Girl Jihadist!

How and when did we get here; a 15 year old girl heading off to the unknown in the name of fighting for a god that apparently sends even children to kill "in the name of Islam".

Lost souls, who leave behind a life that holds lots of promises for them to fight for nothing. Giving up everything, family, friends, education in the name of Allah the Almighty. Forgive me if I do not understand why an apparently so loving and all caring god will let a 15 year old girl so far from being a woman walk away from those that love her to practically "commit suicide". A place in heaven, no it is still so hard for me to understand.

But what really is the issue and how did I get to this subject? During a break from my studies in my kitchen this week there on the television was the 90 minute emission and the first reportage was about a 15 year old French college girl of Arab origin who had run away from home and headed to Syrie to join the Jihadist. She is now one of the few but fast increasing young girls and women opting to fight and kill in the name of religion, to have a first class ticket to heaven!

I was in shock, being a mother brings out emotions in you, you probably can never experience until you have born the pain of motherhood. I watched with sadness as this girl's mother cried and asked herself questions she will probably never have answers to. But then again I asked myself what is the real problem.

How could a 15 year old citizen of a country with one of the best social services not only in Europe but the world over have gotten to this place; how could her ranting on and on about the works of Jihadists and how she was in awe of what they did on a social platform, Facebook go unnoticed by so many? How could they not have caught on so early, how did it escape her teachers and the school psychologists yet even girls her own age testified to he sudden change and how she had become obsessed! How could someone not seem there was a problem when a girl who once dressed like a normal 15 year old adolescent started a Burqa covering her whole body save for her eyes?

But then again I remembered, how the reporter always brought into the reportage every time he could the fact that the young girl, was a French citizen but of Arab origin. Would things have been different had she been French, French really French of no other origin? Does it make a difference what origin she was? Does her origin make her less warranty of protection and certainty that she will be helped not to fall into the hands of Jihadists who now have turned to recruiting and planting seeds of hatred amongst even 15 year old? 

Living in France and no where else has made me more conscience of the differences between origins, colour, ethnicity. Here is a country where the motto is Libereté, Egalité, Fraternité (Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood). But where in fact the majority populations seems to be so far away from this liberty, equality and brotherhood. Which makes my stomach knot over; worrying about the future of my son and so many like him of mixed ethnicity. Will they also be put to test over their ethnicity and origin, because they had one French parent and the other foreign? Or will they live in a better world later on where origins will not count but the safety of everyone?

Of silly parents and ignorant little ones

So Friday morning i walked out the school gate after dropping off my son and there i  found this mother whose daughter is in the same class as my son waiting for me with such a heart warming smile on her face. I smiled back and then came the inevitable.

Her: "Tu sais quoi ma fille m'a demande l'autre fois?" (Do you know what my daughter asked me the other time).
Me: "Non, qu'eset ce qu'elle t'as demande?" (No, what did she ask you)
Her: "Elle m's demande pourqoi tu est noire?"
Me: "Ah ben. Je suis noire parce que jes suis noire. Comment vous etes blanche."

Interesting. So interesting in this time and day that a parent thinks it important to report to me word by word that her 4-year old had asked her why i was black. Even my 4- year old son knows and says it "Maman elle est noire et moi je suis moitie noir comment Maman et moitie blanc comme Papa. And he has never asked for an explaination from me about why i am black.

But this woman, this mother instead of explaining the difference races that exist in the world to her daughter thought it best to come right out with a smile and tell me all about it. What she expected of me, i will never know perhaps her knowledge of colour differences is so bad or perhaps she just wanted to have something to talk to me about, i will never know.

All i hope for is that one day her daughter will understand that we live in a world where there are black, white, and all different types of people. And that difference will always exist.

No longer the worst "that the cat dragged in"

January 1, 2014 the transitional controls on free movement included in the accession treaties and adopted by the UK and seven other Member States when Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007, ended. 

So simply what does this mean for thos of you who perhaps do not have the patience to read European politics, basically, since the start of this year, Bulgarians and Romanians live and work freely in those eight Member States (France is in the mix). Except of course in the Uk, of course the Brits have always been sane in as far as the EU goes but that is a story for another day. For now, its official, the poor  Bulgarians and Romanians are in the same situation as the citizens of all other Member States except those from Croatia which will be subject to transitional controls until 2020.

So the New Year could not have announced anything better for them Romanians and Bulgarians than the fact that there exist no more restrictions for them. Free at last, free at last if i may borrow the words of one of my hero Martin Luther King Jr. They are free at last to live in Europe like all other European citizens.

But i too am free at last, free at last from being the worst that the cat dragged into Europe and into France. Of course i am neither Romanian nor Bulgarian, hey am happily Ugandan, she from the little known African country smack right in East Africa whose claim to fame until Aamito(very recently and she is still not known by the French) was Idd Amin, Gorillas and hmmmm cannot think of anything else. All the same this lifting of the restriction for Romanians and Bulgarians could not have come at a better time.

