tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75744769257972862502012-02-16T11:43:24.080+03:00The musings of a single girl in the big wide worldVivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.comBlogger691100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-83099268040521413762011-04-19T18:13:00.007+03:002011-04-19T19:02:07.964+03:00

SIIIIIGHHHHI feel at quite a loss. I have been struggling to get some work done on my PhD research for the last month but I find myself totally without motivation on most days. I am beginning to be anxious about all the time I am wasting and being afraid that I may end up paying a very heavy price for this procrastination! I thought I was more self driven than this but alas! A friend of mine told

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-27656523459697022212011-02-20T22:45:00.004+03:002011-02-21T00:08:38.557+03:00

My feet are killing me.A seasoned tourist like myself will tell you that trying to take in all the sites in a new city is never a good idea, but somehow this knowledge goes out the window every time I enter a new city!!! BERLIN! :-DFirst stop this morning, naturally was the Berlin wall, or what's left of it anyway. Interesting enough but rather underwhelming; to be fair though, most of it was

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-29910013011482258442011-01-03T17:47:00.002+03:002011-01-03T18:51:26.706+03:00

My baby sister was born when I was ten years old. It often fell to me, as the oldest child, to decode the mysteries of life to her, and my strongest memories of her childhood was being bombarded with "why this" and "why that" and "why, why, why!"; that and "please take me to so-and-so's to play" Looking back, I cannot have been more than 13 or 14 at the time I had the power over whether or not

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-72362804569895648542010-10-30T13:05:00.009+03:002010-11-01T20:01:57.714+03:00

I recently mentioned, in casual conversation with a close friend of mine, that my brother was born 11 months after I was born. His reaction? Disbelief: "You have a brother??"I smiled, waiting for the punch line: from the moment we met more than 5 years ago, the Godfather has spent nearly all of our time together teasing me. We, his friends, call him the Godfather because he is usually off doing

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-62034368987954296812010-07-04T13:14:00.003+03:002010-07-04T18:56:42.048+03:00

I find the weekends that I spend away from the city, and in the little village where I live and work, very relaxing indeed. I have no want of electricity, flowing water, internet, and even World Cup action, which I can catch on an ancient and fuzzy television at the staff pub. Not to mention fresh produce, cheap fruit and more fresh air than anyone can use! The best part of these weekends is the

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-91927930006850383592010-06-18T16:26:00.004+03:002010-06-21T20:09:47.635+03:00

I walk out of the cinema on a balmy Sunday evening with a girl friend and as soon as I switch on the phone it starts to ring. My relaxed mood evaporates immediately as I see who it is: I am reminded of my resolution to put an end to this nonsense once and for all by the end of the day. I ignore the call and it goes to voicemail. We resume our dissection of the the newest Sex and the City Movie (

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-39546699947111317252009-08-16T18:55:00.004+03:002009-09-23T22:34:28.643+03:00

There is this young woman - 30 years old, been in a relationship with a guy for five years and they have a two year old together (he has two other children from previous relationships and she has one from a previous relationship too). Friday night, we are out for drinks and as usual she is in tears over the fact that he will not make their union official - or rather that he keeps putting the

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-13887347468923869622009-05-05T10:16:00.007+03:002009-10-27T09:42:00.618+03:00

The typical Matatu driver is rude, obnoxious and will always try to hit on you if you so much as look at him sideways! (Matatu is the local term for the 14-carrier public transport minibus). My woes with these guys are a mile long, but recently I met one who took the cake!!I like to take the front seat because it has the best leg room, and on this occasion the seat between me and the driver was

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-83428583863198326562009-05-05T09:44:00.003+03:002009-05-05T10:14:52.954+03:00

I used to come here very often to blog (read vent, reflect, etc.), but since I discovered Facebook I have a much quicker way to express myself - in that one sentence status report! Nevertheless, the last few days I have suddenly felt that I needed to take up blogging again.It is impossible to compress one year of absence, so I will just take up with the most recent developments.So. This morning I

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-85456197295605854322008-06-24T12:34:00.003+03:002008-06-24T19:47:56.738+03:00

The last few weeks have been so busy that I have not had time to compose myself enough to blog; which is too bad since a lot has happened that will now be lost in the black hole in my memory. Actually my memory is so bad (and I know I should not confess such a negative thing) that I think one of the reasons I tell so many stories about what I am thinking and doing so that the people I tell can

