To all moms

This is one of my favourite songs and I want to share it with all you wonderful moms out there. It's a golden oldie, Peter Gabriel and Youssou N'dour - "Shakin' the tree". Listen to the lyrics and Youssous wonderful wonderful voice. Enjoy!!!



Souma Yergon, Sou Nou Yergon, We are shakin' the tree
Souma Yergon, Sou Nou Yergon, We are shakin' the tree

Waiting your time, dreaming of a better life
Waiting your time, you're more than just a wife
You don't want to do what your mother has done
She has done
This is your life, this new life has begun
It's your day - a woman's day
It's your day - a woman's day

Turning the tide, you are on the incoming wave
Turning the tide, you know you are nobody's slave
Find your sisters and brothers
Who can hear all the truth in what you say
They can support you when you're on your way
It's your day - a woman's day
It's your day - a woman's day

Souma Yergon, Sou Nou Yergon, We are shakin' the tree
Souma Yergon, Sou Nou Yergon, We are shakin' the tree
Souma Yergon, Sou Nou Yergon, We are shakin' the tree

There's nothing to gain when there's nothing to be lost
There's nothing to gain if you stay behind and count the cost
Make the decision that you can be who you can be
You can be
Tasting the fruit come to the Liberty Tree
It's your day - a woman's day
It's your day - a woman's day

Changing your ways, changing those surrounding you
Changing your ways, more than any man can do
Open your heart, show him the anger and pain, so you heal
Maybe he's looking for his womanly side, let him feel

You had to be so strong
And you do nothing wrong
Nothing wrong at all
We're gonna to break it down
We have to shake it down
Shake it all around

Souma Yergon, Sou Nou Yergon, We are shakin' the tree

And here's another one of my favorites with Youssou, "Seven Seconds Away".


Boul ma sene, boul ma guiss madi re nga fokni mane
Khamouma li neka thi sama souf ak thi guinaw
Beugouma kouma khol oaldine yaw li neka si yaw
mo ne si man, li ne si mane moye dilene diapale

Roughneck and rudeness,
We should be using, on the ones who practice wicked charms
For the sword and the stone
Bad to the bone
Battle is not over
Even when it's won
And when a child is born into this world
It has no concept
Of the tone the skin is living in

CHORUS
It's not a second
Seven seconds away
Just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting
It's not a second
Seven seconds away
Just as long as I stay
I'll be waiting (x3)

J'assume les raisons qui nous poussent de changer tout,
J'aimerais qu'on oublie leur couleur pour qu'ils esperent
Beaucoup de sentiments de race qui font qu'ils desesperent
Je veux les portes grandements ouvertes,
Des amis pour parler de leur peine, de leur joie
Pour qu'ils leur filent des infos qui ne divisent pas
Changer

CHORUS

And when a child is born into this world
It has no concept
Of the tone of the skin he's living in
And there's a million voices
And there's a million voices
To tell you what she should be thinking
So you better sober up for just a second

CHORUS

Welcome friends!

Since it's party time over at MommyFest I want to give you a short (??!!??) presentation of myself since I guess a few newcomers will pass by my place this week. Ok, so where do I start?

Well, Mayogi is not my real name, as you might have guessed. It's short for Mama Yogi, which by the way isn't my real name either. *lol* It's just a short description of two of the most important aspects of my life.

My biggest achievement in life is becoming a mother. I'm very proud of my two sons, B who's 10 (and a former ECMO Baby) and G who's 8. I also love doing yoga which is more of a lifestyle to me than just a series of routines. Unfortunately I'm a very busy mom so I don't do yoga every day (not every week either, actually), but I try to meditate as often as I can. Living a "green" life is also very important to me so I don't own a car, I don't have a dryer and I avoid meat as much as I can. My kids actually love veggies. *lol*

We're quite a mixed family. I'm half Spanish and half Finish, born and bred in Sweden. I speak Spanish, Swedish and English fluently and I also speak some French, Moroccan Arabic and Catalan. Since I'm a total nerd when it comes to languages I've also studied German, Finish, Classic Greek, Latin, Russian and Classic Arabic. I moved to Spain in 1988, then back to Sweden in 1993 but hated every minute of it. In 2005, I took my kids and moved to Morocco, my husband's country, leaving him behind in Sweden. It's just one of those things that happen. We're still in Morocco the kids and I, although we kind of live with one foot here and one foot in Spain. The kids go to a Spanish school and we only speak Spanish at home and we belong to a Spanish Catholic church. Unfortunately we don't meet the kids' Moroccan relatives very often so sometimes I get the feeling we're not living in Morocco at all, which is probably the reason why I'm still not fluent in Arabic. Anyway, Morocco is a very interesting place to live in and I'm happy I decided to move here.

