Appreciation week 24-7 / 365

So there are usually all these appreciation days in the year...sister appreciation day pastor appreciation day etc etc and I think it should be appreciation day Monday to Monday Sunday through Sunday...why wait for my birthday to appreciate our friendship why wait for christmas to share Christs love.Maybe thats the reason am not so goo goo gaga over birthdays...the reason I am saying this is the other day as I was walkign up the stairs from work i pass this old guy and I mean old like full head of white hair old he must be in his seventies.So anyhu he is the volunteer who cleans the bathrooms every Monday morning can you imagine - I passed him on his hands on knees cleaning the floor and then the bath.I have for the longest time always wanted to tell him how much his work is appreciated.So I dashed in my room I have a whoel stack of cards - from baby shower to happy wedding day to good luck cards - yeah am a card junkie like that...and I picked out a thank you much appreciated card...so as I was writing the card it hit me I did not even know his name but was like what the heck I told him thanks for all your hard work and humor -he really does have a wild humor...so I gave him the card and he was like thank you he must have thought its a harambee invite or something lol..later I was told how he was in tears to the care taker describing how the card had absolutely lifted his spirits...and it got me thinking well this may seem like am goign off on a tangent as usual but I was discussing with some lady how the world is in such unrest right now - from riots in London to Libya I ws at western union and am like wow the dollar is buying at ninety.I look at refugees in Daadab but anyway back to the main shpill.So I think people in the world have so much anger and hurt its like the world is bleeding.Its like people have lost meaning to life.I was asking someone the other day how we give nani a reason to live again - how do we relight their flame , their passion for life???People are not satisfied with their jobs - oh yeah I was at a Panera Bread the other day and the Verizon workers next door were chanting going round in circles about how there rights are being violated at work.So my point is you may not be able to stop the riots in Libya or feed the five thousand in Daadab but you can reach out to your hurting neighbour / brother.Appreciate their life - try give them that reason to face tommorro.Who knows maybe my little old volunteer guy keeps the card on his mantle and looks at it every morning to give him a reason to get up and get going - knowing there is someone out there who sees me and what I do...so in this hurting broken world reach out, appreciate ....ok i have major major cramps am cranky as Flavor Flave would say you know what time it is lol lol I crack myself up... he he he
Oh oh I just saw this line from one of my emails I wrote when I had just "come to America."


"You cant achieve the impossible without attemping the absurd.."

Poetry - one language one passion one cause

Wow so first things first Happy Birthday to me Happy birthday to me!!I am officially quarter a century - the big 25 wow I was talking to Joan on my birthday and she goes like girl you need to start celebrating your five away from thirty and I go like wo when did I get here???so anyhu this week has been one of discovery well actualy thee past two weeks well let me not say discovery but more indulging in things that are near and dear to my heart - my passion projects...Friday I went to a glass blowing exhibit with a friend in Boston I just need to post the piccs you will be amazed at the beauty...Then this week the city of Cambridge has been priviledged to host the annual National Poetry Slam.Soem of the best and the greatest poets from around the nation meet annual to compete for the title its like the NBA title or the Superbowl in the wrodl of poetry.So my dear Ethiopian friend Fishstix is competing from Cali - apparently he is that good lol no but seriously he is good. and his coach is none other than Shihan - gosh I have been like a Shihan guru ever since I discovered def jam poetry and am hooked....so anyway Wednesday I was at All Asia - I signed up as a volunteer for the slam and boy was I blown away.I went alone and trust me the whole four hours can you imagine 4 hours I did not feel alone even for a minute.There was such an excitement and a warmth - as soon as a poet got off stage total strangers just hugged them and when a poet was on stage the silence was deafening.Someone asked me after the show when I was tellign them about it - were there mainly blacks?? and I was like heck no there were Japs, african americans, caucasians, latinos africans you name it - the lounge was a little U.N. And thats what I found to be the beauty of poetry.Once in the poetry lounge like I said I was alone but felt as though I knew everyone in the room.Poetry is like a unifying language it brings different passions different causes different ideas and condenses it in a simple and yet complex form - am I making sense??Gosh the depth of the poetry I heard on Wednesday just blew me away - from the earthquake in Japan to eating disorders, to sexuality to death - real issues happenign in real time.anyway am going for the semis so will let you know how that goes.Here is me with my main poet Shihan.

If someone else can be paid less to do the job your doing then its not worth doing -

Seth Godin

are we living in the same world???

So I was watching Lifeline at work today well yesterday and it was featuring the Taliban and the US in Afghanistan oh I would love to go to Afghanistan someday - I have read beautiful stories of this far off land that I just dream of one day walking down teh dusty streets and in the fruit markets with the women and playing the the children...so anyway looking at the kids in the clip playing with sticks and stones in their bombshell of a city - running up debris of bombed buildings.then they showed a typical classroom packed with kids and takign in every word like little sponges - coz they knew how lucky they were....okay flip over to my car this morning listening to the radio or was it a few days ago on the worsening situation in the refugee camp in Daadab - gosh I cried when they translated how some women are leaving their children on the way to the refugee camp to die becuse they cant make it - and they even translated how they looked in their childrens eyes as they walked away - can you imagine that a mother leaving her little one to die on the side of the road coz of being too weak to walk...I open my email PIH update from Haiti - the cholera outbreak has tripled - there is not enough aid or clean water people are dying and I ask myself is this 2011 are we living in the same world???Isarel Houghton put it best in his album love God love people...there is a song that has the lyrics

People dream of simple things
like worry free water
while some of us complain and fuss about things like internet connections

A mother pleads her baby screams this HIV is relentless
but my new web page is all the rage
OMG , lol like we should totally be friends

What if we could see what they see
Feel what they feel
Hear what they hear

The sun beats down on cracking ground
No food around for miles
The pizza deliverys late
It better be free am just saying just saying

so anyway I feel like wow here I am in a little town called Salem with a roof over my head, if i felt hungry like right now as I speak I can walk to the fridge and if I did not like what was there I could get in my car and drive to get whatever I wanted and then there is someone on the other side of the world who would just love a sip of water....Worse still here we are fussing and fighting over debt ceilings, and there is a family fussing and fighting over a loaf of bread...Like the other day I was at work and we woke up there was no electricity - yani power blackout and oh my goodness everyone breaks into a panic now no coffee no morning cartoons they start calling National grid frantically like whats going on???in my head am thinking ding dong!!!gosh I wish we can invent an exchange programme where middle aged families in america or any developed country could spend a week or even a month in some middle class family in some third world country...but then again maybe thats a little fantasy world in my head coz think about it will there ever be a day that we will be equals???

