Hi Everyone,
Sorry for not updating in the past month. Time is flying here. I leave on Thursday. Things are coming to a close, yesterday we had a final braai and slideshow night. Quite a good time. We also saw an Indian Premeir Leauge Cricket match. That was a ton of fun, it was like Bollywood on the cricket pitch. Otherwise I am studying for finals and trying to wrap my head around what this trip has meant. I'm going to cop out of an original blogpost and post an essay I wrote for literature. The prompt was basically to reflect on South Africa through the themes we learned in class. I wrote about Disgrace, a novel by South African author J.M. Coetezee. It was about a college prof who has an affair with a student and then moves in with his daughter on her farm in the eastern cape. The crux of the story happens when they are robbed one evening on their farm. It's quite a deep book and I would highly reccomend it.
South Africa has provided the 2009 CSB/SJU study abroad group with countless new experiences, questions and memories. We have all taken something different from them and we will all have a new aspect to our lives back home. However, each of us has had a unique angle in which to view these experiences. We may view some of the social things we see on a regular basis as unjust, unfair or just plain wrong. However, that is the way the culture has been here for hundreds of years and it natural here. The beauty we see may be ugly; the truths we see may be lies, or maybe the hate we think we see is truly love. The question I pose to the class is: Can we cast judgment the true nature of this country through our own limited experience?
This question was perhaps best posed in the book Disgrace. On Page 160 of the book, J.M. Coetzee writes about how the protagonist David Laurie is trying to come to terms with his daughter’s rape, “You don’t understand, you weren’t there, says Bev Shaw. Well, she is mistaken. Lucy’s intuition is right after all: he does understand; he can, if he concentrates, if he loses himself, be there, be the men, inabit them, full them with the ghost of himself. The question is, does he have it in him to be the woman?” While Laurie can come to grips with his own personal disgraces, he believes he can understand his daughter’s experience as well. Fortunately, our South African experience has had nowhere near as traumatic an event. However, many of us have tried to do the same thing as Laurie. For example, many of us have seen or personally experienced the underlying tension that still remains between the racial groups here in South Africa. Being from an ‘enlightened’ and educated background we thought we could immediately denigrate those who still carried on racist mindsets in the post-Apartheid South Africa. When we arrived here many of us were upset and confused by how race plays a role in nearly every issue here in the country. Even though many of us were extremely upset by these mindsets, few of us openly criticized those who we perceived as racist. We also unknowingly immediately placed ourselves into the socio-economic system that is still seeped with Apartheid undertones. We allowed ourselves to be picked up after by black maids and we gave food to black children begging in the streets. Coming to South Africa many of us believed that we would be able to understand and be impervious to the racist stereotypes that still allude this country, but as J.M. Coetzee so described in Disgrace, we are ultimately unable to really understand those experiences that we are unable to fully take part in.
The lens in which we view South Africa is shaped by our own personal experiences. During his hearing about an affair with a student, Laurie merely pleads his guilt without remorse. As a professor who has little to hide, he thought that a mere admittance of guilt would be acceptable to the committee. On page 48, he pleads for the committee to just accept his guilt and move on, “I am sure the members of this committee have better things to do with their time than rehash a story over which there will be no dispute. I plead guilty to both charges. Pass sentence, and let us get on with our lives.” As I have learned, nothing in South Africa is ever that simple. Sometimes our intentions are misconstrued by what we do or what we do not do. In the US we are not used to tipping except for at restaurants. In this country you are expected to give a little extra something to anyone who gives you the tiniest bit of help.
Even though we may make cultural mistakes, sometimes our actions may cut deeper. The other weekend I was volunteering at a high school, helping tutor some students in the area of geography. Another student my age also helped out. We only had one student in our first session and I started to take over the teaching because I have a bit of a background in the subject. I was able to incorporate some hands on learning into the teaching by using the water in my mug. After the first session we both talked and he said that he liked my experiment. I asked him if he wanted to do more talking during the next session, but he encouraged me to continue during this lecture. We had to move classrooms and I wanted to get started, so I asked him if he could fill up my coffee mug with water so we could use it in the experiment again. He gave me a nasty look, but then got up and did it. I did not realize the racial implications of what I had perceived as a mere favor until after he excused himself halfway through the session. I viewed my college as an equal and I thought nothing of asking for a favor to help get the class going. However, my ignorance had a much greater effect then I would like to think about.
With our inability to perceive the true South African experience and the still prevalent gaps in our cultural awareness, how can we do justice in describing and analyzing our own views on South Africa? Do we continue to seek out and learn what we can about the contradictions and confusion of this country, or do we go the way of David Laurie and metaphorically ‘give up’ the dog that we have become attached to? For me, this contradiction is shown in the election of Jacob Zuma. Before I came here I thought of Zuma as a violent populist who was on par with Robert Mugabe. We would not be safe, nor would we be accepted here. My views began to change after we attended the ANC rally in Uitenhage. People came up to us and told us about how happy they were to see us and how the ANC needed more white people. I asked people questions about Zuma and some said he was ‘our Obama’. I didn’t quite understand the comparison until I learned more about him. He is an uneducated man who rose up out of poverty to become president. He may not be the most intelligent man to ever run a country, but his rapport with the people of this country is inspiring. He may not be the most ethical or trustworthy man, but you cannot deny his love for South Africa and its people. There are problems, but there is hope
So now I stand at a crossroads. I have grown a love and a passion for the beauty and inspiration of this country, but I have been disgusted by the hate and anger that still pervades this country. My experience is not the perfect vehicle in which to judge South Africa, but it has planted a seed in which I can grow into a better and more understanding person. However, I will not be able to see this until many years down the road. Just like in Disgrace, Laurie will not be able to see the fruits of his labor with his play until many years down the road.
“He sighs. It would have been nice to be returned triumphant to society as the author of an eccentric little chamber opera. But that will not be. He hopes must be more temperate: that somewhere from amidst the welter of sound there will dart up, like a bird, a single authentic note of immortal longing. As for recognizing it, he will leave that to the scholars of the future.”
Only time will tell on how South Africa has truly affected me and how I will grow from it in the future.
I'll be writing my last post on the plane ride home...it will take me a while to say all that I want to say.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
E-Day
Hey everyone,
Few things have happened since coming back from Spring Break. Here's the run down
1. Last weekend we stayed on the frontier with two Afrikanner farm families. Let's just say it was definitley not a Professor Gary Prevost organized excursion (it was planned by NMMU). We basically spent the weekend on a farm. We got there mid day Friday and we all got to ride horses, and milk cows...we may well have been in Stearns county. We also went for a few game drives in their bakkies (basically a suped up pickup). We all got to ride in the back, which was outfitted with bars to hold on to and stand up. It was a lot of fun.
The families were the stereotypical rich, white farmer families, but they were extremely good hosts. We ate well (we had steak) and they were very welcoming. We also saw the main guy's trophy room. It was CRAZY. He had a head mount of a giraffe. It basically went from the floor to the ceiling. This as well as every other game mammal in SA and Africa. It was cool to experience a different culture for a weekend.
2. ELECTION DAY! We didn't see much election stuff happening because we weren't on campus during the day, but reading about the voting was cool. They had close to 80% turnout. Even though Jacob Zuma won, its good to see that this country can still have peaceful elections.
3. I'm going deep sea fishing this weekend. It's basically all the guys heading out on Saturday. We get to keep whatever we catch and the guy cleans it for us. We'll see if the spirit of Uncle John can help me out. I'll post a pic of whatever I get...
4. I have a 16 page paper due Monday!
Oh well, I have less than a month and I going to take in every moment I can.
Stay Lekka,
Nick
Few things have happened since coming back from Spring Break. Here's the run down
1. Last weekend we stayed on the frontier with two Afrikanner farm families. Let's just say it was definitley not a Professor Gary Prevost organized excursion (it was planned by NMMU). We basically spent the weekend on a farm. We got there mid day Friday and we all got to ride horses, and milk cows...we may well have been in Stearns county. We also went for a few game drives in their bakkies (basically a suped up pickup). We all got to ride in the back, which was outfitted with bars to hold on to and stand up. It was a lot of fun.
The families were the stereotypical rich, white farmer families, but they were extremely good hosts. We ate well (we had steak) and they were very welcoming. We also saw the main guy's trophy room. It was CRAZY. He had a head mount of a giraffe. It basically went from the floor to the ceiling. This as well as every other game mammal in SA and Africa. It was cool to experience a different culture for a weekend.
2. ELECTION DAY! We didn't see much election stuff happening because we weren't on campus during the day, but reading about the voting was cool. They had close to 80% turnout. Even though Jacob Zuma won, its good to see that this country can still have peaceful elections.
3. I'm going deep sea fishing this weekend. It's basically all the guys heading out on Saturday. We get to keep whatever we catch and the guy cleans it for us. We'll see if the spirit of Uncle John can help me out. I'll post a pic of whatever I get...
4. I have a 16 page paper due Monday!
Oh well, I have less than a month and I going to take in every moment I can.
Stay Lekka,
Nick
Monday, April 13, 2009
Spring break: Best or Bestest ever?
