Waka waka

do u ever have a broken tape recorder in your head?

it just keeps playing the same song over and over again?

sometimes its a undesireable song, but it gets stuck.

maybe because u don't like it and then you are conscious of it and then you hear it for the whole day, sometimes a week - in your head.

even if you play your favorite song 50 times, the tape recorder in your head does not get the message and still plays the annoying song.

today i had this wierd shakira - fifa 2010 song stuck in my head- it is called "waka waka". i am not too much of a shakira fanatic, but she has some good songs, but i do like her less "pop" counterparts.

but she has a good fusion of latin america and middle eastern culture.... representative of immigration and history.

so waka waka eh eh... tsamina mina eh eh waka waka eh eh

tsamina mina a zangalewa (or something) were the lyrics...

so i googled and found out that the song was actually popular in the '80s (not sung by her) but by a cameroonian group.

"“Tsamina” or “Zangaléwa” is a 1986 hit song, originally sung by a makossa group from Cameroon called Golden Sounds who were beloved throughout the continent for their silly dances and costumes. The song was such a hit for Golden Sounds that they eventually changed their name to Zangaléwa, too.The song pays tribute to African skirmishers (a.k.a tirailleurs) during WW2. Most of the band members were in the Cameroonian Army themselves and used make up, fake belly and fake butt for comic relief. The song is still used today almost everywhere in Africa by soldiers, policemen, boy scouts, sportsmen and their supporters, usually during training or for rallying. It is also widely used in schools throughout the continent especially in Cameroon as a marching song and almost everyone in the country knows the chorus of the song by heart. The song was also popular in Colombia where it was known as “The Military” and brought to the contry by West African DJs.
The men in the group often dressed in military uniforms, wearing pith helmets and stuffing their clothes with pillows to appear like they had a swollen butts from riding the train and fat stomachs from eating too much. The song, music historians say, is a criticism of blackmilitary officers who were in league with whites to oppress their own people. Or at least, some of it was. The rest is Cameroonian slang and jargon from the soilders during the war."

(excerpt courtesy: http://buzzytimes.com/waka-waka-meaning-time-for-africa-the-original-version-video-waka-waka-tsamina/)

the words in the original song mean and in Shakira's song mean:

# Tsaminamina means Come.
# Waka waka means Do it – as in perform a task. Waka is pidgin language meaning walk while working.
# Tsaminamina zangalewa means where do you come from?.
# Wana means it is mine.
# Zambo means wait.

In the end i feel enlightened for having shakira's annoying waka waka song stuck in my head! Cameroon, Cote De Ivoire, sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ghana etc. they all seen hard times ...but this song is to better times.

Reflections in the River

I remember as a child there was a superstition, that one must never look at their reflection in water.
Yet it is lovely to sit and watch the images of life, and the world reflected in the river. Peaceful and flowing, showing us what we need to see. The green, the growth, the gifts of earth, and the glorious love that it all ignites within us. 

I was sitting on the banks of the East Branch of the Rocky River, with my friend Miles, we were actually looking for the Cerulean Warbler, but we wound up having a deep conversation about childhood, and the things we've been through in life, and how it has all shaped us. The river flowed, and the dragonflies dropped their eggs in the water, life was thriving... I was thriving... yet sometimes all of us feel dead. I looked back on my life, and looked at the world around me... history till now. Love and Hate, Joy and Pain, the Sunshine and the Rain... they have taught us so much over the ages, over time shaped us.


There have been hard times for us all, when we have faced something terrifying, something much larger than us. It humbles us, yet we can either choose to take that as a part of the learning process, or we can give up on ourselves, and be a victim. I do not know what your story is, but I survived, and I have learned. I grew strong; but I may not have the skin of an rhino, but my will is strong. Yet I know that others around me are fighting their own battles in life; some which maybe worse than the ones I have fought.



A new strategy, however, how about instead of fighting, but moving with the change. Let's go with it, of course it is situational, but the more resistance we put into something, the more energy we waste, so lets use these battles and turn them into something good... put positive energy into it and turn the bush into a rose bush. It will still have the thorns, but we will tend to them carefully.


Theoretical, Hypothetical, and Idealistic, yet we can hope. We can love. We can be happy. We can be. Life will then turn right-side-up and not left-side-down. For some reason I feel like I have read this before. However I write it now, from my heart.
I write it for me.
I write it because it is my reflection I saw in the river, without looking into it. I saw the green, I saw the water, I saw life, love, and nature... and in it, was me. I was calm and happy. I felt pain from my past, and the unknown adventures in the future, but in the now I saw me and I was happy just being Pree! 

hiking near the EBRR, Hinckley Reservation

Reflections: Perhaps the concept we know of from the beginning, for in everyone is a little bit of ourselves. However, sometimes we only become aware of it when someone points the very natural phenomenon out to us. Thank you for your reflections, river, mind, friends!






<3

My Beautiful Mother

Each day goes by and we get older, and I look at my mother. She is beautiful, caring, intelligent, and so amazing. She is this lovely woman who brought me up and has cared for me for my 27 years of life. She was my greatest enemy, and best friend; she would lay down the law and everyday I'd be up to the same mischief. I loved wearing her make up. I wanted to be as beautiful as she!
She always did the right things for me, as I look back and reminisce, well at least what she thought was best! Any mother would do that.
My mother inspires me everyday to love, care, be open minded, and she has taught me that there is no age to stop to go to school. She does yoga everyday, and for the record she can do headstand for 15 minutes! She does some 'asanas' better than me. We do teach yoga together (for free, she believes good health comes free). She still studies and takes exams, to better herself for the family. Mothers are so hardworking, and their work is never accounted for. This work that mother's do is the most priceless work ever. One day I hope to be like her...

 My Mom and I - May 22nd 2010

Beet-Chocolate Cake for my Boss' Birthday

What you will need:

1 large beet
1/2 Cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 tbsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
water
and 2-3 pieces of dark chocolate (unsweetened) if desired.
Please wear an apron because the beets can bleed a lot. Peel and dice one large beet. Place the pieces in a saucepan with water to cover and boil until soft. Allow the beets to cool, and then drain them. Put the drained beets into the food processor with 1/4 cup (clear) water, and process until pureed.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Oil or spray your cooking pan(s).
Put the pureed beets into a 2-cup measure. Add enough apple sauce to reach the 2-cup line. Add the 2 tablespoons water, vanilla extract, and apple cider to the beets and mix well. Mix the dry ingredients together; then add the beet mixture and stir until well-combined. Bake for 35-60 minutes, depending on the size of pan you use. Test by inserting a toothpick into the center; it’s done when the toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely before cutting and serving.
Ice it with your choice of chocolate or other recipes.

My May thoughts

Surprising Realizations of Life and Love

so many things in my mind and heart:
the past and the future
people and animals
they come together and drift apart.

depart, and arrive
how are we all alive?
we live we die
its the truth and yet its all a lie.

to live, and have
to lose and win
a cycle a circle
we all experience.

to care so deep
to see in with the heart
to live and sleep and dream
the dreams are more than they seem.

to trust
to follow
to walk alone
and together.

forever.