A Final Farewell

It makes me sad to be writing this last blog about South Africa. This trip has completely changed the way I think about nearly everything. It was an experience of a lifetime.

My decision for choosing Africa, if you ready one of my first entries, may have just been a process of elimination, but I now believe I was meant to go there. I was meant to go to the AIDS Haven and help those children, I was meant to see the combination of rich and poor living so close, I was meant to have certain experiences with people that left me in tears. I know it may sound weird, but there isn’t any other way to explain it.

I had always been known as a quiet one yet my decision to go to Africa wasn’t a surprise to anyone, even if I did get a few strange looks from people and a couple “Why not Europe?”’s. I’m always up for an adventure and (though I didn’t come in with expectations...) I expected Africa to give that to me, to challenge me in ways I have never been challenged before, to put me in uncomfortable situations and have to deal with them, to communicate with people I had nothing in common with, and to make new friends. I’m glad to say, South Africa did not disappoint.

I arrived in Africa on my first day, in spite of being exhausted, wide-eyed and ready for the adventures to begin. Everything was new to me. I missed the familiar, my family and friends, my house and dog, Alexandria and school, but I was too excited for that to last very long.

My first impressions were mixed, to say the least. I had just been travelling for 36 hours and I step out of the PE airport, its hot, I’m hot, and I smell. Not the best combination in the world. I rode to Langerry with Vilma (who I thought was the nicest lady but had no idea who she was and so I didn’t talk all that much) and as we go around a curve I saw we were on top of a hill overlooking the ocean. I could not believe where I was. The place was so beautiful, and I hadn’t even seen the best of it. Walking into Langerry was surreal, though it may have been the lack of sleep, and I was so glad I travelled so light. I barely made it up the stairs with my stuff. The one good thing about being the first in an apartment is picking which room you get to have, and Melissa and I chose well – I will probably never have a room with a balcony again (sorry Amy for never switching). I had no idea what PE would be like so I can’t say I was surprised by what I saw or not. I figured South Africa had a poverty problem and that cities are a perfect example. But I was surprised to see how closely the third world and first world are to each other here. We lived in a very tourist part of the city, but take a five minute car ride and you could be in run-down apartment buildings; take another five minutes and you see the townships and the shacks.

I have to admit that I was nervous when other people started showing up. I had been travelling with the same five girls and along so well with them all that I was anxious about how well I’d get along with the rest of the group. As I said before, I’m a terribly shy person around new people, and, like everyone else, I wanted them to like me. I was also worried about how well 30 people could get along for 3 ½ months living so close to each other and wondering if we would be at each other’s throats by the end.

Needless to say, most of my first impressions are not the ones I leave with and all my worries were for nothing. I left South Africa with a whole new understanding to life and the world that we live in. Never again will I look at poverty or race the same way again. I will never take for granted anything that I have because most people in this world don’t have the same luxuries I do. One incident in particular drove this point home to me. I went running most days along the beachfront. One morning I saw this one man kneeling on the ground. As I got closer I could see that he was scraping ice cream that had been dropped the night before with a stick and eating it; he was just so desperate to eat something. I nearly broke down to tears. It took me a while before I could fully understand what I saw and it still affects me when I think about it. People shouldn’t have to do that. This is the same man that goes through all the garbage’s in the morning looking for something to eat. He carries around a plastic bag that holds all he has in life. Everything I have is a gift. When people complain about not having the latest shoes or cell phone I’m going to think about this man and wish that this person could see him too, maybe then they’d stop complaining.

As Gary explained before we even left CSB/SJU, we would run into the issue of race and racist people. Coming from small town Minnesota, diversity is having one black kid in your graduating class. In South Africa, diversity is much greater and racism can run deep. Some people blame the blacks for everything that is going wrong in their country. One white South African that I talked to said that whatever the black people want, they get. The government is black and so they need to help their people, and to do this they just tax the white people. The blacks do not need to pay for electricity or water if they don’t feel like it. He just kept going off on this for an hour. I guess I understand why he is thinking this but the problems of his country run deeper than this. Having had the experience of being a minority in a country and being treated differently because of the color of my skin, race is an entirely different issue to me now. I will notice it more and how people react to diversity. I’m not sure if that is a good or bad thing.

I have to talk about how my time at the AIDS Have has affected me. Before, I was not much of a little kid person. I didn’t know how to talk to them or keep them entertained for 3 hours and was worried they wouldn’t like me. After, I love kids. I think anyone who didn’t like kids would just have to spend a couple of hours with these kids to change. All of these kids will never have a normal childhood. They live in an orphanage where one-on-one attention was nonexistent until we got there. Most live with the stigma of having HIV or AIDS. As Sandra (one of the most frustrating people I have met) said all the kids at the Haven have either been infected or effected by AIDS. Some were abandoned and still have parents – just a short aside, the mother of one little boy came one of the last days we were there and when one of the girls tried to hand him off to her he started crying and wouldn’t go to her, heartbreaking – others are true orphans, while still others are orphans and were abandoned by other family members. Despite all of this, they are happy, energetic little kids that completely exhaust us every single day we volunteered. Their sickness does not slow them down one bit. Most are developing (physically and mentally) normally and with a few of them you couldn’t tell that they had HIV or AIDS (we found out later that some that we thought had the disease didn’t). HIV/AIDS is not a death sentence, just look at these kids and you’d be able to understand how full a life can be.

Finally, I have to talk about the 29 fantastic people I got to share this unbelievable experience with. I did not have to worry about how well we would get along. Spending nearly 4 months together brought us closer than I could have ever expected. These people are like my family now, some of them I know better than some members of my family (oh and Joe and Melissa, if you think I have a weird family dynamic you should have been at my Grandpa’s 70th birthday party yesterday, you would have been blown away by the strangeness that occurred). The potlucks we had were perfect. I didn’t think college students could cook so well. Some I got to know well because I lived with them or had an amazing travel experience with them (especially Bulungula and Lesotho) others I got to experience the extreme stress that was Marine Biology with. I am going to miss so much about these people. I’m going to miss Joe coming into our room all the time because he got locked out and had to climb across the balcony. I’m going to miss the conversations with Nick (especially when he’s had a few…). I’m going to miss running around from room to room looking for our nonstick pan only to find it in the room down the hall (thanks Flat 6). I’m going to miss Amy running about 5 times a day. I’m going to miss the get well cards made by Laura and the crafts that would be made in Flat 14. I’m going to miss the music that would be blaring from the room next door and Jenny running to sing about freeing a whale. There is something about everyone on this trip that I am going to miss. My roommates were amazing and put up with me going to bed early I could not have asked for a better group to live with. Thank you to everyone who made this trip the best experience I have had in my life I will never, ever forget any of you.

Peace.

Almost Gone...

My time in South Africa is almost gone and I can’t believe it.  The day after tomorrow I will be boarding a plan and 36 hours later I will be back in Minnesota.  I am definitely going to miss this place.  It has become like a second home to me – the complete mess that is our apartment should testify to that.  I hope my adjustment back into the United States goes smoothly – I have heard some horror stories.

I am finally finished with school here.  My last final ended about an hour ago.  I feel bad for those who have two finals tomorrow…ok no I don’t.  My biology final went as well as could be expected with two very condescending people running it.  I definitely won’t miss the lecturers.  Music went really well considering I had been sick the entire night before and I didn’t study more than an hour for it.  So, from now on, whatever happens, happens. 

On Saturday night, our entire group had a farewell party.  Everyone had an amazing time and there were a few tears shed by some in the group.  We had a braai (again) and saw a couple slideshows (one embarassing, one sentimental) had a speech and an awards show.  It kind of felt like I was back in the sixth grade again.  During the party, I began to realize how close we have all become and how much I am going to miss everyone.  So sad.

For my South African Literature class we began discussing about going home and how we are going to communicate our time here in South Africa.  At this time I realized how I am not going to be able to tell people how much this trip has changed me.  I have seen things that I wish I never had to see, I have seen more people beg in the last week than most people in the US will see in years, I once even saw a man scrape off icecream from the ground with a stick so he could have something to eat – never have I been so close to tears about what I have seen here.  Every morning I go running, I see this same mand and wish I could do something to help him.  I won’t be able to communicate these feelings correctly when I tell my friends and family.  No matter how detailed I have been in this blog, or how detailed I will be in retelling my time here, they cannot get the full effect.  At the same time I don’t want to go home and just tell everyone South Africa was ‘amazing.’  I have used that word too many times and I know people won’t be satisfied with that answer.  But what I have begun to understand is simplisity is best.  When retelling stories, chances are I won’t go through all the details, I won’t give you the full version, sorry but you just won’t get it.  I now that is not what people want to hear.  I wish I could make you all understand. 

So I might write one more blog before I leave just as a summary of my time here.  I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

Peace.

