...then get her abeg! Ah ah! The babe's plagiarism no get part 2 o...shiooooo. Na im I just dey denge and pose jejely with awon babes, I come tok say make I check my blackberry to see which latest emails I don gather. Na so one very lovely blogger (thank you sooo much, girl) emailed me and told me how she'd been perusing the web and saw this note on FaceBook. Wondered if I was the owner of the profile, but noticed that names and some details about the note had been changed. I come click on the link and saw the very marriage note that I just posted a couple of weeks ago, complete with name changes and all. I was like WTF?
It's one thing to copy my damn note without referencing/sourcing it...and another thing to copy the note and then try to modify details like you wrote it. Like, are you kidding me?
I don't consider myself to be an acclaimed writer or anything, and have no problem with people copying and pasting stuff that I write AS LONG AS you source it back to me.
So, I was going to jejely message her on some WTF levels but felt extra vexed that she actually went to great lengths to change details. So I'm finna call her ass out on here AND message her. Girl, if you are reading this note...take your time o! Before I show you say Khaki no be leather. Na so 419 dey start....nonsense and jagjagbantis.
So, I'm finna repost the note and highlight the changes that she made. Yeyerism to the highest degree!
Isioma Uwuechue: What can a gurl do? Life goes on my dear.....
Everyday you log onto FaceBook and what do you see waiting for you on your homepage?
‘Lisa has gone from being in a relationship to engaged’
‘Ann is now married’
‘Okon just put a ring on it'
If your homepage ain't giving you the gist, you are straight up hearing it from the horse’s mouth when the Lisa actually updates her status via her Blackberry for Facebook with ‘OMG, I’m engaged’. Or Anita is updating her status from her honeymoon, talking about ‘Chilling in Morocco with hubby, I’m so blessed and lucky to have him’.
Every So, you’re like crushed! I’m taking a FaceBook break because this oppression is too much but, you learn the hard way that you can run, but you can’t hide…for the very next day, your homegirl is calling to give you the 'latest gist'… ‘Omo, guess who don engage themselves ooo’. If your home girl ain't calling you, you're feeling the oppression every Sunday at church, when the Pastor stays announcing the latest engaged couples, and urging y'all to congratulate them, and pray for them. And if church isn't doing the work, all the millions of wedding websites that are circulating the internet, definitely hit home.
It doesn't help that you dated Amuohia for 6 years, and then he broke up with you on some 'baby, it's not you...it's me' and then turned around to quickly move on with some other chick, and propose to her after only 8 months of dating. You're like Okporoko nwoke madu! What did I do wrong? I cooked for him, cleaned for him, provided a listening ear, performed those thingy in bed, and played the wifey material role like I was supposed to, so what did she do differently, that I didn't? Chineke! He always told you that you were 'wifey', and a 'keeper'...but I guess actions speak louder than words. You're actually pissed off by the unfairness of the whole situation...after all you groomed him, primed him, prepped him and introduced him to your family and friends…only for him to pull the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’…and 8 months down the line, you stumble across his wedding website and you’re like what??? Imagine! Another babe dey enjoy the result of your hard work. Kai!
Matter of fact, it seems like all of a sudden you're hearing a whole bunch of those 'they dated for 8 months, and he proposed' type of stories, and you can't help thinking about all the men whom you dated for 2 +years, and they ain't say peep about marriage. But when you think harder, you realize that all of them are married, so it definitely wasn't them with the problem now. Could it be you? things that make you go hmmm...
You're kinda hoping that this marriage fever will pass, and all man will begin to hear word again but who dash monkey banana? Marriage season is here to stay, and somehow you've been left on the sidelines looking at those million wedding websites, FaceBook status updates, and feeling those random twinges of self pity because it seems like everyone else in the world is getting married, but YOU.
‘What’s wrong with me', you ask. ‘Why can’t I meet a correct bobo too?' I’m smart, educated (2 degrees and counting), pretty, can cook a mean isi-ewu and generally throw down in the kitchen, can cook it up in the bedroom as well, and come to think of it, all those ex-boyfriends of mine always complimented me and said that I was 'wifey material’.
You just can't seem to meet a decent bro. The dating scene is wack and the 'market' is very dry and drab looking. All the guys that you've met recently all seem to praise your greatness and tell you how awesome you are, and how you’re wifey material…but…they aren't looking for anything too serious, and just wanna be friends with benefits.
You're tired of playing these guessing games with men...he likes me, he likes me not. You just want some permanence o jare! Someone to call your own, so that you kwa can oppress other single ladies on FaceBook. Ah ah, e easy?
It doesn't help that all your married friends craftily tell you how men see their future wives, and instantly know that she's the one/after a few months of dating, they know that she is wifey, sooo you're definitely thinking that something is wrong with you.
You’re thinking ‘chai…30 dey approach ooo’ (since the memo went out, that 30 is the cut off age after which if you’re still not married, you should go and jump off a bridge). Your ‘juniors’ don marry and born pikin since. In fact, dem dey on their 3rd pikin now sef. Your mates dey rock matching aso-ebi with their husbands in church and/or weddings.
You officially hate going to weddings because all the boo'ed up women seem to clutch their boyfriends possessively while marking their territory, the married women seem to be very smug about their status, and when it’s time to catch the bouquet, your married friends give you that pitying smile and the nudge like ‘girl, abeg, try go catch the bouquet na’.
Everyone is asking ‘oh baby, why you dey single sef?...you need to put yourself out there, go out more, market yourself,be more social’…but they don’t know that if you do any more putting of self out there, na to run naked for street, remain.
You even start dreading running into your Aunts, because the subject of marriage always comes up and they give you all these suggestions, like you never try all d nkoroh joints my pekin. And let's not talk about your parents...
What’s a girl to do?
Do you continue to feel sorry for yourself? Maybe even drive by a couple of bridges n flyovers on your 29th birthday to determine which one you will jump off when 30 nack and ring no kukuma dey for hand?
Do you hang up all your mini skirts, shaba n abortion belts, in exchange for more Mary Amaka looking outfits, because ‘well behaved women and wifey material don’t hit the club no more’.
Do you join the church and become an usher, because rumor has it that all the good and God fearing single men full ground for church.
Do you hold off on buying that house that you’ve been eyeing or that Bentley, because your mother told you that men are intimidated by successful women?
