Smart Girls Have More Fun!

Hi my name is Andi and I am 16 months sober! LOL! For those of you that don't know that means I've been off the creamy crack (relaxer) for 16 months now! I started relaxing my hair when I was like 11 or so.... by the time I made the random, on a whim decision to go natural I really couldn't even remember what my hair texture was. The past 16 months began randomly and has been a journey for sure, but my hair is healthier, thicker and grows so much faster now! I am surprisingly enjoying the transition more than I thought I would. I've been met with some confusion and actually had a guy tell me not to do it, it's not me. Umm, well little did he know that I was already a year in at that point and his approval or opinion was not needed or cared for. I'm still experimenting with styling my hair naturally. Seen as I've not done a big cut of the relaxed ends yet I do end up pressing my hair a lot, so for most people who don't know they can't really tell a ...

Sunset on Gordon Beach, Tel Aviv, Israel So over the past couple of days I have seen some really great quotes that have stuck with me. I also saw this really amazing ted presentation this week. It was so inspiring and really something I thought I should share. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qqqVwM6bMM&sns=fb So I've been thinking about friendships a lot this week. One of my best friends and I have known each other pretty much our entire lives. Even though I do have sisters, I'm closer to her than them. She's pretty much my sister I'd say. It's crazy too because you know a friendship is real when my mom gets upset when something isn't right with her and vice versa. Earlier in the week my mom actually gave me a lecture because she felt I wasn't doing enough to help my friend.  I saw this image today. It sums up my friendships perfectly. I have few very close friends for this reason exactly.  Gratefulness is a practice, like happiness is a choic...

So remember how when I first started this blog I said this move was going to be a positive journey for me....well it has been so far. Aside from the educational experiences I'm having, I'm definitely growing personally. My professors are pretty amazing! I have like literally some of the most renowned professors in the field of trauma. One of my professors. Dr. Roni Berger (Psychologist - child and family therapy), has been a part of teams that have worked on psycho-social interventions for some of the world's major disasters in the past decade (9/11, Hurricane Katrina, The tsunami in Asia, The earthquakes in Haiti, Japan, and Christ's Church, New Zealand, etc). Dr. Zahava Solomon, is pretty much a Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), war trauma specialist. She's written so many research articles in this area. She works with the Israeli military, and a lot of her research is focused on combat stress reaction/war traumas. If I learn nothing this year it'll b...

So Christmas is coming up. I am thousands of miles away from home and for the 1st time ever in a place where Christmas is not really celebrated. There are no decorations, Christmas trees, carolers, Salvation Army bellers, none of the traditional Christmas festivities. This is only the second time in my life I've not been with my family at Christmas either. I'm gonna miss seeing my mum on Christmas morning and having a huge meal with my family. And as crazy as my mum is about Christmas.... like really.... the woman loves it. She has a Christmas tree farm in the Bahamas and a store that sells all kinds of decorations and stuff for Christmas. {Side Note: If you're in the Bahamas check it out. Her store is called Yandi's Seasons [After your's truly :)] on Thompson Blvd and her Christmas tree farm is opposite Arawak Cay.} Our house is always decorated for Christmas even if it means my mum has to stay up all night on Christmas eve. We always have multiple Christmas tree...

I will go ahead and give the disclaimer that I don't want anyone to feel guilty or any sort of way about this post.... I'm just expressing my feelings. So remember how I said all of my friends are getting married and starting families etc.... well going along with that theme... there is an old saying that I remember hearing. Something along the lines of when you get married the ways of your single life go out the window. This totally makes sense and I agree that life when married or in a committed relationship will change. I guess I never spent the time to think about how it'd change my friendships too. Over the past couple of years more of my friends have gotten married and started families... we're kinda at the age, like I said before. However when you're the single one and all your friends have moved on into another phase in life, your relationship slowly but surely starts to dissolve. You either become your married friends pet project and it's operatio...

I had a mini pity party for myself the other night. I'm 27 now and I realized a larger percentage of the people I know from college and friends are now married, engaged, or parents. OR at the very least are in a relationship. I'm none of these. I'm so single I don't even have a regular cuddle buddy. LOL (Actually to be honest more like, sad) Mind you I do have single friends. I guess its that old adage, when you're single you feel like all of your friends are married  etc and vice versa. But I think I'm just at that age when the switch begins to happen and all of your friends are getting married and having babies. I'm not really ready to get married just yet, but it'd be nice to meet a good guy and be in a relationship again. Oh well these things can't be rushed.... So during my pity party I started thinking about me and how I present myself to the world and what I attract to myself. Then I got to thinking about being a tomboy and is that off put...

