politics and church

With the south african elections only days away, on wed, this post was supposed to be entirely about politics, sa-stlye. I was supposed to write about how the ruling party, the anc pretty much has this thing wrapped up and only need to make sure that they have a 2/3rds majority to ensure that they can pretty much do whatever it is they wish. Or about how the anc president and soon to be sa president, zuma (or more appropriately 'j-zed') has been on trial for serious charges for the past several years, only to be exonerated of all charges due to some questionable practices performed by the lead investigator/prosecutor. and though there's no pronouncement of guilt or innocence, or even validity of the evidence that led to his exoneration (nor of how it was obtained), we can rest easy cuz - due to proper procedure not being followed in the investigation - the matter has been resolved; justice has been served...Or how the the soon to be president, with his new leash on life, now wants some kind of revenge on the justices that paraded him to court and pronounced these horrible judgements on him. These are the justices that sit on the highest court in the country. he would like to strip them of their powers. according to our soon-to-be prez, the justices are starting to act like god (not like the anc or the prez himself, oh, heavens no! not at all..). therefore they need to be brought down to earth; read: the constitution needs to be changed so that justices sit under and are accountable to the prez. i am NOT making this stuff up. hey 'j-zed', ever heard of separation of powers, checks and balances, or about the independence of the judiciary, which is supposed to be the cornerstone in any democracy? or hey, maybe its me that forgot that its probably much too early to pronounce this country as a true democracy. yes, the vote! wooptie doo!

I was also supposed to write about the 1st lady. who's it going to be? with the soon-to-be president having now 5 wives, the battle of first lady must be well in full swing. wonder who's winning...I was supposed to ponder about how the shower (apparently the #1 cure for hiv, according to j-zed) is working. I was supposed to write about the 'new' party, which is actually a spin off, breakaway faction, of the anc, which actually includes many of the same old leaders from years past who have left the country as is today. this party's slogan is lovely: "choose hope. vote cope". hope for what? change? in what way? its the same people. ok, theres a former minister at the top. but hes a minister, not a politician. as much as i don't like politicians, their's is an art; and no ordinary person or minister can aspire to achieve great things without knowing how to play the game. in my view anyway. i was supposed to write about race politics, still the name of the game in sa politics. I think i was also going to write about all this complaining that I and a lot of my colleagues are doing. how in a way its good because this means that people are engaged and thinking, but also how we must all have a bit of patience, realising that 'change' and evolution does not happen overnight. it took the US 200+ years to have a black president. south african democracy as we know it has been around for 15years. its a new teenager. ever tried to get anything across a teenager's mind? or expected the teenager to act in a rational, forward thinking manner? there is progress in sa; but people, myself included, are so impatiently ready for more; to see this country speed up the process, grab hold of this promise of a rainbow nation, take the baton of beacon on a hill and guide other african nations on the path of true democracy. our liberal idealist tendencies may have to do some waiting.

well, like i said, those were some of the things i was going to write about, but nope, i'm not going to do that. decided to write about something else instead. this blog post will be about church.

yep, church. so, i go to church today, like i often do on sundays, mostly. kinda feeling bleh...the last few ______(fill in the blank, weeks, months, years...) i think i've been generally burnt out. and not necessarily with work. just at best running on fumes. last week, easter sunday was not that different. the preacher preached something. i listened to some of it, tho most times my mind wonders off. then he gets to the last portion and it really grabbed my attention. this was the re-affirmation of peter, where jesus "re-instates" him, 3 times. i learned something new: apparently the first 2 times that jesus asked peter if he loved him, jesus used the greek word, referring to agape love (the highest form of love), and peter replies saying of course u know i love you, using philia (i believe, more of a brotherly type love). so then when jesus asked the 3rd time, what hurt peter was not only that jesus was asking him a 3rd time, but also, now jesus uses the word philia when he asked the question instead of agape, essentially saying, i know that agape love may be too much to ask from you right now, but lets start with something. thought that was interesting. so fast forward to today, we were singing some song that ends with "jesus, i love you, i love you". the guy leading the worship, just kept repeating that line. and i kept singing, until all of a sudden i started listening to myself. and when i did that i realised that if jesus were asking me today what he aked peter a couple thousand years ago - folu, do you love me? - would i really be saying what i was singing? i couldnt answer that. or maybe i was afraid to answer that. so i sat down.

