Libreville🌴🇬🇦, Petite Ville/2

Hello dear readers, These days I have been in a peaceful state of mind. Really I truly mean it because I went through some ups and downs. There is always a good time flowing like a river in your life and some rocky ones too. Watching the sea through my windows everyday relieves me a lot. Stress free. It reminds me that life is more important than anything else. I like nature and I miss going to my village lately. (you read my posts on my village) I hope to be going there soon. The road is not easy and sometimes it can discourages you to go there. It is a shame that "They" don't do what is neccessary to make these roads better.But hey! What can we do? *** **** Libreville is my petite ville. Please! Always remember these sweet words.It is not perfect like the big cities in the world but it is the place where I was born and partly grew up. So yes, there is a strong attachment here.

Sometimes I get upset to see some stuffs that "They" can work on and make better. "They" have enough financial resources to do it but "they" choose not to do it but instead they use that money for something else... well, no comment. Anyway, I will not keep talking about it in this post. This is not the purpose here. Unfortunately that's the not interesting part to discuss about my country especially my hometown. It is just...How can I explain it? It is just FRUSTRATING. It sometimes makes you want to...Scream! But I can't. Are we even allowed to? If you complain and if you talk...hum! No comment. o Well, C'est la vie!

Let me just share with you some short videos of my life in my hometown. I like to call Libreville, petite ville because it is a small town and it is my way to show you how I care about my place and my city. I told you the history of how Libreville started. How Libreville were founded. My cousin who wrote a book about it, got me captivated by the story as a matter of fact I do not live far from the area called Glass in town. And that area was once belonging to the British. There are many restaurants there (Talking about the U.K, I read the sad news of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. She was a part of History, a special figure to the British people and she was one of the longest monarch in power. Her passing marks the end of an era I guess and frankly I don't know what's going to happen next) Well, who am I to even think and ask such question? Back to my post. I make some shorts (videos) often now because it is easy for me and I have an inspiration at the exact moment

This is a blog of my life. A life diary...that I share with the readers. *** Talking about something else, the weather is changing in Gabon. Rains are coming little by little and it is not easy at all. The sky is getting grey and really grey and rainy. Yes, we are crossed by the equator. This is also the time for school! My little boy is about to go back to school very soon. Hum! Thats going to be a busy year again. When the rainy season starts it is crazy in town. The tropical rain! We are going to wake up early like we used to do last academic year. The city gets inundated and it is not funny at all. My little man is growing up, I can't believe it. I guess I already want another child now. (laughing) I mean...yes, why not? Two days ago I saw that ship from my bedroom. It was just there not moving. Just there in the middle of the sea area. I found it quite thrilling but I took a view and a video of it. It only left this afternoon. Maybe the people inside were fishing

Some ships coming from other countries often come to Gabon fishing because we have so many fishes and varieties of them here. When the sun is shining on the sea, it is just like a mirror that you see. Something like some lights dancing on the water. It is so wonderful and powerful all at once. the Creation is amazing and yes, I deeply believe in God. An Almighty God who is also close to the little human creature that I am. I feel blessed to see it everyday. I am simply grateful...

I have been going out again and I enjoyed it even though I am busy too. Like I went to this nice cafe in town that you see in the pictures. I just needed to spend a little bit of time out of home. I am still working on renovating the family's house and it is A LOT OF WORK and Money! I guess building a new house is cheaper than renovating one seriously. Prices in my country are rising up and up these past few months. I don't know but there is a serious inflation and people are complaining. It worries me how prices are rising up so fast these days. Some families have difficulties meeting their needs and even sending their children at school. Even paying medical bills. I don't know where this situation will lead us really. May God be our strength. I hope something will be done otherwise...It can be very bad for the population and our country. Well, I bought this nice paint at the artisanal market in town. I like the woman on the painting, she looks free. I wish I could be like her. I will eventually (Still working on it ) smile.

By the way! I will be starting some guitar lessons at home. I always wanted to do it. I tried it before but...it was difficult for me. (Laugh) so i gave up. but This time I will put all my effort in it. I will also get back to my flowers world really. I want to work on making a little garden. I am dreaming of a nice pergola covered with flowers. I come from a family where women like flowers and like to plant. They all have green hands like we say in French. You know how I love flowers too. My Mom and her sisters. But my Mom is kind of flexible when you think about it because my aunts are very strict if you even try to touch their flowers anyhow they are not happy. You can't play with their flowers, you can't mistreat their flowers. When her garden is not looking good then you know my aunt is not feeling well or she is upset about something happening in her life. Flowers are so beautiful. A house without a garden of flowers...is boring. I must seriously work on that. It will be something that will get me busy as well. Planting flowers...I love it! I hope to write another post on flowers but those planted and grown by me. A complete album of flowers why not?

