Greetings from Cape Town! It's really nice here, but getting here wasn't as jolly... I mean, it was fine and everything worked out just fine, it was just long.
So yesterday we left Bushbuckridge at 6 AM because people needed to catch a train to Durban from Joburg, and that meant that we got to O.R. Tambo International Airport at 1PM for a 6AM flight the next morning. YAY! Our Cape Town group split up, and Joel and I hung around the airport with Crystal, who was waiting to meet her boyfriend arriving from the States for the week. After she met up with him and they left, well, what is there to do at an airport forever? We went to a bar and chatted for a few hours. Then everything closed and we played cards for a few more hours. Then as a group we checked in, and a few hours later we checked our bags. For the record, it is now 4:20 AM or something like that.
Side note on weight maximums on Mango: My suitcase was underweight, but my backpack was overweight, and they made me add stuff to my suitcase or check my backpack. Only airlines ever to tell me to move stuff from my carry on into my checked baggage. Also, what does it matter where the extra kilo is? The plane is going to be weighed down regardless... whatever, it was odd. Also the lady at the desk was mean.
So after hours and hours, we finally got to Cape Town. At 8:30AM. I still haven't slept more than two hours since 6AM yesterday, and it's 2 in the afternoon now. Which brings us to Long Street Backpackers. This is where we are staying while in Cape Town. It's a cute little place with a courtyard and nice clean rooms, and the people running it seem very nice. We've been exploring a little bit since then, and I can definitely say Cape Town will be lots of fun. Especially since there are two people on IHP with me that have birthdays over break, one the day before me and one the day after me. So really it's a birthday weekend, and we're gonna have a kick-ass time.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to go take a nap.
25 February, 2010
23 February, 2010
Parting is such sweet sorrow
I'm leaving Bushbuckridge for Cape Town, which is way exciting, but it also means that my South Africa home stay experience has drawn to a close. That's right, last night was my last night in my home stay, which was kind of weird. It's kind of cool how quickly one can become accustomed to an entirely foreign environment, and I will definitely miss Mama Merlyne, Phindile, Tinswalo, Lemlemu, Peniel, Eulanda, Kurula, and everyone from the village. So this post is my farewell to Welverdind, my home away from home.
Once a Sekome, always a Sekome.
Once a Sekome, always a Sekome.
22 February, 2010
Party in Islington!
So I think I've already mentioned that IHP students are spread across three villages, but if I haven't said so, we are. Islington is one of the other villages that IHP students are in, and it's the furthest from Welverdind, which is where I am. In Islington there is this guy named Hamilton, and he's the chief's brother I think. He is hosting two girls from our program, and they had a party on Saturday night. The lame people in Hluvukani didn't go, but us in the big W, we all wanted to go and have fun. So, like any resourceful group of students, we found someone with a car to take us. One of the other home stay families had access to a car, so three of my host cousins, their driver friend, my host sister, and all eight students staying in my village piled into one car. The driver, two of my host cousins, and my host sister all sat in the front, and the back was like a big, covered trunk, and we fit the remaining nine in there. We actually only fit seven in entirely, and the last two had their feet hanging out the back. It was a pretty funny sight to see... One person of the bunch threw out the term "Mexican Limo." Feel free to debate the PC of that.
So we clown car over to Islington, and we discover that not only are we going to a party, at that point almost nobody is there and we ARE the garage party. We stuck around for a while dancing and sipping jungle juice out of ceramic mugs. One of the small old ladies related to the home stay family showed up and danced like a crazed fiend. It was fairly outrageous. She was really drunk, and one of the girls staying with Hamilton pulled the plug on her when she got hot and took off her shirt. Luckily I wasn't there to see that. It was a blast.
So we've all piled back into the clown car, and we're just about to turn off the main road to return to our village, when a cop car pulls up behind us because of overload. The feet hanging out the back might have been a tip off. We followed the cops to the station, which was a rickety little building surrounded by a big chain link fence, and waited while the locals with us did the talking. Some other police officers unrelated to our predicament came over and started to chat, one trying to intimidate us with a large semi-automatic weapon hanging limply from his hand, pointed towards the ground. They thought we were there for an escort back to where we lived, so they were nice at first. Then when they realized we were pulled over my host cousin stepped in and told them off rather well. After maybe 20 minutes we left the police station, all crammed into the car, to return home. The damage wound up being a small fine that worked out to maybe 5 USD a person, no biggie. It makes a great story, and yeah... I'm now one of those people with the fun "Did I tell you how I almost got arrested in _______________?" stories, which is way exciting.
Someone was supposed to send me a picture of the car, but she never did, so no picture.
