Top 30 things I'll miss about south africa

In no particular order (except for #1!)

Top 30:
30. Tuesday eve life group...is everything really meaningless??!
29. Wednesday night #parkhurst community group. What awesome guys/gals!
28. Warm days and cool nights. mostly. regardless of season. At least in joburg!
27. Braai's! it's more than just a bbq!
26. The privilege of sharing my birthday with the whole country on freedom day. I always knew SA and I were meant to be!
25. 26 Dorset Place, Parkwood with Craig Campbell! #nodrama@26!
24. Cape Town. Yes, even with its horizontal rainfall, anti-human winds, and village-like cliquish backward-ism, it's still got the beauties of table mountain, lions head, 2 oceans, wine lands, muizenberg beach, Olympia cafe and a *few* good men and women!
23. Biltong. Beef jerky, whaaat?!
22. 1st wednesday film club at atlas studios, auckland park. Though couldn't go today, 1st wed is always good times, especially with Mophethe Moletsane, Marcel Tsholofelo, Dolapo Adejuyigbe and many others! -->; (http://www.atlasstudios.co.za/filmclub.php)
21. Sunrise, sunsets, and sundowners! [wish i could say #parkhurst church community group again, but that's been used!] anyway, driving home from work today (finally at a reasonable hour) i realised how gorgeous the sunsets are in this country. like this:

20. The NEPAD Business Foundation. Saving the developing world one private sector company at a time.
19. Service! shockingly bad service! ok, i wont miss that at all, but will miss the very few restos with shockingly good service, like posticino's in sea point (cpt), cafe del sol (jhb), thomas maxwells (jhb) and i'm sure 1 or 2 others.
18. Arts on main at maboneng! Love Jozi!
17. Wooden spoon/private open mic nights at chez folu-craig
16. Mangoes! big, juicy, organic, *african* mangoes!
15. My joburg-MBA crew. Will miss u guys dearly!
14. The drakensberg! When God created the world and thought to himself, "how do i show these people a glimpse of my beauty", he created the drakensberg mountains! truly amazing..
13. Local comedy shows... e.g. trevor noah
12. Insanely large mugg and bean muffins
11. Neighbourgoods market, the post, market theatre and many more places in the rapidly evolving braamfontein, newtown, and Jozi CBD
10. Concerts and concert 'halls' like the former house of nsako in brixton! Special mention to jazz on the lake and joburg day..
9. Game parks. and the big 5. I'll never step inside a zoo again!
8. A helper. I've been so spoiled! How am I gonna survive cleaning after myself..
7. Long weekend mini-road trips and drives...and those who accompanied me! Some favourites: groot marico, waterberg, sterkfontein dam, Kruger, pilanesberg, magaliesberg, sabie, tower of pizza, Pietermaritzburg, and on...
6. The beauty in the chaos of a developing country. All the crap we complain about (cops, traffic, bad service, construction, politicians...) actually keeps things quite interesting!
5. Tumi, Bliss, Kaelo - my nieces and nephew - and of course their respective parents! Marcel Tsholofelo Adam McKendi Mpho Tshweneyame
4. The motley crew with Mina Demian and Vije Vimage Vijendranath! Not racist, just real!
3. "Eish", "heita", "ja ne", "voetsek"...sad that in 5 years this is pretty much all I know of the local languages and slang, but hey, it's taken me far! ... and of course "shap shap"
2. Afro-jazz! "...I may be walking in the streets in a city called London (or New York, St. Louis, Chicago, DC...), but the dust on my boots and the rhythm of my feet and my heartbeat say Africa..."

• Those lyrics are from "Say Africa" by Vusi Mahlasela. Others that I'm quite fond of include: Oliver Mtukudzi, Hugh Masekela and Zonke

1. My name-sake, my God-send, my love! ... I certainly did nothing to deserve you or your love and feel so happy and blessed to have you in my life. Missing you like crazy every day you're not around...

catching up

sincere apologies to my die hard fans (all million and a half of you) who haven't heard from me in a while! i know i've been MIA for a realllly long time, but you can blame that on my work that has kept me locked in (literally sometimes) and has captured my soul. i wish i could say that its been fun, but it hasnt. at all. enough about the soul-devouring employer and on to a recap. sort of a cop out, yes, but so many things have happened since the last time i posted an i didn't just want to pick one. so here are a couple highlights!