My arrival in Paris earlier this week and my connection to Tel Aviv from there, didn't disappoint. It sure did continue with the trend of my trip thus far, a little drama and frustration. It got me thinking about things from a security perspective too. Since 9/11 air travel has completely changed around the world. Security in air travel has become more and more strict. We now have the 3-1-1 rule for liquids, gels, etc that we can carry on the plane. There are air marshalls on flights now. Increased security in airports. In Paris I even saw the military walking around the airport with M-16s. In Paris I got off my American Airlines flight and had to go check in with El Al (the Israeli airline). The counter was surrounded by soldiers with guns. This was kinda weird. No other counter in the airport had this. I was flagged by El Al again so they questioned me at the counter when I went to check in and then they had to search me again. My name was actually highlighted on a list tha...

Coming home for something like this is never easy, but I've been determinded to see the positive in this experience, as much as possible. I fell short in my frustrations with security in the Tel Aviv airport and with Bahamasair on my return to Tel Aviv, but for the most part I am trying to stay calm. I left Tel Aviv last week Wednesday. I was not prepared for the level of questioning and search that I went through. My roommate warned me security is intense but that was not what I was expecting. I was questioned from I walked into the airport until I boarded my flight. I walked up to the El Al line (Israeli Airline) and the security immediately started asking me questions. Where I live in Israel, why I don't have any luggage? Questions that are irrelevant, in my opinion. They took my passport for a while and I had to go looking for the lady, who then brings over a manager who asks more questions.... He finally lets me go and then I go to the counter to check-in. The lady at th...

View as we drove up a mountain in Northern Israel So last week I went on a trip to the North of Israel with my program. We went to Galilee. I got to see the sea of Galilee. We also stood at a point in Israel where you could actually see Syria and Lebanon. Though the day was to learn about a trauma center that we went to visit the day took on more of a spiritual tone for me. Everyone that knows me knows I am not overly religious, but in that moment when the bible literally comes alive you can't help but me moved. Everything you've read and heard about suddenly has a point of reference in your mind and it's a pretty amazing experience. Sea of Galilee In Israel looking at Syria and Lebanon I'd been saying that I think that this move to Israel will be a spiritual one for me just as much as educational and personal growth. Standing in Galilee the spiritual component of this move began and I am so eager to see more. It's an experience I wish everyone could co...

Today I lost another grandparent. My paternal grandmother Daisy Mae Nottage passed away. She was 81 years old and one fiery old lady! Had she lived, she'd have been 82 on the 28th of this month. My grandmother was a pipe smoking, strong willed, potty mouth lady, but to know her was to love her. She was a hard-working, fiercely independent person; up until the point that she got really sick and weak with cancer she took total care of herself. Growing up my grandmother always lived on another island from me, Andros was 15minute flight away from Nassau, so I'd take trips to go see my grammy. I'd hang out in the bar at her little motel while she was in the back farming and then she'd come and make me food and we sit in the kitchen or on the porch and talk. She was funny. She'd always make me laugh hysterically. During those trips to Andros we'd have our one-on-one bonding time. It was great to be able to have those times with her. After I left for boarding sch...

 So Wednesday (November 9th) was my birthday so now your girl is the big 2-7! In Israel they have signs saying 25 is OLD! Well the hell with that sign. I don't feel old and I'm making 27 look damn good if I do say so myself! I'm aging well! LOL! So on my birthday I went to lunch with some of my classmates and then after we came back to the apartment and had birthday cake. I'm so happy so many people were game to celebrate my birthday with me. Having a birthday soon after moving to a new place can be kinda difficult, especially when you've not met that many people as yet. We had a good lunch at a Kosher Burger restautrant. It was quite tasty. It was the first time I can remember not having a cheeseburger, but I can honestly say I didn't even notice it until like half way through the meal. My burger was no less tasty without the cheese either. My Lunch Posse! Later on that day Shoshana and I went into Tel Aviv and did a little shopping and then we met up...

