Your questions answered!!

Thank you guys for showing an interest and asking questions about my African excursion. The questions I got were oddly close to some of my biggest take aways from this deployment. All three of these questions are experiences that will forever stay with me long after this deployment ends.

How many of you earned diving certifications?

- There were quite a few of us that got their SCUBA diving certificate. I am very proud to mention that I am a certified advanced open water diver!!! I can dive to something around 120 feet below the waves and flourish in the aqua blue yonder. I am VERY happy that I had the opportunity to dive and dive often while I was here. The ocean really is amazing! I was blessed to live next to a beautiful beach with an amazing coral reef and crystal clear waters. I saw octopuses, sting rays, star fish, sea cucumbers and incalculable varieties of fish! A group of us even saw a maco shark... Thank god I didn't see that, I probably would have soiled myself.
   SCUBA diving was really an eye opening experience for me. I honestly think that if I had been exposed to this as a child I would have studied marine biology in college! However, I will warn you that the ocean is a HORRIFYING place to be after dark. Biolumesicent organisms are pretty cool, but the rest of the ocean feels like a death trap!!!! Oh and try not to have a panic attack under water because your ears aren't equalizing and the pressure is getting to you, and you forget which way is up, and you forget to breathe.... Not that anything like that has ever happened to me of course.

What are your thoughts on payday PT with the new Battalion?

- Now you know that I would never criticize or speak ill of our leadership. They are doing the best they can to not be completely, wholeheartedly, mind numbing retarded. I think they are fighting the good fight.

How does it feel emotionally and spiritually to be there overall? Being the motherland and all.

- Emotionally, it has been such a beautiful feeling. Being around the original people, the genesis for all mankind. When I saw this I am not using hyperbole, I have looked upon the bones of the earliest human "Lucy" that we know existed. Further than that seeing so many people who look just like me (ESPECIALLY IN ZAMUNDA!!!) being so successful and doing such amazing things. I really feel as if I met kindred spirits in Zamunda, who look out for their communities and sought to elevate their people just like I want to do. Emotionally, it made me feel so much better about my people both members of the diaspora and not.

Spiritually, Africa affected me much more. I think I am going to wear the lessons that I learned in my heart long after the memories of the deployment has faded. The largest spiritual effect that I take away from this is how I view African Americans. First off, I no longer say "nigga". When I got to Africa and I saw how our brothers and sisters acted and carried themselves, from the beggars to the businessmen, I did not see niggas. I saw black people striving for success. This will stay in my heart of hearts. I saw a group of people who were never colonized and the PRIDE that they took in themselves and their actions. I intend to take these lessons back to America. Their ancestors were not slaves, or second class citizens and I saw people that carried themselves as such. We aren't niggas, we should not even think it much less use it to address or describe each other. I encourage you to stop saying it. If you don't want to , I encourage you to come to Africa and ask yourself if you see niggas walking around. Don't worry, I won't be one of the Dr. Cornell West type brothers who chastise you for saying it, this is a decision I made for myself based off of what I have seen.

What to expect when you're away.

   I have taken two long trips in my life. In those two trips I have learned less than I should but more than I care to know about how people act towards you when you're removed from them. My second trip either reinforced and changed some of the conclusions that I drew from the first trip. I write this so that you, you nebulous person who theoretically is reading this blog, might be a little prepared for what to expect when you're gone.

1. You will randomly acquire SO MUCH random stuff that you don't need/ want.
   
   You won't realize that you got all of this nonsense either until it's time to leave and you're mailing stuff home. You will go through your belongings and be at a complete and utter loss for words as to how you came to acquire so much..... Stuff! During the tail end of my Iraq trip I discovered that I had picked up so much extraneous that I had no clue what to do with it. Markers, flashlights, boxes up boxes of pens, batteries, trinkets, shirts and I even picked up a mouse (that tore through my chemical suit and flew out of one of my bags) all of this was the random things that I just kinda picked up along the way.

2. You will not pack enough stuff.

    You will forget things, probably important things. Why would you do this? Because you're packing for a long trip and you will not remember everything. This time, I left a hat! How did I forget something so base as a hat? Clearly I'm retarded, but I did it. I don't remember what I forgot last trip but I'm sure it was something important! I really don't think it's possible for you to reasonably pack for every contingency, especially when you don't really know what you'll be doing.

3. You will pack too much stuff.
    So you're going to a warm weather environment and you want to bring cold weather gear "just in case"? You want to bring a suit just in case you get to suit up and go somewhere special? You're not going to need it but bring it! A nice pair of shoes? Like basketball shoes? Eff it, bring em you'll use em like 4 times so why not! Look, bottom line you're bringing entirely too much nonsense and there really isn't much you can do it.

