Always take a compass with you, especially when you turn 30!

Life is full of messages, and this picnic birthday day was not exempted of that.

Mariama was determined to take us on a trip through the amazing Fontainebleau forest in the south of Paris; The challenge for a group of friends, walking together, getting tired, and sharing the experience. Was all to be discovered!

I guess Mariama turning 30th, gave us the confident to trust her guts, so we followed her.

She has learned her lessons of the 20’s: never live home without a compass and a map. PREPARATION is part of success to arrive to your destination. Stop in the middle, and check your compass: Am I in the right track? Is this the right direction?

Mariama also seem to have learnt that there is no need for her to do it ALL ALONE, so she teamed up with Jawed, after all they probably know the LAND better than us.

Both have ancestors who would only know their next door neighbour by walking long, long distances. So we trust them!

There is no arrival, without be

ing lost, or at least “the feeling”

we are lost. We all wondered:

Where are we?

Are we in the right track?

May be is this way? Or may be that…?

Even if it looks confusing, or you are actually in the right way, checking the map, it always reassures you that what you have decided before is what is making you go forward.

At some point you got to let go! let loose! and have some fun too!

Uf! Finally the local arrived. Thanks god for that. It is always good to consult those who have done the road before. Good wise advised, and we were on the right path again.

We have not arrived to the top yet, but it was time for a break.

Here is the celebration, a first class picnic, with some mini birthday cake. Everyone brought something, and we could not let Mariama go, without the ritual of the birthday song…in three languages!! (look at the VIDEO after this post)

Up we go, we continue the trip.

Mariama

was happy

to have lead us

so far, but the real bit was to come yet.

We claim as a team, and we got to the top!

So Mariama received her "getting to the top" graduation map!

CONGRATULATIONS MARIAMA FOR TAKING US WITH YOU TO THE TOP!









PS there is also a little surprise in the last post!

Happy birtday Mariama!

The twins! Mariama and Yacine

by the way, Mariama has a twin sister! so Happy birthday to Yacine too.

Lots of changes!

dear friends and family,

It would be no surprise to you to know that we are going through lots of adjustment.

Time has come and we need to move from the beautiful place we have been living for now, and which we are ready to let go.

We know that there is something much better out there for US! but it has been not easy to find jet...

In the other hand, Mariama still preparing the second part of her exam, which is in November.

This is the oral part, and of course a very important one, since it decides whether Mariama gets in to the School of Law or not. For this reason, if you are planning to come to Paris, we are saying no to family and friends, since we need full focus on the exam. Next year things may be a bit better and we will be happy to have you in our home.

I am also at a challenging stage of finding a full time job, which has prove more than difficult in the French context...however, this is not news for me, so I will just continue sending nice CV's and letters.

We also would like to say thank you to all of those who have been keeping track of Mariama's process and have been sending her good energy. By the way, her and Yacin, her twin sister turn 30 this next 5th of October.

Please leave us a post with a nice message!


PS for posting a message, go to "comments" and choose "anonymous"

Mother / Madre

She is here, and we are enjoying her company!

Aqui Esta y la estamos disfrutando!

Lots of talking, she loves Paris and Mariama.
Only good things can come out of that...

Mucha conversa, le encanta Paris y Mariama!
Solo buenas cosas pueden salir de todo esto...

PS: posdata para la familia. siganle la pista a mi mama en su blog "Mama Tello, Paris 2007"

39. A Rite of Passage for Djenabou Sow

Our condolence to family and friends of Aunty Djenabou Sow

Muslims believe the dead person is not always aware of the transition, so the one giving instructions informs the deceased that he or she has died, is being laid in the grave, and two angels known as Munkar and Nakir will soon come into the grave to ask three questions.

To the first question, "Who is your Lord?," the deceased is instructed to reply, "Allah."
In answer to the second question, "Who is your Prophet?,"
the deceased should say, "Muhammad,"
and the correct response to the third question,
"What is your religion?,"
is "Islam."

On the 11th of June 2007, at 9am in her home village, Djenabou Sow has initiated her journey to meet her prophet Allah.

Djenabou Sow is Mariama's aunty in Guinee, from her father's side, with whom she spent lots of time during every single journey to Guinee. Djenabou received Mariama's family in her own house, shared time, stories and food with them. Staying with her and her family, was like being transported to a time and rythm of its own, where every moment, every activity counts like a milestone in everybody's memory.

Mariama visited her in August last year to farewell. Here some precious photos in her memory.

38. Friends and Holland

Like the Mosquetiers, we have team up with other chicks! This is Sabrina and Carmen, a Chilean/Australian-French couple too!.

