He is A Good Good Father

It has been 2 years since I have written in this blog, wow!! Remember when I had to create this blog for my freshmen English class, seven years ago (Wonder if my professor still reads it). How time flies, floats, drifts away. Here in a new phase of my life, trying to grasp what now. Work, friendships, finances, marriage, children and my relationship with my heavenly father. But deep within me I know it is well with me, my soul, my life, my future. Moving forward always.

Taking a moment to reflect on life, and where I am right now. I pray that I am a positive impact those that I have been blessed to surround me, at work, at church, at home. That I love, I love, I love like my father has loved me, and I pray that I will experience his love, bringing me to a deeper understanding of his infinite love. A love that mends hearts, brings one down to one's knees sobbing like a child at its beauty, and brings hope of a better life, future. My father is sooo Good, He is a Good, Good Father.  To be an obedient, humble child is my prayer.

As always Live Life Righteously.

Fighting Paper Dolls

I was trained to use my words as a spear and shield that could go through an opponent's arguments and shield me from any imaginable rebuttal. But when the war was over, and my opponent looked behind me I was nothing but a Paper Doll - hollow, flat, empty and cold to touch.

This was my fate in this unimaginable struggle as a Female, African American, Engineer...... ME.

There is a time in every woman's education when she arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that she must take herself for better, for worse, as her portion......... The power which resides in her is new in nature, and none but she knows what that is which she can do, nor does she know until she has tried.-----Emerson

What's aboard studying abroad - Part Two: Hostels, Hair and Singapore

So I took a trip to Singapore to escape the stress of graduate school and braid my hair. Actually, the trip was more about braiding my hair. But travelling to a different country also comes with stresses of its own from the unexpected surprises around every bend.

Background Info: I was traveling with a Caucasian American male student, Lenard from Utah. Traveling with Lenard in itself was an experience. I never realized how little we knew about each other; heritage wise (I am African-American by the way) or just even about hair ( and yes, our hair textures are very different). Another discussion for another blog posting.

Anyway, I got to Singapore at about 8:00 pm. And neither me nor Lenard wrote the address for the hostel . From my research I did to get a feel for the hostel, I remember  it was on a street called "lavender street". With that bit of information we surprisingly were able to find the street. The fact that Lenard studied abroad here also helped :). On the subway,  we found another backpacker going to another hostel in the same area and we ended up staying in that hostel instead. And all this was done in 90 degree swelting weather.

Either way I was happy to be at the hostel. Being my first time in a hostel, I wanted to be in an all girls room. Since there wasn't any, I resorted to staying in a mixed room. I really didn't care,  as long as I had my bed in an air conditioned room ( Trust me the humidity and heat was no joke) . and I needed to get my bag off my back and eat dinner. we get our keys and headed upstairs to our room. The room had four bunk beds and we introduce ourselves to the boarders there. Two males from Singapore and a couple from France. So in total 6 people in the room for the night.

After introductions, we stuck our backpacks in the assigned lockers and darted out of there to get dinner. Since Lenard had been to Singapore before he was mainly in charge of every thing. We ended up eating dinner in a local restaurant and I ate baby squid (Forgive me Momma Squid). But I also got to eat crab curry which by the way is super messy. Someone on the adjacent table took pity on our inability to navigate through the crab shells and gave us extra wet tissue wipes. Probably thinking, " definitely foreigners ". We got back to the hostel at about 11:00pm and all was right with the world. Compared to the"hard" chinese bed (No joke it is basically like sitting on the floor), I had a soft bed for the night and I did not have to deal with the great Chinese fire wall. Only down side, one of the Singaporeans in my hostel room snored like a bull horn.

The Really Really BAD Hair
The next morning, it was a race to loosen my hair. I had set my alarm clock the previous morning to 4:00am, so that gave me 2 hours to remove my crochet braids. Boy, was that a damn mistake. I had my crochet braids for about 3 MONTHS!!! I was so desperate to get the rat nest off my head that I flew 5 hours to a different country to get my hair done (To all my brown colored sisters who know the struggle). I will try my best to make this entire ordeal as picturesque as possible. So there I was sitting on the covered toilet in a toilet/shower style bathroom that could fit 5 people my size. I was trying my very best to get all my braids out in two hours before daylight in 85 degree swelting heat. With half of my knotted short natural hair out and no mirror, utter embarrassment seemed to be the only way out of this bathroom. After about three hours and five angry knocks on the bathroom door I was done, Praise the Lord!!!

