Munene, the journey...

Whilst traveling, one of the first things I always need to learn is how to greet people, whether formally or informally. The following are phrases I have picked up, while growing up, as well as while traveling. Excuse the non-native spelling. Meru - spoken by about 2 million native speakers people in the Meru region of Kenya (my first language) Person A: Muuga Person B: Muuga mono Swahili - spoken by about 150 million people of the Greate Lakes Region of Africa Person A: Habari yako Person B: Mzuri sana, labda yako Person A: Yangu pia ni njema, shukrani English - an official language of many African countries Person A: Hello, how are you? Person B: I am well, and you? Person A: I am fine too, thanks. French - an official language of many African countries Person A: Bonjour, comment ca va? Person B: Ca va bien merci, et vous, comment-allez-vous? Person, Je vais bien, merci. Twi - spoken by about 9 million people of the Akan group in Ghana Person A: Etisein Person

One moment Koffi Olomide lands a kungfu-style kick at a female band member, the next, social media is on fire, the next Koffi is out. In this day of self-monitoring in Kenya, everyone should be very mindful of what they do, else they land themselves in trouble with the ever watching cameras. CCTV is everywhere, and we have declared ourselves citizen journalists, so when you think the government cannot catch you, your brother could be filming you. The proverbial mkono mrefu wa serikali  has turned into macho mengi ya serikali . When the video was shared, some female MPs held a press conference, demanding answers. Koffi went for an interview at Citizen, moments later he was arrested while leaving. Hours later, #KoffiOlomindeDeported was trending. Just like that. Olomide's deportation trending courtesy of twitter This is one of the issues that seems to have had the emotive traction that Kenyans are known for. Kenyans are very fast to counter social justice issues, spea

Time in Malawi went by so fast, I was surprised when my 8-month stay came to an end, abruptly, as if by surprise. While there, I completely fell in love with the country, its people really. I found Malawians to be very hospitable, open and unassuming. The people I interacted with were genuine about their lives, their country and what they held dear. Though Blantyre, the commercial hub of the country is a small city, it is a melting point of many tribes; the Ngonis, Chewas, Tumbuka, Yao and so on. Some "quick facts" about Malawi: The majority of the people speak Chichewa, a bantu language akin to Swahili. In fact Chichewa shares a lot of words with Swahili such as mbuzi , (n) sima , madzi (water) etc. It was very easy for me to pick up what the people were saying, I could easily relate some words and phrases. Some people bear some interesting names like Mbuzi (goat) among others. The country has a beautiful landscape; hilly, mountainous, waterfalls and grea

When death comes, to someone close, it reminds us of our own mortality; that on this earth, we are but sojourners. And when it came to my cousin, Kimo, it taught me many things. Always bargain for what you want: Kimo loved to bargain on everything. He did not believe in accepting what he did not approve of; he would do everything to strike bargains in all matters, from getting people to do his dishes for him, to wearing their clothes, to getting airtime from them. If you are true to yourself, you cannot be false to anyone else. Kimo was himself, through and through. He knew his strengths and played to them; his "good looks" for instance. He also knew what he did not like, and he got others to do it for him. And thus I accepted him. Do what you love, with your whole heart; Kimo loved football, and the entire world knew. He loved Arsenal FC, and everyone was aware. He loved journalism and we all knew. He loved children, and the children knew it. Life is short; today I am

Today was a hot/cold day. I'm using an automatic shower which cannot be turned cold, so I am doing warm, not for lack of trying though. So, well nothing to see here ...

Today was worse than yesterday; I knew how cold the water would be, so I was both prepared and unprepared for what followed next. It was not easier, and the water seemed to have had a vengeance after I challenged it yesterday. I almost did not do the cold shower, but I could not bear the thought of an empty blog post. And I lied in yesterday's post; I do know why I am attempting this feat. Apparently cold showers help improve immunity and so on. So, yes, I do want to see by how much my immunity will be improved by these frigid mornings. And once I get through the process, I will be able to answer some questions, does "cold" give you a "cold"?

I decided, for no obvious reason, to switch from showering using hot water to a cold one. Today was day one. How did it feel? My body screamed for the first 30 seconds; all my senses were alert; my breath was short and I thought I was going to die. I had mild stomach cramps and my body shook uncontrollably. My head felt as if it was exploding, and I had a sudden ache on my temple. 30 seconds later, everything began normalizing. My body got used to the cold and I could think straight. The rest of the shower was a breeze, a joy even. But the best feeling was afterwards. I felt blood rushing to my head, I felt alive as I patted myself dry. My head was unusually clear, and I felt like dancing. Even though it was a bit cold outside, my head was exploding with rays of sunshine. And for that reason alone, I will do it again tomorrow. Let's see how this 30-day challenge goes.

Do you ever feel like people hijack all your brilliant ideas and become rich off them? If so, you are not alone. The phenomenon of idea stealing has been going on for a pretty long time; in print or written material, it's called plagiarism. But it's not existing stuff that we are talking about. It's the more ethereal ideas, the ones that come in form of brainwaves and dreams and inspiration. Other people do not actually "steal" your ideas. Ideas, thoughts, feelings and hunches all exist in the same form before they are expressed in the physical world. They are contained in what can be referred to as the Universal Mind . What is this Universal Mind? It is simply a floating and formless "living" substance that permeates all of life. It is found everywhere and everything in it is available to everyone; essentially it is omnipresent. How does this affect your ideas? Well, that idea you think is yours comes from this Mind. And because all humans have diff

I watched the Batman vs Superman movie with a lot of enthusiasm; I have been anticipating for more than 2 months after it was released. I was therefore, rather cross when in the middle of the movie, I realized it was pointless. There was not story, at all. The 2 superheroes were great individually, in fact, Man of Steel and Dark Knight Rises are my favorite movies of all time. When they clashed though, it seemed like senseless violence. I had so many questions; like at what point did Smallville and Gotham become geographical neighbors? Batman facing Superman: Image courtesy of screencrush.com That did not stop me watching the entire film though; and was I glad that I did. The final fight scene featuring Batman, Superman vs giant ugly monster had an interesting twist; the introduction of Wonder Woman. And that lady can kick ass! Played by the extremely hot Gal Gadot, the character introduced feistiness, in the darkness of the fight. Even the soundtrack changed, becoming hi