Cape Town!

On Friday I flew to Cape Town with three of the other Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars from Jo’burg for an orientation conference. The conference included all of the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars in southern Africa as well as a few African outbound scholars. I had been really excited about this opportunity both because I was really excited about getting to visit Cape Town and the chance to meet all of the other scholars. It turns out that this year’s South African scholars are mostly Americans with a few other nationalities here and there, including German and Swiss. We gathered at the Mountain Manor Backpackers Lodge at the base of Table Mountain and began the day with a light lunch. Lunch was a treat because it was brought by the Cape Town scholars of which my friend Jon David is one, and it was great to see him after a few weeks—we both had lots of stories to tell about getting settled in. Before we got started, some of us did some exploring and found this wonderful mural:

After lunch and socializing we went to the Cape Regional Chamber of Commerce for a talk about the South African economy. Here are some highlights: 70% of Africa’s electricity is produced in South Africa; Gauteng Province (where Jo’burg is located) makes up 34% of SA’s GDP; Cape Town gets 1.6 mil visitors/year; SA has a 25% unemployment rate; Namibia is 85% dependent on the SA economy; SAPP, the South African Paper and Pulp company, supplies much of the US’s paper supply.

The day culminated with a walk up Lion’s Head, which is across from Table Mountain. To get you oriented, here are a few pictures.

Table Mountain--see, it looks like a table!

Cape Town from the base of Lion's Head

Table Mountain from Lion's Head

The bay and more of CT from Lion's Head

Me and Jon David climbing Lion's Head. Who took this picture and didn't tell us that Jon David's eyes were closed?! Shame.

A parasailing trip we saw as we hiked up Lion's Head. Jon David and I put that on "the list" for when I come to visit. Katie and Mommy, should we put that on your list?

The entire group in the cave at the top, drinking champagne. Thanks, Trevor!

We climbed up the peak and had champagne and snacks in a cave near the top. We then began our descent to the surprise drum circle Trevor Wilkins (the illustrious coordinator of the weekend) had planned for us. We played drums and generally had a good time while the sun set in front of us over the Atlantic Ocean (yes, I thought about you all so far away!)

Drumming with our drum master--getting "crazy like him"

The entire group drumming with Table Mountain in the background

Next was dinner at Trevor and Liz’s, which was lovingly prepared by Liz. It was wonderful, and a great chance for us to chat with some new friends. Ben (Ole Miss) and I spent our evening describing to Aadila (South African outbound to San Diego) the Southern fascination with football. We decided that she probably just needs to marry a “footballer.” She was excited to hear about the customs and wants to come see it in person when we return to the states. I don’t think I’ll take her to a BSC game…but maybe Ben or Jon David can take her to Ole Miss or UA.

The following day was a long day of meetings about Rotary. We learned a lot about the programs with which we can be involved, what our finances will be, what Rotary’s expectations of scholars are, etc. It was a generally informative and very interesting day. I thought you might like to know a little about the SA legal system (which is only 12 years old), so here are some interesting points: there is a Constitution much like ours, a Constitutional Court, and a house of Parliament; abortion, gay marriage, and felon suffrage are legal while corporal punishment and capital punishment are not; and only 2% of prisoners in SA are women! During dinner on this day, we had yet another chance to explain the South to our friend Bianca who will travel from Namibia to Houston for her Rotary year. She was so confused about the white clothing rule. Anyone know a good reason for that other than “just because”?

Ilya, Elliot, Lisa, Ursula, Ashley, Charlotte, and Priya enjoying "sundowners" at the Royal Cape Yacht Club

Our final day in Cape Town began with a dragon boat race—this is exactly what it sounds like—along the Victoria and Alfred (V&A) Waterfront. We even saw seals!! You can imagine where my focus was…Here are some pictures of that event.

I'm in the purple shirt. If you look carefully you can see the dragon painted on the side of the boat.

Here's a better view!

Aren't I cute? And doesn't Ilya look scary?!

We're saying "winners," but that was a total lie. Sorry, Christopher.

Next we drove out to Stellenbosch to the Rustenberg Wine Estate whose dairy herd is attended to by Trevor’s son-in-law. The estate had a beautiful English garden of which I promise to post pictures once I receive them. We drank wine and had a braai (South African barbecue) and generally enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Check it out.

Aadilah (Durban), Lisa, and Amy (Houston, TX) at the Wine Estate. You can't see the dead cow in the background, which is good, but I still felt I needed to tell you about it.

The entire scholars group

Next we traveled out to Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden for a concert on the green. Kirstenbosch is located at the foot of Table Mountain. Pictures of that to come. Afterward, the group was hungry and we headed out to Primi for a pizza dinner. Elliot (CT scholar) and I shared the Austin Powers pizza (yeah, baby) and discussed our plans for the year. Primi serves long island iced teas in teapots—what a great idea! I always think I should go into the restaurant business…This was a great way to wrap up the weekend and talk with all of our new-found friends. We now all have somewhere to stay no matter what city we visit, and people to take care of who will be going to San Diego and Houston! It was a great, celebratory event and wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work of Liz and Trevor Wilkins and several other key Rotarians. We were so blessed!