Mans search for meaning....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJtqkK7NQlA so this is the song on my mind - like I said in the last blog... so much has happened and of course music is my therapy when all else fails "my name is Penny and am a youtube addict"...so anyhu its midnight - my room is boiling over - am literally about to go sleep in the den - the story of my life lol cheap is really expensive but hey at least we get heat in the winter I can deal with no ac but no heat no way!!!so lets see what was I chiming in about oh yes mans search for meaning...so anyhu the otehr day I was chatting with a good friend of mine and he was tellign me how he has finally reached a point in his life where he thinks he has it all figured out - you know those moments your like eureka so this is it. wow just hearing him talk I was blown away he has finally figured that life in America can be deceitful if 1.)you do not know who you are and 2.)You do not know what you want in life.Many a times we compromise so much on so many things in our lives he went on to say he kept on repeating compromise compromise.and many times we do it because of a fear of what will people think if I do this what will people say if I say that so we kind of tend to not fully maximize our potential or do those things we want because of XYZ....oh so where was i so yeah anyhu america does not help the situation think about it so many times someone will pretend to hear what you said with your thick accent and even nod just because they do not want to say pardon or look ignorant like they could not understand and in so doing "offend you"......gosh its even so bad in the school system with the no child left behind policy kids are getting an I grade for incomplete as opposed to a C or F so that they are not offended and feel left behind and loose self esteem cmon give me a break!!!!!even the loosing team gets a trophy just for showing up gag!!!so anyhu my friend was telling me how he does not want to miss his opportunity in life - he was describing how all he does is work come home watch TV get on the internet back to work...and he is like no way am packign my bags and going back to my mother land.He has this grandiose idea that Kenya is on the brink of an economic burst and trust me I do not doubt it.so anyway what was the moral of this story oh yes...so many times we do not take that radical venture that am ready to take a plunge coz we are so fearful of what will others say what will other think of me and in so doing we compromise on who we are what we want and fail to reach our highest height of success....wait i feel am intertwining a million stories here....oh so yes my friend has finally figured that true life is reaching that point where nothing else matters but being led by something or someone greater than life itself - God, it could be a dream , it could be an ambition you have always had...so instead of just bouncing along the waves of life and allowing society to dictate you step up step out and realize who you are and what you want...ok I just had so much to say today .....adios...

Of special moms with special children

So here I am - wow so much has happened since I was last here which will be for another day wow a whole other day maybe a whole other blog....so its nine p I have been at Borders for the past five hours - gosh I think I need some kind of discount.I am using their free wifi and running away from the hot oven I call a room.so anyhu I have been productive - lol yeah right well kinda I have done a few modules of the online course I am taking-oh yeah I found my passion project for the summer - global health well actually call it a passion career.I have finally well I think found what I want to do in this thing called life.So I love to travel and I love to help where there is a need and I love to write so what better way than to merge the three together and put it in my career - I hope to work with an international NGO let me be specific hey God needs us to be specific with our prayer requests so yes I hope to work with Partners in Health as a project coordinator for one of their partner programmes - who knows maybe write out policies but I really want to get my hands dirty first with actual ground work.I want to meet the pregnant women , I want to hug the malnourished childrn.Partners in Health work in Haiti , malawi, peru rwanda . Lesotho etc.So they provide lasting solutions to issues of health in poor communities they partner with the locals - educate train start clinics etc etc I can go into a whole spiel so anyhu the long of the short I am taking a certificate in global health this summer - kinda get a feel of what is global health about and Bonjour Bonjour I also have French for dummies - most of the countries they serve are French speaking countries so hey I need to know how to get a cab...so thats me...oh my goodness where was I with this blog oh yes of special moms and special children...so anyway I work with a lady who has a little girl - we call her angel she was diagnosed with Retts syndrome when she was six months old - its a neurologic condition that affects mainly girls - something to do with the X chromosome yawn yawn stuff but anyway it causes developemental delays etc.So the girl is a sweetheart I tell you - she has the hugest eyes that look into your sould like seriously they gaze at you and you melt.So anyway her mum is so proud of her her camera is full of angels pics her whole life is absolutely dedicated to Angel.She spends her life championing the cause and raising awareness about Retts syndrome and making sure her little one gets all available resources in the community.I think about my classmate who has two twins - speaking of which I need to call her up I promised her a date with the twins anyhu they were born preemies - three months early.They are now four years old and the little girl just got off the trache breathing tube.Then I remember a lady I knew back in Kenya - Eva Muraya her little girl Zawadi was born with cerebral palsy - she is such a joy to be around...i was watching some documentary on CNN they did a piece on "mentally challenged" as the called them in Mathari - aka Mathare and they showed some woman whos son remains chained in a room as he gets "wild" she was holding him as she fed him and said she has never given up on him how can she - she was all he had...which got me thinking...it takes a special heart to be a mom of a child with special needs.But I think thats the beauty of being a mother - regardless of what pops out - you love unconditionally.Your ready too look at the special need or diability and say hey you know what these are the cards life has dealt me I can either throw them back at life or embrace them.I remember a line my mum once said when I tried to pity party her coz of the pain in her arms and back after lifting and taking care of my sister she said , " These are pains of love honey I consider myself lucky that God chose me strong enough to go through this." I was like wow!!!! if that statement does not rock your world gosh nothing will...so anyway thats my little spiel for today...I just thought I should throw that out there..its nine thirty am with the official geek squad of Peabody at Barnes and Noble - I mean duh who stays until they close talk of last call lol...over and out.P

"If what you can do can be done by anyone else there will always be someone willing to do it for less - "

from the book "never eat alone" cant remember the guys name...

