OH.. okay... but.. what about...? (When the Answers Stop being so Cut-and-Dried)

Finally completed on November 9th

Right.. so.. Mr. A.J. Jacobs, after completing his full year of reading the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica for his book "The Know-it-All", decided that he'd continue in the genre. His next literary project would be called "A Year of Living Biblically", and needless to say, he spent an entire year doing just that: Following (as best as possible) all 700 of the rules and prohibitions contained in the Bible. His interview with Newsweek can be found online, and he also has a post-year blog entry, so you can read at your own discretion. However, this obedience-quest including avoiding barbers, and even following Ecclesiastes' advice about letting one's garments always be white, made life a bit more complicated than he would have anticipated.

I felt that while Mr. Jacob's undertaking was quite a noble one, it was only an experiment, and there are millions of folk who try to do the same thing, but on a daily basis: for more than one year. I remember when I was such as person - certainly not as hard-core as Mr. Jacobs, but definitely more willing to err on the side of "caution" than to lose out of my eternal destination as a result of carelessness.

Maybe my "problem" is that I think so much. I was a youth leader, and the one time one could expect the church to be filled-to-overflowing (the youth would have their sessions on saturday/saturday afternoons, and the 'non-youths' use the opportunity of non-compulsory attendance at church to snooze) would be when I had a presentation. They knew that I would not just come and present them with the usual tried-and-true/safe fare, yet in the end it would confirm what they had always been taught to be "true". Knowing that I would attempt to present the very old from fresh and new angles, even the snoozy 'non-youths' would come out to participate with the youngsters (Yep.. my presentations were usually interactive). They knew that I would thoroughly research whatever topic I wanted them to munch/medidate on.

Planning an AY "program" (as we called them), however, was never as simple as I probably make it out to sound. For one thing, each leader was paired with another, and mutually convenient meeting times were often tough. A lot of fervent prayer went into each program, to ensure that God's path could be seen into it, and not the leaders' fallible ideas. Yeah, the topics would have been thought-jolting ("Absolutely no Puppies Allowed", "Hypocrites Anonymous", "Blind Bend Ahead", and so forth), but the contents were always wholly scriptural with deep spiritual truths, with contemporary support from social sciences, linguistics, etc.

So.. what's the point of all this? Simply put, I got to thinking that telling somebody, "This is the truth, walk ye in it", is the equivalent of "Your belief systems are all wrong and twisted, and you should just take my word for it that my path (as revealed in the Bible) is the only one you should follow". Just like Martin Luther, my mantra had been solo scriptura, and I felt confident that the Bible could answer whatever questions life threw my way. In 2002 someone had raised the issue of the "Epic of Gilgamesh", and gave me a link with scores of other "flood stories", or rather "flood myths" as SDAs would prefer to refer to them. In the summer of that year, I even saw a mini video of the 'myth' at a museum. My attitude was, "Pffsss! Um.. that just proves that the Biblical account is true, and the truth probably got corrupted as people moved away after the Tower of Babel!" That issue was so easy to resolve.

However, in 2003 i got another challenge. Everybody "knows" that the Pentateuch was written by Moses. I'd even heard it explained that being privy to the kingly house of Egypt would have ensured that he received the best training to dutifully and accurately transcribe the oral traditions of his forefathers. For this reason, he spent his 2nd 40 yrs in the 'wilderness' so that he could better get to know his God. In addition to the "Ten Commandments", SDA's know that Moses was given other laws, among them included "eye for eye, tooth for tooth" justice, in his Mosaic Code. Imagine my absolute astonishment when browsing through a Washington museum I was confronted by a larger-than-life stele with the "Code of Hammurabi" etched in. In total awe, I gazed at a Babylonian god (either Shamash or Marduk) personally delivering the code of laws to Hammurabi, thinking to myself, isn't this image kinda familiar? When I got home, I started doing research of a different sort - you see.. I had always taken what I'd been told was absolutely true, because the speakers would not set me on the wrong path. Furthermore, in all sincerity, they would never feed the sheep anything that they themselves hadn't throroughly checked out, first.

Yet, I knew that I couldn't just ask anybody the questions that started to pile up when I began doing my own historical investigations at home. There were only really two other speakers/leaders/elders who were intelligent/interested enough to do independent study (apart from the Bible-Spirit of Prophecy-Sabbath School Quarterly trilogy), so I went to one of them. He was very patient when he explained, "There's no such thing as absolute truth, you know", to my question of "How come Hammurabi's Code that so long predates the Mosaic Laws so closely resemble the laws that God dictated for Moses???". He continued, "God would have made all kingdoms, and principalities, and if he condscended to use laws that were already there, then that's His choice. In His wisdom, if laws that were already there best served His purpose, what's to stop Him using them?" (Not in these exact words, of course, but this was the germ of his point).



