Blogger Widgets
Origami
We all remember doing paper folding during our early stages in school, the popular ones being paper box, ball and plane. In Kenya kids are taught the paper folding art in Nursery schools which normally stops there .... read more
Was the AIDS Virus Made in the USA?
October 26, 2005 — You mean AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) didn’t come from a green monkey that bit a black African on the ass? Are you lying to us again, Uncle Sam?.....read more
The Menonnite and Amish Communities
Both the Mennonites and Amish originated from Anabaptist movement which arose in the 16th century in Europe in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformation movement....read more
Modeling - Posing Nude
Several years back when I was in Kenya, I used to watch fashion TV channel, it was fascinating to see the fashion trends although some of the styles looked ridiculous and made me wonder who actually wears....read more
The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research
I recently saw an old friend, We had been Ph.D. students at the same time, both studying science.At some point, the conversation turned to why she had left graduate school. To my utter astonishment, she said after a couple of years of feeling stupid every day....read more
MSG - Slowly Poisoning America or the World?
I recently bought some spices and as usual being on this side of the world I have learned to read the labels and nutritional facts before I ingest myself with unnecessary chemicals. To my surprise I saw MSG as ....read more
Haiti in Brief
Haiti is one of the first countries ever to be conquered by slaves from their European masters. It is also the oldest black republic and the second oldest republic in the western hemisphere after the United States. ....read more
The 'N' Word
Back before I traveled out of Africa, I had no idea that the 'N' word was such a strong negative word and is a big deal to use it. I’m even afraid of writing the word in full because I feel I may offend some people and that is not my intention ....read more
Kenyans Were Given Animal Feeds by the US Gov't
In the nineties there was drought in Kenya and as a result there was shortage of food especially maize (corn) which is highly consumed by many communities. (In Kenya we call it maize, if you say corn people become confused because there are different types ....read more
Origami
We all remember doing paper folding during our early stages in school, the popular ones being paper box, ball and plane. In Kenya kids are taught the paper folding art in Nursery schools which normally stops there ....read more
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Is Emotional Energy Transferable?

Do you believe that emotional energy is transferable verbally and written? It’s not only human energy but from my experience almost everything in the world has energy and it always affects us. For instance the picture of Belize River in my blog I posted earlier, I remember very well how I felt when I was there. It was like everything else around me stopped and the river was speaking to me. It was so calm so beautiful so peaceful and after staring deeply I also had the same calm feeling. When I took that photo the energy was also captured and is now transferred to whoever looks at it.

So what is it about this energy? Something that is intangible, something that is possessed by both living and the non living (so we think) like the sea?

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Cutlets

Ingredients

250gm (½ lb.) minced beef
I cup onions very finely cubed
500gm (1 lb.) potatoes
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground black-pepper

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Do Africans believe in Obesity?

Yes we do, although it is always a compliment when someone tells you have gained weight, there is a line when you cross, you are considered obese or fat. In Kiswahili language we have some of the ugliest and disgusting names for obese and very thin people that anyone becomes offended when used to describe them.

For a Swahili woman to be a total package she must be curvy and her legs and arms must be smooth and rounded, no hard muscles protruding like with the western women. Muscles on women is considered very ugly, unattractive, unsexy and repels men.

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Was the AIDS Virus Made in the USA?

After learning that most if not all of the deadly drug resistant diseases and viruses are man-made, could not help but research on the origin of AIDS and what I found out blew my mind. Read the article below and make your own decisions.

The AIDS virus: Made in the USA?
Online Journal, written by Jerry Mazza

October 26, 2005—You mean AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) didn’t come from a green monkey that bit a black African on the ass? Are you lying to us again, Uncle Sam? I think so.

In fact, on July 29, 1969, only days after the Department of Defense (DOD) asked for $10 million from Congress to fund the development of a “synthetic biological agent,

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Memories of My Grandma….

She refused to eat any type of margarine or artificial butter; she preferred the real butter made from cow’s milk

She never used any kind of hydrogenated fat for cooking; she always used ghee which is also made from cow’s milk

If you talk with her and use an English word, she catches it and deciphers it

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Drowning in Sweetness

For some time now I have been wondering why I have sweet cravings, because I never have this in my country, Kenya. Then I realize it’s the food I’m eating that is different. I hardly eat anything sweet for days. Unlike when I’m in Mombasa Kenya, there is always something sweet for breakfast and sometimes for dinner because we eat very light in the evening like in the morning.