I am not my hair

"I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am not your expectations
no no no.."
I am a soul that lives within

So those are the lyrics from India Aries song I am not mhair - basically she is talking about how women are judged - well let me qualify that black women are judged initially by their skin colour one and two by their hair do - in short by outward appearance.This week I had two incidences where I came face to face with this reality.The first was at Walmart I had gone to buy sleeping wear - ahem ahem - yeah a girls got to do what a girls got to do.So it was a top and a bottom.When I had entered the changing room the llady who usually hands the tags was not there so I just walked in.When I came out she was there and immediately gave me a " I know what you did last summer look" as though I were up to no good.She immediately took the sleeping wear from me and said is this a three piece coz she only had two in her hand and immediately am like Oh my goodness this lady does not think I am trying to get away with taking something without paying for it and am like not its a pyjama suit and she did an oooh....then she quickly peeped into my basket.All the while I was so disgusted am like woman leave me the heck alone..just coz of my skin colour you be all up in my business - well maybe I was being paranoid but no trust me you know when you know there is dirty business going on..then the other one happened this morning i was driving home from work and i see some lady pulled over her bonnet was up she was all dressed for work.So the mother theresa in me pulled over backed up to go help her out.She remained standing with arms crossed as I asked her :You need a jump?" she was like yeah you would not know how to do it would you? am like sure I would.So she goes into this long spiel how she had been waving down the men and they all drove by actually ignoring her she said she di dnot even bother with the ladies as she was not sure that ladies could jump a car.So anyhu the longof the short I got her car jumped - (yes Denz all your lessons paid off) but later as I got home i begun to muse how funny that colour and gender are things I will have to overcome in this white male driven society.However to go a little deeper a verse somehere that says Man looks at the outward apperance God looks at the heart comes to mind when I think of the many times we as humans are so quick to make judgements on someone and what they can or cannot do based on how they present themself.I think of my bunker mate in high school who was blind - and how people acted different around her - kind of soft pity party kind and trust me that was the last thing she needed.I also have a friend here in MA who is dumb and partially deaf and I always look at him when a joke is cracked or people seem to be deep in this conversation that he has no idea what is being said and to play along he smiles or looks around sheepishly.I sometimes call him over and chir chat one on one with him - and I hope I am not comign off as being this pious goody two shoes oh no far from it - I am as guilty as anyone in seeing just the outward...oh well I can go on and on but i think the gist of the story is how or when will we stop stigmatizing a certain population or people based entirely on what we see.Like how do we reach that point where we see through the eyes of the heart - am I makign sense or doing one of my usual tangent talks...i guess I am its three thirty A.M it summer so you can imagine I can see the rays of sunshine well almost sunrise .....through the window babie!!!Oh here is a quote I got from a book on retts syndrome - oh now thats a story for another day - a beautiful lady I have come to know through work has a daughter with retts syndrome - look it up when you can so here is from a handbook that the retts foundation made for the parents

Dont walk behind me I may not lead
Dont walk infront of me I may not follow
Just walk beside me and be my friend
-Albert Camus

What next.com

So the title is from one of the most hilarious ads its some guy who is about to propose after dinner so the dishes are being cleared - the fiance to be comes rushing in with dirty plates just as he is about to pop the ring out of the box it falls into the sink drain.He looks up at the camera and the words whatnext.com flash across the screen.basically its an ad for that website where you can get yourself out of a situation when you feel stuck....So this week has been one of those what next kind of weeks - a good and dear friend of mine found himself in a situation where its an okay what next??There was the tornado in Joplin, MO that left the city totally devastated - like a whole city flattened like flat chapati flat. Wednesday Oprah had her last show - after 25 years of gracing our scree...So anyhu I have been thinking about different situations in life - especially this media driven society where news is good once its hot after that its stale bread.But then I think so what happens after the cameras are not flashing , after the curtain comes down, after the music stops - what happens to the lives of people who today are making waves and then tommorrow its like boom - the tide just drifted them away.I mean the media is so quick to shine a light on something happening in a certain part of the world and then when the next thing comes along its like the current story was a myth.I have so many examples - I think of the guy with the golden voice - the beggar discovered in Cleaveland with a radio voice - he was a hit for two days and then boom vanished into rehab - where is he? how is he doing? did he survive hollywood?I think of the people of Japan - the earthquake struck they made headlines for a week and then bam on to the next story - how are the families rebuilding their lives?how are the ones who were injured coping?I think of the earthquake in Haiti - we donated billions and then ok let them fend for themselves --how about that woman who lost her whole family how is she doing?The young girl with amputated legs - how is she coping?Oh my I think this was my main aim of this story Gabby Giffords - after the Arizona shooting she made headlines for a two weeks and then the last we heard she was in rehab - but how is she progressing? is she able to speak? Can she walk?I mean gosh my list is endless - so many times we get so caught up in the general story we forget to dig a bit deeper into the individual piece.I call it the power of follow up - and no not the after business meeting email - to thank the other party for their input and bla bla bla I mean the hey am checking up on you after what happened ho can I make this transition easier.Many a times until we are personally struck by a tragedy we tend to move on with our daily routine as long as whats happening does not affect us personally.Its easier to sit in the side lines specatate and pity party all day than it is to say hey I may not know what you are going through or have gone through but I hope just my prescence will show am genuinely concerned...Ok thats just me trying to be Mother Theresa - I guess as Denzz always tells me actions speak louder than words so let me practice what am preaching....through the window ;)

What does it mean to you?

