ASOS AFRICA!

I may be a bit slow on the uptake of this, but ASOS have released a new range under ASOS AFRICA, featuring some very on-trend pieces in bold tribal prints. Their pieces make me want to go back to Tanzania!





The material (which are usually sold as a piece called a khanga) is sourced and made in Africa (Kenya and Tanzania), and their tailors in Kenya are being paid fairly.

And they'd better be paid fairly considering that my favourite piece of the lot costs £75! While I was in Tanzania I had a tailor made traditional outfit made for me and cost me TSH 21000, which is the equivalent of £10.19. I'm wary that they haven't got the Fairtrade brand on it yet. If they really are being paid fairly, I would definitely recommend you to buy yourself a little piece of Africa :)

It's given me some inspriation though, since I was given a khanga as a gift and I haven't used it for anything yet. I could quite easily whip up something similar of my own now that I have a few ideas (with the help of my mum of course :p).

You can look at the ASOS AFRICA range here.


PS! Me getting fitted in a khanga shop!


And the resulting dress:

Nerves and Cake

I'm pretty terrible at giving presentations. The only time people say that I've done it well is when I feel like I've been feigning confidence and have been acting it out the whole time. It never feels sincere. I never feel like I know what I'm talking about. You know how that saying by Socrates goes:

"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing"

Yeah, I take that a bit too seriously sometimes. I doubt the extent of my knowledge far too often.

I've not been preparing very much for the our talk on Tanzania. Things like this make me worry. So I put it off the whole week, hanging out with Canadians, reading through lectures, ANYTHING to not look at the presentation. The fact that it was going to be in Chem Eng LT1 didn't help much - the last time I spoke there things just went horribly horribly wrong.

But secretly I knew I had a lot to say about it. It's an experience that the audience wouldn't have - nothing I could have to say could be incorrect. With only two hours to go, I finally went through it with Tom a couple of times, and faced the music.

Yesterday's presentation went off without a hitch. We generated a fair amount of interest, and we rewarded ourselves with plenty of homemade cake afterwards! One of which Matthew and Mei Wan kindly made for us.

And it tasted A-mazing. [edit] Cake solves everyone's problems. Socrates looks like he could use some cake. [/edit]

Inside Out

So, I'm sitting at work, feeling a bit fat. Before you throw confectionery at me to shut me up, let me assure you that this is not a post looking to fish for self-assurance.

It is strange that some days I feel like the hottest thing since...I can't affiliate with the current Hollywood ideal so I'm just gonna say, Hepburn, and other days I feel ugly and misshapen and bleurgh. And yet, nothing much will have changed on the outside, except for maybe my frown not being upside down. It also feels as if the whole world has cottoned on that you feel ugly today, and they seem to agree. Do you give off some sort of ugly vibe when you feel that way?

Maybe you do. Because, similarly, when you feel happy or good you automatically seem ten times more pleasant-looking than you did when you felt ugly. And when people take notice it makes you even happier.

Why does it also make you feel miserable? (I'm not feeling particulary miserable today don't worry.) There's a difference between being ugly and feeling ugly. What makes us feel ugly? What it is about one's level of attractiveness that makes one comfortable or uncomfortable about oneself? No matter what vessel God decided to put you in, you're still the same person underneath it all aren't you?

Or are you? Everyone couldn't have been born grumpy and uncomfortable with the way they are. Everyone didn't have an instinct for when things were ugly or beautiful, what looked right, what looked wrong. You could never tell if you were cute kid until someone told you that you were. It never occurred to you that the fat kid shouldn't be fat until an adult made a comment on it. The only thing to guide you as to whether you were remotely pleasant to look at would be people's perception of you.