I'm running out of title names

I have very little tiime left in South Africa, and I am very sad about that.  The other night I nearly jumped out of bed when I realized I will be sleeping in my own bed in two weeks.  It kind of scared me.  I am going to miss the ocean being right across the street and being able to go to it whever I feel like it, the potlucks our awesome group has put together throughout the semester, the scarey monkeys on campus, the kids at the AIDS Haven, the experience of living in a foreign country, absolutely everything (except maybe my cooking, I’m ready for some home cooked meals).  I feel as if there is a lot I haven’t done, I need more time and that is something I don’t have. 

So we finally had our exciting shark dive this last weekend.  We went on Saturday morning at 7am.  Now that it is staying darker longer, getting up before 7 is really hard (it used to be hard to stay asleep after 6 because of the stupid sun shining into the room).  Within five minutes I went from laying asleep in bed to riding on a truck on the way to the harbor.  Not everything went that smoothly, though.  The swells were a little larger than expected (and by a little I mean a lot).  The dive site was right outside the bay next to an old ship wreck.  Well, it was high tide, the swells were huge, the sunken ship was creating some of the biggest waves I have seen since coming here, and the dive site was about 5 meters from the boat.  Since the instructor didn’t feel like risking our lives, we decided to head to a smaller wreck in the bay where the swells wouldn’t be so hard.  I was fine with that.  One problem, they couldn’t find the wreck.  Now that option one and two were out we were left with going out to a bouy and seeing the reefs and fish out there.  We did get to see our sharks.  They weren’t huge, probably just 5 feet in length, or something like that, and we saw quite a few of them.  I don’t know what some of the fish were thinking but they were following us and swimming among us.  It was amazing.  I guess I’m going to miss being able to see this type of stuff back at home too.  My scuba certification is going to be gathering dust.

We have one graduating senior in our group (Justin) and since he could not make it to his graduation, we decided to hold one for him.  It was so funny.  He didn’t know a thing about it and we had set everything up on the roof; it looked almost real.  He got a gown and cap, flowers, someone said a prayer, someone wrote, a poem, his hysterical mother (someone from our group played his mother) was wailing, he gave a have drunken speech and almost cried.  Everyone had a great time.

Volunteering at the Haven has been really fun the last couple of weeks because we have bascially given up doing much constructive stuff with the kids and we don’t really want to punish them anymore because we won’t get to see them.  At times it has been a bit hectic.  I wish I had more time with some of these kids.  We were sent there to get them ready for school or help them along with their development.  All of the kids have shown tremedous improvement.  Siya, a boy about a year and a half (I’ve talked about him before), wouldn’t talk, smile, or do anything back in Februayr.  Now everytime we walk into the nursery he gives us his sly smile and runs to us.  He will smile at anyone now for any reason.  He walks, talks a little, and plays with other kids.  All of the kids have made improvements as impressive as this.  I just wish we could be there longer to experience more of it. 

I have been up to my earlobes in homework these last couple of weeks and it doesn’t look as if it is going to let up any time until after my last final.  The only thing keeping me from going crazy is knowing the faster I get done with my papers the faster it will all be over.  The other night I spent five hours working on two papers, for lit and sem, while the rest of the group went to a braai out in the townships.  I got the papers done but then the next two days I worked non stop on another paper, this time for biology.  Speaking of biology, we got to take our first test over and if I did not get at least an 80% on it I am going to be very disappointed.  The questions we were given I knew better than the first test, I wrote a ton on each question, and I gave all the information that was given to us in our study packet.  I can’t wait to get it back.

Like how I’m mixing up the serious with the not serious paragraphs here.  I don’t want to overload you too much on the sentimental stuff.

Anyway, my homework is calling me…

Peace. 

Two weeks (about) to go...

I can’t say a whole lot has happened in the last week. Every day is sort of running into the next one. I have too much homework to do to go out on the weekends so I haven’t gone anywhere since spring break (the fact that I have little money left is also helping that along). Though I may be going to Tsitiskama this next weekend and go bungee jumping off a bridge. We’ll see how that goes

Classes at school are not too exciting. I’m getting really tired of the three hour classes. About an hour through them I get really antsy or really bored. I get a lot of homework done in class though, thanks to that. The crisis that is Marine biology is soon to be over, I think. A couple of us, me included, notified Gary about how horrible we did on the first lab write up and how we pretty much all failed the test we took last Thursday. When I talked to him in Sem class about it he said he had “opened up a dialog with Ronel.” That made me feel somewhat better. Gary isn’t going to let us all fail a class, it wouldn’t look good to those who would want to go on this trip in the future. Well, the outcome of that is a retake of the test this upcoming Thursday and a re-write of our first lab write up. I am going to be working my butt off to get good grades on those. I have another lab write up I have been working for hours on. On Thursday I ran out of Internet at school, which is extremely hard to do, researching and downloading material for this next paper, that was about 3 and a half hours. Friday I worked on it pretty much all day until I ran out of stuff to write about. I am sick of it and never want to talk about rocky shore zonation again.

We had another birthday on Wednesday. So, as a surprise, we had a braai. That was quite possibly the best meal I have had all trip. There was pasta salad, corn (gotta have a little touch of home), grilled potatoes, hamsbok steak, and fish that was left from the guys’ fishing expedition. Someone mentioned about how expensive that meal would have been if it were being eaten at a restaurant back at home. You can’t easily get hamsbok in the States. I have to say they guys on this trip, at least a few of them, are some of the best cooks I know. I’m glad they’re here to cook me food J.

There was another public holiday on Friday. I’m not sure what it was. They seem to have a lot of them here. I’m not complaining.

This weekend was supposed to be exciting with shark diving and penguin island hopping. Well, it didn’t really turn out that way. Friday we were supposed to go dive with the sharks but the swells were huge and the visibility really poor. (All the fishing boats were in the harbor and it had something to do with these conditions, I have no idea why but it looked cool). At first we were told 7:30, so I got up and was ready by that time. Someone forgot to tell us that the timed changed to 1. But it didn’t matter, conditions were too bad. So diving would have to wait until Sunday, supposedly. Saturday morning I got up at 7 thinking I would have to be ready by 8 to go to St. Croix Island to see the penguins. Well, the same conditions as the day before prevented us from going. This was the second day in a row that I had gotten up and for no reason. Finally Sunday was supposed to be the good day. We actually did get up to go to the Island, at 5:30. Needless to say I was not a happy camper. The Island was cool but a little anticlimactic. We did get to see a ton of dolphins swimming right next to the boat. Diving for the day was cancelled and rescheduled for Friday. I’m crossing my fingers.

I come home in two weeks…ahhhhhh.

Peace.

One relatively uneventful week...

Happy Freedom Day! No school because it is a national holiday, their version of 4th of July, minus the fireworks, hot dogs, and campfires. Actually, I’m not sure what they do today, just a lot of closed shops.

This last week has been relatively uneventful. We went volunteering on Monday and Tuesday. It had been a few weeks since we had last volunteered because of Cape Town and Spring Break so they were excited to see us as we were to see them. Within that time a new kid came to the Haven. His name is Sedriano and he has stolen everyone’s heart already. He is a little over a year old and is scared out of his mind. I don’t blame him. When I went to go get him, I could see he had been crying. He wouldn’t do anything all day and eventually fell asleep in Colleens arms. It was so sad. Tuesday was a little better. He walked around and we almost made him smile. That was a breakthrough. I’m not looking forward to leaving these kids. We only have four volunteering days left and I’m not sure they have fully grasped that concept. We tried to tell them on Tuesday that we were going to leave for good soon. The older ones, I think, got it, but I’m not sure about the little ones. These kids haven’t had this much one on one attention from the same adults for this length of time. I hope they handle it ok. I already know there are going to be some of us that are going to have a hard time dealing with that.

Wednesday was Election Day. Not a big surprise which party is going to win it. In South Africa, the voters vote for the party and that party president becomes the president of the country. In the US it is vote for the person not the party; here it’s completely the opposite. Jacob Zuma is the new president and I can honestly say I am scared and curious about the next couple of years for this country. Just a few weeks ago, Zuma was going on trial for corruption charges, he has some rape charges that I’m not sure what has happened to them, and he has made some stupid comments about AIDS (showering will get rid of the disease) in a country that is experiencing the epidemic worse than most other countries (one in five adults have it). Only time will tell what happens.

A crisis that is running through our group, the marine biology kids anyway, is the stupid grading system here. We had a lab write-up about our sandy shore lab. I have written scientific papers like this one before and I know I did really well on it. I got a 50%, which apparently, in this messed up grading, is passing. The highest score was 67 and the lowest was 14. Needless to say we all freaked out. We got no direction about what was needed or wanted in the paper. A grad student graded the papers, which is not a good idea because she had specific ideas about what the hypothesis was supposed to be and if you did not have that there was no way you could have done well on the paper. The professors here are suppose to be grading us using the CSB/SJU grading scale so as not to have any mix ups. Well, someone forgot the memo. I don’t understand who uses a grad student to correct papers for a study abroad group. Some of the lowest scores were done by those majoring in biology who have done a million of these papers before, try to figure that one out because I can’t (if you can’t tell I’m a little mad). We also have a few med-school track students who can’t afford a C on anything and that is were the best student is going. The rest of us are going to fail for sure. We’re trying to talk to our director to try and get this figured out and we better or I’m going to rip my hair out trying to figure out this next one.