If there's no "absolute truth", where does a literal reading of the Bible come in, and what should I not understand/accept as literal/absolute? His SDA Politically Correct response didn't satisfy me, of course. Rather, it led to more questions, and I uncovered even more conflicting issues. I had recently finished reading my Bible from cover to cover, so I had a lot of Biblical facts reasonably fresh in my mind. I found a story about Sargon the Great, King of Akkad (a civilization that also predated the Hebrews), who had a story of origin quite similar to Moses' (found in a basket on a river by a gardener), and I began to wonder about the Pharaohs in the Old Testament. After all, "Pharaoh" is merely a title that means "king", yet all through the Bible we find all these nameless Pharaohs. Which Pharaoh was it that tried to get jiggy with Abram's 70 yr old wife? Which Pharaoh smiled on Joseph and appointed him a top dog in the kingdom? Which Pharaoh was it that tried to cleanse the land when Moses was a babe? Is it the same Pharaoh that Moses fled from into Midian? How about the Pharaoh of the Exodus? I'd also been given the understand that Moses was so named because the princess "drew him out of the water", yet, when I started doing searches for pharaohs, I invariably found out that there were several pharaohs with 'mose' in their titles: Thutmose, Ahmose, Kamose, etc. Apparently, 'mose' was a common suffix among Egyptian royals.. does that mean that they were all "drawn out of the water"??


I jumped to later parts of the Old Testament, and tried to pin down Moses and the Exodus. However, Nehemiah's reckoning couldn't seem to mesh with Solomon's and I got frustrated. I decided to forget about the pharaohs since even Egyptologists couldn't even concur on when each kingdom began and ended. I decided: since I'm a Christian, because Christianity is supposedly the only religion that has traceable witnesses, I should begin with the death of Christ, and work my way back through history. Simple solution, right? Stay tuned for the next blog (whenever that may be).

Ethiopia Rings in Y2K

I found this to be quite interesting. Of course my original question was, "What?!?! Where were they when the rest of the world rang in the new millenium? Was Ethiopia too busy with other activities to be bothered with celebrating with the rest of us? Would they also be pondering whether their appliances and electronics would fizzle when 1999 changed to 2000? And... sheesh! why begin a new year in the middle of freaking September?!?"

Well.. turns out that when the 'rest of the world', and by 'rest of the world' I obviously mean 'rest of the Christian world' revised its estimate of the birth of Christ in the 16th century, Ethiopia stuck with the old date. That would mean that it would always be 7 years behind the rest of Christendom.. but.. hey.. isn't 7 supposed to be a 'perfect' number? :)

I must say that being in Denmark has made me revise the way I thought about many, many things. Blame it on my Western upbringing. However, since I'm now in contact with many other cultures, I find myself googling more interesting stuff. For example.. who would assume that Iranians do not speak nor understand Arabic? I mean.. isn't Iran like.. that country right next to Iraq.. and aren't they positively Muslim.. and since Arabic is the language of the Qu'ran.. wouldn't be obvious that their first language would be Arabic? Nope.. WRONG! They actually speak Farsi or Persian, and no, it's not mutually intelligible to speakers of Arabic.

Another shocker is related to the Ethiopian issue, and how the Western world just assumes that everyone reckons time the same way it does. I mean, "Yes," everyone knows about the Chinese calendar.. and "Yes", Mr. President of North Korea forces the nation to reckon time from his own birth... but there are many, many more calendars and ways of reckoning time. This Iranian chick in my class was born in 1354, and the whole class (1 Brazilian, 1 Trinidadian, 1 German, 1 Dutchman, 1 Ukrainian, 1 Pole and 4 Burmese) were like "What?!?!" So.. Everyone 'naturally' assumed that.. ok, maybe they reckon their time from something Muhammed did, or something. However, turns out that since modern Iran was the ancient Persia, they use the Persian calendar, which is solar governed. So.. the year 2007 in Iran is actually 1386. (Oh.. and of course there's also an Islamic calender that corresponds to our pre-conceptions :))

Funny thing is.. some folks will go to their graves insisting that their way is the only correct way of analysing and interpreting things. And, naturally, the Western world governs in which direction the world should go, and how and when it should do so. Naturally, it behoves the rest of the world to learn and master the languages, culture, and "willingly" accept the current global hegemony. Thus, they adapt, by learning about us, and relating to us in a manner that is more comfortable to us, if they are to receive money, investment and compassion from us. That way we can set up our companies in their countries without too much of resistance. Globalization at its best? Many think so. However, it is my opinion that we come out culturally weaker.

"Integration" Edited on Sep 14, 2007

Right.. so.. yesterday I took my first active step toward 'integration'. It's a theme that's bandied about much in Denmark, and they even make new residents sign an "Integration Contract", which "You don't have to sign, but you must understand that if you choose not to sign it you could never, ever, ever, ever become a Danish citizen." So I signed. One of the conditions was that I would have to make my "integration" easier by learning the language, so I attended my first class at sprogskole, yesterday.

It was quite interesting, I must admit. My fellow companions were a Brazilian chick who's worked as an au pair for the past 6 months, a Dutchman who works somewhere (at a factory, and his Dutch gf is a pro handball player) in Denmark, but uses the language (I didn't get all the details cuz all introductions were in Danish, and I can understand some of it, but not THAT much), an Iranian/Persian beauty who's also been here a while, but I'll get more of her details when I return, (she's married to a fellow Iranian, and she works Saturdays at the Post Office) a German frau with Danish kiddies (nope, she and her husband are German, and the kids know Danish, but they speak German at home), and a Ukranian woman (also with a Danish family) [Nah.. she and her son are Ukrainian, hubby's Danish]. So.. simply put, if I don't want to get demoted to a lower level (me who used some Danish language CD's when I was bored, last year).. Well.. I'll have to work kinda hard.