Today I went into Yafo, a southern part of Tel Aviv, with Ashley and 2 girls from our program, Karen and Goldi. It was cool. I got to see another part of Tel Aviv and we went antiquing! It was quite cool. It was such an ediTORIal (Tori Spelling), shabby chic moment. It was awesome to see all of these really neat old pieces of furniture. I got quite excited about a lot of the pieces I saw today. I think maybe I am getting a little of my mom's decorating bug with age. LOL! It was nice to just look at some of the architecture of the area too. There were cool paintings on the walls, it was just a neat old world market feel. The weather was nice, the sun was shining and I was in good company. All in all it was a great day to spend the day off from school, exploring my new city. I thought the top of this building was so pretty! I love the windows! Gatta love little trinkets in Antique stores! See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil!  Total awesome elephant sculpture made o...

So today I woke up with the sole purpose of exploring. I'v been here almost 5 weeks now and I am ashamed to say that I don't feel I've really seen much. I wanted to see other parts of Tel Aviv, the not so nice bits. So I asked my roommate which bus would take me to the central bus station. The central bus station is in the southern part of Tel Aviv and it's where the black people live. It's the 'hood! For some reason I felt an indescribable need to see and experience this for myself. All I can say is it was moving. I got on bus 126 and just rode.... I was on the bus for about an hour I think and we passed through some not so nice parts of town. I eventually realized I'd gone further than I'd wanted to, I left Tel Aviv altogether somehow and asked for some help! Today was an adventure so I just got on the 71 back towards Tel Aviv; no need for panic. I got off somewhere near the central bus station and walked around. There was a drastic difference from...

A trending topic on twitter today is #10ThingsIFindAttractive. This sparked my interest....what are attributes I find attractive? Well first off lets blatantly state I'm attracted to men so this list will be what I find most attractive about a man. (This is not in any particular order, stream of consciousness) 1. I am obsessed with smiles. A man with pretty teeth and a beautiful smile is totally sexy. Why? Maybe because my smile has always been something I love about myself and others seem to love about me. Also my smile has been the one distinct connection that I have to my mother. 2. A man that loves dogs! There is something inherently attractive to me about a man and his dog. This one because I love animals, but more importantly because I have 2 dogs and I love them to the moon and back and someone loving dogs as much as I do is totally HOT! 3. I love seeing a man in a suit. Maybe I'm old fashioned for this one.... but a man in a perfectly tailored suit is so da...

I started school this week... finally, after being here for like a month already, it's about time I'd say. LOL. Anyway so the past few days have been about intros and going over syllabi and meeting the other students in my program. Which has been kind of cool. Somehow though, through the course of discussions, it's become apparent to me that there is a sense of (i'm not sure of the word I wanna use) I guess maybe distaste....for the multitude of immigrants mainly African, that have immigrated to Israel. (Kinda like Mexicans in America and Haitians in the Bahamas) This got me thinking.... there are many reasons for me as a Bahamian to be proud and most of all THANKFUL! There really isn't much underlying stigma associated with saying I'm from the Bahamas. We aren't a country that can say we have experienced any major civil or social unrest. We haven't experienced much economical turmoil. Basically in the Bahamas we have life pretty good. We are BLESSED...

I don't know why but I saw this Cosmo Magazine thing on MSN.com today and for some reason it made me laugh and grabbed my attention. I'm not sure if it's cause I'm sick and delirious or the fact that I'll be 27 next week and my sense of humor is becoming a little twisted with age. This made me immediately think of Legally Blonde for some reason....so in my best Elle Woods voice, "Things any Cosmo Girl would know"! Cosmo suggests some steps to do in 30 days to apparently snag your next boyfriend. These things seem pretty basic, but for some reason I'm intrigued to put Cosmo to the test. So lets see how many of these steps I can get through in the next 30 days and if I'm actually gonna land myself a boyfriend..... Some of these may have to be skipped or tweeked a bit considering I am in a foreign country where I don't speak the native language and I'm no longer in a corporate environment, so no business cards to pass out. According to C...

If you're born between October 24th and November 24th HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! It's Scorpio season and I am a proud Scorpio! We are the best sign in the Zodiac! I am kinda biased because it's my sign, but also because almost every member of my family is one too! Aunts, Uncles, my mom, brother, cousins. November is full of birthdays for my family! I know a lot of people don't really believe in astrology, but the more I read about my sign the more I am convinced there is some validity to sun signs. I feel that I am very much Scorpio. So I figured I'd tell you a little about scorpio traits and my personality using a little help from a pretty cool book I read this summer, by Linda Goodman called Sun Signs. An encyclopedia describes a scorpion as a nocturnal arachnid that attacks and paralyzes its prey with a poison injected by the long, curved tail, used for both defense and destruction. Its sting is sometimes fatal. People often draw back visibly when someone say...