Well dear readers, I think I am done with this short post. I had a wonderful week and I invite you to visit my other blog www.poshenvogue.com I know I must update it. (laugh) I have been lazy to write some articles but please bare with me. I will be back with a new post there soon. I later on decided to put my beautiful lady on the wall of my bedroom. Do you like it? I like ! because the blue color remind me of the water theme and the sun when it goes down the lights through the windows and shine on the lady.

In the following short video, I was impressed to see how the sky was turning reddish as th sun was going to sleep. It was amazing! If you could just see it but the camera does not show it enough. Ok! Again, thank you for reading and see you in a next post.

(My son was excited to see what was inside the bag) Laugh...

She Was the People's Princess

(Source: google.com) My Mom called me from France few days ago and she told me try to catch up on the new TV documentaries about Lady Diana. "It is sad Laetitia" she said. It is sad indeed... Yes, it was the 31rst of August and we all remember the tragic death of the Princess of Wales in Paris. Where was I? How old was I? I was 16 years old when it happened and yes I remember the head lines on the news. It was all over the newspapers and on TV. What a brutal death. What a sad end. Nobody was prepared for that. I was at home. I watched the France TV news at home that night. Pretty shocking...It could not be a joke. It was true. It really happened. She was the people's princess. Unfortunately her daughter in law in America doesn't understand it...The American actress probably thinks she can be compared to her and get all the world's attention the same way. But...No. She cannot. They have two different type of hearts. Sorry you can never be Lady Diana. There was and there will always be one Lady Diana. It is maybe difficult to understand certain things when you have not the royal culture. It is another way of life. Simplicity, affection, compassion that was what we knew about Princess Diana. She was class and elegant an inspiration to many women. It is unfortunate Lady Diana had to leave so early this life. I made that video some years ago. I was just inspired to do it one night at home, as I was sitting and saw that beautiful picture of her again. What a beautiful soul she was. She looked like a fragile flower but surprisingly a very strong person inside. She was a beautiful woman. She had this strong desire to live, to break barriers and she did it in her own way. Her aura her personality drew attention to her without even searching for it.

(Source: US weekly) One of my favorite pictures of her. Sitting gently outside on the stairs. She looked so down to earth. One would forget at that moment that she was a princess. She was royal. She seemed like a person that anybody could go talk to and say hi. We were also sad for her two sons that she left behind so early. It was nice to see them growing, becoming men eventhough she was not there anymore. I tried to gather some of my meaningful pictures of her found on the internet. The beauty, the good, the sadness... I added a song of a well known singer from Ivory Coast Nst Cophies (rest in peace great artist). He released that song after she passed away. The title was Lady Diana. This is my way to pay a tribute to Lady Di

Good Old Memories

"Nostalgia when you hold me..." A friend recently posted and shared that video song of the old days. Jean Jacques Goldman.I must admit it suddenly took me back in times. It is always good to have friends. Thank you for sharing the old goodie. When I listen to it, it is so special. It reminds me of the good days. Nothing to say just thank you. Thank you also to some of my friends that I unfortunately lost along the way. The way of life. I miss them. I miss my two friends who left this world so early. I wish we could have spent the good old days we had together again...Dear friends rest in peace. I miss you. Thank you dear one for sharing that old masterpiece. That forever one of the best songs of JJ Goldman that I like. Whenever I listen to it, my heart is moved. My heart melt A song of Love. A song of friendship... He is such a talent. And what about you, dear readers. Who took your heart forever? When you look back in time...who took your heart? Or should I say who stole it? (smile) Do you also have special friends. I do not have many. Maybe three only now. I have never been into many friends anyway. It is not me. I am mostly on my own and that's ok. Be alone is not bad sometimes. I am only looking for a forever best friend (smile) This is the song Jean Jacques Goldman "Pas Toi"