Is that what it is, people's perception of you? Well, of course it is. It's the only reason why you bother to dress nicely, bother to brush your hair in the morning. Equally, the same reason why you'll purposely wear a controversial outfit, dye your hair unnatural colours, make yourself look different from the crowd. Speaking of which, I never realised until now, that everyone in London tries so hard to look different, that they all end up looking exactly the same. Don't say it's not for other people. Other people's reactions, or even non-reactions, are exactly why we do those things. For some strange reason being happy with how we look validates and liberates us.

Your outward personality and appearance are the only things you have for showing the world what you're made of. Your exterior suggests how you want people to perceive you. How then, do you show the world that you feel beautiful, if you can't meet the standard of today's physical beauty? Most people try to match up with a thorough beauty regimen, others simply have their own way of showing how beautiful and powerful they are inside, but I am sure even the most comfortable of souls aren't completely appeased by their appearance all the time. What are they to do then?

Everyone feels that pang now and again. The world is just nicer to beautiful people.

Then you wish you were a little more thinner, a little more curvier, a little more built, a little more fair, a little more tanned, a little more flaw-free. All these 'flaws', and all these solutions available to fix them. Why do people need fixing? Poor soul who's got so many 'flaws' that he/she can't fix them all. How must they feel.


There's such a big ugly western pressure to strive for physical perfection. People telling you you've gained a pound, lost a pound, you know I've heard of a really good product to solve that problem of yours right away. It is thoroughly depressing. Personally, I never start up a conversation about the way someone looks or changed their looks. It never even occurs to me to tell someone I like what they're wearing that day. Maybe I'm just stingy with compliments. Or maybe I don't think it matters. But I do find that every now and again someone will have changed something, something so small like even plucking their eyebrows, and if someone notices they just seem the world happier that it's been said. Or if nobody says anything, they'll bring it up themselves to get a reaction of 'oh yes it really suits you', 'really makes a difference','it's lovely'. Let's not get started on the reverse. Exam time or some other stressful time comes along, and you stop preening yourself. So what, you look a little bit paler without some makeup, okay the stress has gotten you to accumulate some blemishes/ weight/ no thought as to dress sense - 'oh gosh did you see so-and-so, looks so awful, really letting herself go'. Argh.

Being in Tanzania, it's so much more easier to appreciate how beautiful people really are. There's no pressure to look perfect all of the time. You can look better than you usually do, but people just accept the default you, without any of the extra paraphernalia we choose to pile on top to make ourselves flawless. That lack of pressure just makes you so much more at ease with yourself. With no make-up, an oily face, and the stupidest combination of dusty clothes, one or two people still managed to find me attractive. I even got a couple of dowry offers, more than I get here, thank you very much. How's that for an ego-boost.

But again, someone needed to react to me for me to realise that I'm fine the way I am. People need to be told they look lovely. I have to admit, however, that my quavering about how I look has reached a minimum. There was a time where that wasn't the case. I am lucky, in that I have someone to tell me I am perfect. I never believed him at first but later on down the line, I realised that no matter where you stand on that ranking of 1 to 10 (be thoroughly depressed girls if you haven't heard how brutal the ranking system is already), all you really need to know is that one person thinks you are perfect. Absolutely and completely perfect, exactly as you are. Is that not validation enough? You may be picky about who this person is, you may not think certain opinions are valid. Which makes perfect sense of course, I mean a person who just said you looked nice today can't possibly say you are perfect, they haven't seen all your horrible bits, what do they know. So what. I don't care. Because today I am going to tell you that you are perfect.

You are perfect. You don't look like your idol of perfection, you don't even come close. But you know what, you look pretty amazing. Have you looked at yourself lately? You have a million little things that make you different from everyone else, there are parts of your anatomy that you have never dared to show the world, but I can guarantee there will be a hidden bit of you that someone is going to love. Gosh I'm falling in love with you already just thinking about it.

But seriously. I may not know who you are, I may not know all those hidden parts of you that you are too afraid to show, I may not know all those flaws you hate so much. It doesn't make it any less true. I think you are perfect. You. I really do.