4. You will feel left out.

    The Grunt and I were having a conversation the other day about pop culture and how we miss so much pop culture related things while on a trip. The last time I COMPLETELY missed out of the cupid shuffle, I came back and everybody was doing this dance that I had zero clue about. To again put it in prospective I heard Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" for the first time a week ago when I downloaded his newest album. Popular culture seems to move at sub 12 parsec speeds while you're gone. But the feeling of being left out by pop culture pales in comparison to other things.

5. Your loved ones will make you feel left out.

   So while you're gone you think pop culture is going to make you feel left you? Wait until the people that you love and love you completely ignore you. You'll leave messages and get no responses, you'l see other people getting the love you want from people and you'll get none of it. Laughing at people for having a loving and supportive group around them quickly isn't funny anymore when you start to realize you don't have that. You will hear "oh what do you want I'll get it together" of some for more times than you want to hear and you will cease to expect anything.

6. The people that hold you down will forever be in your heart.

   Two people who immediately come to mind who held me down my entire first trip are Jewbacca and my grandma. Those two people sent me letters and packages and Jewbacca was always there to talk to and bounce ideas off of and everything like that. For this deployment, I'll always hold Butters in high regard. He was the very berry first person to send me anything this trip. We haven't spoken a whole lot but it really doesn't take much to make a person feel good. Jewbacca has always been there for me. She was the second person to send something and she's the only person to consistently have the decency to respond to messages! The coolest thing about these two people is that I've never asked for anything, they just knew what was up and decided to act like a friend. There are others that have certainly been pretty awesome this deployment. A special shootout goes to my brother who constantly held me down back at home and with forwarding things to me that I need. Without him looking out for my interests at home and here I'd be sunk!

7. Jodie will get to your girl. Yes, your girl.

   The American military has a grand tradition of singing about the not at all mythical person named Jodie who has sex with your girl while you're at the supermarket getting eggs on a deployment. With phrases like "ain't no use in calling home, Jodie's on your telephone" from basic training on young military members are confronted with the fact that someone (probably that they know) is having sex with their sweethearts while they toil away. So, before you leave on your trip just know that your sweet wonderful sweetheart who PROMISED that she can be with you through your trip and SWORE that she wouldn't bang Jodie? Well, she's banging Jodie. When your trips starts you'll hear less and less from her till she lets you know what's going on or you find out. But don't you worry, she still loves and really loves you and really this is your fault because well, people can't just be owning up to their personal failings can they?

Well, that's about it. Stay turned for the part 2 to this series "What to expect when you get home" coming as soon as I get home and feel like writing.

Token's food misadventures

   Let me start this off by saying that the VAST majority of food that I've had here has been nothing short of AMAZING!!! From here on out I will STRAIGHT UP DOMINATE some dry tibbs or lamb anything. As we were sitting on the shores of the lake we had the realization that we eat organic, pretty much everyday. That sounds really bougie and normally, I can't stand people who tout the fact that they eat organic but I don't really have a choice!! Neigh everything I eat is fresh here and sometimes you can see the meat that you're about to eat alive before you eat it (on very rare occasions).

   Now that I have told you guys how awesome the food here is, there are some...... Downsides. As with any new country or group of foods that you might try it will take some, uhhh, getting used to in the stomach. That part about the food here always and consistently sucks. It doesn't suck for very long, couple days and you get over it*. The other downside is the food is not always tasty, especially some of the more favorite local dishes.

 That ladies and Gentlemen is Kitfo, at least I think that's how it's spelled. What you are looking at is (from the top clockwise): raw beef, bread, cheese, oregano and finally anjera. What you do is you take the cheese/ oregano and mix it in with the raw beef. You then take the bread or anjera, break off a piece and pick up some of the meat and eat it.

   I know some of you are saying "I'm not eating raw beef from a third world country" and that's allowable. I find it untenable to go to a foreign country and not sample the local faire. Kitfo is pretty good once you get past the raw meat part. You might be sick for a day or two after eating it but once your stomach adjusts, it's pretty awesome!!! My advice? Don't eat the anjera! Just order extra Dabwo (that's bread, assuming I spelled it correctly).

   I don't currently have a picture of Anjera but I'll do my best to explain it. First, people from Zamunda love this stuff, it's served with everything (even my beloved dry tibs). It normally comes in tight rolls (like the far left in the picture above). It's a sourdough, spongy, pita type bread and you kinda use it like a tortilla. If you have a piece of anjera you really don't need any other silverware as any and everything can get wrapped up in it!

  

     So I just gave you the good, now I'm giving you the bad. What you see there are "special" tibs. I don't know what special is, but since I tried that I am automatically assuming "special" means gross. What you are looking at is lamb in some other gross sauce, with gross toppings surrounding the grossness. You also are looking at some anjera, back when I was trying to force myself to like anjera despite itself. I would not recommend this at all.