*** *** *** *** Look people, life is really a mystery...We do not know the tomorrow. Today you are close to someone and tomorrow for no reasons you are like ennemies. But still life worth living. I miss my friend Elsa. I miss you Elsa...It is sad we have to go in our separate ways. You were my best friend. my confident. We could speak on the phone for hours. We could be sitting outside eating our snacks and laugh for hours together. You saw my good and bad side. My best and my weakest moments. The day, the afternoon, the night you were my best friend. I remember when I first started learning how to cook, you were there lol! I put too much salt but you still ate my food and you said "Hummm! Yummy!!" We cut magazines to take fashion pictures and saved them in our portfolio or copybooks. The first time I tried a body scrub on my skin it was you. We did it together Lol! the bath beads. Ha! My friend, my dear friend. Climbing the trees and singing there in the air. The Good Life seemed to never end. We went from being little girls to young women. We did trips together and I was so excited. We argued sometimes but we always passed on these bad moments. We fought but we never kept anger (I mean....that's what I thought...) and we were back again in our stupid and fun life together. What went wrong dear friend? What really happened? I don't know when exactly I lost our strong friendship. Until today I do not have a friend like you. It is sad we do not communicate anymore. It is sad we are now strangers today. Forgiveness is so important. True forgiveness...Nobody is Perfect. It is sad we do not talk anymore. I miss that wonderful and amazing friendship. I tried to reach at you again...but it is just not working anymore. So..I gave up...We stay respectful to each other and that's it. In my previous post, You remember dear readers, I was talking about how we (the kids) liked to play under the sun, the palm trees in my hometown...yes that's what we did. We (friend and I) grew up together and we stopped being friends at the age of 36. No I didn't want it to hapen but it just happened. how sad is it! I always remember how everything fell apart. Something I didn't understand...and I still don't. How sad is it! We only live once people. Why keeping misunderstandings and anger? Why holding on the past when the future can be bright? Why being Not real with people who trust you? *** *** *** Talking about my friend Elsa, I introduced her to one of my favorite singers when we were young. Her name was Elsa Lunghini. She is one my favorite French artists and this song was one of my best. Elsa "A La Meme Heure dans Deux Ans" (In my mind when listening to this song it was like we will do the same fun things together every summer. That we should keep our friendship special) She was that kind of friend who knew how I felt and what I thought without me talking. And she would always have a word to make me burst in laugh when I was mad at her or at something. When I was in a bad mood she knew how to make me smile. One day we argued and we were angry. I wrote some sweet words to say sorry and I slided it on my little puppy's collar and my puppy walked to her and she saw it. She picked it up an opened the paper and she laughed. Yep! That's me! (wink) I do things like that sometimes...

back to my best friend: I remember with my friend Elsa that we were writing tons of letters to each other. (emails did not exist in the time) We would be writing our lives, the gossip in our town, about love and funny stories on our pieces of paper and we sent the letters through postmail. A flower with my name on it was my favorite signature on the letters. (laugh) I was always excited to open her letters when I received them and read again and again. I kept them safe in a box where I got all my mails. (I don't like emails, I feel like it is empty of emotion...Something is different when someone writes you on a piece of paper or on a postal card. This writting is so beautiful. You can read that person's mind and feeling through his writings. There is life in these old mails we used to write a lot) When I was bored at school, I would have one of her letters with me. and read it again under the trees or in my classrom during the break. Her stories were so funny and interesting. And that was my little world. I could feel her spirit next to me. She was like with me eventhough she was living in another town. I loved it so much. Back home it was the same thing: I was Smiling and laughing while reading her stories, love story and her life then I would rush to the phone and call her. You know it was not portable phones back in the days. So you stayed up or you sat while you talk on the phone. Me I was on my feet for hours seriously and laughing. I didn't care. I was just happy to talk to my best friend. I didn't have boyfriends (My parents were not ok that a high school girl like me would think about going out with guys) so my books and her stories were my window to escape. Sometimes my Mom would come and say: " can you hang up the phone now Laetitia? People maybe are calling too." We would be shopping together, try perfumes together...She would help me how to dress and later on, as we became young ladies, if I was going on a date she would help me pick the right clothes, the make up and the hairstyle. She was a special friend. Watch movies together but it is no longer the same today. Distance. Just distance when we speak today. There is a wall a big wall between us that she has built. And I am a mother now...So life is different. I simply gave up. Sigh! She was my best friend. Today...we are like two strangers. I miss our best years of friendship. There is no possibility to go back in times we are so old now. And things Have changed a lot. What was done is done. That is why I am no longer looking to have friends. I have only have three maybe but one of them is the closest I have left and that's enough for me. I sometimes look people at the restaurants, laughing together like if they were the best friends ever. I like it a lot but to me I do not have it anymore and I do not want to be deceived again. I am Ok like that. I sometimes see the three friends I have but really one is the closest to me. Dear readers have you ever had a friend that you liked so much and you do not talk together anymore? You look to each other like two perfect strangers. This is another song that I like. I used to listen to it a lot. I like the lyrics Elsa (with Laurent Voulzy) "Jamais Nous" That should Never be Us (It will never be us. The lies that eat you up. the memories that hurt. The hatred. It will never be us, fake smiles...hypocrisy. The tears in the eyes falling on your face, farewell words that hurt. It will never be us. Disappointment, treason and knife on the back. It will never be us. The lies will never be us. the crazy stories. the Jalousy and so on. It will never be us. Stories of fools, it will never be us. It is told to never say I love you. Never say I love you...)