The Lady's Back.

I have returned.

I arrived at 10pm last night, and despite my many adventures I was quite looking forward to see my family again. I have never waddled along with my 65L rucksack so happily.

I thought London would be sickening to return to, but as soon as I got here I was reminded of its many graces. Direction signs. Tarmac road. Floorboards. Running tap water. Hot, pressurised showers!

I found it strange to sleep with a duvet cover on, it felt like rolling around in cotton wool. Eating plump chicken that had been roasted. Eating basmati rice. Hot water from the tap. Moths instead of malarial mosquitos. Having washing machine fresh underwear. 10L flushing toilet. Apple frickin pie for tea.

I don't know what to do with myself.

And then I look at my excessive wardrobe. God, what was I thinking.

Life was pretty f*ckin sweet in Tanzania, and all you needed to make yourself feel dandy was a bucket shower and a big plate of rice/ugali with maharaguay. I've never known the true meaning of excessive until now. I probably still don't, but I think I have a better idea.

Truly, I have lots more to say about the trip, what a mind trip it's been, but I think I need to reflect on things a bit more before I indulge you all in anecdotes and reflective thoughts.

I can probably say that I'm not the same person that left .

Habari Za Safari

In Kahama. It is good. I go to Church. I eat ugali. I build tank.

That is all you guys need to know right now :P

ps no mozzie bites yet!

Chizi ka Mdizi (Crazy Like a Banana)

Hello from Tabora. Quick update while I have a few minutes left:

• Went to a 6 hour long sermon at the Cathedral that Richard helped to build, lots of singing, lots of swahili, lots of not understanding what was going on.
• Went to the Tabora hotel for a boogie that evening and danced every kind of dance under the sun. We taught each other how to chacha and Tina taught us african dancing.
• Half the group have a stomach ache (including me, but I have a mild case) and they got checked for malaria today. Luckily everyone had a clean bill of health.
• Looked at some awesome water tank-age yesterday, everyone should use a compost toilet.
• Going to Nzega on Thursday, and then the team will be splitting into three to go to their respective villages to start doing the work = no more holiday :(
• I'm the token "mchina" = chinese person everywhere I go. Oh well.
• Went to the market today and I will be returning there later this evening to pick my tailor made african dress! Good Times!
• Amaury is being very graphic about his diaorrhea and bum washing techniques. I can't believe I have to spend the next 2 weeks in Kahama with him.
• I am project manager in our group of three = I get to boss the two boys around muhaha.
• I just checked my results! Didn't muck it up! WOOP!

Kwa heri xxx

Hakuna Matako (it means no buttocks)

Well, that's what some people say to test your swahili skills! (I have yet to master it.) Journey to Dar Es Salaam was a nightmare - in total it took a whole 24 hours to finally meet up with the rest of the team. Met up with Chris and Rosie at Heathrow at 6, when our flight wasn't until 9.15, so we had plenty of time to eat breakfast. The plane then was delayed by an hour, and we arrived in Cairo 5 hours later at 6pm local time. We then had to wait another 5 hours for our next flight which was at 11:30 pm Egyptian time, in which we momentarily lost track of our luggage because the Egyptair staff are really helpful like that. We had to flag up that our luggage wasn't being sent on to Tazania, so this guy who was doing about a billion things at once while his colleagues were sitting around took our luggage id ticket things, and said he'd come back for us. We waited a while, an hour later we went to pick up boarding passes from the front desk and told them about the luggage problem. We told him about the guy who had taken the luggage id from us. He just shrugged. "Which guy?" Guy had disappeared. Ah crap.

Luckily the other guy who had taken over his shift noticed that we had been standing around for about 2 hours, and tried to find out if the luggage had been transferred. In the mean time we were STARVING and didn't want to go through the barrier in case our luggage hadn't been put on the right flight. Rosie was not happy at the thought of not having enough underwear.
In the end, all was sorted - but the food waiting for us on the other side was far from ideal. Never mind.