The Brazilian, Dutchman and myself were the 'rookies' of the class, but you'd never guess that from the workload. After the basic introductions, we got right into our 'text', which launched off on page 117 of the book (toward the end of the book). Right away we were filling out 'coupons' with info. for a cruise to Poland that we were interested in... choosing from 6 houses which one would suit us, our spouse, our 2 kids, our dog, AND which had a washing machine... Reading long discourses about Danish society, history and geography and given 3 sets of homework. (All this without being taught the basic rudiments of the Danish language!)

To be honest, I don't mind the level, nor the speed that I imagine we'll be going at. It's challenging enough for me, and no doubt I'll be advancing at a phenomenal rate.

In case anyone wants to know why it's taken me more than a month to update my blog, well.. I simply don't feel motivated to blog, anymore.. I got through this entry cuz I made myself do it!

Back in Denmark

Right folks, so.. I left Denmark on Nov 11th, and I've finally returned on June 29th. Things look pretty much the same, here. And the bread and pears are working their MAgic. Did you know that I've got six windmills in my neighbourhood? Yep.. Denmark is RAbid about windmills and green energy, and is the largest producer and exporter of windmills. There's even an island (Samsø) whose inhabitants accepted the challenge of consuming renewable energy, and contributing 0% to the CO2 load of the planet. And they're DOing it.. Quite remarkable.

I guess I'm still somewhat jetlagged, cuz I feel tired at the strangest times.. Either that, or it must be coming off my celibacy diet :D Well.. That's all for now.. I'm not in the most happening parts of Denmark (a house down a country lane has a reed-covered pond and swans in the back yard), so.. nothing hot and juicy should be forthcoming for a while!

I Heart Salamanca :) :) :)

It seems like just yesterday that I won this one-month scholarship to study for the summer at La Universidad de Salamanca, but.. sigh.. it was 3 yrs ago! Well.. not that the University gave me the scholarship, more like the Spanish Government on their www.becasmae.es website. The conditions were: we give you money for one month of study (to pay for tuition and lodge), and your return flight to Spain, and you find a University in any part of Spain (where they offer summer language classes) that you would like to go. My lecturers had pointed me to Santiago de Compostela (I felt that being northern Spain, it'd be too cold), Granada (I felt that being southern Spain it'd be too hot), Madrid (hmm.. too central), and Salamanca (since the castellano spoken there would be the most standardized). I bless the day I chose Salamanca!

Salamanca is a 3hr bus/train ride to the west of Madrid, and maybe a 1hr ride from there to the Portuguese border. It's mighty tiny (can be walked in less than a day, and has no metro. You'd get around a lot faster walking than by taking a bus). But, that's just part of the charm. Stepping into the shopping district of Salamanca is like taking a step back into time! Yeah, yeah.. Hans Christien Andersen's fairy tale village in Odense is time-warped, too! But.. SHEESH.. we're talking meDIEval, here! It's like you expect Caesar's great-great-great-great-great-great-GREAT grandkids to step out from behind a building and give you directions! Yet, many of the buildings are modern in terms of age and amenities, but there's this law that ensures that any new buildings are built the same height and with the same sandstone materials as the artifacts!

It was really cool walking along the same streets that Miguel de Unamuno trod, and my goodness, the caTHEdrals!! Most Spanish cities have THE cathedral, but no, not Salamanca, they've got TWO. Aptly named "The Old Cathedral" and "The New Cathedral", they're built side by side with very little divisibility, and only during my last two days what I able to 'see' the difference in architectural style: baroque vs gothic. Salamanca flourished during the height of the Spanish kings (Ferndinand and Isabel), and Spain was just flexing its architectural muscle, with oodles of building projects. It contributed platteresque (platerisco) art to the scene, and it's essentially making designs usually reserved for silverwork with plaster/clay. It's relief work, and the designs are made, then left for the clay/plaster to dry and harden. Salamanca is laiden with platteresque designs (i'm really not sure how it's spelt), and most of the public buildings have some kind of application (Casa de las Conchas, La Facada of the University, etc, etc)

The Roman Bridge is also fantastic. Sure, I don't remember seeing water under the bridge (Salamanca's kinda dry and arid), but.. sheesh.. the VIEW.. of the Cathedrals. The next cool thing about Salamanca is that it's a University town, so go for a walk around 10 pm (when Spaniards are going to have dinner), and it's like 2pm in the afternoon. Thousands of people mill around the streets, and everything is illuminated. The Plaza Mayor(swoon, sigh, faint:)) acquires this ethereal glow, and you can't help but be happy! But.. the CaTHEdrals! At night, they're even MORE breathtaking, especially when seen from the Roman Bridge (which is 'behind' the town), so you must go up through the winding, cobblestoned streets, cut through the Plaza Mayor, up and through more streets (up to the University), skirt the CaTHEdrals (sigh at them), go down another street, cross the regular (non-pedestrian) road, get onto the bridge, cross half of it, then.... GASP! You can see them!! :)

Well.. I guess you've figured that I love Salamanca! My husband's gonna scold me bout this post :D

P.S. I stayed with a host family. If you ever do a language study trip, stay with a family, and avoid people you know (from back home) like the PLAGUE! You avoid the temptation to think/speak in your native language when you're forced to interact 24/7 with the locals! :)

Adopt an Introvert

"Do you know someone who needs hours alone every day? Who loves quiet conversations about feelings or ideas, and can give a dynamite presentation to a big audience, but seems awkward in groups and maladroit at small talk? Who has to be dragged to parties and then needs the rest of the day to recuperate? Who growls or scowls or grunts or winces when accosted with pleasantries by people who are just trying to be nice?