There are very few things in my life that I have described as epic. This spring break trip is one of those things. This past week was a mixture of everything adventurous, educational, and exciting about South Africa. The forces above combined to make my road trip a complete and utter success.
First, I must give props to my partner on the road, Sean. He was a perfect road trip partner. Always up for anything, good conversationalist, and always willing to take the wheel when needed. He made the trip.
Sunday : Stellenbosch
Sean and I headed out from Mountain Manor backpackers at 8:00 am and we got a head start from everyone else. I love my group dearly, but we were both ready for a break. Everything is gravy when we get the car, a Nissan Tiida. (very nice car). We have a few mix CD’s, a map and a pioneering spirit.
We drive about 45 minutes to the town of Stellenbosch. It is town built on the vineyards industry. Absolutely gorgeous, the Cape Dutch architecture was fascinating (that’s for you Paul). We went on an Easy Rider Wine Tour. There were about 12 of us on the tour and at first we didn’t really talk. But after a few wine tastings, friendships started to form.
We met a couple from London, two girls from Australia, another couple from Italy, and two girls from Brazil and Germany who were traveling together. By the end of the day we were enjoying each others company and we all fancied ourselves as Wine connoisseurs. The wineries had spectacular views and if the stock market goes the way it is going, I may pull my money out and put it into a South African Winery…
After the tour our new friends and I went to a pub and talked about anything and everything for the next few hours. I felt so mature talking with people who were at least 10 years older than us.
Monday and Tuesday: CederbergOn Monday we decided to walk around the town for a bit before we made the two hour drive to the Cederberg. We also checked out the campus of the U of Stellenbosch and picked up a few applications…they do have an environmental planning graduate degree…
We headed out at about noon. The drive was beautiful as it changed from wine country to the Karoo (desert). We drove for about two hours before we turned on a dirt road into the Cederberg area. It was beautiful scenery. We arrived in the late afternoon after driving sixty k on the dirt road (where we also lost a hubcap). The backpacker we stayed at was a little place in the middle of nowhere run by an Afrikanns couple. We also met a group of four people from Belgium who were a few years older than us. We were doing the same hike as them the next day, so we decided to do it together. One of the owners, Garrit drew us a map of the route we were to take. Seriously, this guy was thurough.
We woke up at 6:15 the next morning and headed out at about 7. It was to be an eight hour hike, so we were pretty pumped at the thought of a full day hike. The first few k was a nice easy uphill climb, but then we got to a point where we had to climb up a wall about 10 feet up and inch along a sheer face with about 2 feet of leg room. We basically went though a jungle gym for the next two hours. We had to follow the map and crawl over and under boulders and climb up rocks. It was sweet. We got to the top and hiked another hour to get to the arch. We had lunch there and looking out, you couldn’t see a single other sign of human life. It was beautiful. We made our way back to the lodge and got there around six. Sean and I didn’t feel like cooking, so we ordered they lodge’s specialty…T bone steak. It was the best steak I’ve ever had. We sat a conversed with our new friends for the next few hours under the stars. Amazing
Wednesday and Thursday: Augrabies Falls
We left the Cederberg early and headed out north on the N7 towards Augrabies Falls. There was nothing there. Seriously. It was beautiful. We were literally the only car on the road for hours at a time. We got to our backpacker around 5 and we were greeted by a herd of English sheep dogs. The owner was Andrew, an English South African bachelor. The only other people there were Maggie and Allison, two women who were self-proclaimed “women of leisure”. Maggie was from Ireland and Allison was from Zimbabwe. Allison had a really interesting story, she lived in Zim on her fathers farm and ended up running the place, but it was taken over in the farm raids of Robert Mugabe. Crazy.
We all ended up chatting and we decided to go rafting down the Orange River the next day. You needed four to go, so us four decided to go together. Being the nice gentleman that Sean and I are we drove Maggie and Allison to the park the next day. We walked around for the day and went rafting at two. Strangely enough, we met up with our Belgium friends. The rafting wasn’t too intense, but Sean and I took a swim on one of them (he was the one who steered us into a rock). It was a beautiful was to see the area with great company. We came back to the backpacker and there were a few other people there. There was a couple who were traveling around Africa for like two years and a Frenchman who was also traveling. Andrew said it was the first time Americans outnumbered all other nationalities there. I felt strangely patriotic.
Friday: Kimberly
We left around nine and said bye to our friends. We spent most of the day on the road and got to Kimberly around 2. Except the backpacker we stayed at was full, so we got the number of a guesthouse. We literally drove around the town for an hour looking for the road to it. It ended up being on the outskirts of town in the midst of an industrial area. We got there and saw the sign that said “Pro-Chirsto Missions”. Now I know most of you know my religious convictions, but I am not a huge fan of the religious right. The guy who owned the place gave us weird vibes and we were going to be the only ones there for the night. The whole thing screamed of the movie Jesus Camp. We literally got our key and then headed back into town.
Except, everything was closed. Good Friday is a national holiday, so every place we tried to visit was closed. We really didn’t want to head back to bible camp, so we ended up going to the mall. The only thing that was open was the movie theater. Except Sean and I couldn’t agree on a movie, so he saw She’s Just not that into you and I saw Monsters vs. Aliens. I made the better choice. Seriously, if you haven’t seen the movie go. It is hilarious. We got some grub and went back to the place. I sat in my room reading for the next few hours. That’s all I wanted to do.
Saturday: Pretoria
We got out of Kim as soon as possible. We were going to go see “The Big Hole”, which is the largest hand dug mine in the world, but it was seventy rand and it smelled of a tourist trap and Sean and I made a solemn pact to avoid those at all costs. We decided to go straight towards Pretoria. On our way we tried to see The Cradle of Humankind, a world heritage site where the first Austrolopithicus fossil was found (or some human type fossil) except we couldn’t find the museum. We drove for about 40 k before we realized we were low on gas and we had to get petrol ASAP. We had a few hours to kill, so we went into the city. We tried to go the Voortrekker monument, except it was closed as well. We walked around church square. It had cool buildings, but not much else.
After our foray into the town we went to Marie Mcleod’s house (sister of the infamous Conserve teacher, Paul). We had a great meal and chatted about everything South Africa. Great accommodations and laundry! It was a nice change from the normal backpacker fare.
Sunday: Joburg
Our rental car was due at four, so we really only had time for either a Soweto tour or the Apartheid museum. We decided on Soweto because we found a cool company that does bike tours of the township.
If you don’t know anything about Soweto, its basically the Harlem of South Africa. It is the largest township in SA and it is the only place that shares two Nobel Peace Prize winners on the same block (Mandela and Desmond Tutu). It has an extremely rich history.
The tour left from the Soweto backpacker at ten and we headed out on our bikes. It was myself, Sean, three other people and our guide. It was cool because the guide was our age and did a really good job. It was really cool because we were really in the middle of everything. We saw some pretty impoverished areas, but I didn’t feel like we were treating them like they were in a zoo (which is how I felt on our township tour in Red Locations in PE on our double decker bus). Everyone I met was extremely friendly and tons of kids came out and said hi to us. I was also glad to see that no one was begging or asking for candy. It painted a much different perspective of township life.
But the highlight of the day (and possibly the trip) came at lunch. We went to a little café for a Koto burger, which was basically a big slice of bread with fries and a type of relish on it. It was really good. But we were there for about five minutes when a large SUV pulled up. A bunch of guys in black suits got out and there were a few people in church clothes who got out as well, one was an older woman. They went in and sat down at the table next to us, which was set with nice silverware and wine glasses. There was also a huge spread of food set out. Sean and I kind of looked at each other confused. And then our guide said “That’s Winnie Mandela”. It was crazy. No, I didn’t get my picture taken with her because she was eating her lunch with her family and her guards had really big pistols on them. It was cool, but I didn’t think I needed a pic. The tour was cool because you really experienced the culture for the day. Top three in things I’ve done so far in SA.
We headed to the airport to return our rental car. Sean and I didn’t feel like staying another night, so we checked if we could get on an earlier flight. Suprinsingly, we did. It only cost 100rand to change our flight, which it what we would have paid for a backpacker anyway, so we made it back around 8 and here I am now typing this….
Epic.
It’s nice to be back, but I will miss the road a bit. I am proud to say that we avoided the tourist traps and that we did something different with different people every single day. We also didn’t run into any Americans. We experienced the natural beauty as well as the cultural. I need to travel more. Every person we met was traveling for an extended period of time. Like 2 to 24 months…The world is much bigger than central Minnesota and I need to experience it….
But I am going to enjoy this last stretch…..
Life is good.
First, I must give props to my partner on the road, Sean. He was a perfect road trip partner. Always up for anything, good conversationalist, and always willing to take the wheel when needed. He made the trip.
Sunday : Stellenbosch
Sean and I headed out from Mountain Manor backpackers at 8:00 am and we got a head start from everyone else. I love my group dearly, but we were both ready for a break. Everything is gravy when we get the car, a Nissan Tiida. (very nice car). We have a few mix CD’s, a map and a pioneering spirit.
