and all the women would ululate and all the men would agree by going "mmmmmhhhmmm" in their deep husky voices. the realisation that i will no longer have this kind of party but rather attend it or organise makes me feel disconnected from home but more inclined to want to continue the tradition and participate in it.
oh yeah. it's my birthday and i expect lots of wishes cos i am shameless when it comes to this cos i am wired to expect lots of attention on my birthday and let everyone know. no excuses ati i didnt tell you or that you were meant to know. i've told you and you know so shower me with affection and make my day. here are some pix of me that i would rather keep hidden but what the heck.
drinking is great fun at any age!
ok, here's a pic if me looking cuter than before ... i have to try and undo the damage done by the one above!
disclaimer:
any typos in this post are to be ignored, cos i am sufficiently inebriated courtesy of my brother and i have a feeling this shall be the general tone of my entire weekend.
i was at home for the christmas holidays, and it was awesome. i have great memories of drinking, partying and nyama choma, catching up with people i hadn't seen in ages and having sleep overs when a couple of hours in a dimly lit moderately noisy bar would not do it for me. i managed to squeeze in two holidays - does that make sense? you are on holiday then you go on a holiday - which has left me sufficiently broke for the next couple of months. only for my bank balance to go through this all over again next time. go figure.
some of the best things about being at home was the bonding. i cannot explain how beautiful it was to sit with my grandpa and watch him make me mutura as we talked about everything and nothing (despite my obvious short comings in vernacular) or my grandma's customary way of saying goodbye to me by giving me a jogoo that i am meant to eat, all by myself. talking to my parents was really cool. the animosity is gone, and i am able to relate to them in an adult manner and they take me seriously and respect my opinion. maybe i'm not through growing up, but i'm most definately on my way.
i discovered that i am averse to noise that i do not make myself. i remember going to the movies with my cousin and mr. teddy and wondering if it was possible to ask someone to reduce the volume. and i was serious. same goes for noisy bars and locals in which you are unable to have a decent conversation if you number more than three at the table. i refuse to shout over music as i beat my stories, not to mention the fact that others are also shouting, so you are constantly going "hmm? what? ati? EH?!" it is because of this that i frequent what people my age call old people bars, with minimal noise and almost no fights. and you can tell them to reduce the volume, which does alot for its appeal.
speaking of age, it's my birthday today. YAY! for the love of god, no "go, go, go (is that the right number of go's?) shAwri, it's your birthday" cos 50 cent irritates me to no end. for all you people out there who buy his music, how gullible can you be? (can't even blame that one on the brandy, he really does get on my nerves) and i will shoot anyone who goes "G-G-G-G-G-G-G-UNIT!" repeatedly and without mercy.
what i realised is that i have grown alot, and even with people i had sworn to be BFF (best friends forever) don't seem to be on the same page as me anymore and in some cases have written entirely different books. it was hard to accept that, even harder when certain people i had lened on during the most difficult times in my life simply didn't want to hang out and just talk. we have all moved on, and not necessarily in the same direction.
i was saddened by the drought and the hunger going on. i am a farm girl at heart, and it literally broke my heart to see plots of maize stunted in growth and bean plants barely a couple of inches off the ground dried up and withered. i know how much people depend on that for their sustinence. what makes me get mad is that those who had the ability to ease the suffering of wanainchi knew. the weather people, the scientists and experts at KARI and KETRI (who are underpaid to the point of absurdity) had informed them about it. heck, even i knew about it, and this is from an entirely different continent and time zone, with nothing but my fascination for the environment and weather patterns to guide me. but no, there was the entire bananas and oranges fiasco going on, and even we as kenyans were blindsighted by this fascination of how silly kenyan politics can get. when i think about this, i get mad at myself. even as i went to game parks, i was informed by the warden that the animals are dying, and in large numbers. many had migrated elsewhere because of lack of food and water, a clear sign that things are thick. apparently even the wildebeest have more sense that the policy makers in our countries do.
sheng. i don't know much about it, given that i grew up in an area where it was either kikuyu, swahili and not much english. so i always get confused when i get home and partake in conversations. i know this dude who at some point was most comfortable speaking sheng and i english and thats how we would carry out our coversations. he would be hilarized (yes, in my vocabulary that word exists) everytime i went like "stop! what does rwabe mean?" and he would have to explain "ni so mbili, as in two thao, yaani two thousand bob."
