Friday, December 25, 2009

a (last) word or two...

also 9/2/2002:
a word or two about Tate/Shannon/Julie/Rob's visit. at Maggie's for brunch one day, Tate asks me about my faith. what i feel when i pray? what i love most about it?

hmmm... at best, connected/focused/serene, moved/emotional/present. at worst, just trying to get it out of the way. wal'iyyathu billah [refuge].

what i love most? my worldview. how i see/understand/judge/navigate things–life! it is, undeniably, me. muslim. hamdillah [praise].

Saidu and i were talking at the Lake [Wum] yesterday. 2 things he said he thanked the Lord for regularly. i echo the sentiments, even if i don't share them with many people.

...and 1/2 way around the world i keep making connections with people and, while learning that in sooo many ways we're all the same, i keep learning about myself:
who i am?
why i came here?
where i want to go?
what i want to do?
who i want to be with?


...so we ask for guidance and protection.

Midnight's Children

9/2/2002:
"Love, my child, is a thing that every mother learns; it is not born with a baby, but made."
(Amina Sinai to her "son" Saleem, from Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children)

let me write. i haven't been lately. at least things i keep telling myself to. perhaps b/c this journal is coming to an end. i like this journal. anyway... all good things... AND the end of one thing signals the start of another. but let me write.

i've been reading Midnight's Children. good book. have i written about it yet? Rushdie has quite a style: rich vocab, colorful language, vivid imagery, imaginative character development... and a wonderfully intricate plot to tie it all together. reminds me of The God of Small Things [or is it the other way around?]... a lot. still, Rushdie is pompous. i'm probably biased. the vocab and the references... all over the place. he's obviously well-read, and he flaunts it. but i suppose he can't be blamed for that.

there are a couple of references to religion/faith/Islam. with his characters reflecting that same doubt in the religion that they were raised in. unsure of what is a worse fate, to believe in God or not to believe. culturally Muslim, intellectually agnostic... i should say culturally Indian. b/c Rushdie refers to both Hindu and Muslim myth/history as equally as each other. anyway... i hope to finish this book before school commences, insah'Allah.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

mountains of fruit!











 


also 9/1/2002:

OK... some basic arithmetic, from last night's dinner:
  • 2 bananas: 25 cfa here / $.50 there
  • 1 papaya: 125 cfa here / $2 there
  • 1 avocado: 50 cfa here / $1 there
  • 1 pineapple: 250 cfa here / $4 there
  • 2 bread-buns: 100 cfa here / $1 there
  • total: 400 cfa here / $8.50 there
$8.50 = 5,950 cfa... that's mountains of fruit!

pictures & portents













 

9/1/2002:
having bad sleeping nights. cough, stuffy nose, trouble breathing, stomach hurts, body itches... Allah ya'een [succor]!

strange thing happened last night. heard this noise. recognized that one of the [unframed] pictures must've fallen off the wall. didn't realize, until this morning, that it was mama's picture (Saidu asked to see it off the wall yesterday)... AND it landed right next to me on the bed!

Maggie says i should get ready for another visit!

what again?

8/31/2002:
in Wum after an aller-retour [round trip] to Bamenda hier [yesterday]. Saidu is here [a friend from Bamenda that came to visit]. had a good day... uneventful, but pleasant.

what again? my belly aches... my eyesight is bad. glasses hurt my head. perhaps its the prescription? it may need to change.

hmmm... the trip to Bamenda yesterday was tiring. we pushed the bus up Befang hill a few times. sat on no more than 8 or 9cm of seat on the way there, i swear! crossed the bridge over the Menchum [river] both ways. bad. scared old mommies and men. average of 4 hours en route.

anywho... did email in Bamenda. went well considering that i sent out 20+ messages in 1 hour, with a bad connection.

what again? nada/rien/zero/la-shayy'...

Sunday, December 6, 2009

3 more pages...

8/28/2002:
3 more pages in this journal!

short list of what to take to Maggie's this morning. we get 'tranger dem [we have guests]... Tate, Shannon R., Julie and Robert. had a great brunch this morning and simple dinner last night.

we had nice walk out to the lake [wum]... quiet, peaceful out there. they're leaving tomorrow AM. i leave Friday, insha'Allah. will come back with Saidu [friend from Bamenda] and the rent money... INSHA'ALLAH!

i spoke to the family... mama and khalto [auntie]. they're a riot! good to hear from them. OMZ started school today. senior year from him [in university]. subhan Allah, how time flies.