But my bad hair does not end there, so I managed to hail a taxi to the ¨salon¨. So the taxi driver drops me off perfectly on time at the address, which was a complex with a a series of high rising apartment building. And ofcourse I had assumed that the salon would be in a shopping complex and will only write the address without the apartment no#.  My day would not just let up, I spent an hour and a half walking up and down the complex praying that I would get a signal on my phone to message the owner of the salon. And yes, Thank you God, I got signal. I got to the apartment/salon and I have never and I mean NEVER been that happy in my life to get my hair done.

When she finished, her braids were probably not the best I had gotten. But at that sun-lit moment, I was never more happy to have sat in a chair for 5 hours. But that does not end my bad hair day y'all. Since I had assumed it to be a formal business setting, I only had my debit/credit cards. So I had to get cash from the ATM and ¨apparently¨ there was a SG$200 limit on my account. Here I was standing in front of the hairdresser, who though I was about to swindle her. I literally gave her all the money I had in my wallet and almost gave her my passport as collateral. I somehow I convinced her to trust that I would return with the rest of the money.

So here I was standing miles away from the hostel with less than SG$15 in my wallet and I had to find my way back somehow. Lord knows if one more thing were to have happened I would probably have lost it. And I was also supposed to meet Lenard to tour the city ( No way in $%#@ was that happening). I found a honest taxi driver who got me to the hostel with SG$2 to spare. And ofcourse I am greeted by grin-faced-Lenard who seemed to have been having a real chill day. (Ohh, was I tempted to slap that grin off his face.) Ok, kidding.... but dang it....do guys have it easy.

Lessons I have learned from this experience

1. Living in a hostel is absolutely not for me. I like my hotel room where I am free to snore and fart as much as I want
2. Always have enough cash with me in a foreign country.
3. Write the address of a place I am going in a foreign country completely with the phone number of any individual at the location if possible.
4. About time I learn how to braid my own hair ( because that hairdresser ripped the heck out me)
5. From the majority of people I met at Singapore, I have to say I was quite disappointed. Not the happiest /help your neighbor bunch of individuals I have met. Even China knows better.
6. Two days is two short for a vacation in a foreign country.

Back to the graduate grind
As Always Live Life Righteously 

On the article "Lights Out in Nigeria" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Being a fan of Chimamanda, forgive me if I am slightly biased in this post. So far, I have read all four books written by her ( Half of a Yellow Sun, Purple Hibiscus, Things around my Neck and Americanah). Actually in the process of re-reading her last book "Americanah". Out of all four books, Americanah is by far the least conservative of her books.



Back to the topic of this blog,
Lights out in Nigeria by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie



The article starts off by summarizing the subtle psychological effects that unstable power supply has on fellow Nigerians in one sentence.

"We call it light; electricity is too sterile a word and power too stiff, for this Nigerian phenomenon that can buoy spirits and smother dreams". 

Brief background of electricity in Nigeria,  the Nigerian electrical sector began its initial ascent under a single body, the national government.  Due to its dire, severe, monumental inefficiencies (unstable power supply to no power supply at all), the deregulation/privatization of the sector was prompted in 2005.  The article portrays some of these inefficiencies in the closest humanistic terms possible.

" Air-conditioners bleat and groan and make sounds they were not made to make..... In this assault of low voltage, the compressor of an air-conditioner suffers — the compressor is its heart, and it is an expensive heart to replace."

Soon after deregulation, the electrical sector structure looked something like this

Do we all see where the problem lies. Sigh!!

The article goes on to illustrate the "very" "very" expensive and desperate methods some Nigerians use to mitigate power supply (actually her methods are more for the upper class Nigerians). 

"The generator swallows liters and liters of diesel. Each time I count out cash to buy yet another jerrycan full, my throat tightens. I spend more on diesel than on food....... I awkwardly navigate 

between my sources of light, the big generator for family gatherings, the inverter for cooler nights, the small generator for daytime work."

Finally, the article wraps up summarizing the grim outlook of it all. And the never ending need for the government to take action. 

" I cannot help but wonder how many medical catastrophes have occurred in public hospitals because of no light,.....this remains an essential and poignant need: a government that will create the environment for steady and stable electricity, and the simple luxury of a monthly bill.

All in all, we can attribute the entirety of Nigeria's problems as being the sole fault of the Nigerian government. But the real mystery to solve is.... Who is the government ?.....Nigerians? Where do Nigerian's grievances end up?

Reference
Adichie, Chimamanda. "Lights Out in Nigeria." The New York Times. 1 Feb. 2015. Web. 17 Feb. 2015.

As Always Live Life Righteously

What's aboard studying abroad - Part One: The Convo's

One of the interesting things about studying abroad is the conversations you will have with other international students. My graduate program is a relatively new international branch of the main campus as a results the student size is relatively small. And the professors are flown-in to teach for each semester and video classes are administered to add more variety to the course-load. The student demographics consist of 80% Chinese, the rest include 2 Americans plus me, an Indian student, an Indonesian student and a Taiwanese student. But the only downside to the demographics is that there are only two girls in the entire program :|.....