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-56866098683778565232008-05-01T12:50:00.001+03:002008-05-01T13:38:51.700+03:00

(Not in Love, unfortunately) No. Madly, Deeply, Truly - Unsatisfied? Unplugged? Out of sync? Dare I say it – Unhappy? I really can’t believe I dare say it (although I have said it) - for fear that it might actually come to pass! But perhaps I just have to face it, rather than hide from it.. So what has brought this on? Well, it has probably been a long time a-cooking… This year was

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-5148681612145768962008-04-10T20:26:00.004+03:002008-04-11T09:09:14.566+03:00

This evening, I took a mat and sat on my veranda and tried to face my current dis-ease. I feel all confused. Now this has become of great concern because although I have moments of respite, I have really been unable to shake this feeling for the last month or so – since just after Easter actually. It is said that all negative emotions – anger, confusion, depression, etc., are signs that one is

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-1237884134839036092008-04-10T19:26:00.004+03:002008-04-11T09:10:45.793+03:00

So, I just came from reading the book by Elizabeth Gilbert called ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ – she ate in Italy, prayed in India and found Love (and balance) in Bali. I have to admit I started out not being too thrilled by this book – I found the author tended to use language that was too expressive so that one felt she was trying too hard – not to say that her analogies were not very vivid or

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-18037176762848925732008-04-08T09:22:00.000+03:002008-04-08T10:00:15.828+03:00

So here I am on a Monday morning, searching high and low for that elusive quantity called motivation. The author of the book ‘Emotional Intelligence’ says that we are all capable of influencing our emotions simply by exerting our will. On Sunday (yesterday) a cousin of mine asked me what the week ahead looked like, and I replied with such despondency she just had to shake her head. Basically I

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-86446841682614151322008-04-03T09:27:00.000+03:002008-04-03T09:29:24.628+03:00

I wonder if the infestation of ants in my house is a metaphor for my life; I had a long conversation with a friend of mine last night and he commented that restlessness has been an enduring theme in my life for the last few years. According to him, every time we speak (which 3 or 4 times a year on average) I am spoiling for a change of scene. I think I have been able to curb this problem by

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-65200684060962650662008-03-25T15:15:00.000+03:002008-03-25T15:16:27.293+03:00

I just came from reading a short story by the French writer, philosopher and existentialist Jean Paul Sartre – the first time I am reading anything by him – such gripping stuff!! The story is called ‘The Wall’, and it is about three men captured during WWII who have just been informed that they will be executed the following day; it gives an account of their last night. What a fascinating read!

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-34729362734596567812008-03-04T15:33:00.009+03:002008-03-05T08:25:42.066+03:00

Playing Music So, today I am having quite a slow day; perchance this is due to having to wait as patiently as I can for word on whether or not a trip that I would like to take has been approved by management. I have a pile of pending work that I really can not be bothered to do – however, of course, I have to do it – so I decide to play some of my favourite music at high volume – being the boss

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-80070802749931185692008-02-27T08:17:00.001+03:002008-02-27T08:23:45.017+03:00

Two or three weeks ago I overdid the walking exercise and stressed a muscle in the arch of my left foot. For ten whole days I walked around limping and I felt thoroughly sorry for myself!! At day eight I went to the sick bay and the nurse suggested that I bandage it, but all that got me were more sympathetic smiles and head shaking from everyone I passed – the foot got no better!! Two days later

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-91459776252243596342008-02-27T08:14:00.002+03:002008-02-27T08:20:38.802+03:00

I have been having the weirdest dreams…Eh, before I go any further, I must say one thing: BARCELONA BABY!! This is how I hope to get to Barcelona at the end of March: focus on the end goal, and care less about the means… So I keep sayingBARCELONA (there it is again), and visualising myself in the city, and studying the street map that I picked up at the reception of my hotel, and

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-50886032953417459642008-02-11T15:16:00.000+03:002008-02-11T17:42:13.083+03:00

A friend of mine has the gift of being able to instantly sense the state of emotions in any room that she enters, no matter if these are overt or suppressed. She has often received grief from her friends and family for always trying to delve into the emotions and affairs of others, but she says it is as easy for her to ignore her friends’ emotional and mental states as it is for her to ignore one

