BLOG.MRDANA.COM
russia
After so many years I will be in Moscow for a few hours as i go back to Kenya. Somehow I have all these comments from Russians and most are not quite understandable. My best guess is that a russian English class used my blog as a teaching tool. But on September 22nd i will arrive in Moscow on my way to Dubai and then Nairobi. So what does an airport tell you about a country. It give you a glimpse of how the society looks at visitors. Singapore was the best and Mumbai the worst. Singapore gave to the visitor internet, butterfly sanctuary. Mumbai no Atm's and rude airport agents and Military guards. Lets see how Moscow stands up. Let me not forget Qatar where they put me in a four star hotel and fed me. It took me an hour to figure out how to flush the toilet. So i will stop at three new airports, Moscow, Dubai and Bahrain. 3 days on the move, i love it as i will see new people and adjust my attitudes with a dose of reality.
As ever i remain
Mr. Baldy
Jambo Sana
biography
Currently i live near Kisumu Kenya. I arrived in December of 2007 in Nairobi and in a few days the country erupted in what is termed the post election violence. Gunfire tear gas were common soldiers every where. Couldn't get to the internet for over a month. But now everybody is talking about the new constitution. Two things stand out in my mind. "Life begins at conception" right there in the constitution. Second 33% of the congress people must be women. Other than those two things it is similar to our constitution. The religious leaders are asking people to say no because abortion is allowed to save a mothers life. Anyway enough politics.
After graduating from High school I went to college, aginst the guidance counselors advice. College was a lost easier than our high school. In 1964 I gradusted from Ithaca college with a BA in Math.
In my last year of college i suffered from viral menegitis but still finished even though i missed a month of college. And suffered from headaches for the next 15 years. The most memorable event in college was my major professor Dr. Worth told me I should take logic. To me logic was like giving a soldier a gun. I then could do things and throw away bad ideas. A very useful tool and I am ever grateful to Dr. Worth. The first A I ever received was in Vector and Tensor analysis because it was used for Einsteins theory of relativity. My saying is that college was a great social experience but not very good at education. Somehow the education system fails us because it does not prepare us for the real world. Anyway that is a topic I can talk about for days.
Anyway I tried to enlist in the airforce and didn't make it and even the army said no. I have six toes and no one wanted a smart ass in the service who could count to eleven.(joke) So instead of the jungles of Vietnam I went to alaska where I watched for russian launches and sent my reports to all the intelligence agencies. I worked 12 hours a day for 360 days straight. My first real job was the hardest. Anyway I became a computer programmer and was able to indulge my self in adventure. Why because the pay was so good. At one time I was making as much as the president. Now i am a disgarded old man left to wait for his death.
So that is why Africa. I walk down the street and u would think I am JC himself. Kids stare at me ask to shake my hand. Women offer to marry after 15 minutes conversation. I go places where few Muzungoes go. (white Man) i talk with everyone who will talk to me. I love shocking them by saying this is the best place on earth. I lived in a house in an apartment out side was mango, avocado and papaya trees. The avacadoes were so big u needed both hands to pick them up. The kids use to eat the mangoes when they were the size of a marble. All this fruit lay on the ground and rotted. You can grow crops 365 days a year as we were just a few miles from the equator. Hot sun during the day and rain in the afternoon. But they all want to come to america. I can't understand anyone wanting to spend there time in Ithaca freezing.
Well my prgraming career involved working for some big companies and lot of little ones. I have worked at IBM, NCR, Sarah Lee, Airforce, Navy, NASA and the pentagon. I have had about 6 or 7 of my own companies. In otherwords I have had a lot of fun in my life. If I was after money Bill Gates would be poor. But money always gets in the way of having fun. I have developed into a strange creature I know but it has served me well. If u are interested my web site is www.mrdana.com
Three years ago I died I fell throught the roof of my garage. Anyway the whole story is on my web site www.mrdana.com/death/
Another singular point in my life was when I took out a canoe and was alone on the amazon river in Peru.
My next challenge is to do the same on the nile river.
I vised the island of the sun on Lake titicaca Lake Titicaca is a lake located on the border of Peru and Bolivia. It sits 3812 m (12500 ft) above sea level.