fast forward to the end of service. we had the head of the vineyard churches in south (or southern) africa come speak today. never met the guy. just know that he's preached at our church a couple times. our church believes very much in the practice of the fruits of the spirit. so every once in a while, those that have the gifts of prophecy, will speak up and tell the church what they believe they are hearing from god about a generic situation or sometimes about a specific person. usually they do this after a lot of prayer and thought. and when the preacher does it, its usually pretty powerful. and here i am, just getting used to this kind of thing, usually trying to avoid getting caught up in it, and definitely making sure that i hide myself so that no one will specifically pick on me. i dont like to be embarrassed or to think that someone has a view into my life when i havent specifically given them the appropriate rights and security codes. so the preacher ends his thing by doing a bit of prophecy. he pointed at a guy (first time visitor) and noted that he had been fighting with god and he felt like god wanted to tell him that he's here for a reason and about to show him what he's been asking. turns out true. he points at another lady and says, "please let me know if i'm completely wrong here, but..." (they like to do this!) he could feel a pain on the left side of his back and felt that somehow that related to this lady and god wants to heal her. yep, true. then he points at me! maybe it was the bright blue shirt i was wearing. by now it was surreal; me? really? i thought i was doing such a good job of being inconspicuous. he goes on to say that he's feeling something that telling him that i'm a soldier, and god wants me to take a hold of that and do great things for him, and that, this is what got me, ugly things have been getting in the way, such as guilt, that make me feel inadequate and start doubting. yoh! that was pretty powerful, on a couple fronts. first i was filled with guilt, first for not being able to answer the "peter question" and for a few other reasons. and was definitely starting to doubt and settle more soundly in my blah stage, where i was no longer running on fumes, but perhaps now at best walking, leisurely strolling. the other reason it was powerful was because i had recently asked god to show me what i should do (in terms of everything). but i didnt want him to give me a hint, or to whisper it to me softly while i was in bed, deep in sleep. no, i wanted something loud and clear. i believe my exact words were, "im dense, knock me over the head". so i'm pretty sure that being singled out amongst 200 people counts as a knock-me-over-the-head moment, right? ok, so maybe god does listen to prayers. again i was pretty shocked and stunned, having never personally met or spoken to this guy and him knowing this about me. i had to sit down. while i was sitting, i could hear something telling me to simply "fiyin fun olu wa, iwo okon mi, ma se gba-gbe gbo-gbo ore re..." (psalms 103)

Wedding

I'm finally getting around to posting these! anyway, toyin and fiyin's wedding was lovely. i can say that now that i'm sitting down and looking at the pics and remembering the good times. i'm not so sure how much of that i could have said when we were running around like headless chicken tryin to pick up the right people, grabbing one of the mothers who was left behind at the church, tryin to organise the 2 mercs (thats right, we rode around in style!) while tryin not to clobber the ridiculously stupid agents at the car rental place, etc etc. in the end, the most important thing happened: they got married. the other stuff that led to us getting about 4hrs of sleep in 4 days just kept things interesting! and now theyre living happily ever after. fiyin and toyin are 2 of my best friends here and 2 of my best friends ever, so i wish them nothing but the absolute best of luck and god's grace, speed, joy. i couldnt be happier. follow the link to the pics. enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/okunadef/Fiyin_ToyinWed?feat=directlink

bachelor partyin' (like its 1999)

this past weekend, i threw my first bachelor party, complete with strippers jumping out of cakes, drinking till we couldnt speak our names, and u name it, we did it. ok, just in case my lame attempt at sarcasm fell through, things didn't exactly happen like that. actually it didnt happen like that at all. this was a nice, well-behaved (mostly) bachelor party. tho, even without strippers or cakes, it was still ssssssssmokin'. i mean, actually, literally, on fire. we went go-carting for the 1st leg and one of our carts bursted in flames. luckily no one was hurt, just a few lynched body hairs and a watch band. anyway, makes for a good story.

the rest of the night was pretty cool, complete with a braai, couple drinks, wise words of wisdom from yours truly and others, and lots of chatting (no pics). i also re-enforced my amazing knowledge of cars. the groom asked me for my advice on whether to hire a c-class, e-class, s-class, whatever-class. so, of course, i responded how any reasonable guy would have and asked if i could see pictures. honestly, it seriously took me a couple seconds to even know what the hell he was talking about. anyway, apparently that disqualifies me from being a nigerian (cuz what nigerian doesnt dream of owning a c-class, right??). well, at least now i know. my life is now worth it!

