Mini chirps

Our polygamous budgie (parakeet), Izy, is the proud, first-time dad of three featherless peepers and two promising looking eggs (see picture to your right). Though we're thrilled, I can't say we are surprised  He is, by far, the horniest little thing I have ever seen, jumping and wiggling on top of his two girlfriends - Fluffy and Toti - any chance he gets! I have to confess though - he is adorably proud of his new status as "dad." Though we generally keep him in the smaller cage with Fluffy, Izy is fast to hop on over to Toti and the babies' cage every chance he gets. Our original plan was to keep all the birds in one cage. We have a several foot high cage that comfortably houses all of our feathery housemates. Tension quickly arouse however when Toti and Fluffy decided they wanted to give birth to Izy's children at the same time. Maybe it's something in the water? Our original, idealistic plan was that the hens (female parakeets) could both nest in the same box. B cleverly placed a divider inside an aluminum foil box, taped in shut and then cut two holes on each side of the divider. Never underestimate the determination of a female parakeet however. No sooner than B had placed the nest inside the cage than Toti decided that she would have no part in this sharing business with her arch rival, Fluffy. Toti was the first to hop inside the nest and immediately set to work on nibbling apart the divider. She thereafter violently attacked any body who dared poke a finger or beak inside (excluding Izy and our bisexual parakeet, Odi). After she ended up killing one of our favorite budgies, Charlie, we decided to get another cage to keep Fluffy alive and give her a fair chance at motherhood. Fluffy seems to adore her new cage, albeit it a lot smaller and now devotes the majority of her days fluffing herself up inside the built in nest.

Toti tucking her eggs and babies underneath 

Birds are the some of the sweetest little things I've ever had the chance to interact with, both in the wild and as pets. They are so fragile, yet somehow resilient and they can be incredibly affectionate. As I sit here blogging, our female cockatiel (Atoti) and albino (hermaphroditic?) budgie (Odiero, aka "Odi") are quietly grooming each other and sharing birdie kisses. Our other cockatiel ("Joey") is perched on my shoulder with his head down making chirpy begging noises so that I rub the back of his neck. If he had it his way, he'd have me massage him for hours while intermittently giving me grateful birdie kisses. To me, birds (especially hook-bills like parrots, parakeets, budgies, etc) look like they are constantly smile with the way their beaks turn up at the ends. It's as if they are constantly at peace.

Atoti (right) and Joey fast asleep

Today I had a somewhat stressful day. Won't go into details here, but I'll admit that by the time I got home I just wanted to crash on my bed in a halfhearted attempt to escape from it all. I had this idea that I'd sleep till tomorrow and then hopefully, when I woke, I'd be my usual upbeat self. I had let our two cockatiels sit beside me as I dozed. The two sweeties fluffed up beside my face, tucked their beaks in their feathers and fell asleep with me, as if express that they too had had stressful days and could totally relate. I woke up an hour later with fluffed up birdie faces staring back at me. I felt refreshed and loved. 

Bad omens or reminders from above?

This dark cloud of bad luck has been following me around recently and I just can't seem to shake it! Yesterday, B and I went out for a bike ride. We were all pumped up, excited about discovering a new route. I was but 2 minutes out of the driveway when I found that my bike was ready to fall apart. The wheels were ready to fall off, my break pads were raw and every inch of that bicycle seemed to be rattling! So instead getting to go off on our big adventurous, new ride, we had to instead go to the bike shop at Sarit (Cycle Land), which honestly, I dislike supporting because the Indian shop owner isn't the nicest to his black Kenyan employees. But that is the only bike shop I'm familiar with so there we went. Several hours later, our bikes freshly tuned, we again try to go for our big bike ride. But what happens five minutes later? My wheel runs over something sharp (broken glass is everywhere on Kenyan roads) and my tire goes pfffffffffffffffffffffffffff!!! I was so disappointed that I literally looked up into the sky and asked out loud, "WHY? What did I do?" Soo, off we went back to the bike shop - AGAIN - to have my tire tube replaced. Thankfully, the Indian shop owner took pity on me and gave me a discounted price. 300 shillings, as opposed to 600. OK, fine maybe he's isn't as horrible of a man as I thought... Last night, I didn't sleep a wink. My allergies were at it again so I spent the entire night running back and forth to the bathroom to get more tissues for my congested nose. Poor B probably didn't get much sleep either with me sneezing every other second...Today I came home from Nakumat only to find one of our birds - little Charlie - missing. The little sweetheart is usually one of the most active of our little flock with his climbing adventures up and down here and everywhere,his attempts to step and ride on the tails of the cockatiels and his acrobatic summer flips and swings. He's a constantly HAPPY bird. Anyway, today I found him shivering at the bottom of the bird house, covered in blood. B and I have nicknamed Charlie "Houdini" because of his ever successful maneuvers to escape capture. Today though, as I reached down to pick him up, he didn't even attempt escape, but simply let out a chirpy wimper as he tried to bite down on my finger with all the strength he could muster. He was in a lot of pain - that was clear kabisa.10 minutes after nursing Charlie with birdie medicine and placing him in our "hospital cage," B runs into the house panting with a look of panic on his face. "I was almost mugged just now," he exclaimed! It was all I could to hold him in my arms, look up into the sky and shake my head, "not him too. Please God, let him be," I prayed. To get home, B has to take this unlit dirt road that connects the main highway (where the bus stop is) and our road. Commuters rarely take this road after dark, but what choice does Bryan have, other than to take an expensive cab every day? He tells me that every time he's on that path, he sends up a silent prayer for safety and unlocks the pepper spray I brought from the States. So far he has been safe. Tonight he had an all too close encounter with what could go terribly wrong. Thank God he's safe. Maybe that's it. Maybe God's trying to send me a message to remind me how quickly things can change for the worse tomorrow. so I better be damn sure to be and ACT grateful for what I have been blessed with today. 

Bolagun Market, Nigeria

Went to Bolagun Market today in downtown Lagos, Nigeria. GOOD LORD, what an experience that was! Imagine PEOPLE...EVERYWHERE! I have never seen such business, such COLOR and LIFE! The moment my friend and I stepped out of the car, we were swallowed up by it all. The three other friends who came along with us were separated from us in a split second so we made our way into the crowd towards what we knew was out there...somewhere. West African fabric. The unique colors, design and quality of the fabric are world famous. But it wasn't just fabric being sold in Bolagun, but also everything from tight fitting dresses to Korans, from live snails to pig feet, from incense to curtains. Definitely not the type of place for those prone to claustrophobia, but spectacular all the same. R and I eventually enlisted the help of boy to help us navigate the clogged streets and we quickly found ourselves surrounded by West African fabric HEAVEN. Mom requested a variety of West African material and that's just what she will get! Got a bit of everything - and what amazing colors. Can't wait to get back to Nairobi to have fitted dresses made...B will def have reason to call his girl an African queen with these fabrics.   

Family reunion excitement

In two weeks time, my American mother, brother, Japanese mom and Japanese dad will be in Kenya. I am beyond excited. I am from a very close-knit family of four and also remain close to the Japanese family I lived with on numerous occassions between the age of 15 and 27. My mother has been to Kenya once before, whereas my brother and host parents have never been to Africa, let alone Kenya. My host mother is particularly excited about the trip. When I asked her months ago what was on her Bucket List, she confessed that she has always wanted to visit Africa and see the Great Migration (one of the world's so-called 7 wonders). Needless to say, I am thrilled to be able to facilitate the realization of that dream...

My brother and host parents will be in Kenya for a week, while Mom will be in town for two. We'll be going on on a 3-day safari in the famous Masai Mara national park staying in one of those fancy tented camps. I am going to also try to fit in a visit to the Bomas of Kenya, the Kazuri Bead Factory, the Animal Orphanage in Karen, Luo dancing at Ronalo's, custom made dresses for my host mom, American mother and I, a visit to either Aromatics Spa or Wild Earth, as well as Open Hand's Orphanage. Got more ideas for me? Send 'em my way! This reunion needs to be the best ever! :) 

Internet frenzy in Addis Ababa

Am on a work trip in Ethiopia at one of my favorite hotels - The Jupiter - going absolutely NUTS with pleasure because of my soft bed with fluffy pillows and because of the unlimited, high-speed INTERNET!

