http://beginsathome.com/journal Not Just Junk... Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:13:04 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I love to talk. I talk a lot. I have been called a chatter-box by more than one family member. Anyone who went to school in Kenya is familiar with the noisemakers list; a list of the names of any student who dared to speak in class while ... http://beginsathome.com/journal/2008/04/04/you-talking-to-me/ Growing up and living as a Kenyan abroad you get accustomed to people asking the most ridiculous questions about your country of origin. I have on one occasion been asked if I know someone called John, because apparently John was in Kenya. No hang on, John was in Ghana ... http://beginsathome.com/journal/2008/04/01/dont-tell-me-who-i-am/ Cross-posted from KUL Admin blog Introduction On June 1st 2007, Kenyans everywhere will be celebrating Madaraka Day. Madaraka Day commemorates the day that Kenya attained internal self-rule following an important milestone on the road to independence. To mark this event, we would like to invite members of the Kenyan Bloggers Webring to ... http://beginsathome.com/journal/2007/05/31/kenyan-bloggers-day-2007/ When I left the UK for Abuja I took with me (amongst other things) the Dr’s old laptop, which he had recently swapped for a very shiny Sony Vaio. The Dr’s old laptop was at that time (mid August) around 5 years old which in laptop years is ... http://beginsathome.com/journal/2007/03/29/laptop-must-go/ When I first arrived in Abuja I did a post entitled ‘Wetin Dey Happen’ and this would have a good time for my Nigerian friends to inform me that there a myriad of ways for us to ‘greet ourselves’ here in Naija. Below is what I have managed to ... http://beginsathome.com/journal/2007/01/19/i-just-de-greet-you/ In many ways I am glad to see the back of 2006. It has been a rather unsettling year with many unexpected events; however even in all the chaos 2006 has had some flashes of pure joy. Top of the list no doubt has been the support of ... http://beginsathome.com/journal/2007/01/03/happy-new-year-2/ For most people in Abuja the sign below is nothing more than one of Abuja's many street signs. For me (and indeed anyone else who speaks Kiswahili) two of the places mentioned instantly stand out: Nyanya is the Kiswahili word for grandmother and tomato ( I have never known why ... http://beginsathome.com/journal/2006/12/21/signs-of-home/ I thought that Abuja's Cherry Plus (bakery/coffeeshop) only specialised in amazing coffee; it turns out that according to their menu (pictured below) the Hot Chocolate has super magical powers! For those who are soon to turn a year older, worry not about your ageing eyes - here is a close up. http://beginsathome.com/journal/2006/12/21/death-by-chocolate/ I don’t really want to be transformed into a four legged braying work animal but I have recently learned that there is Hausa phrase for foreigners who are fluent in Hausa; this being, “Ya iya Hausa kamar jakin Kano” which literatly translates to "he speaks Hausa like a Kano donkey." ... http://beginsathome.com/journal/2006/12/06/when-i-grow-up-i-want-to-be-a-kano-donkey/ Thank you to everyone, not only for the comments accompanying this post but also for the love, support, empathy, patience and friendship over the past month and a half. It is appreciated. The Lancashire sea-side resort of Blackpool is home to an Eiffel Tower inspired structure imaginatively named “The Blackpool ... http://beginsathome.com/journal/2006/11/13/leap-of-faith/