back to the wedding. my name-sake is getting married; a guy that i've only known for about a yr, but it feels like we've known each other for a lifetime. and his bride-to-be is one of the loveliest people i know; someone who was more of a friend to me even before we met each other. i think the wedding is really gonna be touching; hopefully i dont have too many duties/chores and i can take a few moments to just observe and enjoy. speaking of duties, the guy asked all the groomsmen to wear beige shoes. what kind of person owns beige shoes??! so i spent all of sunday morning before my flight looking for beige shoes and finally gave up and bought a way too expensive off-white pair of shoes, which the ladies at the store assured me would work. im not so sure of that, but as long as the wedding couple don't hate me for wearing non-beige shoes, i'll live. im counting on them being wayy to busy to notice!

also, wedding's in cape town, so it should be lovely. also being a nigerian wedding, it goes on for 2 days, so im taking 2 days off work for it and aint no complaints from my side. i'll try to take some pics.

final note: i stumbled on the AMAZING website the other day. not like i know the designer or that i think she's an incredible person; nope, not anything like that...but, i gotta say, everyone should check it out. and then buy whatever she's selling, and then become *paying* clients, and then be happy. that pretty much how i've heard it goes. anyway, she's really talented; check it out; u wont be disappointed: http://www.nvision-design.com/.

botswana and the elusive search

quick question: what is the most difficult commodity to find in botswana? [answer below]

so i'm now stationed in botswana on a project. and it looks like i'll be here for a long time. its only been a week now and im enjoying it for the most part, aside from my endless search for the rare commodity. facts about botswana:

- its hot. its really hot. like houston. just not as humid. but still really hot. and the people (batswana, not botswanans) love the heat. i have to fight to keep the air conditioner on in the office. literally. i think im gonna suggest an arm-wrestling battle for the room temperature from now on.

- i was told that there would be lots of goats. and i was desperately looking forward to be mauled by goats and having them direct traffic, but up until now, i seriously have not seen 1 goat. i have my camera ready and waiting and nothing. no goats. i feel cheated. i am in gaborone, the capital city, so maybe i just need to venture further out into the countryside. we'll see. ill keep searching. and NO, this is not the rare, elusive commodity.

- this country is really beautiful. especially the house that they put us up in. much better than the hotel; pretty much a spacious 3 bedroom flat in a posh golf estates (where you'll find the only white people (and to be fair a bunch of rich blackies too), peacefully staked away in botswana). but the people are very nice. but i think wayyy toooo nice. and things move at botswana-speed. which is not very fast most of the time. this is why im starting to think that this would make a terrific vacation spot, but for work, its a bit slower than things should be. quick lunch? forget about it. quick service at the hotel lobby? nope. quick convo? please.

- and finally, the country is in serious shortage of IRONS. and no, im not talking about one of the most abundant metals on earth, nor the food group including most seafoods, beans, and egg yolk. Nope, im talking about the stupid thing that you plug in and it makes your clothes look straight and smart (supposedly). btw, i hate those things. they are a necessary evil. kind of like political parties. well, im almost positive that there is a serious shortage of them in botswana. we were staying at a hotel last week and they had exactly ONE iron for the entire hotel. one day, i waited ONE hour for THE iron to arrive. So then this week, i thought, since we moved to a lodge, things would get better (maybe they would have at least a couple). Well i was wrong. they, too, have exactly ONE iron for the whole place. So the plan now is that I will get my own iron and i, too, will have exactly ONE iron which i will take with me everywhere. EISH!


anyway, things look to be interesting for the next year. i'm very excited about the project and i hope its as interesting and challenging as i'm anticipating. its also a pretty public project (highly visible) so there are lots of opportunities for this to have huge effects. hopefully they're good, huge effects.


i'll keep people updated on my travails in botswana as well as my iron-adventures!