Been to Paris twice. Finished going around the world on May 18th of this year.
Have a certificate to Navigate a submarine(Nuclear).
I am most grateful that my life has been full of travel and adventure.
My religious philosophy can be summed up in two sentences and is aplicable to every person on earth.
The Universe is GOD. To receive the power of GOD you must be grateful.
And to this i ascribe my life as proof that this is so.
I would implore each and everyone to come to Africa where u can make a difference.
just write me at bydana@gmail.com and I will help you in anway I can.
Why because I am truely grateful and with that comes the resposibility to help my fellow man.
my other blog http://danaquijote.blogspot.com/
For some reason somebody has discovered my blog and r sending viruses and all sorts of junk. Oh well I created this Universe so I am responsible. As my son once said "dad the rules of the Universe don't apply to u" so I guess I have to take responsibility.
Anyway I have a more complete blog which I call Dana Quijote after my good friend Don Quijote so if by some quirk of the universe u have entered mine try this other blog http://danaquijote.blogspot.com/ i thank everyone who is real for there comments. To u other people please leave my universe at once. One of the greatest mistakes made is taking life to seriously. Enjoy life fuck up everyonce in a while. Or what is a good meal without some salt.
Jambo Sana
appearance
To many people out there being smart and attractive is a way of life and I must say I do enjoy watching them strut and show of. But the wrapper doesn't make the food taste better and many times that sexy lady inside is filled with worms and all sorts of nasty things. But for me I learned a lesson early in life and that is not to be noticed. When u see me u don't see an advanced it man who has seen more than a hundred other it men and a million other people. Bill Gates, the young kid, is recognized everywhere but me I walk among you and you don't know what I have done, or seen or experienced. And that is fine. I have never signed an autograph or been recognized for some wonderful thing I have done. Because as I said early on I found if u were special or at least thought you were you became a target. And targets often get hit by arrows and they hurt. So instead of people expecting things from me they look down on me. And I chuckle and say to myself if only you new what I know you would run screaming into the night. And so I go where brave men fear to go hanging over the edge hanging on with one hand. To say that this life is lonely is a vast understatement. After struggling up the highest hill u find yourself alone. No one to share that sweet taste of victory as you become better at what you do than anyone else. I have never had a role model to follow, I have never been encouraged by a mentor no the thing I have is persistence. No matter what the odds or the challenge I struggle forward falling down for sure but always getting up and struggling on and in the end tattered and torn I reach my destination. Maybe the price was to high as many times that is so true but somewhere buried inside me is a force which never gives up, maybe rests now and then but never gives up.
So when the first rockets burst through the sky in Kenya I will know I was there 30 years before it happened.
I am a pioneer, filled with wanderlust always searching for the new, the future. That is why my goal is Alpha Centauri. That is where humanity will go next. And I am finding the way one slow step at a time. Nobody reads my blogs except ex wives. But I sure could use some help. But because there is no help is no reason to stop. There is no reason to stop until death overtakes me. I drink from the bowl of life fully and thirst for more. When I lay dying in the hospital i did not quit when I was drowning I did not quit and to that man who jumped in and saved me I thank u a million times and I know not your name. Such a sadness that the man who saved my life has no name in my memory. I often do things I don't want to do because i must do it. As in the Star Wars movie, "("The Force is strong with this one.") that defines me. Until we face death face to face we know not who we are. I have faced death maybe a half dozen times. Where you don't know if you will be alive 15 seconds from now. Where time slows down and the fellow inside takes control.
