TREASURE HUNT!!! Tamsin Barzane

My real life fingers were tired this morning, all that alt-clicking and more to create 21 prizes for the hunt--but it was all worth it as people started rolling in! Seeing folks in African wear--or decidedly NOT African wear!--and watching them have fun rolling over the island created a surge of pure joy.

Panic, too, at one point--a small fault in the script initially meant people who found all 20 prize oranges were being harangued by the prize server and asked for a 21st. One disgruntled hunter asked if there really WERE a grand prize! The scripter quickly made an adjustment, and people were back to checking for the animals who were guarding those juicy virtual citrus fruits!

Making that many objects in a few days meant I had to learn a lot! The whole exercise was a sneaky attempt to get people to watch the Nigerian animal slide show in the hope of hints. All prizes were meant to have animal references, but one (done...oh, after 1:30 am real time) lacked the reference--send me an IM or email at tbarzane@gmail.com identifying the prize without an animal reference, and I'll send you a little prize! OUR READERS WILL FREQUENTLY GET SPECIAL OFFERS HERE.

Watching neko folks and Goreans, cowgirls and others avidly hunting up by the lioness or gingerly avoiding the gorilla's banana was a treat. Suicidal avatars (or so it seemed!) walked straight into the sea to hunt for oranges flung to marine creatures.

And wasn't it lucky timing? Sculpty Creation's Jon Haskell succumbed to pleas and made a pangolin (scaly anteater) in an effort to keep Saminaka's pesky termites in check, just days before the hunt opened!

There are free African clothes in a random giver in the Katamba Exhibit Hall, where the hunt begins and ends, as well as 1L hair. Come in character and have even more fun! Oranges are waiting...until June 22.

******Advertisement********

Ads! Our maiden issue has a special offer for you, whether you are shopkeepers or classified customers! Remember you can advertise your shop, feature an item, or try to sell a transferable item. If your ad has a photo, it costs more. There are discounts for extended runs of the same ad, and lesser discounts if you have constant ads, but they vary from week to week. YOU CAN ALSO USE THIS VENUE TO ADVERTISE RL OBJECTS AND SERVICES; LIST YOUR EBAY OR OTHER SITE AND REACH OUR CUSTOMERS (Tamsin Barzane will never reveal your rl identity to readers). All ad payments are in-world and in lindens. Ads for the coming week should be submitted by noon SLT Wednesday.

Single ad, no photo, one week. maximum 5 Blogger lines: 50L
Single ad, photo, one week. Text maximum 5 Blogger lines: 100L
Single ad recurring, no photo, one month (4 issues). Text maximum 5 Blogger lines: 175L
Single ad recurring, photo, one month (4 issues). Text maximum 5 Blogger lines: 325L
Single ad changing week-to-week, no photo, one month (4 issues). Text maximum 5 Blogger lines. 180L
Single ad changing week-to-week, photo, one month (4 issues). Text maximum 5 Blogger lines. 425L

If you want longer text, more than one photo, or a longer ad run, prices will be adjusted. Contact Tamsin Barzane through inworld notecard or at tbarzane@gmail.com

These are introductory prices--no telling if they'll last more than a month! Get em while you can! After a month we'll have some readership statistics for you.

SAMINAKA CITIZENRY--ORIENT PAINE

Mr. Paine is a long-time Saminaka resident, preferring his motor yacht to any land-lubbing home. Docked at Apapa port, he often waves at passersby. Amiable by nature, he amuses himself by reminding tresspassers that his dock has a "private" sign. Did I mention, he reminds them with gun in hand? (Ports are notoriously dangerous spots--a man must be prepared).

Orient, seen here grilling burgers with Saminaka's famous boulders in the background, enjoys zipping along the Saminaka shoreline on his jetski. The manatees are not amused, and the hammerhead shark is apparently appalled--Mr. Paine claims to be able to outpace it.

Join Orient for a rum and coke or a glass of wine down at the Manatee Lookout, our palm wine beachside joint.

******Advertisement********

Stop by Tropicality on Go for African traditional wear in lace and wax print, as well as a variety of contemporary styles using the same cloths. Shoes, too! Not to mention the Midnight Mania board and Lucky Chair to keep you hopping! Lovely new mall with spaces to rent--and shop in!

FROM THE SUITCASE--Oliha Yiwama

In a few weeks I'll be off to the real world's Nigeria, a place rich in cultural heritage, artworks, music, architecture--and people. There are now non-stop flights from the U.S. to Lagos and Abuja. I'm preparing and packing items to take for the journey. I think a popsicle mold (and Kool-Aid packets), a good book for the flight, medicine, and tropical clothing will be in order.

I'm also taking some lace fabrics (like some seen in Tamsin's designs at Cinnamon Brigade and Tropicality) so the Nigerian tailors can make me some traditional clothing--caftans and agbadas (big gown over pants and shirt)--in order to increase my wardrobe. After all, I am Sultan of Saminaka, and just as a sultan must have many outfits for upcoming events, a traveler must likewise be prepared! There are also many contemporary fashions to be bought at outdoor markets. The tailors are really fantastic. They can size you, making your outfit while you wait or shop at one of the many outdoor "malls."

