borrowed from this lady, here are 10 things about me that you may not have already known.
1 - most people are surprised to learn that by nature, i am an introvert and shy, sometimes painfully. although i do enjoy public speaking.
2 - things i love include writing, learning new cities, q tips, david suzuki, the smell of scotch tape, earl grey tea, chocolate fudge cake from nairobi java house, kofi annan, alberta beef, barack obama's smile, the smell of pine trees, music that almost makes you cry, going out for breakfast even though i don't like most breakfast foods, airports, novels, daytimers, creme brule, medium or dark roast black coffee, that feeling that you get two days after you've used your muscles, french red wine, tulips, buying clothes, and receiving mail both electronic and snail. that list is not exhaustive.
3 - i could tell my sister anything. while i wouldn't tell my brothers anything, i could be anyone or do anything with them.
4 - my recent love life reads like a soap opera drama. do you know anyone who actually went to an airport expecting someone to arrive only to find out they had never bought a ticket for the flight? well, now you do.
5 - i have really big feet for my size. i would quite like to trade them for a more user-friendly pair.
6 - i want to be famous. but not in the celebrity way. in the way that i am known for something. and i google myself regularly.
7 - my newest canadian hero is louise arbour. she will soon be the executive director of the International Crisis Group.
8 - i am neither a cat person nor a dog person, i am both. and i don't think you should have to choose between them. my dog has one eye and my cat sleeps on my bed every night. my brother says that although you are never supposed to talk about a girl's weight, my cat seems to have lost her waist line in recent years. that is also true.
9 - blueberries are my favourite berry.
10 - if i won the lottery, i would go back to uni and study my little heart out. i would also travel around the world, staying in the cheapest as well as the most luxurious hotels i could find. i'd drink san pelligrino exclusively and provide numerous microfinance loans to people in canada and abroad.
Showing posts with label kofi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kofi. Show all posts
Friday, April 03, 2009
Saturday, February 02, 2008
chocolate cake for breakfast
the best saturday mornings start with a run followed by a coffee and a piece of leftover chocolate birthday cake while talking to a soldier who is 10 hours behind but managing to stay awake for an hour long conversation.
i had a lovely birthday dinner with some ladies last night and that makes my social calendar full for 2 consecutive nights of dinners with friends, so the isolation is waning although last night i was fully prepare and totally content with climbing into bed. and there has been an invitation to 2 parties tonight so i might need to take my bright red nail polish out for another spin.
if all goes well with my weekend planning, i will be able to go to one of the informal camps of internally displaced persons where my organisation is providing aid. of course, i will only go if it is safe and if there are other people that i know there. but maybe i can be of use and lend an extra pair of hands. adorned with red nail polish.
yesterday i spent the morning at a workshop to talk about how bad things could possibly get and whether or not the humanitarian organisations are prepared for that. although it was not a rosy conversation, i learned a lot and feel better knowing that people are talking about these things and are doing what they can to prepare. and it is interesting because this is precisely what i studied at grad school. negotiated humanitarian access, neutrality, development vs humanitarianism, the responsibility to protect. where is lloyd axworthy when you need him?
like i have said before, i think i belong in emergencies and humanitarian relief and not development.
i think that kofi must have the wrong number for me because i was expecting a call to extend his best birthday wishes, but i still have not heard from him. i will have to follow up with him to make sure that this does not happen again next year.
i had a lovely birthday dinner with some ladies last night and that makes my social calendar full for 2 consecutive nights of dinners with friends, so the isolation is waning although last night i was fully prepare and totally content with climbing into bed. and there has been an invitation to 2 parties tonight so i might need to take my bright red nail polish out for another spin.
if all goes well with my weekend planning, i will be able to go to one of the informal camps of internally displaced persons where my organisation is providing aid. of course, i will only go if it is safe and if there are other people that i know there. but maybe i can be of use and lend an extra pair of hands. adorned with red nail polish.
