Check out my Friend

I know you are bored with me.  Hey, I'm bored with me too!  Sometimes life just gets the best of you.  I just don't have time to blog these days (lo siento).  It would be full of complaining about my project anyway.  I promise to update you after next week.  Until I come back check out my buddy Laura's blog.  

Most of us wish we had the opportunity to travel to Ethiopia prior to picking up our children, she is actually there AND for ONE MONTH working in an orphanage!  I don't want to spoil it (more like, I'm running out of time to write). Go visit and say HELLO!  

Misery Loves Company?

Remember the old saying: misery loves company? Well, I'm not really going there, I just wanted to see if you remembered it? I'm actually a happy girl these days (or at least I am telling myself that because I figure if I keep it then I will believe it LOL...so there!)! I was at the gym this morning...see I'm living up to one of my resolutions getting my health together. Anywhoo I was reading about Kiva.org which is an organization that helps entrepreneurs in third world countries by providing them with microloans funded by individuals like you and I. One interesting fact about the site is that you get get to choose the person, country and type of business you are interested in funding. Pretty cool and they only want you to donate $25 at a time. Hey, even my broke A$& can do that! So, feeling on top of the world, after having climbed something like a million flights of stairs (okay, I'm exaggerating a little, but it felt like it), I went back home and donated $25 to help another woman get her business off the ground. If I can't help myself today I certainly can help another (LOL...this is supposed to be funny so laugh) $25 isn't much to me but for another woman in Tanzania it is a portion of what will help her support her family.

This is 30 year-old Eisha Nassoro. She is married with three children aged 7 and 9, and has two other dependents who are her niece and nephew.

In 2000, Eisha established a livestock business and in 2007, added a grocery business to her workload. Eisha has already received and successfully repaid two loans from SELFINA, and now requires a loan of $850 in order to purchase additional stock in bulk.

More Reasons to Believe What You Read?

Today the UN released the 2007 AIDS Epidemic Update Reports on the latest developments in the global AIDS epidemic. The 2007 edition provides the most recent estimates of the AIDS epidemic and explores new findings and trends in the epidemic’s evolution BUT GET THIS, the top UN AIDS scientists were only pulling our leg about the enormity of the epidemic. That's right folks! The scientists "said" they were overestimating both the size and the course of the epidemic, which they now believe has been slowing for nearly a decade, according to the U.N (Washington Post article).

One AIDS expert, James Chin (author of "The AIDS Pandemic: The Collision of Epidemiology With Political Correctness") even had the audacity to say, "the numbers are more at 25 million not 33 million ... (the epidemic) It's a little high, but it's not outrageous anymore." Yup...I bet those 33, 25, 15 million or xxx million people feel LUCKY, LUCKY, LUCKY, LUCKY!

Ebony or Michael?

This months Ebony is filled with great information about Africa you should pick up a copy however, that is not what I really want to talk about (of course not). When you pick it up look at the cover, it's Michael J.! Dang, whatever happened to Michael? I still feel bad for him (did you see the movie?). He was such a cute kid and even a decent looking man then he became...well, very interesting...okay, I'm not quite sure what he looks like now but I still love his old music. Back to my original point: Ebony has a pretty good magazine out this month about Africa you should go pick up a copy! LOL

African Ancestry Roots

When I first started blogging (see post) I said I was going to get my DNA tested to see where my mother’s family was from in Africa. I got my results back and I am proud to announce that my African Ancestry is shared with people in several countries today: the Mende people in Sierra Leone, the Fula people in Guinea-Bissau, and the Kru people in Liberia. For those of you who don’t know geography (don’t worry I don’t either) the countries are in West Africa on the Coast side-by-side.

From what I can tell in my reading, many of the slaves from those particular tribes were taken to the Caribbean. This makes sense being that my family is from the islands of Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Antigua and I even have family in Panama. Once you live on one island you can live on pretty much any island, have raft…will float! Was that politically correct? Who cares it's my family I can say what I want!

Bottom line, this is pretty exciting, now I need to visit the countries. Too bad when I go to pick up Baby I there won’t be enough money or energy to stop over in those countries since I will be on that side of the world. I’ll put the trip on my agenda to do when Baby I is a few years old and I have a few extra thousand dollars burning a whole in my pocket. I'll get a nice vacation and Grandmommy will get a few weeks of dedicated grandmothering...she'll love that (won't you?) Until then I’ll start reading (and praying for a money tree...oh I mean for my business to prosper) and looking for all the information I can in the US on Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and my tribes.

One of the great things about living in DC is that all of the embassies are here, maybe I can get invited to some big cultural affair since I have just found my roots! If they try to say no do you think swinging my braids would work? Smile

Late addition: I'm a little obsessed with this DNA stuff. I forgot to add now I have to do the ad mixture to find out where the other half of my family is from. You know...who the slaves mixed with. LOL I hear we have Lebanese, Spanish (duh, Dominican Republic) and Scottish. Another test and another time (read: money).

Happy New Millennium

For those of you who don't know (probably just my friends and family...smile), today is the day that Ethiopia entered into the new millennium. Based on the Ethiopian calendar September 12, 2000 is the first day of the new millennium so you know what that means? PARTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!