Today I return to the real world of school and work. Maybe by tomorrow I’ll have caught up on my sleep from the weekend and can begin to get some good work done (my dad’s email signature rings in my head—“now get back to work!”).

Love to you all and to your families and friends. Know that I miss you and love you. Would love to see some pictures of all of you—even if they’re boring! Oh, and happy belated birthday to Stephanie and early birthday to Peter Ward and Lynn Miles! Lynn, make Gail take you out somewhere fun.

My Traitor's Heart

I just finished reading an extremely honest book that I'd like to recommend to all of you looking for a good read and thinking, "there must be some way for me to catch up with my South African history and knowledge." It's called My Traitor's Heart, and it is written by Rian Malan, descendant of former Prime Minister D.F. Malan.

The Malan family are Afrikaners, and so Rian's understanding of South Africa is filtered through an inevitably supremacist ideology. D.F. Malan was the first Nationalist Prime Minister, a member of the entirely-Afrikaner party. He was one of the first and "best" architects of apartheid, a strong believer in socialist and Calvinist world order--in his own view. Says D.F. Malan of the then-future of South Africa and apartheid, "Socialism has done an invaluable service to humanity, and not the least to Christianity itself, by turning its searchlights on the evils of the existing system. We hope and pray that Christianity and socialism may be so guided in their future development that the deep yearning, the widespread movements, and even the passions and the violence of the age may prove to be but the birthpangs of a better social world." Wow. A better social world through the oppression of the masses. In great honesty, many white South Africans will tell you that while the world might not have been better under apartheid, it was much certainly easier. Everyone was given a place in society and there existed an easily-defined code of conduct for every individual based on his or her race.

Rian Malan discusses his evolution as a liberal Afrikaaner who did not believe in the apartheid system and eventually moved to the States in order to avoid being drafted into an army with whose motives he didn't agree. After his return to South Africa, he was forced to face his paradox--the idea that he "loved" blacks, but could never truly "trust" blacks, due to his upbringing. He discusses this as the ideological problem central to most whites in South Africa--a want to love and an disability, though maybe not an inability, to trust. He grew up in scary times--the 1970s and 1980s when apartheid was at its worst and most violent. Here is a quote from one of my favorite parts of the book:

"In 1510, Portuguese Viscount D'Almeida came in peace, but the sight of his white skin and strange vessel struck terror in the hearts of Hottentots on the shores of Table Bay, so they killed him, and we've been slaughtering one another in fear ever since. Dawid Malan and the Xhosa slaughtered one another along the Great Fish River for sixty years, and then the Boers trekked into the interior, where they ran into the mighty Zulus. The Voortrekker leader Piet Retief approached the Zulu king Dingaan under a white flag, but Dingaan feared him, and murdered him and all his party. The Afrikaners never forgot Dingaan's treachery. After that, we always shot before we saw the whites of black eyes, and then, in 1948, we invented apartheid, to keep blacks so far away that we couldn't see them at all.
"At one point in the fifties, Nelson Mandela's ANC was willing to settle for sixty seats in the white Parliament. The Afrikaners feared black domination, though, and thought they could keep blacks down forever, so they spurned Mandela's humble demands and tried to crush his movement. Three decades later, Botha had second thoughts, and extended a tentative hand of friendship across the racial divide. By then, blacks were also contaminated by fear and hatred, so they struck his hand away, and we spiraled on down toward mutual annihilation. We always seemed to miss each other in the murk of our mutually baffling cultures and our mutually blinding fears."

Being from the Southern U.S., I understand this paradox. I can feel it in most of the interactions I have with people of other races. I hate the paradox, and yet can't always let it go, no matter how hard I try. Likewise, I know many who see the paradox from the other side around. We all have been brought up in such a way that we now have a want to love and a disability to trust. I am thankful to have found a book that put my difficulty into words in such an eloquent way.

This is a great and compelling read--you should easily find it on Amazon, if you're interested.

I promised pictures of my apartment, and here they are. Imagine that you're walking in the door, and I'm giving you the tour.

My kitchenette, on the left of the entrance.


Bathroom on the right. Don't you like my shower curtain and orange bath mat? And me in the mirror...


Pantry on the right after the bathroom.


Kitchen table and bulletin board next to the kitchenette.

I figured you'd wonder what was on my kitchen table. It's a Kenyan kikoy used as a tablecloth and a Madagascan placemat on top of that, both from Lynne and Peter. Here's a closer view.

And here is a really close view of the stitching. All of the stitching is done by hand--we have art like this in South Africa--and it depicts rural life in Africa. In this image you can see a woman carrying a baby and a basket and a man sitting on a rock.

