Sunday, July 02, 2006

world cup,visiting,kenyan-ness and some free goodies

I know you know this already so I won't dwell on it.....big names have crashed out of the World Cup!In one way it's sad, like in the case of England.In the case of Brazil much as I love watching them play, I also admit that it is time for new blood as Brazil have been in the last 2 finals.Much as people do love France, I think the winner will come from the Germany-Italy match, in fact that would have been a great final.Anyway enough about soccer/football.
I am at my sister's place now and it has been so long since I have been here that I can see quite a few changes.To help reduce the wear and tear on my sister's jalopy, she has decided to move to the 'ville (deviousone 2006) next semester.She has already expressed fears about the way her social life will wither away, from being the aspiring socialite present at many downtown Atlanta bar and clubs she will have to get accustomed to hole in the wall bars and the occasional bash to wile away the boredom and monotony of small time life.But on the other hand she will save a whole lot of cash in terms of rent and utilities.I went to see Superman Returns with my brother on Friday and I must admit that it was worth every bit of my money and time (even though their could have been more action!).It warmed my heart to hear the superman theme song again after such a long absence.Frankly, I think few people will have anything negative to say about this movie.
Anyway we went for a Kenyan bash/bridal shower for this Kenyan chic who was marrying an African American dude.The couple who were hosting the bash lived in a remote area.At one point when we were driving and all we were seeing were trees and upcoming developments we thought that we were lost and called them only to be told to keep on driving.They live in a wonderful subdivision (what we would call an estate in Kenya), the houses are beatiful, well priced and the sellers offer free appliances and other incentives for the buyers.Most of the Kenyans who were there were doing rather well for themselves and that for me was a form of motivation because I guess I hear too many stories of Kenyans living the hard knock life.Although the result was that some of these people felt better then the rest of us.The husband to be was impressed with the fact that Kenyans had a pre-wedding and raised $9,000 for the wedding.The unity and support by the Kenyan community really touched him.I also noticed that there were quite a few people with young children there, I guess this is another side of Kenyans here that I don't see much of.But that still didn't make me feel that I need to settle down, I still feel that there is so much that I have to do and so little time.In fact one of my profs in Kenya told me to enjoy being in school as that is the only time I can take things slow but after that things come at you 1000 mph.
It is at that point when the rest of the people were doing there own thing we got to chatting with my sister and aunt that they told me one thing they thought about me.They said that they don't think that I could marry a non Kenyan.I asked why?And I was told it's because I tend to be very ethnic (no not tribal!) but ethnic, meaning that I tend to be very aware of my roots and culture.Not to say that I am culturally insensitive but I do tend to enjoy my Kenyan-ness, it's culture and history.It is with that view point that I do understand what the Derailer meant when one night she told me that at times she doesn't feel that she is Kenyan enough for me.At that point I was wondering..."has this woman finally lost it?!" But with the way I can be nationalistic at times I do understand where she is coming from, after all I am the only one in my family here who goes out of their way to keep in touch with Kenyan news, trends, national holidays etc.Although my devotion does pale when compared to some of the accomplishments and devotion some KBW members show.Anyway could I marry someone from another culture?Most probably yes, but I do admit that it would be a bit of an uphill climb due to differing cultural values.And yes if I did have children, I would rather raise them in Kenya and not the West; so that reduces the chances of me ever marrying a non-Kenyan.But anyway I guess only time will tell.
Ah now for free goodies from me!First of all I got two good file uploading sites where you can store all your good stuff when you have no space on your pc.The sites are www.4shared.com and www.streamload.com. Streamload give you a whole 25gbs free!The other is much smaller but I like 4shared as you can mail a link to the contents direct to someone's email adress, with streamload you can send goodies but you have to open a free account to get those goodies.I plan on stowing most of my sounds there and sharing them like this!So if you are interested and want to share...nione kando!

19 comments:

egm said...

I watched Superman yesterday, and I agree. That was a neat movie. Mpaka now that soundtrack is stuck in my brain.

Concerning marriage, I'm like you. My desire to settle in Kenya means whoever I marry has to be agreeable to that, and the chances of a non-Kenyan doing it are significantly less. Otherwise I would not shy away from a woman from anywhere else.

As for world cup, this guy at my office will never let me hear the end of it. I taunted him 4 years over Brazil winning Germany (the team he supported back then), and now the tables have turned (albeit Brazil losing to France).

Happy 4th!

Rista said...

Shukran for the goodies. Cool song.

Anonymous said...

@ egm
I do hope the follow up is just as good!
As for the marriage issue, we are indeed in a quandry!
Yes soccer is unpredictable all it takes is one moment of brilliance or stupidity to change things!
@ rista
You are most welcome!