This weekend, a four day weekend, has been very productive yet extremely boring. I’ve gotten most/all of my homework for the next week done and have been trying to find little things that need to be done. I walked along the beachfront and bought a few souvenirs and took some pictures. It was a gorgeous day. Since it is now fall, the number of hot sunny days is dwindling. I took the opportunity to go to the beach and jump into the ocean for possibly the last time (sad, I know). I have been watching movies on TV for the rest of the weekend. I think I have filled my film quota for the rest of the year this weekend. Not all of the movies were good I just had nothing else to do. I think I drove my roommates crazy. They have a political science paper due (4000 words, not fun) so they, along with everyone else that stayed in the flats over the weekend, have been working on it all weekend and I have done nothing but watch TV and wander around. Oh well, that’s what they get for taking that class.

Peace.

Frontier!

A couple of things I forgot to mention in my spring break (it’s actually called the autumn recess, people look at you weird if you say spring break). While in Lesotho we stayed at a house in a Sotho village. I was too tired to ever go out into the village to talk to the people, though they didn’t speak English. The first night we stayed in the house a few kids from the village came in and sold stuff and sang. It was so cute. There were also these two kids of the lady that cleaned the house that would come around every morning. The little girl was probably 2 and her brother 6. We would play peek-a-boo with her or she would copy us making faces or tapping the glass. She loved it and the best part was her brother would just light up every time he would see his sister having fun. On the way back to South Africa, we met up with another group that was just heading out. This group was 3 ladies from Holland. They were not dressed for horseback riding. They had on nice shirts and sweatpants, they were chain smoking, and they had toilet paper for when they had to go to the bathroom outside. We just sort of laughed at them.

On Monday (that is the 13th) the South African National cricket team was playing Australia in Port Elizabeth. I went, got burnt, and had a great time. The park was packed. We sat directly in front of the band and directly behind a couple of drunk frat guys who tried to sing and dance to the music but could never really get on the beat or the right tone. South Africa kicked Australia’s butt. The crowd would go nuts when SA got a 6 or 4 or when a player got a 50 or 100 (if you want me to explain what this all means let me know, it may take a while I just learned myself).

This weekend, the 17th-19th, we had our final excursion as a large group. We went out into the frontier (hence the name frontier excursion) and stayed with a couple of Afrikaner farmers. I thought it was going to be an interesting weekend full of awkward moments but it turned out to be a lot of fun. We left on Friday morning and drove for 3 hours into the middle of nowhere. We were on a tiny dirt road for about half of the drive and had to pass through a guarded gate to get there. I’m surprised the vans we took to get out there made it. Once we got there we had lunch and rode horses. You would think after riding horses for 3 days over spring break I’d be sick of them and you would be right. My horse didn’t listen to me, apparently I’m not aggressive enough to ride horses, and walked me through a thorn tree (I have the scratches to prove it). After that we went to go see a milking demonstration which is basically exactly the same as here only on a smaller scale. The cows did not seem all too happy to be stuck in a small building getting milked. Then we lounged around outside and waited for about 3 hours for dinner, which ended up being well worth the wait.

The next day we woke up by some loud roosters and ducks right outside our window at 5, got distracted by Project Runway and Danger Mouse on TV, had breakfast and hopped onto the back of a few bakkies and rode around the farm to check out some animals. We saw (besides the tame eland and kudu in the front yard) ostriches, mohair sheep, angora goats, and horses that looked as though they should be in a movie with their tails and manes blowing in the wind as they are running with their little babies running beside them and the steed galloping behind (deep breath), and we almost ran over a couple of baboons on the road. We rode through bunch of fields, saw some amazing views, had some fun times getting bruised butts in the back of the truck. Then we went to go swimming in a gorge. It was too cold for me so I decided to climb some rocks instead.

That night we hung out at the other farmer’s house (there were 2 farms we visited total). This house is amazing. Just from what I saw it had 6 bedrooms, 5 baths, 3 dining rooms, a huge TV room, a pool, a pool house, a guest house, a tennis court, and a tame eland, kudu, and a herd of fallow deer. The first thing we did was go to a sheep shearing demonstration. It was kind of hard to watch the ram being contorted into odd positions as the farm hands sheared it but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop wearing wool. We then went to the farmer’s trophy room. He loves to hunt big game and the first thing I run into when I walk in is a giraffe head. A bit frightening I have to say. There were probably 50 mounts in that room including zebra, warthog, springbok, eland, wildebeest, some birds, and a lot of other stuff. I then just hung out, read, watched rugby and soccer, played ultimate Frisbee, watched people play tennis and had an amazing dinner. After dinner we had a night drive scheduled, to see all the animals that come out at night. It was cold, being up in the mountains will do that, but never had I seen so many stars. I was more interested in that than the animals we saw, which were few.

The next day (which was just yesterday) we got to breakfast late. We were supposed to be at the farm by 8 so we could be on the road back to PE by 3 (we joked that Gary had a tee time and couldn’t miss it – he’s obsessive about golf). That didn’t happen. We got there at about 8:40 and took our time eating breakfast and then hopped back into the bakkies for a drive to a very scenic overlook. It took about an hour off road to get there but it was worth it. On the top of the mountain/hill thing we could see all the land owned by one of the farmers, which was a lot. This weekend gave us a glimpse into the lives of some South Africans we have not met yet. It is a different view on rural South Africa. Unlike the tiny villages I have been used to seeing this is a farmer living a very comfortable life in a nice house in the middle of nowhere, the closest town (of probably only about a couple hundred people) an hour away on bad dirt roads. It was funny to see such comfort in the middle of nowhere. I’m so glad I went and I had an amazing time (the incredibly cute puppy, Charlie, helped too).

Peace.

Lesotho!!!

I am on a role now so let’s just keep going. The next day after the ironman competition we had to catch a plane to Durban and then catch a taxi to Underberg (3 hours away). That was probably one of the most terrifying taxi rides in my life. It started out fine and then when we got into the mountains the rain came and the sky got dark and all of a sudden there would be no visibility because of the rain and then the roads would be curving around the mountain with sheer drops on one side. Not exactly fun. Eventually we made it to Khotso Backpackers, there was a power outage so it was all lit by candle light. The people working there were great. Crazy Steve, the guy that owns it, definitely deserved his name. He runs up mountains and once one a bike race…running. I will just say this now to get it out of the way. I have never eaten so much than I did at the backpackers and in Lesotho.

The next morning (Tuesday) we met a couple Canadians that go riding all over the world on their motorcycles. They have been everywhere except Russia (which is next up. Visit www.2canadiansonbikes.com). We left, rode 50km to the border, mounted the horses and crossed the border (literally a gate and two posts). My horses name was Shadow (at first I thought the guide said Cheddar and the Chadow and finally I figured it must be Shadow). The mountains aren’t like many I’ve seen before, there aren’t many trees. Think of the Great Plains in mountain form. Every now and then we would go over a hill and before us would be huge fields that stretched for miles. That is what I pictured Africa to be. During the whole trip I saw Pride Rock about 5 different times and a lot of other Lion King references. The next couple of days included trips to San cave paintings and waterfalls and even more amazing panoramic views. You will have to check out my pictures once I find my cord that connects to the computer and I upload them.

I hadn’t been on a horse in a while and was really freaked out when my horse started trotting. That was nothing compared to when it would start to canter (between a trot and gallop). I lost both of my stirrups so I was freaking out (to say the least). Nothing happened and I was able to stop the horse, thought it didn’t really want to. Next time it cantered I was ready for it and actually enjoyed it, though I’m pretty sure I looked ridiculous.

Needless to say I was sore the next couple of days. My butt really didn’t hurt, it was my ankles and legs. They got bruised from the stirrups. I also wore the same clothes for three days straight on a horse in the dirt and mud. Never have I felt dirtier in my life. Oh well. We made it back to the backpackers on Thursday and hung out there all day Friday. I did nothing that day but watch 3 movies and a job application (great spring break huh?).

We left for Durban on Saturday morning. Not much to say about Durban. Went to church on Easter for the first time since Christmas (South Africa has no Lutheran churches – the Germans never really settled here). I think that is all that happened during Spring break. Sorry for the shortness of the blog, I'm tired. It is really better just to see the pictures than have me describe it but if you want me to go into more detail about anything else just let me know.

Peace.

Cape Town

Cape Town!! We are now up to the beginning of April. As a group, we spent 5 days in Cape Town. I wish it were more. Cape Town is beautiful. It’s like an old European city. It is also an extremely white city. I can easily see why it is the most visited town in South Africa. To get to Cape Town we had a 10 hour bus ride that was boring and unproductive. As always, I meant to do homework but didn’t really get anything done but sleep. Sometimes I forgot I was in South Africa, the scenery was nothing but farms most of the way.