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-6692856959457892852008-02-05T14:53:00.001+03:002008-02-05T16:59:24.933+03:00

I am reading a book on how to write fiction (and think about it) and I am really enjoying it! The good news is that I have already been doing a lot of the things that a writer in training should do to build fitness, such as writing regularly, keeping journals, going around with a notebook in hand to record thoughts and observations, reflecting on my dreams when I wake up, and reading, reading,

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-21772979147420032692008-01-24T14:58:00.000+03:002008-01-24T15:17:39.944+03:00

Skiving off work today, I watched this really useless movie called ‘Wedding Wars’ (worryingly, I’m watching a lot of useless movies of late!!); such an attractive title, and so even more of a let down for it! It is about a guy whose only brother is openly gay, and is about to marry the only daughter of a conservative governor during election year. The straight brother asks the gay brother to be

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-78050621386871863932008-01-24T14:21:00.006+03:002008-02-05T15:54:07.123+03:00

I have spent the last few hours in my house watching a movie and drinking coffee. Life is too slow for me! I cannot concentrate on work, and earlier I tried to post but couldn’t find any inspiration!! Is this how people get completely fed up with their lives they have to force a change?? This week it became clearer why I want out of my current job!! It’s an old song I know, but everyone has

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-22471502202248158052008-01-16T17:48:00.002+03:002008-01-24T14:44:15.617+03:00

I saw my mother cry this weekend. Her grown child of thirty-two stole a car from home, went out drinking and returned the next day with the lights bashed and the fellow out of his head! My mother’s first reaction was relief that he was alive - she had already woken me that morning, at what felt like dawn to me, to inform me that my brother was not yet back! It was probably much later than dawn

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-21364640759165893662008-01-07T14:18:00.000+03:002008-01-07T15:53:08.027+03:00

Seven days into the new year, and I still have no clue what is going on with me!! I cannot even collect myself enough to pray... This fills me with an unbearable amount of grave concern! The main thing is - I feel pulled in all directions at once! I am dazzled by the opportunities available to me and I cannot make a choice upon which to concentrate my creative energy!! On one hand, I had made up

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-9973883809654539402007-12-18T23:08:00.001+03:002007-12-18T23:54:42.462+03:00

Near the end of 2003 I read Stephen Covey’s ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’, and this sent me into this brooding that I mentioned in an earlier post. I am now nearing the end of 2007, and I have just come from watching ‘The Secret’. (An aside - I have read a lot of books, and watched a lot of movies and documentaries that have been pivotal in my life – such as the book ‘Meeting

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-74279983185001741352007-12-18T14:07:00.000+03:002007-12-18T16:35:21.544+03:00

Last week of work.. Most of the staff are gone, and if I hadn't sweet talked one of our interns to stay, I would be all alone in the office.. Certainly the work I am doing now can wait until next Semester but why put off until next semester what I can do this semester - besides, marking exams is my least favourite task so I don't want to start a new year with unpleasant tasks!!This morning, I

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-31219107222336292122007-12-11T17:21:00.000+03:002007-12-12T11:33:59.196+03:00

I just got back from a week in South Africa (four days in Johannesburg and four days in Cape Town) – J’burg was a lot of fun, caught up with one of my girls that lives there, and went to a church service that moved my disbelieving soul deeply!! (More about that later) I also tried and tried to no avail, to locate a poet that I met in Durban in ’05 (lives in J’burg) – that was too bad, it would

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-6194169920791931162007-11-27T22:34:00.000+03:002007-11-27T22:45:44.415+03:00

Sooo, what next? I have been feeling kind of lost the last few days, and today I realised that I have been unconsciously asking myself 'what next?' Went walking with a friend of mine today, and talked it over. I told her that it was difficult to describe exactly what I had been feeling – lost? Uprooted? Foreign? Misplaced? When we came from walking, we passed by the staff pub and Africa Magic was

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-43633886361713429492007-11-26T22:27:00.000+03:002007-11-26T22:37:04.629+03:00