I mean…girl, what are you going to do? Put your life on hold waiting for marriage to happen? Worry your pretty head about things that you can't control?
Truth of the matter is...you realize that you might get married, and you might not. It's all a game of fate + luck. So in the case of the latter, what's a girl gonna do? Hop off that bridge because life without marriage is a life not worth living?
But one day, like a bright shining light...it hits you and you jump up from your workshop in corporate Aba, feeling energized and ready to take on the world (your coworkers are alarmed but they will be fine). The light bulb goes off in your head and you suddenly know that you must continue to live life to the fullest and not worry about things that you can’t control. The dating scene is wack, and you're probably not going to meet a man at the wedding that you plan to attend next weekend, but so what?
The 'good' men are MIA (the women in Naija claim that the men are in Jand, the women in Jand say the men are in Yankee, everyone abroad thinks that they are in Isuikwuato, and the women in Isuikwuato give you the blank stare, and say that there are no men)…so really, where are those men hiding? Well, until that magical secret hiding place is discovered, you decide that you’re going to have fun with your girls (single or married), you're going to buy that Bentley... life is short, abi? You're going to travel more and experience more of life. You decide that you're not going to put your life on hold and worry your pretty head over the fact that there's no bling bling on your ring finger.
You say to yourself 'I'm not married yet, but so what?'. Life goes on.
The end.
I mean, I don't know if this is how they do it in Isikuwato but abeg next time source it back to my blog because as I type the blogpost finish, na energy wey I carry to write am. Abi you don see me the Ngulumu?
A word is enough for the wise.
The end.
PS:- Real blog post coming soon. :-p
Monday, June 21, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
You're not married yet...
Every day, you log onto FaceBook and what do you see waiting for you on your homepage?
‘Bisi has gone from being in a relationship to engaged’
‘Anita is now married’
'John just put a ring on it'
If your homepage ain't giving you the gist, you are straight up hearing it from the horse’s mouth when the Bisi actually updates her status via her Iphone for Facebook with ‘OMG, I’m engaged’. Or Anita is updating her status from her honeymoon, talking about ‘Chilling in Morrocco with hubby, I’m so blessed and lucky to have him’.
So, you’re like dagnabit! I’m taking a FaceBook break because this oppression is too much but, you learn the hard way that you can run, but you can’t hide…for the very next day, your homegirl is calling to give you the 'latest gist'… ‘Omo, guess who don engage themselves ooo’. If your homegirl ain't calling you, you're feeling the oppression every Sunday at church, when the Pastor stays announcing the latest engaged couples, and urging y'all to congratulate them, and pray for them. And if church isn't doing the work, all the millions of wedding websites that are circulating the internet, definitely hit home.
It doesn't help that you dated Mike for 6 years, and then he broke up with you on some 'baby, it's not you...it's me' and then turned around to quickly move on with some other chick, and propose to her after only 8 months of dating. You're like crap! What did I do wrong? I cooked for him, cleaned for him, provided a listening ear, performed those acrobatics in bed, and played the wifey material role like I was supposed to, so what did she do differently, that I didn't? Heck! He always told you that you were 'wifey', and a 'keeper'...but I guess actions speak louder than words. You're actually pissed off by the unfairness of the whole situation...after all you groomed him, primed him, prepped him and introduced him to your family and friends…only for him to pull the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’…and 8 months down the line, you stumble across his wedding website and you’re like what??? Imagine! Another babe dey enjoy the result of your hardwork. Kai!
Matter of fact, it seems like all of a sudden you're hearing a whole bunch of those 'they dated for 8 months, and he proposed' type of stories, and you can't help thinking about all the men whom you dated for 2 +years, and they ain't say peep about marriage. But when you think harder, you realize that all of them are married, so it definitely wasn't them with the problem now. Could it be you? things that make you go hmmm...
You're kinda hoping that this marriage fever will pass, and all man will begin to hear word again but who dash monkey banana? Marriage season is here to stay, and somehow you've been left on the sidelines looking at those million wedding websites, FaceBook status updates, and feeling those random twinges of self pity because it seems like everyone else in the world is getting married, but YOU.
‘What’s wrong with me', you ask. ‘Why can’t I meet a correct bobo too?' I’m smart, educated (2 degrees and counting), pretty, can cook a mean isi-ewu and generally throw down in the kitchen, can cook it up in the bedroom as well, and come to think of it, all those ex-boyfriends of mine always complimented me and said that I was 'wifey material’.
You just can't seem to meet a decent bro. The dating scene is wack and the 'market' is very dry and drab looking. All the guys that you've met recently all seem to praise your greatness and tell you how awesome you are, and how you’re wifey material…but…they aren't looking for anything too serious, and just wanna be friends with benefits.
You're tired of playing these guessing games with men...he likes me, he likes me not. You just want some permanence o jare! Someone to call your own, so that you kwa can oppress other single ladies on FaceBook. Ah ah, e easy?
It doesn't help that all your married friends smugly tell you how men see their future wives, and instantly know that she's the one/after a few months of dating, they know that she is wifey, sooo you're definitely thinking that something is wrong with you.
You’re thinking ‘chai…30 dey approach ooo’ (since the memo went out, that 30 is the cut off age after which if you’re still not married, you should go and jump off a bridge). Your ‘juniors’ don marry and born pikin since. In fact, dem dey on their 3rd pikin now sef. Your mates dey rock matching aso-ebi with their husbands in church and/or weddings.
You officially hate going to weddings because all the boo'ed up women seem to clutch their boyfriends possessively while marking their territory, the married women seem to be very smug about their status, and when it’s time to catch the bouquet, your married friends give you that pitying smile and the nudge like ‘girl, go and catch the bouquet na’.
Everyone is asking ‘oh baby, why you dey single sef?...you need to put yourself out there, go out more, be more social’…but they don’t know that if you do any more putting of self out there, na to run naked for street, remain.
You even start dreading running into your Aunts, because the subject of marriage always comes up and they give you all these suggestions, like you ain't tried it all. And let's not talk about your parents...
What’s a girl to do?
Do you continue to mull over the matter and feel sorry for yourself? Maybe even drive by a couple of bridges on your 29th birthday to determine which one you will jump off when 30 nack and ring no dey for hand?
Do you hang up all your mini skirts and abortion belts, in exchange for more Mary Amaka looking outfits, because ‘well behaved women and wifey material don’t hit the club no more’.