I'm excited just thinking about the whole outdoors experience. It reminds me of one of my favorite Nigerian cuisine experiences, suya! Suya is beef grilled after having been rolled in a dry spice mixture--but then, surely you've seen Saminaka's suya stand, with its directions for adapting suya to American ingredients! The Hausa people are known for their expertise in this area. Mmmmmm.

I'm making a list of the different artworks that I plan on bringing back. Nigeria is world-reknowned for its many art traditions. I look forward to sharing them with you when I return.

Last, but not least, the oracle. I will consult with some of the greatest diviners there and share some of their oracular messages with you. In fact, plenty to share with you on SL later this summer. Be prepared for Saminaka's authentic twist on African weddings, naming ceremonies, divination, love potions, ritual objects and much more! ODABO

--Oliha Yiwama

THIS WEEK IN SAMINAKA

-The Saminaka Treasure Hunt is on now till June 22. It is uniquely Saminakan! Start at our round Katamba Exhibit Hall, and touch the instruction box to get and wear a fabulous calabash--you too can gracefully traverse the sim while balancing a head load! The hunt is the offspring of our Nigerian animal exhibit--look at the slideshow, then hunt down our animals. If they have an orange nearby, click it. It will deliver a prize. Twenty oranges? (Watch them accumulate in your calabash) Return to the animal exhibit and click the empty bowl--its script will determine if you got it all, then hand over a Grand Prize.

-Saminaka and Sunrise Mansion are partnering to bring you a totally new experience, beginning this Saturday, June 13. Poignant, empathy-inducing, disturbing yet soothing at times, it is part of Remembrance for the Ancestors, an international RL event that is dedicated to the memories of those who took the Middle Passage. Saminaka features the experience as these ancestors left Africa's shore, while Sunrise Mansion shows their arrival.

On Saminaka, receive your African identity, biography and clothes only to be stripped of them as you walk through the Door of No Return, the ancestral egungun masquerades weeping on the shore. Hear the accounts of those who lived through or observed the experience, read brief facts about the slave trade and see some of the castles and sites of departure.

At Sunrise Mansion, receive your slave name, clothes and biography and learn about Ibo Wharf, where Nigeria's Ibo people preferred to walk in the water in suicide, believing reincarnation would take them home. See the gracious environment based on Metoyer Plantation, once home to Marie Coin-Coin (Kwan-Kwan), an Akan/Ashanti beloved of a Frenchman who built the plantation for her and their children. View the exhibits of those who remember the ancestors through visuals or other means. See the graves of those who perished on foreign shores

At 9 am SLT, be at Sunrise Mansion. Oliha Yiwama will pray for the ancestors and offer libations. Oliha is a RL babalawo, native doctor, drummer and chief who has spent over a decade studying Yoruba and Edo religion. Let him comfort you through this cathartic experience. If you want to get a sense of the trip from Africa to America first, come to Saminaka at about 8 or 8:15 am SLT this Saturday, so you can arrive at Sunrise on time.

Soon to be announced: Acuminious Watanabe, counselor whose Baobab Academy sessions on SL relationships are a perennial favorite, will conduct a session relating to the intergenerational trauma of the Middle Passage sometime next week. Don't miss it! Understanding the past and looking to the future can make the present a place of stability, a staging ground for growth and greatness.

Oliha Yiwama, Associate Editor

The capable and imaginative Oliha Yiwama is my Associate Editor--it is no accident that the Compass is being published soon after he came on board in SL! Oliha (as this week's column shows) is soon off to RL Nigeria, and will be sending us his observations and anecdotes--and when he returns, wooooo-eeeee! Things will be hopping at Saminaka with all kinds of new ventures! Oliha's got writing (newspaper and otherwise) in his past, present and future, and is sure to amuse and amaze.

Your Editor, Tamsin Barzane

Sannu da zuwa! Welcome to The Saminaka Compass! As your editor, I'll try and ensure you are entertained and enlightened, kept up on not only Saminaka's doings, but those of other interesting SL corners. Contribute! Be a regular columnist! Write scathing letters to the editor!

In RL, I once served as the arts editor of two big university dailies, but since then have abandoned snappy prose for acadamese. Here, however, I plan to get my snap back! American born, but have my Nigerian residency papers--Saminaka lets me remember, keep up to date, and drag you into my love affair with Nigeria. Enjoy the ride!

Our Maiden Issue

Thank you for reading our sim's new newspaper, The Saminaka Compass. Why a compass? Because it will steer you to opinions, reviews, news, and events of interest to visitors and residents of Saminaka--Virtual Nigeria. Our slice of the Bright Continent delivers not only information regarding Saminaka, but about Second Life through Saminaka eyes!

Please do respond to our stories--we'll publish your letters to the editor! Want to write for us? Contact Tamsin Barzane at tbarzane@gmail.com. Would you like to advertise your SL business or RL business? Contact Tamsin inworld or at the same email address for information regarding rates; all rate will be in Lindens.