How cute are these cuties!

Slumdog MIllionaire cuties. Click here.

Disregard last post...

I found my candy. :)

kym

Why I love America...Part 3

America sells you stuff you don't need.

So I found my poison. It is this candy that had the texture of a circus peanut but the with the flavor of banana. I have to admit, I was up to almost a bag a day habit. So I was trying to wean myself off of these treats...I lasted a day. I was back in the only store I was able to find them and I was walking around like a junkie looking for them. The store was closing so I finally asked the stock girl if they had any of the candy and she explained to me that she had no idea what I was talking about but any candy that was in the section I was in was only SEASONAL?!?! What at least in America we repackage the same stuff so in different seasons you think you are getting something different but you are getting the same stuff with different packaging. We are in a recession. If I have a 1.35 Euro to spend, you need to find away to get that candy. I asked the stock girl if she knows of a store that would sell that candy, even out of season. She looked at me liked she had no idea what I was talking about and walked away (you gotta love the Dutch hospitality). I mean stores sell strawberries out of season and roses out of season, is it unreasonable to ask if you sell candy out of season? Whatever. It is just another example of the lack of customer service! I mean she did not even offer up a replacement candy I could eat that would be close to the taste and texture of the one I have to give up!

Why I love America..Part 2.

Why do I love America? In 2 words... CUSTOMER. SERVICE.
After living out here, I don't CARE if people are answer the US customer service phones in Texas or the India. At least we have customer service. First off, a lot of people out here act like they are doing you a favor selling you some stuff DURING A RECESSION. Naw, kid, you not. I could be SAVING this money. Today as I was buying RICH AND MY TICKETS TO PRAGUE!!!!!!!!! (Yeah!) The train service people (at nshispeed.nl, logo attached) were so bootleg I really wanted to go back to the US. Another thing, when you buy train tickets from an attendant, they charge you a $5 fee, but since their computer system is down ALL THE TIME, there are always long lines for tickets. And get this, even when their system is down THEY STILL CHARGE YOU THE FEE! Also is you find advertised rates on their website, they do not always honor them. I was thinking, if people advertised a rate and then did not sell the item for that price in the States, people would go berserk! To top it off this chick told me this stuff happens all the time and I’m like, they why don’t you guys fix the system OR waive the fee if it is your error? Why do I have to pay for it? And she was like “look, we gotta get paid too.”. I was like dag, with this type of customer service and highway robbery, they should rename themselves MTA and merge with the New York transit authority.

AND ANOTHER THING! You have to PAY to call customer service! All companies have 900 customer service numbers so in order to get to customer service you are charged like $1 dollar a minute!?!?!? What are people thinking!

I can admit when I am wrong....

Wow. I stand corrected. I guess getting a weave can change your life.

"My weave saved my life". Click here.

Move over kool-aid...

I HAD to give Karvan Cevitam their own blog shout out. THIS STUFF IS SOOOO GOOD! Sugar included!!!! Man, their webpage is even cute. Can't tell you what it says, or why there is a random guy DJ-ing on the site, but I guess they know who their target market is. And from the looks of things, they are targeting the same folk who love kool-aid.:)

Click here

Why I love America...PART 1

It may be a crappy toliet, but it is FREE!

So I mentioned how you are expected to PAY to go to public bathrooms. At first it was annoying and EXPENSIVE but the fact that there are no lines and the bathrooms are clean allowed me to get over this. BUT, I cannot get over the fact that store were you are shopping also require you to pay to use the bathroom. Can you imagine go to shop at Target and they charged you .50 cent to use the bathroom? I mean you are spending money in the store already. That is not a good look.

Obsessed with....

Anoop Desai...How is he doing on American idol? Deangela, you put me on to him,you know. Mimi will appreciate. He is singing 90s r'n'b. :) Listen to the music, kids. We will work on his eyebrows later.

This boy can sang! Click here.

I also found this clip on youtube of Anoop singing in college. Look how hip-hop has infused academia.

Wow. Click here.

No comment.

All the English t.v. out here sucks (CSI, Mythbusters, etc...boo) so I am on youtube and iTunes more often. The Dutch t.v. shows are kind of cheesey AND I have no idea what they are saying:) I can't find any American Idol clips either. Idol is bootleg, I know, BUT this guy can sing and I love new talent!

P.S. The American Idol judges are openly stupid and racial. Ignore them and listen to him. They are just threatened by the fact that this kid is getting his masters degree and none of them graduated from grade school.

How I'm Livin'!

You guys want to know 'bout my city so here you go! I live in Rotterdam but I work in Den Haag. Den Haag is like DC (but clean!) and Rotterdam is like Chicago/Brooklyn Heights/DUMBO (But clean!) In Rotterdam, nearly 50% of the population are not native to the Netherlands or have at least one parent born outside the country. Recent figures show that Muslims comprise close to 25% of the city's population. The city is home to one of the largest Cape Verdean communities in the world. Most immigrants come from Suriname, Turkey or Morocco. Here is my hood and my apartment. I did not take all the pics.

It hurt me to do this but..

