Ugh

Today, I don't think is going to be a productive blog.

#1: My head hurts and I am congested. I went to the doctor earlier today and found out I have a severe allergy/sinus infucktion and a pulled/sprained/torn tendon in my wrist! YAY!

#2: All of that excitement has worn me out. I was not a productive reader today and I am really worried I will not make it through this book in the one week.

#3: I had class tonight. Enough reading.

Tomorrow, I have dress rehearsal of Berlioz's Damnation of Faust at the Chicago Lyric Opera. That is probably going to take a lot of the afternoon. So, I think a lot of reading will be shot, shot, shot. Cripes.

As far as the book so far, I can give a very brief explanation...then I must leave the blog for the night.

Valentino, a Sudanese man in Atlanta, a refugee and former SPLA is being robbed in his apartment. The burglars show up acting as though they need to use the phone. They force themselves into the apartment and begin to rob him. One is a woman named Tonya and the other is a man "Powder" named for the color he is wearing. These two are African-Americans presumably from Atlanta. Now, the African-American point, I will come back to it in a moment.

As Valentino is trying to defend what little he has acquired in his time in America, and his roommate's possessions, he is beaten by the man. The man keeps calling him "African" and saying "You just don't know. Welcome to America, this is what it's like...glad we could teach you a lesson." and ETC. As Valentino comes in and out of consciousness, he reflects upon his village in Southern Sudan. He reflects upon the girl he likes, his mother in her beautiful flowing yellow dress, his father the trader and his fathers acquaintances. We are introduced to Sadiq, his father's main trade partner, an Arab, and some of Valentino's friends.

At other times, Valentino reflects upon his best and worst times in Sudan. He speaks of children being eaten by lions as they are trying to flee the village and of times when war broke out. The main part of this reflection comes when he wakes from being knocked out to find a boy, a look-out, sitting in his kitchen watching his TV. Valentino presumes he is looking out for Tonya and Powder for when they come back to collect the rest of his stuff. We find out his name is Michael. Valentino, at the time of first seeing him, refers to him as TV Boy and reflects upon how he has probably never struggled as he (Valentino) has...this is where we begin to see the struggles in Sudan Valentino faced at Michael's age.

At Valentino's first approach to make contact with Michael, Michael freaks out. He is terrified. He has been told that people from Africa are animals and not real (Michael is African-American). So, Michael knocks Valentino out of consciousness with a phone book. Valentino describes this as being the first time he has never been able to react properly to a form of attack...he is bound and tied on the floor.

At this point of unconsciousness, Valentino begins describing the very beginning of war in Sudan. This is where I left off. Pretty sad to only be on like page 70 and it is Tuesday. I have got to read 180 pages tomorrow.

So, a quick note about the African-American community versus the African community. In college, I was friends with an abundance of Zimbabweans and African-Americans and many islanders, as well. I always found it interesting to see them interact with each other. Sometimes, the Africans would question the actions of the African-Americans. They were often perplexed by the culture, etc...and this is not to even say that this went the other direction, either. I find it interesting how two people, directly related to each other, cannot understand one another sometimes. The fact that the book points out the African-Americans in Atlanta telling the Africans that they are the reason slavery started because they let their own tribes be sold. Good Lord. People need to sit down and get facts straight. And I am sorry if this seems loopy. My head feels like it is going to explode. Do NOT think that I am saying anything negative toward the African or African-American population. I am just trying to understand why we live in a world, here, in 2010, and no one...Americans, Arabs, Africans, British, French, Asians, South Americans, Mexicans, Australians and by God probably Antarcticans cannot understand each other half the time. We are all made of the same stuff...so act like it.

The end.

Have lovely night.