We drive about 45 minutes to the town of Stellenbosch. It is town built on the vineyards industry. Absolutely gorgeous, the Cape Dutch architecture was fascinating (that’s for you Paul). We went on an Easy Rider Wine Tour. There were about 12 of us on the tour and at first we didn’t really talk. But after a few wine tastings, friendships started to form.
We met a couple from London, two girls from Australia, another couple from Italy, and two girls from Brazil and Germany who were traveling together. By the end of the day we were enjoying each others company and we all fancied ourselves as Wine connoisseurs. The wineries had spectacular views and if the stock market goes the way it is going, I may pull my money out and put it into a South African Winery…
After the tour our new friends and I went to a pub and talked about anything and everything for the next few hours. I felt so mature talking with people who were at least 10 years older than us.
Monday and Tuesday: CederbergOn Monday we decided to walk around the town for a bit before we made the two hour drive to the Cederberg. We also checked out the campus of the U of Stellenbosch and picked up a few applications…they do have an environmental planning graduate degree…
We headed out at about noon. The drive was beautiful as it changed from wine country to the Karoo (desert). We drove for about two hours before we turned on a dirt road into the Cederberg area. It was beautiful scenery. We arrived in the late afternoon after driving sixty k on the dirt road (where we also lost a hubcap). The backpacker we stayed at was a little place in the middle of nowhere run by an Afrikanns couple. We also met a group of four people from Belgium who were a few years older than us. We were doing the same hike as them the next day, so we decided to do it together. One of the owners, Garrit drew us a map of the route we were to take. Seriously, this guy was thurough.
We woke up at 6:15 the next morning and headed out at about 7. It was to be an eight hour hike, so we were pretty pumped at the thought of a full day hike. The first few k was a nice easy uphill climb, but then we got to a point where we had to climb up a wall about 10 feet up and inch along a sheer face with about 2 feet of leg room. We basically went though a jungle gym for the next two hours. We had to follow the map and crawl over and under boulders and climb up rocks. It was sweet. We got to the top and hiked another hour to get to the arch. We had lunch there and looking out, you couldn’t see a single other sign of human life. It was beautiful. We made our way back to the lodge and got there around six. Sean and I didn’t feel like cooking, so we ordered they lodge’s specialty…T bone steak. It was the best steak I’ve ever had. We sat a conversed with our new friends for the next few hours under the stars. Amazing
Wednesday and Thursday: Augrabies Falls
We left the Cederberg early and headed out north on the N7 towards Augrabies Falls. There was nothing there. Seriously. It was beautiful. We were literally the only car on the road for hours at a time. We got to our backpacker around 5 and we were greeted by a herd of English sheep dogs. The owner was Andrew, an English South African bachelor. The only other people there were Maggie and Allison, two women who were self-proclaimed “women of leisure”. Maggie was from Ireland and Allison was from Zimbabwe. Allison had a really interesting story, she lived in Zim on her fathers farm and ended up running the place, but it was taken over in the farm raids of Robert Mugabe. Crazy.
We all ended up chatting and we decided to go rafting down the Orange River the next day. You needed four to go, so us four decided to go together. Being the nice gentleman that Sean and I are we drove Maggie and Allison to the park the next day. We walked around for the day and went rafting at two. Strangely enough, we met up with our Belgium friends. The rafting wasn’t too intense, but Sean and I took a swim on one of them (he was the one who steered us into a rock). It was a beautiful was to see the area with great company. We came back to the backpacker and there were a few other people there. There was a couple who were traveling around Africa for like two years and a Frenchman who was also traveling. Andrew said it was the first time Americans outnumbered all other nationalities there. I felt strangely patriotic.
Friday: Kimberly
We left around nine and said bye to our friends. We spent most of the day on the road and got to Kimberly around 2. Except the backpacker we stayed at was full, so we got the number of a guesthouse. We literally drove around the town for an hour looking for the road to it. It ended up being on the outskirts of town in the midst of an industrial area. We got there and saw the sign that said “Pro-Chirsto Missions”. Now I know most of you know my religious convictions, but I am not a huge fan of the religious right. The guy who owned the place gave us weird vibes and we were going to be the only ones there for the night. The whole thing screamed of the movie Jesus Camp. We literally got our key and then headed back into town.
Except, everything was closed. Good Friday is a national holiday, so every place we tried to visit was closed. We really didn’t want to head back to bible camp, so we ended up going to the mall. The only thing that was open was the movie theater. Except Sean and I couldn’t agree on a movie, so he saw She’s Just not that into you and I saw Monsters vs. Aliens. I made the better choice. Seriously, if you haven’t seen the movie go. It is hilarious. We got some grub and went back to the place. I sat in my room reading for the next few hours. That’s all I wanted to do.
Saturday: Pretoria
We got out of Kim as soon as possible. We were going to go see “The Big Hole”, which is the largest hand dug mine in the world, but it was seventy rand and it smelled of a tourist trap and Sean and I made a solemn pact to avoid those at all costs. We decided to go straight towards Pretoria. On our way we tried to see The Cradle of Humankind, a world heritage site where the first Austrolopithicus fossil was found (or some human type fossil) except we couldn’t find the museum. We drove for about 40 k before we realized we were low on gas and we had to get petrol ASAP. We had a few hours to kill, so we went into the city. We tried to go the Voortrekker monument, except it was closed as well. We walked around church square. It had cool buildings, but not much else.
After our foray into the town we went to Marie Mcleod’s house (sister of the infamous Conserve teacher, Paul). We had a great meal and chatted about everything South Africa. Great accommodations and laundry! It was a nice change from the normal backpacker fare.
Sunday: Joburg
Our rental car was due at four, so we really only had time for either a Soweto tour or the Apartheid museum. We decided on Soweto because we found a cool company that does bike tours of the township.
If you don’t know anything about Soweto, its basically the Harlem of South Africa. It is the largest township in SA and it is the only place that shares two Nobel Peace Prize winners on the same block (Mandela and Desmond Tutu). It has an extremely rich history.
The tour left from the Soweto backpacker at ten and we headed out on our bikes. It was myself, Sean, three other people and our guide. It was cool because the guide was our age and did a really good job. It was really cool because we were really in the middle of everything. We saw some pretty impoverished areas, but I didn’t feel like we were treating them like they were in a zoo (which is how I felt on our township tour in Red Locations in PE on our double decker bus). Everyone I met was extremely friendly and tons of kids came out and said hi to us. I was also glad to see that no one was begging or asking for candy. It painted a much different perspective of township life.
But the highlight of the day (and possibly the trip) came at lunch. We went to a little café for a Koto burger, which was basically a big slice of bread with fries and a type of relish on it. It was really good. But we were there for about five minutes when a large SUV pulled up. A bunch of guys in black suits got out and there were a few people in church clothes who got out as well, one was an older woman. They went in and sat down at the table next to us, which was set with nice silverware and wine glasses. There was also a huge spread of food set out. Sean and I kind of looked at each other confused. And then our guide said “That’s Winnie Mandela”. It was crazy. No, I didn’t get my picture taken with her because she was eating her lunch with her family and her guards had really big pistols on them. It was cool, but I didn’t think I needed a pic. The tour was cool because you really experienced the culture for the day. Top three in things I’ve done so far in SA.
We headed to the airport to return our rental car. Sean and I didn’t feel like staying another night, so we checked if we could get on an earlier flight. Suprinsingly, we did. It only cost 100rand to change our flight, which it what we would have paid for a backpacker anyway, so we made it back around 8 and here I am now typing this….
Epic.
It’s nice to be back, but I will miss the road a bit. I am proud to say that we avoided the tourist traps and that we did something different with different people every single day. We also didn’t run into any Americans. We experienced the natural beauty as well as the cultural. I need to travel more. Every person we met was traveling for an extended period of time. Like 2 to 24 months…The world is much bigger than central Minnesota and I need to experience it….
But I am going to enjoy this last stretch…..
Life is good.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Cape Town
The mother city is...amazing.
We arrived on Tuesday after about an 11 hour bus ride. We were all pretty tired, so we crashed. Since I've been trying to budget money, a friend of mine and I made Chicken Alfredo in the backpacker while everyone else went out. Wednesday we visited the District Six Museum. It is a museum dedicated to the area of District Six that was destroyed under Apartheid. Basically it was once a mixed area with people of all different races, but it was declared a white area and everyone was forced out to the townships. Its saddening how much life and culture was destroyed with a single government act.
That afternoon we climbed Table Mountain. It was quite a hike, but the 20 of us that did it felt great. It was about two hours of going straight up. The views on top were fantastic though. Quite amazing and quite humbling.
Yesterday we spent the whole day at the Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. I got my pic taken with the sign at the Southern most tip of Africa. The wind was absolutely crazy, we walked up to a light house and I thought I was going to blow over the side. Seriously. We also stopped at this beach called Boulders which is part of the South Africa National Parks. It is a protected beach where penguins come to rest. It really reminded me of Happy Feet. Really, they were all dancing and singing.