If so, do you tell this person he is "too serious," or ask if he is okay? Regard him as aloof, arrogant, rude? Redouble your efforts to draw him out?"
Jonathon Rauch

It seems like the world has little room for introversion, with its manic preoccupation with effective communication and marketing. In order to get a job or score with the in-group is increasingly a competition of who can talk the loudest and longest. Not surprisingly these are the ones who make it to the "top" position and seek out others who can be described as the epitome of a "team-player" and be or a "people-person". In other words, they want people just like themselves, where they don't need to look beyong the surface, the blustering, walking billboard person. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator declares them "extroverts"and these folks are mighty proud that they have fallen into this category synonymous with "confidence" and "self-esteem" and "public relations". They make up 60-75% of the population while introverts make up the remainder.

Introverts, on the other hand, are often sidelined, and efforts are made to "mainstream" them, ie. turn them into raving extroverts. They're accused of being shy and unasssuming, selfish, socially awkward and sly. I've had all of those descriptions thrown at me, and more. However, I make no apologies for being the way that I am, and strongly believe that it sheilds me from superficial acquaintances. Veeeeeeeeeeeeery few people know me, and I can count my "friends" on one hand. Okay.. maybe I have one finger free since I elevated my husband to another status.

Sure, I can put on a public bravado with the best of them, and if I miss a day of work, I'm truly missed. The "life of the party", as it were.. they miss my happy, cheerful banter. People look aghast at me and say "Shy?!?!?! NO, not YOU!!!", but little do they know that that's just my front. That just goes to show how the so-called demographics of introverts:extroverts can be just wrong!! I firmly believe that a bunch of professed extroverts are really introverts with their warpaint on, doing what they have to do to survive!

I found quite an interesting article a while ago that I'll post here (so if my computer crashes I can still access it ):-D.
Caring for Your Introvert

Indian Arrival Day - 2007

"Bann" Sailing Ship circa 1903

I love my country, I really do! I love the climate, and the fact that our 'eternal summer' afternoons end when the sun dips below the horizon no later than 6:30 - to have 34 C temperatures going till 11pm would be TOO much! They're not very tall, but I love my mountains, and the way that they're arranged, Northern, Central and Southern Ranges, so that unless i'm IN the mountains, I could never be lost! I love the mix of the peoples, the variety of the food, the rhythm of everything we do, and the cross-cultural understanding that promotes peace among quite a varied group.

I love the range of ethnic holidays that allows each group to showcase itself to other groups. After Independence in 1962, Roman Catholic religious holidays were gradually replaced by others that better allign with the lives of citizens. We still have Christmas (and Boxing Day), Easter (Good Friday and Easter Monday) and Corpus Christi, but Independence Day, Republic Day and Labor Day adorn our calendars, as national holidays, now. The ethno-religious holidays are: Emancipation Day, Indian Arrival Day, Eid-ul-Fitr, Divali and Spiritual Shouter Baptists Liberation Day! Last year on October 10th we even had a Chinese holiday to celebrate the Chinese 200-yr contribution to the island:) See? And I didn't even mention the two unofficial holidays when people party in the streets all day : Carnival Monday and Tuesday.

Today is Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago, commemorating the arrival of indentured laborers to the islands (but mostly Trinidad) in 1845. Though quite a number of the Indians were Muslims, somehow only the Hindu sub-continental descendent receives any focus, and the holiday is almost Hindu in nature. However, this is probably because it was the Hindu descendents who began to hold celebrations in 1945. In 1990 they were granted the public holiday as a one-off event for the 150th anniversary, but soon it became annual. There is much contention as to the title of the holiday, as "Arrival Day" was preferred since it would better reflect the arrival of all the peoples: Lebanese, Syrians, Portuguese, Frenchmen, Spaniards, Chinese, and the two largest groups, Africans and Indians. There are, after all, few indigenous Trinidadians left. But the Indians defended the uniqueness of their holiday, insisting that it was their idea and celebration first. Personally, I don't care as long as I have the day off to eat Indian-inspired delicacies: roti (paratha and dhalpourrie), phoulorie, doubles (barra), kurma, curried chicken, massala and chutney mango, fried pumpkin, stir-fried bhagi (spinach), channa and aloo (curried chick peas and potato).

I'll probably watch part of the annual procession tomorrow morning on TV, and probably some lame, Bollywood movie. That's another thing that I like about my country. I once had a Swiss-woman-resident-in-Denmark express awe that people are allowed to profess their faith so publicly, here. In schools, for example, a child's religious background is taken into consideration, and they can receive religious instruction pertaining to their own doctrine. Public officials (government ministers and Presidents) and court witnesses swear upon Bibles, Qu'rans or Hindu Vedics, and school lunches routinely omit pork (offensive to Muslims and SDA's) and beef (revered by Hindus). Office parties also cater for the vegetarian Hindu or SDA who may be among the midst, and a woman or girl wearing a headscarf is simply a Muslim who has chosen to do so. We do not view non-scarved Muslim females as liberal nor shrouded ones as extremist - it's simply a matter of choice - and we look forward to the "Eid Moon" (the one crescent with the star next to it) along with the Muslim devotees.