My bed, to the right after the bathroom. Isn't the comforter that Lynne and I picked out beautiful? And I found pillows to match! Of course, the Africa map is there to stay--as usual! It is quickly acquiring new Xs. Sadly, Paris is the only European city I've visited which isn't included on this map. Otherwise, my entire travel experiences could be seen by the Xs on this map.

There is also a desk in this room, but suffice to say that I was too embarrassed to show it in its current state.

This weekend was a lot of fun, but mostly running around. Ursula and I went to Rosebank Mall on Saturday to pick up a few essentials and get our hair cut. I don't have a picture, but it's just shorter. It always looks essentially the same, anyway. Rosebank is large with around 100+ shops and is much like the Summit meets the Galleria with outside and inside shop entrances. While we were there we found this lovely street performer who painted himself pink and then would dance for a few rand. Ursula gave him a few and is obviously impressed.



Here he is dancing:



After Rosebank, we went out to Melville with Tamlynn, a Rotarian in my host club who is 23, as well. She's a lot of fun. Melville is essentially the 5 Points of Johannesburg--lots of bars and trendy restaurants. Some of the restaurants voted best in Jozi are in Melville, and it happens to be only a 5 minute car ride away from campus. So, we went to a bar called Cool Runnings which has quite the Rasta feel (obviously). We hung out and talked and had a generally good time.

Sunday I went to the Catholic church on campus with my Zimbabwean friends Janet and Pascalia. The service was very traditionally Catholic, but with the African tradition of processing to the front to give your offering. I love it! Janet and Pascalia are sweet and live on either side of my hall. They said that at home, their service would have included lots more singing, some dancing, and a lot of drumming. I was sort-of disappointed because there was no choir--sad. I'm going to have to look harder for a church with a choir. As my mother rightly pointed out, I haven't been not in a choir since I was 7!

After church, we hung out with Keegan, an old Ambassadorial Scholar for a while. Then, sadly, I had to study a little. It was brightened, though, by company of my friend Elizabeth who is from Botswana. Elizabeth lives at Wits full-time to get her diploma, but has taught in Botswana for years and leaves behind a 14, 10, and 4 year old. She misses them a lot. We decided to walk down the street to get some airtime for her phone and ended up walking past a man begging for change in the road. He looked terribly physically disabled and had great difficulty walking. As we walked back past, however, we saw him standing erect and walking normally out of the view of the oncoming cars. I was so disappointed by this! There are lots of people in Joburg who beg, and most of them because they are truly destitute. I was so disappointed that this person would be willing not only to exploit being destitute, but also to exploit those who really are disabled and do need help. Elizabeth said it best--"what a moron." How sad.

I got to experience an interesting phenomenon from a distance. We had a soccer match on campus between the Wits Clever Boys and the Kaiser Chiefs. Apparently there had been some violence the last time the Chiefs played, so they didn't sell many tickets, so we missed out on that. Regardless, it was quite an extravaganza from what we could see walking by. Everyone dresses in team colors and brings or buys at the game a large trumpet-esque instrument called a Vuvuzela. You can hear vuvuzelas from miles around!! (Side-note, our campus newspaper is called the Vuvuzela, as well. Almost like calling it the Bugle, I think.) There were women with braiis (barbecues) all around selling chicken and cold drinks to the revelers. I think there were around 5,000 people at the game, and there would have been more except that tickets were limited. Anyway, next time we will have to attend a soccer match. Sadly, the Chiefs won. Then again, when you have violent fans, you want their team to win, huh?

Today's class is Human Rights (wooo!!). Then tonight I think I'll open my cheap bottles of South African wine. Do I mean cheap wine, you ask? No, but SA wine is much cheaper than at home, and usually much better. What a deal.

A day in the life

If you haven't yet seen pictures, I posted them yesterday, so start from the bottom and then return to this post.

I realized that I haven't filled you in on a lot of the basics with my life here. So, here we go:

In the mornings I awaken at around 6:30 or 7 to the sound of the Hadada Ibis:

Ursula says they look like they're from Alice in Wonderland, and they do. I'm sorry there's not a point of reference for its size, but it's usually about 1 1/2 feet tall when standing. The feathers have a sheen to them that is really pretty. Unfortunately, they also call REALLY loudly "haaaa haaa haaaaa" very early in the morning and very late at night. This makes sleeping in difficult.

So, I awaken around 6:30 and realize that I am sweating a little. We don't have A/C (air con, as they call it here), so some mornings are better than others. I then shower and read for a while. Right now I'm working on My Traitor's Heart by Rian Malan. More on that when I finish it later this weekend! I then eat my breakfast of cereal (granola called Muesli with grains, almonds, and cashews), milk, and a banana. We finish the morning with a cup of Five Roses tea with sugar and milk. I'm becoming very British, yes?