yesterday i spent the morning at a workshop to talk about how bad things could possibly get and whether or not the humanitarian organisations are prepared for that. although it was not a rosy conversation, i learned a lot and feel better knowing that people are talking about these things and are doing what they can to prepare. and it is interesting because this is precisely what i studied at grad school. negotiated humanitarian access, neutrality, development vs humanitarianism, the responsibility to protect. where is lloyd axworthy when you need him?
like i have said before, i think i belong in emergencies and humanitarian relief and not development.
i think that kofi must have the wrong number for me because i was expecting a call to extend his best birthday wishes, but i still have not heard from him. i will have to follow up with him to make sure that this does not happen again next year.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
this is not looking good
in the last 36 hours...
but i must say that after yesterday's chaos, things seem to be normal today. but that is what the entire past month has been about - the normalcy of chaos.
and i am still entirely and completely safe.
- an MP was murdered outside his house
- 4 people were 'hacked to death' in kibera
- kofi has said that it will take kenya at least a year to get back on track and only if the political aspect is sorted in the next 4 weeks
- a boy who was invovled in the eldoret church arson that resulted in the deaths of at least 30 people was on the BBC this morning said that any kikuyus returning to eldoret will be killed
- a kalenjin elder on the radio said that he will instruct his people to resist the rule of a single group
- the front page of one of nairobi's dailies read, 'un poised to evacuate'
- staff at work was instructed not to leave the city and to stock up on essentials, including cash and food
but i must say that after yesterday's chaos, things seem to be normal today. but that is what the entire past month has been about - the normalcy of chaos.
and i am still entirely and completely safe.
Monday, January 14, 2008
we’ve never been so close
(january 11, 2008)
perhaps that title is not fitting for kenya at the moment because with the collapse of the recent mediation efforts by John Kufuor, the president of Ghana and current chair of the African Union, the political stalemate is as strong as ever and the opposition parties are going to stage days of rallies starting next wednesday. which means, as far as i can tell, more violence, more police state actions, more displaced people, more gender based violence, more young idiots looting and rioting, less work, more economic losses, and more fear. there are plans to have my second favourite older man crush (second only to David Suzuki), Kofi Annan, come to try and get these two guys to agree to something. but what the US Assistant Secretary of State and Kufuor couldn’t do seems impossible for Annan to do. Raila is hellbent on having another election in 3 months’ time and it doesn’t seem like anything will be acceptable to him until he gets this. and until then, more rallies...
there have been reports of a single clinic in the western area seeing more than 100 cases of sexual violence, people taking advantage of the displaced and stealing what little they have, seemingly indiscriminate burning of houses, shops, and farmland, some children separated from their families, the government scooping people up and relocating them without their tangent consent, and people stranded at random places like police stations, schools, and churches. the un will soon be releasing their appeal for emergency aid to carry out further activities to contend with the situation that doesn’t promise to let up. so if you have a couple mill sitting in your vault, i think that you could call ted turner and he could give you the un’s banking details to transfer the cash. seriously though, it is rather amazing to see how an emergency response is mobilised and it doesn’t stop agencies from fighting, big personalities to overtake meetings, and meetings to last far longer than necessary. but organisations are doing what they do best and it does seem that aid is getting to the people who need it. thank god for the red cross, msf, and faith based organisations that just go out there and do it while others sit around and talk about doing it. but they receive support from the un in a lot of ways so all that sitting around and talking is worth something. i just wish they could offer some better coffee while we sit around and talk.
it seems that my future is more certain than it has been in a long time, which is a rather positive feeling and is a change from my regular uncertainty and chronic sense of panic. we will see how long it lasts. i have some people in my court fighting for me to stick around even though my jury is still out on whether or not i would want to stick around, it is nice to know that you are wanted and i am beginning to think that people actually value the work that i do. which they should, because i am not going to lie, it is good.
there might a chance that i can go to the displacement camps, either with a colleague who is going there to volunteer or with my project that needs some serious redesigning in light of the current situation. i would love to get out of my office and get dirty after a week of intense and consecutive meetings. might put more of a face to this crisis for me too. although in chatting with my housekeeper this past week it sounds like there has been uncounted instances of thuggery and destructive behaviour in low income areas. apparently, the police can’t even do anything because they do not have enough authority in these areas and are unable to stop people because they do not have the manpower. we loaded our housekeeper up with food and clothes because it seems that the price of food has increased and many of the shops have been looted or burned in the slum areas of nairobi so food is more difficult than normal to come by.
