Mo' Sibyl

섬의 삶| The One with Selena: The Girl from Mauritius – On Island Living: Episode 17 (2019)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: The One with Selena: The Girl from Mauritius – On Island Living

Let’s explore an African country together in this episode. And no, it’s not Nigeria, haha.

Welcome to the Island, peeps! This African island boasts of enviable beaches for destination weddings. It is a religiously diverse nation, with freedom of religion given as a constitutional right and the only African country with a Hindu majority. As Hawaii is seen drifting away from the continental US, so is this country relative to Africa when viewed on a map. It’s also a country close to Madagascar and the only known habitat of the now-extinct bird – dodo.

Mark Twain once quipped that Heaven was copied after this country and Lewis Carroll was inspired by the dodo to write his famous book “Alice in Wonderland” in 1865. Life expectancy here is well higher than the world average and is well above the average for African countries.

Welcome to Mauritius – one of only four countries in the world with no involvement in ongoing international or domestic conflicts and no tensions with neighboring countries. The others being Botswana, Chile, and Uruguay.. As a result, Mauritius does not maintain a standing army.

I invited Selena – who I describe as a spunky, ethnically-ambiguous, culturally-rich, cosmopolitan, Mauritian gal - to talk about her country’s history, its unique aspects, and what her identity and nationality mean to her.

We also talked about her overcoming body image issues, experiences as a US immigrant, and how she responds to questions about her origin.

Mo SibylJuly 11, 2019Femalefriendships, womensupportingwomen, bullying, womeninSTEM, trauma, overcomingobstacles, Denver, Colorado, Patreon, podcast, monologue, failure, podcastshownotes, culture, themoresibylpodcast, podcaster, podcastsofinstagram, podcastshows, process, gratitude, Nigerianpodcasters, naijapodcast, podcastsincolor, season2, LUTH, Idiaraba, Muslim, Islam, author, glossophobia, Egyptian, AmericanMuslim, Egypt, MuslimAmerican, culturaldifference, Arab, MiddleEastern, woman, Quran, Plano, writer, Illinois, Hijab, ESL, Alexandria, pluralism, Ramadan, AlexandriaUniversity, Nigerianyouth, entrepreneur, forensicaccounting, EFCC, internationalstudents, BlackandGold, seamstress, UCO, Edmond, ZetaSigma, AlphaPhiAlpha, GreekFraternities, Nigeriantailors, garmentory, MissBlackandGold, Dilationandcurettage, HSG, hydrosalpinx, brassovaries, fertility, AMH, Momsinthemaking, IVF, ovariancysts, fibroids, surrogacy, happymothersday, therapy, miscarriage, pregnancyloss, miscarriageawareness, angelmom, ttc, ttccommunity, lifeafterloss, grievingmother, Schizophrenia, catatonic, schizoaffective, auditory, visual, cult, sexualabuse, mentalhealth, spirituality, hallucinations, mentalhealthstigma, depression, schizophreniaawareness, mentalhealthawareness, voices, paranoia, lovetriangle, mania, tribe, nigerianyouth, jobseeking, religion, Here, Ovariancyst, endometriosis, womenshealth, advocacy, obgyn, adenomyosis, pregnancyoutcomes, casepresentation, askthegynecologist, reddegeneration, Hispanicparadox, menstruation, heavyperiods, Lupron, Nicaragua, Istanbul, Ankara, Turkey, Populism Chicago, Polsci, UIC, Argentina, History, socialsciences, Austin, Texas, ottomanempire, Byzantine, internationalrelations, Israel, Hagia Sophia, Peru, Argentine, BuenosAire, MercedesSosa, teaching, mentors, impostersyndrome, Citizenscience, DermatofibrosarcomaProtuberans, canceradvocacy, CaPTC, PEPFAR, cancer, cancersurvivor, epidemiology, clinicaltrials, Nigeria, publichealth, HIV, Nigeriangovernment, cancerfree, religiosity, cancerresearch, cancerscreening, Lagosstate, LASG, cancerawareness, sarcoma, Lupus, STEM, sarcoidosis, lupus, phyno, africanprincess, africanroyalty, womenwithPhD, NigerianPhDs, minoritytax, TAPApodcast, raredisease, BernieMac, healthoutcomes, Hindu, Mauritius, FrenchCreole, UniversityofCentralOklahoma, French, internationalpeople, Malaysia, Madagascar, dodobird, FlicenFlacBeach, MarkTwain, LewisCarroll, AliceinWonderland, Africanhistory, Africans, IndianOceans, Bhojpuri, Seggae, LifeComment