So the service last Sunday was entitled - Loving others more than life.It basically described Christs love for mankind that he was willing to take all the scum sin and dirt and carry it to the cross.You know how you feel after you have done something you know you should not have - like lie to a good friend, cheat on your spouse or cheat on an exam - that guilt feeling you experience.Now imagine putting all those bad feelings from millions of people in one soul - murderers, adulterers, thieves, con-men and saying hey I will take it all so that you do not have to feel that way.I mean its mind boggling - the whole week I have been confronting what salvation means to me - was driving to work teh other day then a line from a song made me almost weep, "I know you had me on your mind when you climbed upon that cross.....every stripe upon your battered back, every thorn that pierced your brow and every nail drove through guiltless hands knows that your love knows no end.." When I think of salvation the scenario of a kidnapping always comes to my mind.The kidnappers have asked for such a huge ransom that the family cannot come up with.In the same way sin is like the kidnappers and the ransom was just too high for man to pay and then here steps this gentle priceless savior - I say priceless because he paid all the ransom for everyone and I mean everyone in double portion so what bound us (sin) says okay you can have your child back....yeah I know weird but thats what I think of the whole process of salvation.And I call it a process because as much as the ransom was paid the kidnapper is always on the prowl looking to take hostage but you see after the cross its makes this time different because the ransom has already been paid and all one needs to do seek repentance and so remaining hostage is more of a choice.Okay am I going off on a tangent here - someone catch me....I just thought of that and thought I should rant and rave a bit - seeing it has been a loong minute....so thats what I think what does salvation mean to you??

Are we consuming life or is life consuming us??

So I have just come from watching the NBA All stars final game.Yeah all the hot shots in basketball gather annually to show off who got skills who can dunk who can shoot the best three pointers etc.So the Celtics were fortunate to get four players in the final game and even two in the three point shooting contest.The performance was from yesterday all I can say is that is nothing even close to Celtic basketball.So today I wondered mmmh even the final game I think the four celtics only played for a quarter in terms of total time..Like they were literraly hanging out drinking Gatorade... I love you Celtics but today enyewe in Quabberian terms you HAD LIED!!!!So it go tme thinking the Celtics are so consumed by winning the 18th banner that am sure this whole thing is just like a yeah ok whatever lets get this over with can June get here already??After last years loss to the lakers its like they have been on a vengance quest all season long - am serious.Celtics have been playing to win it all season long so mambo ya All stars is just a distraction..But honestly I wonder how we as human beinsg sometimes get so consumed by achieving all these great things in life we forget to live in the moment.Instead of consuming life life is consuming us.The main point in my little shpill today is I am doing my psych rotation at a children unit and men can I tell you I have been shown first hand what teh pace of society is doing to the American children.Week after week I have watched children come in with all conditions from depression , suicide , cutting, anxiety and such internalized anger that almost brings me to tears.I look at those kids and wonder gosh is this the price we have to pay for the rate at which society has forced us to always feel we need to be on the move, always think that if we stay home the rest o fthe world is moving so fast and we are being left behind, always think that if we stop and play games with our children , hug them and laugh with them they will become spoilt brats.Gosh I have seen teenager after teenager come in with such heaviness relaying how they would like to throw themself off a bridge or infront of a moving car.It has been said the eyes are the window to the soul and it literally broke my heart when I looked and saw the depth of their sadness in their eyes.We run an art group and gosh most of the artwork seemed to be comign from a dark place.There were explosions in the sky one had a broken heart...all were ideas that in one way or the other depicted the storms raging within their minds....Most of them for one reason or the other have been abused or made to feel like they amount to absolutely nothing and others simply have been denied the ability to play and be children.My colleague told me being a parent in America is not easy and I think the same is also true - being a child is also not easy.From the mother working the 7a - 7p and the father going for the overnight shift or the other way around , to parents opting to have only one child , to face book corrupting the minds of the little ones , to peer pressure and bullying , to pedophiles who do not allow parents to let their children play on the street until dark. I mean yeah the Wii is great, internet has all this "cool stuff" , Iphones , Ipads, Ipods , kindles, the list is endless...There was a joke about how the t.v is used by some parents as the automatic babysitter.As the parent finishes work they have brought home, or even worse matybe the parent is just not home when little Johny gets home. I mean gosh I grew up in a society where my mother used to say, " Go and play and come home when they start turning the lights on at the neighbours," i.e when it becomes dark.And we would come back all bruised , tired but boy had we climbed those mango trees , played house and rode the bicycles all over the little town and LAUGHED......Gosh the gift of laughter pricelessss.I just have one thing to parents please let your children be children.Lets not let society dictate how we will raise them up..Medications are not to the cure for everything you can pump a kid with all the Ativan in the world but if you never hug him he will be anxious over and over again.My mum always used to shout when she got home, 'Have I hugged my baby today ?" and when she gave me the warmest hug all my problems of teh day seemed to melt away.So pls lets not get so consumed with chasing things that are temporary but let us invest time in chasing things that we will live with the rest of our lives.Lets learn to consume life and not allow life to consume us.....oh that feels much better - gosh writing is great therapy...its a little window of release.

Did you drop your smile??