Kruger, finally

[First, big thank you's to those who sent kind and encouraging notes regarding my last post; i extremely appreicated it. every time something like this happens, i tend to go into one of my existentialist slumps and i typically make it out alright within a wk or a couple or a few, realising that this world doesnt revolve around me and because of that, there's not much to do but to simply trust and obey the grand, intelligent designer. yea, and also pray for/help the suffering.]

on a completely different note, i finally made it to kruger national park a couple weeks ago, thanks to my friend visiting from the states. it was incredibly beautiful, not simply the animals, but the scenery as well. Check out a couple pics below...the rest can be found following the link at the bottom to my picasa page. I apologise in advance: these pics aren't really that great cuz i was busy experimenting on my camera, so you'll see a lot of weird shots and plenty of lions (and then my camera battery died)! enjoy!

More Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/okunadef/Kruger_Feb09?feat=directlink

i want to be angry

[i don't really know if this is appropriate or not. i apologise to anyone i offend by this post; just how i feel]

the handsome, bubbly kid in the pics above. his name is emma (short for emmanuel. short for god with us). he's the only child of one of the most courageous and god-fearing missionaries i know in uganda. he's dead. car accident. along with his mom and his grandma.

i want to be angry. very angry. i really do. i need to be angry. and i want to stay angry. i don't know who/what to be angry at. i don't know what to do.

i'm praying for his father and uncle and rest of his family; can't imaging what theyre going thru. is that really all i can do? why did this have to happen? why am i filled with so much emotion? don't these things happen all the time? will i, in a few days or weeks, go back to my normal life and only think of emma and gorretti every once in a while?

last week i saw a man who had just been hit by a car, lying, face to the ground, in the middle of the street. i didn't see the hit, but it mustve been absolutely brutal. the guy attempted to raise his head (thank god he wasn't dead). he may have wished he was. i could see his face completely covered in blood. all the limbs were still in place, as far as i could tell. but judging from the writhing look on his face, his moans, and the crowds surrounding him, it mustve been a sizable hit. i drove away. shocked. barely able to drive. a few days latter, i only seldom think of it.

couple weeks ago, the theme around was failing relationships. people really close to me. people in my church. everywhere, there was news of troubled families and failing relationships. the hurt in people's eyes, whether directly impacted or not, was/is enough to break ones heart. a couple weeks later, i only sometimes pray for them. even when i do, is that really all? pray and wait? hope and pray? trust and obey?

i wanna go to a place where i can hold the intangibles and let go of the pain with all my mind;
i wanna go to a place where i'm suspending in ecstasy;

somewhere, between dark and light;

where wrong becomes right; i wanna go to beautiful...

after the tears subside, i'm gonna drown myself in music.

happy new year, like woah!

alright i'm a bit late, but thats something i can live with so tough. better late than never. i just got back from my lengthy vacation to the states a couple days ago and just now getting back to work, catching up on sleep, and acclimating back to sa.

before i go any further, i would just like to pay my dues to the Charles de Gaulle airport in paris (disclaimer: i am an ardent france lover). at the risk of drawing the wrath of my french friends, i would just like to say that cdg is likely the worst airport ever put together (and i choose my words carefully). sure, the french gave us the lovely statue of liberty, and Tour Eiffel; however, when it comes to putting together something that is supposed to be functional and useful, they seem to be lacking. I am sure to put together this airport, they took over a village with small huts, renovated these huts with airport looking signs, then decided they were going to put together an elaborate system of trains and buses and link-rail thingies to connect everything. bottom line, it takes forever to get anywhere, especially cuz u cannot simply run or walk, but must wait for 3 or 4 connectors and sit in these connectors while it goes 30 minutes to get from terminal 2A, for example, to terminal 2B. To illustrate what i mean, i have summoned my creative juices and provided this exquisite view of Terminal 2 at Charles de Gaulle airport:

you may think that there is no terminal 2D...but thats what they want you to think...look harder, o young padawan.

moving on, my christmas/new years break was really nice. nice, though, does not describe the crazy, freezing weather i was greeted with in chicago and for a few days in st louis. i think sa has seriously softened my skin when it comes to the weather cuz i was not happy. tho, as one friend rightly put it, thats probly countered by the fact that sa has seriously toughened my skin when it comes to violence! luckily, i learned the ancient art of the blanket/heater mix! thanks friend.

if there was a theme to my holiday time this year, it was marriage, dating and love. sounds super soft, hey?! well, weather it was in relation to me, my family, friends, etc, i think i found myself talking about these topics more often than i usually do. and i mean serious discussions. seriously. and long. i can't say that any decisions were made or ground breaking answers found, but lots of questions were asked and interesting points taken. you can't really get to answers until you've correctly defined the questions, right? so what were some of those questions?