Goodluck Jonathan Wins Nigerian Elections
I know this probably seems like old news now, but its still a great achievement that should be celebrated. I think in most places other than Nigeria, the achievements of the latest elections and its significance would have been celebrated much more than it was. Yes, many people are aware that relative to other Nigerian elections, this was probably more credible, free and fair. To be sure, there were lots of irregularities and politicians attempted to incite their paid thugs by crying foul and watching as looting, fighting, and murders ravaged on unhinged. But as we nigerians like to say (and those who follow Nigeria) relative to other nigerian polls this was a pretty darn good election period. Kudo's to the election commission chair Professor Attahiru Jega for assembling a good (enough) staff, instilling good (enough) practices, taking on the backlash after delaying the start of the elections due to irregualrities and still pulling off a good (enough) election over 3 weekends.

So what makes this election so special? in order to answer that, we have to look at who President Jonathan is and where he's from, as much as where Nigeria has come from. 1st, the president, by admission of his own name, has been truly lucky the last few years. Without coming from a lineage of rainmakers or politically savvy gentlemen and women, he was pulled from obscurity to be the deputy governor of his state, Bayelsa. Within a couple years, the sitting governor was indicted for corruption charges, fled and was detained in London where he fled embarrassingly disguised as a woman (wtf!). After his impeachment, he was succeeded by Mr. Goodluck Jonathan. Then barely a couple years after, Mr. Goodluck was chosen to be the running mate of to-be President Yar'Adua to bring a north-south balance to the ticket. The ticket won the presidential elections and 2 years later the sick Yar'Adua croaked and after a brief vacuum of confusion, mr Goodluck assumed the office of President of the Republic of Nigeria. This means, in essence, the only election that Mr. Goodluck has won was the 2011 Presidential election. Congrats, Mr. Goodluck!

2nd, Mr. Goodluck hails from a region known as the south south, the Niger Delta. This is a region where the vast majority of the wealth of the nation comes from. Interestingly (or not), this is also one of the poorest regions in the country with no infrastructure, no good educational system, no jobs (besides the lucrative business of kidnapping, cutting oil pipes and stealing some oil (causing violent fires) and other gang related activities). Additionally, the people of the Niger delta can be considered a sort of minority group (one of legions) as they do not form one of the 3 major groups (Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo). so for the 1st time in Nigeria's history (I think), we have a president that hails from a minority group - one that has been marginalised and neglected since Nigeria became Nigeria!

3rd, check this out:

that would be the electoral map of nigeria. Goodluck managed to capture the south of the country, but the north remains anti-Goodluck. he must find a way to win the hearts and minds of those guys (not an easy task at all), in order to maintain any sense of peace and security in the country. Already, in addition to the unsettled Niger Delta, terrorist cells have been springing up and causing frequent deaths in many parts of the country.

I don't wish you goodluck, Mr. Goodluck Jonathan, I truly wish you Gods-speed and guidance! and i'm pulling for your unhindered success in addressing the true needs of Nigerians and bringing real and lasting development.

MBA graduation
This weekend was my graduation weekend. Luckily I was able to come and more importantly, my parents were able to come down (on route from US via nigeria). I didn't have much time to think about this event before I left for cape town on thursday, but as I saw old classmates and lecturers dressed in their finest and got to catch up with some i hadnt seen in so long, i began to realise just how fine of an occasion this was. i met some really amazing people during my studies last year that i plan on doing my best not to let get away (even if it means stalking!!)! a few people saw so many sides of me that i typically dont let out often; those same people were with me through good and bad, tough and rough, and i hope i can be as invaluable friends to them as they have been to me.

My parents brought some gifts from Nigeria and the states for me, including an awesome shirt that i was all too pleased to wear. They also wore their traditional nigeria outfits to the grad, which i must say, brought some much needed colour to the event. im so very proud of my parents and to see them proud of me was quite a awesome experience as well. check it out:

I'm for sure glad to be over and done with the MBA, and def ready to start reaping its benefits! I had some amazing lecturers who opened my eyes in ways i didnt realise they could open. I learned a great deal and can't wait to start imparting my knowledge on the world. watch out!

there's lots more that have happened in the last month, but this post has been long enough. plus i know i've kept you from weiner-gate long enough. more life-questioning, thought-searching views in the posts to come...