So today I am at the point of super exhaustion I had a morning clinical for maternity - I got to see a c section - the tears that rolled down the fathers face as he took a video of the baby being pulled out - priceless.The little boy was the cutest cuddliest thing i love babies when they played the soft music they play when a baby is born of course I was the only one n tears in my group lol...So anyhu I got to give the baby his first birth can you imagine I felt like I had just been told to carry the World cup from point A to B. He was so quiet and I was handling with such care hadi he clinical instructor goes like "trust me he does not break." I felt like I would squeeze to hard on the skul oh it was such a great time the proud grandparents gosh Maternity is such a happy place....so anyhu after I had a class and as I was walking to class and some guy infront of me tells the lady who was coming towards me "Lady you dropped your smile." She literally bent down to pick something and as she was halfway down it hit her what he had said.Her face immediately broke into a wide grin.I found that so powerful -to think that the things that may at times be bugging us on the inside or worries that we sometimes hold on to can spill over into our facial expression.A phrase my sister always says about how beautiful it is when someone smiles through a storm.I remember the day she had her spinal fusion - and she probably does not remember this but as she was wheeled from the O.R to recovery despite all the meds, pain and discomfort she broke into a smile.Smiling through a storm is easier said than done - when things are lookign bleak we forget that worrying about it will not lighten the load.I always tell Dennis - always at a time when he is almost smash something furious lol to "stay positive' and I think one way of that is by smiling even when its really almost impossible.It takes more muscle to frown than to smile so what the heck!So my question to you did you drop your smile today????

Love is blind ..literally and figuratively...

I have been meaning to write this for a week or so now...I just have not had the time or lack or good prioritizing as adisa would say.It has been a minute since I was here - lets just say my summer was spent caged up in a place I have grown to love over two months...but thats a whole new blog for a whole new day...Lets just say it was a rollercoaster ride - from catching babies in Maternity to waiting for a medflighted patient in the E.R to drawing blood to hanging out with interpreter services to watching brain surgery to heart stents being placed it was a journey like no other - a gift that I was so humbled to receive.But today am not writing on that...though I would love to...I came to the conclusion last week that love is blind in all literal and figurative sense.So anyhu..I had the chance to spend an afternoon with a lady who was born with a form of macular dystrophy - which has caused her to be blind.So we hang out at the mall chatted for most of the while had dinner etc.We got talking and she begun to tell me how she met the guy she has been dating for the past three years and they are soon to be married.The whole romance story just blew my heart away - in a nutshell he fell in love with her from the day that he met her and of course she played hard to get for a while and bla bla bla the rest is history.So after the mall we got to hang out all three of us and just watching them interact just made me smile on the inside as I saw how we treated her like a queen - gently guiding her as they walked, squeezing her hand as they talked getting her cup cakes - yeah we had a midnight snacking binge with tea..I mean for a moment there I was invisible - the love in the room was so thick between them it got me thinking how love is so blind.... really it is...which then raises the question is love an it, is it a person , is it a feeling, or is love simply God.Is love Gods way of showing us how He does not see the outward He looks at the heart coz one of the things the lady told me that attracted her to Mr X was his selfless nature.His big heart as she put it.I mean we are trained as humans from an early age to see the container before we see the contents. Think about it as a kid you would not pick the plain cereal box... you went for the one with all the colours and promises of a Yoyo inside before you even saw the Yo yo.Ok so where was I going with all this mmmhh oh yah so its interesting how we write people off based on what they look like how they sound like or even how they dress.I wish we could learn to scratch a little bit beneath the surface - find out whats underneath that tough coat - whats treasures lie underneath the X marks the spot...I think I love love..its cliche but its true love makes the world go round.Everyone has that someone somwhere that loves them not for what they see but for who they are - on the inside.I mean its true what they say someone who is truly beautiful is beutiful first on the inside ok enough rambling...we have a tropical storm headed our way - Earl and as usual teh media is in a frenzy making such a fuss - i mean seriously people get a grip..you see thats the problem with the media they can almost be a cult.They make things into such a frenzy that people start beleiveing eveything that they sa..ok its one thirty a.m kwa dirisha baby..,,,


The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine - again someones facebook status...

Passengers in life

So today was awesome it was day one of my fellowship - like officially so far I have been doing orientation - like another serious thorough thing that lasted a week so today we finaly hit the floor with the other fellow...His name is Jason.He from Mexico....very cool dude has so many stroies we have lunch together and he is a good laugh.So anyhu yesterday there was a lady - brilliant is the word that comes to my mind when I think about Vanessa.She gave us a a mini presentation - actually it was more than a presentation it was so interactive she set us up in groups of ten and had us give our "villages" as she called them a name.So in twenty minutes we were to get to know each other by answering five questions - I hope I can remember them.Who are you?What drives you?Why this proffesion?Who / what made you be where you are today?who do you want to be remembered as?wow I think these questions can sum up ones life in a page...So anyhu she gave us a phrase that went something like "We are all passengers on a bus / commuter rail on this journey called life and the moment we see someone as though they are on another journey is when we have failed." I think she meant the moment we start seeign people different or treating people coz they dont look or talk the way we do or act the same is when problems arise such as innjustice , mistreatmeant, discrimination - on all facets - colour religion, disability etc....So where was I going with this...oh to relate it to this ...yesterday I find out someone I know is gay...at first I was taken aback but we delged into it - I of course asking silly questions "So how did you know? Is it something you have always had or it came recently??So we talked about it and at the end I honestly said to the person I do not see them any different than I did last week - and am so honest about that.I think we need to scratch the surface a bit more and find out whats really beneath the skin...behind the layers of colour and disabilty we need to realize that we are all in this journey together - with one final destination.Think about it this way - we are ten people all going to New York on a Greyhound in a mini van that only fits five...There are those who will make the best out of the journey and get to know the person next to them and even start singing songs to make the trip faster.Then there are the other five who will complainf and grunt the whole day and give each other uncormfortable stares coz they do not know who the other people are and care less who they are...So Vanessa was giving us the caring credential of MGH as a hospital how it strives to give patient quality care that stretches beyond just the surface...One of my interview questions I remember was Why nursing as a proffesion.And Isaid I like being able to see beyond a persons current situation - beyond the IV poles , beyond the catheters beyond the bandaids.I want to know what was going on in your life before this happened.how many children you have the countries you have been to and the experiences you have faced in life.And I know nursing is the only profession that allows me to do that and see beyond their condition...Oh so am drifting...I always do when i have so much to say....Case in point today my patients were two older gentlemen both very wealthy- sit on scholarship commitees, have travelled the world over, both their rooms had a beautiful view of the Charles River and all the boats and trust me they were paying for the view.. but at the end of the day they were at their crumbling point it doesnt matter who you are where you are from or what you have done you are as vulnerable as the poor sick man at the clinic down the road.So it should be like that all the time in all aspects of life not only when we are most vulnerable is when people or things we never used to even give a second thought start to matter....like Vanessa said we are all passengers on this same journey called life...Meanwhile the celtics are playing tommorrow a FINAL and not just any final the NBA finals - a years work of practice is going down tommorrow,I really hope they win they have worked so hard to prove the pundits and nay sayers wrong.ok its ten thirty am up at five a.m lol Penny getting up over the summer at a whole 5 am kweli the economy is tough lolest!!!!kwa dirisha baby.....