- when should one get married?

- how do you know you're ready to be married?

- what does it mean to be ready? and is not being ready really a valid excuse?

- is it worth risking being with the woman/man of ur dreams just cuz u think ur not ready?

- is it worth risking being with the woman/man of ur dreams if u push her/him to be ready when they aren't?

- why does it seem that women are more likely to be ready faster than men?

- what is the role of love? and what does it look like?

- how does one move from that to the much bigger step of marriage?

- can you love someone so much, but not feel like they are a good partner for marriage?

- what role does dating play? what does dating look like? what does dating in the christian context look like?

- what are people's must-have's and deal breakers?

- how is it that 2 seemingly "perfect for each other" people find it difficult to start or engage in a relationship?

- can 2 people who don't quite fit each others' checklists completely, be compatible?

- what role do parents and family play in the decision?

- why are so many people eager to get married, when we hear horror stories all the time, especially about the first couple, few yrs?

- whats all the hassle about?

it may seem like those are a lot of questions, but i was at home for 3 weeks and those only scratch the surface of the discussions i had. so the resolution is really that i will continue to ponder these. no, they will probably not overwhelm me (don't worry, mom and dad, i'm not getting married anytime soon), but its interesting to think about such things every once in a while. i would say one thing that i think i think, is there is no use rushing into things. for something as important as marriage, the process of getting to know someone, taking your time, asking the right questions, and allowing love to fester is far more important than the decision to get married. thats what i think i think, for now.

one of my buddies put up a note that kind of relates to this. one of his lessons from 2008 was: "You don't get second chances. Never act like you can do your best to get another chance. If it happens, it's the exception, not the status quo. If you get a shot, take it. Don't wait." Not sure I completely agree with that, perhaps due to my non-type A characteristic. I think we get second chances all the time; however, i agree that we cannot count on getting these 2nd chances in order to make our move, but we also shouldnt be overly discourage because there is a strong possibility that we'll get another chance.

finally, new new years resolution (inspired by the friend from above, and others): use more similes and metaphors (ex: comparing woah to new years). yep, working on that one.

one year later..

wow, i've now been in sa for a year (and a bit)! i dunno, for me it definitely does not feel like its been a year. i still get lost a lot (like just this afternoon). i still can't understand when people talk "african" to me (tho i've learned, whether good or bad, to simply reply with a good and crisp "sharp sharp"...). i still introduce myself as the new guy; the recent transfer, etc. time flies.

wow #2, i actually started this blog more than a week ago and haven't really been able to finish it for one reason or another. i have a couple hours before i leave for the airport now and i figured it was a good time to try and finish it. actually, i scraped most of my initial idea and am going to try something new. it may feel like preaching, but i really hope its more open and raw than i usually am. (forgive me if it ends up sounding a bit preachy)

2 things kept running through my mind this afteroon. the first: i had a little get together/braai/ bbq yesterday and one of my friends facetiously asked me if this had been the best year of my life. i brushed it off with some joke or another and said something to the effect of not looking at my years in that manner. everyone has things they can look back to each year and be really excited about or really sad about. so no, i don't really qualify or rank my years as best or worst. that question also actually evoked in me thoughts of all the bad and frustrating aspects of the past year. not exactly sure why, but thats where i found my mind wondering; there's my car, my work, adventures at the bank, my stolen cell phone, my expensive internet, my family and friends i left back in the us, etc...i mean with all those things this couldn't possibly have been my best year, right? those thoughts remained with me till today, particularly this morning at church (which btw, was a struggle to get myself up to go to this morning, but so glad i went...otherwise this lovely blog entry would not have been created).

so this brings me to the 2nd thing that crept up into my thoughts this morning/afternoon. a while back i was talking to a friend on gmail and i wrote something really spontaneously and then later realised that i actually meant it. i said that i had full intention to ensure that my stay in south africa (however long it will be) will bring about a radically new, improved, and mature me. I really felt (and desired) that i would be changed in a good, disciplined and godly way. now that process is not a quick one, im learning. and it can be painfully slow at times, and definitely hasn't happened yet, but i'm still pretty optimistic that it will happen.