I like ice cream and have found few Caribbean brands here (in Belize) which I like. Then a Belizean told me I have to try a particular USA brand because it’s the best of all

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Products Recall in the US

Products recalls in the US happen so frequently that it’s annoying especially because most of the products here in Belize come from US.

The FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) recall products several times in a month and I ask myself why these products are released to the public before they are properly inspected? This month FDA will give approval of a certain product, after several months the product is recalled. Is it because products are no longer tested on animals due to animal cruelty and instead are tested on us?

When products are recalled no one alerts anyone here in Belize and they are definitely not removed from the store shelves. It’s up to the consumer

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How Were Languages Formed?

I was looking at the slide show on my blog and observed the picture of the old Farmers Market with the huge ‘Market’ letters on the main entrance. It took me back and reminded me how languages were formed. Recently there has not been invention of any new languages; we have schools to learn any language of our choice. But before we had formal schools people used to travel and had to find a way to communicate with the communities they came across. Adopting new words from different languages to ease communication was one of the major ways; at least I know that is how Kiswahili was formed. There are Portuguese, English, Indian and Arabic words in Kiswahili language.

The farmers market was build during British colonization. The locals

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Coconut: Modern Medicine and Domestic Uses

Modern Medicine

Modern medical science is now confirming the use of coconut in treating many of the below conditions. Published studies in medical journals show that coconut, in one form or another, may provide a wide range of health benefits. Some of these are summarized below:
  • Kills viruses that cause influenza, herpes, measles, hepatitis C, SARS, AIDS, and other illnesses.
  • Kills bacteria that cause ulcers, throat infections, urinary tract infections, gum disease and cavities, pneumonia, and gonorrhea, and other diseases.

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Coconut – The Tree of Life

Ref: coconutresearchcenter.org

Coconut provides a nutritious source of meat, juice, milk, and oil that has fed and nourished populations around the world for generations. On many islands coconut is a staple in the diet and provides the majority of the food eaten. Nearly one third of the world's population depends on coconut to some degree for their food and their economy. Among these cultures the coconut has a long and respected history.

Coconut is highly nutritious and rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. It is classified as a "functional food" because it provides many health benefits beyond its

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Coconut

Growing up coconut was a major part of our lifestyle and it still is. We use coconut milk for cooking almost everything from rice to tropical fruits like mangoes, bananas and papayas. We also use coconut oil as lotion on our bodies and also apply it on our hair. Makes our hair really soft and we also believe it has healing effects. When we have headaches we drizzle it in the middle top part of our heads and believe has curing effects. We are fully coconut people and you could never separate coastal people from their coconut, it’s like separating an American from cheese.

But for our generation which most of us went to school, we became manipulated and made to believe that everything must be scientifically proven in order

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Reflections

Belize River
So serene and peaceful, you wouldn't even want to drop a pin in the water to disturb it. After admiring the view for a while suddenly I felt calm too, what a contagious energy.

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Science and Nature

Scientists still have a long way to go before they can render God obsolete. They are yet to decode nature properly. Almost everything they have invented works against nature and harm nature in a big way. They always try to fight with nature trying to prove that there is nothing that is produced naturally they cannot produce and they can do it faster and believe to be better.

For instance all the anti-bacterial household cleaners harm nature; they kill the organisms responsible for the natural process of decomposition thus prevent substances from rotting. If substances are not able to produce

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Assertive Behaviour

Most women in the west perceive women from Asia and other parts of the world as being submissive and believe that is the main reason some western men like such women. Being brought up in Africa, we are taught to respect other people and to be tolerant towards them without compromising our values, we are taught to be assertive.

It is surprising that even when the modern western woman sees herself being articulate and non-submissive she still suffers a great deal of self esteem and is very self-conscious of herself. I wonder what we would see if one day we are given

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Modeling - Posing Nude

Several years back when I was in Kenya, I used to watch fashion TV channel, it was fascinating to see the fashion trends although some of the styles looked ridiculous and made me wonder who actually wears that. But lady Gaga gave me the answer to that question.

While watching the channel there were several times especially at night, we would see photo shoot of the models being taken and sometimes, the models were nude. I was shocked you know, I knew the purpose of modeling is to sell the product be it clothes or accessories, I wondered what nudity has to do with that because when they are nude then what are they selling?

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Belize City in Belize

Belize City from the Caribbean sea shores. It is clearly below the sea level.

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Charities: Do They Reach Those in Need?

I see everyday in the media the ‘celebrities’ and other individuals proudly acknowledging their efforts in helping eradicating poverty in the ‘third world countries’ and I applaud them for that. When I hear the amount of money they donate and give out to charities, I go bananas. I ask myself where does all the money go?