Do you join the church and become an usher, because rumor has it that all the good and God fearing single men full ground for church.
Do you hold off on buying that townhouse that you’ve been eyeing or that 2012 BMW, because your mother told you that men are intimidated by successful women?
I mean…girl, what are you going to do? Put your life on hold waiting for marriage to happen? Worry your pretty head about things that you can't control?
Truth of the matter is...you realize that you might get married, and you might not. It's all a game of fate + luck. So in the case of the latter, what's a girl gonna do? Hop off that bridge because life without marriage is a life not worth living?
But one day, like a bright shining light...it hits you and you jump up from your workspace in corporate America, feeling energized and ready to take on the world (your coworkers are alarmed but they will be fine). The light bulb goes off in your head and you suddenly know that you must continue to live life to the fullest and not worry about things that you can’t control. The dating scene is wack, and you're probably not going to meet a man at the wedding that you plan to attend next weekend, but so what?
The 'good' men are MIA (the women in Yankee claim that the men are in Jand, the women in Jand say the men are in Yankee, everyone abroad thinks that they are in Naija, and the women in Naija give you the blank stare, and say that there are no men)…so really, where are those men hiding? Well, until that magical secret hiding place is discovered, you decide that you are going to continue to do you. You're going to have fun with your girls (single or married), you're going to buy that BMW...life is short, abi? You're going to travel more and experience more of life. You decide that you're not going to put your life on hold and worry your pretty head over the fact that there's no bling bling on your ring finger.
You say to yourself 'I'm not married yet, but so what?'. Life goes on.
The end.
PS:- Many many thanks to everyone who commented on the previous post. I didn't realize that I was missed o. *cheeses*. Gracias, I really appreciated the comments.
PPS:- Definitely gotta thank whoever nominated me for the blogger awards, *curtsies*. I truly appreciate am.
PPPS:- Abeg make una pray for me o, I am definitely suffering from the case of 'lazyblogoritis'. I've been soo lazy, had a bunch of stuff I wanted to blog about/been wanting to make rounds and catch up on my fave blogs but na pure LAZINESS. I go try do better in this month of June. *crosses fingers*
Peace & Love.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
A Kuwaiti adventure
I'm starting to learn that one of the things about my job is that sometimes the travel will take you to places that you wouldn't ordinarily hop on Kayak.com and say 'hey, I want to take a trip to Afghanistan' or some ish like that. In that vein, when I learned that we would have to cart our asses down to Kuwait for 2 weeks, I thought to myself 'umm that's different'...and so, 2 weeks
+ some days ago, we packed our load and hopped on a non-stop United airlines flight to Kuwait.
Prior to going, I was on the fence about what to expect. We have a couple of teams that have been there more than once, and so I got mixed reviews. Some people loved it and told me that it wouldn't be that bad, and other people hated it and told me that they couldn't want to return to the States.
My verdict = Great!
To start out with, after we landed and were driving away from the Airport...I remember looking around and thinking that the place really reminded me of Naija. The roads are kinda similar, the buildings and infrastructure are similar to what you'd find in Nigeria...heck some of the houses even had those water tanks that we have in Nigeria. The locals even drive just as crazy as Nigerians. I kept chuckling to myself every time we'd meet someone (Americans) who would say 'OMG, have you seen the way these people drive?' and I always thought to myself 'una never jam'.
The downtown area was very nice though...lots of hotels and nice tall buildings, restaurants and all that nice stuff.
We also got a chance to check out one of the malls, which was really huge with some cool stores, and we got a chance to hang around a beach which was close to a co-worker's apartment.
In general, Kuwait is a very Muslim country, and a good number of the women were completely covered in Burkas or at least halfway there. I doubt you'd wanna pack your booty shorts and tanks tops and be traipsing around the place but jeans and all that stuff was cool.
Another thing is...Alcohol is a total no-no in the country. The bars don't serve it and the grocery stores don't sell it so if you be shayo master, you might wanna re-think ever living there.
For blogging purposes, 80% of my time was spent on a U.S Military base and that's what the rest of this post will be about.
The Military has a huge presence in Kuwait, and there are 6 installations aka bases in the country. We stayed at the biggest base...for 'safety' reasons I was told by one individual, which in retrospect didn't make any sense because Kuwait could very well be the 51st American state...that is how safe it is. But then when I did further digging, I discovered that my office once had some deal with one luxurious Hilton hotel in the country, where they converted some rooms into mini apartments for civilians like us who were coming in to work for a bit, and apparently people started abusing it so the top guns got mad and said 'all of you will stay your asses on the Military base from this point on'...and that was that.
Housing
Sooo, we stayed on base and it was quite an interesting experience. To begin with, since we were just spending 2 weeks on base, we got assigned to a building called the 'I-barracks', which is pretty much co-ed temporary/short term housing for soldiers who are just getting deployed, and are on the waiting list for long term accommodations and civilians like me who would be spending less than 30 days working on the installation.
If I was to do a 3-6 month detail at our field office, I would have gotten assigned to some self contained apartments with 100% privacy.
As it was, the I-barracks was your complete boarding school scenario. There were bunk beds, metal lockers for each resident and lights out at 10pm on the dot every night. In rerospect, I don't quite get the point of lights out. Was it like a lesson in discipline for the residents? *shrugs*...lucky for me, I got the heads up to take a flash light with me so I was good to go.
I became pretty skilled in the art of getting dressed in the dark and applying my 'pancake' with my trusty old flash light because lights went out at 10pm, and came on at 5pm the following day...all day, every day.
Oh, might I add that everyone had to create their own sense of privacy, and so people taped or tacked bedsheets against their bunks to create a makeshift curtain of some sorts, so that you could get dressed without the entire room all up in your business.
The bathrooms or Latrines as the Military calls them, was this huge space with about 10 toilet stalls on one end, 10 sinks on the opposite end of the wall, and 10 shower stalls. Once again, no privacy and it was very common to see some butt naked woman toweling down, when you walked into the shower area.
All in all, I didn't find the housing situation that terrible because to me, it was boarding school all over again. My Project Manager kept bitching about it though...LOL.
And luckily for us, for the entire 2 weeks of our stay, we didn't have bunkmates so we pretty much had our spaces to ourselves.