whiter than white

i just realised and have become overwhelmed with the amount of work i shouldve done and need to do for this week...so instead of doing that i decided to go into panic mode and update this blog instead of actually doing work. strange??? me thinks not.

sometimes i just start writing blog entries and then come up with a suitable title afterward. this time i did it the reverse, which means that i now have to try to fit what i want to write about to the title. i had an experience last weekend that really bothered me, stirring up emotions that i hadn't felt in quite some time. i think it still bugs me; so i'm now writting it down. whether or not it helps, who knows.

when i speak of my experience in mississippi (deep south US), I'm typically a little negative in my tone and i generally speak of that not being the most ideal first impression to get of the US. Coming from a place where I knew nothing of discrimination and racism, it was such a slap in the face and key first-hand lesson, to see racism clearly at work. and what was even more striking: racism within blacks. in fact, i encountered an overwhelmingly greater sense of racism and ignorance amongst blacks than i did amongst whites. [till today, i maintain that almost everyone, if not everyone, of every race and culture, holds some degree of racism and must learn to deal with it...tho plenty disagree with me].

Anyway, after my initial shock living in mississippi, I quickly forgot about those moments as i had much better and friendlier times in st louis and chicago. living in south africa has been another learning experience; but one that hasn't really bothered me too much as i understand that the country is enterring a period of growing pains. of course, occassionally i get stopped and harrassed at the airport for being nigerian, or followed in the book store by a black guard to ensure i dont steal any books or read that one book about black liberation that im not supposed to, i presume. usually, these things dont bother me. i just smile and nod and occassionally make a snide remark to the guard, or border control, or whoever.

last weekend, i was showing a high school friend of mine (who happens to be white) around cape town. a bit of context is key here: black (at least those in joburg) typically say they like cape town, but could never live here because its often so racist and unwelcoming. i've never believed these allegations completely. I mean, sure, cape town, isn't the most welcoming place; even white foreigners complain of how difficult it is to assimilate into the culture and find close friends, but the onus of relationship building rest on both parties equally. Also, I guess i wasn't really trying to assimilate to 'cape town' culture, whatever that is, so i couldnt be bothered. anyway, i deviate. point is: cape town can be a racist place. so can anywhere. oxford, mississippi was definitely a racist place (at least in 1992-94).

so i take my friend out to a bar/lounge in greenpoint, Jade's, and the bouncer guy refuses to let us in. He makes up some story about the night being dead (obviously not true, as we can see people in the lounge) and therefore he couldnt let us in. Regardless, I simply wanted to show him a cape town hangg out spot, stay for like 30min and then leave. While I'm trying to understand this guy's rationale, large groups of girls walk straight in, no questions asked. later, a group of guys walk up and in, few questions asked. one small detail: everyone who's walked in so far are white. so again, i ask mr. bouncer guy whats the deal. immediately out of nowhere, this dude starts using the n-word. btw, this dude is not american and while i've heard the n-word passed around lifelessly here in SA, it bothers me a lot because people dont know the meaning of what theyre saying and just use the word. there's a similar derogatory term used here in sa, the k-word, but if u even dare use the word in jest, ur as good as dead. but this guy continued to use the n-word, and began to raise his voice and essentially bark at me and my friend, as we're walking away from this ignorant fool. best of all, this guy was black. and ignorant. and racist. flashes of mississippi.

i thought i could just pass this on as another annoying moment in the span of many annoying moments, but i realised later, when i couldnt sleep, that it really bothered me, and, at the time, i wasnt sure exactly why. later, i was chatting to a friend who used to go to this lounge all the time. he mentioned that this same bouncer dude had done the same thing to him when he brought 2 black girls with him; i.e. make up some story about why he couldnt let them into the bar. this guy actually comfronted him about his actions being racist and the bouncer dude just shrugged it off. this guy, like myself, will never step foot in this lounge again.

so why the title. so often when someone utters the word racism or racist we immediately think of a white person doing something to a black person. i think it has become fashionable these days for a black person to outdo white counterparts with regard to racist actions. but since theyre black, and believe that it is impossible for them to be racist, they somehow justify their actions to themselves. however, these people (whether the bouncer guy or the guy following black people in stores, or the police officer racially profiling) want to justify their actions, it is utterly and totally racist, no matter what colour you are. And how are blacks to move beyond and ahead if we continue to mimick and perpetuate the racist actions done to our own kind in the past? I'm not sure i would have been as angry if a white person had denied entry because of the colour of my skin. but for a black person to mimick the same action? thats just another level of disgusting.