Let me explain why this brings me so much blissful happiness :p 

INTERNETTTTT

In my home country, high-speed internet is a given. Everybody has access to it, be it at home, at the local Starbucks, at school, etc. In Africa we consider it more of a luxury, especially UNLIMITED internet. In the States, access to high-speed unlimited wireless demands only the purchase of a coffee or a visit to the school library. At our homes, we pay one of the countless internet companies a monthy fee of about $39 bucks for unlimited, FAST internet (or maybe it's a lot cheaper these days...It's been a while since I've lived outside of Asia or Africa...<blush>). Here in Africa, we pay by the bundle. I didn't know what that meant when I first moved here, so let me explain to those readers in a similar boat. Here, the more you surf and download, the more you pay. Internet, like talk time is generally PRE-PAID as opposed to POST-PAID. This is nice because you only end up spending what you've actually budgeted for, but it also means that once you've used your allotment, you have to either accept that you're cut off from the world, OR you have to muster up the energy to visit the local store or street kiosk to purchase more internet/talk time. So downloading, unless it's really necessary, is avoided. We don't video chat unless we're at an internet cafe because video chatting (as opposed to voice chatting) eats up more of your bundle meaning you use more money. This kind of LIMITED internet life-style explains why every time  I return to the States, I spend countless, sleepless nights grinning insanely at Mom's computer screen as I download for hours just because I CAN and video chat with everybody under the sun. And then there's TED videos and YouTube videos...I turn into a complete computer geek when I go home and it's hard to even convince myself to leave the house. Dad gets so annoyed with me for never leaving the computer desk, but if somebody's denied internet freedom for months on end, it's understandable for her to go a little overboard (and, OK, I admit, a little nutso) when provided access to it again,... right? :p

Life lesson: A friendly face need not be trusted

Today I was asked to be a witness at a Nubian/Muslim wedding. It was a beautiful experience watching two dear friends vow to dedicate their lives to each other. After the ceremony, we headed to their home to enjoy a Nubian feast where we got to meet the bride and groom’s extended family. As I sat with the bride, a mutual friend came in, greeted us and sat next to me. As we began to chat, I glanced over at her earrings and realized they were the pearl earrings my father gave me for my 30^th birthday last year in Italy. I suddenly had a flashback of the friend’s attendance at a get-together held at my house a year prior. Not wanting to make a scene since the bride was sitting on my other side; I asked her quietly where she got her earrings. She smiled and replied, “They’re yours.” “No shit, Sherlock,” I thought, but replied with guarded annoyance, “those were a gift to me by father, you need to give those back to me.” She laughed and assented, but made no effort to actually do so. “How about you give them to me now, dear, otherwise we might forget.” She handed them to my nonchalantly.  This is a girl who has seemingly been so sweet to me for the past 2 years or so I’ve known her, only to steal from me without any apparent guilt! I was shocked, but again, I didn’t want to ruin my other friend’s wedding day. I looked down in awkward silence and saw that she was also wearing my tank top, gold bracelet given to me by mother and a ring given to me by my best friend in the States! I felt like screaming! “What give, girl, practically everything you have on is mine!” She laughed again as if it were a joke, to which I could only look at her flabbergasted for several awkward moments before taking off the bracelet and ring myself. Nooo, I didn’t take off the tank top too! Perhaps I should have though? To leave her naked and shamed? Nah that would have been too harsh. Something in her head must have clicked at that moment b/c she decided to make a half-hearted apology. “Sorry, Amity. I won’t do it again.” “Bullshit,” I thought bitterly, but me being me, replied “<name>, you really shouldn’t steal from people. Now I can’t trust you anymore.” I would have gone on, but my eyes started welling up so I cut the lecture short and looked away, proceeding to ignore her for the remaining time I was obliged to sit next to her.  

How do people think that stealing is OK, especially from people they are so outwardly friendly to? I don't get such superficial people. If I did something like steal ONCE, let alone repeatedly, I'd be sleepless with guilt and shame.   

Dadaab

Interesting article by MSF' http://www.swiftpage6.com/CampResource/2Y10R56DI4MDKDR8/1/text.pdf

I led the last resettlement mission to Dadaab in October 2011 before a series of bombings and kidnappings jeopardized our safety to the extent that my organization and many others discontinued or greatly limited services in and/or visits to the area. Our organization is responsible for all refugee in sub-Saharan Africa applying for resettlement to the United States. For those in Dadaab however, their cases are on hold till the unforeseeable future because we are no longer able to process their applications. Resettlement is hardly a solve-all solution to the plights of refugees. Indeed, the longer I work in resettlement, the more I realize the more powerful and long-term impact of skills building in a refugees local society as opposed to uprooting them to a foreign location. However, resettlement does offer the undeniable and invaluable sense of hope, especially to refugee children who, because of their youth and the sponge-like nature of their minds, have so much to gain from quality education, healthcare, safety and peace. I only wish I knew more about conflict resolution to be better able to access the situation in Somalia (and indeed that which continues to spill over into Northern Kenya). How long will it be, I wonder till "hope" again returns to the uprooted people of Dadaab? Or will they forever be considered by the international community as a "lost cause?"