Food
Ok, one thing that the Military can never complain about is the food. Heck, they eat better than I do...they definitely feed them well around those parts. It was always a buffet of something new...Wednesday nights are huge around those parts because it's 'Surf 'n' Turf' night (Steak and Seafood) and so every Wednedays, it was something new. The 2 Weds that we were there, there was some nice juicy ribeye steaks, T-bone steaks, lobster and crab legs. Friday nights are also pretty major because it's Mongolian night where they stirfry all the pickings of your choice with any combination of chicken, beef or shrimp...oooh and let's not forget the sauce. I was definitely a fan of Friday nights. The breakfasts were yummy...Omelettes, bacon, soft biscuits, fruit, sausages...whatever you wanted, they had it buffet style.
They had this Baskin Robbins desert bar at the DFAC (Dining Facility) that we stayed going to, and wahali...those people wan do me strong thing. Sotey the guy who always whipped up those shakes and scooped out the icecreams knew my face. Every time he'd see me walking by, he'd be like 'No milkshake today?'...chei.
If I thought that the food in Kuwait was good, apparently it was no match for the bases in Iraq. Two of my co-workers had to hit up Iraq for five days during the trip, and came back boasting about how the food was way more awesome. Uh uh, like I said dem people eat better than I do.
Things to do
I discovered that due to the fact that Military folk can't leave the base (security reasons), there is a LOT to do on base. We got up to something almost every night. For one, there are 2 movie theatres on base, where folk can watch movies for free (just show your common access card aka ID). We were told that they get pretty recent stuff and I'd have to agree. We saw 'Brooklyn's finest' and 'Date Night' during our stay. They rotate out the movies every week, and so Friday nights are pretty busy because that is when they see the 'new releases'.
Our 2nd night there, someone told us that there was a Twista Concert (also free...just show ID per the usual). I decided to pass...I mean, has he even released anything recently? Turns out that I didn't need to go to his concert to see him, 'cos 4 days later I saw him sitting outside our barracks talking on his cell phone and I mentally cracked up at the thought that Twista was crashing on a bunk bed somewhere within.
We attended an open Mic event, an Army vs. Navy basket ball game (Army won) and participated in a 5k marathon. Like I said, there's lots to do on base...they always had some Salsa night or Hiphop night kind of event going on. Those people certainly know how to chill.
Eye Candy
Ladies, if you are looking for eye candy then I would recommend that you make your way over to your nearest Military base. Oooh la la...the eye candy was ridiculous. So many strong and able bodied Military men. Even the contractors were hot, and I remember staring into the eyes of all my future baby daddies and thinking 'ooooh weeeee'. I definitely felt like a kid in a toy store. :-D
The Base
In general, the base is huge! It's like a condensed version of America in the heart of Kuwait. They had all your favorite fast food restaurants...McDonalds, TacoBell, Burger King, Starbucks, Baskin Robbins, Pizza Hut, KFC etc etc.
They had 2 big PXs (Post Exchange) which is pretty much a grocery store + Walmart kinda place rolled up in one. You could buy anything from candy to a flat screen TV. There were buses on base which ran through the 7 different zones. There were a couple of well equipped gyms, the above mentioned movie theatres, and a couple of recreation halls where people could hang out and shoot pool, play Wii and do whatever. There was also a spa/nail salon and a couple of hair salons with black stylists who could hook your weaves, braids, and perms up.
The Military folk
Ultimately, these folk are just like you and me. I don't know what I expected prior to heading out there but for some reason I was kinda shocked to see women in uniform spending hours curling their hair and applying mascara in the mornings. They spend hours on Facebook just like we do, they bump the hiphop music in their cars after hours, they chill outside to smoke, play cards and line dance...I mean in general, those people get into more post work activities than I do. Shiooooo...
I also like how they say the time...for some reason it silently trips me. :-D...Rather than say 'meet me at 1pm, they say 'meet me at 1300'. That is like so cool...hehe.
They are pretty friendly, and will almost always say hello when they see you, and the guys are flirty too.
The weather and nature
It was hot. I could handle it sha...shey I be Naija babe. We were told that during the summer months it gets up to 120 degrees sometimes. During our stay, the highs went up to about 85-ish, and got pretty nice and cool in the evenings.
Apparently Kuwait is good for its sandstorms. During our stay, we experienced 2 storms. The first one was bad...like real bad, Joe Jackson. I mean, the world went dark at 10am in the morning, like night time dark and I remember mentally freaking out like 'crap! The world just ended and I didn't quite make it into heaven'...till one of the contractors next door came over to advise us that it was just a regular ol' sandstorm. In about 30 minutes, it cleared out and the world went from dark to bright daylight all over again. We were given breathing masks to keep on hand because the sand lingers in the air and generally aint the business.
So in summary, it was a very interesting experience which I enjoyed. I would love to do a detailed assignment at our field office...with all things being equal. Like I really enjoyed being in the middle of nowhere, and the peace and quiet. When I think back about things that I missed, I'll say that I really did miss my bathroom. I'm not the greatest fan of public restrooms and what not, so I wasn't digging the bathroom arrangement. That aside, I did not miss my phone, TV, car or bed (my coworkers kept on talking about how they missed their beds). Truth be told, we were pulling like 12+ hour days because we compressed our work into such a short time frame and so by the time I was done working and socializing, I was just beat and asleep as soon as I hit the sheets...I didn't have time to think about the bed that I was sleeping on.
So um yeah, with so many of our projects focusing on those Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan areas I doubt this is the last time I will be heading out to South West Asia, and I'm pretty much up to go anywhere except for Afghanistan *crosses self*
We go see...
How have you all been?
+ some days ago, we packed our load and hopped on a non-stop United airlines flight to Kuwait.
Prior to going, I was on the fence about what to expect. We have a couple of teams that have been there more than once, and so I got mixed reviews. Some people loved it and told me that it wouldn't be that bad, and other people hated it and told me that they couldn't want to return to the States.
My verdict = Great!
To start out with, after we landed and were driving away from the Airport...I remember looking around and thinking that the place really reminded me of Naija. The roads are kinda similar, the buildings and infrastructure are similar to what you'd find in Nigeria...heck some of the houses even had those water tanks that we have in Nigeria. The locals even drive just as crazy as Nigerians. I kept chuckling to myself every time we'd meet someone (Americans) who would say 'OMG, have you seen the way these people drive?' and I always thought to myself 'una never jam'.
The downtown area was very nice though...lots of hotels and nice tall buildings, restaurants and all that nice stuff.