I think I may have turned a corner in my culinary skills (or do I speak too soon?). I cooked something so tasty today that I couldn’t talk myself out of taking seconds – of my OWN food – this has never happened (or has happened sooo rarely that - er, no, it has NEVER happened!!) The reason I think I have improved to this extent maybe due to the fact that I now follow cookbook recipes faithfully,

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-24595223521523754532007-11-26T22:10:00.001+03:002007-11-26T22:10:54.614+03:00

I lent a friend of mine two books recently: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress' and 'Vernon God Little' - two books that I thought were really well written, though perhaps not exactly what I would call entertaining - basically too dark for that.. HER description of the books was 'a little disturbing'... :-) I have to say I liked that description!! She for her part lent me a book

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-74435471438314745452007-11-22T17:18:00.000+03:002007-11-22T18:11:53.389+03:00

I always looked forward to living on my own because I thought it would give me plenty of opportunity to learn how to cook ATLAST! I have to say it has been quite an adventure - true, I eat too much potato soup (my most successful dish EVER), but I am also trying out all these different pasta sauces, and yesterday I ate celery for the first time in forever!! The smell took me back to my childhood

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-65387296825942451552007-11-21T22:31:00.000+03:002007-11-22T18:05:31.771+03:00

My last surviving grandparent passed away around Easter this year, passing into the great hall of my ancestors. She’d lived with us for the best part of a decade, and had been a great fountain of wisdom, told crazy stories and instructed us in our local language (Rukiga)… During the last two or so years, her hearing begun to fail and she had constant pain in her back, stomach and legs. About two

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-13065485139964596802007-11-08T11:36:00.000+03:002007-11-08T11:37:23.065+03:00

(Posted Four days later!)A cousin of mine wants me to surrender to this guy that I feel almost sure has fancied me for ever, he is always fidgeting around me and has made suggestive remarks around me now and then, and a few weeks back even sent me suggestive sms. I promised my cousin I would surrender to him and go out with him if he asks me out. However, I told her I felt sure he would never ask

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-81919041556181688562007-11-08T11:30:00.000+03:002007-11-08T11:36:42.914+03:00

(Posted a week later!!)Today, four years ago, at around this time actually, I went to a church in a small town in the East of Holland. As I sat there, all the regulars continued filing in until one guy that I had never seen strolled in. He surveyed the room and caught my eye, lingered for a second as something passed between us, and then he walked over to a free seat about two rows in front of me

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-26025403617047367952007-10-30T19:40:00.000+03:002007-10-30T19:57:01.165+03:00

Early Sunday morning, around 7 am, I witnessed a motor accident where a Matatu (Omnibus public transport) crashed into a boda-boda (motorbike public transport) carrying a woman – this boda-boda guy rode right into the main road without looking and the Matatu swept into its side. The woman was sent flying but the driver and his boda-boda were trapped under the front of the Matatu and dragged along

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-75247714582650101642007-10-30T19:29:00.000+03:002007-10-30T19:40:05.949+03:00

I have this habit: I buy packets of ginger biscuits, digestives and chocolate chip cookies, then, I put them in my biscuit tin in careful layers, so that I have all three in similar proportions all the way to the bottom of the tin. Now this is something I do all the time, but this morning I became conscious of the fact that it is a bit Brie Vander-what’s-her-name on Desperate Housewives! At the

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-60552240288363713292007-10-23T22:01:00.001+03:002007-10-23T22:29:08.503+03:00

In the past, when a guy I liked stood me up for whatever reason, or was late, I immediately threw a fit and refused to take his calls and fell to doubting his affection for me and on and on! Now that I am the recipient of TWO men's admiration, which two men I am not in the least bit interested, I see things a little differently. The book 'He's just not that into you' says he is not into you if

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-78961693363711588122007-10-23T10:53:00.004+03:002007-10-23T11:22:24.529+03:00

What is that saying – ‘everyone thinks they can write’ or ‘everyone is a critic’ or what? Anyway, my sister, who is a big fan of this blog, keeps saying I should write - she has always said this, as have a couple of other relatives of mine, but I have always taken it as part of their regular hero worship :-) Last week though, her advice really trickled into my mind - this was after I woke up from

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-63766056552183698622007-10-23T08:59:00.000+03:002007-10-23T22:37:47.643+03:00