After my breakfast ritual, I go down to the computer lab to update you and respond to your emails. I am really enjoying the freedom to do that! I then waste away the rest of the morning reading or playing guitar and then fix myself some lunch. The rest of the day is usually filled with errands. For example, the queue to buy notebooks is more than 15 people long every time I pass the bookstore. You can imagine that nothing gets done very quickly.

Class begins each day at 3:30 and lasts until 5:30. On Tues. and Thurs., I also have Sotho (say sootoo) class from 6-8. I will begin that course Tues. Sotho is the second most spoken language in South Africa and the official language of the Kingdom of Lesotho, one of two countries enveloped by South Africa. My friend Isaac who is from Lesotho is really excited about me learning to speak Sotho. No, there are no clicks in Sotho, but I'm sure I'll pick up some Zulu while I'm here, so don't worry.

After class, I'm totally exhausted, so I return to my room and make dinner. After dinner, a cup of tea is again required, this time as a stimulant to keep me up to a decent hour. I know it sounds lame, but you have to imagine that I spend most of my day walking outside in 30+ degree Centigrade weather in a city that has the same altitude as Denver. My lungs aren't quite adjusted yet.

Evenings are filled with reading and guitar and now scrapbooking, as my stuff from Turkey/Greece/Rome arrived in the mail yesterday. I now just have to figure out how to get pictures printed in South Africa...hmm... I have also been getting to know my Zimbabwean neighbors who like to sit and talk and have tea and ask me what's weird to me about Africa.

So that's my average day. Pretty boring, but I like it.

As for Rotary stuff, I haven't really started yet, but I need to get on it. There are five Rotary scholars here: Priya from California, Pierre-David from Canada, Desiree from New Mexico (I think), and Ursula who doesn't know where she's from (her folks live in DC, but she grew up in Cairo and Latin America...she went to Wellesley so usually we just say she's from Wellesley). I haven't met anyone but Ursula yet, but we're planning to get together soon. If we don't sometime this week, we'll all meet in Friday on our expedition to the Rotary conference in Cape Town! Our requirements are to make 10-15 Rotary presentations and to do some sort of service project. To learn about last year's project click on the Rotary Aids Walk link in the sidebar.

And now for some housekeeping. If you have a question you want me to respond to, put it in comments or email me. If you put it in comments, I'll answer it in comments because, as my teachers have always told me, if you're asking, probably someone else would like to know, too. If you ask in email, I'll answer in email. That's enough of that.

This weekend holds a trip on the Wits bus to the Rosebank Mall (a huge mall with two "movie houses") for shopping (mostly food) and wasting time. Sunday I am attending the campus Catholic church with my Zimbabwean friends. They were so shocked that there was no drumming at this Catholic church, on which they opined, "You hardly feel Catholic if there's no drumming!" Hmm...for all my Catholic friends, what do you think?

Keep well.

If a picture's worth a thousand words...

I promised pictures, and here they are. Now I'll get busy taking some more.

Present from Lynne and Peter on my bed when I arrived--bath gel, etc., the book Rabble Rouser for Peace about my buddy Desmond, a beautiful card, and towels

The lake outside my "res"

My "res," West Campus Village and fountain in the lake

Me--see! I really live here!

The Senate House/Great Hall building featured in all of the Wits information

Me and Nelson doing the Madiba Shuffle. Can't figure out why it won't turn...

At Moyo for my birthday

Face painting from Moyo

A cricket Katy and I found outside Colleen's house. That's a 6" pen next to it for perspective. They call them Johannesburg Lobsters

Big 5 sand sculpture at the Durban beach

Ok, I even flipped this one in the viewer and it still won't work. You get the idea, though.

Beach with beach-goers at Durban. The surf was INCREDIBLY rough, but there were still lots of swimmers

Downtown Durban

I can verifiably say that I have NEVER had an award-winning cappucino at the Piggly Wiggly! Katy and I found this sign on the way to the Midmar Mile

Swimmers at the Midmar Mile. One of those little yellow caps is Katy. If you look all the way across the lake (Dam), you can see just how far they swam (a mile, duh).

So, I hope that you enjoyed the picture updates! I miss and love you all.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

My Valentine's Day present was an internet password! So, you can really expect pictures soon. I'm serious!

I was thinking this morning that you might be interested in knowing about the food I'm eating. Sorry to disappoint, but it's not that much different. The main thing is, it's healthier! The second difference is that it's a lot cheaper. This morning I went to the store and bought chicken, juice, bananas, onions, potatoes, spinach, zucchini (marrows), green beans, cheese, and a grocery bag for a little over $20 (R 155)! What a great deal! So, I'm eating very well and hopefully all that weight I lost in the spring will be doubled back--woohoo! I feel much healthier than I have in a while.

The only good food story I have for the time being is mince and toast. Apparently, ground beef is called mince here. Not only that, but if you stew it like chili, then you can serve it on toast for breakfast. Not quite sure about that, but it tastes pretty good, so no complaints, I suppose. I just have to get used to chili for breakfast!