The morning after we go there (that would be April 1st I think) we went to the District Six museum. A little background on District Six. Before apartheid it was the most culturally diverse area in Cape Town, home to blacks, whites, coloreds, and Indians. They all lived peacefully together and nowhere else in the city did these cultures mix so harmoniously together. However, under apartheid this was unacceptable. District Six was located in a prime spot and the government forced everyone out. The non-whites were forced into townships several kilometres outside of the city centre where most of them worked. In District Six they had comfortable, solid housing. In the townships they were stuck in barrack like houses that leaked and creaked. For some the move was unbearable and we heard stories of elderly people dying from the stress and people committing suicide. Whites were also forced out but they got acceptable housing that compared to what they had in District Six. Basically, all of District Six was demolished. The government wanted to start from scratch. The site was rather large and still rather new. The architecture was amazing (that itself could have been a tourist attraction had the buildings survived). Much of the area is still bare today. We went to part of District Six where sidewalks lead to nowhere and bricks and cement litter the ground where houses, churches, and business once stood.

Directly after that we hiked up Table Mountain, at least those of us who wanted. Our director, Gary, really wasn’t thrilled by us hiking up. He described the hike as a four hour arduous hike, and we needed closed toed shoes, food, water, clothes for the top, and we got no time for a nap even though we needed it, and we would be hiking in the hottest part of the day. Well, it turned out to be not as bad as I was expecting. It was a 2 hour trek (this included a lot of water breaks), it was very sunny and hot but that wasn’t the worst part. The steepness of the trail nearly killed me. I thought I was in shape but this hike got the best of me. From the bottom I could not see how a trail could make it up the mountain. It did, and I made it up, somehow. The scene of Cape Town from the hike was amazing and even better from the top (which made the burning, cramping leg muscles worth it). Table Mountain seems to rise up from nowhere and Cape Town lies within the little flat land between the Atlantic Ocean and Table Mountain. Look up pictures and you get what I mean. It is absolutely breathtaking. I could have spent all day at the top of that mountain. That was definitely one of my favourite places I have been to so far.

That night was absolutely horrible. We went to a café that serves all African traditional food. I was ready to eat some great food but my legs weren’t. The entire night my legs were cramping up so bad I couldn’t sit down for more than 10 minutes without being in tremendous pain. I wish I could have enjoyed it more.

The next day was also a hiking day. I thought I was going to die. To my surprise I was not sore from climbing Table Mountain, just really tired. We went to Simon’s Town to Boulder Beach where the penguins live. They were so cute. Kind of sad, though, that there is a huge boardwalk over their nesting and playing grounds. After that we went to the Cape of Good Hope, the south-western most point in Africa. Talk about wind. I thought I was going to blow away. I had to walk to stand still. And the wind was cold because it was coming off the Atlantic Ocean, which is colder than the Indian Ocean. We were also warned about baboons stealing food here but we didn’t see any, at least I didn’t. Cape Point was next and the wind was just as bad there. We stayed there for a couple of hours and did some hiking. I hiked up to the lighthouse which was at the highest point on the Cape. And I thought the wind was bad by the Ocean. It was nothing compared to the lighthouse. The lighthouse and a wall acted as a wind tunnel and made for some entertaining times. I couldn’t hear anyone talking, I could barely keep my eyes open and any loose clothing would be gone in that wind. Cape Point is sort of a hook so at that vantage point if I looked to my left I could see the hazy blue mountains of the upper mainland and to my right would be Cape of Good Hope. I hiked some more after that, saw some eland, just enjoyed my time there.

The next day (this would be the 3rd) we went to parliament and saw where important government stuff happens. I’m not a huge fan of that so don’t ask questions, I wasn’t paying attention. The exciting part of that day was in the afternoon when we went to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was kept for 18 of his 27 years in prison. We had to read A Long Walk to Freedom and we knew about his life there. I was really excited but found the experience was semi-anti-climactic. Don’t get me wrong, it was extremely interesting and educational. I was just imagining something a little grander. Though it was a prison so I guess I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up. The island is much larger than I thought and there are huge guns on the island and our tour guide was hilarious and he did quite well for having to give a tour to a bunch of Americans. On the tour bus we met a family that was in Cape Town for a wedding and they were from Chicago. Nice people.

That night was the first night of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. It was great. I experienced every type of jazz music that night. I listened to your traditional jazz, then vocal jazz (The New York Voices), then I saw a techno-dance-jazz combo that was Goldfish. They have become quite a sensation in Langerry Flats recently, everyone has their music and have been playing it nonstop.

The next day wasn’t too exciting. I went to the South African Slave Museum and an art gallery. The museum was interesting but it got kind of long and the art gallery was just weird. I liked parts of it but a lot of it I just didn’t understand or thought was that great. I won’t even try to explain some of the pieces on display, they were just too weird.

That night was the second night of the jazz festival. My favourite band that night was 340ml. They were a rock band sort of jazz combo (it is really hard to describe some of this music, just look them up). I also saw the Kyle Eastwood Band, Maceo Parker, Rus Nerwich (I did not like him) and Mos Def. Hugh Masekela was the headliner and it was his 70th birthday so it was a huge deal. South Africa loves their Hugh.

That is the end of the Cape Town experience. When we got back to Port Elizabeth the Ironman competition was just finishing up so we cheered on the people that were still running. They either loved it or found us annoying. We started to talking to a guy from Pretoria who had just finished the race. We tried asking him how you prepare mentally for a 2 mile swim, 50 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. He said you can’t you just do it. OK. People who do that are crazy.

Next up Lesotho!!

Peace.

Update #1 (more coming very soon)

You lucky readers of my blog are going to get massive updates in the next couple of days. I’ve been super busy the last few weeks so updating has been lower on my list of priorities. I am alive, though, for those of you wondering so don’t worry anymore. Anyway, I have to remember back to what I have been doing the last few weeks.

March 21 was Human Rights Day and also ended up being a very political day, considering the elections are only a couple weeks away that make sense. We were supposed to go to an ANC rally in Uitinhage, a township a ways outside of PE. Once we got there we couldn’t find the stadium we were supposed to go to. As we were riding along, we somehow ended up in an ANC parade. It was kind of scary. People were very hyped up for that day and another situation added to the atmosphere of that day. The stadium that was supposed to hold the ANC rally was also said to be reserved by COPE, a rival party (they really don’t like each other. A few leading members of ANC didn’t like the direction the party was going and broke off, relatively recently, and formed COPE). The PE municipality, ANC run, said the ANC had rights to the stadium while COPE said the officially reserved it. The situation went all the way to the supreme courts and at 2am that morning it was decided COPE had the rights to the stadium and the ANC had to set up in a field across from it. So the rally wasn’t what it was suppose to be but it was still fun. We met a lot of people (we were the only white people there, besides the media, so people wanted to get to know us). Some in our group got in the middle of a big group of dancers. Some girls got marriage proposals. It was enjoyable but hot and after an hour or two most of us were ready to go.

Random stuff:

· I got scuba certified recently. It was really fun but I have no idea what I’m going to do with it once I get back to Minnesota. There are some funny stories associated with this so ask if you want me to tell.
· My flight home was completely changed and I had a mini meltdown before I got it fixed. I’m still coming home

I should probably tell you guys what has been going on at the AIDS Haven. There have been quite a few new kids arriving, four in all I think, in a matter of a couple weeks. One of the girls, Siki, is just a ball of energy. I don’t know if she speaks English well but she is always smiling and laughing when we are around. One day, when it was really hot, we decided to bring out the kiddie pool. That was hilarious. First of all, when the kids saw the pool they freaked out. Second, the kids started stripping down to their underwear, or nothing at all. Then, they didn’t even wait until the pool was completely filled before they jumped in. It was absolutely crazy. I’m not sure if the nurses liked it very much but we loved it. A couple weeks ago, the last time we volunteered before spring break, we took the kids out to a tea garden that had a giant playground for the kids. Things were in the shape of ambulances, pirate ships, dump trucks, castles, everything. At first the kids were really overwhelmed but eventually they got used to all stuff and had a great time. Other kids from a school came and played as well. It was nice to see the Haven kids can interact with other kids their own age that are complete strangers.

As for classes, nothing too exciting to report. I’m doing well in all of them, I hope. I am still glad I am not in the political science class (they just had a 4000 word essay due and have another one due in a couple weeks…I expect some major meltdowns). Marine biology is still as wonderful as ever even though the new prof scares me. She’s big. At least 6’3”. All my other classes are boring you really don’t want to know anything about them. If you do let me know

Well that was my quick update up to Cape Town so come back tomorrow and I’ll have it done…hopefully.

Peace.

Mini Blog Update

I just got back from the movie theater and need to tell you about the experience. We wanted to go to Slumdog Millionaire but of course it wasn’t there so we had to settle for New in Town. Now, for those of you who do not know what this movie is about I will tell you. A big time manager person in some company in Miami ends up having to go to New Ulm, Minnesota to reconfigure the plant or something like that. Well, the plot was horrible and predictable but it was hilarious. From the opening scene (an open field with a foot of blowing snow) it felt like I was back at home. Add some horrible Minnesotan accents and some Minnesota Vikings gear and you have a recipe for some obnoxious movie goers. First of all, I have no idea why this movie is in South Africa. No one here would be able to understand any of the cultural references that are in it. Second of all, besides the cultural references, the movie sucks.