Anyway dear reader(Georg Groddeck) I leave you here to ponder these things and if ever you should wish to join me on the Glory Road I can be reached at bydan@gmail.com As ever I remain. Dana Lee Jambo Sana
Around the world
Recently I was in the embassy in Nairobi Kenya. I was so proud of myself finally having completed my first trip around the world and so I was talking with the woman who supplies condoms to the world. And I said I traveled around the world and she asked how many times. My pride popped just like a soap bubble. Anyway this trip to Kenya was full of adventure. I saw my first wild hippo on a boat ride to Hippo Point on Lake Victoria. At first there was Rose, poor girl having been begging on the streets of Nairobi for food, well she found the big guy great feasting and after $20,000 I was just just bones. At 10am that day I walked out of the house never to return. So I then started out with the twins, I love twins, to see one person finish the others sentence. Well after 3 cows 2 goats and brown envelops and a thousand lies I walked out the door forever. I had a beautiful computer high speed internet and was prisoner inside the house. So after receiving death threats, real or imagined I don't know I took off to Nairobi in a jet plane with my two new accomplices. I love to see people take there first plane ride. Anyway the trip from Kisumu to Nairobi one half hour, the trip from Nairobi airport to downtown an hour and a half. The trip to the Kisumu airport was made a speeds unbelievable and any movie crew would have died to film it. And after arriving steam arose from the hood of the car. We then rushed inside to check in as we were very late. The twins were fascinating as they took turns listening and voicing fears that Rose was just about to kill them. Well since they were so nervous I said lets go to Nanyuki, a small town at the base of Mount Kenya. After 5 hours and $125.00 in taxi fare we arrived. We looked for a cheap hotel all of which were not acceptable and we arrived at the sportsman club. Very nice an impossibly expensive by Kenyan standards at $120, the rooms(suite) were very nice but the food very bad. I have no clothes so we head down to the newly opened Nakumart to get me another pair of shorts and shirt. We spent a pleasant day there I had bought each of the girls a new cell phone and together one camera. On the trip I brought one cell phone and about 6 others. Still afraid for there lives we head across country to Nakuru. The road almost disappears as we were practically traveling through pastures. I rode up from but the twins were packed in back like sardines. Finally after traversing beautiful rural Kenya we arrived at Nyahururu for a brief stop. I am sure the wild west was like this. The Matatus have what they call stations and as many as a hundred will be stopped there waiting for the trip to there destination. Finally we turned a corner as below us was the vast valley where Nakuru is. I can truly say Africa is most beautiful and the poverty we hear about does not show. It is there but the majority are not poor but not rich either but as in all places in the world there are the rich in there Humvee's and obviousness to life. Well the twins are off to Kisumu and they leave me alone at the Pilot Hotel. In the hotel was one of the last discos on earth and I enjoyed myself thoroughly and drank apple bear with my two companions. After a lot of beer we retired to my room just the two of us and we had a pleasant night in each others arms. I was prepared for a lonely night alone my first in 3 months but fate had provided me with a companion and I was so grateful. In my whole time in Kenya I never slept alone. My maid when I was with Rose gave me my bath and every once in a while she stole a Kiss. Sorry there was two nighta I slept alone that was when I got married Luo style(go figure). Anyway back to Nakuru I took a Taxi from Nakuru to Kisumu, here was my first encounter with quadruple speed bumps, in the morning and went straight to my next wife Zainabu a hair stylist. We set up house together and I had a great time until I learned she had a husband in town. So once again I take of with my small carry on bag and head to my new wife. Since she may be in danger I will not mention her name. But she takes me to her home area where I spend the next 3 weeks reliving my childhood ie no electricity or running water. Anyway I ask if I could have a co wife and she agrees as it is common practice there in her clan. Each clan has there own rules and when they don't want to do something they will on the spot make up a rule. So instead of cows this time I give money to bring electricity to the house. Now let me explain Kenyan women are kind and gracious to a fault but the truth is optional. They lie with creative abandon. I think of them as small children trying to please you by making up stories. They are all different but at the core they are African women yet to be introduced into the world as full citizens. They are trying but I remember the seeing my 2 year old cleaning the stool with her underpants. They are trained to serve. And they create there own little society in the kitchens so poor u want to cry. But they are sisters and they support each other in there happy misery because they know not what other women of the world enjoy. Roses mother every day walks many times to the stream to fetch water and cooks in a mud hut out back of the main building. I love African women with them I feel loved and treasured and anyone of them would run away with me at a moments notice. Because to be the wife of a white man is a status above all the rest. Now don't get me wrong just because the color of my skin is white does not make me better than anyone else but you can't convince 80% of African women this, so I just relax and enjoy my good fortune.
And so sleeping between my two wives in the Nairobi hotel I smile and exclaim wow this is truly amazing. And am grateful ever grateful for a life full of adventure and beautiful caring women.
