Blog Moved!

I have now moved my blogging ways to a new location.
http://blog.mswahili.org

I will never find another lover...

I just had a very funny experience. Ok just in case I got your hopes up, it was not THAT funny! I was making a call to DHL to ask about a package that was supposed to be delivered to my house. (Seems like lately I am having a lot of incidents around packages delivered to my house) Well, anyway she was very pleasant and asked me for my details. Eventually she says to me that it can be delivered again at the house ONLY between 09h00 and 17h00. I was a little bit puzzled because the notice that I had received about an attempted delivery said the deliver man/lady had tried to deliver it at 18h45... suspicious. I pointed this out to her and she brushed it off, "Yeeesss, thats true but we only deliver between 9 and 5." Now for those of you reading this because of the title must be wondering where the lover issue comes in... hehehe

Anyway after some discussion she suggests delivering it to the office. I agreed and gave her the address and she put me on hold to confirm the details... thats when I heard it. She played for me a song that started... "I will never find another lover, sweeter than you, sweeter than you..." that's right KCi and Jojo... and if you dont recognise that starting line you have NO business reading this blog entry. I was so amused I started to laugh out loud. I was thinking "damn she is direct... and we haven't even seen each other face to face." Hehehe... it was some nice amusement for the afternoon.

Les Feuilles Mortes

Apparently this is the number one hit on my personal charts these days. It is only today that I thought of actually looking at all the lyrics for the song. Quite depressing I must say....


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Oh! je voudrais tant que tu te souviennes,
Des jours heureux où nous étions amis,
En ce temps-là, la vie était plus belle,
Et le soleil plus brûlant qu'aujourd'hui.
Les feuilles mortes se ramassent à la pelle,
Tu vois, je n'ai pas oublié.
Les feuilles mortes se ramassent à la pelle,
Les souvenirs et les regrets aussi.
Et le vent du Nord les emporte,
Dans la nuit froide de l'oubli.
Tu vois, je n'ai pas oublié
La chanson que tu me chantais...

(Oh! I really hope you remember
Those happy days when we were friends.
In those times life was more beautiful
And the sun brighter than today's.
The dead leaves gather on the rake.
You see, I have not forgotten...
The dead leaves gather on the rake,
As do the memories and the regrets,
And the north wind carries them
Into the oblivion of the cold night.
You see, I have not forgetten
The song that you used to sing to me.)

Refrain
C'est une chanson qui nous ressemble,
Toi qui m'aimais, moi qui t'aimais.
Nous vivions tous les deux ensemble,
Toi qui m'aimais, moi qui t'aimais.
Mais la vie sépare ceux qui s'aiment,
Tout doucement sans faire de bruit.
Et la mer efface sur le sable,
Les pas des amants désunis.

(It's a song that resembles us.
You, you loved me and I loved you
And we lived together,
You who loved me, I who loved you.
But life separates those who love,
Gently, without making a sound,
And the sea erases from the sand-
The footsteps of separated lovers.)

Les feuilles mortes se ramassent à la pelle,
Les souvenirs et les regrets aussi
Mais mon amour silencieux et fidèle
Sourit toujours et remercie la vie.
Je t'aimais tant, tu étais si jolie.
Comment veux-tu que je t'oublie ?
En ce temps-là, la vie était plus belle
Et le soleil plus brûlant qu'aujourd'hui.
Tu étais ma plus douce amie
Mais je n'ai que faire des regrets
Et la chanson que tu chantais,
Toujours, toujours je l'entendrai !

(The dead leaves gather on the rake
As do the memories and the regrets
But my love, quiet and loyal,
Always smiles and is grateful for life.
I loved you so much, you were so beautiful.
How can you expect me to forget you?
In those times, life was more beautiful
And the sun brighter than today's.
You were my kindest friend
But I only created regrets
And the song that you used to sing,
I hear it always, always...)

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Bij de Buren!!!!!

Did you understand what the title of this post is? Neither did I (at least not very well) till this afternoon. I received a package that was at the post office since it was too big to fit in my mailbox. The postman tried to deliver it and since there was nobody home, (s)he (??) left a little note to inform me of this yesterday. Today (s)he left another one which I did not bother to read because; 1. it was too much strain to understand the dutch and 2. i figured since it looked exactly the same as the first one it must be bringing the same message. Normally the post closes at 18h00. So when I got home at 17h45 I figured I better ride quickly to the post and pick it up. Just before I left, I looked at the second note and the place where my house number was supposed to be said '16' instead of '24'... "strange....? Did I get the neighbour's note?", I was thinking to myself. "Anyway to hell with it! I have a very short time left and if I don't rush I shall find the post closed." So off I went at full speed burning what little calories I had left at the end of the day.

At the post office the lady asks for the second note and points to it saying over and over again "bij de buren... bij de buren". And this was one of those "aaaaahhhhh" moments for me only this time in a bad way... as in "aaahhhhh 'buren' means 'neighbour'.." the bloody package was at the neighbours house!!! I had ridden all the way for nothing except to add an extra word to my dutch vocabulary.