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