THE ONLIEST ONE Years ago, I watched this documentary about a cult in a town called Jonestown in Guyana, where about 900 people were either convinced or forced by their leader Jim Jones to take poison and die; one of only about five survivors was this old lady who I think lay down in a ditch and pretended to be dead; when she was found later wandering around the compound and stepping over dead

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-65995146240277752842007-10-12T10:05:00.000+03:002007-10-12T10:19:04.276+03:00

This is what our poor internet has reduced me to - being idle and disoderly the one time I am able to log on!! It's the Eid celebration today and the Uni is closed so there aren't as many people on the network! Yippee!!Not that I have much to say mind - I am simply sitting here, plotting to steal the furniture in our office waiting area - some really nice furniture that the students made as a

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-52943698117984208372007-10-12T09:37:00.000+03:002007-10-12T10:15:35.067+03:00

From the outset, let me state that I am a big believer in perspiration - hard work will get you everywhere! It’s just that I am not a great perspirator; I’ll work much better under inspiration, fickle as that can be!! Point in case: I have been struggling to write a proposal for weeks and weeks, and I haven’t been feeling inspired that much – I mean yeah, I have had plenty of inspired moments,

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-88518337039670711582007-10-12T09:35:00.000+03:002007-10-12T09:43:46.889+03:00

Seeing as the internet only allows me to connect to Blogger when it deigns, I have been forced to compose posts offline and publish only when I manage to log on... I was saying: living on one’s own is quite an experience. I have forced to cook – not that I haven’t always wished for an opportunity, but some of my attempts are quite disturbing.. Consider yesterday’s dinner: Left over spaghetti

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-12585862167417437802007-10-09T09:23:00.000+03:002007-10-09T10:43:03.064+03:00

Living on one's own is quite an experience.. For one thing you realise that no matter how often you wash the dishes, there are always more in the sink - how do I manage to use so many dishes?? And then, when you first start to leave alone, you buy all these sets of cups and plates and things, probably imagining you are going to have people over but somehow, you never feel up to cooking for a

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-82790429639393476992007-10-04T10:42:00.000+03:002007-10-04T11:09:14.864+03:00

Yesterday I was bursting with things to share on Blogger, but I completely failed to log on - and now, I cannot remember what I was so excited about - maybe it was because I had had a few drinks - one's imagination can improve drastically after a few drinks... atleast mine does :-)Anyway, I know some of it was me wondering why the guy I'm dating now is so excited about me so quickly - I looked

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-5172219554965995212007-10-01T19:39:00.000+03:002007-10-02T12:56:38.150+03:00

Woke up with such a feeling of well being today – could be coz I spent such a relaxed Sunday yesterday – basically lay in a couch and watched the 1st season of Boston Legal all day, then took my nephew for his first swimming lesson, which he thoroughly enjoyed! Then this morning, when my alarm woke me at 5.30 am, I heard the howling of the wind outside, went out to the balcony and saw an angry

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-62478130009726826412007-10-01T14:52:00.000+03:002007-10-01T19:40:02.328+03:00

I am reading this book that someone recommended to and lent me FOUR year ago, that I am just now getting round to reading!! 'The Caribbean' it's called, and it’s just a really amazing book!! I begin to see why people read non-fiction – I mean the historical perspective that I am getting on slavery in that area, the fight by European powers for domination, the profit from slave labour, the slaves'

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-73561308402219046302007-09-24T14:28:00.000+03:002007-09-24T15:20:31.874+03:00

So at around 9pm he gets me home, and by now is exclaiming over what a good woman I am and how come I am not married yet, etc. I told him I saw myself settling down in maybe two years and he screeched 'WHAT??!?' - ati that is too long for him! Mbu we shall not enjoy our children’s youth (Imagine...) Anyway, all in all he keeps making reference to us married, walking down the aisle, spending a

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-10846714809101655592007-09-24T13:56:00.001+03:002007-09-24T15:20:31.874+03:00

So, I have been on three so far, and after two of these the men were proposing marriage!! Does that mean men will start agreeing to meeting strange women only when they feel ready to settle down? Come to think of it, perhaps women normally go on blind dates looking for husbands – maybe the men think this... Whatever the case, this seems to be true two thirds of the time in my experience!Is it men

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-43454715700049643022007-09-24T13:41:00.000+03:002007-09-24T15:20:31.874+03:00