If you give your donations to big organizations then most of the money goes to processing the donations and by the time they reach those in need, more than half of it is gone. That is why others opt for NGO’s (Non-Governmental Organisations).

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Windows Live Writer

It is a good tool for writing blogs, could be better but so far, it’s so lousy. I don’t know why Microsoft start something which they are incapable of managing. They cannot even reply the questions asked on the writer’s forum. Maybe it’s overwhelming for them or they’ve made enough money and really don’t care.

There are monthly updates from Microsoft and just two days ago before installing the updates, I had 5 rough posts saved on Windows Live Writer. Whenever I get an idea, I normally write

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Create Your Own Blogger Layout

There are so many blogger layouts on the web but not customized the way I want. Everyone have their own taste and preferences. It's not so easy every time I want to change a layout I have to go to the html and do the painful reading through it to understand how it is coded. I'm not an HTML expert just a bit literate. There are also several websites that offer templates that have been converted from Wordpress to Blogger.

I saw a Wordpress layout and really liked it, decided to download the blogger version of it but was a total mess. I have tried so many conversion options online which didn't seem to work.

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Enter Old Belize

Welcoming entrance to Old Belize. Those 2 are real free roaming chickens, I also asked myself what they were doing there.

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101 With a Terror Attack …..Part II

….continuation from the previous post.

The first time we (Kenya) fell victims of a terror attack targeted to the Americans was in 1998 when the terrorists hit US embassy in Nairobi Kenya. At that time the embassy was one of the many offices in the building. Unlike now the embassy is on its own building and compound with a very tight security. When the attack happened, it was so surreal because I had never heard of any bomb attack in the soils of my country, only what we used see in the television and movies and never thought  it could happen to us.

When we later on learned that it was targeted to the Americans, it didn't make sense

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101 With a Terrorist Attack Survivor in Kenya

I was talking with this lady in a beauty salon, chit-chatting while she was servicing me. As the conversation progressed and felt free to talk about anything, I noticed that she has scars of what looked like deep cuts and burns on her arms. I asked her what happened and she told me she is a terrorist bomb attack survivor of a hotel that was hit by terrorists almost 10 years ago in Kenya. She told me that she used to work there and the attack was so sudden. She went ahead and lifted her blouse to show me the marks and scars on her
belly.

I wanted to know if they were compensated - of course I expected them to be – they were injured while working. A beach hotel being their employer, I thought they must

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Violence Aftermath in Kenya

After a post election violence or any kind of violence in my country Kenya or any so called 'third world' countries, there are travel bans in all developed world embassies. Tourist are scared and warned to stay away. Funny enough there are no bans imposed on the developed world countries after terror attacks. In fact tourists are encouraged to visit to see the after math.

When I was on my way from Belize to Kenya in Jan 2008, the officer at the Immigration (not Belize, in other country which I was in transit) was surprised  and thought I was crazy to be going to Kenya because they have seen in the media there

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Maya Ruins in Belize

There are more ancient structures in Belize than modern ones. So many more are yet to be discovered and excavated, especially considering that Belize is below sea level. It is also said that there was a time when the population of this country was at least one million considering the current 300,000 only. I still wonder what happened here during the ancient times that wiped out almost all the population.


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African Traditional Music and Dances

There are at least 40 tribes in Kenya and some tribes are closely related that their customs and language differences are very small. Each tribe has a different style of traditional music and dances. The dances were used as a way of communication, there are wedding dances, child birth dances, funeral dances etc.

Most of these dances are not documented or recorded and some you have to be a member of the group. Others are like sects, you have to take an oath of secrecy to participate and nothing can be disclose to anyone who is not a member. Such dances would eventually cease to exist in the near future because of the secrecy, failure of them being passed on as a result of being directed towards the modern world where the values of traditions are rendered

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Why I Started Blogging

The reason I started blogging is because I realised I had so much in my brain and wanted to let it out, share and learn about others. I thought what a better way to do that than to start my own website. But then I realize I had to be at least HTML literate to manage and keep my own website which I was not. That was too much for me then and I didn't want to go there so I decided to either do blogger or wordpress. My choice is clear.