But conversations in the study hall can get pretty interesting. So lets call the Indian student "Raj". So Raj is quite the character and relatively outspoken. The initial conversation started around "Lenard's" (an american student) internship experience in Sweden ( Big Bang Theory fans should should begin to see a pattern with the names :). But somehow the conversation migrated to why America does not have a distinct culture compared to most Asian countries. Surprisingly, Raj had more knowledge about the American heritage tree than me and Lenard combined. Sigh!!! But I found out that Indians in India call Native Americans in America, "Red Indians". But if you ever meet a Native American, do not refer to them as Red Indians ( it is quite offensive). And I also found out that about 40% of Americans are of the German descent ( I totally should have known that).

Then the conversation migrated to which cars Chinese People buy.  This time a few Chinese students join in the conversation. Background Info- My campus is situated in Shenzhen, a major financial hub in the Guangzhou province. And I have seen more Lamborghini's, Tesla's and BMWs here than I have anywhere in the US. So apparently the worst car that anyone can buy down here is the BYD brand..... Never heard of it ? Me Too. But this is because it is a Chinese Brand and wait for it, the acronym expands to mean "Beyond Your Dream" :)

And the Convos continue.....

As Always Live Life Righteously.

Yellow Brick Road to China

New Year.........Graduate School in China.....Wait What??.
First and Foremost, All the Glory and honor Belongs to the Lord God Almighty for his mercies and GRACE.

Now, lets rewind back to 2014. May 2nd 2014, I graduated from college with my BS.c in Electrical Engineering. (Yes, I did it and all the glory belongs to the Almighty GOD). And his mercies just abounds more and more. Thank you, Father. And after graduation, I headed down to Washington state for an internship with Boeing ( Another tale for another post).

Started the internship in July 2014 till about October 2014. And in October, I got accepted to graduate school down south which offered an exchange program to CHINA. After talking with my mom ( I just love my mom so much), I decided to take the leap and step on the First Yellow Brick to china. Yes, I know what you are thinking.....no google, no facebook, no instagram and squat toilets!!!!..... child something hit you on the head :). Actually while at Boeing, I just could not get accustomed to the 7am - 3pm schedule. Wished for something more exciting and outside of a four corner cubicle. Carefully for what you wish for, you could end up in china.

 Although I may be writing about the rosy parts, I was tested mentally and emotionally throughout that entire period. I cried a freaking ton of times, criticized myself heavily about everything but above all I grew. I flew back to my home-state and accepted the offer after talking to a few faculty who taught in china. After applying for my Chinese visa, I knew I was on the Second Yellow Brick. 

Between November and December, I lost my passport then had to apply for a replacement copy
(mind you they require a 6 weeks period to return the replacement copy) and I had to apply for a freaking ton of scholarships. Actually about 5 scholarships, but it felt like a freaking ton. Probably the one thing I don't like about applying for scholarships is requesting for recommendation letters from professors. I feel like a fly buzzing in their ears always asking them for recommendation letters. But you got to do what you got to do when graduate school cost about $8,000 + $3000 for the flight ticket.

Buying my 28hour flight ticket to Shenzhen, China, was another Yellow brick closer to OZ. December 27th, a day before my birthday I was standing at the check-in line at Hartfield Jackson airport en route to china. I had a 30mins flight stop over in Seattle, which I almost missed because the airport was so dang big. Then another stop over in Shanghai and finally arrived in OZ, Shenzhen China. And guess what, I technically didn't have a birthday in 2014 because I flew between time zones and totally skipped December 28th.

So Yes, I am in China.
And as Always Live Life Righteously.

Revival of a Short Story - Stuck in the Past

Walking out the door of my dorm, into the indecisive Georgia weather. My days in the boarding house came flooding back. Oh the times. The dry clay dust, the unpaved roads, the overgrown forest that surrounded the school, i remembered everything. In too many ways boarding house had shaped me. The school was located on the side of a hill,and everyday i would see the sun  set. Leaning on the window sill, i remember watching the sunset through the shutters of a random classroom. The softness of its yellow rays seemed to melt every worry away and my mind would go .......Blank.

Ahh, what the brief moment of serenity could do to the soul. Then reality comes right back with the bell boy jingling the bell for prep time. Prep time occupied about 60% of our time per week in my boarding house and sometimes even more if the headmaster was in a bad mood. If you ever decided to attend this school, you would think our motto was "study till you drop dead". Although it may seem that all we did was study, prep time if our housemistress was ¨suspiciously¨ absent, was how we boarding house students bonded. Wait, the headmaster just stepped in with a whip....................utter silence.

As Always Live Life Righteously