There were six of us that went, we probably made up half of the people in the theater, and were probably the only ones laughing the entire time (had I seen this movie in MN I probably would not have liked it). The other people in the theater, especially the couple sitting directly in front of us, were getting really annoyed…but we really didn’t care. I consider this payback for Chili Boy in Durban (I only understood about 10% of what was going on in that play while all the locals found it hilarious). After the movie was done it felt like someone should go outside to warm up the car while the rest of us bundle up from the cold. Alas, I stepped outside into 70 degree weather and not a trace of snow. It made me sad (really it did).

This may have been a waste of time for you but I felt I should share my experience of watching a Minnesota based movie in South Africa and the hilarity (though you may not see it…it’s a ‘you have to be here’ sort of thing) that comes with it.

One thing I forgot to mention. This whole movie night cost less than $5 (includes a ticket popcorn and pop) and apparently the movies are cheaper on Wednesday nights.

Peace.

Hogsback

First off I have to say Happy Birthday to my dad. I hope he had a great day full of cake.

This last week a couple of my classes really made me think, finally. For the senior seminar class we went to a presentation in the township near the Haven where we volunteer. The presentation was given by Bradley, our tour guide from Scotia and Addo, and was about the anti-apartheid struggle in the 1980’s from the perspective of someone who was living it. The 1980’s saw a revival in unrest mainly due to the Soweto Uprising of 1976, where students protested the Bantu Education system. Riots became common place, international communities finally began to put sanctions in place against South Africa, college students (especially those in the US) were protesting. Immense pressure was being put on the South African government and they were fighting back. The townships were horrible places to live at this time. Thousands died, many more traumatized by what they saw. Bradley talked about being “colored” and living through this. He talked about making petrol bombs, being harassed by police outside of his school, and just things he saw everyday that a child shouldn’t have to go through. Hearing about this made me realize how perfect my childhood was. Kids growing up in South Africa during this time never had a normal childhood and probably won’t ever live a normal life because of the scars it left. If you think about it, many of the people running this country grew up during this time and you have to wonder what effects that has on the decisions they make. Because of where and how I was raised, I will never, no matter how hard I try, be able to understand what these people have gone through. I can just listen to what they have to say.

In my literature class the professor brought up a point that I have been noticing throughout my time here in South Africa. Apartheid may still be over but the master – slave relationship still persists. The jobs that require little skill (car guards, house cleaners, golf spotter, people who water the flowers or sell newspapers) are all done by black people. We discussed how this is because of the Bantu Education system where blacks were only taught the skills they would need to get jobs in apartheid. Education was not a necessity for blacks. The effects of this system are still being felt 15 years after apartheid and will probably affect the country for some time to come.

On Thursday we had our first lab for Marine Biology. We went to a sandy beach on Sardinia Bay and had a great time doing grunt work for some grad students. The water was absolutely freezing and I was cold for a while. On that beach I felt the strangest breezes ever. For a while the breeze was coming off the ocean and it was cold. Suddenly it would switch and becoming from the land where it would be hot, when I say a hot breeze I mean hot.

We have had a little war going on with the boys’ room next door. I’m surprised the prank wars have taken this long to get started. Someone let slip that we put some hot sauce on their toothbrushes (they apparently didn’t notice) so they came in at night and took our couch and gave us nasty green chairs. While they were out one night, we took our couch back, kept the chairs, and took their mattresses. The guys came back into our room and pretty much took all of our furniture. There is a truce now so everything is back where it was but I’m not sure how long this quiet will last.

On Friday our whole group went to Grahamstown and King Williams Town for a little lesson on the land issues that are huge in South Africa now. This is how I understand it to happen. When the Europeans came down here they began to partition the land. They gave some of the land to some of the African tribes and those who helped them. The blacks owned this land and worked it until apartheid where it was said black couldn’t own land. The government took it away and in many cases began putting residential developments on it. Now that apartheid is over the question still remains on who owns the land. Legally, the deeds to this land still are in the hands of the blacks but what do you do with those living on the land right now. Much of this land in question is farms and the white farmers are not happy with the situation. We are going to be visiting white Afrikaner farmers in the near future so I’m sure I’ll get more information then.

We also got to see Steve Biko’s house. Steve Biko is the founder of the Black Consciousness Movement. The BC was an organization that worked on empowering the black population. Apartheid had left the black population feeling as if they were inferior. BC was created to correct that. Biko is famous not only for founding this movement but also because his death was so cruel. He was, like many other political activists, was arrested and beaten while in detention. He was either being transported to or from Port Elizabeth naked in the back of a police van with nothing to eat or drink. He died before making it to his destination.

A group of us then were dropped off in Grahamstown where we proceeded to head to Hogsback. Friday night we stayed in a hostel that used to be a jail and the rooms are the old jail cells. I have to say it was a little bit scary. We headed out Saturday and drove 2 hours to Hogsback. This was the first weekend trip that did not include a beach, but it did include amazing views and great hikes. The road to Hogsback weaved in and out of the mountains. It was a foggy/misty day so it set the perfect mood for our stay at Away with the Fairies. The village of Hogsback is located up in the forest of the mountains. It is a tiny town of no more than an Inn and a few general stores and a couple cafes. This place is known for great hiking and beautiful waterfalls. We didn’t waste any time and headed out hiking right away. The best waterfall was Bridal Veil Falls, it was also the hardest to reach because the trail wasn’t marked clearly and we had to climb up a rock slide for a half hour at least. But all the trouble it took to get there was well worth it. We could get up close to these falls and got amazing pictures of it (which we hope to see on the front page of the CSB/SJU website). We got up early on Sunday to go on another hike. We probably hiked close to 7 hours in those two days on very rough terrain.

The reason so many people want to go to Hogsback is because it is the inspiration of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. It is not hard to see why. Having read the books and seen the movies it felt as if I was transported to Middle Earth. I won’t go into details but if you’ve seen the movies, these forests look exactly like that. It was amazing.

Getting back to PE was an experience. We were all exhausted and sore and didn’t feel like moving. It took us one crammed combi ride and one very hot taxi to get us to Grahamstown. From there we had to ride on a bus to PE. That was the hottest bus ride I have ever had to take. It was crowded and barely any windows were open and we all smelled so I’m sure the people we sat next to were just loving that. I don’t know if I will do that again but like I said it was an experience.

Tonight I went to my first rugby game. I watched some on TV while we were at the hostel to get in the mood for it. Rugby is my type of game. It’s fast with lots of hitting, grunting, and the occasional blood. Tonight, there was even fight that broke out, it didn’t last long but it was sweet all the same. So rugby here (at NMMU and other major universities in SA) is like Division I college football back in the states. I remember someone describing the players more as students for hire than actually students. They are athletes that come to a school to play the sport. I am really going to miss the sports here when I go back to the States.

Peace.

Durban

Sorry it has taken so long to update this blog. I have been distracted by massive amounts of reading and a group trip to Durban over the weekend. Nothing out of the ordinary happened during the week, just school, volunteering, and homework.

We had a weekend excursion to Durban with the entire group. We left on Thursday for a five-day trip. I was still plugged up from the two week cold that wouldn’t go away so the plane ride was horrible to say the least. (Funny story about me being sick. I had been coughing so much that I strained a muscle somewhere in my ribs on my left side so every time I cough it kills). The pressure just completely messed with my ears and sinuses. Thank God the ride was only an hour long, I don’t think I could have lasted much longer. The airline we took, Kulula, was great though. They slipped jokes into everything: Remember, when you exit the plane smoking and vulgar language are permitted in designated areas only. There are many ways to leave your lover but only seven ways to leave this aircraft. If we have to make a water landing remember the life vests are underneath your seats, but don’t worry we aren’t going to be near the Hudson River.

I could immediately tell when we reached Durban. The weather is much hotter and humid than in PE. Without stopping at our hostel we visited the Temple of Understanding. It was a large ornate building where they worship Krishna. I really wasn’t paying attention because I was so tired and hot so I couldn’t tell you much about what we did here except that someone in our group thinks Obama is a very good looking guy (don’t ask how that came up).

The Indian population is the second largest outside of India so it only makes sense that Indian influence is everywhere. That being said, after the Temple we watched some traditional Indian dancing with a little South African flair. I loved the dancing because it incorporated so many aspects that makes South Africa unique. The dances included traditional Indian mixed with Zulu warrior dances and contemporary dance. I had never seen anything like it before. To go along with the Indian theme we ate at a traditional Indian restaurant and had curry. I am a fan of curry but this stuff was spicy. The mild was hot and the hot was death. Good thing the dessert was amazing otherwise I would have gone to bed hungry.