Arrived several hours later in Dar Es Salaam, got harrassed by taxi drivers, got a bad exchange rate for tazanian shillings, but eventually arrived at Kipepeo beach where the rest of the team had been chilling out. It felt a bit like Shipwrecked where all the people island go mad when they see new people on the horizon. It was a lovely welcome.

We soon discovered that while I had been spending a whole week on site tamping hemcrete, they had been living in paradise! Soft white beaches, clear turquoise ocean, chilling with rustifarians, chapatis and bananas for breakfast *sob*. We got a little taster of their fun as we spent the day there before heading back to Dar to spend the night in the Econolodge.

We spent yesterday in Dar, explored the town a bit, had a good dinner and then went on the lookout for live music. We must have driven around the whole town, and finally gave up when we found a nightclub with some dancing performances. They were alright to start with, but believe it or not, repetitive booty shaking gets boring after a while. We managed to get some of our own dancing in at the end, which was hilarious. Richard had some pretty slick moves, and Tina had a thing or two to show the Tanzanians.

This afternoon we're off to Tabora to meet the Prime Minister! I shall be spending the next 16 hours on the train guarding my rucksack with my life.

Kwa Heri xxx

Twennywun.

My birthday is placed such that I feel the turn of age simply because new and interesting things always happen in the summer.

When I was 18 I was stepping up in the world.
I earnt my first wage as a tutor. I went to uni. Met all kinds of people. I tripped and fell in love with a boy.

When I was 19 I just wanted to have fun.
I got stuck in a really fancy toilet. I got my first corporate job. I got heartbroken. I learnt how to be a bimbo. I learnt how to dance. I broke someone else's heart. I did silly things. I didn't like 19 year old me.

When I was 20 I took responsibility.
I realised how much I loved my friends. I got hit by a motorbike. I stopped being silly. I learnt how silly boys are. I took a chance on my dream. I tried to invest in my future. I determined my life partner.

Now that I am 21...

I think I will resolve to be a little kinder. But also to put me first. I need to count my pennies better, and to make sure that I live every moment.

Spending 6 weeks in Africa will be quite an experience. I feel like the last person who should be going on a trip like this. I can't help but feel that I am inevitably pampered and well looked after at home. I don't even cook my own dinner. It's not like I will miss the unecessary material things; I'm not from a particularly rich background. But as a relatively rich westerner that is used to things like hygiene and clean clothes- things shall get very interesting. I'm also not the most well built girl around. Things will be a physical challenge for me and all.

I hope to learn a lot about myself, and about the people who I will be staying with. I also hope that on my return I can convince people that they can do something positive with their lives. I know too many people who feel restricted by something or a another from doing something they really want to do. They tell themselves that they can't. But I want to tell them that they can.

Living For the Weekend

Ting Tings: We were supposed to watch this in March but it got cancelled due to "technical difficulties". Actually all the tech people weren't in when the ticketmaster server went down and nobody was bothered to come in and fix it. I actually know this because we know somebody who's job it was to come down and fix it, but he wasn't on duty so couldn't be arsed to come in :p

No matter. VV Brown was supporting! Hooray! Lovely lady got us dancing in no time, but then after her came some weird trippy woman who shouted more than she sang, and I was really glad when that was over. They were aptly named "We Are Enfant Terrible".

(Haven't photoshopped in a while. I miss having the time!)

They were better live than I thought. It's just the two of them, keyboards, drums, guitar and delay pedals. It looked like a lot of effort but much fun! Energetic performance and really got the crowd going. Me, the couples and the 14-y/o emo kids had a great time.

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MCM Expo: What is this now my 4th one? No Heroes cast members or TV appearances this time - it absolutely packed with cosplayers (too many for my liking) but some made a good effort.

Except for this guy. Bad day to be wearing a tent, it was a really sunny day!