We also got a chance to check out one of the malls, which was really huge with some cool stores, and we got a chance to hang around a beach which was close to a co-worker's apartment.
In general, Kuwait is a very Muslim country, and a good number of the women were completely covered in Burkas or at least halfway there. I doubt you'd wanna pack your booty shorts and tanks tops and be traipsing around the place but jeans and all that stuff was cool.
Another thing is...Alcohol is a total no-no in the country. The bars don't serve it and the grocery stores don't sell it so if you be shayo master, you might wanna re-think ever living there.
For blogging purposes, 80% of my time was spent on a U.S Military base and that's what the rest of this post will be about.
The Military has a huge presence in Kuwait, and there are 6 installations aka bases in the country. We stayed at the biggest base...for 'safety' reasons I was told by one individual, which in retrospect didn't make any sense because Kuwait could very well be the 51st American state...that is how safe it is. But then when I did further digging, I discovered that my office once had some deal with one luxurious Hilton hotel in the country, where they converted some rooms into mini apartments for civilians like us who were coming in to work for a bit, and apparently people started abusing it so the top guns got mad and said 'all of you will stay your asses on the Military base from this point on'...and that was that.
Housing
Sooo, we stayed on base and it was quite an interesting experience. To begin with, since we were just spending 2 weeks on base, we got assigned to a building called the 'I-barracks', which is pretty much co-ed temporary/short term housing for soldiers who are just getting deployed, and are on the waiting list for long term accommodations and civilians like me who would be spending less than 30 days working on the installation.
If I was to do a 3-6 month detail at our field office, I would have gotten assigned to some self contained apartments with 100% privacy.
As it was, the I-barracks was your complete boarding school scenario. There were bunk beds, metal lockers for each resident and lights out at 10pm on the dot every night. In rerospect, I don't quite get the point of lights out. Was it like a lesson in discipline for the residents? *shrugs*...lucky for me, I got the heads up to take a flash light with me so I was good to go.
I became pretty skilled in the art of getting dressed in the dark and applying my 'pancake' with my trusty old flash light because lights went out at 10pm, and came on at 5pm the following day...all day, every day.
Oh, might I add that everyone had to create their own sense of privacy, and so people taped or tacked bedsheets against their bunks to create a makeshift curtain of some sorts, so that you could get dressed without the entire room all up in your business.
The bathrooms or Latrines as the Military calls them, was this huge space with about 10 toilet stalls on one end, 10 sinks on the opposite end of the wall, and 10 shower stalls. Once again, no privacy and it was very common to see some butt naked woman toweling down, when you walked into the shower area.
All in all, I didn't find the housing situation that terrible because to me, it was boarding school all over again. My Project Manager kept bitching about it though...LOL.
And luckily for us, for the entire 2 weeks of our stay, we didn't have bunkmates so we pretty much had our spaces to ourselves.
Food
Ok, one thing that the Military can never complain about is the food. Heck, they eat better than I do...they definitely feed them well around those parts. It was always a buffet of something new...Wednesday nights are huge around those parts because it's 'Surf 'n' Turf' night (Steak and Seafood) and so every Wednedays, it was something new. The 2 Weds that we were there, there was some nice juicy ribeye steaks, T-bone steaks, lobster and crab legs. Friday nights are also pretty major because it's Mongolian night where they stirfry all the pickings of your choice with any combination of chicken, beef or shrimp...oooh and let's not forget the sauce. I was definitely a fan of Friday nights. The breakfasts were yummy...Omelettes, bacon, soft biscuits, fruit, sausages...whatever you wanted, they had it buffet style.
They had this Baskin Robbins desert bar at the DFAC (Dining Facility) that we stayed going to, and wahali...those people wan do me strong thing. Sotey the guy who always whipped up those shakes and scooped out the icecreams knew my face. Every time he'd see me walking by, he'd be like 'No milkshake today?'...chei.
If I thought that the food in Kuwait was good, apparently it was no match for the bases in Iraq. Two of my co-workers had to hit up Iraq for five days during the trip, and came back boasting about how the food was way more awesome. Uh uh, like I said dem people eat better than I do.
Things to do
I discovered that due to the fact that Military folk can't leave the base (security reasons), there is a LOT to do on base. We got up to something almost every night. For one, there are 2 movie theatres on base, where folk can watch movies for free (just show your common access card aka ID). We were told that they get pretty recent stuff and I'd have to agree. We saw 'Brooklyn's finest' and 'Date Night' during our stay. They rotate out the movies every week, and so Friday nights are pretty busy because that is when they see the 'new releases'.
Our 2nd night there, someone told us that there was a Twista Concert (also free...just show ID per the usual). I decided to pass...I mean, has he even released anything recently? Turns out that I didn't need to go to his concert to see him, 'cos 4 days later I saw him sitting outside our barracks talking on his cell phone and I mentally cracked up at the thought that Twista was crashing on a bunk bed somewhere within.
We attended an open Mic event, an Army vs. Navy basket ball game (Army won) and participated in a 5k marathon. Like I said, there's lots to do on base...they always had some Salsa night or Hiphop night kind of event going on. Those people certainly know how to chill.
Eye Candy
Ladies, if you are looking for eye candy then I would recommend that you make your way over to your nearest Military base. Oooh la la...the eye candy was ridiculous. So many strong and able bodied Military men. Even the contractors were hot, and I remember staring into the eyes of all my future baby daddies and thinking 'ooooh weeeee'. I definitely felt like a kid in a toy store. :-D
The Base
In general, the base is huge! It's like a condensed version of America in the heart of Kuwait. They had all your favorite fast food restaurants...McDonalds, TacoBell, Burger King, Starbucks, Baskin Robbins, Pizza Hut, KFC etc etc.
They had 2 big PXs (Post Exchange) which is pretty much a grocery store + Walmart kinda place rolled up in one. You could buy anything from candy to a flat screen TV. There were buses on base which ran through the 7 different zones. There were a couple of well equipped gyms, the above mentioned movie theatres, and a couple of recreation halls where people could hang out and shoot pool, play Wii and do whatever. There was also a spa/nail salon and a couple of hair salons with black stylists who could hook your weaves, braids, and perms up.
The Military folk
Ultimately, these folk are just like you and me. I don't know what I expected prior to heading out there but for some reason I was kinda shocked to see women in uniform spending hours curling their hair and applying mascara in the mornings. They spend hours on Facebook just like we do, they bump the hiphop music in their cars after hours, they chill outside to smoke, play cards and line dance...I mean in general, those people get into more post work activities than I do. Shiooooo...