And so sleeping between my two wives in the Nairobi hotel I smile and exclaim wow this is truly amazing. And am grateful ever grateful for a life full of adventure and beautiful caring women.
The tallest tree
In Kisumu you take a matatu(mini bus) for 30 minutes and then you get out and search for the tallest tree. You walk through the pasture filled with tethered sheep. Then you walk by the corn field which are at least 8 feet high, Past the small hut where 7 people live mother, father and 5 children. And in another 5 minutes you arrive at the compound. I stayed at the compound for 3 weeks. There are 3 cows, 1 goat and 4 sheep. No electricity but a battery operated tv where at 8pm we all watch love spell. After the program TV off and we all go to bed to wait for the rooster crowing at 4 am. It gets light at around 6am so I lay in bed 2 hours waiting for enough light to crawl out of bed My wife heats the water and I go to the little shed made out of tin roofing and bath myself. After I am done my wife has breakfast made 2 eggs, toast and tea. Being a westerner I am not used to the bathroom and that bothers me the most trying to manage this.
During the day the flies gather round the muzungo(white man) to feast. African are not bothered by flies and are entertained by my unusual ability to kill them. About every hour the young hen come in and check the floor for flies, the ants carry the flies off to feast upon. Later on my second wife takes me to the road and again we board another matatu to go to the internet where I look at my email and look up answers to the days questions. Then we go to the market and buy bananas, rice, onions eggs and maybe a cabbage or carrots. Then back to the matatu which is always filled and I may sit on half a seat and watch my fingers and toes as once they closed my hand in the door. Now we stop and look for the tallest tree and walk home. For three weeks this was my routine. This place is almost perfect except for he mosquitoes who come out at nightfall. The Africans are bothered by the mosquitoes and many a sharp slaps are heard as they try to kill them but the only safety lies under the nets. Almost everyone has malaria. My co-wifes little boy had it and was taken to the hospital. They though it was a cold but his pitiful cries told me it was more. And I was right. Since we are in my wives mothers house all signs of affection are prohibited. The father died many years before and at that moment time stopped and the mother maintains everything but no advancement. My joke is that a few miles away is the garden of eden. It is perfect growing weather hot sun in the day and then about 4pm it gets dark and we receive the rain. We save the rain water and we drink this and wash the clothes and me in this. The rain water is so soft you can hardly rinse yourself. We have a bore hole(well) but the water has very many minerals in it.
The only real problem is that people have been known to die of boredom and if all the cell phones were turned of I am sure this would happen. I visited grandma who lives alone as her co wife and sister died last month. Grandfather who is now dead long time married 3 sisters and grandma is now all alone. Somewhere in her late eighties she commented that I looked like 92 and I was upset until I realized the muzungo needed to be older than her. She gave me a rooster, so kind and we went back home and the pesky rooster we had was given away to feed the son who came that day. I hate eating chickens I know personally. But my first wife is fine as she wrings there necks and boils them to remove the feathers and then cooks then. The chickens here in Kenya are so small u can't believe it.
the journey home
After 13 months i finally returned to my home in Kenya. Albeit my rented home.
It started on Feb 11th driving to the airport CLT in ice and snow. To find my flight had been canceled. A very nice US Air agent got me a new flight into Manilla. Charlotte - San Francisco - Tokyo - Manilla . then Manilla to Guam stayed a week in guam became single again. Then Guam - Manilla - Singapore - Bombay - Nairobi - Kisumu thus completing my around the world trip. The best airport was Singapore(free internet} worst Bombay. confusing and no help. As Charles Dickens would have said it was the best of airports it was the worst. of airports. Got my camera stolen at Arkland Hotel in Nairobi. Other than that everything arrived ok. Except my butt and my swollen ankles. I now live in Kisumu at Polyview Estates. Have high speed internet and a new wife Rose. Was married by African customs IE 3 cows 2 goats and brown envelopes with money for mom and dad grand mothers grand fathers aunts uncles and cousins. It was a wonderful experience as I for the first time experienced the my extended African family.
Shakespere quote
"The First Thing We Do, Let's Kill All the Lawyers
To be or not to be
To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
This has always been my favorite quote