I have to admit to a certain amount of superstition – somehow I feel that 33 will be my lucky year! I relate this to the day I opened a journal to document a certain high growth period in my life, and I remember starting it on the 3rd of March 2003, a date that had numerologists all over the world salivating – I for one did not see anything out of the ordinary happen except the opening of my

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-71216360505156224582007-08-28T14:58:00.000+03:002007-09-24T15:20:31.875+03:00

I have come to realise, through both my own and other people's experience that there are many, many easy and painless ways to do things (painless at that very moment anyway), but that anything that will bring you lasting peace, happiness and fulfilment requires hard work and sacrifice.. I have read about how people have turned their lives around as soon as they decided to quit taking short cuts

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-64942290527845671002007-08-28T14:05:00.001+03:002007-09-24T15:20:31.875+03:00

Way back in 1995, I was dating this Architecture student who was giving me a real run for my money!! I remember telling my honorary big sister that one could not possibly be in more confusion, excitement or pain - her response was that on the contrary, I hadn't seen nothing yet!! Needless to say, I have since come to know how true it is!! (I thoroughly scoffed at the idea then though)Over the

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-25138302718245583312007-08-20T08:16:00.000+03:002007-09-24T15:20:31.875+03:00

I've had this nagging cough (of the Alpine fame) for 6 weeks now, despite follwoing a course of strong antibiotics for it about a month ago.. I've decided to ignore it - it will clear if it wants to or not clear - as it wishes.. My mom, naturally, thinks I'm too careless with my health; I on the other hand beg to differ - my last full physical gave me a clean bill of health!Putting the diseases

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-40210157202402425332007-08-19T18:59:00.001+03:002007-08-19T19:25:08.273+03:00

Low internet speeds, power cuts, the irresistable pull of idleness, name it - all I know is that this has meant NO more posts!! However, today I gathered myself (also coz I finished my tasks for the day earlier than I expected) and here I am..Right.. I have to say that I am in one of those moods - serious optismism!! I feel as though hey!! I can do anything I set my heart to - and this came from

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-59390499065053423822007-07-17T13:08:00.000+03:002007-08-19T19:34:21.668+03:00

So.. The program being at an end, I spent about 12 days going around parts of Europe.. Well, actually 5 of those days were spent on the important business of attending a conference in Belfast - that was kinda interesting, met one really influential and famous author called Peter Jarvis, who was quite taken with me and encouraged me to stay in touch with him.. I gave a poster presentation for the

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-85411726402048570102007-06-28T13:46:00.000+03:002007-07-17T15:08:32.459+03:00

So... This afternoon I give my final presentation, and the course is over.. The immediate feeling that I have about the last two months is that for once - considering that I tend to really adapt to new places, I have lived in some sort of bubble here.. Even though I have interacted with people (classmates, the people I play volley with, etc.), looking back it is as though I did so in bubble

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-69854179812514421352007-06-24T19:29:00.000+03:002007-06-24T20:52:01.196+03:00

I have to say - even with the string of bad luck that I had most of yesterday, everything was forgotten once I arrived at the wedding coz what a NICE wedding!! (I will complain about the bad luck first since I had no one to complain to yesterday)So, in my usual effiecient way, I worked out precisely how late I had to leave to get to the wedding venue by 14h00, and with my four train changes more

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-79376461271762475302007-06-21T16:14:00.000+03:002007-09-24T15:34:47.180+03:00

What can I say? I lasted a mere a week!! Tsk...Classic. After a few shots of Amarula, there he appeared online - before I knew what I was doing I was putting a PC to PC call through to him!! Ok, to be honest I had been slipping off the wagon all day, remembering how he ran to hug me the last time I went to pick him from the train station, etc., knowing him to be such a spontaneous guy that he

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-12942346113612945372007-06-19T11:37:00.000+03:002007-09-24T15:34:47.181+03:00

I had a really nice sleep last night, and woke up feeling really refreshed (even woke up early and without an alarm!!) - forced myself to eat breakfast - I read somewhere that people who are generally healthier than most never miss breakfast... And they eat plenty of fish - do you know that I eat fish maybe twice or thrice a year?? Shocking!!But this is all besides the point - inspite of waking

