Wode Maya visits Somaliland

Wode Maya makes such great travel vlogs and he has really opened my eyes when it comes to showing Africa. Not too long ago, he went to Somaliland of all places. Not Somalia (despite this area being inside the mainland), but Somaliland. This non-recognized country is apparently very stable and safe to visit. I’ve heard of the name before in passing from different videos I’ve watched, but I was unaware of what it looked like. Not going to lie, I thought it would be super chaotic and dangerous given the grave issues with pirates, crime, and terrorism like mainland Somalia, but apparently this piece of land doesn’t have those problems. Seeing the money exchange guy leaving to go pray and coming back to see his wares untouched was mind blowing. You couldn’t even do that in an American suburb, for crying out loud (relax, I would never try to steal someone’s stuff). It was fascinating seeing this part of Africa that you never see in the media and Wode Maya’s adventures really show. He has other videos with him talking to locals and businessmen which I also recommend seeing.

I just needed to see something positive for my own mental health and I hope you enjoy this video, too.

Something to calm me down while also able to open some eyes: Wode Maya in South Sudan while dealing with VERY tall people

Here’s something different.

I’ve been checking out various videos from Ghanaian travel vlogger Wode Maya from time to time. He made multiple videos when he recently went to South Sudan of all places. It was very fascinating to see the country destroying negative stereotypes as some constant war zone. Wode was pleasantly surprised when he visited that country and how it was nothing like how the mainstream portrays it.

One of his adventures involved talking to people of the Dinka tribe who are a major ethnic group in South Sudan. They are one of the tallest ethnic groups in the world and there are several people in the upper six feet to even SEVEN feet range! The man you see in the thumbnail and later in the video is 7’3″. That just blew my mind because he’s literally 13 inches taller than me! It’s no wonder you have several basketball players coming out of that country and even joining different NBA teams. It was funny seeing the short Wode Maya being absolutely dwarfed by people who are head and shoulders taller than him.

I know it isn’t my usual stuff on the blog, but I wanted to do something different to calm down and to have some fun educational things going on. My geography nerd-dom is showing again and that’s one interest I’ve never been ashamed of liking. 🙂

Also, happy 10th anniversary this year, South Sudan!

Some positive things despite the insanity of the world: African travel vlogs, traditional Burundian drumming, and Hikaru no Go song covers

 

I know things are still very intense in this world. I’m not ignoring them at all. This is just a slight change of pace. I had some rough emotional moments earlier this week, but I’m better now. It’s been amazing by getting some encouragement from offline and online friends recently. Here are some things that I thought were fascinating recently.

 

I’ve been getting into Miss Trudy’s videos a lot over the past few weeks. Miss Trudy is a Kenyan YouTuber who makes travel videos mainly of different African countries. I checked out some of her videos on Sierra Leone and Liberia among other countries and I was astounded by the beauty of those nations. That’s the Africa they NEVER show you especially in the West. Here’s one of her videos where she’s in Freetown (the capital and largest city). Also, did you know Freetown was actually created by freed African slaves from America, the Caribbean, England, and Canada? I thought that was very fascinating.

Burundi has been one country I didn’t pay too much attention to, but I have to thank Miss Trudy as well as Dr. Y. for exposing me to more things about that country. One cultural tradition in that country is their drum corps. These drummers carry on a legacy dating back centuries when Burundi was a kingdom. The drummers would play for the king and they had their own unique rhythms. This was wonderful and I even picked up the live album of the Drummers of Burundi on Bandcamp where they played at Real World Records which is owned by Peter Gabriel.

I got back into the anime and manga series Hikaru no Go this year. It was one of my favorite series during my high school years, and after rediscovering it, HNG still holds up. Seriously, if you think all anime is nothing but martial arts ultraviolence, collectable monsters, or hentai, then please rethink your priorities. I found a cover of the 2nd opening theme “I’ll Be the One” by HAL that was performed by this Thai singer named MindaRyn. I thought she did a great job at singing this song. This was almost as good as the original in my opinion.

Besides all of that, I’ve been having some thoughts about what to post, but I’m debating about having it here or on my other blogs involving different topics.

Hope you all are doing well today.