Some Afrikan Proverbs

Shared on a WhatsApp group, these proverbs are succint and self-explanatory.

1. The anger of a penis doesn't destroy the vagina. (Zimbabwe)
2. There's no virgin in a maternity ward. (Cameroon)
3. A child can play with it's mother's breasts but not with the father's testicles. (Ghana)
4. The man who marries a beautiful woman and the farmer who grows corn by the road side have the same problem. (Ghana)
5. When you see a woman sitting with her legs open, never tell her to close them, because u do not know her source of fresh air. (Ethiopia)
6. He who says that nothing lasts forever has never tried Hausa perfume. (Nigeria)
7. The only woman who knows where her man is every night is a widow. (Togo)
8. An erect penis has no conscience. (Uganda)
9. If you go to sleep with an itching anus, you are sure to wake up with smelly fingers. (Kenya)
10. The day a mosquito lands on your testicles is the day you will know there is a better way of resolving issues without using violence.(Senegal )

Comments

How well-meaning parents ruined us

Growing up, it was common for our parents to encourage us and tell us how we could be anything we wanted in life. "You can do anything you set your mind to do!" They would cheer us on. "Even the president?" We'd ask unconvinced. "Yes, you could even become the richest man in the world!" All this fascinated us. We vowed to ourselves that we'd in fact become people of substance who would be recognized in the entire world for our achievements. We'd ride in super-yachts like Abramovich and the rest of the mega-rich. We would produce life changing inventions, innovating our way to stardom. We'd become the next prodigy in music and sports. All this is well and good, meant to lift our spirits. Assessing our lives however, no matter how much effort we have put in to realize our dreams and visions, they have eluded us. We have become adept at doing other things though: commenting on FB posts, retweets, identifying the hottest political issue...

Analyzing a carry trade proposal: Short USD, go long on bitcoin

I recently completed an assignment for an International Economics Policy class which entailed designing a carry trade. A carry trade is a financial transaction that involves borrowing (short) in a low interest currency, and lending (go long) in a high interest (yield) currency. For instance from Bloomberg 's rates for bonds, this would involve borrowing in Swiss francs (rate is -0.15 percent) and lend in New Zealand dollars (rate is 2.83 percent). All else remaining equal, the carry trade would yield a rate differential of 2.83+0.15 = 2.98 percent. Note: this is an unusual case where the interest rate we are borrowing from is negative; usually, this would involve subtracting the first interest rate from the second. For instance, borrowing in Japanese yen (0.04 percent) and lending in Kiwi dollars (at 2.83 percent) would yield 2.79 percent as profit. My carry trade in this case involves borrowing in USD at a rate of 2.33 percent, and buying bitcoins. But, what, you may ask, is the...

Day 14: Jungle Trek

We began the hike at 9am, having split into two groups: the slow team who called themselves torutgas, and the tigers. The tigers took the harder route, while the tortugas took the easy route along the river. With Zack The hike was fun, a lot of fun. We went up hills, down valleys, crossed rivers etc. Some parts were tough. I slipped and fell a couple of times, as did everyone else. We ended up crawling on all fours in some sections, because they were so steep. Because it was a rain forest, it was damp and wet in some sections, and therefore very slippery. We had a break to catch our breaths and get some a fruit snacks. We had lunch at around 2pm. We got to our camp site at 4pm, tired and hungry. Luckily, tea and biscuits were on the ready. After the snacks, we had a dip in the water. It was cool and nice. I also learnt to skip rocks on the water. Afterwards, we changed into dry clothes, had dinner, and more tea and coffee. Then we played jungle games: This is a ...

Munene, the journey...

Search This Blog