i hope the title is not taken to imply that i think white people are racist in general. thats not my point. in fact, as i mentioned, i think most of us have elements of racism within us and the sooner we recognise this, we can develop ways to correct it. while ignorance may be bliss, it is also the surest way to stagnation and backward-thinking. my point, i guess, is that we, as black people, and south africa, as a nation (US could also be included here) are going nowhere, if people within the same race can't even be solid in their stance against racism. i dare that idiot of a bouncer to complain if he is stopped by the police while driving for no reason other than that he is black. how can you complain about an institution when you are part and parcel in perpetuating the same system/mode of thinking?

thats it for my rambling. will try to lighten up the next post.

mba begins

so this weekend marked the first few days of my mba programme at uct. ive still got a lot of issues to sort out logistically, but i'm trying to not let it bug me down and just enjoy my time. i don't really have a lot to say, so i'm gonna limit myself to 2 points. one is an administrative matter and the other more interesting:

1. administrative point. unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately; depends on ur point-of-view), i will not be updating this blog as frequently anymore. although, some may argue that i wasnt posting that often anyway. anyway, with school getting under way, I'll probably at best be able to post only about once a month or whenever something extremely interesting happens. i dont think many people really wanna hear about how i spent my days at the library and making some group presentation, etc.

2. more interesting point. these last 2 days,we've had a brief orientation into our professional development course, and its been extremely interesting. ok, maybe before i wouldve dismissed it as way-too-soft skills and airy fairy stuff. but i think its different now, cuz im in an environment thats new, exciting, and different, requiring that incredibly diverse and strong people and personalities get to know each other quickly and work together and perform well. the 2 days was filled with a lot of introducing yourself and doing some weird and crazy icebreakers and learning how to develop relationships within teams that we'll be working with all year. one of the things that struck me, so positively, is how many people within this class who are actually doing the programme to make a difference in their communities. and im not talking about the kinda difference i was making with accenture - helping rich people get richer - rather, life changing, social status-uplifting changes, from small initiatives to ruling the world and changing it for the better. lots of these were lofty (perhaps unachievable) goals (like the kinds i have!), but it was so cool to know that people are actually thinking of such things (other than me). i hope to meet every single one of them and together go out and change the world. So that, in the words of my favourite economist, the future can say of our generation that "we sent forth mighty currents of hope, and we worked together to heal the world"

on to the mother city

the first blog i ever posted on this site, i believe was called "welcome to the motherland" or something like that (i could simply check, but i dont wanna...). well, now ive moved from the motherland to the mother city. i arrived in cape town tonight (its called the mother city, im not sure exactly why, and i could look it up but i dont wanna...).

so today begins yet another chapter of my life. ive been working and traveling and enjoying my time in joburg for the last 2 years and now its time to hunker down for a year and remember what it feels like to be a student again. I'm starting my mba course at the end of this week. in between, i need to sort out a lot of things including finding a place to stay...

recently, the prevailing question has been if i'm excited or if i can't wait. hmm, i think if i had time to consider it i would say im very excited. and definitely when i landed here today, i couldn't help but feel good about starting another chapter in my life. of course i was sad because i realllly love joburg and ive met some extremely amazing people (some of who threw me a suprise going away party that didnt quite turn out to be a surprise...its the thought that counts. thanks guys1). i also have to fight the feeling of frustration and worry as i try to get everything sorted before i start the programme. all of which gives me little time to actually reflect what's going on. at the airport today, a friend commented in passing that what ive been talking about since he met me (literally a couple days after i got to joburg) is finally happening. the truth is ive been considering this school think in sa even before i graduated university. so given that context, its really something to be very excited about. its finally happening. its here. i'm here!

a couple people, i think sensing my worry and anxiety, have been reminding me not to forget to have fun. i think that's truly a valuable life lesson. sometimes we tend to take ourselves too seriously. in fact, most times we do. if there's one thing that should be learned before we die, its to not forget to enjoy ourselves, to have fun. i think this will be a tough year; a demanding year; a rewarding year; a year of significant growth; and most importantly, a fun year!