When I started I really did not know what I was getting myself into. I went online looking for blogger templates but always there was one thing in each template that I did not like. I had no idea that I could change the layout of a template in anyway I want. At last I selected from pyzam which I believed at that time had the best blogger

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My Best and Worst Airline Experiences

I have travelled with several airlines for sometimes and at times had to change planes three to four times before reaching my destination. Some of the in-plane services I got made me scratch my head but the best experience I had was with Emirates Airlines. I was in economy class but the services made me so satisfied that I was not even jealous of the first classers.

In Emirates airlines if you are in a long flight you are served breakfast, lunch and diner, so do most airlines. The food doesn't just appear with the flight-attendant telling you the name of dishes and asking you which one you would like to have, no. After we travellers get comfortably seated and the plane stable a flight attendant hands out a menu, listing out all the main food that will be served while flying so that you can read, familiarize yourself and decide in

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Reliving a Day from a Past Life

Have you ever lived a day and as the events keep on unfolding they remind you of similar events happening exactly the same way in some day before in the past? You seem not to remember exactly when but you know that a day with the same pattern of events had happened before in your life.

I had that experience when I was young, in my early teens. I don't remember precisely what happened during that day but I couldn't shake off the feeling of why I am reliving that day. I did not tell anyone except for now and I wonder if there are other people (I'm sure there are) who have had such experiences.

I was young so did not bother taking so much account of the events of the day. The feeling of weirdness took over me, I was confused.

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Up In The Air


Sky is not the Limit

This is the view I have for almost 24 hours on my way back to Kenya from Belize and by the time I land in Kenya, 2 days are vanished.

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In Belize or USA

I'm in Belize but most of my posts give reference to the USA, wonder why? As a non-Belizean I see that everything is Americanized here (meaning done the USA ways). Although people from Belize don't even refer to themselves as Americans and don't say God bless America when they mean God bless Belize. It looks like the perfect way of life for a Belizean is the United States way.

The main reason is the media and we know how powerful media is in changing people's way of life. 99% of manufactured products in this country comes from US including food and the clothes. Almost all the TV channels are United States channels. We see more than 120 channels via cable and at least 100 are USA channels.

Most people here dream of going to the US, it's like being in the US

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Going Green with Wooden Houses?

Green is no longer just a colour is a symbol for peace and care for our planet. As I have said it over and over, when most Africans think of Europe and US, they always think of countries of justice, equal rights, care for environment and the first liners for planet green. But when you land your foot on these countries you realize that things are completely different.

My big question is in this current movement of going green and saving the mother earth is, why are houses in the US still built from wood? Even here in Belize. In fact when I got here first I was surprised to see wooden houses.

We don’t have new wooden houses in Kenya, only the old ones built during colonialism are still standing. I don’t even think the government allows building of wooden houses. Even if they would,

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Wooden House in Belize


I was surprised the first time I got here to see how many wooden houses they have and are still building. I later on learned that it is normal for people in the Americas to build wooden houses. It made me wonder how much wood is consumed especially after seeing in the US media the number of wooden houses being constructed as of now. I guess it made me look at the green movement completely different.

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The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research

I read this essay and realize that it’s applicable in many areas, most people will appreciate reading.

Essay by Martin A. Schwartz

I recently saw an old friend for the first time in many years. We had been Ph.D. students at the same time, both studying science, although in different areas. She later dropped out of graduate school, went to Harvard Law School and is now a senior lawyer for a major environmental organization.

At some point, the conversation turned to why she had left graduate school. To my utter astonishment, she said it was because it made her feel stupid. After a couple of years of feeling stupid every day, she was ready to do something else.

I had thought of her as one of the brightest people I knew and her

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Eating Manners Taught by my Parents

We eat three times a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner in the evening.

We must drink water after eating.

Do not eat or drink while walking, standing, resting or leaning against anything. Must be sited upright.

Do not talk while eating (with food in your mouth).

You must stand up from the table immediately after eating.

You eat the food in front of you or in front of your plate first, you cannot start eating food from the back of your plate.

Do not eat very hot food; wait for it to cool down a bit. It is

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Migrating to the US/Europe: Is the Grass Really Greener?

It is so sad to see everyday the number of Mexicans trying to illegally cross the US border in very dangerous conditions. Even after they cross successfully, they are faced with the big desert in Arizona and they have to go for days without water or food. Few of them make it but those who do not, they die as a result of starvation and dehydration and the remains of their bodies are discovered later by the police. What an awful way to die, very sad.

I always wonder if it is worth all that risk. I mean if you cannot qualify to enter US in the right legal way, what makes you think you can live there? How are you going to survive? Where are you going to live? Get money for food, job? The people from Mexico don’t even

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Healthy Living: Genetically Modified Food

I always read news about my country from one of the Kenya's local online newspaper and I came across "Dose for healthy living' article under budget analysis which was read early this month. The finance minister want Kenyans to eat healthy by eating white meat. To do that he has exempted some import duty on chicken feeds.