I bought a phone yall...and not the cheap one! This phone cost.....$65! The description says the phone "fits any setting, from coffee bars to client meetings." Good thing! I wanted to make sure my phone would help me fit in.

My phone!

I never use it...it costs to much:)

kym

Slavery can be fun for the whole family!

All I can say is WOW! A slavery theme park? Are you serious? The only Jacksons worthy of respect now are mama Jackson and Janet. And Janet is on thin ice. If she makes another album, then mama Jackson is the only one I can vibe with.

Read this crazy story below and posts your thought on the situation.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7858010.stm

A global crisis; a world in need

so most of you know about the work I am doing and the peace building work I intend to do. But, I come to you all now about a crisis that affects us all and is a problem the world over. This problem has kept many people apart and tends to destroy many lives. I have smelled the problem brewing and now we must take action. The problem we are faced with is not a 21st century problem, it has been an issue since the beginning of time. I came FACE to FACE with this issue in the States and, alas, I find it to be a problem here as well. That problem is the issue of STANK BREATH!!!!! Why do people with the stankest breath stand the closest to your face??? Why do they ALWAYS refuse the breath mint you offer them, "Oh, no thanks. I'm good." I just want to say 'YOU ARE NOT 'GOOD'. Take this mint!'. It is crazy. I was as this jazz show and this guy behind me had the fowlest breath and he was watching the entire show with his MOUTH OPEN, I kid you not. I ask, if you must watch with your mouth open, must you breath??? I felt the hair on my nose singe and the skin inside my nose melt. I could not even focus on the concert (which was good. I saw a Dutch jazz singer called Faye Classen, pic attached, and she was dope. I saw her before the wack dance troops you will read about below) because I was trying to sync my breath up with his so I could avoid inhaling his breath. His breath was the "something crawled down your throat and died" breath. I must learn to say "Would you like a mint?' in Dutch.....

More funding for the arts please......

I just saw the WACKEST high talent show performance parading as a professional dance troop. This was a Dutch version of "urban" dance and ballet fusion. It was all over the place and I kept wishing Alicia or Deangela was there so I could make all of my jokes!! The worst thing was that I PAID money ( you guys KNOW I hate spending money for some bootleg stuff). I was in the 5th row and I was all geeked. It was in one of the 2 large performing halls in Rotterdam. The house was packed I was with someone who strongly recommended the HET National Ballet company and I was told that the "urban dance company", called DON'T HIT MAMA...yes that is the name of the company...was good. BOTH WERE WIGGEDY. It was like regular street dance with bootleg NON AILEY ballet dancers. This pic should have let me know what I was in for. Click the link to see the WACK, disjointed performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNwhIaj0bWA&feature=related


The worst part was these people gave them a STANDING OVATION?!?! Just because it was "urban" and "different". IT WAS WACK. Some dude was break dancing and another was doing a 2 step....SO!?!?! I guess I have been spoiled living in New York and seeing the best the world has to offer. More funding for these guys please....

Too fly, Too late and straight wiggedy ( Part 2)

Too Fly;

America
• All those years I spent traveling abroad having to bear listening to complaints about American government, consumption, foreign policy and the likes are, for the most part, behind me. Ladies and gent we are” free to roam about the skies”. Being American is “cool” again.

Peace
• The NGO I am working at is small but mighty. I am looking forward to the work we will doing! The conference I will be working on will be entitled Security in the Middle East and will include “experts” and diplomats from Holland, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, UK, USA and TBD. Some of the people I have met are just phenomenal. I can’t wait until I am an ambassador and can work with them on a daily basis.

Hope for video game addicts
• There is the first ever ( I think) rehab facilities for GAMERS. Put the controller down and step away from the Wii...Halima, I mean you! See the link below.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/15/rehab-center-for-video-game-addicts-opens-in-amsterdam/

Traveling by Train
• The trains are clean and it is very relaxing to travel. They are kinda expensive but overall I like traveling by train! Beats taking the bus or going through airport security!

Stockholm, SWEDEN!
* This city is too hot! I love Sweden. It is mad cold here but the people are dope, the fashion is dope and the music scene is popping. SWEDEN!!!!!


Too Late:

Lionel Richie
• This dude is HUGE. He has a concert in April and it is listed in all the mags as a HOT TICKET!!! What?!?! For really, real? I would say that is not a hot ticket but a NOT ticket! (Haha!)


Straight Wiggedy:

Ryan Air
• Before I left for Europe, I was singing the praises of Ryan Air, the low cost British based airline that flies you across Europe SUPER cheap. My ticket to Sweden cost 22 Euro, while my trip to Marseilles cost 25 Euro. Sounds like a great deal, right? Well, to get to the airport from where I live takes 1hr and 45min and cost 20 Euro each way (bus and train) and once U arrive at the destination, the airport is so ridiculously far from the city you will spend another hr and 20 min of travel time to get to the center of the city. It cost me about 16 EURO each way just to get to the city. So my total travel cost of getting to Sweden was NOT 22 Euro but about 100 Euro and to Marseilles the same. The price is still not bad but a 2 hr flight turns into 6 hrs of travel. Ryan is a wrap unless the flights are free. In the words of my omniscient sister, Alicia, “ Hey, it’s time or money. Time or money”. For those visiting me, please fly to Amsterdam, the London thing is a wrap.

