my apologies

Especially Now

"I love that feeling. You know, the one you get when you take a deep breath and suddenly everything feels like it's going to be okay. When you're hopeless as can be, and life is going nowhere, there's those moments we have every now and then where we just stop, and we get this feeling, that can't be described, but you just ... you just feel like everything really is going to be okay. Like the world stopped spinning for a second, and everything was clear. I need more of those moments." 

- The X

Mr. President

Adjusting to KOM has been challenging and patience-trying to say the least. But howling laughter in the halls & little tid-bits like this "Letter to the President" have made me fall head over heels for the Karen already. 

Where There is Joy There is Henna

A few weekends ago my dear friend Jess came up to visit & because it's 'what we do' - there were many adventures involved. Including, but not limited to: a 5 mile Kayaking trip down the Cannon River (the next weekend I did a 12 mile with Mike - still sore), an authentic Turkish meal at the Black Sea (even after a few appetizers & main courses we found room for baklava/Turkish coffee), & most notabily a trip to Minneapolis' own SomaliMall for henna. 

Henna is a plant native in some regions of Africa, southern Asia, and northern Australasia (I had to look it up too). Since umm - forever* it's been used to dye skin, hair, fingernails, wool, leather, and silk. The earliest texts link henna skin dying with celebrations of a woman's marriage/fertility.

Henna is a symbol of luck, beauty, and joy - and the most detailed and exquisite patterns are saved for brides to be. Today the hands and feet of many husbands to be are dyed as well. This pre-wedding celebration is sometimes called 'The Night of Henna'. It is not uncommon to see women with simple henna designs on their hands and fingernails daily. But intricate designs are saved for weddings, holidays, and celebrations.

 

Henna can be a great way for women to make money too! At Karmel Square a young woman named Hawa decorated Jess and I. She was trained by her older sister Halima, and together they were apprenticing their niece Eda. Business women?!

It's the beauty of henna that really gets me.
The small shops & spaces where women come together to be decorated with henna - are truly magical. You can feel girl power. It breaks through all differences of background, race, language, religion, etc. Be it in a hotel room in D.C. with girls from Tanzania and Nigeria, Khalda's living room, a hole in the wall beauty shop, or a small space in Karmel Square (Somali Mall) - henna brings women together & makes them feel good!

*for more detailed information on henna click here.