I also like how they say the time...for some reason it silently trips me. :-D...Rather than say 'meet me at 1pm, they say 'meet me at 1300'. That is like so cool...hehe.
They are pretty friendly, and will almost always say hello when they see you, and the guys are flirty too.
The weather and nature
It was hot. I could handle it sha...shey I be Naija babe. We were told that during the summer months it gets up to 120 degrees sometimes. During our stay, the highs went up to about 85-ish, and got pretty nice and cool in the evenings.
Apparently Kuwait is good for its sandstorms. During our stay, we experienced 2 storms. The first one was bad...like real bad, Joe Jackson. I mean, the world went dark at 10am in the morning, like night time dark and I remember mentally freaking out like 'crap! The world just ended and I didn't quite make it into heaven'...till one of the contractors next door came over to advise us that it was just a regular ol' sandstorm. In about 30 minutes, it cleared out and the world went from dark to bright daylight all over again. We were given breathing masks to keep on hand because the sand lingers in the air and generally aint the business.
So in summary, it was a very interesting experience which I enjoyed. I would love to do a detailed assignment at our field office...with all things being equal. Like I really enjoyed being in the middle of nowhere, and the peace and quiet. When I think back about things that I missed, I'll say that I really did miss my bathroom. I'm not the greatest fan of public restrooms and what not, so I wasn't digging the bathroom arrangement. That aside, I did not miss my phone, TV, car or bed (my coworkers kept on talking about how they missed their beds). Truth be told, we were pulling like 12+ hour days because we compressed our work into such a short time frame and so by the time I was done working and socializing, I was just beat and asleep as soon as I hit the sheets...I didn't have time to think about the bed that I was sleeping on.
So um yeah, with so many of our projects focusing on those Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan areas I doubt this is the last time I will be heading out to South West Asia, and I'm pretty much up to go anywhere except for Afghanistan *crosses self*
We go see...
How have you all been?
Saturday, March 27, 2010
This and that (part deux)
Hello Blogworld,
What's been shaking around these parts?
Here's the tidbits/updates/randoms...
I spent a good chunk of this month of March in the packing, moving and unpacking business. I tell ya, moving dikwa very stressful but now that I am officially moved and 100% settled in, I can breathe a huge sigh of relief and hope that I don't have to do this any time soon. With that said, I love my new spot, and it seems that everyone who has walked into it, loves it too. It checked off all but one of the qualities that I was looking for in a new apartment, which was the extensive closet space of course (but that's fine, ya girl got tricks up her sleeve). Everything else such as a washer and dryer, clean and safe neighborhood, close to a metro etc etc all fall in very nicely. All in all, I am thankful to God and to everyone who prayed for me 'cos finding a place wasn't the easiest thing to do.
In between packing, moving and unpacking, I got up to all kinds of musical discoveries. I was really in the mood for new music this month, and I put the word on the street that I was looking to revamp my Itunes library and the recommendations that I got were pretty cool. These recs included albums from artists such as VV Brown (thanks Ms. Royal Reigns), The Noisettes and Imogen Heap (thanks In-law), that new Raheem DeVaughn (thanks ex-roomie). And thanks to looking up these albums on Amazon, I fed off those 'people who bought these album also bought this album' and discovered albums from Santogold, MIA, Groove Armada, Bomb the Bass, Tori Amos and LaRoux, among others. All of these 'new' stuff has pretty much been on constant replay all month, and I use the word new in quotes because these artists aren't entirely new to me and I've listened to a single here/there but never got a chance to give their albums a listen (just warding off the ITKs in the advance...I know, I know...I'm feeling slightly snarky this evening).
Like I said, I was pretty much in the mood for music this month and I definitely got my fix...I'm still open to recommendations, so if you have good stuff feel free to hit me with it.
Decided to hop off my fatty girl diet/lifestyle (errr, gotta be looking mad sexy for summer) and join a gym in my new hood. I'm actually excited about the gym, it's a stones throw from my spot and it has some cool looking classes. I've never had a gym with classes...my last gym was a zero bells and whistles facility, with your basic cardio and strength training stuff so the concept of classes is new and exciting to moi. Helloooo Zumba, here I come...
I think that I spent 5% of my time on FB this month...I can definitely say that I hadn't logged on for the last 2-3 weeks, for sure till yesterday. Not that I was ever an addict, but I sure loved to log on, silently peep people's pictures and bounce.
Matter of fact, I spent pretty limited time in front of my computer and I quite liked it. Sooo, what was I doing then? Like I said...packing pre-move, and unpacking post move + fishing out all those hidden treasures aka home decor on Craigslist. Like I said, yay to recycled furniture and things...
I really want to see why did I get married part 2 and Clash of the titans.
My mind just went blank but aniwoos that na some of the koko be that.
Hope everyone is having a nice weekend...
What's been shaking around these parts?
Here's the tidbits/updates/randoms...
I spent a good chunk of this month of March in the packing, moving and unpacking business. I tell ya, moving dikwa very stressful but now that I am officially moved and 100% settled in, I can breathe a huge sigh of relief and hope that I don't have to do this any time soon. With that said, I love my new spot, and it seems that everyone who has walked into it, loves it too. It checked off all but one of the qualities that I was looking for in a new apartment, which was the extensive closet space of course (but that's fine, ya girl got tricks up her sleeve). Everything else such as a washer and dryer, clean and safe neighborhood, close to a metro etc etc all fall in very nicely. All in all, I am thankful to God and to everyone who prayed for me 'cos finding a place wasn't the easiest thing to do.
In between packing, moving and unpacking, I got up to all kinds of musical discoveries. I was really in the mood for new music this month, and I put the word on the street that I was looking to revamp my Itunes library and the recommendations that I got were pretty cool. These recs included albums from artists such as VV Brown (thanks Ms. Royal Reigns), The Noisettes and Imogen Heap (thanks In-law), that new Raheem DeVaughn (thanks ex-roomie). And thanks to looking up these albums on Amazon, I fed off those 'people who bought these album also bought this album' and discovered albums from Santogold, MIA, Groove Armada, Bomb the Bass, Tori Amos and LaRoux, among others. All of these 'new' stuff has pretty much been on constant replay all month, and I use the word new in quotes because these artists aren't entirely new to me and I've listened to a single here/there but never got a chance to give their albums a listen (just warding off the ITKs in the advance...I know, I know...I'm feeling slightly snarky this evening).