The next morning I had to wake up at 5:30 because a group of us were heading out to the harbor to watch the shark nets get checked. Unfortunately we didn’t see any sharks but that doesn’t mean we didn’t have fun. The harbor is the largest in South African and the 9th largest in the world. We saw enormous cargo ships, tugboats, and even a cruise ship. When we reached the open ocean the swells were already 10 feet high and getting higher. Going over them felt like a rollercoaster though several on the boat did not share in my enthusiasm. We watched the shark crews check the nets for about an hour without seeing a shark. The view we had of Durban, though, was beautiful. The sun was just coming up and hitting the buildings lifting the fog and lighting everything up. As we were heading back to the harbor we hit one last giant swell that scared the crap out of every one of us sitting in the front of the boat. By this time those of us who had not gotten sick were getting used to going up the swells and coming back down. However, this particular swell was different. We couldn’t really tell we were coming up on the swell until we were on top of it then someone said something along the lines of “holy crap” and I looked (my back was turned away from the swells) and could see nothing. You know how on the top of the first drop on a rollercoaster you can’t see anything and all of a sudden you just drop. This was the exact same feeling only we weren’t strapped in to anything so we were all in the air for a while. I was on the edge and didn’t exactly feel like I could hold on so I fall forward and end up on my knees on the ground. It was great. We were all laughing our heads off about that swell secretly hoping we would hit another. The captain was laughing more at us then the swell. After that we had to hurry up and eat breakfast at this great restaurant that, for decorations, had knives on the ceiling. We had about 5 minutes to eat our food so I don’t think anyone tasted their food.

After the excitement of the boat trip we had to go on a 3 hour walking tour. It wasn’t much fun. The only part of the tour I did like was the Mosque. I am fascinated with world religions and love to learn about them. Our guide, an ex-protestant priest who converted to Islam 7 years ago, went into a lecture about Islam and the similarities between it and Christianity and the misconceptions most people have about Muslims. I absolutely loved it.

I have fallen in love with cricket since I have been here. On Saturday, a small group of us went to the South Africa vs. Australia 5 day test match (today was day 2). When we arrived the South African team was doing very well for a while. However, when it was there time to bat, they bombed. It wasn’t very exciting after that. This series is huge to the two countries so the South African’s complete collapse is devastating.

Saturday night involved the Bolshoi Ballet. I have always wanted to watch Russian ballet and this did not let me down. It was a medley of pieces from other ballets. We were a bunch of American students watching the Russian ballet in South Africa. It really is a small world.

Sunday was not too exciting. A group of us went hiking at the New Germany Nature Reserve. We got to see the ranger feed the python in the visitor’s center. I couldn’t watch it so I went outside. Just as I got out there the ranger came out with the mouse in a clamp thing and started banging it on the side of the building trying to stun it. Seeing that had completely ruined the purpose of me being outside in the first place. Afterwards, we went to the first Mexican restaurant I have seen in South Africa. Then we went to a comedy show at a casino. I don’t think we got more than 20% of what was being said. If I knew Afrikaans I think that number would have been a little higher.

We left early Monday morning to get back to PE. Uneventful. Boring. I did get a window seat so that made me happy. Got burnt being at the beach for 3 hours doing homework (yes I did actually do homework).

All in all it was a good weekend despite the fact that the hostel owners were pricks and couldn’t understand that owning a hostel involved housing a bunch of college students that are going to be loud and obnoxious late at night. Ok I’m done ranting.

Peace.

Bulungula

I ask you to forgive me for the length of this blog and for being a couple days late. I was at one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen the entire weekend. But before we get there on to what I’ve been doing this week…nothing. There that was easy. On to this weekend.

My weekends start at noon on Thursday after my marine biology class so I am able to travel just about anywhere in South Africa, which I have taken advantage of. This last weekend I, along with five others, went to Bulungula, a remote Xhosa village east of Port Elizabeth along the coast. First, though, I must tell you about the trip there which was an adventure in itself.
We were planning on leaving at 6:30 to pick up the rental cars. Some girls however did not get up until 6:25 so needless to say we left a little late. After we got our rental cars we hit the road. The 9 hour trip there was relatively uneventful. The N2, the main road from P.E. to Durban, is at times much like the freeway system back home, sometimes like the highway system, and at yet other places is like the back country roads in Minnesota. The scenery was beautiful as we were weaving in and out of the green hills but it completely messed up my ears and sinuses – I still have a cold. Once we got off that road though the adventure really began. After driving 40km on a potholed road that required some inventive maneuvering we turned off onto a dirt road for the last 30km. Think of the worst dirt road you have driven on in Minnesota or any other road in America. Now times that by about 100 and you have the condition of these dirt roads. We were driving two small, white cars (needless to say they did not stay white for very long). Boulders sit in the middle of the road at random points, the rain has created deep ravines that could quickly end any weekend plans if the car got stuck in it, and cows stand in middle of the road moseying on along. At one point we had to go down a hill that had a lot of exposed rock and the car in front of us was on three wheels at one point. Somehow we made it to a small village where we stopped at a store and hung out with the locals and had a dance-off with (the white kids lost). But we still had to get to the final parking spot. Eventually we did make it. We still had to hike 3.5km to the lodge. It was getting dark at this point and this road was even worse than the one we drove over so the going was a little treacherous. At one point I completely miscalculated the width of a stream and got mud everywhere but we did all make it safe to the lodge in one way or another.

Bulungula Lodge is located in a remote Xhosa village (if you couldn’t tell by the description of the trip there) where the Xhosa community owns a large part of the lodge and organizes all of the activities available. It is located directly on the Indian Ocean and Xhora River. Our rooms were traditional Xhosa huts painted in crazy colors and designs with the only lighting being a candle in the middle of the room.

This place is so beautiful. I look one way and it looks like a tropical Ireland with its rolling green hills. I look the other way and I have a perfect view of the Xhosa village reminding me I am in Africa. Words and pictures really do not do this place justice. It is something that needs to be experienced.

Saturday I thought I woke to something crawling up my leg. We left the door open so it seemed logical only I didn’t want to know what it was so I didn’t look. I decided to canoe the Xhora River with a couple of other girls I travelled with that day. Our guide didn’t speak English but we communicated well enough to have a great time. Hiking there was intense and much more difficult than the actual canoeing was. After canoeing we stopped at the community restaurant, which is just a hut that makes crepes. It was great food and much needed after our workout.
One thing I have to say about this place. Animals just roam around this village and the geese and roosters are crazy. The roosters woke me up at 6 and the geese squawk at random times and chase each other, quite entertaining actually. The views we saw on the canoe outing were just absolutely amazing and I couldn’t believe I was in such a beautiful place.

After that we went swimming and I almost got killed by a wave, again. I can see the huge waves coming only my mind goes blank when it comes to diving under the wave and I get rattled a bit. That has happened way too many times and I’m determined to never let it happen again…but it will. Can’t say I’m getting sick of the ocean, though.

I took a nice walk along the beach and within 5 minutes I was the only person on the beach (don’t worry parents this place was perfectly safe). The ocean, the each, the scenery, everything was amazing. I know I said J-Bay was a paradise, but so is this in such a different way. J-Bay is a tourist town. Bulungula is Xhosa village with little modern amenities. There you don’t have to worry about the crime that is found in any other part of SA. The only thing I had to worry about was not stepping on cow poop or tripping over a crazy goose.

Saturday night some of us decided to head out to the beach to see the stars (I had never seen so many stars in my life – the closest city was probably 50 miles away, at the closest). Eventually the clouds rolled in and we couldn’t see anything so we decided to head out onto the rocks. The tide was at its lowest point and within the rocks we could see crabs, fish, and other cool little creatures. That probably wasn’t the greatest idea. After about 5 minutes of walking over the rocks it begins to downpour. Within seconds we are soaked and we only have two headlamps among the 6 of us so getting back to lodge took a while. The rest of that night was cold and wet.

The return trip was much of the same only worse because we got stuck a few times in the wet roads so I won’t bore you with that. That was my amazing adventure. I will try to have pictures of the trip up ASAP.

Peace.

Addo and Other Things

The good thing about this trip, everyone is getting so close. The bad thing, everyone is so close. A cold seems to be making its way around and around our group. I’m on my second round, this time it is accompanied by an ear infection, I am not looking forward to the next couple of days. Besides being sick this week has been a pretty good one.

On Sunday we all went to Addo Elephant National Park and Scotia Game Reserve to finally see wild (or as wild as we are going to manage to see) African animals. We had to get up early to catch a bus that would take us to the parks. Our tour guide, Bradley, was absolutely amazing. He knew information about everything we were passing: townships, dinosaur fossils, plants, elephants, everything. Hands down, the best tour guide I’ve ever had. Anyway, at Addo we stayed in the bus and drove around keeping our eyes out for animals. The dung beetles are absolutely huge and illegal to run over with your car in the park. We did see an elephant. It was an exciting time. Everyone rushed over to the right side of the bus, hung out the windows, and tried to get a decent shot of the animal (considering its head was in a bush I don’t think anyone got a great shot.