now what the 2 things have in common is a bit obscure i know, but for some reason, putting those 2 together today, i came to the conclusion that actually, this has probably been my best year so far, in the sense that every successive year has been better than the previous. but this year especially i've learned so much, been exposed to so much, and had a chance to meet different people and experience different places and ideas than i normally would have.

since this thought came about at church, i can start with my experience at church. it took me a while to really find a church that i liked. and even when i had been attending the one i attend now, i was unwilling for several months, to commit, as there were loads of things i wasnt too confortable with or wanted different (this is pretty similar to my experience in chicago when i first got there). anyway, something made me stick to the church and im really glad that i did. at this church ive had the opportunity to:

• get a feel of a truly integrated environment. to be sure, this is NOT at all common in "the new" south africa.
• experience people that are open and real about themselves, their faith, and their struggles. and become comfortable (a bit) with sharing about mine.
• understand the true meaning of affirmation. usually my worst times at work are when we do annual reviews cuz then the manager gets to tell you things that u do well and what u can improve on. i love the constructive criticism; its the good part that always makes me uncomfortable for some reason. so when talk of affirmation comes, i've always dismissed it as unnecessary. but i can say with confidence that us guys NEED affirmation (don't even try to deny it). over the last couple months or so, ive met someone whos a mentor, friend, brother (from another mother), father, guide...all rolled up in one. and ive been so blessed not only by his wisdom and our breakfasts, but also his affirmation. god seems to provide this for me everywhere that i go, but its not until now that i'm realizing the tru value. more on this later.
• be in community with some awesome people doing awesome things. involvement in the community is a huge thing at this church. even this morning the senior pastor, to the initial chagrin of the preacher, got everyone up before the guy started preaching and asked us to fill up food boxes that was to go to zimbabwe cuz they just got a whole bunch of food and they were worried how they would pack them all in time. it took us like 10 minutes, and it was chaotic, but it was "holy chaos", as the senior pastor (black, btw, in a white church) described it. at the end, every one was so blessed and many shared how that touched them.
• speaking about community, there just so many quality people at this church, always trying to get me to be involved (very un-vineyard-like!), and coming up to me just to chat or whatever.

my friends here have made this an amazing year. ive learned so much from them. one friend teaches me all the time about issues that i would not have thought about or discussed cuz i used to be on the opposite spectrum of such arguments and would not listen to people like him. another close friend challenges me on my stance (very american or un-african, she calls it). this same friend has taught be so much about being a good/caring friend and how to treat women. but isnt me, myself, and i enough?! this same friend also has contributed to the affirmation aspect i talked about above. to hear someone tell you that you know how to be a good man, etc, is more touching than most things (take note girls!). these are just examples, but all my friends have contributed to my "learning" in some way or another. and of course are loads of fun.

finally, my adventures have been incredible. most of the pictures, i've posted here or on my picasa page. i admit im not the most adventurous person (and south africa is really good for reallly adventurous people), but the little that ive been able to do have been great. how can adventures in uganda, drakensberg, pilanesberg, cape town, and of course jo burg not make this the best year! theres lots more places im looking forward to going to next year, so probably next year will be even better...

now on to things im looking forward to for next year; sort of my new years resolution, a couple weeks early (and anyone can hold me to this):

• do more random trips to random places
• go safari-ing
• be more involved in community
• take the gmat; get my mba
• find ways to enjoy my work
• eat more mangos
• there's probably more, but my ride is now waiting for me, see y'all on the flip side...

random thought #354106756: i was reading thru some of my very early blogs just now and i noticed a couple things:

- my blog entries have gotten significantly longer. i think that might have something to do with the fact that i write less often, so more to say i guess. or maybe ive just learned the art of rambling a bit more. probly the latter.

- and whats up with me and obama?? its like this guy is the 2nd coming of the saviour!

merry christmas.

things i'm thankful for

well, its thanksgiving day in the U.S., normally a big family (and football) affair, but this year i'll spend what i believe to be my first thanksgiving away from any kind of immediate family. nevertheless, i'm with them in spirit and i'll be there in a couple weeks anyway, so not feeling too bad about it :P i thought i'd dedicate a post to the things i'm thankful for, in the name of thanksgiving.

anyone who scoured this blog a bit ago would've probably noticed that i tended to complain about a lot of things that didn't go as planned (banking, phone contract, car, electricity, work...). and even in one of my first blogs, i attempted to write about my likes and dislikes so far and, although completely unintended, my dislikes list ended up far greater than my likes (in number tho, not necessarily in magnitude). its now been almost a year since i've been in south africa and i will attempt to do a similar thing as i list what im most thankful for. Now, of course, there are times when i still get frustrated (tho i try not to dwell on those times), but thank god i have people in my life to remind me by asking "does it raise the price of bread in my home?" or tell me "welcome to africa". leave it to my dad the other day to remind me as he very often (and in perfect timing does): "Don't stress yourself with work and never loose your focus". thanks paps. ok, on to my thankful items, in no particular order.