Like I said, I was pretty much in the mood for music this month and I definitely got my fix...I'm still open to recommendations, so if you have good stuff feel free to hit me with it.
Decided to hop off my fatty girl diet/lifestyle (errr, gotta be looking mad sexy for summer) and join a gym in my new hood. I'm actually excited about the gym, it's a stones throw from my spot and it has some cool looking classes. I've never had a gym with classes...my last gym was a zero bells and whistles facility, with your basic cardio and strength training stuff so the concept of classes is new and exciting to moi. Helloooo Zumba, here I come...
I think that I spent 5% of my time on FB this month...I can definitely say that I hadn't logged on for the last 2-3 weeks, for sure till yesterday. Not that I was ever an addict, but I sure loved to log on, silently peep people's pictures and bounce.
Matter of fact, I spent pretty limited time in front of my computer and I quite liked it. Sooo, what was I doing then? Like I said...packing pre-move, and unpacking post move + fishing out all those hidden treasures aka home decor on Craigslist. Like I said, yay to recycled furniture and things...
I really want to see why did I get married part 2 and Clash of the titans.
My mind just went blank but aniwoos that na some of the koko be that.
Hope everyone is having a nice weekend...
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Break in Transmission
Hey, I'm feeling too lazy to keep up with my blog and so I am going on a mini-vacay. I will be back very very soon. :-D
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Just one of those random kinds of things...
...As you can tell, my general laziness has even found it's way to my blogging and blogrounding. I have had many opportunities to blog; specifically the 5 days that we folk in the DMV area spent snowed in...no work, no school, no outdoor movement. I could have used any of those 5 days to post up a blog entry or at the very least make some blog rounds, but I actually spent those days doing the following:
Sleep
Wake up
Eat
Lie in bed and watch TV
Go back to sleep
Ah well, I am here now aren't I?
What has been up with you guys?
For me, the past 2 weeks have been spent chilling (read: 5 snowed in days), watching the show LOST...one of my dear friends put me on to it, turned me into a believer and i have been hooked on it (Season 1 and 2 down, and just started season 3), looking for apartments (quite a frustrating process), and generally thinking about my life. Pretty boring aye?
Nice Anon has been getting on me about replying to my blog comments. Gotta burst your bubble my darling, it aint happening anytime soon. Read the above mentioned laziness + timing issues. Simple blog post sef, I gotta schedule for the weekend so make una no vex. I mean, do you guys even go back to check if a blogger responded to their comments? And if no, do you feel that the blogger is feeling too funky to respond to their comments? Na legit Q sha o. Either way, I guess you can't please everyone.
I'm slightly worried. I have no urge/desire to be with a somebody or have a someone in my life. Slight worry because I've been told that as humans it is natural to want companionship and blah blah blah.
I always encourage people to not be shy to toot their own horns and big themselves up. It may piss others off because they will probably mistake your confidence for arrogance but if you don't give yourself props then who will? So if it is irking someone in their little corner, you can fedex some paracetamol to them to alleviate the pain...naaah mean? For someone like me who has come a long way from the insecure woman with a bunch of complexes, I most certainly enjoy my confidence and will continue to bask in it, so if it pains people then they will most definitely be accurate. Will do a post on confidence/complexes some day.
Every time I hear the term 'She comes from a good family' or 'She comes from a good home', I get vexed. The heck is a good home and a good family? Is there such a thing as a bad home or a bad family?
'Men will cheat', according to women and they seem to have accepted this as their date. 'As long as he is coming back home to me'...I hope they don't bring an STD home with them. What the heck? My friend's aunt told her that in her marriage, she shouldn't make the mistake of loving her husband because according to aunt, the minute you start loving your husband, that's when it starts to go downhill. The aunt said that her husband would eventually cheat, and that my friend should not be bothered as long as he is taking care of business in the home. Aunt also said that if my friend doesn't love her husband, she wouldn't be bothered and since men are bound to cheat, If you make the mistake of loving your husband then you are setting yourself up for serious heartbreak within the marriage because he WILL cheat. All I could say to the whole spiel was WOW!
As a woman, there is absolutely nothing wrong in knowing what you want and not settling for less than that. People may side eye you and mutter under their breaths but who send them?
In regards to 'game' and how some women always seem to have a bunch of toasters, I always ask the key Q: 'What is the calibre of these toasters like? Are they the generally accepted standard of correct men?'...Uh uh, it's one thing to have plenty toasters and supposed game but abeg before we (or I at least) recognize these characters, they gosta be correct guys. So in my own ratio of toasting, if 2 correct men, and 5 hungry men approached me in the month of January, then the 2 men shall be recognized and the 5 men shall be mentally dismissed. Hehehehe.
So it's like every time I play catch up with my friends and I be like 'So what's up with you?' and they launch into a long list about what's been going on with them, and then they flip the Q around and I'm like 'Men, nothing much o. Same ol...just work and general weekend chilling', and it always sounds hella lame even to my own ears but darris the truth na. I work on week days, and on weekends I may be up to something (Summers are always busy with cookouts, ges togeras, weddings etc, while winters are more laid back with a whole load of bumming) which I don't consider to be gist worthy. I mean, what's so gist worthy about 'Yeah i went to this wedding on Saturday, it was cool' compared to their own gist of boy drama, work wahala and what not. LOL...I mean, weddings, cookouts and ges togeras are not even what I consider to make my life interesting so in all reality, I live a pretty dry life. It's very non-dramatic, no men making me have sleepless nights and wanting to bust their windows, no coworkers who make me wanna strangle them (for the most part), no nothing really. I literally live a quiet and uneventful existence. So in an ideal world, when people ask me 'So what's new na?', I'd launch into tales of how I'm taking this cooking class or that sign language class, and how I'm prepping to backpack across Europe this summer for a coupla weeks, how I'm prepping for a 5k marathon, or how me and some friends are planning a road trip across the US of A and such interesting and fun things, because to me...traveling, exploring new things, cultures and people are what would make my life interesante. But since we aint in that ideal world, I will definitely be enjoying my dry existence and giving people the same reply of 'Nothing much, just working and chilling'.