Another interesting cultural difference (that I'm NOT too fond of) is the displays of public affection (PDA) found EVERYWHERE on this campus. I mean, I know that it's Valentine's Day, but making out in front of the entire student body is really not necessary. If I date while I'm here, I'll definitely have to set some ground rules on that one.

Love you all!

Massive update

Ursula and I have a friend who let us use her password for internet so that we could update you! Tell Melody thanks. Anyway, here is an update from the past week and under this post is one that I wrote in Paris and hadn't been able to post until now.

I am told that my internet will be working “hopefully sometime next week.” Faculty says it’s Oracle (the new system)’s fault, Oracle says it’s the faculty’s fault. I say I really don’t care as long as it gets fixed. SOON! Regardless, I plugged my laptop up in my room, charged it, and wrote this in Word to transfer it to the internet and avoid paying another R30 for internet time. So, since we’ve lost a lot of time, let me do one marathon update and then we’ll consider ourselves caught up.

MY BIRTHDAY: On last Monday (more than a week ago now—I’m really old), my friend Katy who works for EBSCO in their SA office here in Jo’burg picked me up for dinner and took me to a restaurant called Moyo in the Zoo Lake area. Those of you who are really quick have realized that this restaurant is likely by the Zoo and the lake. Moyo serves traditional African cuisine and includes African entertainment such as dancing, singing, and face-painting in the tradition of some African tribes. The restaurant itself is really cool with lots of African sculptures and carvings. As you walk in, there are what appear to be unlit large Christmas lights hanging in arches, but as you approach further, you realize are rocks. Very cool. I had a chicken tagine (a West African dish), a glass of African wine, and we shared the African cheese platter. It was a lovely birthday and I felt well-loved.

Also on my birthday, we picked up Ursula, one of the other Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars studying here at Wits. She is a really fun girl who attended Wellesley and has spent the past year in Jordan. We’re enjoying getting to know each other and figuring out this crazy campus.

THE ENSUING WEEK: Since I had already jumped through all of the Wits hurdles, I helped Ursula to find her way around registration, etc. On Wednesday, we realized that if she was going to stay in res any longer, we would both need to go shopping, so we called up a Rotarian friend of mine named Pat. Pat is a wonderful lady who works for the Democratic Alliance (look this up on Wikipedia if you’re not up on your South African politics) and often has odd hours. Luckily, she had almost the entire day free, so we shopped for about 5 hours! What fun.

By Thursday, I hadn’t checked my email in five days due to this crazy email situation. When I finally broke down and went to check it, I found that I had 147 new messages! Lesson learned: check your email on your birthday!! Luckily, I skimmed through the mail and found a message from Jon David titled HUGE FAVOR. I wondered what huge favor I could possibly do for someone who was now in Cape Town, and then was informed that he had not yet made it to Cape Town, but instead had spent an extra night in Addis Ababa, courtesy of Ethiopian Airlines and now had to switch airlines in Jo’burg, most likely resulting in huge baggage charges. He wanted to know if I could come to the airport and pick up a bag—he would arrive around 1pm. This was fine, I thought. I’d arrange it. I looked at my watch, and it was 12:20! So, I called Katy and she graciously offered to drive me to the airport. What luck! We arrived just as Jon David was exiting customs and then stood in the airport for yet another several hours while EA decided whether or not they really had booked him another flight to Cape Town. A few hours and several hundred dollars later, he was on his way and I on mine with baggage in hand which I’ll deliver next weekend when I go to the conference in Cape Town. It was not only a comedy of errors and quite enjoyable for that reason, but it was good to see a friend from home!

The real highlight of Thursday, though, was getting to talk with my mom for the first time in two weeks. You have to understand that though I NEVER live at home anymore, I do talk with my mom A LOT. So, this was a real treat.

On Friday, Katy and I loaded into the car for a trip to Pietermaritzburg/Durban for she and a friend to swim the Midmar Mile, a swim race across the Midmar Dam (lake—they don’t realize here that a dam is made of concrete, not water). We followed Colleen and her family through the Free State (grassland/farmland traditionally inhabited by the Afrikaaners) and then KwaZulu Natal (more mountainous and inhabited by the Zulus and Afrikaaners) provinces. The drive is absolutely beautiful and I couldn’t possibly have been happier to ride along. The views were astonishing with the Drakensburg mountains in the far background and huge valleys in the foreground. Pietermaritzburg is the home of Alan Paton, so if you’ve ever read Cry, the Beloved Country, this is the area he describes. If you haven’t read that book, then consider it Lisa-required reading.

We stayed between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, and on Saturday, Katy drove with me into Durban to show me the sights. We walked by the old town hall (which is beautiful and reminiscent of most of the European domed buildings I saw in Italy and France with ornate carvings and copper cupolas), walked through the downtown market, and walked out on the pier over the Indian Ocean. It was a nice adventure.