1. The weather, especially the sun. i'll be the first to admit that im not a huge fan of hot hot weather. but the weather here is not intensely hot yet (its getting there i think). for most of the year tho, its been absolutely beautiful weather. sometimes i just sit outside in the cool, breezy evenings and think if i came to south africa for nothing else, this would be it! now, as much as i love the weather and the sun (when its not too hot), i wish someone would do something about the sun rising at 5AM. i tend to wake up with the sun and its no fun having my body force me to wake up at this crazy hour!

2. Melodous (south) african music. i like all sorts of music, but traditional south african music is probably the most beautiful sound you have ever heard. it incorporates all the sorts of tones, languages, pitches, etc etc. and the dancing! one day i will learn proper traditional dancing. its lovely.

3. uncle obama's victory! ok, i couldn't help it; i had to put that one in. after following the rise of this man for 4 years diligently (like every day, 4 times a day...), im glad its over. or at least the campaigning side. and glad it ended up in a resounding victory for obama. and a resounding victory for the civil rights movement. and a resounding victory for good thinking and progressive americans.

4. getting a chance to go to uganda and meet some really awesome people, pray with random people (tho not strangers), and see awesome things and get to milk an awesome cow...

5. back to sa. the scenery. mountains, deserts, game... try to tell me that that's not beautiful!

6. palm trees in cape town.

7. learning words like "yoh" and "sharp" (or "chap") and "china" (no not the country, and pronounced "chauna") and "boet" and "dumeleng" and "eta" and "howzzit" and "just now" and "chap chap" and the list goes on and on.. also realising that say many of them all wrong.

8. guava juice. i used to love these guava fruit as a child and then i think i forgot about it until now. along the same lines is fanta orange (also buy it all the time). yes, fanta is in the states, but oh, my young padawan, its not the same thing.

9. MAngos! ive been in mango withdrawal for a months now bcuz theyve been out of season, but now theyre coming back as its getting warmer. plus i think i might just go back to the scary "adams family" guy to get them. theres just something about that voice and look that says i will devour you limb by limb that u just cant stay away from...

10. mugg and bean muffins. they are close to matching up to starbucks in my book. tho instead of having muffins and coffee from mugg and bean every other day, ive cut it down to every saturday (or at least i try; sometimes i go through withdrawals during the week and i just cant help myself).

11. realising that i live in a country with 11 official languages! a source of frustration at times (much harder to pick anything up than in a monolingual society). but more often a source of amazement and awe.

12. friends. really good friends. some who make me realize that im not such a good friend at times, but thats a good lesson to learn. some who challenge me in words, actions and thoughts. i had little expectations coming here, but ive been pleasantly surprised by the quality of friendships that ive been able to develop. these guys and gals are like family to me here. which brings me to my next point.

13. family. my family in the us never let me forget that theyre still there, even when i go MIA for some time. calls, emails, skypes, etc. my (indirect) family in sa never letting me forget theyre still there, even when i go MIA for some time!

14. god. indescribable. uncontainable. untameable. incomparable. unchangeable. amazing. you see the depths of my heart and u love me the same...ok i stole that from a chris tomlin song, but all the same. amazing.

There's so much more to be thankful for, but i'll stop here. maybe pick up another day. btw, in case anyone is interested, more pics at this site: link.

Happy Turkey Day!

cape town

I just got back from a mini-vacation/ roadtrip to cape town and it was lovely. the driving was a bit hectic, 18hrs to (had to detour), 15hours back, but we made it in one piece, mostly. cape town is an amazingly beautiful city with lots of scenic views and mountains and beaches, etc. i'm in a rush now and don't really have time to write much, but check out the pics from the picasa link below (pics are usually better than my words anyway). enjoy.

link: http://picasaweb.google.com/okunadef/CapeTown#