SIDE BAR
there is a peculiar way way that we have of expressing ourselves where i come from. it is possible to "beat" stories that go "upwards, downwards and sideways' (for those who can, translate into kikuyu/kiembu/kikamba and you'll get the general drift)
that have no legs (no basis whatsoever) and thus "be touched" by that fact. "grandmother stories" translates into gossip that should only come up when you are idle amd so on and so forth.
so you can imagine my amusement when i heard that ngomas can be smat. i was like "huh? smart?" that's what my sis and i always tell each other, that we look smart. "hapana, smat. hebu just lenga that 'r' you keep ponouncing." i fear i may never get a hang of this sheng thing. probably why people always say jambo when they see me coming (translation: delusional kenyan from abroad wit money to waste, but maybe its just me).
speaking of ngomas, i have just discovered kenyan music in the 1960's. sad that fadhili williams and the rest were perpetual paupers while their music was being downloaded by various wazungus left right and centre with copyright belonging to music copyright society of kenya. hmm, that sounds like another post in the making.
twist is the greatest! so far i have listened to bachelor boy twist, african twist, bush baby twist, angelike twist, twist ni nzuri ... the list goes on and on. all kenyan. it is impossible in my opinion not to be enthralled by a song that goes "mimi ni bachelor boy/ nitaoa kutoka wapi/ na siku zinapita ... etc etc (daudu kabaka) surely i dont need to go to american sites to look for kenyan music, and even then i had to look really really hard. so watch this space for my own site where you can listen and download kenyan music (all legal, as soon as i can get a hold of the music copyright society of kenya who are as elusve as ... well just plain unattainable) of all sorts, from the twist that has a hold of me at the moment to all those miscelleneous kenyan celebs that you keep hearing and reading about to those gospel choirs that give you a nostalgia shockeverytime you hear them. again, this is in the works, so any ideas, comments, suggestions, criticisms will be greatly appreciated.
i have always been told i am an old soul - not every one can understand what an early twenties gal would possibly see in opera, music several decades before her time and a belief in chivalry - well (this is a very bad segue so blame the alcohol) it is my birthday, so i am allowed to demand birthday wishes, salutations, gifts ( i like chocolate, jewelery, breakfast in bed, hard to attain music and other music so take note) i am not shy in announcing my birthday. i would take out an ad if i could afford it just because i wouldn't want anybody to use the excuse that they didn't know.
i miss birhtdays at home. they were always a big affaire,so much so that i didnt wait for christmas presents cos i was counting on my birthday. i miss the big deal my mother would make over it, the whole birthday party with all the food and kids runing around. we would then all be called together and told to sing happy bithday and give words of wisdom to the birthday person. we would then be told about the traditions concerning birth in our tribe (4 ululations for a girl, 5 for a boy) and we would have to re-enact it. literally. if it was your birthday you had to be born again (with shouts that it was a girl or a boy) and all the women would ululate and all the men would agree by going "mmmmmhhhmmm" in their deep husky voices. the realisation that i will no longer have this kind of party but rather attend it or organise makes me feel disconnected from home but more inclined to want to continue the tradition and participate in it.
oh yeah. it's my birthday and i expect lots of wishes cos i am shameless when it comes to this cos i am wired to expect lots of attention on my birthday and let everyone know. no excuses ati i didnt tell you or that you were meant to know. i've told you and you know so shower me with affection and make my day. here are some pix of me that i would rather keep hidden but what the heck.
drinking is great fun at any age!
ok, here's a pic if me looking cuter than before ... i have to try and undo the damage done by the one above!
22 Comments:
I think I ought to give you a ticket for blogging while drunk (BWD?) Hahaha!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Cute pictures of you little self - confident well-fed kid!
Glad you had fun at home and bonded with elder family members. Funny how the chickens and goats get their heads chopped off when you show up to visit?
Welcome back and thanks for stopping by.
Happy happy birthday.Now prepare for the hangover!!!!
Hey if you are not drunk from love you are drunk from AGE! Happy birthday Spicey live it up...yup...go go go shorty its ur bday...
glad u had a nice time back home u never finished saying what u did with the jogoo u were given?
As for that 1st pic-child be strong. u must havebeen really drunk to post that one
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Happy Birthday you cute thing and thanks very much for coming and sparing my Sh135(80 quater chicken + 30 bob chips+ 25 soda)thought we had a plan we dont say u are that planless..
mami si shauri yako sheng' ingonga stone. si ati ngori vile. utakuja kuing'am siku moja. na si ati uanza kuwika mi ni dingo ama jambazi juu mi naweza bonga sheng'(ps its sheng' not sheng....think ng'ombe not going)na smat ama smatta ni sheng'injulikana sana mtaani, poa.
disclaimer: si you know you have to learn this mami, just giving you a few lessons lest you come digs ans you have to vibe wasee wa mtaani, ama? n hope the birthday rocked. wa thinking about you BTW
Happy birthday dear one. Welcome back and enjoy.
sworn to be BFF (best friends forever) don't seem to be on the same page as me anymore and in some cases have written entirely different books....you just took the words out of my mouth!!! HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUN!!! may you have a super great year! mwah
Happy belated bornday spicey....
Awaiting that music site...Dope idea
Hey spicey Happy Belated Birthday.
Hizo picha ni noma mbaya! na weushinda ukiwika ai we si "lush". unacheki wilw ulianzia hio story utotoni! LAkini usijali. 12 step program imesaidia wengi :-D. Love you habibi. hola sometime y'all!
@ WI
ati well fed ... lol! i see someone has perfected P.C talk down to the T. and i blame the posting of the pix on assorted alcoholic elements so i'll gladly take that ticket (with my head hung in shame as expected) teehee, thanks for stopping by
@ aco
thanks for the b-day wishes, and i do not get hungover. there are somethings i have mastered like packing lots of clothes in record time, waaling through airport metal detectors without as much as a bleep and not getting hungover. see me for tips ...