Denmark takes care of religious differences by equalizing the scale, and officially frowning upon all public demonstrations of faith. The 'state' religion is Lutherism, and most of the country's holidays are Christian in nature, but religious affinity is something better reserved for one's home and family, only. However, in TnT, we embrace them all, if a group clamours long and loudly enough for a special day, concessions are made. Furthermore, they usually have the fullest backing from the rest of the population who no doubt wouldn't mind another holiday.

PS. I'm of African descent, by the way :-o

Need For Speed Carbon

Mm-mm-mm-mm-MM!! Need for Speed Carbon has to be the BEST driving game, out there! I spent an hour playing it, last night. A distracted hour, as I got inch by inch commentary along the track by my friend's game-freak brother. For some reason (maybe because it's not a legal copy of the game?) I can't get it to install on my own computer... well.. yeah, it installs, but it won't run. So.. I'll have to inveigle my husband to buy me a game when I get back to Denmark :D.

I'm a curious being. I've been told that, and pretty much accepted it. I take ultimate pleasure in the simplest things in life. I've been coldheartedly informed that I've "watered down" my race, and not even for monetary benefit! For some folks, "life" is centered around money, possessions and status. For the West Indian woman who's been deprived all her life, marriage becomes the way out, and hopefully forward. Get married, and stop strugging, cuz this new person whose loaded with money, is going to provide for you, and make everything better. He's going to give you a monthly allowance, and you can get to max out his credit card, and go shopping all day, every day with your girlfriends. Not to mention, all the trips to NYC and the fancy jewellry.

I'm not one of those women. My husband's not rich, but neither is he hand-to-mouth. If we want a vacation, we can save for it. I've been sacrificing all my life, and though I love to travel, and would like to own a luxury yacht, I'm not going to spend my life yearning for what I don't have. I'm perfectly happy to work for what I want, and to furthermore, keep my wants within the reaches of my pocket. To me, it gives us meaningful projects to work toward.

For the moment, it's enough that I can count on his love, dedication and devotion. It's great that whatever we have in the future will be based on the foundation that we build today, and that we both intend to work hard. I believe that the plateau in any married woman's experience has to be when a husband says, "I don't always know what to say, or say the right things, but I'm willing to try/learn". How can I not love someone like that? Someone who's willing to meet, learn, understand and love the real me? The me that noone else sees because I don't allow them? (I don't believe in being "mushy", by the way, so you bloggers are getting quite a treat!)

But.. back to where I began. I like simple things. I like driving games (Need for Speed(s) and Driver 1 and 2), Rituals Chillers (a kinda frappuccino drink), icecream, mangoes and British Airways. I live close to the airport, and the planes' paths invariably take them directly over my street. British Airways leaves the airport at 17:10 on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and it's the most beautiful plane I've ever seen. When they pass over my street, the planes are usually low enough for me to see the logos on the tails, and sometimes on the sides. So.. yesterday was a perfect day for me: I had 4 mangoes, 1/2 litre of ice cream, Need for Speed, AND British Airways!

The Unquestionable Questions: Why I Stopped Assembling 2

SDA's are trained to respond to such questions as:

1. If God is so good, why did he let my mother/son/daughter/friend/neighbor die? (God moves in mysterious ways)
   
2. Why do bad things happen to good people? (eg. of Job and Abel is given)
   
3. Which day is the sabbath? (all Biblical texts with "Sabbath" in it are drawn out and presented)
   
4. Did God change the sabbath day? (ditto)
   
5. I have a non-believer boyfriend, what do I do? (eg. of Hosea is given, the "be not yolked unequally together with unbelievers" text appears out of thin air)
   
6. Where is God? (all of Bible is presented)
   
7. IS there a God. (ditto + some personal experiences may be given)

Etc, etc.

Such questions need no further effort that a look in one's good ole KJV Bible. However, what happens when one sneaks in questions that have no answer in the Bible, or worse.. how about those questions that have several conflicting answers in the Bible? And this is where things start going awry. Plus, there are so many things that one just doesn't question, because one has heard it for so long, and just simply accepted it as is, or worse, assumed to be 'true' because they came from 'authoritative' sources.

Others keep their questions contained for fear of sounding foolish, unwise, or professing hints of unbelieving (which is just WRONG, because.. regardless of what one should just KEEP believing!) It's quite okay to say, "I don't understand", because then you could be treated to the responder's own interpretations and ideas on the matter.. however, under no circumstances should you say "I do not believe", because then you play with your own salvation, and might go to hell. (SDA's don't really threaten people with "going to hell", but the flip side of the argument is just as strong: "You'll lose out on heaven".)

I spent quite a bit of my life under these suppositions, and any questions were simply squelched for fear of "losing out on heaven" because of the slightest hint of disbelief. However, it is my humble belief, that regardless of how many years I spend meekly accepting, and trusting that your superior experience in spiritual things are trustworthy, should I one day decide to delve a little deeper or past, then some coherent explanation should exist! So, I set out to prove that 100% of the Bible is a logically accurate historical document, and that everything contained in it should be alignable with external history. BIG mistake!

For example, take Exodus 2:10 ...And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.