In the newspaper they went on outlining the dangers of the red meat that it causes cancers and diabetes.

In Kenya chicken is the most expensive meat followed by mutton and beef is the cheapest. I have never seen or heard of factory farm producing red meat in mass production. All the cattle and goats in Kenya are free roaming on pasture and feed on grass, they are

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World Cup Opening Ceremony – African Show Stolen by the Americans?

I don’t know what happened in South Africa on the biggest event they have ever hosted; what was that? I have never seen anything so tasteless and boring like what I saw on that world cup opening ceremony.

I was really looking forward to the show especially for me being away from home, I wanted the show to make me homesick and proud. I expected the show to be a showcase of Africa to the world, make other people fall in love with Africa. What I saw was not historic at all. I was wondering if that was actually happening in South Africa, very disappointed.

Not memorable at all, in fact I have even forgotten about it, I’m

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Tourism in Kenya

As I was writing the article about National Parks and Wildlife Reserves, I felt the need to link Kenya wildlife so I went to the Kenya Wildlife Services website. (I did not want to link any private website because I’m not promoting any particular company; it is just a general topic). The website is so plain and boring. This should be the most colorful and lively website full of all the marine park and wildlife photos which I saw in the list provided that is quite long than I expected. The Ministry of Tourism website is like an old page plucked from the early 80’s magazine.

It’s funny how my country expects to attract more tourists by not

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National Parks and Wildlife Reserves

Growing up, we always used to see documentaries, movies, circus and especially animal cartoons of course in English. So I automatically assumed that there is wildlife all over the world. I had no idea that most of the wildlife portrayed in the media was actually only in Africa and some in Asia. I was very disappointed to learn that.

Unlike what most people think, as a Kenyan, very few of us really get to see the animals like the foreign tourists do, we actually don’t see the need to do that. The only close way we could get to a wild life is to go to an enclosed national park where animals are caged.

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Bloggers Introduction Lines

I have been searching for blogs to follow and inspire me. It is not easy to search for specific blogs; there are so many commercial ones that always come up first when you search. Maybe there is something I’m not doing and I need help.

There are also many blogs which should not even be there. I‘m not a writer but I strive to make my posts interesting and try not to offend people.

I think some people should just stick to Facebook or other social

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Everything was Just a Click Away?

Did you know that you just need to subscribe to FeedBurner, a service that is already available for you if you have a Google account to get your visitor’s counter statistics? Few days after I published my blog, I realized other blogs have visitor’s counter. I got excited and I wanted to have one because that it’s the best way to know that people are reading your blog.

I started looking for the gadget online and found so many, visitor’s counter, geo or neo counter to name a few, but I wanted a fancy one. I made a mistake of not reading fully the terms and conditions. I just assumed that because there is a link of the source website

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Mutton Soup

Ingredients

1 kg mutton with bones
2 onions cubed
1 big tomato cubed
2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Bunch of fresh coriander(cilantro) finely chopped
Bunch of fresh mint finely chopped
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 tablespoons lemon or 3 tablespoons vinegar
2 cups oats

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Sesame Pan Bread

Ingredients

3 cups all purpose flour
2 ½ cups coconut milk or dairy milk
1 tablespoon yeast
Salt to taste
½ cup sesame seeds
2 tablespoons butter or oil
Sticky pan and a barbecue grill

Mix flour and butter with fingertips, then add yeast and continue mixing. Lastly add coconut milk and mix thoroughly until the dough becomes smooth and no visible lumps. (The dough is normally very

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Beautiful Butterfly

  

I saw this red thing outside my doorstep that looked like a leaf only to notice that it's a butterfly. Moments later when I tried to get closer, it opened its wings thinking it was scaring me by giving me this spectacular view. I know you can take good photos of beautiful butterflies if you go to a park or a place they are concentrated. This one came to me, I was not looking for a butterfly to photograph. (Not very good quality photo due to rush).

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Tips and Tricks on Improving Blog Writing Skills

It was never in my wildest dreams to become a blog writer. For me being a writer sounded boring and I was sure I did not have the proper skills to do so but I have proved myself wrong. I read my first fiction book when I was around 10-11 years and it became my hobby not knowing that I was picking up writing skills.

