All BS Aside
Our newfound friend inspired this entry. (Very well-written, by the way.)
Even though, we don’t see eye-to-eye, it made me think, “What are my real intentions on moving to the Seychelles?” So, I am donning the BSometer to check myself out. Okay, here we go:
Q: Who are you?
A: I’m not going to tell you my name, unless you’re a government official, which has been a rule of mine for quite awhile. So I’ll be J.J.
Q: What do you do for a living?
A: Nothing. Ever since the age of 8, when I had my first paper route and earned my own money, I learned the art of hustle. I’ve done everything, starting with cleaning garages and mowing lawns as a youngster, hand car washes and installing car stereos as a teenager, and more recently, as a radio show personality. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit.
Q: Are you a drug dealer or do you do drugs?
A: I’m just like everybody else…I had my run-in with dope when I was a kid. Nothing hard — smoked a little weed, did some drinking, and then that was the end of it. I’ve never sold drugs. Not because I’m a saint with a halo. I’ve just never had to resort to that. Today, I’m drug-free and I drink about once every 6 months.
Q: What do you do now?
A: As little as possible. (If you’re starting to notice a trend here, feel free to chime in…lol.) As a hobby for the last 12 years, I’ve been into films, editing more than anything. So now, I’ve ventured into directing films. I shoot commercials and documentaries for the most part, and I also do voiceovers.
Q: What about your background?
A: I am a graduate of PSU. I served my country in its Navy. I left home at the age of thirteen, so all of this was done on my own.
Q: Where are you from?
A: Again, because this is the internet, I’ll only tell you that I’m not from the U.S., but I’ve spent my fair share of time there. I’m fluent in Spanish, English, and can hold a conversation in French.
Q: Why have you been traveling around so much?
A: My country of origin is a small one. You can drive the length of it in 12 hours. And I’ve done the States. I wanted to see the world, so I left.
Q: Why do you want to move to the Seychelles?
A: Here’s the real reason I want to move to the Seychelles. I met my wife on a Caribbean island. (Isla Mujeres) There I owned an internet cafe and a bootleg “Blockbuster” and I built websites for a living. I didn’t have much, but life was easy. But always in the back of my mind was the desire to move back to Africa. After leaving the Caribbean, I moved to the European continent, but I started to realize one of the happiest times of my life was spent with my wife, living simply on an island. And now that I’ve found an African island, it completes the dream.
I had plans to move to Africa way before I knew about the Seychelles. But there are a couple of things that didn’t agree with me on the continent. Malaria, civil unrest, and the beaches I’ve seen just aren’t that hot. Even more than that, I don’t think my wife would be comfortable sticking out like a sore thumb. So when I saw the Seychelles and did my homework and found that is an African nation, that’s what made it attractive to me. The beauty of the island is only gravy compared to my real reasons for moving there.
Q: What are you going to do when you move to the Seychelles?
A: Nothing. I’m a loner. I keep to myself. It’s not because I’m an asshole or antisocial, it’s just how I am. When it’s time to work, I work. And in my business, whether it be broadcasting or filmmaking, most of my time is spent in my studio. Most of the places I’ve been, I would say that I meet 2 or 3 people in my business, such as musicians, artists, and photographers, and I stick with them. So a typical day for me would be taking a walk around the island, shooting as much as I can — video and stills — and the latter part of the day will be spent editing. So that basically makes me a homebody type, and when I meet people along the way, it is usually limited to salutations.
Q: What do you bring to the table?
A: Absolutely nothing. If people need help, and they ask for it, I’ll give it. But I don’t have any bright ideas on how I will change the world.
Q: When you move to the Seychelles, what do you feel you won’t be able to live without?
A: My wife, and internet. Oh, yeah, and butter… (Just kidding) My wife, because she’s my best friend. Since I have met her, I have spent almost every day with her. The longest we’ve been apart is 2 weeks. I think that’s my limit. And the internet is being connected to the world. You can stay in touch with family and friends, you can read books, watch movies, and conduct business. It’s an awesome tool.
Summary: I am a nobody. I never said I was someone special. Just because I’m a filmmaker doesn’t mean anything, there’s millions of them out there. My reasons for wanting to move to Africa go so deep that I couldn’t say it all in this one post. My true feelings have absolutely nothing to do with the beauty of the islands, but rather their geographical location. The truth is, I don’t resent Sandra for her assumptions. I don’t even know the woman. We had a run-in on the internet, for God’s sake, and the internet is so much bigger than she and I. But what I do resent is that she is a white American woman living in Africa telling me, a man of African descent, that I can’t move to her island. I don’t think she’s racist..she has 2 Cambodian kids, and her husband is half Seychellois. So I’m not playing the race card. But I’ll be goddamned if I’m going to let some white woman tell me that I can’t make it in Africa. My people have been doing it since the beginning of time. And I’m not Malcolm X or anything. I mean, look at my wife, she’s as white as they come, Sweet Polly Pure-Bred. The more I write about it, the more upset I will get, so I will stop here.
Believe it or not, there was life before meeting Sandra. I have original thoughts and I do have pride and knowledge of self. I’m not some eloquent writer and some might think that I write stupidly, and you can make jokes about how I speak and make assumptions about who you think I am, but I’m telling you there is no force on this planet that would ever stop me from doing what I want to do. And that’s the real reason I’m irritated about this entire thing. The more someone tries to stop me, the harder I fight. So I don’t care of it’s a nation of 2 people or 2 million people, if I want to go, I’m going. Period.