Paying to use the bathroom
• Can you image that you really have to use the bathroom but instead of rushing in too "use it", you are digging in the bottom of your purse for 50 Euro Cent or even 1 EURO!!! I can cost up to $1.25 to use the bathroom, BUT they are clean and, ladies, there are NEVER any lines:)

Too fly, Too late and straight wiggedy ( Part 1)

Hey guys! I want to fill you in on what I have been experiencing out here. This is call "Too fly, Too late and straight wiggedy". Here i will inform you of the latest, greatest and wackest thing I have encountered.

Too Fly;

Peugeot motorbikes
• My dad was before his time. He was rocking the Peugeot WAAAAAAY back in the day, but the States were not ready for a 6’7” black dude in a foreign sports car. But my dad, always the trendsetter, knew what was up. Peugeot is the brand of motorbike I want. Like 6 out of 10 cars are Peugeot (they have their duds but they have some fly cars too), but these little scooter/motorcycles are what’s up.

Surinamese food
• The Dutch had colonies in Indonesia, South Africa, India and Suriname. Because of this, you have immigrants from all of these countries. Before coming to Holland I could not identify a Surinamese person if you dropped me in the country and pointed them out to me, now I am ALL UP IN their restaurants. It is crazy. Think of Chinese food (Yall KNOW I love Chinese food!) but it is really spicy with Indian, Indonesia and Thai influences. SOOOOOOO good, stop by and I will take to a spot.

Flavored syrup
• It’s the little things, kid. They have a updated version of our kool-aid over here. JUST ADD WATER!! SUGAR INCLUDED!!! It is in a liquid form, none of that messy powder and some “high brow flavors”. This is kool aid for the upper crust. Kool aid…get wit it! They start exporting this junk…YALL OUT OF BIZNASS!

Marseilles, France
* Check the pic, kids. This city is too hot! I went to a gypsy club and heard some music. Went to the Hammam and got a scrub. Took a boat to an island and had moules et frites. I attended a crepe party and soaked up the sun…ahhh France, how you love to charm me…

Technology
* In Belgium you can pay for your parking by sending a text through your cellphone and in Sweden you can pay your subway fare by sending text to the transit and showing a message to the subway attendant.

Transport:
* It comes on time....and you know how long you will wait...period!

Too Late:

Mullet Curl
• If you take the 2 WORST hairstyles and combine them, you get the Mullet Curl. This is a combo of…yup, you guessed it, a mullet and a jheri curl and this haircut is all the RAGE for these young boys. Most rocked by the Turkish and Moroccan youth ( because they got that good curly hair☺ ). This ish looks horrible, for real, it looks just like it sounds, I am not understanding why the two styles are making a come back an why we must enjoy the at the same time…I anit wit it.

Karl Kani
* Some kid had the audacity to wear a Karl Kani Shirt and hoodie in a public place. It look mad new….they still make that?????

Straight Wiggedy:

Overt racism
• “Muslim is the new Black”- It is very interesting to see the world through the eyes of a “regular American” as opposed to an “African American”. I am alarmed at how freely people (Belgian, French and Dutch) feel they can share there disdain of Moroccan and Turks with me and some how think I will share there ridiculous feelings. I am blown away. I mean I was appalled. I began to realize they do not see me as a black American but an America who will understand their “immigrant” problems. I had a guy go on about how “Turks, Algerians and Moroccans are the ones who benefit from all the unemployment aid and government programs” but he knows that some of them can be good because he has “a Turkish friend”. Did I mentioned that this guy was one a government program himself?? And he had been out of work and not looking for 5 months? And is someone lets you know the race/ethnicity of their “Friend”, they are mad racist. Out here “race” does not seems to be as much of an issue as much as the the desire for all immigrant communities to assimilate immediately to the Western way of life.

The Euro
• Yo this conversion situation is killing me. Every time I by something I am converting it to dollars in my head. The Euro is bootleg but it is nice to use the same currency between countries. This currency needs to depreciated immediately. The nice thing is that this is not a 24 hour country/ continent so there are not stores open all hours of the day, or every day for that matter, so you have plan your spending. You can’t just hop in a car end up at Hema (the Dutch Target) and blow 50 Euro because this city SHUTS down at 5pm.

The Dutch language
• Dutch people don’t even speak Dutch. It is all English all the time. So “nee” (no in Dutch) I am not learning the language. The only place you could speak it is in Holland and the words are MAD long. “Dziendschootsraatkoo” means “hi”…not really but you get my point. I would learn Swedish before Dutch, but only because my fans want to share so much with me…


Kym:)

I succumbed....

So I am bloggin for real now.  The pressure from Mimi and Frank was too intense:) I am reposting my first writings and updating yall with what's next:)  Pics and stories to come!

Kymmie Kym