Finally, finally a people that are more hated and much more looked down upon than me! Phew! Thank you the powers that be, thank you. See even if Romania and Bulgaria were part of the European Union since seven years ago, these poor beings needed to have visas to work in France as they did in Belgium and in the Netherlamds. As i do. But now they do not need any visas. Hop they get onto a bus, train or plane get into Framce and start living their lives and looking for jobs. No restrictions nothing nadda. But it gets better, they have the right as any European citizen to free education for their children, free health care, free housing for those that cannot afford to pay their rent, coupons for food, toys and clothes. And for those with more than one child, allowances for each child. Could not get better huh what an icing on the cake..

Hahahahahaha could not make me laugh more, while me and those of my colour have been for a long time castigated by the people here for taking all their jobs (trust me this could not be any wrong because there are no jobs to take!) Whats more there are outcries of racism following the reaction of those in richer European nations.

Bwhahahaha; this i thought i would never live to see. Europeans claiming racism from fellow Europeans and whats worse Europeans turning againt their own because they come from poorer nations. They should not have thought up the EU if you ask me!

So now that the Romanians and Bulgarians are here whats the scenario. Fears of losing jobs to the new immigrants, see they work for much less, these Romanians and Bulgarians. Whereas a French person will ask for say 25 Euros and hour, the brothers will take as little as 5 Euros! And again there are worries of more pickpocketers on the streets of Paris, see Romanian children as young as 4 years old are well trained in this "trick".

But as for me i cant reast assured that i can sleep a little freely, walk about more reassured that i ain't the worst that the cat dragged in!

An affair, thats so French

So the world is once again aflame again thanks to the goings on in between the sheets and behind closed doors of another big Frenchman, this time President Holland himself!

For starters, I never thought the dude had it in him, another affair! Hahahaha, cheating on Valerie Trierweiler, the woman he cheated with when he was happily married to the now lovely Signole Royale ( i say the now lovely because she keeps getting better with Botox shots).

Anyways back to Holland he must have some secret; after all he aren't the most appealing most powerful Frenchman that i have seen in a while. Sex appeal the man has none but then again who am i to judge after all he jumped onto a scooter tried to be discreet and went to the sexend-vous with his actress. Now maybe that is appeal. She on the other hand must have something special to have gotten the first French man cruising around the richest streets of Paris for a rompe in the sheets. 

But whats more interesting is that while the world may be so keen on following up on all the little bitsyintimate details, the French people would not care less. Its another affair by another man of office even it while wash away. On this one I could not agree more with the French poeople. Trust me its not always that i do.

Let me tell you a little about the French people, they do not get worked up about extra marital affairs, infidelity  mistress or gigolos of anyone even the President. They believe its the private life of those concerned and they do not go looking under the beds in houses that do not belong to them.

Take the DSK affair; him who was accussed of having forced the poor immigrant in America to give in to his sexual demands. What shocked the French more at the time was that DSK was handcuffed before he had even been found guilty of the crime. And he was handcuffed and filmed on television! That just does not work here. Trust me i watched with awe as my mother in law cursed the Americans and called them hypocrites for parading a man around in handcuffs because a woman had said he had sexually abused her!

In fact what may be annoying les Francaises about the Holland/actress issue is that he was so silly he got found out. Look at Mitterand he managed to have it in keeps until his death. And his was real it came with a daughetr in tact and who really well resembled the man. But did they make a sound about it, non!

Matter of fact even French pychologists do not see anything wrong with French husbands having affairs. As French Pyschologist Maryse Vaillant put it, just a few days after the Holland affair went public, "husbands affairs are good for marriage"
According to figures cited in her book, an estimated 39 per cent of French men cheat on their wives at some stage in their life.

In fact if you want to know what may be making the Froggies talk these days sure is not the Holland affair. But if the social security system was in trouble and there was no more allocation money for those that did not work or if the food at the Ecole Maternelle (Kindergaten) canteens was horrible, then they would be talking.

An affair grace a Holland et son actresse, non the French have much better things to follow up on.

So chill, relax people if the French are not raising hell about Holland and his actress who is the rest of the world to!  Its simple, given the French let themselves get away with a lot and so they let others geat away with it too.

As for Holland, next time make sure your camaflouge is good enough not to attact attention so you do not give the foreign press more to talk about.

New Year, new challenges

Another year came and went, and now its a new one. This morning i received a tweet from an old friend Dave Jenkins who saw i had started writing again or rather was trying to get back to the writing. He could not have said what he did any better, that it seemed challenging. And yes it is so true.

I once was a natural at this, deadlines were my thing, i lived, breathed, ate and slept with writing on my mind, it was my calling, my career, my vocation, my passion, i was happiest when i was writing, the adrenalin rush i had knowing i had a story to complete and a deadline to beat could not be compared to anything. I was addicted!

Then i had a child and he took over. And for him i made sacrficies, i changed countreis so he could grow up in his country and he could belong, i changed professions i had to, i learnt a new language and even if its been three years of trying to get my life sorted out, it is not not yet sorted out. I wonder if it ever will be.