In fact this was our first weekend away to Holland in almost a year, and our first really group “getting along” stuff, which is always a challenge for friendship. Everything went well!!!!

We know them from Australia, and we are enjoying to have their friendship close to us again, is fun, and it feels good to have someone to call in the rainy days.

Sabrina when crazy on the Dutch bike!

The Locals

We did not just visited like any tourist, we actually have real friends in the Dutch land.

Theo, Marian, and Mariama 2, three very old and good friends of Mariama 1, received us in their non-typical Dutch house, in the country side where they create and make an interesting life.

Horses, veggie garden, organic bread, garden sculptures, colourful walls, big windows, little technolgy, lots imagination, you can breath it ALL!

This is the colour of their heart,
just like fire the made for us in their backyard!

Photos of the Trip to Holland:

Happy to share this with YOU!

Something to laugh about it!

A labyrinth, just how life it is sometimes!

A voluptuous African Goddess,
an honoring to big and sensual female bodies!

At the local Cafe of Bowen Lewer , where mariama's mother was borne!

Some Kangooroo from Oz was following Mariama!

it was a sunny day!

Bikes are sacred in Holland,
doesn't matter in what state they are!

Don Quijote de la Mancha had some properties in Holland!

Some kind of interesting architecture in Nutmeg? or Numega?...something like that ...in Holland

Twins!

Carmen and Mariama

Carmen and Cristina

Hay EL AMOR!

Three famous actrices!

The sunset of The Hague!

This is some kind of weird ritual we are doing in the Hague,
letting go the old gosts, and welcoming new life!

37. Photo Voice!

A Long Way Road

Life since Australia has been a long way road! A beautiful one, with all its ooops! and all its beauty, it has been a road that has brought us lots of happiness and hopes for our future as a couple.

For nothing in the world we would change this road, although next time we know when to say NO, STOP, REVISE and GO BACK!

Slowly we have been getting to a peaceful spot in our mind, and an understanding for the need to nurturing our ideals with care and passion, without loosing perspective of what WE want, and not what is expected from us.

It is hard to be faithful to your beliefs, and with not hesitation one encounter the challenge to be seduced by the status quo of depressive and boring lives. But that is not us, and here we go for another road trip probably in a new home soon!

Before and After!

I met Mariama in 2004 and this is a photo of her when she arrived in Australia that year!

During my time with her I have been listening carefully to all her dreams and things she wanted to achieved, which she was searching in herself while in Australia and until now.

When I met her I thought she was at the beginning of something. I did not imagine it was the beginning of our relationship at all!, and indeed that was just a nice surprise, because she was in a more profound search about who she was and where she wanted to go with or without me.

She was travelling on her OWN in Australia, which is very deary! She was young and very very new to life. She was coming out of many things, including a real come out as a lesbian. Her life until now has been surrounding by games, family and relationship. She dedicated a lot of time to her studies, which made her successful. She also experienced the death of her mother, and for those who know what it feel to loose some one dear, that is a journey of its own, which takes years to understand. Mariama was not naive, but genuinely full of good intentions, and with an open hart to give in all sort of way. (These qualities are rarely in people these days!)

Some of the things she wanted was to gain her independence, to be aware of HER priorities in life, to be able to say NO when she didn’t want to do something, to not feel guilty for taking care of herself, to be strong with her words and not to get so scare to make important decisions. These were only a few of the things she wanted to achieve! And SHE HAD DONE IT!

She also wanted to work in an office and get to know what it was like to be in an “average” 9 to 5 job (knowing her, nothing can be average!) She did. She stayed during the year she promised to herself, although the temptation to leave before was always there.

Just look at her, confident, and bright, she is everything she has been asking for, and more.

She is now about to start to study full time until September the 24th, 25th, and 26th when she will attend her first exam for the Law School. She is doing this with much confidence and doing her best to pass it.

France and the world need lawyers like her, who believe in justice and fairness.!

She is so beautiful and an amazing woman, this year she will turn 30 and she is just heating the highest starts of this time of her life.

Mariama has changed a lot since I met her, and being with her during her transformation has been an honour. Many may think that I may it influenced her, but the truth is she had a plan, and she has followed her plan as faithful as she has follow her hart for me. She is in HER PATH!

She is a strong women, determine, and stubborn many times. But she gets what she wants, she has been impeccable at work and she is leaving with all the honours she could leave. People respect her, even those who would prefer not to admit it, like her boss, who has indeed become supportive of her decision to leave for her studies.