We also saw a play called Coming Home, by the South African playwright Athol Fugard. Let's just say the eyes were watering a bit near the end of the performance. It was about a woman and her son who are going back to their township in Graff Reient after her failed career as a singer in Cape Town. She meets up with an old friend who helps them out, and after a few years she learns she has Aids. She hatches a plan to marry her friend, so her son won't get taken away. The play is basically how she comes to terms with the illness and her son comes to terms with his new father. I really enjoyed it.
So the next few days....Today we tour Parliment, and then Robben Island. Then the next two nights are the jazz festival. I am really looking forward to it. Sunday we leave for spring break.
The rough itinerary is one night in Stellenbausch (the winelands), two nights in the Cederberg Wilderness Area, two nights near Augrabies Falls National Park, and then possibly a night in Kimberly and then Joburg and Pretoria. Woot.
Cheers,
Nick
We arrived on Tuesday after about an 11 hour bus ride. We were all pretty tired, so we crashed. Since I've been trying to budget money, a friend of mine and I made Chicken Alfredo in the backpacker while everyone else went out. Wednesday we visited the District Six Museum. It is a museum dedicated to the area of District Six that was destroyed under Apartheid. Basically it was once a mixed area with people of all different races, but it was declared a white area and everyone was forced out to the townships. Its saddening how much life and culture was destroyed with a single government act.
That afternoon we climbed Table Mountain. It was quite a hike, but the 20 of us that did it felt great. It was about two hours of going straight up. The views on top were fantastic though. Quite amazing and quite humbling.
Yesterday we spent the whole day at the Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. I got my pic taken with the sign at the Southern most tip of Africa. The wind was absolutely crazy, we walked up to a light house and I thought I was going to blow over the side. Seriously. We also stopped at this beach called Boulders which is part of the South Africa National Parks. It is a protected beach where penguins come to rest. It really reminded me of Happy Feet. Really, they were all dancing and singing.
We also saw a play called Coming Home, by the South African playwright Athol Fugard. Let's just say the eyes were watering a bit near the end of the performance. It was about a woman and her son who are going back to their township in Graff Reient after her failed career as a singer in Cape Town. She meets up with an old friend who helps them out, and after a few years she learns she has Aids. She hatches a plan to marry her friend, so her son won't get taken away. The play is basically how she comes to terms with the illness and her son comes to terms with his new father. I really enjoyed it.
So the next few days....Today we tour Parliment, and then Robben Island. Then the next two nights are the jazz festival. I am really looking forward to it. Sunday we leave for spring break.
The rough itinerary is one night in Stellenbausch (the winelands), two nights in the Cederberg Wilderness Area, two nights near Augrabies Falls National Park, and then possibly a night in Kimberly and then Joburg and Pretoria. Woot.
Cheers,
Nick
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
ANother week
Another update…
I am fairly tired today. I just got done eating some fabulous homecooked lo mein. Last week at the haven I worked in the kitchen because Thando was at the doctor. I got to talking with one of the nurses, Geraldine and she said she would cook dinner for our flat for the next week if we brought the groceries. So yesterday I brought the grociers and today I got about five full meals. Lo Mein, Chicken curry, Mac and Cheese and some other stuff….yum. I think I am in a food coma right now.
This weekend was a lot of fun. My aunts Betsy and Martha came down from their volunteering in Cape Town to visit for the weekend. On Saturday Betsy joined our group to go to a human rights day rally. Winnie Mandela was supposed to speak, but there were some legal issues because COPE (new rival political party to the ANC) and the ANC both tried to reserve the rugby stadium in Utienhage. A midnight decision turned in favor of COPE, so the ANC set up in a farm field next to the stadium. We went the rally and…wow. Nothing like the Tinklenberg rallies I went to. Everyone was singing, dancing and marching. Our group was definitley in the minority. I wasn’t sure how we would be received, but a lot of people came up to us and said that they were happy to see us there (meaning white people). We just were polite because most of us are not too keen on Jacob Zuma. I’ll try and bring the dancing back to the College Dems meetings…
Otherwise we have one more week untill spring break. Woot. I have a 4000 word paper due in a week, yuk.
I am fairly tired today. I just got done eating some fabulous homecooked lo mein. Last week at the haven I worked in the kitchen because Thando was at the doctor. I got to talking with one of the nurses, Geraldine and she said she would cook dinner for our flat for the next week if we brought the groceries. So yesterday I brought the grociers and today I got about five full meals. Lo Mein, Chicken curry, Mac and Cheese and some other stuff….yum. I think I am in a food coma right now.
This weekend was a lot of fun. My aunts Betsy and Martha came down from their volunteering in Cape Town to visit for the weekend. On Saturday Betsy joined our group to go to a human rights day rally. Winnie Mandela was supposed to speak, but there were some legal issues because COPE (new rival political party to the ANC) and the ANC both tried to reserve the rugby stadium in Utienhage. A midnight decision turned in favor of COPE, so the ANC set up in a farm field next to the stadium. We went the rally and…wow. Nothing like the Tinklenberg rallies I went to. Everyone was singing, dancing and marching. Our group was definitley in the minority. I wasn’t sure how we would be received, but a lot of people came up to us and said that they were happy to see us there (meaning white people). We just were polite because most of us are not too keen on Jacob Zuma. I’ll try and bring the dancing back to the College Dems meetings…
Otherwise we have one more week untill spring break. Woot. I have a 4000 word paper due in a week, yuk.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
So after a computer glitch and a music test, we’ll try another blog update.
Two weekends ago was Durban, here is an unfinished email that I never got around to sending to update on activities…
We had an eventful weekend in Durban. I really liked the city. It has the largest Indian population outside of India (1.2 million people). When we got in on Thursday we went to the largest Hare Krishna temple in the southern hemisphere. It was an interesting look into the faith. We also saw a performance by an African-Indian fusion dance company. It was cool because the females all wore traditional Indian dress, while the males wore Zulu outfits. On Friday we got a walking tour of the city. It was so-so, but the coolest part was walking through the traditional healers market. There was basically anything for everything. It was one of those moments where you say to yourself, “Toto we’re not in Kansas anymore”. There were powders, dead animals, bones all written in Zulu. It was absolutely crazy. That night we saw the Russian Ballet in downtown Durban. I really liked it. It was a mixture of pieces from many different performances. I’ve come a long way since falling asleep at the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. On Saturday we went to go see a cricket match between SA and Australia. It was a five day long match and we saw day two. Unfortunately, SA got smoked. Sunday we saw a one act play at a casino theater. It was a comedy, but nobody got any of the references to the SA culture. I also lost about 70 Rand on the slots, oh well.
This past weekend we had a tour of Grahmstown and King Williams Town. Our tour guide Bradly Levack (basically the South African equivalent of Paul Mcleod) was awesome. We got an overview of the battle of Grahmstown (a huge bloody affair between the Xhosa and Afrikanner in 1820). We also stopped at a really cool artists co-op. That was probably my favorite part of the day. There were a bunch of crazy old Xhosa ladies who did really cool prints. You never really think of art as being important to people who are struggling to get by, but that is totally false. I really enjoyed it because you could see the vivid expressions and emotions that went in to making the prints. They were all so happy to see us. We met with the mayor, a member of the ANC. He also brought about half the municipal government with him. It was sort of interesting to see how the bureaucracy works here. The mayor just about delegated all of his questions to the workers. The last stop was Steve Biko’s house in King William’s Town. I really liked that. He was the leader of the Black Conciousness movement in South Africa. I sort of thought BC was a racist organization because they accepted only coloured people. But it wasn’t like that at all. Their focus was on self-love and self-empowerment, basically getting the notion that Black people are inferior to whites out of people’s head. I asked how I as a white person could support the principles of BC without undermining it. He stopped and thought for a second and said that as long as I supported the principles of BC, I would be supporting the movement. Cool.
A group of us broke off at Grahmstown to go to Hogsback for the weekend. I loved it. It’s a little mountain town that was the inspiration for the Hobbit. It sort of reminded me of Land O’ Lakes, WI because it seemed sort of like a getaway for rich Afrikaans. We stayed at a hostel called Away With the Fairies, quite an amusing name. We did hiked on both days and it was nice and relaxing.
Ok, we’re somewhat up to speed. I apologize for not updating often, but I’ve hit that point where you’ve bonded with your group, you know your routine, the days meld together and it starts to feel like home, which is good but dangerous. Dangerous because I could possibly start to take this trip for granted. So here is my 4 step plan to keep that from happening.
1. Blog every Monday (I can hear my fans roaring)
2. Journal every day
3. Don’t worry about tomorrow and be open to anything
4. Remind myself that I am only in Africa once
Anyways, I hope you are all well. And I hope you Johnnies and Bennies enjoyed your days off of school. Lucky Ducks, oh wait…It’s 75 and sunny here today.