   To sum this up, based off of the two weeks that I've been trying my damndest to eat the habishaw food here in Zamunda, this is what I've found (and taken pictures of). A few members of my team have found my quest to eat the most habishaw food that I can to be foolish. I don't really understand why though! It makes zero sense to go to a foreign country and immediately seek out the most American food that you can find. Now, I will offer a word of warning!

Should you find yourself feeling adventurous, know what you are getting yourself into. Make sure that you are near your hotel, or American style toilet. If you are not and you have an extended trip, this is what you have to look forward to. That my friends is a hole in the concrete, I'm not sure what you're supposed to do with those blocks on either side of the hole but I'm not sitting on them.

 

BTW... The servant Semi says hello!

Token no more?????

   I would like to welcome everybody who is reading this post to these words of wisdom from the home of the original, asiatic man, AFRICA! For an African-American such as I ,who sometimes feels like an outsider among the groups of Americans in which I interact with on a day to day basis, Africa has been nothing short of amazing!! As a member of the diaspora, returning to the motherland (although I'm kinda sure I'm "from" the other side of the continent) has been a great experience of coming back to my roots. This is in a very real sense
   I really feel accepted by the people here**. I truly been accepted and wherever I go people say that I am "Habishaw" which means an indigenous person. The rest of my team are "ferendie" which means foreigner (I am quite sure that I am butchering these words as I try and spell them). No matter where I go people take one look at me and tell me that I am habishaw. At the airport when I first got here someone walked up to me and asked if I spoke Amharic and I said no. Then my team's interpreter said that I could pass for Habishaw. At first I thought that people were just messing with me and trying to make me feel good but literally everywhere I go, from major city to mudhut village, people refer to me as Habishaw. In fact, last night while I was out someone walked up to me and spoke to me completely in Amharic and walked away. He had no idea that I was from America. As I am told, this will come with a great many benefits, most notably not having to pay any "skin tax" that the rest of my team will have to pay.
   I really can't underscore how amazing it is that I'm accepted here. I don't feel like I have to speak a certain way to put people at ease that I "belong" here. I am simply just accepted as a member of the community. There will be no daily reminders that I'm some kind of other, too black for some white folks and too white for some black folks. I mean, I've only been here a week but I figure the more Amharic that I learn to speak the more I will be able to seemlessly integrate with the community.
   Since I know some are thinking this, this is not some great slight to Americans or the way I am treated in America. To be honest, it's not as bad as it seems. It's kinda life. The jokes and whatnot that I get roll off my shoulders as what they are, jokes. I love America and Americans. We are the greatest nation on the planet and I would bleed on the flag to make sure the stripes stay red.


**Note: "Here" will be a nebulous place, at least officially. If you manage to put two and two together and figure out where I am, I'm not mad at 'cha I just don't want to make it easy for the terrorists to find me.

Token is Traveling!!!!!!

   So check, check, chcheck it out wh wh wh what's it all about! For the 3 of you that probably read this blog you already know but (Hopefully) I'll have some new readers one day. The token is traveling!!! I bet you didn't see this coming with the name of the blog and what not. But yea, I'm going to a far away land to have a kick ass time and get paid for it protect America and her interests. I'll be somewhere in East Africa doing all sorts of awesome things and laying the righteous hand of god down leaving my own personal indelible imprint on East Africans. I suspect this journey will be fraught with lots of adversity and opening up my eyes to new cultures and ways of thinking. I really wonder what Africa is all about and what the people are like. Yes, I know Africa is by no means a monolith and it's huge so there will be numerous different perspectives that I have to account for.
    I remember being a kid and reading my favorite book of all time, The Autobiography of Malcolm X. I remember how when Malcolm got to Africa he was so surprised at the worldlyness of African's and their awareness of the (Im paraphrasing here) "plight of the negro in America". Not specifically pertaining to black people in America but what do they think about America and her people in general? I'm willing to bet they echo some of the same sentiments that I see on the interwebs. Will they think that know that things have changed? Will the recognize the ways that the changes have occurred? I wonder how they regard Obama and what he means for their lives verses how some black people in America feel. I'm VERY interested in how Africans regard me as a black American and what I'm all about. Will I experience a new found brotherhood that I've never experienced before? Will I be regarded as an "other" too dark for mainstream white acceptance but too light for mainstream African acceptance? Will attitudes change once they find out what it is I do there? These are all questions that I truly look forward to having answered and if not answered then experiencing.
    So many questions that I sincerely look forward to having answered! So many new experiences to drink in! I can't wait for this opportunity. Hopefully, nothing but positivity will come out of this.

All that said..... MURICA!!!!