Sunday was the day of the race, so we rose early to drive to the Midmar Dam. We arrived just in time, Katy and Colleen swam, and then we departed. They both did pretty well considering the water was so choppy, it was as if they had been swimming in the ocean.

THINGS I LEARNED FROM THE MIDMAR EXCURSION:

KwaZulu Natal is lovingly called KZN (read KzedN)
Lakes are dams and so are dams. This gets confusing, in my opinion.
When you set the table, you always include a knife, whether you think it is necessary or not because people here eat with knives.
Little boys who say “can’t” in the traditional English way are very cute
A lightning storm in KZN can be really terrific, but also rough on the power supply
You wear a costume, not a swimsuit (this is disappointing if you should actually expect to see costumes in the American sense of the word)
Zebra can be seen on the way down (even if they are likely on a farm)
Ostrich biltong (jerky) is actually pretty good
I was incredibly close to Lesotho. The next time I make that drive, maybe I’ll go. (I mean, I now have two friends from Lesotho, and I am about to begin taking Sotho lessons.)
The old/new/traditional name for Durban is eThekwini. Look that up on Wikipedia!

CLASSES: Lecture started yesterday, and I am definitely going to like this course of study! Did you know that rape only became an official war crime according to the UN in 2004? Neither did I, but soon I will be able to tell you all about human rights, human rights education, and human rights in education. Today, my ed. Theory course begins, and I am also really excited about that. My Lesotho friend Isaac is in all of my classes, and though I am by far the youngest so far, I still feel very much at home.

So, all is well in South Africa. I will post pictures as soon as I can use the internet without paying for it—otherwise, you’ll all have to take up a collection. I have also moved the address to the sidebar soon so that you can always get to it. I also have a South African cell phone, so if you want to call, get an international calling card, and then it is cheap for you and free for me. I promise to get Skype up and running soon, but now is just not yet the time. If you do call, which I would love, remember that I am 8 hours ahead of you. So, your 8pm would NOT be the time to call.

Go well.

Update from Paris--Jan. 26-27 (before Jo'burg)

**Written in Charles de Gaulle airport

I should start out from the very beginning, which is this: I spent the entire morning feeling sick and very nervous. We arrived at the Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta an hour behind schedule because there was some massive traffic back-up right before our exit. We kept seeing signs that said “Construction, X number of miles.” Never did we see construction. Regardless, we arrived with plenty of time since my mother and I are relatively OCD about that kind of thing. After all, we had left the house around 5am for me to make a 12:30pm flight needing only 3½ hours of travel time. Check-in went easily with a very kind man who joked about my travel agent needing to update their systems (I hadn’t the slightest idea why). My mom dropped me at the security checkpoint where we both said our teary goodbyes. Then I cried all the way through the checkpoint like a crazy. No one seemed to noticed—they were all talking on cell phones. Once I boarded the plane, however, my spirits were lifted, and the flight to D.C. was short and enjoyable.

In D.C., I met up with Jon David, a friend and fellow Rotary scholar, while he was on his way to Israel with his friend Ava. Just in case you thought me odd for going through Paris to get to Johannesburg, Jon David went through Israel to get to Cape Town. I feel vindicated, thank you. We just happened to be going through Dulles at the same time, and so we had some dinner, shared pictures, and then said goodbye until we meet up for the Rotary Conference in Cape Town at the end of February.

I had been hoping and praying for some lovely seatmates, and I found 3! A lady about my mother’s age from Virginia Beach sat down on my right along with her 17-year-old daughter. They were traveling to Paris to vacation with her son who lives in London, and to celebrate his birthday. What a deal! They had been to Paris twice before, and the girl kept practicing her French with the flight attendants (true to form, stewardesses found it much more endearing than stewards). On my other side was Sarah, a woman who was American by birth, but had lived in France since she was young. She was extremely helpful to me, with many answers to my many questions. We discussed her transition to French schooling, her family in the States, and my experience as a Southerner. After watching the movie The Queen, we discussed the kindness in casting a Prince Charles “look-alike,” as well as our impressions of the movie and the royals. When I inquired as to the process of catching a taxi when I spoke little French, she offered to walk out with me and arrange it for me! What luck! She made it much easier, and I was so very thankful for the help. So, after dreading a 7 hour flight, it went by easily, and my commute to the hotel was easy.

I arrived at the hotel around 9:30 and checked into my room about 10:15, only to unpack a tad and then collapse on the bed. Every channel in France was covering the funeral of Abbe Pierre, a French monk much like Mother Theresa. Unfortunately, I couldn’t understand a bit, and so after trying to keep up for a while, I switched to BBC World which had an interview of Gene Wilder (given name Jerome Silverman—who knew?!). I promptly fell asleep and then roused at 12:30 to have lunch with Farley! What a treat. After lunch, I showered and collapsed again until Farley’s return from class. We then embarked on our marathon night: Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower on foot.

