Dirty, Flirty, Thirty-Something

As the title suggests my birthday had rolled around :-) Ok, must confess, am not quite dirty and flirty but was most definitely thirty-something!
Celebrated by the beach for the weekend. Had everything a girl of my age could want:
- a weekend sleep over with friends (and some acquaintances) on a really beautiful property a bit outside of Accra in a village called Langama ( a bit beyond Kokrobite)
- a large bonfire on the beach
- plenty of music and liquor
- plenty of food ( we grilled everything you could think of)
- a huge, delicious three layer chocolate cake - with ice cream of course!
- good balance of presents and presence
- a full body massage with the sounds of the ocean and the children boogie-boarding in the background smothered with the smells of aromatic oils
- fabulous and crazy friends
plus a few other things I will choose not to mention.

... did miss my Jamaican and Dutch 'crew', but figured out that they must have been receiving all the vibes everyone was sending.

Thought it apt that the name of the property was 'Sankofa'.

Sankofa is one of the Adinkra symbols which literally translated means ' return and get it' and it's the symbol of the importance of learning from the past.

That is pretty much how I feel about my birthdays these days - I try not to dwell on the fact that I am getting older (though I am sure the pre-mid-life crisis will manifest soon enough), but rather on the fact that there are so many experiences that I have to be thankful about and how that has shaped and is shaping my future.
After all, I am a 'phenomenal woman' (follow the link):D
Will provide a link to some pictures later!

Memories of Ethiopia and saSKIa

There has just been so much happening this week and I have hardly found time to update my blog. A million and one things have been going through my mind but just to find the time to read, reflect and write seems impossible. However in the midst of all the mayhem and madness got an e-mail from a friend that I have to share! See: http://www.thankyouproject.com.au/other/photos/show/4431.

Brought back memories of Ethiopia that actually made me go find the pictures that we took on our - Saskia and I - trip that took place in May 2006. We stayed at a Jamaican friend's house, Sas had a new camera and we were fooling around taking pictures, shooting home music videos (long story!) - some of my favourites included the pic of me I now use on my blog.

Pictures aside there was:
- visiting Shashemane and meeting some of the Jamaican Rastafarians that had moved there. Left mixed feelings about choices, religion, beliefs, the struggle of acceptance in a culture and country that is inherently not yours;
- a wicked Jamaican restaurant that served the best reggae music, oxtail, curried goat, and rice and peas;
- hearing TOK's 'Footprints' for the first time, the lyrics even more relevant given our early morning 'search and find mission' to Shash, where one of Lorna's son, along with some other people, on their way back from a dance in a neighbouring community were held up by armed robbers. Luck, everyone shaken but ok;

- making an early morning trip to the old capital in the hills overlooking Addis, and just being awed by the share majesty of Ethiopian kings and queens and history.

Was the best of times, was the worst of times, was a strange time. Not just for me I think, but for Saskia too. We usually talk a lot about everything, but that week we seem to have just landed in a maelstrom of events that made issues about life choices, family, friends and one as an individual just that much more poignant.

Thanks Sas, not just for the card but for being a good friend. Both to Ashes and me. Nuff respect.