Gay Nairobi Man said...

Aco,

Even I who feels nothing for soccer enjoyed the matches this weekend. I tend to support the underdogs and France winning was great( Iam now informed that they were really not underdogs as I thought).

Thanks for the 4share site, I had to icrease capacity on my PC to hold my 50GB of music. I will defintely share

walk said...

Superman is also out on i-max that should be too deadly. the winner of the france portugal game will win the world cup. german will go down to italy

Anonymous said...

@ GNM
Soccer sure is enjoyable if you think about it!
Thanks for spreading the word!
@ joseph
I am sure the movie will rock on I-max.As for your predictions, I'll wait and see!

Anonymous said...

LOL! @ your kenyan-ness.

When i 1st moved here i was absorbed in keeping up with the kenyan times, coz i needed some ground. Nowadays, i can't. Once in a while i will swing by the kenyan news but that's about it.

I haven't completely lost my kenyan flava.
I still vibe swa and can unleash some serious methalis and misemos just to shtua peeps.

P/S: I don't beleive that crap of forgetting swa and mother-tongue when you move abroad. If you used to speak it back in zamunda, it will always be wtih you despite missing tonations here and there.

I am not big on culture since i come from a very diverse family and clan, so to marry a non-kenyan/ non-african is not a big to do for me.

That's my peni mbili.

Anonymous said...

@ kelitu
I do think as I have less free time I may not be able to keep up with all that is happening.
I so feel you on the forgetting the language crap coz I too think that it's b.s!
For me I too would marry outside of Kenyan culture but I think the fact that I would want to move back to Kenya would be stumbling block!

egm said...

It does rock on Imax. They had a few 3-D scenes, but in my opinion these were more distractions (having to wear the special specs for them and all). And only on the very last 3-D section did i notice anything different. Other than that, Imax definitely rocked.

Anonymous said...

Explain to me about this moving back home... Is it that you hook up with a chick here(knyan that is) and move back with her or go back home and hook a chick from there?

Anonymous said...

@ egm
I think I will do the next big hit on I-Max.You make it sound like loads of fun!
@ kelitu
Ultimately I would like to move back home and that would be easier with a Kenyan chic.If the chic wasnt Kenyan I would consider staying.

Anonymous said...

You comment under false pretenses. You will be exposed. Round 1 "superman" - come out and play.

Anonymous said...

@ don
It is good to see that we are in the same boat in terms of marriage and moving out and I am not being unreasonable.Let's see who wins the match!
@ anonymus
Firstly I don't do anon comments!Secondly I have a second identity all KBW know about so I don't need to hide.Third please stop trolling on my blog.Thank you!

Anonymous said...

@ don
It was a great match!Viva Italia!

Spidey/Tato said...

-after brazil i have lost sike for the game-but may FRANCE go down soon

-My main prob with prob wit ur post?! U dont even give superman its own paragraph haki..then u acha me high and dry and proceed...anyway we went for a kenyan bash....u mad one wait tato fikas here

these movie theatres of ours didnt premiere it here so its openin on Friday i'll be so there in a rush

-as for them freebies between u and Dshy i think i have downloads covered...and of course my very own patron saint ot tv and everything downloads

Anonymous said...

@ Nick
You see there was no way I was goin to toboa the movie for peeps who havent seen it, I don't play like that!
As for ball, it gets more interesting by the moment!
What freebies does D-shy have?Ebu toss me a link!

Prousette said...

Aha! you are coming round and giving some very important aspects of your life consideration.
Like marriage ...time is on your side.Your kenyan-ness comes out even from your blog.

Acolyte said...

@ prou
Not that I want to get married but I always believe in covering all scenarios.I never see Kenyan-ness as something to be ashamed about!

southernplayeristic said...

I can relate on the multicultural marriage issue! Being proud of your roots should never be a problem, and should never mean that you can only be w/ people who share those roots. Moses is damn proud of his roots, and I love that about him. I hope we can raise our kids in Kenya, but also in other countries. So really, that shouldnt be a stumbling block either. There are lots of sistas from the US who feel close ties to Africa.

But when Moses and I first started dating, I didn't feel African enough for him. I felt insecure hangin w/ him at parties/events full of soley Kenyans. First of all, I couldnt understand what they were saying, second of all, they all treated me as an outsider. and being white didnt help, either. but over time, i realized that its ok that I'm not from Kenya, or I'm not from 125th in Harlem, or I'm not a strong black woman w/ dreds and black power. I can be radical regardless of my nationality and color, and that works too, probably better, because we can confront even more stereotypes as an interracial, international couple. and we like challenging beliefs. most importantly, what we share is deeper than race or nationality, And that is what really matters.