nilichoandika

Bujumbura: Travel diary

July 16th, 2022

I’ve been in Bujumbura for a week. It’s the economic capital of Burundi, however, the country has another capital which was officiated by their former president and parliament, called Gitega.

Their airport is called the Melchior Ndadaye-Bujumbura International airport. With the advent of COVID-19, this has got to be the only airport I know that demands you pay $100 (in that exact currency) for a covid test as a foreigner-upon both arrival and departure.

I landed here from Nairobi and immediately loved it, given that it’s summer here and the temperature is 27 degrees Celcius. The tropical weather is also due to its proximity to Lake Tanganyika and as a nation, they export coffee, cotton and tin. I got to visit the beach and walk in the sand on a hot Sunday afternoon-they have a lot of establishments along the beach-and you can choose which ones to visit and what to eat while you listen to some awesome afro-beats music.

The other thing that came as a shock for the Kenyan in me are their taxis. In Kenya, the Probox Succeed vehicles are known as “gari ya biashara,” and in Mbita where I reside, these vehicles carry at least 10 passengers plus the driver-but here they can carry only a maximum of four! The country is undergoing a fuel shortage crisis and they queue for hours to get fuel, but these people still carry 4 and not even six or seven!

The other shock, is their portions- they serve a lot of food and I love my soda, so getting to drink Fanta Citrus here was like getting my fix. Their vegetable is called ‘lengalenga’ and it’s got to be the most delicious ‘mboga kienyeji’ I have had.

Give the influence of expats here, and having been colonized by the French- most of them speak in French and Kirundi (I can only say good morning in this language, everything else is lost on me)- and few speak English. I got a treat of awesome cake and coffee at Le Café Gourmand in the city.

It’s been a week of me just accepting the fact that I am not in Kenya and loving the kindness and company of the team I am working with here, and above all getting to understand and empathize with this country for the tumultuous history its had, and the frustration of young people who desire grow and prefer to leave and not look back. Everything here takes time, more like no one is in a hurry to do more than one thing and the Kenyan in me is learning not to be frustrated after coming to know more of their history and culture.

Have a great weekend wherever you are.
Composer

July 9th, 2022

My love told me the truth,

It’s the way it came out of him, like smoke out of a chimney on a cold July morning,

And the smoke stated “you are a writer, isn’t it within you to find the right words?”

And so like any other battle, he set the pace for war,

And I have been in turmoil ever since then,

Because I do not see myself in those words, rather, I desire composition.

I desire notes, movements, moments, pauses…chills, emotions, Mozart, Bach, I desire the serenade of violins and concertos, thoughts evoked only by melody, arranged over time like symphonies…hands in the air, eyes closed…composition,

Not the anguish or effort of the Composer!

http://www.pexels.com
Laana: Daughter of the Middle World

July 2nd, 2022

My name is Laana and where it is a beautiful word to utter and easy on the tongue, it is what my people know as a curse. I am the cursed one. I was born on a stormy night at the exact time that thunder struck and the moon was right above the singing forest. Everyone knows not to utter a sound when it pours but I came into the world screaming at the moon.

My people cannot begin to understand where I draw my powers from and so they would rather call me cursed than stand in judgment of their secrets revealed. My home serves as the boundary between our people and the people of Jirani. They too have someone whom they look up to like we do; their source can make the sun stand still or send the rain away, I wouldn’t know because I have never met their source- these are the stories I hear in the market or in the dance arena when I sneak quietly to attend events, or watch the dance of the maidens every year as hosted by the royal family.

An excerpt from the book, Laana: Daughter of the Middle World
Updates on: life ,writing, reading and on the road

June 25th, 2022

I have been writing stories in my head. Yes, not just telling or vividly imagining things but writing them so well that at times I get disappointed when I wake up and read the notes I took down mid-sleep. However, I am confident in my love for and ability to write historical fantasy. If it involves an African kingdom, the spiritual realm of gods, spirits, seers and women- well, I enjoy writing such stories. The previous books I’ve published which explore these themes are: The Currents Series ( Fire, water, Wind & Earth) and Zuri: The Chronicler of Enzi.