After Addo we headed over to Scotia. By this point it had been raining off and on the entire day and I was expecting four hours of sitting in an open aired jeep being poured on by the rain, freezing cold and wet. Well, that is what happened but it turned out to be one of the best times I’ve had here. We were promised a lion sighting and did not have to wait long. Ten minutes after our tour got started we spotted a lion sitting under a bush attempting to get relief from the rain. The lion was no more than 10 meters from our jeep and I could get pretty good pictures of it. My favorite animal we saw that day was the giraffe. Right after break to thaw out, we spotted three giraffes and were able to drive right in the middle of them and later saw a couple more. We were able to get really close to them and they didn’t seem to mind our presence. Rhinos, zebras, wildebeest, impala, and hippos rounded out the other animals we saw.
After the actual safari part of our tour we got to eat a great dinner at extra large tiki hut like complex (I really can’t explain it very well). There were a couple of large fire pits that could easily fit 20 people around it. A cooking pit was situated in that general are as well. A bar and all the tables (at least 30) were surrounding all of this. We were able to warm up, dry off (we were absolutely soaking by this time in the day), and just have a great time sitting around and talking.

Monday was our first official day of volunteering. I decided on the House of Resurrection, an AIDS Haven. When we got there we went to the kid’s room and there they began jumping on us, screaming, begging to be picked up. The little boy that came to me first was Joseph. He is four years old, HIV positive, as are all but a few of the kids at the Haven, and have been at the Haven since he was a few months old. That first day I think I held Joseph for at least half the time (2 hours). I was expecting to be extremely sore the next day, but it wasn’t too bad. By the end of the volunteering I am going to have very toned arms. We went back on Tuesday and were all exhausted by the end.

For other random happenings this week I went to another Warriors cricket game, I dropped the political science class for the music class, and the entire group wore our NMMU International polo shirts to class on Tuesday. Tuesday was also the first potluck of the semester. The theme was Minnesota and tatertot hotdish and green bean casserole were served along with jello and buns. It reminded me of home.

We don’t have classes on Friday so the weekend starts whenever we are done on Thursday, for me that is 12:00 on Thursday. That meant an extra-long weekend and the weather looked perfect. On Friday the weather was perfect for the beach. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, it was hot and zero wind, the water was refreshing and the waves were “gnarly.” I couldn’t have asked for a better day. That night we had a braai. Boris decided to cook Serbian dinner for all of us and grilled meat and made potato salad among other things. It was absolutely delicious. I do not ever have to worry about going hungry on this trip.

Last night was a blast. Simon is in the orchestra here and last night was the concert in the park. The music was pretty good. It alternated between classical and modern pieces. The soloists, a saxophonist and vocalist, were amazing, the saxophone player especially. We had promised Simon that we would get people dancing. We sort of failed at that but our group was jamming out, especially during the last few songs. When you hear “I Will Survive” you can’t just sit around. People started singing and somehow we all ended up line dancing to it. Just imagine 20 people standing in a grassy opening line dancing (if people had been wondering where we were from, that answered it). A little girl came and started dancing with us. The encore song “Walking on Sunshine” got the attention of a lot of people around us. People around us had been noticing our little dance party and by this song there were at least 4 people taking pictures and dozens more looking on at the crazy Americans. The ride back in the taxi was just about as fun. We were singing songs from our middle school years and I was surprised at how many songs we remembered. The driver loved it and was laughing the whole time. We are filling the role of the loud Americans quite well.

F.Y.I. Flickr won’t let me upload any pictures until the first of the month so if you want to see pictures I’ll be putting them on Facebook for a while.

Peace.

Taxi Strikes to J-Bay Bay

This week has been an interesting one to say the least. It begins with a taxi strike and ends with an amazing trip to Jeffrey’s Bay, includes a bit of internet drama and attacking monkeys.
On Monday morning we were suppose to head to Pendla Primary School, one of the places we are planned to volunteer at, for a welcoming ceremony. Unfortunately, that was the first day of a taxi strike and the private taxi’s we use wouldn’t run for safety concerns. From what I’ve heard, the taxi’s and combi’s are striking because the city plans to replace them with a bussing system in the next few years and people are obviously not happy about that. It has caused a lot of headaches. So after waking up at 6:30 to get ready to go to Pendla we all had to chill in the flats until 9:30 and then get shuttled to NMMU so we could get our cards activated so we could go to the computer labs on campus. However, the system was down and we couldn’t get them done. So then I had to wait until 11:45 to get picked up to head back to the flats. Monday was a very confusing day to say the least.

My first day of actual classes was on Tuesday with my Senior Seminar class only because the strike was still going on we held it in the church across the street. Wednesday the strike was continuing and yet again we had to be shuttled to NMMU for classes (I had Community Service Learning and South African Literature). This was also my first run-in with the dreaded monkeys that seem to haunt the campus. Everywhere you look are signs that say “Don’t Feed the Monkey’s” and “Beware of Biting Monkey’s” or something along those lines. Someone from our group was eating an apple when all of a sudden six monkeys began stalking her. Apparently all students are afraid of the monkeys; I saw a guy throw his bag at one and it still wouldn’t leave him alone. Thursday involved more monkeys and my favorite class, Marine Biology, and my most hated class that I have transferred out of, South African Politics.

So a big drama that is happening right now involves the internet. At the flats we get pretty good internet but we have to pay for it ($6/hr), or there is an internet café about a mile away ($2.50/hr), or the crappy school internet that is free but incredibly slow and all we can do on it is check our school e-mail (Facebook is completely out of the question). It is really frustrating because our director thinks the only means of communication we need with home is the e-mail. He doesn’t seem to understand that Facebook is the main means of communication for students these days. Also, attaching photos to email is incredibly annoying and takes up way too much time, using Facebook or another photo sharing site works perfectly; but he doesn’t seem to get that at the moment. The situation has gotten so out of hand that people are thinking of contacting CSB/SJU to discuss why internet is so difficult to get down here. Other study abroad programs don’t have this problem; China, for example, only had to pay $5/month for unlimited, serviceable internet access. What most of us are worried about is how we are going to be able to use the internet when we have to write papers and do research. It really has become a huge problem.

Most of the group took our first free weekend and had the most amazing time EVER!!! We headed out to Jeffrey’s Bay Friday morning (we don’t have classes on Fridays) and we got back Saturday evening. Jeffrey’s Bay is paradise. That is all I can say about it, do a Google image search on Jeffrey’s Bay and you will get an idea of what I’m talking about. The town itself has a ton of surf shops, and a lot of factory shops. Billabong, Quicksilver, Lizzard, Roxy, all had factory shops there and everything was super cheap. We stayed at a backpackers place called Island Vibe. Imagine a surfer’s hangout, hostel, tiki bar, tropical island all rolled into one and you have Island Vibe. The Bay is world famous for its surfing and this hostel caters to every surfer’s dream, cheap rooms right on the ocean, packed with awesome people who want to do nothing but eat, sleep, and surf. I didn’t get good pictures of the place but you can bet we will be going back there a few times. The room I stayed in had a patio that overlooked the ocean, as did pretty much all the other rooms we had. It looked more like a hotel than a hostel (and it only cost $12.50 a night!). Surprisingly, though, I didn’t go surfing. Surf lessons were in the morning, we got there too late and today the weather wasn’t cooperating (it rained all day). But I did go sand boarding. Sand boarding is basically like snowboarding on sand. I got sand everywhere but I had an amazing time. The dunes opened up to the ocean so the view was to die for. Some people I went with had some nasty wipeouts that they will be feeling for a while, but decided not to try anything to advanced. Definitely going to be doing that again.

On the way back from Jeffrey’s Bay those in the car I was in, Colleen, Nakita, Laura, Jenny, Simon, and I went to Sea View, a drive-thru place where you can see wild animals in their “natural” habitat. I don’t like going to zoos because seeing animals in cages pacing in circles is extremely sad to me, this was only marginally better. We also could pet lion cubs, which was fun to see. Simon and Nakita decided to pet the 11 month old cubs. These animals should not even be allowed to be called cubs, they were huge. They clawed and bit at Simon and Nakita, and they have flesh wounds to prove it. There are also medium sized cubs and baby cubs that we can play with. When we go back I plan on cuddling with the baby’s.

Tomorrow we are going on a safari, finally. I have spent over two weeks in Africa and the only wildlife I’ve seen are some birds and a few Kudu and semi tamed lions at Sea View. I want to get up close to the wild lions, elephants, giraffes, and zebra. You can bet there are going to be massive amounts of pictures from that.

Check out my updated flickr page: www.flickr.com/photos/gearman22

Peace.

The Real PE

By the end of this trip I am going to have tried every type of boarding possible down here: surf boarding, boogie boarding, sand boarding. The other day it was skim boarding. I have some nice pictures up on flickr at my poor attempt skimming. I apparently don’t have good enough balance for it and it can be quite painful if you fall. Anyway, that was just one more fun thing I did at the beach this last week. I think that was also the last time I went to the beach (I’ve been avoiding the sun so my sunburn can heal before I burn again). My sunburn is pretty much gone but now it is peeling like none other. I will save you the gross description and just say that the peeling and itching are about as bad as the burning was.

