Maisha Mema ya Sara na Julius

My Favorite Flickr Feed – Obamas at the UN

The Tembas — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:06:10 +0000

One of my favorite websites of the Obama administration is the Flickr feeds where they publish all the official photos. My favorite remains the Department of State photo stream taken at the UN General Assembly. The Obamas posed for a photo with every interested world leader or government representative who attended the assembly. I learned a few things from this photostream.

1. The Obamas are incredibly photogenic. How can a couple hold a smile for so many hours? This is the first photo of the night

And this is 135 photos later

2. The Obamas are tall. In fact, they are taller than almost all of the world leaders. I like this. This height difference with the president of Vietnam is not unusual.

This guy is the Prime Minister of Montenegro and is one of only a handful of leaders taller than the Obamas. Plus, his wife is hot! Great dress and shoes.

3. Most of the first ladies and wives of ministers are very attractive. Most are wearing great outfits. I love when they dress up as they would in their own country. West Africans do the best job pulling this off. This is because they have some of the best fabric in the world. Liberia’s foreign minister looks great

My favorite is the First Lady of Burkina Faso. I want her dress!

This First Lady from the Comoros definitely had a bold look with her dress, as does her husband with his outfit. I love it!

3. It is fun to try and guess what country each leader comes from before looking at the caption. To see the names and countries of the leaders while watching the slideshow (and you should view it in the slideshow, it is mesmerizing) click on “Show Info”. It will list the position of the person and the country they come from.

Minister of Foreign Affairs for Indonesia

President and First Lady from Tuvalu

Some other photos that caught my attention

The president of Finland was placed next to Barack which tells me that the order in the photo is not by gender but by status

This one creeped me out but then I read that it was the Foreign Prime Minister of Laos and his daughter. Phew.

This is the only one with a third person and it turns out it is the interpreter for the President of Kosovo. That is sweet for them to have her stand in and get a photo with the Obamas.

I love how in this one the Foreign Affairs Minister’s wife is holding Michelle Obama’s hand. Also very touching.

Two photos got the most comments in the photostream. This one is the president of Cameroon Paul Biya. A lot of comments were left by Cameroonians criticizing him and criticizing Obama for posing with him. The rest of the comments were left by Americans asking what is up with his wife Chantal Biya. Upon further investigation I learned that she is 38 years(!) his junior and he is, in fact, very corrupt. To stay in power in Africa from 1982 takes a bit of election rigging. Perhaps he deserves such a ridiculous looking wife.

The photo that got the most press in the whole feed (and was taken down soon after it was posted) was the photo of the family of Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. He had his daughters photographed with him and his wife and the goth-style outfits they wore created quite a stir on the blogosphere.

Finally, the president of Tanzania Jakaya Kikwete was also in attendance, minus his wife. It would have been fun to see her.

Esther Greets Baba Shikamoo!

The Tembas — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:45:06 +0000

Esther learns the traditional Tanzanian greeting “Shikamoo!” Before babies can say it, they show it by patting the head of their elder. She is very pleased to master it!

Merry Christmas from the Tembas

The Tembas — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 14:53:20 +0000

Merry Christmas from the Temba Clan! If you don’t exchange Christmas cards with us, here is what we sent out this year.

Esther Visits Ikea

The Tembas — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:41:07 +0000

Esther checks out the fun at Ikea with Bibi.

Esther Dancing

The Tembas — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:15:17 +0000

Esther enjoys dancing and reading. She keeps us on our toes and grooving!

Shaking Sillies Out

The Tembas — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:23:31 +0000

Esther’s favorite song, it always gets her up dancing. Yay for Raffi!!

Freakout in the High Chair

The Tembas — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:06:08 +0000

Esther is not known to be the best eater. This is one of her famous fits in the high chair. Apparently the cheerios were not to her liking that day.

Esther Babbling

The Tembas — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:35:09 +0000

Esther doesn’t have any concrete words yet but enjoys babbling. Here she is at 15 months.

Esther Steps Out

The Tembas — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:38:47 +0000

Much to Julius’ relief, Esther has started walking. Tanzanian friends and relations have looked a bit perplexed and worried by the fact that she has not walked up until this point (Tanzanian babies walk around 7-8 months according to them). With a mother who didn’t walk until 14-15 months, genetics were not on Esther’s side. Fortunately with lots of practice she has surpassed me and she managed some steps at 10 months. The week she turned 11 months she started some very solid toddling. Way to go, Esther! Her talent is even more impressive to strangers by the fact that she looks like an average 6 month old. People think she is a prodigy. Below are some videos I made with my video editing software. Larger size above, smaller size (for slower internet connections) follow.

Large File Version

Is the above version too slow to upload? The one below will load faster.

Mama Eats an Apple

The Tembas — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:45:21 +0000

Apple eating is hilarious, apparently.