and there you have some disjointed thoughts on the current situation and the past week of coordinating an emergency response. and i still have a gross cold. and i tried to eat my beloved chocolate fudge cake but couldn’t even finish it because i stopped being able to taste it half way through. and i will probably be working this sunday. and the reason i will be working on sunday is because i sat and talked with my coworkers today. and i think it was worth it. and my relationship with the bbc has been suffering and i must reignite the fire. and i think i like working in emergencies, even though you probably aren’t supposed to say that.
and i think we’ve never been so close.
perhaps that title is not fitting for kenya at the moment because with the collapse of the recent mediation efforts by John Kufuor, the president of Ghana and current chair of the African Union, the political stalemate is as strong as ever and the opposition parties are going to stage days of rallies starting next wednesday. which means, as far as i can tell, more violence, more police state actions, more displaced people, more gender based violence, more young idiots looting and rioting, less work, more economic losses, and more fear. there are plans to have my second favourite older man crush (second only to David Suzuki), Kofi Annan, come to try and get these two guys to agree to something. but what the US Assistant Secretary of State and Kufuor couldn’t do seems impossible for Annan to do. Raila is hellbent on having another election in 3 months’ time and it doesn’t seem like anything will be acceptable to him until he gets this. and until then, more rallies...
there have been reports of a single clinic in the western area seeing more than 100 cases of sexual violence, people taking advantage of the displaced and stealing what little they have, seemingly indiscriminate burning of houses, shops, and farmland, some children separated from their families, the government scooping people up and relocating them without their tangent consent, and people stranded at random places like police stations, schools, and churches. the un will soon be releasing their appeal for emergency aid to carry out further activities to contend with the situation that doesn’t promise to let up. so if you have a couple mill sitting in your vault, i think that you could call ted turner and he could give you the un’s banking details to transfer the cash. seriously though, it is rather amazing to see how an emergency response is mobilised and it doesn’t stop agencies from fighting, big personalities to overtake meetings, and meetings to last far longer than necessary. but organisations are doing what they do best and it does seem that aid is getting to the people who need it. thank god for the red cross, msf, and faith based organisations that just go out there and do it while others sit around and talk about doing it. but they receive support from the un in a lot of ways so all that sitting around and talking is worth something. i just wish they could offer some better coffee while we sit around and talk.
it seems that my future is more certain than it has been in a long time, which is a rather positive feeling and is a change from my regular uncertainty and chronic sense of panic. we will see how long it lasts. i have some people in my court fighting for me to stick around even though my jury is still out on whether or not i would want to stick around, it is nice to know that you are wanted and i am beginning to think that people actually value the work that i do. which they should, because i am not going to lie, it is good.
there might a chance that i can go to the displacement camps, either with a colleague who is going there to volunteer or with my project that needs some serious redesigning in light of the current situation. i would love to get out of my office and get dirty after a week of intense and consecutive meetings. might put more of a face to this crisis for me too. although in chatting with my housekeeper this past week it sounds like there has been uncounted instances of thuggery and destructive behaviour in low income areas. apparently, the police can’t even do anything because they do not have enough authority in these areas and are unable to stop people because they do not have the manpower. we loaded our housekeeper up with food and clothes because it seems that the price of food has increased and many of the shops have been looted or burned in the slum areas of nairobi so food is more difficult than normal to come by.
and there you have some disjointed thoughts on the current situation and the past week of coordinating an emergency response. and i still have a gross cold. and i tried to eat my beloved chocolate fudge cake but couldn’t even finish it because i stopped being able to taste it half way through. and i will probably be working this sunday. and the reason i will be working on sunday is because i sat and talked with my coworkers today. and i think it was worth it. and my relationship with the bbc has been suffering and i must reignite the fire. and i think i like working in emergencies, even though you probably aren’t supposed to say that.
and i think we’ve never been so close.