On writing: It is my love for fantasy and such stories that have me confident in saying that I am finally releasing my latest book, Laana: Daughter of the Middle World, in the first week of July 2022.

On reading: I read Everyday by David Levithan this morning and the concept was quite appealing to me, because it is told by A, a 16-year old boy who is a drifter. He wakes up in a different body of someone of his age everyday, and he’s used to not making a fuss or disrupting their lives for those 24 hours, that’s until he meets a girl he likes. I am currently reading another book by another David. It’s The Indian Clerk by David Leavitt. The blurb states it is based on the life and relationship between Mathematicians, Ramanujan and Hardy- and if you love Math and know about the concept of Infinity-this is must read, and personally, I just finished watching Melancholia where both Mathematicians were referenced.

On life and work: The month of June has been involving with travel to schools and with work, I am learning to schedule and plan out most of my responsibilities. On the fun side, my love for kiondos has seen me but a variety of kiondos (shapes, sizes and colors) just to have the collection. I bought three this month and can’t wait to carry them.

I look forward to July and to the experiences that I would be involved in and can only hope for the very best. Until then, I stocked up on notebooks, pencils and a lot of pens to gather my wits and ideas for the next book.

Have a wonderful weekend. Stay safe.
Energy

June 15th, 2022

http://www.pexels.com

I watched you walk away,

It’s your heart that I couldn’t sway.

So, I watched you walk away,

And counted the footprints that led you away.
Love song

June 1st, 2022

And when the sun revealed herself,

my love asked for a song,

what kind of song? I asked.

A love song.

Sing me a love song.

by Aedrian http://www.unsplash.com
Temple

May 19th, 2022

I hope you tell your stories,

the good, funny, quirky, embarrassing, painful,

I hope you tell your stories,

Just as you live and breathe them…not a word more, or a word less.

Talk of the mountains you scaled,

Of the tides that washed you away only to drown you,

Of the waves that made you yearn to catch just one breath…not much, just one.

I hope you welcome your demons into your temple,

That you do not silence them but rather your serenity makes them unwelcome,

That when they seek to drown you, they are drowned and silenced instead.

In your temple, I hope you rise and fall, soar and perch…

I hope you tell your stories,

Not for the world to hear, but for you to finally listen to yourself and be a lot more kinder to yourself, in your temple.
In Between

April 28th, 2022

I look for you in the spaces between my memories and desires,

And sometimes, when the world is alight

I see you, shining.

Luke Barky:www.pexels.com
Waterfall

April 24th, 2022

It all came back to me.

The thing I ought to have done but never did.

I always love the lake, and wandering along the shores gives me serenity,

But today I caught a waterfall,

Then it all came back to me, what I should have done five years ago.

I should have told you that I knew about the lies, that I knew your silence was your inability to see the truth I knew about you.

Like that, the calls and texts stopped, and I looked to the stars,

To the lies I wanted to believe on love and just like that you continued in your journey and I soared in mine, until today…

I caught a waterfall, and just like that, I realized that the saddest thing I ever did then was act like I didn’t know what was going on.

Albina White: http://www.pexels.com
Updates on writing and reading

April 18th, 2022

It is fifteen minutes to three in the afternoon and I’ve had my second cup of coffee.

I woke up with one goal in mind today; to get notebooks and pens from Miniso at Sarit Centre and here’s what I got- 3 writing books, 3 pocket notebooks and 4 pens.

I also passed by the TextBook Centre store and picked two books to read and had to walk out so fast because if I stayed longer I would have spent more money on books and stationery.

I am writing more this week and looking forward to going through the final draft before settling on a publication plan for mid May. Until then, have a great week.