She has integrity and so much respect for friendship and family. Despite any differences she will always love them, and give them the benefit of the doubt. But she also learn to limit her kindness to her own integrity, to follow her heart and be truth to herself.

IT is not that she didn’t have this qualities before, but certainly life has given her much more opportunities, since the trip to Australia, to practice ALL WHAT SHE IS!

Arriving Well!

I personally, Cristina, I am arriving after this long way, with hands in high feeling something I cannot explain yet. It is not that sense of achievement of having mastered the French language, or having got the greatest job of my life, in the contrary those are the things I have postpone for other more important reasons.

I do not think only of myself when i have to make a decision about my future. I have sacrifice my “ego” for the sake of something different, something really “camaderious”, means something for the effort of the team that Mariama and I have formed. I am doing this with gratefulness, and it is taking me to places I have not being before.

I have learnt a great deal about myself in this period. I see and accept my faults as an opportunity to apologize to those who I have made feel uncomfortably and particularly to Mariama who patiently can see my most "tenebrous monsters" who have accompany me for long: my dear "critic", my vulnerable "girl child", my "stubborn revolutionary", and my " i can do it on my own friend" to name a few.

I have had to become humble, and accept that I don’t know a great deal of staff, and that I will not know it, at least I want to.

I know there is something important and big waiting for me to be ready. Something that needs maturity, and a great deal of inside work. As much as I feel weak, I feel strong and ready for more responsibilities in my future work. It will be something where I would help others, and something definitely fun!

And i Know WE CAN DO IT!

35. La Primavera/Spring in Paris

La primavera ha llegado a Paris y estamos disfrutandola mucho. Pronto vendran noticias, asi que visitanos.




Stay tune for some news from us, spring is here, and WE LOVE PARIS!

34. Curious Reflections II

Manuel and Netty

This is a photo, of both of our parents, Manuel and Netty, who happened to be born the same day of the month, on the 25th of January.

Until now, I have never really celebrated my father’s birthday since he passed away more than 10 years ago.

When I met Mariama and her family, I learned that they always celebrate her mother’s memory with some special event.

Last year we built an altar for Netty! With wine, flowers and candles.

This year we celebrated Netty’s and Manuel’s birthday with a chocolate cake.

Both Aquarius, both young, and both taken away by cruel circumstances of life.

Nevertheless, both remembered with love, and both present in our lives.

La Menche

34. Curious Reflections

It takes two to Tango?

Here they are, Mariama and Cristina trying to Tango!

As they say, "It takes two to TANGO"…

So I would take this image as a very real metaphor of our relationship.

Mariama leads, Cristina follows, which in real life people may be seeing it quite differently!

As you try to learn on the floor, the new steps, the new rythms, you also try to understand that the rules of dancing are not less demanding as the rules of relationship.

You know you are doing the best you can, but you can’t help it to feel so aware of your observers.

Dancing together in a place where there are many eyes looking at you.

Some may just look, others may comment, others may just enjoy… but you don’t know really, who is judging and who is not.

Do we take any notice? Do we stop and come back to the floor when we can do it “perfectly”? Are we embarrassing ourselves here? Do we look good together, do we look well together? Would we ever be able to dance Tango together?

The mind goes wondering, wondering, wondering. Loosing its purpose, loosing its point.

What was the point of learning to dance together, anyway?

Ok, lets go back to step one.

-Hold tied- said the teacher.

–Look at each other. Decide who is going to lead. Mark the steps in your place first. When you are ready, the leader will gently but firmly, push her hand against the back of the follower partner. The follower partner must start.- And here we go, we start to Tango.

-Oops, aush! I have just stepped in your foot! -Sorry- I said.

-Should we try again?-

Ok, lets continue with the instructions.

-If you loose your step, just stop and start again.-

-First, mark the steps on your place, than follow the group, keep looking at each other, and eventually you will start to dance-.

Uf!, this is Tango, this is the dance of the relationship.

Frustration, laughter, disappointment, wanted to be the leader, wanted to leave the leadership, tiredness, but ultimately a sense of achievement.

Maybe we did not learn the best Tango dance, maybe it is not our priority to learn it perfectly now, may be it is just for fun, just to get a bit closer to the truth of who we are. Maybe we will never dance the perfect Tango.

Perhaps we are judged by those who have Tango for longer, or maybe by those who have not Tango at all! It's ok, it is only one perception of the Tango dance.

To TANGO is never easy; to dance in a relationship neither! But the sense of satisfaction to learn not just from each other, but from others is the greatest reward of the process of Tango.

To Tango, it takes more than two, I would say, it's just that you are in the centre, and the rest is watching.

La Menche