I have a blog now, it is unbelievable to me and I have learned a few things since I started writing:

At the beginning I used to let my friend read my post in draft to see her reaction and get feedback

Reading is the key; you have to read newspapers, magazines, books

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MSG - Slowly Poisoning America or the World?

I recently bought some spices and as usual being on this side of the world I have learned to read the labels and nutritional facts before I ingest myself with unnecessary chemicals. To my surprise I saw MSG as one of the ingredients. I knew MSG is not good but did not know the real facts so I dived on the web. There are so many articles and I was shocked to learn what really MSG is. I immediately threw the spices in the trash. I would have decided to be ignorant and use the spices anyway but my intuition told me otherwise.

I’m sharing the article with you so that you become informed just like me. If you are living outside America you should look out for your local spices brands and processed foods. For Kenyans some spices which may contain MSG could be Roiko, Maggi and such types.

MSG - Slowly Poisoning America
Author Unknown

I wondered if there could be an actual chemical causing the massive

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Papers vs Integrity

Some people believe that as long as you don’t have a paper qualification whether it’s a certificate, degree or diploma, then you are not qualified for the job no matter how much experience you have. Or others think that your high school grades actually determine the future path of your career.

The worse thing would be if one of those people is your parent or guardian and they make it very clear that they know what is best for you and they are not going to waste money on areas which they are so sure that you will not succeed. So you either have to do things their way or no way or maybe your way if you can finance yourself. That will be almost impossible especially right after finishing

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Don't sit on Tortoise

A warning sign at Haler Park in Mombasa Kenya, formally known as Nature Trail. You cannot sit on the Tortoises, one of them is more than 100 years old called 'Mzee'. This is the same place where people get to feed Giraffe, I'll be posting more photos of this place later.

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People of Belize

Belize is a country in Central America and has a population of about 300,000 people. It is bordered by Mexico on its north and Guatemala on its west and south. The people of Belize include the Creoles, Garifuna, Mestizo, East Indians, the Mennonites and Mopan/Kekchi Maya.

English is the official language although Kriol dominates all languages; other languages include Spanish, Maya and Garifuna. The Spanish spoken was adopted from the Spaniards from Spain when they came to colonize the western hemisphere. The accent is a bit different from the Spanish Spain but it is basically the same

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Henna Drawings/Art

They are also called tattoos but I prefer using the word drawings because I always associate tattoos with so much violence and where I come from we don’t call them tattoos; just drawings. I saw women in my community doing henna drawings as young as I could remember and I was really fascinated.

I started doing my own drawings on paper at a very young age and I remember the first person I did henna drawings on I was around 7 years old. No one taught me how to draw, I just did it and until now there are so many henna artists in my community who started just like me, they were not taught they just picked up a pen and started drawing.




Doing the Henna art is not my profession, it's a hobby. The henna

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Haiti in Brief

The first time I saw Haiti was on BBC news; that was several years ago. There was a disaster in Haiti, I cannot recall what it was exactly but I remember seeing Africans and the poor living conditions. I immediately knew that there is no country in Africa called Haiti, in the news it said Caribbean. I knew Caribbean was somewhere in South America, clearly I was clueless. The first thing that struck my mind when I saw all those Africans was ‘what are these Africans doing in a foreign land, why don’t they come back home if the living conditions are so bad?’ I felt so bad for them.

I actually knew a bit about Haiti while living here in Belize because there are Haitians here and more after the recent earthquake. I now know the reasons why the Africans are living there is because it is

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Forwarding Email Notes

So you think you know how to forward an email? Here are self-imposed rules by allowe:

After you click Forward, edit the message to remove the name and email address of everyone on it. As messages are forwarded, the addresses build. If that email hits any computer with a zombie virus, all those addresses will be extricated and everyone mentioned will receive even more spam.

If you forward to more than one person, put all the email addresses in the BCC: field so recipients see no other addresses. (If your email program doesn't show a BCC: field, google for "[your program's name] BCC field" and learn how.) You can tell who does this because their "TO:" field says "Undisclosed Recipients. "(Old Fogie Note: BCC

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Good Luck Emails

Have you ever received those emails or messages that threatens you either at the beginning or end that you must forward to certain number of people or all your friends and if you don’t something bad will happen to you? Or even worse gives you an example of some bad luck that struck previous people when they deleted the email after reading before forwarding it? I find these emails to be very offensive and after receiving them and forwarding them myself for sometime I decided to break the chain.

