Dear Diary,

My mom says that I am at the age where I should start learning about African cultures and stuff. So since I don't have a spare notebook I am going to be writing in here about what she teaches me. Tomorrow is my first lesson so I guess see you then.

Love,

Talylor

Dear Diary,

Today was day one of learning about African cultures, so I am going to start my note taking.... NOw

Kente Cloth- A kente cloth thin strips 4cm thick. They are woven together on narrow looms- typically by men. Kente cloths have many different colors that mean different things. Gold means wealth and wealth. Blue means harmony and peace. There are many more meanings and colors. Here are the other colors-

• Red- violence and anger
• Green- growth and energy
• White- goodness and victory
• Grey- shame
• Black- death and old age

 It started when silk arrived with portugese traders in the seventeenth century. Back then silk was really expensive, so only Akan royalty were able to buy it.  That is all my notes for the Kente cloth. I wonder what I will be learning about tomorrow.

Love,

Taylor!1!!!  

Dear Diary,

Today my mom taught me about popular foods in Africa. Here are my notes:

 A popular food in Africa is Muamba de Galinha, which means Muamba Chicken. It is eaten with rice a lot.

A popular food in Africa is Nyama na irio, which is mashed-up potatoes, peas, beans, corn and onion and often served with spiced roasted meat to make a delicious dish called nyama na irio.

A popular food in Africa is Ful mesdames, which is dried beans that are often cooked overnight and served for breakfast in the morning with eggs and pita bread.

 Another popular food in Africa is Potjiekos and stew, which means pot food and stew.

Done with notes for today, Diary. See you tomorrow.

Love,

Taylor

Dear Diary,

Today I learned about popular languages in Africa and how to say: Hi, my name is Taylor. Here are my notes for today:

Swahilli- Halo, jina langu ni Taylor

Amharic- tadīyasi simē simē tēyileri newi

Yoruba- Bawo, orukọ mi jẹ Taylor

Hausa- Barka dai, sunana Taylor

Igbo- Ndewo, aha m bụ Taylor

Zulu- Sawubona, igama lami ngu Taylor

Those notes were hard to take, but luckily I finished. See you tomorrow.

Love,

Taylor!

Dear Diary,

I didn't know how much there was to know about African history! I have a long way to go until I am done learning about this. Anyway right now I am learning about African Government. Something new that I learned is that the African Government is called the Republic of South Africa. Also the constitution was created in 1996, establishes the legal foundation for the existence of the republic.

Love,

Taylor

Dear Diary,

I still am learning about the African government since there is so much to know about it. Well anyway I learned a lot over the past few days. Like I didn't even know that they have each Executive cycle every 5 years. Then each judicial election is once every 12 years! Finally the Legislative cycle of elections happens every 4-5 years.

Love,

Taylor

Dear Diary,

I am finally on my next topic about African History. I learned that Black Ladysmith Mambazo is a South African male choral singing group. And they were pretty famous too! Black Ladysmith Mambazo has won many awards and has sung with Paul Simon in 1986.

Love,

Taylor

Dear Diary,

So far, I have really enjoyed learning about the music in Africa. Also ,slaves brought the elements of cultural fusion such as the salsa, Mambo, Cuban Son, Afrocubism, etc. Afrocubism was the original concept for the Buena Vista social club of 1997.

Love,

Taylor