African Dances

African dances are one of the most well known things to africa, These dances teach social patterns and values and helps people work, mature, praise or criticize members of the community while celebrating festivals and funerals, competing, reciting history, proverbs and poetry; and to encounter gods (wikipedia). With their bright colors and much movement these dances are made through beats since many African languages do not have words to define music.
The most widely used instrument in Africa is actually the human voice. Though many do base theirs on the drums. The drums represent the beating heart of individuals, the community, and even represents emotions.

Pirates released ship

On April 6th after being held hostage by Somali pirates the ship was released on ransom. The somali pirates continue to attack even despite the presence of international warships and operations against them, some of which had fatal results.

Homeless people cheer for new president

I came across a news article from allafrica.com stating that during the inaguration of new president Jacob Zuma that many homeless people cheered in the streets for a change. Many of them believe that this is the start to a great change and they hope they can soon get housing and things to service.

Some of the white Africans are also hoping to to receive help, they are hoping the president just doesnt focus on that blacks of africa but also the suffering whites.

HIV and AIDS in Africa

HIV and AIDS in Africa have devistated the continent. At the end of 2007 an estimated 22 million people were infected, and approximately 1.9 million more were infected were infected during that year. The extent of HIV and AIDS in this area are only now appearing more because more people are becoming ill of it.
Botsawana, Lesotho, Swaziland have the highest amount of people infected with HIV with more than 20%.
AIDS is something that needs to be delt with NOW, the percentage is on the rise and it needs to be stopped until it effects more and spreads more.

African Foods

So I went through a couple of sites to see what are typical food dishes through out Africa and in several it mentioned that one of Africas most popular food was ground nuts...or what we would call peanuts.

http://www.sallybernstein.com/food/cuisines/africa.htm This website gives in more detail what is typicals foods for Africans. The mention that of course they eat many fruits and vegetables and wild game and fish that surround the area. Now many immigrants are bringing their traditional dishes with them so African dishes are becoming more and more popular and well known.

African Names

I always wonder what other places think of our American names, so that made me wonder what common African names were and what their meaning are. I found a website on names called: http://www.namesite.com/. They said that African names "[are] your identity and a window on your culture and self. Your name links you with your past, your ancestors and is a part of your spirituality". A few names they listed were

Karega. KAH-reh-gah. Meaning: A Rebel. Origin: Kikuyu, Kenya. Male name.
Zuri. ZUH-ree. Meaning: beautiful,gorgeous. Origin: Swahili, Kenya-Tanzania. Female name.
Femi. FEH-mee. Meaning: Love me. Origin: Yoruba, Nigeria. Female name.
Obataiye. aw-bah-TAH-ee-yeh. Meaning: King of the World. Origin: Yoruba, Nigeria. Male name.

By finding these names I decided to look up the meaning of my own name =)
Chelsey. ch-EL-see. Meaning: Landing Place. Origin: Old English.

Even though my name doesn't have a cool meaning its still fun to look up!

African Wildlife

So to me the most exciting thing about Africa is it's wildlife. I've always wanted to visit Africa to see the many different types of wildlife there. I found a website called http://www.africaguide.com/wildlife/index.htm. This website list many different types of species living in Africa and also some interesting facts about some. Such as: Four of the five fastest land animals live in Africa - the cheetah (70 mph), wildebeest, lion, and Thomson's gazelle (all about 50 mph). Or that the world's biggest frog is found in Cameroon. Named the goliath frog, their body can be one foot long. (Above it a picture of the Goliath Frog) I couldn't believe how large this frog is...when I was younger I would catch ones the size of my tiny palm, I couldn't even imagine catching one of these! I also did not know that South Africa has a penguin colony, which thrives thanks to the cold Antarctic currents on the west coast near the Cape. This is a great website to view if you want to know more interesting facts about Africa's many species!