Tagged!

Sarah, I remember these... !

I'll play along, but probably won't pass it along, because you've tagged my blogging network! (I really don't have a blog network.. but you know what I mean!)

Rules:
1. You must post these rules.
2. Each per­son must post 11 things about them­selves on their blog.
3. Answer the ques­tions the tag­ger set for you in their post, and cre­ate 11 new ques­tions for the peo­ple you tag to answer.
4. You have to choose 11 peo­ple to tag and link them on the post.
5. Go to their page and tell them you have linked him or her.

Eleven things about me (Why 11 btw??) =)

1. I was born in Dar es Salaam , Tanzania. Moved when I was five. Lived in Minnesota for 6 years. Maryland for 1 year, before finally moving to Calgary

2. I am horrible at public speaking. It is very anxiety provoking for me, but I am slowly learning to overcome it..

3. I strongly dislike cooking. I have tried (and failed to change this). I've decided that cooking is not for me and therefore will have the type of household where the father makes the meals and mama will clean up after. =) Yes.. Immanuel knows what he’s getting himself into ;)

4. Both my parents work from home. My mom stayed home after my brother was born and takes amazing care of us. I feel blessed to have a mother who always has breakfast ready for us in the morning, a packed lunch ready for school or work, and anything else that may need to be done. My dad owns his own software developing company and works out of his home office. While I hated this growing up (felt like i was being smothered by my rents and could never escape lol), I am grateful because they did keep me in check, out of trouble, and made me who I am today.

5. I played the violin for about one year when I was 10. I wish I had continued. It was the only "creative" thing I was good at. Perhaps I'll start it again.

6. I have the American Anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance, and all 50 states of USA memorized in alphabetical order... the states are really good at brainwashing you to patriotism. Haha

7. When I first saw snow for the first time I thought it was rice

8. When I was younger, and asked my mom where babies came from she told me: You take medicine. You take a pink pill if you want a girl, a blue pill if you want a boy, and two pills if you want twins. I believed her till I was about 10 years old when my neighborhood friends spoiled my innocence.

9. When I first moved to the USA, I only knew a handful of English phrases and words: Yes, No, My name is Linda, Can I use the bathroom, Goodbye. I wasn’t sure what any of these meant, and would rotate them randomly to communicate with my classmates. One day during snack time in kindergarten, a boy asked me if he could trade his white milk for my chocolate milk. I didn’t understand him, and just said Yes (cause I hadn’t used that word in a while in my random rotations). He took my milk, and I got so angry and chased him around the room hitting him and yelling “thank you” trying to get my milk back. Got a phone call home from that one!

10. I have a middle name (Hariette) and an African name (Chenga). Chenga is Kisambaa (My dad’s tribal language) and it means Unique.

11. I was born with severe clubfeet and had 5 operations by my third grade. The docs told my parent's I may never be able to walk, so I thank God for allowing me and my family to prove them wrong.

Sarah's Questions

1. What is the greatest place you have traveled to?
Tanzania. I truly believe my country is one of the most beautiful places in the world. From it’s white sandy beaches, to Mount Kilimanjaro, to the amazing Serengeti Plain, the vibrant culture and people, just breathtaking.

2. If I were to walk into your fridge/pantry weekly, what is a staple food you "cannot" live without?
As silly as it sounds.. Condensed milk at the moment. Haha.. I’ve been drinking a lot of tea lately, and using a bit of condensed milk in my tea (in place of milk or cream) makes it taste sooo good. Reminds of chai from back home.
3. How do you wear your hair 75% of the time?
Curly. Or if its winter time mostly in a pony tail. The dry air makes my hair even more stubborn then usual.
4. What is your ethnic background? Is your native tongue different than english?
African. However, Tanzania is made up of over 200 tribes (all with very distinct languages and cultures, and physical appearances—some locals can actually differentiate between tribes by physical appearance alone) My father is from the Sambaa tribe, and my Mother is from the Chagga tribe, and my great great great grandfather was from the Masaii tribe. Therefore according to Tanzanian standards, I’m “mixed” haha go figure. Also, because my mothers tribes people tend to be lighter skinned then average, there are some rumors that there may have been intermarriages with German missionaries who settled in the Chagga region years ago… so there is a SLIGHT possibility I may have some European ancestry. Maybe like. 0.000003% haha. My mother’s father, and one of her sisters are very light skinned, with dark reddish-brown hair. Oh and my native tongue is Swahili.
5. What are the top 3 blogs you frequent?
The ones on my Bloglist =)
6. If you could choose any era to live in, what would it be?
The present era… or the time of Jesus.. but ONLY if I was where He was. I wouldn’t want to be in Canada or Tanzania during that time. That would defeat the purpose of me choosing that era. With that said, I always wished I could be a “fly on the wall” during a lot of historical periods.. but not to live through them.

7. What is the kindest thing someone has done for you?
Hmmm this is hard. My parents sacrificing so much for me… from sacrifices due to my clubfeet, to leaving their family back home so I can have a better life, etc.
8. Why did you start blogging?
Everyone else seemed to be doing it, so I just jumped on the bandwagon. Lol
9. What is your best workout routine?!
Haaaa! What workout routine? I’ve been blessed with a high metabolism, but I am sooo out of shape. I literally can’t go up like two flights of stairs without huffing and puffing… I am only consistent in working out for like 2 weeks straight… then I get lazy again. =(
10. Do you have siblings? If so, where do you place in your family?
I am the oldest. Younger sister Theresa (21 yrs) and brother Tony (14yrs)

11. What is one daily routine you do that "sets" your day right?
I don’t have one that sets my day, but I have one that sets or closes my night. Nightly prayer, devotion, and journaling is something I look forward to as a way of bringing my day to a close =)

Aaand that’s it! I won’t post questions because I don’t anticipate people wanting to do this twice… ! Plus my questions would probably be repetitive.

Thanks Sarah! This was fun =)