There can be a lot of activity with no productivity... -someones face book status

Five doors knocked = 1 open

So today I check my mailbox and find a letter for a scholarship that I had applied for a while back I had even almost forgotten about it.Sadly it was a "This year we had so many firece applications essays and unfortunately your was not one of the selected." Yeah I was dashed but only for like five minutes but dusted myself off.Reason being I had just come from day two of my oreintation for the Fellowship at Mass Gen - it was awesome - an informal meet and greet with the two amazing mentors who host the fellowship - Deb Washington and Bernice Avila - I love them already they are like my Mass Gen mothers and mentors at the same time.So anyhu as much as I did not get the Cherokee scholarship it was worth a try and thats what life is all about.You have to knock on five doors so that at leats one may open.Had I chosen to just apply to that and not try other arenas I would be so dissapointed but now I am so tied with my other endevaours.And I think thats a major reason y we give up so fast on so many things we just try one place and when we get turned down we stop trying altogether.One thing I know am not afraid of is rejection.The fear of failure of getting turned down - its shows at least I am trying making moves - a term I like to call "shifting the furniture." So start shifting the furniture around in your "house" (life) move things around knock on doors when there is no response try pry open the window there are so many ways to get into a house who said you have to use the door.Hey, Santa uses the chimney pull all the stops until you get in.

Of life and faith

So I have just come from watching a win or go home match between the Phoenix Suns and the L.A Lakers - really feel bad for the Suns they have done such a great job all season long..and I mean it would be good to have some variety for once to rep the Western side for the playofffs c kila saa Lakers Lakers.Anyhu they get to meet my lovely Celtics next Thursday - bring it on Lakers - lets show you what good basketball is all about...Oh back to my main story...So the last couple of weeks I have seen God.Yeah I know it sounds ???? but for real I have seen Gods hand in my life in ways I cannot even begin to describe.First two weeks ago I received a call that I had been awarded the Mary Coppola Scholarship -its some scholarship in the nursing school.Then the big one came this week.There is a fellowship that I had my eye on from last year November - can you say last year November .Yani I stumbled across the fellowship one of my late nights online and knew then and there that I was going to be a fellow by whatever means.Basically it is a 12 week fellowship where you are paired up with a minority mentor at Mass Gen and you get to go to various departments - get more hands on experience which is what I really want...So I applied - I think I was the first one to apply - initially there were between 30 - 40 applicants - and am talking applicants from kina Umass Amherst Boston College Brandeis you know the top shot schools so me there and my ka Salem State I said hey what the heck what do they have that I do not have.So anyhu from 30 we were zeroed down to ten then final 4 can you imagine I made it to the final four!!!So each of us had half an hour interview...So I check into the room I expect it to be me and one or MAYBE two people shock on me I enter and there were four ladies.Heh wacha they start introducing themselves.Am so and so director paediatric nursing am so and so director Orthopedic nursing at Mass gen. etc there I am putting on a straight face - oh nice to meet you...Haiya so the questions rolled in...Yani I am tellign you the confidence came from God.I was answerign questions that right now I wish I recorded myself coz I have no idea what I was sayign but funny by the end of it I was like "Gal you nailed that one."So they said they would get back to me in about two days...Anyhu the long of the short I got the fellowship!!!I was beyond myself with happiness - I think I have not yet swallowed up until now that I am a Hausman Fellow2010.You know I would open the website everytime I was online and see the fellows - last year I think there were two guys and one chick in th middle and trust me I would imagien my self there...So yes I got it and you know the thing that made me stay the course - one word Faith...Gosh for real its true faith as little as a mustard seed can move mountains...as little as a mustard seed.Just the belief that Gods got it.Whatever teh situation is however things may appear Gods got it if you just have faith in Him.Gosh we serve such a huge God - the cattle and the sheep of the land are all His.If its that job you need if its those finances you need sorted if its happiness, an internship, friendship, a soulmate, a new life, a new career, a new car , new ANYTHING ask and have faith faith faith.Yeah today let me get all "spiri" yani the whole day Friday after the whole fellowship stuff went through I was a wreck - Oh my goodness its God just God whatever he starts he is sure to finish He can never leave you hanging most of the times its us who give up.Throughout the whole application I never even thought of giving up evn once - but this is just one of the few times - most times I face the mountain and turn around...Ok am done that was my ranting and raving for today...So yes I am officially a Mass Gen Hausmann Fellow 2010!!!

Babies babies more babies....