O my God, on a more funny note, when I am listening to that song of Elsa Lunghini, I always laugh because I was so addictive to it when I was at the primary school. I would sing it and sing it again and again to the point where I put the lyrics on a piece of paper and I stuck it on the wall of my bedroom. One of my two brothers who had enough to hear me singing it, came to me asked me to stop (Laetitia Enough with that song!) but I didn't. I kept singing it right away. Then one day my brother took my teddy bear and threw it on me and he took a pillow and did the same. I laughed. But I stood up again and I sang that song loudly. He left frustrated because I did not listen to him and he covered his ears. And that was not all, I went on to save my pocket money and bought the audio tape album that I played loud that same song in my bedroom the following days. Things we do when we are young Thank you for reading and I say see you next post. You can also visit : www.poshenvogue.com

I really wanted to end this post on a different way. I found the translation online of that wonderful beautiful philosophical song of my youth memories. A masterpiece of Jean Jacques Goldman If you take time to listen and to read the lyrics I am sure it will talk to you too. Do not be sad because life is a journey. We fall and we learn and we move on. We get mature with time and we understand life differently. We learn how Not to judge people based on what we assume but on what We Know. The appearance is not everything. We made mistakes in the past that we cannot clean the mess up but it is ok because it is a part of us. It is good to understand that we are not perfect. People who really love you or like you will remain on your side no matter what. When I listen to this song, I sit and I think and see the time I wasted sometimes for doing...what? For caring about what people would think or say about me. Wow! I wasted my life and my time to care about what people might think and say about me. I wasted time of my life because being afraid to try. Wasted time of my life being scared to be judged for my mistakes. Afraid to fail on an attempt. Afraid to say how I feel, afraid to say things the way they meant to me... O! Dear God! I forgive myself today. Now I need to move on. No looking back. At the end of the day it is not about them (these people). It is between you and God. Your decisions, your mistakes, your sadness, your happiness....hum! O Life! Please if you do not know me, do not judge me. (that is what we should always remind people of) It is never too late to be the best at what you dream to be . to do... *** **** *** This is the song: To Our Faulty Acts (Jean Jacques Goldman) To my screw-ups, my mess-ups, my real suns All the paths that went past by me, To all my missed boats, my bad sleeping To all the ones that I wasn't To the misunderstandings, to the lies, to our silences To all theses moments I thought I shared To the things we say too fast without meaning them To the things I didn't dare to do To our faulty acts To the years, wasted trying to look like... To all the walls I couldn't break To all things I didn't see, so near, right next to me All that I better had ignored To the world, its pains that don't touch me anymore To the tunes, the solos I did not invent All these words that others made rhymes with and that kill me Like as much kids that were never born To our faulty acts To failed loves for having loved too much Faces and crossed laces, just brushed To bretrayals I did not really regret To the living that should have been killed To all that is finally happening to us, but too late To all the masks we had to wear To our weaknesses, our defaults, our despairs To fears impossible to hide To our faulty acts Jean Jacques Goldman

Just A Little bit of Me🌞 in Libreville🌴

Hello Everyone I have not much to say in this post just sharing a little bit of me in Libreville my little hometown. As you will see I did my best to start again some full videos. It takes time to do it and I am kind of lazy these past few years. Lol! I am glad I am doing an effort again and it seems like I am at a better place in my head. Of course I have here some short videos too. (laugh) because it is so easy to make them and when I make them, I catch the moment and the feeling at the moment. I recently did some braids but these ones are the longest I never did before (smile)

because I like to try new things.

How is life in my town so far? Nothing much. Just the sunny weather. The same routine and I didn't do much these days. Kids are starting school soon here in my country. My son will go back to his school. Vacations are over! The weather will soon change too. A lot of tropical heavy rains will be coming but for now I enjoy the sun, the beach and the flowers.

This song takes me back in the old days. I was maybe 9 years old when I first listen to it in my hometown here. It was a beautiful song and the best years of my life. It is an ode to Black woman. Guilou Lafages was singing for the beauty of Black woman. Where he is in the video looks like my hometown but it is not. He is in Guadeloupe ( a French island where he is originally from) I love this song. The nature, the palm trees ( we liked to play under palm trees), the wind,the sun and the Love above everything. He is very romantic in his songs. The title is "Fille du Soleil" meaning Daughter of the Sun. "Daughter of the Sun, with your beautiful black hair on your tanned skin (golden skin) Daughter of the Sun your picture follows me and meets me everywhere (Like he can't get over her. Like he can't forget her)...The song was released in 1988. Wow! Imagine how old it is but still one of his best till today. You can't understand that kind of music if/unless you are not African or from the islands. We understand each others lol! And yes, Guilou was sexy. Ha! ha! ha! that made him special when he was singing. His voice was also special.