This is where the great liberator, Moses, is introduced to the world. Moses is accredited with formidable tasks, all the surrounding nations supposedly came to know about the Israelites and their God through him and his feats, and quite a number of them were vanquished by his armies. The logical process would be to backtrack history till some mention of him is found, right? After all, if he was this hotshot in Egypt, SOME record of him would be found SOMEwhere, right? So.. my search began.. and promptly hit a snag. It seems that while I'd always been given to understand that Moses' name came about because "she drew him out of the water", quite a number of Egyptian pharaohs contained "mose" in their names/titles:

• Kamose (1600-1574BC) last ruler of XVII Dynasty, expelled Hyskos
  
• Ahmose / Amasis I (1574-1550)
  
• Thutmose I / Tutmoses/ Djehuty-Moses (1530-?)
  
• Thutmose II (? - 1503)
  
• Thutmose III (1503-1450) co-regent with Hatshepsut for 21 years
  
• Thutmose IV (1425 -1417)
  

So, the immediate question, is "were they all drawn out of the water?" followed by: "if there are soooooooooooo many pharaohs in the Bible, and "pharaoh" simply means "king", how come there are so many nameless pharaohs in the Bible?" Wouldn't it have been simpler (credibility-wise) to have simple named the pharaohs? How do we know which pharaoh had his eyes set on Abraham's wife, trying to steal her? How do we figure out which pharaoh decided to make Joseph CEO? Which one of his daughters did Pharaoh give to Solomon, and which one of the pharaohs?

Clearly, my task seemed insurmountable, because even egyptologists can't seem to agree when to date what, and though Pithom and Raamses are listed as the treasure cities built by the Israelites, the dating of them doesn't match up with the backtiming guide given in 1 Kings 6:1 (480 yrs after Passover in the 4th year of Solomon hints that the Exodus would have taken place in 1455 BC, and Moses would have been born in 1525).

So.. I decided to give the Old Testament a rest! I'm tired, now.. more next sabbath!

Further reading: http://www.biblehistory.com/198.htm

The Turtles are Coming!!

"Look out! The turtles are coming and coming and coming...

This is set to be a record year for nesting leatherback turtles on the coast of northern and eastern Trinidad with as many as 7,000 females expected to come ashore.

On just one beach, Grande Riviere, conservationists counted 388 nesting on one night earlier this month and now expect this to surpass the previously unthinkable total of 500 laying females. " Trinidad Express -May 21st, 2007

Yes folks, we're talking about MY island!!:)

Anyone who's never been turtle-watching has missed a great treat. Admittedly, yours truly falls into the never-been-turtle-watching category in that I've never deliberately set out to lose a night of sleep awaiting the arrival of the odd, arbitrary turtle on a cold, wet and sandfly-ridden beach. However, I do know what the experience is like, since I've slept out on beaches and had leatherback turtles toss their sand against the body of my tent!

A nesting turtle is an awe-inspiring experience. Last year, my in-laws paid something like $30US per person [I'll have to check out the actual figure and re-publish] to have some shitty guide take them to a beach and get soaked in the rain, all for the sake of one or two turtles. It was on Turtle Beach, Tobago, and as much as I love my sister island, I bluntly forewarned them that they would be wasting their time. When it comes to turtles, Trinidad is it! I patiently explained to them, that in all my experiences with 'turtle watching', it was the turtles who watched me, not the other way around! I explained to them: "Pitch your tent on any eastern or northern beach in Trinidad, and you'll see turtles all night long, and free too!" In turn, they were like, "We're only here for a week, we can't miss the opportunity!" So.. I went to bed, and left them to it!

So, honestly, I'm sorry that they couldn't have been here, this year. They're missing out on a lot. Even if Trinis pay to see turtles, it's usually something like $10TT per person (about $1.58US). For the price that my in-laws paid in Tobago, they could have probably enjoyed the entire season in Trinidad! Anyways.. enough rambling. I'm going turtle watching, this year!

"This is an amazing year. The biggest nesting season on record. The turtles are big and robust and we are thrilled to see so many on the beaches," said Scott Eckert, a conservation biologist widely recognised for his pioneering research on turtles.

Thou Shalt not DANCE!!

So.. hmm.. if there's indeed no such commandment, why did I spend the first 28 years of my life feeling guilty if I so much as tapped my feet in time to music, again? Ok.. maybe not 28 full years, but.. hmm.. more like the last 18 of the first 28. Well.. the mind is a powerful thing, okay?

For those who haven't yet picked up on where I'm from, I'm a national of Trinidad and Tobago: land of the steelband and calypso, limbo dancing, hummingbirds and a Carnival that rivals Rio de Janeiro. Actually, it was the indigenous folks who called Trinidad Iere (land of the Humming Bird), but once the slaves and their masters arrived, and Columbus renamed it, the island became increasingly synonymous with music and rhythm. The slaves brought their rhythms and tempos, and the European masters brought their funky instruments, and the fusions of 300 years produced what we have, today.

In essence, it is an embarassment to one's heritage (especially if one is a Trini) not to be able to dance. Once I got over the guilt, though, I wanted to dance! I mean.. if Trini babies 3 months old know how to respond to music (rhythmically, at least), how could something so elemental be attached to shame? However, the modern dances of the youths revolt me. Imitating copulating dogs, horses, and other mammals on a dance floor is a bit too raunchy for me, thanks! So.. I joined a dance class. Ballroom dancing, if you please. I now know how to listen for and follow the rhythm and steps for the following dances : bolero, fox trot, waltz (which i hate and haven't mastered), samba (very basic), rockers (essential for reggae music), soca (essential for most Trini music), cha cha, jive and bounce/swing.

