Africa's lost tribe in Gujarat, and Goa, India

On my last trip to India, out of the blue I asked a BBC reporter if India had Africians. I really had no idea why I even asked the question, and was shocked by his reply. Yes, they do have an African population and they are known as Siddi's. They are descedants of the ethiopians. I vowed to myself that on my next trip that I would make a point to go and visit the community myself and take photos. As my upcoming trip is just days away, the Siddi's have really been on my mind. I went to a few different book stores, but they didn't have any information. What I do know is that India has a prehistoric relationship to Africa. Also the slavery of Africans commenced in India during the fifteenth century and continued till end of nineteenth century. Goa, India had a thriving slave trade. The faith that many Siddi's practice is Hindu, Muslim, and Christian religions, they inter-marry without any reservation across the religions. India has a prehistoric relationship to Africa and its art.

I will go with an interpreter who speaks Gujarati. Over the next few days, I will be thinking of quetions that will help explain how this community operates, and what oral history they are willing to share.

11:23PM Cheesecake factory and Valentine's

I'm unable to sleep so I thought it would be a good time to blog. After much snow here on the east coast, I was having a bit of cabin fever so I thought this would be a good day to hit the mall. My drug of choice would be White Flint Mall, because I like that Talbot's store. I arrived around 11:10 not realizing that the stores in the mall open at noon on Sunday. Cheescake factory restaurant of course was open, so whats a girl to do especially on Valentine's day but have brunch. The receptionist greeted me and asked if I would like to be seated, but I choose to sit near the bar and just sort of be out of the way. When you are of color, your mind clearly is aware of other people of color in the area, which there happened to be three other black woman, sitting alone on Valentine's morning either drinking a mimosa, or another beverage of choice. At first glance the realities of their lives escaped me. After placing my order the women a few seats over from me smiled pleasantly, and I nodded in gest, then said I said that I didn't realize the stores were not open until noon. I'll call this woman "E". "E" kindly explained the Sunday schedule for the mall and made a toast to Valentine's day. I smiled and said the same to her then made a comment to the effect that I had never seen so many black wait staff at that Cheesecake location. Given the number of years that I have lived in this area and have frequented that mall, there was a time when not that long ago that blacks were just the cooks or the bus boys.

My comments led to a Sunday confessional especially since "E" said she just came from church and really didn't want to go home to cook for herself. All I kept thinking was please don't ask me if I go to church, I just updated my profile on facebook, where it says religon, I changed it from none to atheist. I learned that "E" was highly educated and is certainly a minority in her field. Over the years she has taken a beating from white men who are intimidated by her knowledge. "E" said that in order to get along at this point, she has to dumb herself down, just to be a team player. My mind kept racing back to my years in college when I had to write a paper about why 50% of educated black women never marry, and this was 25 years ago. Clearly the stats have not changed. Is the chasm just too high or do a lot of men feel exactly like John Mayer when he said in his playboy interview that "My d--- is sort of like a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a f-----’ David Duke c---."

Back to India

I'm headed back to India in March, and at this point with the cold weather that we have been having it might be a welcome relief. I will check on Najla's surrogate and take some photo's for those who would like to see how their surrogates are doing. It will be nice to sit down the Nayana and Hitesh and see how things are getting on at the clinic. If time permits, I will take a trip to Delhi for a little bit of shopping and to say hello to Dr. Shivani.

Change of Plans

We have decided that Colin will fly to India, it is not worth of hassle of shipping, because you do not have any guarantees.

Shipping Sperm

It looks like we will have to ship Colin's sperm, because he is to busy at work to make the trip to India. I thought I would be able to carry the tank on the plane, but the tank weighs 28 pounds, and I cannot get a gaurantee from customs in India that I will not be hassled. With this said, more than likely I will be on a plane for India in March, for its arrival. The cost is actually not that bad. The cost of the tank is $900 but it is refundable if the tank is sent back. The cost for fed-x is $650 and that is the round trip cost. I called the cryobank in our area and everything can be done in record time, as long as you do not say that you are shipping the sperm for a donor. Should you mention anything about a donor, than your sperm will have to go through the whole process of screening, which could take months before they would ship for you.

I'm starting to get nervous once again, and I didn't think that would happen. More than likely we will use the same donor as Mark, and we are using the same surrogate and we will see what happens. If not we have a back-up plan. I want to be there for our surrogate and the implant, because I think she would like it if I made the trip. Over the next week, all of the decisions will be made and I will tie up all of the lose ends.

Good News

My best friend (Najla) has a surrogate that is pregnant in Anand. Thanks Nayana for taking care of my buddy. It looks like she has twins. Mark is also feeling better from his surgery (Penile Cordee). This is common in twins. It looks like I might be back in India in March, and it is starting to feel like a second home.

2010

Sitting with the palm reader at the Rumbaugh Palace in India, was a treat and one that I will not forget. I'm already wondering if the new year will bring about any of the predictions that were discussed in December. So far this year I had a birthday on the 10th, and Mark has surgery on the 11th. Today Mark is 15 months old, and is acting like a two year old. Daycare has been a godsend. I see the nutritionist tomorrow as I have vowed to myself, that this would be the year of good health, no matter what the cost. Colin leaves for India in March as we make another attempt at a sibling for Mark. We will use the same surrogate that we used for Mark.

Tonight we talk with ABC news regarding surrogacy in India, as Diane Sawyer is involved with the story. The experiences that many people have are very subjective, especially when most people really do not understand the Indian culture, even when they say that they do. With that said, I think the only way a reporter can really understand is to follow people who are starting the experience or who have already gone through the experience, with other people. I hope that they do not scare people away from India, especially if this is the best option for them.