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-10434374733806778392007-06-18T18:31:00.000+03:002007-09-24T15:34:47.181+03:00

So, day - uhm, five? Counting from last Wednesday - today I found an e-mail from him and it was really hard on me - we had said we shouldn't end on the angry e-mails that we exchanged the day we broke up, so he sent one last one asking how stockholm was, regretting that he cannot match commitment and consequences to the way he feels about me, and blah, blah, stuff about how good we are together (

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-8582284817864548742007-06-14T14:23:00.000+03:002007-09-24T15:34:47.181+03:00

So, here I am.. Had a really rough day yesterday - we sent e-mail back and forth, as I said - some really angry e-mail at one point - but all in all, we made peace again and asked forgiveness and accepted our limitations and had a loooong skype phonecall and looked at ALL options and in short, he knows that he could ofcourse say yeah, lets date but he also knows this would be BIG STUFF - as he

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-70066148153584416702007-06-13T14:55:00.000+03:002007-06-13T16:52:51.021+03:00

So, things finally came to a head this morning.. Through some e-mail that has been going back and forth, and him apologising again for not doing what he said he was going to do coz he was caught up with blah, blah, I was forced to face what I have known all along - we are just at different places in life.. Having my expectations dashed again and again and promises broken or postponed is just no

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-1116636338355238902007-06-03T10:29:00.000+03:002007-06-07T19:57:40.234+03:00

Yesterday I spent the day in Maastricht to see off a dear friend of mine, he has finished his Phd thesis and will be going back to Italy on Tuesday.. It was a really nice day, and I remembered the time I said bye to him when he finished his Masters - I really thought I would never see him again so I attempted to say 'Ok., so I guess this is it - have a good life' or something to that effect.. I

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-53837946069655348492007-06-03T01:33:00.000+03:002007-06-07T19:51:29.814+03:00

I was standing in a train station somewhere today, having gotten onto the wrong train and having had to get off again and discovering I would have to wait a whole hour, so cursing to high heaven when this little Belgian man came up to me and started garbling away in French - so I told him I didn't speak French, and then he withdrew for a few seconds and came back to say - ' I think you are very

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-18449175496049578512007-06-02T13:20:00.001+03:002007-06-07T20:02:21.992+03:00

Do I make like harder than it is or is it actually this hard? The budhists say that the root of all suffering is desire - but how can we live without desire? The best we can do is manage our emotional response to not getting what we want.. Or organising the resources to continue hoping and wait patiently for what we need - all the same my faith has been severely tested in the last few days...This

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-40046592709728049102007-05-29T14:22:00.000+03:002007-09-24T15:34:29.160+03:00

Thesis 1: What is the most important thing?I have been thinking about my attitudes in relationships, and the decisions that I make, and remembering that when people are older, they say that looking back, they think they should have concetrated on their relationships more, and that this is the biggest piece of advice that they would give anyone..In my small class is a Nigerian whose undergraduate

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-29349406920076865102007-05-24T13:10:00.000+03:002007-06-07T19:52:02.004+03:00

Acculturation - there's a new word for me - I looked it up to see if it meant what I thought it meant - and found out that it didn't.. Apparently acculturating refers to the process by which a group of people assimilates with a larger or more dominant group among whom they live.. I thought that it referred to the process by which one's personal culture develops - but I think I like my definition

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-57353318184134071322007-05-23T10:10:00.000+03:002007-06-07T19:52:14.305+03:00

No... Not the weather - no, that is more like simmering - or maybe more accurately, thawing - the weather has become a pet peeve of mine incidentally, no wonder the Dutch and The Belgians discuss it so much!! I check for forecasts all day, take ages to decide decide what to wear since it very quickly turns from nice and sunny to angry and rainy, etc..No, I'm boiling with ideas!! I have set myself

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574476925797286250.post-52131700677922495032007-05-22T19:28:00.000+03:002007-05-23T10:07:19.444+03:00

This has started badly - I lost an entire post before I even managed to post it!!Anyway, I was saying - I have inardvertently joined the 27% of internet users that have a blog - all because I had to find somewhere to vent about the Ghanaians that have been hounding me lately - ok, I have only met two BUT - they are rather persistent and irritating little fellas!! Hounding me with calls - they got

Vivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07840700769083368137noreply@blogger.com3