nowadays, i play this game. i stand under the shower, hit by gushing pellets of cascading hot water. close my eyes and stand still for as long as i can. and count for how many seconds i can stand still without feeling woozy. i'm really tired. i'm not as mchanga/young as i used to be. or maybe not that flexible..the west runs on a different time. back home, there is a saying haraka haraka haina baraka. which means, hurry hurry has no blessings. i miss the slower, let me get to know you.. hello neighbour..could i have some salt.. how is your child sort of knowing. i don't know my below neighbours. i hear them fight and cuss though. i know their noises more than i know their names. barely know my teachers. kazini is a different reality. kila mtu kivyake. the first time in one and a half years, i stood infront of the grocery store and laughed with two women. one black another white. we shared an instinctive urge to embrace each other in laughter and sharing. it was beautiful. in one and a half years. imagine that. this is something i did almost every day. engage in sharing.

my heads getting all softy and fuzzy. i'm growing my hair. was baldi like my friend liz. with the help of golden blond dye, right curl activator and exhaustion it has grown for about three/four months. i'm really proud of my uneven nappy head. it feels soft. oh so soft. im like mmmh..this is nice. i'm not even tempted to run to the next barber and shave it. after almost six years of being baldi, i think im getting the hang of growing it.

summer is coming. i do not long for the oppressive texan heat. the schedule will be less tight. i long to get reacquianted with myself, my roomates, my loves, my family. and ofcourse, finally, get a chance to read..yeappy.

there are a couple of books i'd like to read. isabele allende is a trip. i listened to this with alice walker and Jean Shinoda Bolen .

no travelling though. percola has a replacement. a two year old, compaq persario laptop with 5gb of ram. and other yummy accessories. thinking of christening her. flying around with names..

{swahili. shona.english.sheng.zulu.kikuyu.sanskrit}

reading list for summer.
Mandela, Mobutu, and Me: A Newswoman's African Journey by Lynne Duke
Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
The Blindfold's Eyes: My Journey from Torture to Truth by Dianna Ortiz
Santa Barraza, Artist of the Borderlands by Maria Herrera-Sobek
Vibe History of Hip Hop
Bold Words: A Century of Asian American Writing by Rajini Srikanth
Cubana : Contemporary Fiction by Cuban Women by Mirta Yanez
Conversations With Isabel Allende by Isabel Allende
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat