The noun classes are the most difficult thing for the non-native speaker to pick up in Kiswahili, but once you do, you will have mastered the language. HERE is a handy guide.
The same website also has a verb conjugator, parser, and some handy tools for the Kiswahili learner. If anyone has other resources to add, please comment!
The excellent blog Spiders and Pigeons has an amazing post on the Comorian/Kenyan Sufi teacher Habib Saleh.
The article asks: To what extent does the Maulidi Festival of Lamu represent the wider culture of the region? It goes on to explore the relationship between Yemen and East Africa, the dawah of Habib Saleh in Lamu among the enslaved and lower classes, and the controversial practices of maulid (Sw. maulidi). I learned a lot from reading and I highly recommend checking out the site.
Some friends of mine in Jordan used to joke that the Jordanian government discovers a new maqam of the sahaba (companions of the Prophet Muhammad) every week. Anyway, this is a relatively famous companion whose maqam is on a beautiful Amman hillside; I have been unable to confirm if he is actually buried here or just stopped here.
From time to time we drop some Omani jewels on ya.....here ya go.
اذا كان المتكلم مجنون يكون المستمع عاقل
Meaning: "If the speakers is mad, the hearer should be wise." This proverb points to the necessity of caution on the part of a hearer in believing what he is informed and in acting upon it. Sound advice, especially in the age of the internet.
The good folks at Addis Tunes never disappoint...African gospel music for a Sunday afternoon...
AddisTunes - Legally Download African Music - Kampala Taxi Sessions: Time to Repent
Over the weekend there were a couple protests in Amman. One of them was only about 400 yards from our apartment. After jumma, me and my roommate set out to go to a walima we had been invited to. As we reached the main road we heard deafening music from the parking lot of the Regency Hotel. I had assumed it was a wedding, but the massive police presence indicated otherwise. Everyone seemed to be in festive mood, and there was dancing, lots of Jordanian flags and a big picture of King Abdullah.
Protests in Jordan have generally not had the same tone and tenor they've carried in Syria and Egypt. The king seems relatively popular, and most of the protesters and activists have been calling for reforms and not overthrow. Back in March, when police broke up a sit-in in Gamal Abdel Nasser roundabout, killing 55-year-old Khairi Saad, King Abdullah assured his subjects that reform was on track. In cyberspace, Jordanians have also been calling for peaceful reforms. For example the founders of 7ibr have encouraged people to tweet about reform under the hashtag #ReformJO. Al Jazeera did a story on their efforts..
But do last weekend's protests in downtown Amman, which were broken up by police with batons, indicate a new direction? The Jordan Times reported that many people viewed the protests as not pointing towards an effective solution to the real problem of rising commodity prices. This blogger also wonders how the presence of Syrian refugees and the continuing unrest there will affect calls for political change in Jordan. Will the king still allow peaceful protests to proceed? And what steps will he take to ensure the continuing stability of Jordan while ushering in calls for popular reform?
My colleague and fellow blogger Alex Thurston has a blogosphere rundown of commentary and stories on the South Sudan, the world's newest nation. Expectations are understandably high (perhaps impossibly so) for the South to "deliver the goods" to its citizens, and to flex its autonomy, but the reality is that the South and the North will HAVE to work together for the benefit of their respective futures, at least until the South Sudanese government builds oil pipelines eastward across Ethiopia and Kenya. Over at African Arguments, Naomi Pendle reports on attitudes in Warrap State in South Sudan.
As far as attitudes in the North, I would recommend that everyone check out this documentary "Fight for the Soul of the North" on the future of the state and civil society in North Sudan. The picture is grim, and the North will require wise leadership if they want to prevent the complete collapse of the state.
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