So yesterday and today I spent a whole day trying to do my hair - and asusual when I got home I was like aai is this what I wanted??So anyhu the lady who was doign my hair - Juliet bless her soul - such a wonderful lady...has the most amazing baby - her name is Athena named afer the Greek goddess and she is so cuddly has the most amazing smile and she is constantly smiling...Then my other workmate had a baby too - both are Nigerian -oh and speaking of which I have absolutely fallen in love with egusi soup and foo - this is like the Nigerian delicacy and delicious it is.Both of my new found buddies Omo and Juliet are always fixing me Egusi soup when I go to their place.Funny it is made up of my three favourite meals - melon seeds - I love water melons , fish and it is so spicy - as in curry I loev it love it.....Oh so where was oh yeah so my dear Omo also got her baby last week - her name is Elora - means God is light...I went to see her she is so tiny and cuddly.They both allowed me to put pics on my blog for those days when life does not seem to make sense - I loook and see the innocence of childeren it amazes me...They are so cute I love children - I think they are a taste of heaven - the innocence the giggling the baby smell the chubby cheeks - dont you see and feel God in a little one oh gosh here are pics of Elora and Athena...

Obesity - Fact or Fad???

So the other day I was doing my clinical rotation in the O.R I got to see four different surgeries.One was a ten year old buy - cute as ever Tony was his name - yeah I have a thing with names...and he had the cutest dimples....after surgery I followed him to the recovery room and of course he had been given Versed - beautiful drug that causes amnesia and in the most sweetest voice he asks mama what happened?then he smiled it was amazing the dimples....oh then I got to see a kidney stone taken out - not much fun there - the surgeon just crushed it with some laser beam - fun but nothing to write home about...then its started gettign interesting I then got to see a total well partial knee replacement - they took out parts of the patellar and femur and put a movable metal piece...Ok so the final one and the reason I had to blog was a lady who was in for a tummy tuck and breast reduction surgery.My word!!!! the lumps of fat that were being removed from her abdomen....chunks and chunks - if you are not a blood, ER ,Greys anatomy kind of person you would have passed out.And all the while the surgeon was busy chattign me up about the up comign Boston Marathon after he found out I was from Kenya - he was all up in my bizz and there I was wide eyed looking at the fat upon fat ...So anyhu he pulled fat here stretched the skin there and presto a new tummy.But as I was watching the whole procedure a Big fat yellow M was comign to my mind and that M is for Mc Donalds....America is an obese nation... after watching that surgery Wednesday I confirmed it.My med surg professor always says Americans inhale food literally inhale - eat so fast it has no time to be digested.It takes a whole twenty minutes for the tummy to send a signal to the brain that it is full. A full 20 minutes!!! - seriously which American sits and enjoyes their food for 20 minutes- no offense anm not trying to step on anyones toes but its the truth.The other day I was in midday traffic so I decide to peep into cars in incoming traffic.Driver upon driver was putting something in their mouth - I saw bagels, cheese burgers , others were drinking - I dunno if it was soda or shakes...but my point is people are so much on the move that eating has becoming more of a task than an enjoyable part of the day.This rush eating and sedentary lifestyle is making more and more children begin checking their blood sugars at an early age as diabetes is another biggie and its all tied in to OBESITY!!!We are a fat nation even worse on the news today a report by one of the local media reported that insurance companies own almost seventy percent of the fast food chains - so what does that mean for the average consumer??They do not care what you eat - theirs is all about the mula....So thats my two cents for the day but seriously...is it a choice - do you choose what food you eat or you let society through commercials , "your crazy lifestyle"and your tummy dictate that for you??oh well i dunno but health in america is such a hot cake...Lol I was looking at a cookbook from different countries all over the world there was Jamaica, Japanese tapioca Kenyan githeri, Morrocan , Indian curry beef stew etc.Most of the meals took up almost two pages with ingredients and preparation...sadly I looked at most of the American dishes and they were a lousy page with three at most four ingredients - throw the pasta in the hot water boil open the meatball packet let it simmer for a few add the pasta sauce cheese and voila..I mean what does that tell you..Where other cultures see the value of takign time to acknowledge what goes into a meal the rush rush American lifestyle is all"grab and go"... I remember at the dinner table was where we as a family could discuss our day , I mean thats where the phrase "bring it to the table" originated from ama??so maybe I should pardon the average American - c kutaka kwao...society chose them they did not choose the society to be born into but I think its just something that needs serious consideration...Oh wait then again its the steroids they put in the food - yeah I have a lot to say - America was and still is the "granary of the world" I mean there is no way you are realistically telling me that this little chick will be a broiler in a week...so to feed the world America is pumping more and more steroids in the cows in the plants everywhere..so where do these steriods land - in my poor little abdomen...and steroids are packed with growth hormones so Eureka solve the steroid problem solve the obesity problem??I dunno...I give up...Its one thirty - as usual in the still of the night is when my mind is working overtime to blog...

Loves of my life

Today is one of those low days in my life - happen very rarely - but yeah they do...when all I can do is bawl my eyes out and soak a Kleenex when I think how much I miss my family...how I miss the days when we all we had was each other - when we shut out the world and all we did was laugh and tease each other.When I look back and see how far we have come as a family in this thing called life - the mountains we have climbed together from the

fun times we had at Golden Beach - getting soaked at the New Years eve parties, waiting up at midnight to open gifts under the Christmas tree - the look on someones face when they got that book they had wanted all year, dad leading the Christmas Carols ,driving around Sarit on christmas Eve - just window shopping - just being together made a world of difference.Oh Sunday lunches at Jacaranda after church - brunch we called it to fun at Sagret with the Munyokis,to days at Hs Number eleven when days got tough and to Kampala going to Garden City taking the Akamba together to Kla...hanging out in Wynberg and Rondebosch I mean the love is so thick you can cut it with a knife...so sadly we are so far apart now - different corners of the world I would give anything ANYTHING to have just one more day in the 90s in the Marenge house - the warmth the love the laughter the joy ....I miss you dad I miss you mum I miss you Jonah I miss you adi I miss you Jessy terribly terribly it almost hurts..