I also share some of my favorite things to do: haul, spending time on my own etc I hope you will like it too...

Thank you for reading My other blog www.poshenvogue.com

The Mystery of Gabon

This is a new short post for you! Something I wanted to share with you. The mystery I want to discuss here is the traditional belief of my country. I recently wrote three posts about my country when it comes to culture, Art and tradition. I hope you like it. I am not practicing some of the traditional beliefs but I respect my culture a lot. I respect the way people see things. That's their opinion and I am not here to judge. I am just trying to understand. It can be sometimes difficult but it s the tradition period. The knowledge of the Good and Bad (the evil) is in us. Nobody can never say I do not know what is good or what is wrong (bad). As you can see here in this old video song of the early 90's, the artist try to explain something interesting. He tried to share to the world the mystery of Gabon, a part of our traditional belief when it comes to the spiritual realm. People in our traditional beliefs know it. People who are intiated understand it. So not everyone is supposed to do it and not everyone should try it. Just remember one thing:Fight the evil, fight the bad. Be good. Be in good terms with God. The Almighty. Usually people who believe in tradition will tell you that they are guided by the spirits and the ancestors. Like I said earlier, I do not practice it at all. It cannot work for me and with me... The story is this one: In a little village away from life in the city, away from town, people (the villagers) are going about their daily activities. They don't care about anything else. Just their lives. Some of them know the mystery some of them do not. In that life in the village, they are going to work in the farm, others taking care of their place, some are going fishing and so on. But in this little world, in this movement, there is a small group of four young men with their spiritual traditional teacher sitting in the forest away from the people. They are young men who recently got initiated into the traditional belief (the reason why they have some leaves in their mouth) They must discover now the spiritual realm, the spiritual tradition. Their eyes will be now opened to things they were not aware of. They will discover the mystery of Gabon. Maybe they have already heard about it from the elders but they have never experienced it on their own. This is the day. The very day they will see things that their eyes have never seen before.

The traditional teacher lead them in the deep forest for that encounter and the experience. to Learn how to fight the evil and to connect with the good spirits. On their way to their spiritual encounter, they are stopped by a surprising fire burning the grass. That fire was made by two evil spirits (you will see them in the video song) They didn't show up on the first stage. They only saw some strange animals looking like monkeys on the trees agitating the trees to scare them. But as they are moving forward those two evil creatures physically appear to them. Does it happen in the real life? yes. Do people know that experience? yes, but they do not talk about it. And that's why the singer is sharing it in his song. The first encounter with the bad spirits in the woods the young initiated men run away because they were afraid. The spiritual teacher was left alone facing them. But when the fire happened, those evil spirits threat to hurt them but all of the sudden a woman with a white face and white clothes appears and chase them away. She obviously has some super power and she keeps a wild animal's tail in her mouth to symbolize it (some people describe her as the mother of twins. In some tradition, woman who carried more than one child at a time in her womb. it has to be something or someone special even more. Others would say they have super power because every women do not carry more than one child at a time. Anyway that's the traditional belief) They thank her and they keep moving and they are going further in their spiritual experience in the forest but again the evil spirits are back and this time they want to stop them and hurt them but unfortunately for them ( the evil spirits), the group of young men are now stronger than when they first started the spiritual journey. They know now how to dominate them and make them submissive to them. The evil spirits give up because they know they no longer have this power so they join them at the end. People have been doing that generation after generation. It is passed on the new ones. Sorry the video clip is old (from early 90's meaning not high thechnology) but just look and observe the story and what to understand from it. I think we are not all called to do such spiritual experiences but it is quite interesting to see that humankind understand the same meaning of life: Fight the evil. This troop is very talented and as you can see the traditional dances are very athletic. The lead singer's name is Vickoss Ekondo. A well known artist in Gabon but he has retired now from music industry. People have always been amazed by his live performances with his troop. They have been invited to perform in many countries in the world to represent culture and tradition of Gabon.They are very talented and people have never been disappointed by their live performances. That was one of the mysteries of Gabon. That was the traditional belief.

Thank you for reading. I end here with old memories of my country. Culture and everything. As I explained in my previous posts there are many ethnic groups in Gabon with many traditional dances. You can visit my other blog. www.poshenvogue.com