Our first stop was Notre Dame during Friday evening mass. We heard the choir sing and the organ play, talked about how much we wished we were in that choir, and toured the cathedral. It was beautiful. If I can get Google video to work, I’ll post the video I took. We then walked around the corner down the bank of the Seine, and to the Louvre. The Louvre is free for students under 26 on Friday nights, so we could feel not so bad about rushing through the museum to hit the highlights. We saw the Mona Lisa (La Jaconde), the Winged Victory of Samothrace, Venus de Milo, and the crown jewels of Josephine. Farley was excited to happen upon the Raft of the Medusa and a bust of Delacroix, both of which she had studied in her language school this week. All of that within an absolutely beautiful palace—what more could you ask for? We felt very nerdy and had a wonderful time explaining art trivia to each other (glad I took that trip to Europe last week!).

Next item was to walk down the Champs d’Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. This was probably a little ambitious, as the Champs d’Elysses is REALLY long. Longer than it appears on the map. But it was beautiful, and we had a good time doing it. Sadly, that meant that we were a little to tired once we got there to suspend eating for any longer, so we only rode by the Eiffel Tower. This was just fine with me—you know how I like my food. One note about the Eiffel Tower, though: at the top of the hour every hour it sparkles! So neat. Anyway, after the Arc de Triomphe, we stopped at rue de Passy for a little dinner. We had a wonderful French meal, complete with French wine and crème brûlée. Tres magnifique! By 11:30pm, we had watched two babies and a small child enter the restaurant to begin their dinner with their families. My mother would never have allowed it!

The next morning, we slept in for a bit, ate breakfast at the hotel, and departed for Montmartre. In just a few hours we saw the Moulin Rouge, visited Catedral du Sacre Coeur, and ate lunch at a small Brasserie, my first experience with Parisian crêpes and a real chocolate truffle! After a marathon metro ride back to the hotel, we caught a taxi to the airport.

The real story of the day begins at Charles de Gaulle airport. After standing in line forever to all check into the same flight, I headed to the first security checkpoint only to have the man say, “And what is this?” pointing to my small(er) red bag. (Umm…a small red bag…?) He then brusquely informed me that I would have to return to the counter to get a carry-on baggage tag for my rolling baggage. Oh, well when you say it that way! So, I did that and returned to board the “tube,” (if you’ve been to de Gaulle, then you’re familiar with the crazy escalator ramp tubes) and bid Farley au revoir after a wonderful day and a half in Paris. After getting to my gate, I had to pass the final security checkpoint. As I walked through the line, the security man looked at me crossly and said “Is this your bag? Do you have scissors?” For those who have not traveled lately, let me inform you that 4” or less scissors are allowed, and I am a knitter. So, I lok at him quizzically and say, “Um, oui.” The checker man then shuffles through my little(r) red bag and pulls out my scissors only to measure them. Seriously, they’re 3”, which you can tell from looking at them.

I finally arrive at my gate and sit down to see a WiFi sign across from me. Yes! I think. Oh, no, to easy. You have to enroll, I decipher, or buy a card at the terminal. Oh, good, I think, I’m at the terminal—how fortunate. No, in fact, you have to walk all the way back to the main terminal, which is about ¼ mile, no kidding. Not worth it, I think. So, I get a drink at sit down. They do have Leapster units and other games on the wall for children, which I like. If I were 5, I could have a ball. And if I weren’t bitter about the internet. Now I ready myself for a 12 hour flight to Jo’burg. Let the adventures continue.

Sorry!

Just a quick note to say that when they tell you you'll have consistent internet access soon, apparently that means in around 3 weeks. Whatever. So I haven't posted for a while due to this incredible lack of resources on my part! I should have it worked out this week. I had no idea how much information I had stored on the internet that I would need. In the US, you just assume it will always be there. Word to the wise: it won't.

Anyway, though much has happened in the last week, I'll update later when I actually have time to sit and think and be interesting. Thank you for all of the lovely birthday comments, cards, and emails! You made my birthday in SA wonderful--even if I couldn't get to email until Thursday. I am so fortunate to have so many people who care about me and support me, even tens of thousands of miles away. If I don't respond to you immediately, please know that I will, it just may take me a little time.

Love to you all.

The Madiba Shuffle

Hello again from the Rainbow Country! Still no pictures to let you know about the rainbow, though. Tomorrow I move into residence, so that should be it. Promise (I hope)!

Just a few notes for you about South Africa/politics/history, etc. As many of you know, I have a minor obsession with/slight crush on both former President Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Seriously, they're both pretty wonderful, and so living in South Africa can only help this out. I am currently reading Desmond Tutu's book, No Future Without Forgiveness, a chronicle of the apartheid state in South Africa and his leadership in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, begun to air the atrocities committed during apartheid. If you ever need a really good read, that would definitely be it! His understanding of Christian forgiveness and the political need for reconciliation are incredible and humbling. If you've ever struggled with forgiveness (and who hasn't?!), it's very much worth the read. Oh, and by the way, I went to a church today that Desmond has walked in. Does it make me a stalker that this is exciting? I dont' think so, either.

