Home is where the heart is

Hey y'all,

One thing that I miss being away from home is the girls get together days and girls getaways. For the most part, life in Tanzania is very calm and relaxed and offers a lot of opportunities for random get together/getaways. However, with the usual life challenges, eg, health, family needs, education, work load, etc, the word RANDOM may be too far fetched. But for the most part you can easily plan a small get together with your girls and make it work. I miss that!! Sob Sob.

Kiki, Irene, Moi

Memory lane to our Tanzania Holidays, my sister and I made plans to be back in Tanzania during summer in 2010 and we made the most out of it (to the best of my memory). In Dar es Salaam, Mbezi with my ladies (photo credit - Nunu).

En route to visit Zanzibar  destination honeymoon part 2. (Photo credit - Jose aka Kaka)

Someone suggested we should visit Ngorongoro as part 1 of the honeymoon package. It was a fun safari until my phone got stolen on our way back home. What I liked about Ngorongoro is that we were able to make a day trip. That saved us a lot of cash, compared to having to stay in a hotel. Arusha will forever remain my favorite city in Tanzania followed by Dar es Salaam.

 BTW I took these pictures in Ngorongoro, the one with the Zebras is canvas ready yo!

Travis Greene - Made A Way (Official Music Video)

  This song is my anthem for this year as I encourage myself when I feel worried, defeated, empty, unprepared, trapped, anything...you name it. And eventually He comes through!! When I meditate on God's word over my life. And of course, pray that God changes areas in my life (mostly me) that may be causing me to be in a state of mind of being defeated, anxious etc,. He makes a way!!!!

African music legend, Rest in Peace

My mom loves music so much that we grew up in a household where music was part of our everyday routine. Music would be playing on the radio -- yes cassette era!! from morning to evening. At the time (back in the 90's) the kind of music that my parents listened to was never the type of music that I saw myself listening to in the future. Pop music, Rn'B and Bongo flava were my primary and secondary options when it came to music.

As my clubbing days wore off, I found myself falling in love with the music that I never imagined myself ever listening to unless I was in my mom's car or house.

Even though there were some songs that I enjoyed listening to such as Neria by the late Oliver Mtukudzi, which became an automatic favorite for everyone because it was a soundtrack to the movie Neria, and WE ALL fell in love with that movie, if I can speak for everyone. I still never saw myself listening to African oldies. But little did I know what I was missing.

My sister and I would have nostalgia moments  of our childhood days and we'd play some of mom's favorite songs and other random songs that were a hit back in the day, for memory sake.

There is so much gem in old African music. The lyrics were meaningful and educational. They gave hope, rebuked certain habits or actions, and expressed emotions that would otherwise not be publicly spoken due to cultural or political reasons.

As the continent mourns the loss of yet another great African music legend, Oliver Mtukudzi who passed away on January 23rd. I want to remember the time when hearing his music was the time that life was simpler and full of love...pure love for me, because I was young enough to believe in the goodness in this world. 

Enjoy a video of Oliver Mtukudzi's live performance in Dar es Salaam during his visit in 2016. For those tourists who'd visit Tanzania during that time and got to watch him perform, I hope you have a wonderful memory of this legend. Rest in Peace Mr. Mtukudzi. 

Who are you lying to?

Hey y'all, 

Image obtained from Google

Have you ever wondered just how often we lie in a day? It's awfully interesting when you stop to think at the amount of lying that takes place in our own conversations. According to a book I am reading (Lying and Deception in Human Interaction by Knapp et al,) it states "several studies have shown lies to be a common part of our daily intercourse. Turner, Edgley, & Olmstead (1975) asked 140 people to record and analyze their own statement in an important conversation in terms on honesty. Only 38.5% of the statements were labeled "completely honest." "Ain't that interesting?

A good number, if not all, of religious publications condemn lying and deception of all forms. I have read some Christian books both devotionals and non devotionals and even when they don't use the words lying or deception, they do use the word TRUTH a whole lot. 

The reason I'm bringing this up, is because I am taking a class called Lying and Deception and I have to read a book, articles and watch season 1 of Lie to Me, as part of syllabus requirements! I remember when the show first came out back in 2009, I used my boyfriend as a test subject to detect when he lied to me and guess what I found, whenever he lied, his tone changed (how universal).

I'm excited about this class, not only because I'll get to learn to detect when someone lies to me or when I am being deceived, but I will be able to catch myself when I indulge in self-deception. Fun fact; did you know self deception includes things like procrastination, impulse buying, acting brave when we are actually scared??? I wonder how the people that claim 'to not lie' feel about that info.

One of the notes I read said that men lie to boost their ego by uplifting themselves while women would lie to protect others/emotions. By the way, exaggeration is a form of lying as well. This may come as a shock to those who tend to add sugar and spice to anything and everything they say. My argument though, as much as we may want truth to be universal, I honestly doubt if that is possible. I say that because there are people who come from cultures where exaggerating is a norm and perhaps they honestly believe themselves to be telling the truth..so how does that work? I think if we want to be surrounded by people that tell us the truth then we should reward them for telling the truth instead of punishing them (yes, even when truth hurts). 

I do hope there exists such classes in Tanzania for everyone not just the Intelligence department. And if it's too soon for such a class to be offered in colleges, then there is no harm in having Tanzania educational publishers offer such books in Swahili. I remember asking a famous Psychologist in Tanzania to write a book about Narcissism in Swahili, I am yet to see that happen. But I do hope something can be written about detecting lies and deception.

Oh well, I can't wait to learn more and share the TRUTH with y'all (in my opinion). But as far as lying goes, we can't overcome without first having the knowledge, so help us GOD.

Xoxo

Mamatembo Safari.

Why do we make resolutions anyway?

If anything, 2018 taught me NOT to rely on my own understanding in any area of my life. I ended 2018 with a reality check, nothing that happened in 2018 was on my to-do list. So why make resolutions when life happens when I am busy making plans? Don't get me wrong, I don't  plan on living my life aimlessly or not have goals at all. And it does not mean I should not do my best with what I have. I just want to be in a place where I can be okay with the curve balls that life throws my way, without  losing my mind in the process. You just never know which life situation will bring down your spirit and this is what I need to learn to overcome. When your spirit is down, you could be surrounded by a gold mine, and yet not see the glitter or enjoy the wealth. I never want to be in that place ever again.

Happy New Year!!

Doing 2019 God's way!