Rhythm for wooing woman or expression of love

[bkidd]

Thanks e2c. That was exactly my point about being skeptical of Daniel and Jürgen's claims about the Western monopoly on romantic love.

I'd like to second Jürgen's claim to get back on topic. Unfortunately, I don't know any love songs. This might be the domain of griots and non-djembe instruments, but I'm hoping someone else will finally take the bait and jump in about love songs or rhythms.

Cheers,
-Brian

[e2c]

Love songs don't strike me as being djeli material...

I suspect that a lot of passion is felt, but not meant for public view, in many W. African societies. But there are indeed love songs from other parts of Africa, and I can't help thinking that there have to be ways for people in W. Africa to get around many social conventions, at least insofar as being able to signal interest, communicate desire and so on. but it might be one of those deals where emotions are expressed via (to us) oblique-sounding metaphors and allusions...

As for my detour into East Asian stories, i think it can help to show some parallels. you can also find S. Asian love stories as well (and not just in B'wood movies), though I'm sure that a few other members would be able to explain that far better than I can.

And... to pick up on a point I was trying to make several posts (and one page) back: the notion of marrying "for love" is *very* recent in both European and American society... but the idea was around for a long, long time before people began acting on it. (Remember the plotline of "Romeo and Juliet"; how and why Dante ended up in the "dark wood" at the beginning of The Divine Comedy, etc.? Unrequited and/or unattainable love! This isn't something that was cooked up by 19th century novelists.)

Re. the Chinese "butterfly lovers" story - one of the key plot points is that parents arranged one's marriage and there was absolutely no way that the doomed lovers would - or could - be together in this life. But the next, well...

[michi]

...sorry for your troubles. that really sucks. hope santa claus will be in time with your visa when the postman is lame duck...

Yeah, it sucks indeed

Australia Post were able to track the mail for me this morning. It turns out that it hasn't even left Germany yet. Since 13 December (that's ten days), the envelopes have been sitting in the Frankfurt distribution centre without moving a metre.

I'm afraid it's over. The chances of us getting our passports by 29 December are virtually nil, seeing that's only seven days away, four of which are weekend and public holidays

Michi.

[bkidd]

O no, that's terrible!

[e2c]

I'm really sorry to hear that, michi. What a mess.

[michi]

I just spent over an hour on the phone, calling various places in Germany.

It's the usual thing: when you try and talk to a person at a giant corporation like Deutsche Post, all you get, on every phone number they list, is an automated voice menu system. Eventually, I ended up being able to enter the tracking number for the passports, only to end up at a voice version of the same database that I can access over web, which tells me what I already know

It is impossible to talk to a real person at Deutsche Post, apparently. All the phone numbers listed on the web lead to an automated answering service. Searching the German white pages yields a bunch of extra numbers, but they all do the same thing…

So, I started searching German Google for hints, entering various search terms relating to the logistics centre in Frankfurt where the passports are stuck. Eventually, I hit on a forum (much like djembefola.com), only for coin collectors. A guy had posted there with a problem similar to mine, with a shipment that was delayed, no way to reach Deutsche Post, etc. He kindly posted an unlisted telephone number that he had managed to get from someone. (Thank you, Sergey Brin and Larry Page!)

So, I tried that number and, within two minutes, was speaking to a very helpful real person, who passed me on to another helpful real person.

Upshot is: the passports went on a plane on 13 December, beyond a shadow of doubt, and would have arrived in Australia on 15 December.

The problem is that the Germans, once the shipment has left Germany, do not ever again get any kind of information from the Australians. (That's registered mail for you!) Basically, the reverse information channel doesn't exist. For any kind of shipment from Germany to Australia, the last thing the Germans ever hear is that it has left Germany. If the plane crashes on the way over, the Germans don't have a clue it happened.

The information I received from Australia Post was nonsense because all they did was the same thing I did all along: ask the German database, which reports the last known point of the shipment as being in Frankfurt.

So, the passports are in Australia, most likely in Sydney. Because of the Christmas rush, they haven't moved. I'm going to call Australia Post tomorrow when they open and I'll be like the bulldog that won't let go once it has closed its jaws.

There is hope yet!

Michi.

PS: We should make a habit of posting salient phone numbers for key contacts in the djembe world here too. You never know what desperate soul you may end up saving years in the future

[djembefeeling]

Hey Michi, that's good news! I prepared to spend my day on phone with indifferent people from Deutsche Post in order to track your papers and get them on an airplane... So I figure I can continue to listen to Mady Keitas Mendiani instead and finish transcription...

merry christmas,

jürgen

[e2c]

michi - go for it!

fwiw, there's an English-language website called gethuman that lists tons of direct lines for companies, etc. - not sure about government offices, though. They also list ways to hack automated menus and get put through to a real person.

I wonder if there's something similar available in German?

[bkidd]

fwiw, there's an English-language website called gethuman that lists tons of direct lines for companies, etc. - not sure about government offices, though. They also list ways to hack automated menus and get put through to a real person.

good to know. thanks!

[rachelnguyen]

Michi,

What a crazy, stress inducing mess.

I am sending up prayers right this minute that you will get your passport in time to fly out on December 29th. Better yet, get it today so you can rest easy for the next few days.

Keep us posted.

xoxox,
Rachel

[EvanP]

All the best luck, karma, whatever to you Michi. You deserve it.

[michi]

All the best luck, karma, whatever to you Michi. You deserve it.

Thanks Evan, and everyone else, I appreciate it!

Passports are still not in Australia. After speaking with Australia Post, it turns out that they indeed have left Germany on the 13th, but they haven't arrived. Most likely, they are stuck in some distribution centre in Singapore or some such. Last chance is that they arrive on Wednesday. It's unlikely that will happen.

Evan, I hope you have an awesome time in Nungua! Give my regards to Mustapha and Simon please!

Cheers,

Michi.

[EvanP]

Will do!