As for my buddy Nelson, I got to meet a several stories high version of Madiba today in Nelson Mandela Square at the Sandton Tower. In this depiction, Nelson is doing the "Madiba Shuffle," the common name for the little shuffly dance he does so often (I'm sure you've seen it). Madiba is Nelson's given name--Nelson is a Christian/English name given to him when he was in school. So, the first picture you should be able to see I think will be this one. It's of me and Nelson shuffling together, though he's a little large to notice that I'm around. Of course, when we meet in person, that will not be the case. ;)

Tomorrow will be my 23rd birthday. My friend from the states, Katy G., is taking me to dinner after I go to the airport to fetch one of the other Rotary scholars from the states. Should be a lovely day.

Finally, you ought to know that it's hot. REALLY hot. 30+ degrees. Now for all of you Fahrenheit fans, that's about 85-90. No, no "air-con" here, just the good ole open windows. I never knew that I would need one of those little DisneyWorld-type personal fans! Shame.

Miss you all, but having a great time. As they say in South Africa, "Go well."

Under African Skies--for real this time!

I know, I know, I promised to post earlier and I didn't. But excuuuse me, I have been a little busy! I mean, seriously people!

I arrived last Sunday at around 7:30, but by the time I got out of customs and baggage claim and baggage check, it was more like 9. At the airport to greet me were my sponsors Pres. of Rotary Blackheath Lynne and Past President Peter, past Rotary scholar Kelly, new Rotarian Tamlynn, and Past President Pat. So, I had quite the reception. We loaded my huge bags into Peter's Land Rover, and off we went. Of course, only after watching a lorrie (medium sized cargo truck--think Ryder or UHaul) unable to get out and someone literally ripping a sign out of the concrete to allow it passage. This is Africa, they said.

Lynne and Peter have a wonderful home and have been incredibly welcoming to me, even with their kitchen under complete renovation, poor things! Needless to say, I've seen lots of Jo'burg restaurants. Lynne is the current pres. of Rotary Blackheath and she works as bursar (accountant/treasurer) at McCauley Catholic School. Peter is a past pres. and now works on events for Blackheath and is an entomologist. Don't get any warm fuzzy ideas here, kids, he kills bugs. All of you who like to smoke or enjoy unspoiled artwork or live in non-infested houses can thank Peter, as much of his work is done in the States. They have 6 dogs and many dog show awards. 3 are bearded Colleys, 2 are Pulis (the rastafarian dogs), and 1 is a sheep dog of which I can't remember the name right now. Sad. She's really beautiful though, as they all are.

This week has been a lot of adjustment for me. Never again in my life do I want to hear someone from BSC tell me how difficult registration is! Imagine with me for a minute if you had to do that for 4 DAYS!!! I have queued (stood in line) for hours, and ridden the bus back and forth and back and forth from campus to campus, only to find that the last office told me the wrong place to go. I have changed degrees, changed housing, and changed direction! But all is well, and we are ready for classes to start, which they will do on Sat. 10 Feb. with orientation for the BEd. Honours in Human Rights and Democracy students with an orientation. I will then have class daily from 3:30 t0 5:30.

My housing is settled, and I have an address to report, finally! It is:

Lisa Glenn
E22 West Campus Village
University of the Witswatersrand
Johannesburg, South Africa
2050

You may begin sending packages, as my birthday is Monday (that's right, Feb. 5)! 23 feels really old and not that exciting, but spending it in Africa makes it all the better. When you send your package/card/postcard/money/attractive male companions, imagine them arriving in an apartment-type building with outside entrances overlooking a large lake with a fountain. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, I can have tea at the lake every morning. It's glorious.

I imagine that now you're thinking that you could picture it a lot better if I had actually attached pictures. I realize this, and I am working on it. Blogger is slow even without being in Africa, so you can imagine what I'm dealing with now. So, I'm looking into something like snapfish. Suggestions?

Because this is already really long, I'll just give you a few South African English lessons to end:

boot=trunk
bakkie (if you've already read this, it was a misprint the first time**)=pickup truck
lorrie=UHaul sized truck
truck=very large truck
robot=traffic light (I think this is my favorite)
color=colour
inquiry=enquiry (I'm seeing lots of spelling errors in upcoming essays!)
residence=housing/dormitory
pleasure=you're welcome.

Miss you all and wish every one of you were here! Thank you for the emails and comments (do post your name if you make a comment, otherwise you really do look like a stalker...)! I will be better at writing back, I promise, once I get into a routine. Right now, things are just fast and furious. Love to you all.