내 이상한 이웃들| The One with the Ghanaians - Nigeria (3) vs. Ghana (1): Episode 43 (2018)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: The One with the Ghanaians

Here’s a joke for you:

Two Ghanaians and a Nigerian walk into a bar… but left because they didn’t have Nigerian jollof rice.

Ghana, a relatively unknown place until Nigeria shot them into popularity (ugh, the things we do for them!). Also, Ghana, the place filled with people of mystery, strange English diction, low production movies, and weird jollof rice concoction. In a bid to explore this enigmatic country, I invited two Ghanaians over to my house over a meal of Indo-Thai goat curry, Korean steamed rice, and mixed vegetables (all made by yours truly). We explored salient issues like jollof rice (of course! And why Ghanaians cannot get this right), pet peeves (turned out I am more finicky than I thought, ugh), acculturation problems, adjusting to the educational system, books, what traits determine success in grad school, racial identity, questions about my marriage, and so much more.

Mo SibylDecember 13, 2018Marriage, gradschool, Americaliving, Ghana, Nigeria, Naija, Ghanaians, CSLewis, Africans, Afropolitan, Tabletalks, GKChesterton, PastorKids, Twi, Fante, Ewe, Temah, rhetoric, structuralbiologist, 419, BlackMirror, TexasAM, podcastshows, culture, podcasts, Nigerianpodcasters, themoresibylpodcast, naijapodcast, podcastsincolor Comments

나는 고향으로 돌아가고 싶다| The One with Bill - African-American + Nigerian: Episode 5 Part 1 (2018)

Mo SibylApril 19, 2018Nollywood, Podcast, Nigerian, Blacks, AfricanAmericans, Africans, DNA, Ancenstry, TheMoreSibylPodcast, AncestryComment

나는 고향으로 돌아가고 싶다| The One with Bill - African-American + Nigerian: Episode 5 Part 2 (2018)

According to Bill James:

"We can’t just be Black as African-Americans, we are Black from the Caribbean, we are Black from everywhere."
There’s a cultural difference between Africans and African-Americans and it is not necessarily based on specific characteristics, it has more do with educational level.
At some point, it would be really nice if we all had a chance to sit down together and talk about ourselves and maybe we can then find some common ground.
The American immigration system handpicks the best of the best and that includes Africans. As a result, most African Americans do not come in contact with Africans based on their social level and we do not run in the same social circles.

Mo SibylApril 19, 2018Podcast, Nollywood, Africans, AfricanAmericans, Nigerian, DNA, Ancestry Comments

우리는 아프리카 인입니다| The One with Bola - Just Between Africans and African Americans: Episode 4 Part 2 (2018)

January 16: Bola A

Somehow I have managed to enrage a small community of African Americans, all due to a structureless, baseless notion that Africans hate African Americans (not true). Who comes up with all these misconceptions anyway?? It is quite sad to accept the misguidance and the reverse-engineered mentality some have. Why the sensitivity and division? Africans have a rigid culture worn like a badge of honor. Failing to embrace or assimilate to a certain culture isn't necessarily hate, and while most African elders disapprove of certain western behaviors, most of us ( younger generation)still try to assimilate and get smacked for it (😂😂). To the African, respect and honor go hand in hand. Everything you do in this world, is reflective of your household; therefore you are expected to BEHAVE (which some translated as trying to be "white" I detest that statement so much).