The ironic thing is that I'm now married to someone who can barely keep rhythm with his fingertips (much less, toes) ! However, I feel good that I've conquered my timidation about thinking/acting out of the (theological) box, and although I haven't been to a class in more than a year, I haven't lost my touch. It's good that if I go out on some social event/occasion, and there is music and dancing involved, I no longer have to decline (or worse yet, accept and be stepping on everyone's toes as I move around the dance floor). I'm happy that I have learnt some ballroom etiquette, proper posture and breathing, and balance. I'm pleased at the number of calories I have been able to burn while twirling left and right!

Forsake not the Assembling of Ourselves Together: Why I Stopped Assembling 1

So.. It's Sabbath, today. The second one since I started blogging. And at least once during the week (and several times during recent times), I've heard the snippets of the following:

Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

It's the one piece of scripture that SDA's use to motivate themselves to drag their tired bodies out of their beds on Saturday mornings, and valiantly try to remain awake and appear attentive for 3-4 hours each week. It rarely matters whether they understand or agree with what is being said, or argued. There is scriptural guidelines reminding them to get their butts "into church", and so they do. Many comply out of tradition, some out of fear that they'd lose out on heaven at the last moment, some out of duty, and others out of social motivation-to meet their friends.

Yours truly, however, isn't one of them. And it's not that I'm boasting, but in the past three years I've probably been to church a dozen times. Around 2003/2004 I had some burning questions to which I have yet to receive a satisfying answer, and my sporadic appearances in church became more social visits, than spiritual pilgrimages.

I guess a lot of answers that one perceives to have found rely to a large extent on the questions that one has asked. For this reason, I first entered the SDA church at the age of 10, it having answered my question of: what can I do on Saturday mornings when my mother's at work? Someone volunteered to take care of us during the day, take us to and from church, feed us, and life was grand. At the age of 12, I got baptized because I felt that my question of: do you want to see Jesus when he comes, was answered. They also allowed me to get baptized because it was felt that I could adequately (a.k.a correctly) answer all the doctrinal questions that they would have to ask me before allowing me to get baptized on my baptism day.

At the age of 16, the contented feelings were waning, and I began to question myself: why go somewhere to hear folks read from the same place I could read from and better make myself understand the point they were trying to prove? Around 17-18 the question was: how do I rekindle my interest, and make myself go on? By 20 I hinged on to the appeal of group activities, and would attend drama-club meetings (after afternoon church), and bit by bit I was re-mainstreamed. In 3 years I was holding down leadership positions, i suspect mainly, because I could be counted on to ask the right questions, and give the right responses. This went on for a number of years until around 2003 I began to ask a different kind of question, and things haven't been the same, since. It's a very ticklish question when one begins to ask the unquestionable.

Any SDA member in church leadership knows the surefire way to speak according to the law and testimony, and deliver a thus saith the LORD!! It's as simple as

• finding a topic,
• searching for that word in one's Bible concordance,
• finding all the places the word/topic appears,
• finding where it also occurs in the Spirit of Prophecy to ensure the 'argument' is sound, and then delivering it.

I forgot to mention that there's usually a bout of fervent prayer directly before finding the topic, but even without prayer, it is possible to deliver a perfectly scriptural and irrefutable presentation following the formula.

So.. What were my unquestionable questions? And why couldn't I rely on the usual "That isn't salvaric" and "If the Bible doesn't say it, it wasn't meant to be known" and "God moves in mysterious ways" and "God said it, I believe it, and that settles it for me"??

Stay tuned till next sabbath!

P.S.

For the unwise/uninitiated/unknowing, "Spirit of Prophecy" refers to a series of literature written by the SDA prophetess Ellen G. White until her death in 1912. She covered a range of issues: health and diet principles, education, youth behaviour, family, history, and the list goes on.

P.P.S.

Revelation 12:17 states the following: "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ". Revelation 19:10 talks about "thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus", explaining that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" By the same neat formula just described, Sis. White ensured that her writings would receive an unquestioning readership, because, if (as demonstrated) she was a prophet, benefiting from the "spirit of prophecy", then her fellow believers would be the remnant, who (if they WANTED to remain the chosen 'remnant') would have to believe in her writings. Astutely, she named them, "Spirit of Prophecy".

Soñar en cubano

You really should have a look at this cute little book by Cristina Garcia. The English title is "Dreaming in Cuban", and tells the story of three generations of Cuban women, as they struggle to make sense of their world. Cuban, herself, Ms. Garcia had her island experience cut short when she, just like one of her characters, migrated to the U.S. at the age of two. The main characters are Celia the Matriarch, Lourdes the crazy daugher, Felicia the craziER daughter, Pilar the Americanized granddaughter, and other supporting characters: Luz and Milagro- the telepathic twins, Ivanito - their mama-struck brother, Jorge - the irrascible grandfather, and Javier - the drunkard.

The story is developed and told from the female point of view, and the men are only present because of some relationship to the women. However, they're largely voiceless, with the largest voices coming from the ghost of the father and the mama's boy, Ivanito. The novel is interesting because it doesn't seek to give a for-or-against stance for neither the Cuban Revolution nor American policy adopted against the island, its leadership nor its political ideologies. Rather, such issues appear vaguely on the periphery.

