Missing and other things

I know some of you have been wondering where The Acolyte disappeared to for the last 2 weeks. Well I was playing a major part in organizing a conference and of course I had to attend it, so that led to some pretty intense days I tell you. Anyway the conference is a post in itself for later, but I want to touch on a thing or two in the meanwhile.

China owns the world, real talk. For me one of my rituals when I travel as is the case with many of you, is to buy a souvenir. For example in Kenya, you can get Kisii soapstone carvings and Maasai jewellery; original and handcrafted. Well what I have noticed is that when you get to the Western world is that few if any souvenirs that are sold to tourists are hand crafted, most of it is mass produced and when you turn it over; it has made in China stamped on the bottom. So when you travel from one country to another and one of the things you do to commemorate that is to buy something that represents that country but was made in another country, call me petty but that doesn't do much for me. But besides trinkets, other than food stuffs and specialty items have you ever noticed how 90% plus of what is on the shelf (at least in supermarkets here) is made in China? I'm not hating on the industrial nature of the Chinese but it makes me wonder in many cases what happened to any local industries that have been impacted by the tidal wave of Chinese goods. Like in the earlier example of my search for a souvenir, what happened to the dude who used to make individual hand crafted t-shirts when an influx of t-shirts that looked just as good and were cheaper than his came into the picture? Anyway I'm no economist but I guess that's what we get when we welcome globalization into our house, it turns into the elephant that asked to put just its' trunk in the house for shelter from the rain and ended up pushing out the owner of the house. Anyway I've ranted enough about that.

I'm experiencing my first cold in 3 years and it isn't amusing. The stuffy head, running nose and cough aren't doing me any favors at all. If I was dieting I would be thankful for the loss of appetite that comes with the loss of smell but since I'm not, that isn't a silver lining.

Now onto other affairs, residents of Eastlands; poleni sana. From what I read in the press ya'll are being forced to walk from the outskirts of the cbd. The mission the local gvt Minister has has a great aim but how he is going about it I disagree with big time, the problem is private cars and not public service vehicles (not that matatus are blame free of course). Even when I was leaving Kenya, the country was becoming alot like the States; there were alot of single passenger cars on the road causing alot of traffic, here we have a lane for cars with more than one passenger and emergency vehicles and let me tell you that that lane is empty for the most part. Anyway at least they are making an effort to address the issue. I'll sit back and watch and hear from you out there.

Anyway let me lay my head down and recover from this cold and I'll be back.

ps: I have a confession to make...I was made in China! Nah just kidding I'm 100% Kenyan Jua Cali made!