I have accepted the fact that I can be evil (read: have some very evil thoughts), and there are few people with whom I can share these thoughts without the fear of judgment. :-D
I am looking forward to moving, although the actual process of apartment hunting has been somewhat frustrating. I've been scouring Craigslist for random pieces of furniture/home decor, and will soon be off on my way to pick up some accent pillows for my couches. Nothing beats recycled furniture/household goods.
Gosh, I miss my friends. Those international ladies... :-(
With alladat said, I gotta run.
Have a fabulous week y'all. Drink lots of H2O and eat loads of fruit, as I will be doing. Gotta make a stop at Giant to stock up on some juicy grapes and oranges, yummy!
Peace, Love and Blessings.
Sleep
Wake up
Eat
Lie in bed and watch TV
Go back to sleep
Ah well, I am here now aren't I?
What has been up with you guys?
For me, the past 2 weeks have been spent chilling (read: 5 snowed in days), watching the show LOST...one of my dear friends put me on to it, turned me into a believer and i have been hooked on it (Season 1 and 2 down, and just started season 3), looking for apartments (quite a frustrating process), and generally thinking about my life. Pretty boring aye?
Nice Anon has been getting on me about replying to my blog comments. Gotta burst your bubble my darling, it aint happening anytime soon. Read the above mentioned laziness + timing issues. Simple blog post sef, I gotta schedule for the weekend so make una no vex. I mean, do you guys even go back to check if a blogger responded to their comments? And if no, do you feel that the blogger is feeling too funky to respond to their comments? Na legit Q sha o. Either way, I guess you can't please everyone.
I'm slightly worried. I have no urge/desire to be with a somebody or have a someone in my life. Slight worry because I've been told that as humans it is natural to want companionship and blah blah blah.
I always encourage people to not be shy to toot their own horns and big themselves up. It may piss others off because they will probably mistake your confidence for arrogance but if you don't give yourself props then who will? So if it is irking someone in their little corner, you can fedex some paracetamol to them to alleviate the pain...naaah mean? For someone like me who has come a long way from the insecure woman with a bunch of complexes, I most certainly enjoy my confidence and will continue to bask in it, so if it pains people then they will most definitely be accurate. Will do a post on confidence/complexes some day.
Every time I hear the term 'She comes from a good family' or 'She comes from a good home', I get vexed. The heck is a good home and a good family? Is there such a thing as a bad home or a bad family?
'Men will cheat', according to women and they seem to have accepted this as their date. 'As long as he is coming back home to me'...I hope they don't bring an STD home with them. What the heck? My friend's aunt told her that in her marriage, she shouldn't make the mistake of loving her husband because according to aunt, the minute you start loving your husband, that's when it starts to go downhill. The aunt said that her husband would eventually cheat, and that my friend should not be bothered as long as he is taking care of business in the home. Aunt also said that if my friend doesn't love her husband, she wouldn't be bothered and since men are bound to cheat, If you make the mistake of loving your husband then you are setting yourself up for serious heartbreak within the marriage because he WILL cheat. All I could say to the whole spiel was WOW!
As a woman, there is absolutely nothing wrong in knowing what you want and not settling for less than that. People may side eye you and mutter under their breaths but who send them?
In regards to 'game' and how some women always seem to have a bunch of toasters, I always ask the key Q: 'What is the calibre of these toasters like? Are they the generally accepted standard of correct men?'...Uh uh, it's one thing to have plenty toasters and supposed game but abeg before we (or I at least) recognize these characters, they gosta be correct guys. So in my own ratio of toasting, if 2 correct men, and 5 hungry men approached me in the month of January, then the 2 men shall be recognized and the 5 men shall be mentally dismissed. Hehehehe.
So it's like every time I play catch up with my friends and I be like 'So what's up with you?' and they launch into a long list about what's been going on with them, and then they flip the Q around and I'm like 'Men, nothing much o. Same ol...just work and general weekend chilling', and it always sounds hella lame even to my own ears but darris the truth na. I work on week days, and on weekends I may be up to something (Summers are always busy with cookouts, ges togeras, weddings etc, while winters are more laid back with a whole load of bumming) which I don't consider to be gist worthy. I mean, what's so gist worthy about 'Yeah i went to this wedding on Saturday, it was cool' compared to their own gist of boy drama, work wahala and what not. LOL...I mean, weddings, cookouts and ges togeras are not even what I consider to make my life interesting so in all reality, I live a pretty dry life. It's very non-dramatic, no men making me have sleepless nights and wanting to bust their windows, no coworkers who make me wanna strangle them (for the most part), no nothing really. I literally live a quiet and uneventful existence. So in an ideal world, when people ask me 'So what's new na?', I'd launch into tales of how I'm taking this cooking class or that sign language class, and how I'm prepping to backpack across Europe this summer for a coupla weeks, how I'm prepping for a 5k marathon, or how me and some friends are planning a road trip across the US of A and such interesting and fun things, because to me...traveling, exploring new things, cultures and people are what would make my life interesante. But since we aint in that ideal world, I will definitely be enjoying my dry existence and giving people the same reply of 'Nothing much, just working and chilling'.
I have accepted the fact that I can be evil (read: have some very evil thoughts), and there are few people with whom I can share these thoughts without the fear of judgment. :-D
I am looking forward to moving, although the actual process of apartment hunting has been somewhat frustrating. I've been scouring Craigslist for random pieces of furniture/home decor, and will soon be off on my way to pick up some accent pillows for my couches. Nothing beats recycled furniture/household goods.
Gosh, I miss my friends. Those international ladies... :-(
With alladat said, I gotta run.
Have a fabulous week y'all. Drink lots of H2O and eat loads of fruit, as I will be doing. Gotta make a stop at Giant to stock up on some juicy grapes and oranges, yummy!
Peace, Love and Blessings.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
An Interview with Standtall
I feel like I have finally arrived after spending X amount of years of Blogsville. I remember back in the day when I used to read Standtall's interviews with bloggers such as Rita, NigerianDramaQueen etc etc, and so I was quite excited when she emailed me to see if I would be interested in an interview. Of course I said yes!
Thanks a lot Ms. Standtall, I am truly quite honored.
Well, I won't say much but to redirect y'all to her blog where you can read my interview right here ---> Mgbeke's Interview
That aside, I hope you lot have a very fantabulous weekend, and for my DMV people abeg maintain well for this snow o. This one that they are talking about 20 inches, chei!
Peace & Love.
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