Some reviews:

Dreaming in Cuban is written in language that is by turns languid and sensual, curt and surprising. Like Louise Erdrich, whose crystalline language is distilled of images new to our American literature but old to this land, Garcia has distilled a new tongue from scraps salvaged through upheaval."--The New York Times Book Review"

Poignant and perceptive...It tells of a family divided politically and geographically by the Cuban revolution...[and] of the generational fissures that open on each side: In Cuba, between a grandmother who is a fervent Castro supporter and a daughter who retreats into an Afro-Cuban santeria cult; in America, between another daughter, militantly anti-Castro, and her own rebellious punk-artist daughter, who mocks her obsession.... The realism is exquisite."--Los Angeles Times

"This book provides a surprisingly seamless web of time and change, generations and a clarity about the double consciousness of the branches of the family wherever they are. Garcia writes wonderful characters, and the more I read it the more I look forward to reading it again....Excellent book."—Professor Tanya Gardner-Scott, Mount Ida College

P.S. Did I mention the silly book was published in 1993? Well.. the English version at any rate. The Spanish version was written and published a year later.

The Fastidious Writer

So.. are there any other writers like me out there in Bloggerland? You know.. the kind of writer who can't think if there's another sound within 2cm? I'm really upset with myself, and all my other fellow beings who: speak, sing, play music, watch tv, play video games, argue, fight, discuss the weather, or else comMUnicate with others or their machines! I'm not exagerrating.. honestly.. I hear EVerything! And when I do, it breaks my chain of thought, or line of vision, and I have to wait till the distraction is no longer there, before I can start over, again. It's not that I'm experiencing writer's block, because I know very clearly what I want to write, but it's like the process becomes JAMMED each time I'm interrupted.

In the mood for Danish bread.. BADly

I may not be to wild about Denmark, but I absolutely loooooooooooove Danish bread (though not the rugbrød). I like how they fill them up with aaaaaaaaaaaaall kinds of whole grain (oats, wheat, rye, possibly linseed, and i dunno what else). I love it cuz two slices helps me be regular. Actually, this is the real reason why I'm gaga about their bread, cuz anything that takes me to the toilet gets promoted to Zeus status! So.. I'll add to my list of Danish favorites: Chilean grapes, Spanish pears, plums, peaches, Danish salat (aka lettuce to mere English speakers), the mild cheese, and the bread with the seeds on top of it that aint necessarily laxative, but gives the bread a cool flavour.

Oh... I also adore the kanelsnegls. English speakers call them Danishes.. but.. sheesh.. Danes can't exactly call ONE of their many pastries a DANISH, can they? Kanelsnegl translates into cinnamon snail, and I dunno if the description is cool or gross, but they sure are YUMMY!

Quiero Escribir!

Hoy es lunes el catorce de mayo, y todavía no he cumplido mucho en cuanto al escribir. Me faltan como 3.000 palabras para terminar mi tesis, algo que no me alegra mucho. Voy pensando que he fracasado... que he gastado como seis años de mi vida, visto que la última tarea de la primera etapa de mi carrera académica parece ser tan imposible. Pienso que he intentado resolver el problema en miles de maneras.. pero.. nada. Me es difícil hacer nada. Además, tengo que usar otro idioma visto que el esposo seguramente va a leer este blog, ¡y no quiero que sepa tanto!

De todos modos, creo que hubiera sido tanto más fácil escribir la tesis en español que en inglés. ¡Fíjense estudiar español por tantos años (en mi caso 6 porque elegí estudiar de tiempo parcial), sólo por tener que entregar la tarea más importante en inglés! No obstante, voy a intentar otra vez. Voy a acostarme a las diecinueve y despertarme de nuevo a la una y media, y tratar de hacer algo hasta las cinco. ¡No debo fracasar!

OH.. by the way!
Umm.. I speak some Spanish!!

Just for the Sake of Writing Something

It's hot, today. Maybe another 34.7 C. Folk drop their jaws in awe when I complain of the heat, patiently explaining that I was born here, and spent all my life here: you should be USED to it. But I'm telling you, people.. I'm NOT! I hate the heat. And it's so dry it's DRAINING. We haven't had rain in AGES!! I'm longing for rain, hoping for rain, yearning for rain, but they claim we won't have any till closer to the end of the month.

I think I"m done, for the day.. Maybe I'll just sit and fantasize about being at Maracas Bay !

Inaugural Speech

Right.. So.. I've finally bitten the bullet and created my first (and I hope ) last blog. I honestly hate to write, especially about deep, soul-moving issues, and have never been able to keep a REAL journal/diary for an entire week.. so.. who knows what'll happen?

On another note, I ended the first phase of my academic life, today with a really stupid exam on Contemporary Venezuelan Theatre (All Latin literature borders on the absurd, in my opinion), and "all" that's left for me to do is "submit" my dastardly thesis. Not an easy proposition when one suffers from writer's block in 34 C heat!

Anyways.. I believe I've said enough for now (and ah personally wonderin' to mehself why de ARSE ah writin' in Standard English for! Dis is MY bleep bleep bleep blog, and ah could put whatbleepinever ah want, and how de bleep bleep ever ah want!!)

Nevertheless, off I go!