Peace,Nick
Two weekends ago was Durban, here is an unfinished email that I never got around to sending to update on activities…
We had an eventful weekend in Durban. I really liked the city. It has the largest Indian population outside of India (1.2 million people). When we got in on Thursday we went to the largest Hare Krishna temple in the southern hemisphere. It was an interesting look into the faith. We also saw a performance by an African-Indian fusion dance company. It was cool because the females all wore traditional Indian dress, while the males wore Zulu outfits. On Friday we got a walking tour of the city. It was so-so, but the coolest part was walking through the traditional healers market. There was basically anything for everything. It was one of those moments where you say to yourself, “Toto we’re not in Kansas anymore”. There were powders, dead animals, bones all written in Zulu. It was absolutely crazy. That night we saw the Russian Ballet in downtown Durban. I really liked it. It was a mixture of pieces from many different performances. I’ve come a long way since falling asleep at the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. On Saturday we went to go see a cricket match between SA and Australia. It was a five day long match and we saw day two. Unfortunately, SA got smoked. Sunday we saw a one act play at a casino theater. It was a comedy, but nobody got any of the references to the SA culture. I also lost about 70 Rand on the slots, oh well.
This past weekend we had a tour of Grahmstown and King Williams Town. Our tour guide Bradly Levack (basically the South African equivalent of Paul Mcleod) was awesome. We got an overview of the battle of Grahmstown (a huge bloody affair between the Xhosa and Afrikanner in 1820). We also stopped at a really cool artists co-op. That was probably my favorite part of the day. There were a bunch of crazy old Xhosa ladies who did really cool prints. You never really think of art as being important to people who are struggling to get by, but that is totally false. I really enjoyed it because you could see the vivid expressions and emotions that went in to making the prints. They were all so happy to see us. We met with the mayor, a member of the ANC. He also brought about half the municipal government with him. It was sort of interesting to see how the bureaucracy works here. The mayor just about delegated all of his questions to the workers. The last stop was Steve Biko’s house in King William’s Town. I really liked that. He was the leader of the Black Conciousness movement in South Africa. I sort of thought BC was a racist organization because they accepted only coloured people. But it wasn’t like that at all. Their focus was on self-love and self-empowerment, basically getting the notion that Black people are inferior to whites out of people’s head. I asked how I as a white person could support the principles of BC without undermining it. He stopped and thought for a second and said that as long as I supported the principles of BC, I would be supporting the movement. Cool.
A group of us broke off at Grahmstown to go to Hogsback for the weekend. I loved it. It’s a little mountain town that was the inspiration for the Hobbit. It sort of reminded me of Land O’ Lakes, WI because it seemed sort of like a getaway for rich Afrikaans. We stayed at a hostel called Away With the Fairies, quite an amusing name. We did hiked on both days and it was nice and relaxing.
Ok, we’re somewhat up to speed. I apologize for not updating often, but I’ve hit that point where you’ve bonded with your group, you know your routine, the days meld together and it starts to feel like home, which is good but dangerous. Dangerous because I could possibly start to take this trip for granted. So here is my 4 step plan to keep that from happening.
1. Blog every Monday (I can hear my fans roaring)
2. Journal every day
3. Don’t worry about tomorrow and be open to anything
4. Remind myself that I am only in Africa once
Anyways, I hope you are all well. And I hope you Johnnies and Bennies enjoyed your days off of school. Lucky Ducks, oh wait…It’s 75 and sunny here today.
Peace,Nick
Monday, March 16, 2009
My apologies
I just finished typing up a large blog post and the file corrupted. Blah!
Don't worry, I am safe and sound and I will try and update tomorrow.
My apologies for not updating more often, but I'm experiencing Africa.
Stay warm.
Don't worry, I am safe and sound and I will try and update tomorrow.
My apologies for not updating more often, but I'm experiencing Africa.
Stay warm.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Bulungula! (a long post)
The first thing I have to say about this weekend is that if the stock market crashed tomorrow, Bulungula probably wouldn’t know for a few weeks. Let’s set the scene…
Friday morning we all got up at 6 (some at 6:25) to get a cab to pick up our rental cars at the airport. There were eight of us all set on an adventours weekend at a backapacker in a remote Xhosa village 200km away from the nearest city. We got two cars, a VW golf and a Nissa Altera (I had to drive an automatic). It took me a few k’s to remember to stay on the left hand side, but monkey see monkey do, I eventually got it. We travelled on the N2 (equivalent of a major highway) for about 6 hours. The scenery was gorgeous and it sort of reminded me of eastern Montana. There were hills and the vegitation was basically small bushes and trees. The road got a bit tricky at times, but it was heavenly compared to what we would be on later. We drove through a few small towns and it felt like…have you ever played the game Crazy Taxi? Basically you just go wherever a smash up stuff to get points, driving was a bit like that. There were kids, livestock , rouge combi taxis all doing whatever. My co-pilot Sean was on the lookout for rouge goats, while I tried to find the stoplights. I’ve learned that driving rules in Africa are more…suggestions.
After we turned off the N2 and travelled for about 35k down a pretty rural road we turned onto a dirt road. We weren’t quite sure where we were, but it’s what the map saw. We dealt with many more obstacles, including numerous bulls, donkeys, goats, and stray dogs. As well as lots of little kids whose English consisted of “Sweets!” to try and seduce unknowing tourists. We finally got to the original end of our destination at a store about 10k away from the actual lodge. We got in at about 4:00 with an hour to kill before the shuttle came and picked us up. Sean and I wandered down to the store and everybody and there mother was there. Have you ever felt completely out of your element? Walking into the store and seeing a few hundred pairs of eyes on you is a very odd sensation. We were definitely the only white people for miles and the only ones that spoke English. We decided to stay out of the way and soon the kids made there way over to us. Some of the elders came and tried to talk to us, but we couldn’t understand a word. (Mom, I’m beginning to have more respect for what you go through teaching). But one of them began to sing and started to dance. Pretty soon we had…that’s right…a dance off. Led by Amy and Sean, it was quite entertaining. Hopefully the electric side isn’t a cultural faux-pa.
We waited until about 5:30 and I called the lodge. The shuttle comes from the nearest town to pick people up and they were running about 1 ½ hours late. We were all hungry and tired, so we decided to drive the last 10k to the next store and then hike in. Let’s just say the last ten kilos were nothing compared to these 10. We had divots, potholes and a few hills that looked like mini grand canyons. But we made it. The sun was starting to go down, so we made our way to the trail in (which is only recommended for 4x4) and we walked. There were tons of these little huts, called roundevels, dotting the hilly, coastal landscape. It felt like we stumbled upon some sort of South African Shangri-La. As we walked The little kids of the village came out and asked us our names. It was quite surreal. We were walking extremely fast by the end because it was getting dark and we could definitely see the lodge, but it was just…out…of reach. At about 7:00pm we arrived tired, hungry, sweaty, dirty, cranky…but alive and in good spirits.
We got a quick tour of the lodge area. There is limited electricity, so there were candles everywhere. We stayed in roundavels that slept four. The main lodge was what you would expect in paradise. There were tons of comfy futons, hammocks, fire pits, a library and ocean views. They also had “rocket showers” which were paraffin fuelled showers that were awesome. After that we cracked into the refreshments and it’s definitely the best beer I have ever had in my life. The dinner was an amazing concotion of macaroni and bacon. We all sat around, very tired, but content just chatting into the night in our little coastal version of paradise.
I woke up the next morning around 7:30 and went to go get some coffee and watch the ocean. It was amazing. I still couldn’t believe the whole surrealistic vibe of the situation. I decided I want to take as much of it in, so I signed up to do the activities. Dave, Sean and I went fishing with a guide from the village. We took huge nine foot poles and hiked out down the beach. Our guide didn’t speak very much English, so that was even more entertaining Now most of you probably know that I am not a big fisherman, but that day I think my Uncle John’s genes came through and I was the only one who caught anything. The three I got were fairly small, but our guide kept them. And the sun was shining so I felt great. We came back for lunch and I ordered a BLT. It was as big as my head made with Xhosa solar bread (I think they make it in solar ovens) and it was delicious. I then decided to relax and get a massage. It felt great, but I definitely felt that I had forgot to put on sun screen on my arms. Sean, Kelsey and I then went on the village tour. Our guide spoke very limited, but formal English, so it was entertaining. We visited the home of the headman (son of the chief) the healer, the school, some farms and lastly…the shebeen (equivalent of a bar). However, this is the only bar I’ve ever been to that had kids and chickens running around. I think it was more of a village gathering place than a place to get wasted. We also tried some of the homemade beer and that stuff is the true definition of hooch. It was made in old paint cans and looked like rancid chocolate milk, but surprisingly it was pretty good. The shebeen owner said you can buy five liters for 10 Rand ($1). Maybe next time…
We then got back and we went for a dip to cool off. Let’s just say I probably have the best farmer tan ever. I looked like a candy cane. It was beginning to cloud over and we all looked at each other a bit nervously. We were a bit worried about getting out the next day, but we all decided to enjoy our time in paradise for one last night and not worry about it until tomorrow. Dinner was bobotie and it was superb. We sat around for a bit until the rain cleared up and we went to the beach to look at the stars. There were tons of shooting stars and it was nearly perfect dark. We all laid in silence for about a half an hour in the sand, before we decided to go a bit farther down. We seemed to not realize that the clouds rolled in and covered all of our stars. And it poured. We only had two headlamps, so we all sprinted to get back to the lodge. That was my last dry shirt as well, so I wore my rain coat for the rest of the night. I went to bed around 11, satisfied, but a little worried about the rain. (I genetically preconditioned to worry about any sort of driving conditions at all).