.....There are years that ask questions and there are years that answer them...."

Logs and Splints in eyes

Yeah the title is very extremely weird but will make sense as I go along - I hope....so as I was driving to work the other day I pass a billboard for some watch comapny - Taugher or something it was some exotic looking model lady...anyhu a few months ago it had been Tiger Woods on the billboard until his whole saga with cheating on his wife and all his clandes - on the sides - came into the picture.Now another story - unrelated to this but holds the same message...now a pastor that I hold so dear to me has been suspended "pending investigation" on reasons that are yet to be discovered.Immediately I heard this I was so distraught almost in tears...yeah I get soppy like that sometimes....So anyhu back to the the title...it is witten somwhere in Proverbs - do not remove the splints from your brothers eye and yet you have a log in your eyes.... In short who are we to judge and point fingers at other people errs and mistakes...who are we to cast the first stone on the proverbial Prostitute...I mean before any man should raise a finger and lay blame he / she needs to search and examine the deepest of depths of their hearts I mean are their sins any bigger than ours....Generally we cannot go walking around being the judge of peoples actions.There is only one judge and his name is GOD so I believe as long as you make it reight personally with God the rest is up to him to judge and discipline accordingly..but we are all mortals subject to the same law subject to the same mistakes...ok am blabberign on its one a.m and am mad sleepy - have serious spring break fever coming up - did my last Med Surg exam today and it messed me up completely thank God I really passed the first exams...
Anyhu now I lay me down to sleep Lord I pray My soul to keep and if I die before I wake Lord I pray my sould to take

How we spend our days is of course how we spend our lives - Anne Dillard

Decisions Decisions

So the other day I was at Market Basket getting my groceries.So am at the cereal aisle as usual I went straight for my Smart Start - yani I recommend that cereal for anyone having bowel issues - ok am getting graphic but you feel me it is works wonders...So anyway as usual the cereal aisle has like a million and one cereals.So there was a mum and her I think two year old daughter and the lady asks her "pick out the cereal you want"..Yeah I know it sounds trivial and thinking uh huh aaand...but as I walked away I started thinking how the upbringing here is so different from my lovely Kenya well Africa in general.From an early age kids here are given the responsibility to make choices speak out ...I rememeber growing up the only cereal I knew was Weetabix and had no say on whether I liked it or not you had to eat what was there and you had to do as required.I think that early decision making fosters a sense of independence which is so important - it makes you aware of teh fact that the decisions I make affect me no one else but me...If I decide not to study for this exam it will be me getting a flunking grade...However on teh flip side I beleive there are those decisions that my folks made that enabled me to be where I am today to think and act the way I do today that without that intervention I may have had no sense of direction.So it really is a tough call depending on what side you look a it...So am really sleepy have a mega long day - back to back until eleven so now I lay me down to sleep...Lord I pray my soul to keep and if I die before I wake Lord I pray my soul to take.....Oh oh wait there was a powerful song the choir sung in church - well they have sung it a couple of times but it always makes me go punches in the air punches in the air.My best phrase from the song is...'My storage is empty and I am available to you Lord.."Isnt that something or is it me getting sleepy???

to fly or not to fly that is the question

So last weekend - was the annual seven a side international rugby.It is usually held in San Diego but this time the venue was changed to sin city - the glamarous city of Las Vegas.So Dennis and I took a trip down there - everyone else bailed on the plan so we were there for a whole weekend was also St Valentines weekend - killed two birds with one stone...So anyhu as usual the Kenyan crowd was the largest - apparently there were 1500 Kenyans who had come down 50 from Nbi etc etc...so we chanted, we heckled all those high school cheering songs for sports , kina hatuta piga kelele hadi drama fest songs but sadly the Kenya team made it to the semis not finals but I was throughly impressed they did a really good job....Samoa won even though I ws secretly rooting for Fiji have some pics will post up soon - when I get the psyke and patience...so anyhu the long of the short we took united airlines and we were like so late - had gone to the wrong terminal as in they started beeping for us on the airport intercom - Will Kariuki and Marenge report to Gate B6 there we were running it ws just so intense....but before that I was so frustrated the lady who was checking us in made me check in my suit case - which was not even that big so am liek cool it cant cost that much hahhh shock on me I see 25 dollars flash on the screen am like what are you joking???Had to pay the darn money as were gettign late...Haiya we check into the flight by then fashionably late haiya so we get the drinks...heh I ask the flight attemdant later for another drink - she goes like 'Did they not come round earlier??" I was perplexed like sriously woman do you think I would be asking if I di dnot need one....I looked her straight in teh face and said yes though I want another drink am thirsty.Taking a deep breath she walked off and brought my apple juice with a look those ones of "Na usizoee'
So anyhu the long of the short on the trip back now that I was wiser I made sure I boarded mapema so I could weka my suitcase up there and it ws such a tusstle as people shoved as no one wanted to pay the 25 bucks.The point of my story is the joy and comfort of flying has really been taken away its actually a hustle from security to lousy drinks to the mega cold A/C well then again the states here are so close together hopping on a plane is like hopping on a bus from Nairobi to Mombasa but at least they can try make the flight worthwhile - I mean the tickets are pricey...I rememeber way back when taking Kenya Airways just to Mombasa and getting loaded with sandwhiches tea candy little wine and drinks blankets - you name it they got it and it was all free.I do not see why I have to pay 2 dollars for a lousy headset or even for a blanket - come on United gimme a break??? so that ws my weekend now am back in the system - will be up and out in a few weeks off to Georgia for spring break - this time I will be battling mosquitoes cold showers but am mega excted.Its a humanitarian mission lol - with Habitat for Humanity...lemme go watch the celtics thrash the Lakers...


“Work is love made visible. And if you can’t work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of the people who work with joy. Khalil Ghibran