I thought, first of all, why would anyone send me an email that promises to bring me bad luck or threatens me? And I said to myself it is just an aggressive way of popularizing a silly idea. Someone has found a way of threatening people whom they don’t even know and

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Chicken Qaesadillas

250gm diced, Skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 tablespoon ginger/garlic paste
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon oil
1 green sweet pepper
1 red sweet pepper
1 onion
2 tomatoes cubed
10 (10 - 12 inches) wheat flour tortillas
½ cup (4 ounces) cheddar cheese
½ cup Monterrey jack cheese or any cheese you like
1 cup sour cream

Toss the chicken with ginger/garlic paste, ground back pepper and salt. Roughly chop the sweet pepper and cube the onion. Shred the

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Interesting Encounters

I’ve had some interesting encounters with people here in Belize but this one I must share it. I was having a conversation with a Belizean then as usual right away he asked where I’m from and this is the conversation;

Anony: Are you from Nigeria? You have an accent

Dirishani: No, are there so many Nigerians here?

Anony: Yes

Dirishani: Did you know that Nigeria has a very high population; it stands at around 140 million.

Anony: What? Really!? Such a small Island with so many People?

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The 'N' Word

Back before I traveled out of Africa, I had no idea that the 'N' word was such a strong negative word and is a big deal to use it. I’m even afraid of writing the word in full because I feel I may offend some people and that is not my intention. You know, back in Africa we see in the African-American comedies, movies and songs, they call each other the N word. So I really thought it was a cool word and most people still do so in Africa.

After traveling to the Americas, OMG! It is a big deal. Someone could

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Growing up....the Kenyan way

I see that I have more traffic here in Belize than anywhere else so far. Maybe you are wondering who this lady is. What does Kenya looks like? Is it part of Nigeria or South Africa? No it's not, it's a sovereign country. Do all children grow up like the way we see in CNN? Let me tell you briefly the normal growth of a child in Kenya, not in the countryside or rural areas but in the major towns where most population is.

We start at kindergarten/Nursery at the age of 2 or 3 for 2/3 years then we join primary school for eight years. When qualified we join high school for 4 years then university for minimum 4 years. This is

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Rice Pan Cakes

**2 cups rice
2 cups coconut milk
2 teaspoons yeast
½ teaspoon cardamom
¾ cup sugar
Vegetable oil
Concave shaped small heavy griddle

Rinse rice and soak it overnight in water

Remove rice from water and place it in a blender jug. Add sugar, cardamom, 1½ cups coconut milk, yeast and thoroughly blend the mixture, checking every now and then to see if the rice particles are

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Market in Mombasa


One of the oldest farmers market in Kenya located in Mombasa

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Mombasa Aerial


An aerial view of a section of Mombasa from an office window. The circular house is a car parking tower.

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Where is the Passion?

I remember when I was in high school, my dream was to become a nurse because I believed I was good in science subjects and I would spend the rest of my life without being jobless (financial security), and could work anywhere in the world. That is how we are brought up being hammered in our brains that education is the key to success in life which is very good.

Having traveled the world a bit, I try to learn, inform and educate myself, I normally reflect and criticise myself from time to time. I saw one thing that I did not consider when it came to selecting career when I was

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Cerviche

I/2 Kg Shrimps/Prawns shelled and deveined
2 cloves garlic paste
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
4 Tomatoes
1 Onion
4 chillies seeded and deveined
I cucumber skinned and seeded
4 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Salt
Corn Tortilla crisps/chips
A Bunch of fresh cilantro/coriander leaves  finely chopped

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Tribes, The Kenyan Way

In Kenya there are around 40 tribes which value and cherish their cultures everyday. What is disturbing is that when you go to a travel agent office or website the only pictures displayed are for the Masai tribe. Where are the other 39 tribes? This is sending the wrong message to the whole world that it is the way we all dress up or present ourselves. Where are the pictures of the luos, Samburu, Taita, Kambas, Mijikenda, kikuyu, swahili etc. Even on a website which was narrating the history of Mombasa had a picture of a Masai woman and I was wondering what that Masai woman had to do with Mombasa.

These cultures are so diversified and I think it is amazing that despite the differences, we have all been living together peaceful. I also believe that it would be very interesting and a marketing tool for tourist attraction if

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History of Mombasa

Kenya, a country in which is Mombasa town, has been sometimes described as “the cradle of humanity” – the Great Rift Valley has yielded some of the earliest evidence of humans, and provided insight into how man has evolved over time across the continent. According to some sources, early settlers in Kenya were the Cushitic-speaking people from what is now Sudan and Ethiopia moved into the area that is now Kenya beginning around 2000 BC.