There is this really cute place to eat called Tiffany’s and their slogan is Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Every time I go there I get the song stuck in my head (since I’ve only been there once it hasn’t been a huge problemJ). One thing I am really excited about here that I’m sure most people don’t care about but I am extremely excited about is running outside. I was under the impression that it would be too dangerous to run or it isn’t a common thing so people would give me a funny look running past but that isn’t the case. Right outside the flats is a beach front boardwalk that is a runner’s paradise. It curves along with the coast line; it has all the advantages of running on the beach minus the sand in the shoes. I’ll have to take some pictures of my route so you can see what I’m talking about.

Starting on Tuesday we began our orientation at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. The first thing we did was check out the school and get registration sorted out so we could actually take classes. Then we had to listen to some academic lecture, most of which didn’t apply to my study abroad group so I basically zoned out the entire time. We also went to a mall, and it felt like I was back in St. Cloud. During this time I had what I have named the 24 hour cold (the best kind possible if you ask me). I had coughing and sneezing attacks, I couldn’t stay awake, and I felt like crawling in a corner and sleeping for days on end. But 12 hours of sleep later and I was perfectly fine. Can’t say I’ve ever gotten over a cold that fast in my life but I guess a warm tropical climate is the best place to have a cold.

Continuing with our orientation we got to see the real Port Elizabeth, not just the swanky tourist areas we have been experiencing. Thursday we went with other international students from NMMU on a tour around PE while on Friday just the CSB/SJU students went to the AIDS Haven where half of us will be volunteering.

The first stop on the tour was the Port Elizabeth harbor. We learned a bit of the importance the harbor has on the existence of PE (basically PE wouldn’t exist without it). After that we went to the Red Location museum. The Red Location is a township near PE and the museum was built recently in the township to commemorate those that fought apartheid. There was also an exhibit on the massacre in Uitenhage (I think) that took place on the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre. If you have any interest in civil rights research these topics, they are very interesting.

What caught my attention, however, was not the beautiful museum but its position among the shacks of the township. The museum itself is built to look like a factory from the outside (to symbolize the workers of the township and their livelihoods or something along those lines). The inside has the feel of an open warehouse and corrugated tin enclosures rise to the ceiling and house more exhibits. However, 50 meters outside the doors, tiny shacks of scrap wood and plastic being held together by string and wire that look as if a sudden gust of wind could knock them to the ground spread over the vast landscape. Seeing the contradiction that is the museum and the shacks together is a bit difficult to understand.

We drove around the townships for a while after that. Some were in better working order than others with houses made of brick, stone, or concrete. These dwellings looked more permanent but not much more stable than the wood shacks. Hair salons popped up ever few hundred meters. They were housed in cargo containers (the ones found on cargo ships). Seeing the doctor and dentists’ offices made me wonder who uses them, who can afford to use them. Most of the people living in the area can’t afford enough food to eat, let alone medical expenses. And I did see a lot more sick people in the townships. Many people walked with heavy limps or had to be dragged from place to place. Malnutrition, I’m sure, is rampant in the townships as well. The amount of garbage in the townships is startling as well. We literally turned a corner and we must have crossed an invisible boarder. Plastic bags and all other types of garbage just sit there. It is not a life I can see anyone living.

After seeing that I had a bit of a culture shock. Driving out of the townships we took a round-about way to where we were going to eat (the mall, of course) and drove past the new soccer stadium being built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup taking place in SA (everyone in SA is excited about this in an obsessive way, it’s pretty cool. I can get more information on this if anyone wants it, just let me know). And our final stop on the tour was the city center surrounded by beautiful old buildings that looked more at home in Old World France or Italy and not in the middle of an African city.

This morning it was the AIDS Haven. It is larger than I thought it was housing at least 13 children and 5 infants, I think there’s more but I can’t be too sure I’m still getting used to the accents here. For those who will be volunteering here, we will get matched up one-on-one with a child and help them with their reading and get them ready to attend primary school in a year or two.

The matron of the Haven told us that 90% of the children they care for are HIV positive. The stories we were told about how the children came to be at the Haven are just heartbreaking. Some have lost both of their parents to AIDS and had no where else to go, I can understand that. But the stories that go me were the ones of abandonment. Some mothers can’t handle the fact that their child is HIV positive so they leave them at the hospital with a fake address. The hospital is forced to bring the child to a place like the Haven and the child never sees their mother or father again. Some mothers don’t even know if their child has HIV or not, they just assume they do and abandon them as well, only sometimes it turns out the child does not have HIV. One specific story I remember the matron telling us was about a set of twins. One twin was strong and healthy while the other was weak and sick. The mother decides to take the strong one and abandon the weak, believing it is going to die soon anyway.

I don’t understand how a mother can do this. How desperate or hopeless does the situation have to be for a mother to abandon the child she has carried for nine months? Are the bonds connecting the mother and child different here? I hope not. I don’t think I will ever be able to understand why people are able to do this regardless of how long I stay here.

Onto a more upbeat note I attended my first cricket match. I watched a few hours of cricket on TV to try to understand it but I was still semi lost for the first half. If you ask me about the finer points I won’t be able to tell you much but when it comes to the general information, I got it down. Cricket is much like baseball where it is slow moving with a few moments of excitement. The last half hour was really exciting to watch because the home team was not doing so hot but came back to win. They have now advanced to the semifinals. And the people here are crazy about cricket so you can just imagine how loud the stadium was.

Peace.

Minnesota Nice meets Port Elizabeth Friendly

Okay, so the only part of Port Elizabeth I have met with any regularity has been the ocean and the Friendly Seven Eleven (I have had to go there on a number of occasions because I keep remembering things I forgot). But, to my great relief, people here actually smile and say hi to you, instead of giving you the deathstare.

The ocean is amazing, cold at times, but amazing. Living across the street from the beach means I can go over and swim or just lounge around whenever I feel like, and so far I have taken advantage of that. The other day I learned how to body surf. I could not get the hang of it for hours and it started to drive me nuts. I caught maybe two waves in the first two hours I tried it. But to make up for the lack of wave action I met this one older lady named Shirley, who was also body surfing. I started talking to her and learned about her life (which was incredible). Later that day we went body surfing at another beach and it was much easier. The waves were bigger, they came faster. But I am feeling the price I have to pay for having so much fun outside. My back feels like someone held a blowtorch to it. I thought I put on enough sunscreen on but apparently not. Three days later and I’m still hurting really bad. I know I’ll be feeling this one for a while.

Yesterday, me and few others checked out the Boardwalk, the entertainment center in the tourist part of Port Elizabeth. A lot of crafts stores, cafes, a casion and movie theater. I had the best tasting pizza at a small café (so much for trying out the local cuisine, huh? ). So, the infamous Toby Joe’s, a club about a couple blocks from our flats, is closing. This club is extremely popular among past South Africa study abroad participants. It is not my scene whatsoever, but I had fun, for a while at least. I enjoyed the people watching more than anything else.

Today there was a markt that took up much of the beach boardwalk right across the street from the flat. Think of it as Art in the Park – African style. I was not much up for buying anything so I just looked around and saw a lot of intricate carvings, paintings, and some amazing beadwork. I am absolutely in love with the artwork here, I just hope I have enough room to bring everything home with me.

What I am finally beginning to realize is how luck I am to be here. It’s like living in paradise. All my family and friends are stuck in the middle of a Minnesota winter while I’m heading to the beach whenever I feel like it and eating supper on a patio overlooking the ocean as the sun is setting. It can’t get much better than this. I can already tell the time is going to go by too fast. I’m going to make the most of my time here.

Just uploaded some photos. Check them out on my flickr account.

I Made It!!

But I am extremely tired. Our plane got into Port Elizabeth at 7:30 this morning but it felt like it should be late afternoon and considering I only got a few hours of sleep on the plane rides, it is safe to say I am a little out of it right now. The plane rides themselves were uneventful but they passed quickly enough thanks to a good book and movies. But I have one bad thing to say about planes, the food sucks. No matter how hard they try to make it good, it's a lost cause. I can honestly say I really don't know much about what happened in the airports except that there was a lot of waiting and the Amsterdam airport makes you feel stupid if you are late for a plane but they are nice about it, Johannasburg...not so much.

Once we got picked up from the airport we went directly to our flats and the view is better than I even anticipated (I'll try to get a picture(s) up soon once I get better internet). Even though Melissa (one of my roommates) and I are not in the flat with a direct ocean view, the balcony off of our room has a great view of the ocean (its the Indian Ocean for all of those wondering). I plan on spending as much time out there as possible. The weather is a welcome change. Port Elizabeth is a very windy city but it is still warm out. Wearing shorts outside and not freezing is a wonderful feeling that can only be fully appreciated after going through below zero temps for weeks. Anyway, I got off course, we were taken to the grocery store to get food after dumping our bags into our rooms. We had not time to prepare so you can only imagine the confusion of trying to figure out everything you need to eat in a short amount of time. We hit the town after this, which basically consited of walking up and down the walk by our flats, nothing too exciting.

Not a whole lot else going on that would be of any interest to read. I'll update again probably when orientation or school starts so don't expect anything in the next week. And I'll make sure the next post doesn't sound so scatter brained :)

Peace.