I woke up at about seven to check everything out. It was damp, cloudy, but not raining. I decided to make a few cups of coffee and read the paper (some routines are comfortable, no matter where you are). The shuttle left at nine thirty and most people wanted to hike back to the cars so they left an hour sooner, but I stayed back with Amina, who wasn’t able to traverse the rocky terrain. After saying goodbye to everyone we met, we took the shuttle with a young couple from Latvia with their toddler and two German goals. Definitley the scariest ride I have ever been on in my life. Period. We got stuck a few times we were definitely rocking back and fourth for a bit. But after an hour and a lot of nervous laughter we made it back to the cars. The group with the manual transmission left about 10 minutes prior and we hopped into our Nissan. Sean was talking with one of the guys at the store who had no idea how we made it there in dry weather… oh boy.
I said a few silent prayers as I got into the car, nervous as heck. We made it fine for about 10 minutes until we saw the other group waiting on top of the hill of death. We got out and strategized how to go about it (Dave had made it up with his car, so we thought we could do it as well). I had the first two goes, but I got it stuck both times. Dave took the wheel and even though there were a few nerve-wracking clunks, we made it. The rest of the terrain was pretty bad and I played dodge the potholes with a relative success. It began to rain about halfway down the road and I was just glad that we made the first two hills when it was relatively dry. After two hours we made it back to the paved road and it felt like we were somewhat back in civilization. It was about 1:30 and we floored it to get back to the N2.
The ride home was fairly uneventful other than a few moments with the sun setting over the hills. It was quite peaceful, except for the crazy@%!* SA drivers. South Africans walk extremely slow, but they make up for it with their driving. They pass on hills and really don’t care if you are already going 20k over the speed limit. I wasn’t too excited about that. We pulled into PE around 7:30 and I was happy to be alive. We nervously went to go return the cars, but everything checked out fine. I’m sure the people at the desk were wondering why we were laughing so hard…
This trip taught me that it really is the journey that matters and not the destination. But you also have to enjoy and take time for the moment and not worry about tomorrow. However, I do have an 8 page paper due tomorrow and a four pager due Wednesday. But hey, South Africa is all about getting out of your comfort zone, right?
All the best, Nick
Friday morning we all got up at 6 (some at 6:25) to get a cab to pick up our rental cars at the airport. There were eight of us all set on an adventours weekend at a backapacker in a remote Xhosa village 200km away from the nearest city. We got two cars, a VW golf and a Nissa Altera (I had to drive an automatic). It took me a few k’s to remember to stay on the left hand side, but monkey see monkey do, I eventually got it. We travelled on the N2 (equivalent of a major highway) for about 6 hours. The scenery was gorgeous and it sort of reminded me of eastern Montana. There were hills and the vegitation was basically small bushes and trees. The road got a bit tricky at times, but it was heavenly compared to what we would be on later. We drove through a few small towns and it felt like…have you ever played the game Crazy Taxi? Basically you just go wherever a smash up stuff to get points, driving was a bit like that. There were kids, livestock , rouge combi taxis all doing whatever. My co-pilot Sean was on the lookout for rouge goats, while I tried to find the stoplights. I’ve learned that driving rules in Africa are more…suggestions.
After we turned off the N2 and travelled for about 35k down a pretty rural road we turned onto a dirt road. We weren’t quite sure where we were, but it’s what the map saw. We dealt with many more obstacles, including numerous bulls, donkeys, goats, and stray dogs. As well as lots of little kids whose English consisted of “Sweets!” to try and seduce unknowing tourists. We finally got to the original end of our destination at a store about 10k away from the actual lodge. We got in at about 4:00 with an hour to kill before the shuttle came and picked us up. Sean and I wandered down to the store and everybody and there mother was there. Have you ever felt completely out of your element? Walking into the store and seeing a few hundred pairs of eyes on you is a very odd sensation. We were definitely the only white people for miles and the only ones that spoke English. We decided to stay out of the way and soon the kids made there way over to us. Some of the elders came and tried to talk to us, but we couldn’t understand a word. (Mom, I’m beginning to have more respect for what you go through teaching). But one of them began to sing and started to dance. Pretty soon we had…that’s right…a dance off. Led by Amy and Sean, it was quite entertaining. Hopefully the electric side isn’t a cultural faux-pa.
We waited until about 5:30 and I called the lodge. The shuttle comes from the nearest town to pick people up and they were running about 1 ½ hours late. We were all hungry and tired, so we decided to drive the last 10k to the next store and then hike in. Let’s just say the last ten kilos were nothing compared to these 10. We had divots, potholes and a few hills that looked like mini grand canyons. But we made it. The sun was starting to go down, so we made our way to the trail in (which is only recommended for 4x4) and we walked. There were tons of these little huts, called roundevels, dotting the hilly, coastal landscape. It felt like we stumbled upon some sort of South African Shangri-La. As we walked The little kids of the village came out and asked us our names. It was quite surreal. We were walking extremely fast by the end because it was getting dark and we could definitely see the lodge, but it was just…out…of reach. At about 7:00pm we arrived tired, hungry, sweaty, dirty, cranky…but alive and in good spirits.
We got a quick tour of the lodge area. There is limited electricity, so there were candles everywhere. We stayed in roundavels that slept four. The main lodge was what you would expect in paradise. There were tons of comfy futons, hammocks, fire pits, a library and ocean views. They also had “rocket showers” which were paraffin fuelled showers that were awesome. After that we cracked into the refreshments and it’s definitely the best beer I have ever had in my life. The dinner was an amazing concotion of macaroni and bacon. We all sat around, very tired, but content just chatting into the night in our little coastal version of paradise.
I woke up the next morning around 7:30 and went to go get some coffee and watch the ocean. It was amazing. I still couldn’t believe the whole surrealistic vibe of the situation. I decided I want to take as much of it in, so I signed up to do the activities. Dave, Sean and I went fishing with a guide from the village. We took huge nine foot poles and hiked out down the beach. Our guide didn’t speak very much English, so that was even more entertaining Now most of you probably know that I am not a big fisherman, but that day I think my Uncle John’s genes came through and I was the only one who caught anything. The three I got were fairly small, but our guide kept them. And the sun was shining so I felt great. We came back for lunch and I ordered a BLT. It was as big as my head made with Xhosa solar bread (I think they make it in solar ovens) and it was delicious. I then decided to relax and get a massage. It felt great, but I definitely felt that I had forgot to put on sun screen on my arms. Sean, Kelsey and I then went on the village tour. Our guide spoke very limited, but formal English, so it was entertaining. We visited the home of the headman (son of the chief) the healer, the school, some farms and lastly…the shebeen (equivalent of a bar). However, this is the only bar I’ve ever been to that had kids and chickens running around. I think it was more of a village gathering place than a place to get wasted. We also tried some of the homemade beer and that stuff is the true definition of hooch. It was made in old paint cans and looked like rancid chocolate milk, but surprisingly it was pretty good. The shebeen owner said you can buy five liters for 10 Rand ($1). Maybe next time…
We then got back and we went for a dip to cool off. Let’s just say I probably have the best farmer tan ever. I looked like a candy cane. It was beginning to cloud over and we all looked at each other a bit nervously. We were a bit worried about getting out the next day, but we all decided to enjoy our time in paradise for one last night and not worry about it until tomorrow. Dinner was bobotie and it was superb. We sat around for a bit until the rain cleared up and we went to the beach to look at the stars. There were tons of shooting stars and it was nearly perfect dark. We all laid in silence for about a half an hour in the sand, before we decided to go a bit farther down. We seemed to not realize that the clouds rolled in and covered all of our stars. And it poured. We only had two headlamps, so we all sprinted to get back to the lodge. That was my last dry shirt as well, so I wore my rain coat for the rest of the night. I went to bed around 11, satisfied, but a little worried about the rain. (I genetically preconditioned to worry about any sort of driving conditions at all).
I woke up at about seven to check everything out. It was damp, cloudy, but not raining. I decided to make a few cups of coffee and read the paper (some routines are comfortable, no matter where you are). The shuttle left at nine thirty and most people wanted to hike back to the cars so they left an hour sooner, but I stayed back with Amina, who wasn’t able to traverse the rocky terrain. After saying goodbye to everyone we met, we took the shuttle with a young couple from Latvia with their toddler and two German goals. Definitley the scariest ride I have ever been on in my life. Period. We got stuck a few times we were definitely rocking back and fourth for a bit. But after an hour and a lot of nervous laughter we made it back to the cars. The group with the manual transmission left about 10 minutes prior and we hopped into our Nissan. Sean was talking with one of the guys at the store who had no idea how we made it there in dry weather… oh boy.
I said a few silent prayers as I got into the car, nervous as heck. We made it fine for about 10 minutes until we saw the other group waiting on top of the hill of death. We got out and strategized how to go about it (Dave had made it up with his car, so we thought we could do it as well). I had the first two goes, but I got it stuck both times. Dave took the wheel and even though there were a few nerve-wracking clunks, we made it. The rest of the terrain was pretty bad and I played dodge the potholes with a relative success. It began to rain about halfway down the road and I was just glad that we made the first two hills when it was relatively dry. After two hours we made it back to the paved road and it felt like we were somewhat back in civilization. It was about 1:30 and we floored it to get back to the N2.
