NDEBELE

Let's take a short visit to South of Africa and focus on the Ndebele people for a while.
The Ndebele are a Bantu group of people who are part of the larger Nguni ethnic group. They are divided into two major groups.
1. Northern Ndebele people
2. Southern Ndebele people
One of the factors that separates them is their language. The language spoken by the Southern Ndebele People slightly differs from that spoken by the Northern Ndebele people. Generally they are found in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

I got to know about these people during one of my Architectural design classes. What struck my CRAZY lecturer (He is really cray cray!) about these people was their art, which is presented on the walls of their homes, their garments, their jewellery and headdresses.

Wall art.

Girl's panel.

The Ndebele are such colourful people. Their ability to use lines to form simple shapes and eventually transform them into complex shapes is FASCINATING! What's more, is that their art was and I guess still is, an important part of communication among them. Their art is very much evident on the walls of their houses. Each woman is responsible for the painting of the outside gates, front walls, side walls, and usually the interior of her home.

I honestly do not know what the various combinations of shapes and colours by the ndebele mean but I did try to come up with a few pieces.

This one was actually my assignment.

This....uum I got bored one afternoon so I tried something almost similar to the previous one.

More of Ndebele art.

Some bracelets you may fancy.

They even make their own dolls!!

If you want to know more, kindly follow THIS link and THIS other link as well.

For those who have heard me say 'Ndebele this, Ndebele that' now you know what I was talking about!

GOD ENJOYS PRACTICAL JOKES

Some of the things which happen to us in our day to day activities can be rather annoying but a probably funny to God.
I say God because according to the Bible, God created man. Hence I tend to think that sometimes we are like His puppets, no? (OK,not an intellectual thought but . . .on a light note. hehe)

Today just happens to be one of those days I postpone my 'shower hour' until after noon because I'll be home the whole day. So at around 1PM I stepped into the shower (Some of you know how much I love my shower hour). Immediately I began my usual singing and dancing (LOL, I can sing a little but DANCE??? NOT EVEN TO SAVE MY LIFE!) While I was busy enjoying my shower, the lights went out! For all you guys who have instant showers, I'm sure you can relate.*sigh* This has happened many times before. There was a time it happened 3 times in one week.I complained to a friend who then laughed and said, "Well, what do you know? God enjoys practical jokes as well"
So today because I was half way through my 'shower hour' I just decided to persevere the cold water. Then guess what? Immediately I was done, the lights came back on. Needless to say I cursed K.P.L.C then remembered what my friend told me and laughed (You know, that 'hahahaha NKT' kind of laughter)

Later on as I was combing my hair, I remembered what happened a few nights ago. There I was in my bed very sleepy but still chatting on whatsapp (I know I'm not the only one who does this). I had switched off the lights because I was not planning on getting out of bed until the following morning. Then suddenly I realized that I needed to use the washroom but I was feeling rather too lazy to go. After a minute of debating if I will hold 'till morning or go, I just went. Long story short, the lights went out and I almost missed the toilet seat. I guess being sleepy and sudden darkness confuses you a little.
Again, I just told myself 'God enjoys practical jokes'

I'm sure we all have our funny stories of 'God enjoys practical jokes'. Be it the guy/girl whom you swore you'd never be seen with let alone date and now you cannot stop thinking about him/her or the time you were about to warm your food in the microwave, after dying of hunger, only for the lights to go out. Feel free to share them. I usually imagine God watches us and dies of laughter in heaven, probably with His angels too.

6 YEARS A SLAVE

I'm pretty sure y'all have heard about / watched the movie "12 years a slave". For those who have not, 12 years a slave is basically about a free black man who is sold into slavery and has freedom restored to him after 12 years. This movie is still quite a hit. It tries to capture the problems black people faced while in slavery.

Well, a couple of days back, a classmate posted this photo.

Hahaha, I know you are somehow wondering what it is all about. Well, the building in the background is University of Nairobi's A.D.D. (Architectural design and development) Campus. This where you will find architecture students 'slaving' through the night to complete their projects. The course itself takes 6 years hence the title '6 YEARS A SLAVE'

I study Architecture and I love it!! (At least so far it has not given me a concrete reason to hate it). In my opinion, architecture students are very creative / artsy people (though sometimes we are a little weird and crazy. hehe) Almost two weeks ago I had the chance to spend a night in studio to complete models for my final year pin up. Luckily, I had company. However, by the time the sun was rising, my feet were swollen, I was so HUNGRY and I terribly needed to sleep!! In the one year I have studied Architecture I have come across really good pieces which my classmates have worked on. So I thought I could share some of their art work and models on my blog. I hope you will like some of them if not all of them.

A flower painting.

Mid-year pin up.

Painting of a book cover.

A portfolio.

Pencil art.

A model showing function of space.

Then the final year pin up presentations.

KIPARA NGOTO!!

Hahahaha!!! I just had to call it Kipara ngoto!

It has been exactly one month since I cut my hair and dyed it RED.
It has been one month of "nywere nashoro" though it is now not as red as it was in the beginning.
Having short hair was not exactly a random idea (though I tell people it was to get the 'why did you cut your hair story' done with). I was forced to cut it because my hairline was beginning to get seriously damaged due to tight braiding.

Cutting my hair was not exactly easy but I consoled myself that it will eventually grow. There are a couple of things I had to learn in the past one month.


1. Shaving most of your hair and still looking good (without accessories) pretty much depends on the shape of your head. On the day I cut my hair and my father saw it, all he could say was "Una bahati kubwa kichwa imekubali". I just laughed!

2. There are men who are seriously disturbed by ladies having short hair! Some of my male friends still tell me that they cannot wait for 'the short hair phase' to come to an end.

3. Putting on big loops can really jazz up your look.

4. You need confidence to make short hair look HOT!

5. PATIENCE IS KEY! Unlike what most people think, short hair does require your attention if you want it to grow healthy and long.


I have learnt to accept my short hair although sometimes I have dreams that my hair has grown so long and thick only to wake up, touch my 'Kisogo' and be disappointed. LOL! (Those dreams usually seem so damn real!!)

Well, that's all for now. I shall leave you with a couple of photos to show you my one month 'nashoro hair'

BREAK UPs

Relationships. Always such an interesting topic and probably the most discussed topic by teenagers and young adults.



We all love to be loved by someone whom we love. The first few months of a relationship (according to my observation and little experience) are rather very pleasant and promising. Full of “I love yous” “You and me together forever” and so much more. However when the couple experiences their first fight everything seems to fall apart. After a few days probably even hours or minutes the relationship is over simply because differences could not be worked out. Not all couples break up after the honeymoon phase. There are those who last a year or two. We all probably know that one couple where the two have been dating for what seems like ETERNITY!! Sometimes we envy them sometimes we don’t. However, even those who have been dating for years do SURPRISINGLY break up! (I’d be damned!!)



A break up experience is literally the heart’s worst nightmare. Break ups usually leave a person feeling empty and neglected. However, as you move on with your life you start to realize that that experience makes you grow as a person, unless you are not really keen on learning from life. You begin to understand which qualities to look for in a man/woman, which qualities you can easily dismiss ( no one is perfect) and those which you simply cannot tolerate! Break ups, are actually meant to gear a person towards a more mature….uumm generally better relationship. We have to admit they really do give us a break, no? In the following weeks and months we get to achieve personal goals which we were not really keen on and we also get to mingle a little here and there. So, next time you do go through a break up ( I know it’s not what you want to hear but hey, it’s life my friend) do not be too hard on yourself. Much greater blessings are coming your way!! :-)