I wonder how those that came before me managed! To accept the new life, the new challenges, the feeling that you do not belong, the ups and the downs and most of all the fact that you have to make it all on your own.

Yes its a challenge but this is also a new year so i am setting my targets higher that i did and this year will be better, tough i know but still than the last one.

And yes i will continue beating the writing blues and write. That is a promise Dave! Happy 2014!

A little thankfulness never hurt!

So Thanksgiving came and went.

I am not much of a religious person, in fact ever since the day i realised i did not have to go to church because no one obliged me to, i pretty much stopped going. But i have and i am am always thankful to the the powers that be for whatever i have. The food, the family, friends (even though they may be few and far in between) a roof over my head, health and my son. I am thankful for life and the air i breathe that i do not have to pay for, yet; en fin bref, i am thankful.

However when i look around me i wonder how many people i come across are thankful even for the gift of life.

It will soon be three years since i moved to France and living amongst the French people i do not think i have ever come across a people so unthankful or is it so ungrateful for that which they have. I doubt i have ever met a people that complqin as much as my French cammarades. And why should they not complain you may ask me? After all they can!

Well for starters they should be grateful for the food, the health services that are available to everyone and free to the most poor, education that is free for all, heck they even get coupons to buy children toys for christmas if they have so many children! And they have the guts to still complain.

And what do they complains about? Basically everything and nothing at all as long as they deem it worth complaining about and as long as there is someone to listen then they will go off. If its not the politics, about how Holland is worse than Sarkozy, the very Sarkozy they hated and christened thief because he apparently stole all their money, then they are complaining about the foreignors. If its not the foreignors its the economic crisis (trust me the shopping malls show another crisis all together and it ain't a lack of money!) and when they are not going on and on and about the lack of money they are on about the horrible weather. Seriously winter is winter and when its winter shut the heck up and dress warm! No the French will complain anyway.

Shoot me but yes this is a country of whinners that never learnt to shut the heck up and appreciate the roofs they have over their heads, the food on their plates and warm beds to crawl into in the night!

I thought i was being hard on the chaps until my snooping around on the internet drove me right to this article published in 2010  by the Daily Mail about a survey that had the French admitting that they are the best at complaining in the world. They are even proud of it, les cons!

According to the article, i quote "the French believe they are the biggest moaners in the world, a poll has revealed --and they appear to be rather proud of it. More than 72 per cent of those surveyed believe they can out-complain any other nation, compared with 17 per cent who thought the Italians held the honour.
Surprisingly, just 3 per cent voted for the British as the greatest whingers.The principal reason they put forward for all their complaining was: "You have to grumble in life, otherwise you get trampled on."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1274368/French-boast-comes-moaning-does-better-do.html#ixzz2mDUijufc

So there now i rest my case if a people think that they have to groan and moan to and that that is a life worth living then let them complain. But i on the other hand will continue to be thankful because i know what it really means when you really do have to moan for the right reasons.

As for the French whinners maybe wait until food becomes a luxury and health care is only for the rich then you will understand why you had no need to complain before. Talk of Chicken Little and his tale of the sky falling!

As for me i am hell bent on plucking that seed or trait of complaining out of my French son before its too late.I am not letting it push into un herb!

Yes thats me!

He interrupted my me-time the only time of the day i get to sit down, smell the fresh the fresh air and have a coffee without worrying that in the next minute i am going to hear that call "maman" and leave whatever it is i am doing to rush to my son's beckoning. Yes he interrupted me not to be kind or say hello but to insul me. He interrupted me during that one moment when i did not have paperwork to think about and was pretending to be that carefree single woman having a coffee in a street side cafe to ask me if i was in France because i was so poor back in my country and i wanted papers! Yes he had the sick sense to do just that.

And no he is not the first one and i bet he will not be the last. I have had it all, weird questions, that start from whether i had a French child to get me a French Visa and whether i am looking for a French man to get me papers to stay in France. 

The thing is simple, i am a black foreign female or as i would say in FrenchUune Femme Noire Etrangere smack right in the middle of a small town in south western France who seems to have nothing going for her, probably, yes most probably poor and uneducated! The perils of being who i am i could say.

How can i ever forget that i am a foreign woman of colour living in the South Western part of France. to be precise, in the Midi-Pyrenees. It follows me everywhere i go, i am reminded of it by the looks the strange questions and the stares and strangely its become part of my daily life!

Seriously it ain't much fun being la femme noire etrangere in this part of the world. I have had it all and more. The not so young man who interrupted my coffee with his insults was not much of something if you ask me and living in France, i have learnt to be mean. So i gave him as piece of my mind after asking him what he did for a living and he replied "je suis au chomage mais j'etais jardiner" I am officially jobless but i was a gardener, i asked him to pick up his silly self and leave my table. In fact the old me, the old journalist succesful me who achieved more in ten years as a journalist than that insulting French gardener ever will all his life would never have given his sorry butt the chnace to even share a table with me.

No i am not mean but yes i can be when i am insulted and so that is the new me, meaner and leaner and yes still black foreign and female. BFF!