@ nick
ha, the poor jogoo is no more. and that first pic of me is the best! haha, but the damage has now been done now, hasn't it? sigh.
@ cute angel
overrated doesn't even begin to describe that sumni of a rapper. and i will do a separate post on the music thing but i have alot of kinks i have to iron out first. thanks for the tip, ill keep that in mind. as for your friends, it could go either way - there were some people i hooked up with and its like we picked up where we left off and as for others ... ah well. and this sheng' manenos just have me staring off into space everytime someone gets started on it. and some do it on purpose - look at mr. teddy's comment. thanks for the birthday salutations.
@ nakeel
thanks for the birthday wishes. and aki i have my reasons, promise! check your inbox sweetie. and i will make it up to you.
mr. teddy
translate those atrocities at once! *wailing at the rest* see what i go through? but seriously though, what are those ....?
@ strawberries
thanks for stopping by and thanks for bday salutations
@ keguro
thanks. and isn't the nature of kenyans great? gives people like me who are crap at communication some leeway at least. i'll be miling it for all it's worth!
@ kipepeo
just be thankful that you didnt get a tatoo that says BFF on your bum with hearts and your names entwined in thorns and what not. what's that? you already did? woi njezus, no wonder you feel so strongly abou it. haha!
@ msanii
thnaks hun. i'll be hitting you up for ideas later on
@ poi
i just hope you dont do it with beer .. my dreads would stink to high heaven. all i need is a shower cap, goggles and my bathing suit ... (as you can see i am averse to showers of those kind, not that that has stopped people in the past. i've just gotten better at avoiding them)
@ shiro
thanks for the wishes and for stopping by
@ mr teddy
sigh, not again ....
awww what beatiful pictures!
happy belated B'day!
happy belated birthday!
having also just come from home, i really enjoyed this post. so many things which i experienced more or less the same.
a) being more of a farm guy myself, the drought situation really hurt. in town one doesn't see the effects as much. shagz you have people coming to your grandma to ask for some maize or you see people going to get relief food. and of course you see how poor the farms are doing. and our sides, we are forced to also deal with elephants, monkeys and warthogs...
b) i know what you're talking about with the sheng. my cousin who goes to school in nai would talk to me and i would find myself in the same situation, asking for the meaning of some word. but this sheng-thing has even gone too far - making things complicated. e.g. instead of saying corner, some now say "dagoretti" - nafika pale dagoretti (and i was thinking: there's a dagoretti in loitokitok?!)
sorry about the long comment - really enjoyed this post.
ati translate.....menn you are so not fun!!! ok here goes.was saying that its you foult that you have no grasp of sheng' coz its not that hard.n that does not in anyway give you leeway to refer to me as a thug or hooligan just because i'M MULTILINGUALie talk sheng'.N its sheng' with and appostrophe, as in ng'ombe not the ng in going.( direct translation slightly embellished :-D)
2nd comment: those pictures are simly marvelous. and you keep insisting that your are not a dipsomaniac yet it is evidencedin the 1st picture that you started imbibing the devils drink at such a tender age.but not to worry, the 12 step program has helped many indivduals overcome this predicament.
and do not knock the sheng' mami. ENglish started as a barstadized language rejected by the elite, aristocrats and the educated and look at it now. same goes for Kiswahili. A mix of coastal languages abd arabic with a sprinkling of other languages, noe he lingua franca in east, central africa.
Happy Very belated birthgday and may you live to blog sober for your next birthdays.
You are not the only old soul around join the club.
Aunty Mum!!!
Happy Birthday!!! Mpaka you unleashed foto???
Ebu unleash more recent fotos we see how much of a Nyas you really are!!!!
@ farmgal
thank you!
@ adrian
i just hope that we wont be going through all this drought business again next year but i can only hope. as for sheng, there needs to be a booklet or something for those of us not in the know
@ mr. teddy
ati i called you a hooligan? woishe i didn't, i just said that i don't understand the whole concept of sheng. i reitarate, there needs to be a booklet or guide of some sort ... and as for the translations, hmmm! i'll get back to you on those ones.
@ prousette
thanks and i shall most definately be blogging sober - my train of thought sucks when i am inebriated!
@ uncle dad aka milo
hala, when you said i should post pictures you didn't say they had to be recent so i guess i held up my part of the bargain. your turn!
Aunty mum!!!
Hello
Uko wapi?
....and why could I not access your new post the day of your Bday Spicebear? Tried several times & thought Blogger was eating both & blog on your side:(
Many happy Bday wishes (a little late here but U know I sent them day before & on said day,lol!)
Now if you could get back to blogging....
Nice kiddy pics of your cutely little self, were these taken on your early bdays as well?
Wewe Nyas
Enuff reading/resting... Come back Aunty mum.
Plus there is that missing thingy you were to do eh?
Don't let me send the Kodak police on you!!!
We want a new post!!!!!
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