REHANA BLOGS

Having really lived in Nairobi for six months, I never thought I'd wake up one day and realize that there has been no day that has passed since I have come to live here that I have not seen something new, something different, something I've never seen before. And yet, It's true. The first day I saw a carpet of purple outside my window, where the jacaranda tree had shed these beautiful little gems of nature. The day after that, I saw my reflection in a high-rise building, with the big city behind me. It was strange, it was different. I looked at myself and felt that I didn't really know this person staring back at me. And then I let go and continued running towards my destination. For this is what people in a busy city like Nairobi do. No one simply takes time to be themselves. And then I saw horses in the park. I've never seen such glorious horses, with velvety noses and gentle eyes. And then I saw the military men on their backs. First illusion shattered. And then

COLLEGE FRIENDS, TOGETHER FOREVER Sometimes, in the deepest recesses of my heart, I wonder, Why I ever met these girls, And these guys, If I had to lose them all over again, To the oceans that separate, To the vast lands that tear apart, To the immense gap that lies between Like the sides of a pent, Never to see each other Just to wonder, How it could have been How it once was.

Interesting week so far, I think. A mega-nice paycheck that's not coming through, a fall in the bathroom, a walk into a huge rain puddle, a hot coffee scald on my leg, and a black cat crossing my path. In that sequence. Which leads me to wonder: Do black cats reverse engineer the whole bad luck process? Or is that just a somewhat cheap shot at the endangered nature of my this-week-accident-prone body? Don't know, don't much care, either! For these past few weeks, I've been talking to this guy who is so amazing (at philosophizing) that it quite makes my brain go around in circles. Had a huge discussion on the trueness of Islam and Christianity. I think I won that round. I think. Another huge row on history in circles. I don't really believe all that crap. That what happened once will happen again, and again, and again, in different periods and eras, to different folk, in different circumstances. One would think: When so much is different, even the event's gotta b

I've had a life well lived; a childhood in which I was loved, a heart which has been nurtured into blossom by two loving parents, a knowledge of the security of my future. It strikes me, as I read out my new resolutions, that I have taken for granted a lot of things. I've taken for granted my family, my home, my parents. I've taken for granted the fact that I'll always have a home, and someone who'll be happy to have me in their life. I've taken for granted the fact that I can have anything I want for breakfast, or for that matter, dinner. I've taken for granted the happiness that I experience in being alive. As a matter of fact, I've taken for granted the fact that I AM alive. To this extent, I've had to revise my New Year resolutions. I've done this so I can learn to enjoy the simple things in life. 1) To watch a sunset once a week. 2) To sit in Central Park and swing to the sky. 3) To talk to new people, make new friends. 4) To work in an NGO