leve-leve

there's a sao tomean term 'leve-leve' which, as i understand it, means 'chill'. it's not so much a term, as a way of life. slowwww, and chill (see previous entry re. three hour lunch breaks). this can be incrediby excruciatingly frustrating when attempting to get anything done on time. there are times, though, when this outlook is, in fact, the most inviting, most charming aspect of life here.

i'm now at the cafe where i sometimes like to work, and i woke up this morning still hungover from the funk i've been in for the past week or so. so i'm in about seven different kinds of mad mood. then all of a sudden, someone turns the music up, and the owner of the cafe starts dancing with a member of the portuguese airforce (yup) and this old woman who sells vegetables on the street, hears the music, and dances into the cafe rockin' two bags of carrots and getting DOWN. using the carrots as dancing props. awesome. then another woman walks in...frowns...then also starts dancing by herself. it's turned into a spontaneous dance fest at 10:30 in the morning.

so...ok, infuriating logistical problems aside, maybe sometimes, i really do love the kooky randomness that is this island.

...is it too early for a cocktail? don't look at me like that! i'm just going with the flow.

Currently listening : Di Korpu Ku Alma

By Lura

leve-leve

incoherent verbal incontinence part i

it's 6am and i've just been awoken by the LOUDEST.THUNDERSTORM.EVER.
this island doesn't play with it's tropical storms. i actually thought it was a bomb, at first and almost dove under the bed. then i attempted to recapture the sweetness of slumber, and was soon woken up by the RAIN FALLING ON MY HEAD, courtesy of my lovely leaking roof (of which i was unaware prior to the rainy season). anyway, point is...i am now wide awake at 6 on a sunday, and while there are many a subject dancing around in my head about which i can wax poetic, i just cannot seem to find the words.

sample topics include:
a) my nomadic existence--both a blessing and a curse. discuss.b) what do i want to be when i grow up? for real. for really reals, in fact.

c) should i be offended when i get a booty-text at 3 in the morning from someone random who has clearly exhausted options a, b, c, and possibly d and is now obviously just randily scrolling through their phone book?

d) have i accidentally overdosed on 'as i am'? already? possibly.

e) why are my stupid neighbors dumping their garbage outside my front gate when there's a GARBAGE BIN RIGHT THERE. idiots. i'm going to stand watch and verbally abuse the next person i see attempting to pull that stunt.
etc...

the rain has stopped, it is now perfectly still, and i feel as though even the sound of typing is disruptive. i'm now going to go ponder a) and b) and hope to get struck by some sort of brilliant 'a-ha moment'-type epiphany.

Currently listening : Bleeding Love

By Leona Lewis

incoherent verbal incontinence part i

slowing my roll

like many people who work a [relatively] 9-5 job, the lunch hour is cherished as a time, non only to get one's eat on, as it were, but to run errands, shop, and--you know--get things done. if you happen to live in sao tome, however, it's better to put aside whatever kooky ludicrous (oh sweet lawd, i can't spell that word anymore! i GINUWINELY typed LUDACRIS first!!) notions you have of getting things done and just chill. because shops close from 12:30pm-3:30pm for lunch and what is referred to as a "pause," every day. and then they're only open from 9am-12:30pm on saturdays. this leaves you virtually NO TIME to get anything done. and if you've just moved into your new, empty as hell house with nothing but a suitcase and smile, it also explains why, now--five days later--you still don't have so much as tea kettle to call your own.

this blog was inspired by the hilarity of me rushing out of a meeting five minutes ago to buy house stuff, only to be reminded (again, cuz i always forget) that everything was about to shut down until late afternoon. so, i suppose, the only thing i can do now, is have lunch and just chill...[until the next episode].

when in the islands, y'all,...

Currently listening : Hot Thing

By Talib Kweli

slowing my roll

beer and crabs

contrary to what this blog title suggests, this is NOT an entry about a debauched spring-break type situation.

for the third time today, this blog editor thing [EDIT: referring to myspace blog editor] has deleted everything i tried to post. so, rather than attempting to recapture the prolific profundities expressed earlier, i shall attempt a brief re-cap: yesterday, i was yanked out of the solitude to which i had resigned myself and invited to go for lunch. crab, to be more specific. now, i am not a seafood connaiseur (i got tricked into eating sea snails the other day and have not yet recovered from the EWWWWW of it all), but i decided that to think outside of the box that oprah's always warning me about and do the damn thing. we drove to a wee seaside hamlet and i ordered what everyone else was having: beer and crabs. and, in the end, i had the best experience i've had in a long time. nothing like an afternoon of roadtripping, eating, drinking, and conversating about the evils of the world: colonialism (bastards!), capitalism (mo money, mo problems), and t-pain-ism (he who lit the spark that started the fire on r&b and hip-hop charts known as RINGTONE DISEASE--eg. hey-bay-bay).

ok, maybe didn't talk about t-pain-ism. but i was thinking it on the drive back.

*warily presses "preview & post"*

beer and crabs

coffee shop musings

*stretches*

ok, this has been one helluva hiatus, even for me. but i must force myself to start writing again. even if it primarily consists of incoherent babbling. which, i warn you dear reader, will happen more often than not.

on that note, i hereby present to you: coffeshop musings--as mused yesterday...in, presumably, a coffee shop:

loneliness is relative. it's so easy to feel lonely when surrounded by people--i suppose it's more about a connection than anything else. if you feel disconnected to your surroundings or to the people by whom you are surrounded--whether or not they are familiar--it's more than easy to feel incredibly isolated.

since i arrived here two weeks ago, i've gotten quite a few warnings that my existence here be lonely. i suppose that comes with living anywhere that is relatively isolated, but it's been emphasized a few times. people keep reiterating how it's especially difficult when one is single and a woman, to be embraced into an already tight society. for a minute there, the situation looked bleak. how am i going to make the most of this incredibly stunning place with no one to share it with--no family, no friends, no familiar.

but then i remembered that everything really is what you make it. and that even though i miss all i know so much right now (especially because no one can reach me by phone!--ok, that still freaks me out a LOT), it's to be expected when one suddenly finds themselves in new surroundings. it is much better than feeling disconnected and isolated when in familiar surroundings, isn't it? and so, after a brief momentary panic session, i'm back to thinking of this whole experience as a challenge. as an opportunity to take advantage of the solitude, force myself out of my comfort zone, and ultimately learn more--about myself, about the world, about how many different ways one can cook fish....

but--for this first little while--i may just come back here every once in awhile to cry about how i ain't got no one to talk to! because these are my random ramblings, and i don't have to be all india.arie-ish and spew insight, maturity, and wisdom every single day, dammit!

Currently listening : Frank

By Amy Winehouse

coffee shop musings