Being in a family is all about compromise – that’s what I learned today 🙂
It’s 6: 11 PM on day 203 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to go visit my dad’s cousin and dad’s cousin and aunt in Port Edward and come back to Lusikisiki.
After visiting my dad’s cousin and aunt we went to the arcade in the Wild Coast Casino (see pictures below) and although I would rather have shot myself than be there as we went to buy Ice-cream I realized that my wants and needs weren’t the only ones that mattered so I tried my best to enjoy the experience. Are your familial relationships in taters because you are unable to compromise?
You should do what you know is right regardless of what anybody else says – that’s what I learned today 🙂
It’s 3: 10 PM on day 202 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a banana for breakfast, survive a five hour road trip back to my hometown of Lusikisiki (see picture of our journey below) and eat rice and curry for lunch – I let my mother feed me just this once because I didn’t want to make a mess in my aunt’s living room.
Today when I was in the car on our road trip a friend of mine send me a text via my sister’s cell phone and my father overheard me saying to my sister tell her I got the bread and he asked what’s this about bread so I reluctantly told him that my friend and I were approaching bakeries to see if they’d be willing to donate bread to enable me to make more sandwiches for my housekeeper’s community (if you have no idea what I’m talking about refer to ‘Day 184’) and all he could think to say was I will buy the bread otherwise people will think we are eating the donated bread and in that moment I came to a maddening realization that all my father cared about was his reputation. Are you guided by other people’s opinions or your own intuition?
My 16-year old sister - Neethu - and 10-year-old brother - Kevin - in the backseat of our car
The security area of Nelson Mandela's house in Qunu - his hometown
It’s 9: 26 PM on day 201 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a banana for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – listen to music, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watched TV while feeding myself bread and baked beans for dinner and tweet about campaign some more –still no luck.
Today as I watched the Cricket World Cup final India vs. Sri Lanka and heard my parents joyous screams when the match resulted in a victory for India I realized that the reason people were so passionate about sports was because they felt connected to something greater than themselves if only for a few hours. Do you support a specific team to feel a oneness with others?
Two-faced – insincere in dealings with people, especially by being outwardly friendly, but secretly disloyal
It’s 8: 36 PM on day 200 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a bread and jam sandwich for breakfast, reply to an email about my campaign – if all goes well I should be getting a donation pretty soon 🙂 – tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – listen to music, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, go to physiotherapy – it didn’t that bad considering I hadn’t exercised for the past three weeks – I was SO happy 🙂 – watch TV, feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – filled with tomatoes and chili for dinner and tweet about campaign some more –still no luck.
As you know I try very hard not to live my life in judgment of others but today when I heard that my uncle was dropping my grandma off at our house – yet again – because he didn’t want to take her to the prayer that he and his family go to every month I thought to myself with OUTRAGE why do these people even go to prayer they are an embarrassment to God and in that moment I realized that being Christian was less about what you did in the church and more about what you did when you left the church. Would you do something that you know to be evil just to protect your reputation?
Inspiration – somebody or something that inspires somebody to creative thought or to the making of art.
It’s 8: 48 PM on day 199 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself French Fries for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, listen to music, tweet about campaign some more – no donation were made but I found out that Sarah Brown – wife of former British Prime-Minister Gordon Brown – is following me on Twitter which might increase my credibility with the general public and thus make raising money for my campaign a little easier 🙂 – feed myself custard for dinner, tweet about campaign some more –still no luck – and watched TV.
Today listening to Never Grow Up by Taylor Swift (see below) I longed for the time in my life where the biggest decision I had to make was what cereal to eat in the morning but then I realized that it would be kind of weird if we were all frozen in time and I asked myself what do I love about my life now and to my surprise there was actually a lot I loved about being newly twenty I guess what I am trying to say is something I eluded to leading up to my twentieth birthday just be where you are in your life because at the end of the day you can’t life in the past or the future with that said I urge to do what I did and ask yourself what do I love about my life now I promise you the answers you find will give you a new perspective on your life. Has a song, book or movie ever inspired you to see your life from a different point of view?
When all else fails go back to gratitude – that’s what I learned today 🙂
It’s 10: 42 PM on day 198 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Spring rolls for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, email some people about my campaign – still waiting for replies – feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – and vegetable curry for dinner, tweet about campaign some more –still no luck – and watched TV.
