Friday, June 25, 2010

Happenings

...I know I suck with the updates, I dont even know why...well actually I do its proposal season in the international development world which means my schedule will take on slave like attributes till October.

Anyway lots and lots of happenings. I ended up going to World Cup with my arch-nemesis aka fellow intern from the Kenya days that was stealing my thunder with her Ethiopianess... confused?

Ok scenario...you know when white ppl go to an exotic far out place and see another white person from their country...suddenly the place goes down a notch from their encounter of their fellow country men. Its the same with Habesha (eri/ethio) peeps...

Anyway pardon my add and back to the World Cup updates which will be split up into unrealted mini stories for your reading pleasure...and the fact that I can entertain a continuous stream of thinking..

1) Mo and Dillan
Mo (Mohamed) and Dillan are fellow americans from Oklahoma that we met in Moz. The interesting part is Mo and Dillan went to Punto de Oro soak up the legendary beaches of Moz. Unfortunately they were caught driving on the beach which is HIGHLY illegal with a $600 fine each! In their moment of desperation they decided to call me so I could put them in contact with the American embassy. I asked the secretary for the American embassy number...unfortunately for them it turned out to be the Algerian embassy of all places....lesson learned in an emergency dont call me :-P Luckily they "paid" a smaller fine of a bottle of whiskey after placing a call to the son of the prime minister who they knew in Oklahoma...why is the son of the prime minister of Moz. doing in OK....who knows..prolly some misguided information on America. (again proof that my idea of lonely planet guide to America for NON AMERICANS would be a hit!)

2) The Jo-burg Gabonian
So we are in Jo burg a few days b4 our tix to the game. Our crew which consisted of my Ethio Arch Nemisis, a Ugandan Med Student, and a 50+ UK Rasta. Anyway our troupe of random mofos did not know how to catch the public transport in Jo-burg....so the Rata dude decided to ask this rather large Gabonian in an S class Mercedes for a ride. Oddly enough he obliged. Even stranger, he wanted to charge us 30 Rand about $5.50 for the ride...ask yourself why would a guy diving an S class Mercedes charge us 5 bucks??? Eventually we negotiated it to 20 rand $4 a head to get driven around in a S Class. So as we engaged in conversation with this strange fellow on what he does ..it was "import/export" aka African for criminal activities. Luckily we were not driven to a back ally and gutted out for our organs to be sold on the Nigerian Black Market....still not summin to do a second time around.

3) World Cup game and Arch Nemesis almost gets JACKED!
We went to the Argentina vs. Nigeria game...no crazyness here...it was a great game and just being there was an amazing moment. As we were leaving...we came to a stop at the crosswalk. As we were waiting this lady kept bumping into Arch Nemesis over and over.....fortunately we noticed that this lady was secretly knifing Arch Nemesis' purse and cutting a hole into it. As Arch nemesis was shocked by this whole event and was trying to flag the police....crazy baglady disappeared into the crowd. So hold onto your shit. 10 mins later Mc Donalds...a dude just put his hand in Arch Nemesis' purse and tried to snatch her ish! WTF jo-burg....i guess its WC though so opportunities are everywhere. Overall though Jo-burg was fairly safe but i think these failed attempts ruined the night a lil

4) Gypsy Partaaaaay
So i did it....i met random ppl through Couch Surfing.com It was great and def will repeat cuz they were cool peeps. Anyway couch surfing crew introduced me to some ppl who were throwing a Gypsy partay....apparently by real Gypsies. The music was Gypsy house music and a live gypsy band singing some sweeet sweeet Romanov tunes. I talked to one of the hosts and apparntly they are part of a traveling Gypsy group that goes around the world hosting parties with a gypsy flavor. It was a blast...i highly recommend going if you hear about a gypsy party in your neck of the woods. Although the sci-fi kid in me wondered if they were really vampires and they did this thing to lure fresh blood into their areas.....why....cuz there were some strange old looking gypsies that gave me the creeps. Who knows....still recommend it!


....there is a lot more to write...but I gots to get back to my massa of the day Global Fund HIV/TB proposal.

I am out like vanilla coke, thank GOD they stopped with that nonsense it was naassstay!!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Drug Kingpin Laws

So I got the following e-mail in my inbox at work today....

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To: All Mission Employees

Subject: US Department of Treasury Designation of Mozambican National, Mohamed Bachir Suleman, MBS, as a “Drug Kingpin

On June 1, 2010, the President of the United States identified Mozambican national, Mohamed Bachir Suleman (“MBS”), as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker or “drug kingpin”, pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. The law is intended to apply economic and financial sanctions against significant drug traffickers through denying their organizations or commercial enterprises access to the U.S. financial system and to the benefits of trade and financial transactions involving U.S. persons and businesses.

Under the Kingpin Act, U.S. persons (citizens, legal permanent residents, and U.S. companies or organizations) and their subsidiaries are prohibited from engaging in unlicensed transactions with foreign persons and entities on the Kingpin list. U.S. persons face criminal and civil penalties should they violate this prohibition.

The U.S. Mission to Mozambique is considered a U.S. person and, therefore, it, its entities or employees cannot engage in any business or other transactions with or within:

1.Mohamed Bachir Suleman (“MBS”),

2.Grupo MBS Limitada, a holding company of several merchandising stores located in Mozambique;

3.Grupo MBS – Kayum Centre, a retail store located in Maputo, Mozambique; and

4.Maputo Shopping Centre (all establishments within are “off-limits”)

To be clear--this designation bars U.S. persons, as defined above, from engaging in transactions with the above individual and his affiliates or businesses. Further, Locally Employed Staff (LES) while on duty or who are carrying out work on behalf of the U.S. Government are subject to the same restrictions. LES that are not U.S. citizens or U.S. legal permanent residents are not prohibited from engaging in personal transactions (non-work related) with MBS and the companies listed. However, we strongly encourage all employees of the US Mission or any of its entities not to do business with Mohamed Bachir Suleman or any of his business interests.

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To be honest I have heard many rumors around this shopping center. That a friend of a friend had purchased a TV and it was not working so he opened it up to see the problem and it was full of drugs, then had exchanged it for $25k and a 4X4...blah blah blah. Apparently it was true!

The thing that bothers me most is that there is not a wide selection places you can buy things in Maputo, and till I get a car I cant go to South Africa over the weekend to buy some goodies in Nelspruit. So with even fewer options.... I will have to say goodbye to Maputo shopping for life.....although I always knew it probably was owned by a Drug Kingpin or a Gangster...

I mean look at the designs-neon lights, reflective windows, weird geometric shapes- it looks like a a Gangster from a Bollywood movie built it as a front for his "business". Apparently the guy is Indian or Pakistani.....so i guess we know where he got his inspiration from...DEWWAR and great Amitabh Bachchnan





Those Madarchods (Mofos) will never catch me!!
















































Above are pics of Maputo shopping (aka Kingpin HQ) and the attached Cinema that never had any movies playing...prolly cuz they were exporting drugs.


Aiight peeps thats it for now.....I am out like Ricky Martin (is it too late for those jokes?)
-A