My bro's first expo, so he decided to enter the art competition. He's gone again today with his friends casually dressed as Rock Lee. We bought the red Konoha headband yesterday (extortion!) And I bought myself some marker pens! That's one thing off my (secret) birthday list. I got to choose the 24 colours that I wanted to go in the case. Now I can colour in the rest of my drawings ^^

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Drink for Drink: Went to that in the evening, by which time I was knackered. Not a massive turnout - not surprising since it's exam time and people are generally a bit gay when it comes to replying. It could have potentially been a good night out, the place was really cool, one of those modern pubs. It's a shame there weren't enough people to enjoy it with.

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But I'm absolutely shattered now, my legs hurt in all sorts of places from standing too long or walking around everywhere :( Good thing I only need to sit down at my desk to sort my life out for the next couple of days.

The First of Many Pleas.

Boys and girls,

I require you to divert your attention to the following Facebook Event: DRINK FOR DRINK

Saturday, May 23, 2009 at 7:00pm

the Fleetwood

36 Willson Street
EC2M

Free cocktail for every customer!

I cannot stress enough (and believe me I am stressing!) how much we need to raise this 15, 000 quid for us to get there. We have been receiving money slowly but surely, but most of it has been through corporate sponsorship, and to be quite honest the response from personal contacts and friends has been terribly deficient.

I'm leaving for Tanzania in 6 weeks time, and the money is no use to us 2 days before we leave. Ideally we need to pay for things NOW! Costs include making sure that we don't die from Malaria. So any donations, or indeed attendance to aforementioned fundraiser event will be greatly appreciated, and you will be on my list of awesome people who deserve a drink on me when I get back or if you're super special an awesome present for your next birthday.

You might want to note that for some reason my 21st birthday presents are all being converted into donations. There aren't any presents for me this year! *sob*

Money Issues

Following on from my fantastic Tanzania news, I urge you all to visit my other website:

http://rainwater-aimi.blogspot.com/

Here, there is more information about the project, and a chance to donate!

Oh! We're Going To Tanzania!

Hello Mr 200th Post!

And what fantastic news I have to type today! Not often (if ever) do I have a grin on my face after spending a large amount of money, but this afternoon I just booked my flight to go to Tanzania this summer! It's going to be AH-MAZING.

So what's the story? Why am I going to the other side of Africa instead of earning money in an office that brings me ever closer to death by boredom? (I'm still doing that anyway for the other half of the summer, but that's besides the point, I could be earning an extra month's worth of work). The story begins with Richard, Mr. EWB President, who decided to continue working with a contact he had been working with over the summer in Tanzania to help with a cathedral. It was noted that the cathedral roof would be very good for collecting rainwater during the wet season. Richard managed to help construct a rainwater harvesting system for the cathedral. Community was pleased, church users were pleased. But after he returned Richard was told that there was an oppportunity to build more, in the Tabora region for Tanzania. All we needed to do was raise the funds to get construction going. And thus the project was born.

Then came along ten students, all very keen on EWB, who got involved with the project, and we've been trying to raise funds ever since. We've managed to get raise the £10,000 needed for the project construction to happen (no mean feat in this economic climate), and now we are trying to raise money to cover our costs to get out there. But we're getting closer all the time, and we've just booked our flights so we are most definitely going!

Tom has started a new blog to update the progress which you are most welcome to visit at http://tanzaniarwh.blogspot.com/. The rainwater harvesting systems aim to provide water to about 1200 people who live in 3 rural villages in Tabora. We will be split into teams and provide some labour to help in construction. A couple of weeks ago we attempted to make our own rainwater tanks out of cement, which you have have a look at on my facebook, or on the Tanzania RWH facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=50031459230

In the coming months we will be pushing to raise the remainder money, so if you see me looking like I need some cash don't hesitate and donate what you can! Hopefully we can get a online donation thing going in the near future so I won't have to harrass people! :P