The ride home was fairly uneventful other than a few moments with the sun setting over the hills. It was quite peaceful, except for the crazy@%!* SA drivers. South Africans walk extremely slow, but they make up for it with their driving. They pass on hills and really don’t care if you are already going 20k over the speed limit. I wasn’t too excited about that. We pulled into PE around 7:30 and I was happy to be alive. We nervously went to go return the cars, but everything checked out fine. I’m sure the people at the desk were wondering why we were laughing so hard…
This trip taught me that it really is the journey that matters and not the destination. But you also have to enjoy and take time for the moment and not worry about tomorrow. However, I do have an 8 page paper due tomorrow and a four pager due Wednesday. But hey, South Africa is all about getting out of your comfort zone, right?
All the best, Nick
Friday, February 20, 2009
life is good
Things are starting to heat up here, literally and figuratively. It was blazing hot here yesterday, but perfect beach weather.
Surprisingly, I am going to have a tougher semester here than I did last semester. We have a lot of papers to write for all of our classes on top of our excursions and the tropical weather. It’s not an atmosphere conducive to homework.
Last week we went on safari to Addo Elephant National Park and Schotia Private Game Reserve. It was extremely fun. Our guide Bradley was extremely knowledgeable and fun guy. In Addo we rode around in a bus and we saw quite a bit. We saw four elephants, cape buffalo, kudu (antelope like animal), springbok and warthogs. The private game reserve was really awesome. We split into groups of about ten and went out on covered Jeeps to explore. We immediately saw some lions. We also saw Giraffe, Rhinos, and a bunch of other awesome stuff. We saw four out of the “big five” South African game animals during the day (elephant, lion, cape buffalo, rhino, but no leopard).
We also started our volunteering at House of Resurrection AIDS Haven. The kids are absolutely wonderful. There are about 10 kids and we each have our own kid to provide one on one stimulation with. I am sort of paired with two kids, Thando and Denver who are six and eight. Denver is in a wheel chair and has the biggest smile of any kid I have ever met. He got a cut on his leg and the nurse had to come and clean him up. He didn’t even cry and as soon as she was done he went back on smiling. Wow, what do I have to complain about?
Otherwise, the sun is shining today and I will probably take my copy of Long Walk to Freedom to the beach….
Surprisingly, I am going to have a tougher semester here than I did last semester. We have a lot of papers to write for all of our classes on top of our excursions and the tropical weather. It’s not an atmosphere conducive to homework.
Last week we went on safari to Addo Elephant National Park and Schotia Private Game Reserve. It was extremely fun. Our guide Bradley was extremely knowledgeable and fun guy. In Addo we rode around in a bus and we saw quite a bit. We saw four elephants, cape buffalo, kudu (antelope like animal), springbok and warthogs. The private game reserve was really awesome. We split into groups of about ten and went out on covered Jeeps to explore. We immediately saw some lions. We also saw Giraffe, Rhinos, and a bunch of other awesome stuff. We saw four out of the “big five” South African game animals during the day (elephant, lion, cape buffalo, rhino, but no leopard).
We also started our volunteering at House of Resurrection AIDS Haven. The kids are absolutely wonderful. There are about 10 kids and we each have our own kid to provide one on one stimulation with. I am sort of paired with two kids, Thando and Denver who are six and eight. Denver is in a wheel chair and has the biggest smile of any kid I have ever met. He got a cut on his leg and the nurse had to come and clean him up. He didn’t even cry and as soon as she was done he went back on smiling. Wow, what do I have to complain about?
Otherwise, the sun is shining today and I will probably take my copy of Long Walk to Freedom to the beach….
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Pictures!
Here are some pics of life here in SA...
My room for the next four months
Needless to say, I go hungry a lot due to this sign...
Enjoying a Martini at a jazz club downtown. I feel so grown up.
The campus of NMMU.
Hard to imagine people still live in winter climates with views like this...
My room for the next four months
Needless to say, I go hungry a lot due to this sign...
Enjoying a Martini at a jazz club downtown. I feel so grown up.
The campus of NMMU.
Hard to imagine people still live in winter climates with views like this...
More to come at some point.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Another warm day...
Another wonderful day…
A lot can happen in one week. We started classes on Monday and it will probably be an interesting semester.
First, the big news in the taxi strike here in PE. The taxi drivers (or combis as they are called here) are angry about the potential reform of the transportation system here for the 2010 world cup. The government promised FIFA an upgrade to the transportation infrastructure and the drivers are not to happy about it. Basically the city doesn’t want any of the combis around the stadium, so the vehicles would bring the passengers to a designated area and they would take a bus to the stadium to keep the roads clean. The drivers decided to strike in protest and everyone has been affected. Thousands of workers from the townships can’t get to work, so it’s been a hassle for us to get to school every day. Drivers are getting harassed and evidently three people were killed (we’re safe though). They also tore up the train tracks and so even more people can’t get to work. Our housekeeper Daphnie had to stay in another flat close by so she could get to work. Many people think the strike is totally unnecessary and it will probably end up backfiring.
On a lighter note, we’ve been doing some awesome stuff. We went to a cricket match last Friday. It took me a while to understand, but it’s actually a pretty exciting game. The PE Warriors had a come from behind victory over the Joburg Lions. Suprisingly though, I got to meet a player from the Joburg Lions. He is friends with a friend of someone on our trip. He’s also kind of a big deal. It was basically the equivalent of going to a bar with Joe Mauer. He was a real nice and down to earth guy. That seems to be the prevailing theme of everyone I have met here so far.
Our classes are going to be interesting. I am taking a SA music course, literature, political science as well as my senior seminar. I am most excited for the political science class because the political scene here is getting crazy. They are having elections in about two months. The ANC (African National Congress) which has been in power since 1994 (also the party of Mandela) is losing its support from many people. The new party COPE (Congress of the People) has attracted a lot of support from people angry with the ANC. The probable new president Jacob Zuma is a huge sleazebag (has 5 wives, on trial for rape and corruption charges). It will be an interesting time to be here.
I’m still getting used to the fact that we have a maid clean up after us. It’s in my nature to be a helpful person (the Scout Law), but I was sort of torn this morning when our housekeeper Daphnie needed someone to help carry our sheets up to the washer. Usually I would be more than happy to offer my services, but is that really my role here? This housekeeping job gives her work, which in turn gives money and a sense of dignity. In the end she got someone else to come help and I’m still pondering over it.
We also start volunteering on Monday. I decided to go to the House of Resurrection AIDS haven to work with the little kids. I figure Andrew and Melanie have given me great practice with my peek-a-boo skills and I could really put them to good use there. There are also adult patients at the haven and I had an idea come to me. I am going to try and do some oral histories of the patients. AIDS is still a stigmatized disease here, so I thought it would be interesting and possibly even therapeutic to have someone just listen to their story for a while. I asked Gary and Vilma about it and they both thought it was a good idea. I’ll keep everyone posted.
Otherwise, this weekend will be fun. Most of the crew is going to Jeffery’s bay, but I am going to stick around and hang out with the few people who aren’t going. We’re going to go to Seaview where you can pet Lion cubs. Again, my apologies for not posting pictures yet, but we have to pay for internet access at our flat and the school net is really slow.
Stay Warm.
A lot can happen in one week. We started classes on Monday and it will probably be an interesting semester.
First, the big news in the taxi strike here in PE. The taxi drivers (or combis as they are called here) are angry about the potential reform of the transportation system here for the 2010 world cup. The government promised FIFA an upgrade to the transportation infrastructure and the drivers are not to happy about it. Basically the city doesn’t want any of the combis around the stadium, so the vehicles would bring the passengers to a designated area and they would take a bus to the stadium to keep the roads clean. The drivers decided to strike in protest and everyone has been affected. Thousands of workers from the townships can’t get to work, so it’s been a hassle for us to get to school every day. Drivers are getting harassed and evidently three people were killed (we’re safe though). They also tore up the train tracks and so even more people can’t get to work. Our housekeeper Daphnie had to stay in another flat close by so she could get to work. Many people think the strike is totally unnecessary and it will probably end up backfiring.
On a lighter note, we’ve been doing some awesome stuff. We went to a cricket match last Friday. It took me a while to understand, but it’s actually a pretty exciting game. The PE Warriors had a come from behind victory over the Joburg Lions. Suprisingly though, I got to meet a player from the Joburg Lions. He is friends with a friend of someone on our trip. He’s also kind of a big deal. It was basically the equivalent of going to a bar with Joe Mauer. He was a real nice and down to earth guy. That seems to be the prevailing theme of everyone I have met here so far.
Our classes are going to be interesting. I am taking a SA music course, literature, political science as well as my senior seminar. I am most excited for the political science class because the political scene here is getting crazy. They are having elections in about two months. The ANC (African National Congress) which has been in power since 1994 (also the party of Mandela) is losing its support from many people. The new party COPE (Congress of the People) has attracted a lot of support from people angry with the ANC. The probable new president Jacob Zuma is a huge sleazebag (has 5 wives, on trial for rape and corruption charges). It will be an interesting time to be here.