The kids and I love animals and would probably end up living in a zoo if our house was bigger. *lol* Right now we have 3 hamsters (Chiquita, Mochi and Speedy Gonsalez) and a guinea pig (Gabi), who joined the family just last week. I'm looking for another guinea pig, since they are happier when they have someone to share the cage with, so the family is probably getting bigger very soon.

I work part time as a volunteer Spanish teacher at a cultural center and I'm a full time student at a Spanish online university. Being a single mom on top of that, well, my life is never boring. I'm trying to live the Fly Lady way but every now and then I fall off the wagon and have to start all over again. I don't have much free time for myself but when I do I like to do yoga, watch movies (I love Spanish films and I hate scary movies), read something that's not school or work related, meet my friends, go to a café, go for long walks along the beach (we have the Mediterranean Sea just around the corner from our house), scrapbook or make cards, listen to music and just REEELAAAX...

Before I had the kids I worked for several years as a preschool teacher and a Spanish - Swedish - English interpreter and I also have a degree in Computer Science (I'm a webmaster actually but I've never ever worked in that field). I went back to university this year so I still have at least 4 years of studies left. When I finish I hope to either work as a Spanish teacher (I love teaching!) or become a writer.

Ok, I think it's enough for now, right? I don't want you to fall asleep. *lol* In case you're curious about something, just ask a question and I'll try to answer.

The annual MommyFest is on NOW

Today is the first day of the annual Mommyfest. It's my first time participating in this blog party because I just missed it last year due to the exams and then I decided that no matter what I would participate this year. My best friend on the net, Linda, participated last year and she told me how much fun she had so I was really sad I missed it. But not this year! *lol*

Why don't you come along as well? I think we're all going to have a ball, bloghopping and participating in giveaways. If you're a mommy, then this is the place to be starting today and the rest of the week. Come on and have some fun!

Views from the hotel

We had a wonderful week in Torremolinos. The kids and I had a room which really was more like a small apartment because there was a bathroom,the main bedroom with twin beds, TV and the closet, and another small bedroom which actually was the hallway to the main room. The kids slept in the main bedroom and I slept in the tiny one. It was the best ever solution because that way I could study in bed at night after the kids fell asleep and I didn't have to go anywhere else.

As soon as the kids woke up in the morning they called my parents' room to tell them they were on their way and then they headed off for the day. We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant and afterwards I headed back to the room to study and my parents and the kids went out for long walks. Usually we had the meals together but the rest of the time I was alone with my books. It might sound a bit crazy to you but to me that was wonderful! Being a single mom, student and part time teacher I usually don't have much time to myself so those days in Torremolinos really meant the world to me. Mind you, I really love my kids above everything else but you get to a point when you really need some "me-time" and just be able to be bored for a little while or just sit down and let your thoughts wander. I got plenty of that in Torremolinos and I've come back as a new me and a happier person. I wish everyone could have a week like that every once in a while.

These are the views from our room.

Back from Spain

Wow, one week goes so fast when you're having fun.... We came back late last night and the kids are in school right now and I'm on a short break. We were in such a hurry before we left so we just left the house in a HORRIBLE state. And guess what? It was the same way when we came back. No house elves around these parts obviously. *sobbing* So I guess you can imagine what I'm up to today....

So far I've vacuumed G:s room and mopped the floors in his room and the bathroom. I've picked up about a hundred tiny toys and stuff and I've cleaned the shelves in the bathroom.

These pictures were taken a few days before we left for our vacation so things look a little better but I guess you can see what I have ahead of me, LOTS OF HARD WORK! So I won't write about our trip today, I'll leave that for tomorrow when my home hopefully looks a little bit better than this....