Due to its strategically important position on the east African coast, many other groups of traders sought to impose their dominance on the town of Mombasa and it was continually fought over by various trading nations

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Corn Tortilla Crisps/Chips


15 corn tortillas preferably fresh
2 cups Vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

For just made corn tortillas let them stand for 2 hours

Stack 5 tortillas, cut through the stack into 6 or 8 equal wedges. Do the same for the remaining tortillas

Heat large heavy skillet over medium heat and pour in the oil, adjust heat to maintain temperature through out cooking

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Corn Tortillas

2 cups corn/maize flour**
1 to 1 1/4 cups warm water
2 (8 inch) squares of Heavy duty plastic paper sheets

Mix corn flour with 1 cup of water, add remaining water one tablespoon at a time until a smooth stiff dough is formed

To test the right consistency of the dough, make a small ball about 1 1/2 inch diameter, flatten it slightly, place it in between the 2 plastic sheets and place on a tortilla press or between 2 flat bottom heavy skillets and press down firmly to make 6 inch tortilla.

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The World Will End on 21 Dec 2012...

I was skeptical when I first heard about the news of the world ending on December 21 2012 but with the recent out of control weather changes, I'm slowly admitting to the fact. You know deep down I want to believe but I'm telling myself until I see it happening, that is if we make it through. People were alerted about this fact after coming across the Mayan calendar which suddenly stops ends on 21st December 2012.

I know many people who leave out of the americans and the non-historians are wondering who are the Mayans? The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period (c. 2000 BC to 250 AD), according to the Mesoamerican chronology, many Maya cities reached their highest state development during the Classic period (c. 250 AD to 900 AD), and continued throughout the Post-Classic period until the arrival of the

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Mombasa Old Port

 

Mombasa Old Port with men at work!! Currently being used mostly by fishermen.

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Old Belize

 

This is a recreation area with access to the Carribbean sea called "Old Belize", a nice restaurant inside, slide and big natural swimming-pools filled with beach sand that gives you the feeling that you are in a real beach. Nice place to hung out and eat pirate nachos and pina colada.

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Flour Tortillas

Tortilla is a Spanish name pronounced as tortiya, the double L is pronounced as Y

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 warm water
*2 teaspoons Baking Powder

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl, then rub shortening into flour with fingertips until mixture has fine even texture. Stir in bit by bit water until dough is formed, soft but not sticky to the hands.

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Overcoming Interview (3)

Your resume is the first interface you have with your employer

Your resume is the first interface you have with your employer. Make the most of this opportunity.............
The employment market is changing all the time and so have resumes, evolving from a one-size-fits-all standard.
Here are our tips to convert your resume into a catching one.

Follow These Basic Standards....

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Overcoming Interview (2)

3. Questions you should be prepared for

Tell us about yourself.
What do you know about our company?
Why do you want to join our company?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
How have you improved the nature of your
job in the past years of your working?
Why should we hire you?

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Overcoming Interview (1)


So what if you are not a mountaineer. Or a keen hiker. You still cannot treat your interview like a careless morning trot along a jogger's path. Your jaw-jaw at the interview table is nothing less than a cautious climb up a mountain trail--which begins around your early childhood and meanders through the years at the academia before reaching a new summit in your career. And as you retrace your steps down memory lane make sure that you post flags at important landmarks of your life and career, so that you can pop them before the interview panel scoops them out of you. You don't want to be at the receiving end, do you?

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My First Blog

Life is full of surprises and does not stop to amaze me, just when you think you've seen the worse, you get a new bigger surprise. I wonder what is next for me.

It is very funny that when growing up, you are always surrounded with the people you love and you assume they love you too whether its your immediate family members, friends or colleagues. But you will know who your real friends are when you become blessed and your life changes for better (maybe you get a better job or decided to go to college to improve you professional skills or hit a jackpot) and you are surprise to see that not everyone wants to celebrate with you. Some people's selfishness is revealed by their way of showing that they are not ready to have that kind of 'new you' in their life.

Your life could also change for the worse; could be loosing your job, financial instability or other forms of misfortunes and all your fake family members and friends will be dispersed.


I got those reactions from people I least expected and was surprised. How can anyone live happily by putting or seeing other people in misery? Such people try very hard to show others that they are happy and in charge of their lives when they know that deep down they are not. They are as miserable as the ones they enjoy seeing in misery or maybe think they are.

Such people are Posers. They feel good to see others in the same pain as they are and somehow that gives them twisted and temporary satisfaction.