I’m still getting used to the fact that we have a maid clean up after us. It’s in my nature to be a helpful person (the Scout Law), but I was sort of torn this morning when our housekeeper Daphnie needed someone to help carry our sheets up to the washer. Usually I would be more than happy to offer my services, but is that really my role here? This housekeeping job gives her work, which in turn gives money and a sense of dignity. In the end she got someone else to come help and I’m still pondering over it.
We also start volunteering on Monday. I decided to go to the House of Resurrection AIDS haven to work with the little kids. I figure Andrew and Melanie have given me great practice with my peek-a-boo skills and I could really put them to good use there. There are also adult patients at the haven and I had an idea come to me. I am going to try and do some oral histories of the patients. AIDS is still a stigmatized disease here, so I thought it would be interesting and possibly even therapeutic to have someone just listen to their story for a while. I asked Gary and Vilma about it and they both thought it was a good idea. I’ll keep everyone posted.
Otherwise, this weekend will be fun. Most of the crew is going to Jeffery’s bay, but I am going to stick around and hang out with the few people who aren’t going. We’re going to go to Seaview where you can pet Lion cubs. Again, my apologies for not posting pictures yet, but we have to pay for internet access at our flat and the school net is really slow.
Stay Warm.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Two South Africas
I’ve seen two very different South Africa’s in the past few days. The first one looks like any town on the coast of Florida. My flat is in a touristy area where I am a five minute walk away from a McDonalds. It’s beautiful, but I might as well be in America. Also, part of our orientation yesterday was at the Green Acres Mall. Nobody was too happy to spend four hours in a place that could very well have been the St. Cloud mall. I was not very happy about it.
Today we saw how most of South Africa really is. We took a tour of the Red Location town ship. It was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. I might as well have been on another planet than where I was earlier today. I saw hundreds of people out on the street, kids waving to us, and numerous people trying to sell us everything and anything. It was dusty, dirty, and well, lively. Globalization had reached downtown Port Elizabeth, but it still hadn’t really touched anyone here. The basic living accommodations were a one room tin shack with a roof. The one consolation was that it was a vibrant community, poor, but lively.
We took a tour of the Red Location Museum. The building is a giant concrete structure in the middle of thousands of one room shacks. The museum opened up two years ago for the purpose of educating people of the horrors of Apartheid as well as to provide a gathering space for the community. In the US we like to think of our ugly racial history as thousands of years ago, but it confronts the citizens of SA daily. I didn’t know of the many bloody events of “The Struggle” as it is called here. I am so fortunate to have grown up in a place where I never have known hunger, much less institutionalized racism. As I walked out of the museum I saw those shacks again and I thought about what my duty is now that I have seen these things first hand. Do I forget and go about my business? Or remember how fortunate I am? We had a power outage last night and it didn’t come back until the middle of the day. People were complaining about this, but after seeing the townships I thought, why should I be complaining about the lack of power for less than 24 hours, when these people may never even have electricity? It was a humbling day indeed.
On some lighter notes, I am enjoying my group and the ocean view from my flat. Let me tell you it is a tough life drinking a Black Label Lager with dinner while watching the sunset. Life is Good.
I’ll post pictures soon, but the internet costs R60 (about $6) for 40 minutes and I am trying to conserve the minutes.
Today we saw how most of South Africa really is. We took a tour of the Red Location town ship. It was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. I might as well have been on another planet than where I was earlier today. I saw hundreds of people out on the street, kids waving to us, and numerous people trying to sell us everything and anything. It was dusty, dirty, and well, lively. Globalization had reached downtown Port Elizabeth, but it still hadn’t really touched anyone here. The basic living accommodations were a one room tin shack with a roof. The one consolation was that it was a vibrant community, poor, but lively.
We took a tour of the Red Location Museum. The building is a giant concrete structure in the middle of thousands of one room shacks. The museum opened up two years ago for the purpose of educating people of the horrors of Apartheid as well as to provide a gathering space for the community. In the US we like to think of our ugly racial history as thousands of years ago, but it confronts the citizens of SA daily. I didn’t know of the many bloody events of “The Struggle” as it is called here. I am so fortunate to have grown up in a place where I never have known hunger, much less institutionalized racism. As I walked out of the museum I saw those shacks again and I thought about what my duty is now that I have seen these things first hand. Do I forget and go about my business? Or remember how fortunate I am? We had a power outage last night and it didn’t come back until the middle of the day. People were complaining about this, but after seeing the townships I thought, why should I be complaining about the lack of power for less than 24 hours, when these people may never even have electricity? It was a humbling day indeed.
On some lighter notes, I am enjoying my group and the ocean view from my flat. Let me tell you it is a tough life drinking a Black Label Lager with dinner while watching the sunset. Life is Good.
I’ll post pictures soon, but the internet costs R60 (about $6) for 40 minutes and I am trying to conserve the minutes.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Let’s set the scene for you. It’s 85 degrees, sunny and a slight breeze. I can see the Indian Ocean from our front porch and I get woken up at 7:00am by the sound of honking cars. I’m in Port Elizabeth, Africa.
I made it here at about 9:30 on Sunday night. I was a little scared for the flight, but surprisingly everything went smoothly. All of my flights were on time and I got my luggage in PE. My flight from DC to Johanusburg was about 15 hours, but I was lucky enough to get my own personal TV set. (How did people every do these flights even five years ago?) I met a man from Joburg who was in the states with a chemical company, a woman who worked at the Joburg zoo and another woman who was doing a week long trip to PE. Everybody was super nice. I almost had a snafoo through customs when I forgot to pick up my suitcase at the luggage claim. A man stopped me and brought me back through because he said I needed to re-check it in. Suprisingly, he was right and there it was on the luggage claim. I think he was sort of implying that I give should him a tip, but I was fairly tired and gave him a nice American “Thank you very much.” I felt bad once I was walking away, so I gave the next guy who carried my luggage to the check in counter a $20 tip (it was all I had). Hopefully that brings good karma for the rest of the trip.
This week is orientation week with lots of fun activities planned. We hit the beach yesterday, I’m thinking of about some surfing lessons in the near future. With my pale Midwest complexion I think I would make a great surf bum (don’t worry mom, I’ve put on lots of sunscreen every day). We took a tour of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University campus today. It was huge, much larger than either SJU or CSB. My favorite part of the day was the “Do Not Feed the Monkey” signs. We’re going to have one class a day, so I’m going to be very, very busy....
Otherwise, life is good. Great company, wonderful food, and the city has a relaxed atmosphere that I could definitely get used to, the 85 degree weather doesn’t hurt either…
Till next time… I'll post pictures soon.
I made it here at about 9:30 on Sunday night. I was a little scared for the flight, but surprisingly everything went smoothly. All of my flights were on time and I got my luggage in PE. My flight from DC to Johanusburg was about 15 hours, but I was lucky enough to get my own personal TV set. (How did people every do these flights even five years ago?) I met a man from Joburg who was in the states with a chemical company, a woman who worked at the Joburg zoo and another woman who was doing a week long trip to PE. Everybody was super nice. I almost had a snafoo through customs when I forgot to pick up my suitcase at the luggage claim. A man stopped me and brought me back through because he said I needed to re-check it in. Suprisingly, he was right and there it was on the luggage claim. I think he was sort of implying that I give should him a tip, but I was fairly tired and gave him a nice American “Thank you very much.” I felt bad once I was walking away, so I gave the next guy who carried my luggage to the check in counter a $20 tip (it was all I had). Hopefully that brings good karma for the rest of the trip.
This week is orientation week with lots of fun activities planned. We hit the beach yesterday, I’m thinking of about some surfing lessons in the near future. With my pale Midwest complexion I think I would make a great surf bum (don’t worry mom, I’ve put on lots of sunscreen every day). We took a tour of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University campus today. It was huge, much larger than either SJU or CSB. My favorite part of the day was the “Do Not Feed the Monkey” signs. We’re going to have one class a day, so I’m going to be very, very busy....
Otherwise, life is good. Great company, wonderful food, and the city has a relaxed atmosphere that I could definitely get used to, the 85 degree weather doesn’t hurt either…
Till next time… I'll post pictures soon.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Before I go...
I found this quote today. It is from the book On the Loose It will be my governing philosophy for the trip.
"Adventure is not in the guidebook and beauty is not on the map. Seek and ye shall find"
On a side note, If anyone is wondering how I got the nickname "Tables", I got it from this year's election season. Basically duty called for me to recruit volunteers and I gave an impassioned speech upon a table to about 40 bright eyed and busy tailed (and probably very scared) CSB/SJU College Democrats.
Groovy.
"Adventure is not in the guidebook and beauty is not on the map. Seek and ye shall find"
On a side note, If anyone is wondering how I got the nickname "Tables", I got it from this year's election season. Basically duty called for me to recruit volunteers and I gave an impassioned speech upon a table to about 40 bright eyed and busy tailed (and probably very scared) CSB/SJU College Democrats.
Groovy.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
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