Friday, December 01, 2006
red ribbons
world aids day.
keep it wrapped.
fight aids.
kofi annan has a good message about accountability, the theme of this year's world aids day. if you read it carefully, it is pretty much saying that the developed world is not doing enough. i'd agree. so would stephen lewis, one of my favourite canadians.
Friday, November 17, 2006
the lowest form of wit
there were so many things that i saw or thought or happened this week that i wanted to blog about but it is now friday, the end of week four in nairobi, and i have ten minutes before i leave the office without having written any of them in any kind of creative, interesting, or readable manner. so what will i do? i will write a list of these things that i thought were blog-worthy. (is list-writing : creative writing as sarcasm : wit?)
- i did not see rona ambrose bash the liberals during her speech in an international forum at the un conference on climate change in nairobi but i think it is the tackiest thing she could have done (apart from wearing navy and black together, how do people do that?)
- i wanted to spend my week stalking kofi annan as he was in town for the conference, but instead i had to work
- i had sushi for the first time here and it was de-lic-ious. but expensive.
- i have been exhausted everyday after work and i am not sure why. i mean, i sit at a desk and send emails interspersed with meaningful work.
- i got heaped with a load of work at the last minute which i honestly didn't think i could pull off, but i did
- i fought with excel for an entire morning and won
- i slipped and scratched up my foot and wondering if anyone saw the foreigner almost launch her pre-requisite nalgene bottle into the air like a cannon
- no matter where you are in the world, dating is hard when you have little time and text messaging is your main form of communication (now before the criticisms start about how cheap this is, try and make a cell phone call anywhere outside of north america and work it into your budget)
- i had a mango for an afternoon snack today, yum-my
- i am wearing flip flops in november, woo-who
- i got stuck in an african torrential downpour and was soaked to-the-bone and had a capucinno and chocolate cake in a cafe in the dark (sans electricity)
- i finally got my new chair in my office only because i walked down to where it was and carried it here myself (which, if i knew was all it took, i would have done 3 weeks ago when i originally requested it!) and more than a few people were overly concerned about a girl not wearing coveralls carrying out this task
- i had numerous panic attacks this week about a) my career, b) the prospect of life never really getting easier, c) my ability to succeed, d) financial crises, and e) being a psychotic girl trying not to appear as though i am a psychotic girl
- i chatted with my friend smooks who made me laugh out loud from across the world about team estrogen, team testosterone, and being treated like a lady no matter what your gender
- i did not see rona ambrose bash the liberals during her speech in an international forum at the un conference on climate change in nairobi but i think it is the tackiest thing she could have done (apart from wearing navy and black together, how do people do that?)
- i wanted to spend my week stalking kofi annan as he was in town for the conference, but instead i had to work
- i had sushi for the first time here and it was de-lic-ious. but expensive.
- i have been exhausted everyday after work and i am not sure why. i mean, i sit at a desk and send emails interspersed with meaningful work.
- i got heaped with a load of work at the last minute which i honestly didn't think i could pull off, but i did
- i fought with excel for an entire morning and won
- i slipped and scratched up my foot and wondering if anyone saw the foreigner almost launch her pre-requisite nalgene bottle into the air like a cannon
- no matter where you are in the world, dating is hard when you have little time and text messaging is your main form of communication (now before the criticisms start about how cheap this is, try and make a cell phone call anywhere outside of north america and work it into your budget)
- i had a mango for an afternoon snack today, yum-my
- i am wearing flip flops in november, woo-who
- i got stuck in an african torrential downpour and was soaked to-the-bone and had a capucinno and chocolate cake in a cafe in the dark (sans electricity)
- i finally got my new chair in my office only because i walked down to where it was and carried it here myself (which, if i knew was all it took, i would have done 3 weeks ago when i originally requested it!) and more than a few people were overly concerned about a girl not wearing coveralls carrying out this task
- i had numerous panic attacks this week about a) my career, b) the prospect of life never really getting easier, c) my ability to succeed, d) financial crises, and e) being a psychotic girl trying not to appear as though i am a psychotic girl
- i chatted with my friend smooks who made me laugh out loud from across the world about team estrogen, team testosterone, and being treated like a lady no matter what your gender
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)