Today as I was lying on my bed attempting to turn to left-hand side – I was on my back – I remember thinking I hate my body, I hate my body, I hate my body but after a few moments had passed I came to the profound realization that my body – though it didn’t work like everybody else’s – was a capsule for my soul and with that I stopped being such an ingrate. In your moments of frustration do you get mad at life or say thank you God I’m still alive?
No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots. – Barbara Ehrenreich
It’s 10: 46 PM on day 197 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a cheese and lettuce sandwich for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – listen to music, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, hang out with my sister and cousin, feed myself rice and curry for dinner, tweet about campaign some more –still no luck – and watch The Oprah Winfrey Show – today’s episode was about Tyler Perry’s horrific childhood and although I was never abused physically or sexually I knew how he felt because every time I saw my father raise his hand to my mother or heard him call her a bitch I felt like a piece of me died 🙁
As you may know by now I LOVE South Africa with everything that I am however, I find it UNACCEPTABLE that human beings are being decapitated like animals in this beautiful country which is why I am calling on all South Africans to download Shout – a soundtrack featuring the best musicians in South Africa (see music video below) – by texting SHOUT to 33335 all the proceeds will go to various charities and causes that help in the prevention of crime as well as to help victims of crime. Do you stay silent about the challenges facing your country because you’re afraid of sounding unpatriotic?
You know you’re living a great life when you can pat yourself on the back without an audience present – that’s what I learned today 🙂
It’s 10: 43 PM on day 196 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a bread and jam sandwich for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, listen to music, feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – and tomato curry for dinner, tweet about campaign some more –still no luck – and watch TV.
Today as I was being wheeled from my bedroom to the dining room by our housekeeper I thought to myself with the upmost sincerity the world wouldn’t be the same without me and that I guess is my message to all of you guys do something every day to make sure that the world wouldn’t be the same without you because at the end of the day the feeling you get after helping someone will fill that hole in your heart that you didn’t even know you had. Do you feel the need to tell people of all your achievements because you know deep down that you’re not living a great life?
Politicians are leaders come election year whereas, leaders are leaders everyday of their lives – that’s what I learned today 🙁
It’s 9: 06 PM on day 195 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to watch Letters to Juliet on DVD while eating pizza and garlic bread – leftovers from last night’s dinner– for breakfast – it was completely sappy and I knew how it was going to end even before it began but I LOVED it nonetheless the less I would recommend it to all the hopeless romantics out there – brush my teeth, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – again I woke up to find that someone had made a donation to my campaign after I’d went to bed last night – thanks Rachel (@theWriteRach) for your contribution it means a LOT to me 🙂 –feed myself rice and curry for lunch, listen to music for a few hours, feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – filled with tomatoes and chilies for dinner and tweet about campaign some more – no new donations were made.
Today I was watching the news and I heard the leader of South Africa’s official opposition party, Helen Zille say something along the lines of people should vote for the DA – Democratic Alliance – in the upcoming local government elections because it is very hard to make a difference when you’re the opposition party and not the government and in that moment I realized with great sadness that politics had become nothing more than a game because I knew firsthand that you didn’t have to be in the President’s office to make a HUGE difference. Are your elected representatives politicians or leaders?
It’s 3: 58 PM on day 194 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, make sandwiches for the people in our housekeeper’s neighbourhood (if you have no idea what I am talking about refer to ‘Day 184’) – I buttered the bread while my mom put the jam on – it was SO much fun the only thing I would do differently was tell my mother to buy foil instead of using the sandwich wrap but still all in all it was great day 🙂 – tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – I woke up to find that four more people had made donations to my campaign after I’d went to bed yesterday which brings my grand total raised on my birthday to $161.68 –a special thanks to Anonymous, Melanie, @dianarusso (Diana), @laurajteacheroz (Laura) and Anonymous for their generous donations 🙂 – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, go visit my cousin who came back from university for a week and feed myself pizza and garlic bread for dinner.
Today I signed up to be a part of Earth Hour 2011 hoping that all of the members of my immediate family would participate unfortunately for me I didn’t take into account that Kevin – my 10-year-old brother – couldn’t survive an hour without watching TV so we reached a compromise I told him he could use everything in the living room provided that everything else in the house was switched off and although I tried my best to my okay with it I remember feeling so annoyed that he refused to cooperate but then I realized that sometimes you should stand for something even if it means standing alone. Do you only make the right choice when you’re in the majority?