Happy Trails!
So we clown car over to Islington, and we discover that not only are we going to a party, at that point almost nobody is there and we ARE the garage party. We stuck around for a while dancing and sipping jungle juice out of ceramic mugs. One of the small old ladies related to the home stay family showed up and danced like a crazed fiend. It was fairly outrageous. She was really drunk, and one of the girls staying with Hamilton pulled the plug on her when she got hot and took off her shirt. Luckily I wasn't there to see that. It was a blast.
So we've all piled back into the clown car, and we're just about to turn off the main road to return to our village, when a cop car pulls up behind us because of overload. The feet hanging out the back might have been a tip off. We followed the cops to the station, which was a rickety little building surrounded by a big chain link fence, and waited while the locals with us did the talking. Some other police officers unrelated to our predicament came over and started to chat, one trying to intimidate us with a large semi-automatic weapon hanging limply from his hand, pointed towards the ground. They thought we were there for an escort back to where we lived, so they were nice at first. Then when they realized we were pulled over my host cousin stepped in and told them off rather well. After maybe 20 minutes we left the police station, all crammed into the car, to return home. The damage wound up being a small fine that worked out to maybe 5 USD a person, no biggie. It makes a great story, and yeah... I'm now one of those people with the fun "Did I tell you how I almost got arrested in _______________?" stories, which is way exciting.
Someone was supposed to send me a picture of the car, but she never did, so no picture.
Happy Trails!
15 February, 2010
Valentine's Day (and all that it entails)
So Y'all know how Valentine's Day in the states is sooooo totally Hallmark, and it conveniently falls on the same day as singles awareness day every year? Not so in Bushbuckridge. Here, it is a big deal. Everyone gets a valentine, even if just for the day, and the entire day is festive. For the first time in a few years the day fell on Sunday, even more special...
So first my fellow IHPers living in the same homestay as me, my host cousin, and I went to Church, and many people were dressed in red, black, and white. There was even one woman in what looked like a red prom dress. Church was an experience worth describing. One of the larger structures in the village, the church was painted white, with benches of a dark brown color inside for everyone to sit. The congregation I was in valued singing as a means of praise, and multiple choirs performed. There was the youth choir, the teen choir, and the women's choir that performed throughout the service. Also there was the main choir of five. ALL of the choirs were really good. Then there was the sermon... They are in between pastors, and the retired school principal was preaching. He preached for over an hour. Not just that, it was one of those "back in the day..." sermons, lamenting the fall of religiosity and hoping for renewed faith of the masses... One of those sermons where everyone got to learn a very revisionist version of the past from an overzealous speaker. But church was nice nonetheless.
So after church there was this big gathering in front of a bottle shop (where they sell booze) that lasted for hours. Traditional dance troupes performed one after another and people schmoozed. That was also nice, but as the afternoon went on people started to get drunk, and we left as it was kinda sketch and some of the people on our program were getting a bit more attention than they wanted from drunk locals.
Which brings us to dinner. There is a white guy who lives in our village part time named Jim. He is from upstate NY and still is a US citizen who resides there and has a car wash business. He got a degree from Texas AM for Renewable Resource Management and works with water in the surrounding villages. He has a flush toilet, a shower, running water, a green and trimmed front lawn, and A POOL and HOT TUB. This is in a place where water scarcity is a huge issue and people drag drums to local taps to fill with water and carry back to their homes. He is like 70 or something and has a 1 year old son with a local woman, in addition to having grown up kids in the states. He's probably corrupt and as a group the people in my village and I that were there were kind of on edge. Another matter, he has employees that cook, clean, and care for his home. Let's just say he was generally offensive and somewhat repulsive, though interesting as a specimen. We all left early, befuddled by the encounter, and kind of pissed off at him.
So all in all I would say it was one of the most informative days I've had in Bushbuckridge so far. I really got a taste for what life was like and how people interacted, even if that interaction involves drunk conduct towards people I know. The day had its downsides, sure, but you work through whatever is thrown your way, move past it, and that's what is important.
So how did you all spend Valentine's day?
So first my fellow IHPers living in the same homestay as me, my host cousin, and I went to Church, and many people were dressed in red, black, and white. There was even one woman in what looked like a red prom dress. Church was an experience worth describing. One of the larger structures in the village, the church was painted white, with benches of a dark brown color inside for everyone to sit. The congregation I was in valued singing as a means of praise, and multiple choirs performed. There was the youth choir, the teen choir, and the women's choir that performed throughout the service. Also there was the main choir of five. ALL of the choirs were really good. Then there was the sermon... They are in between pastors, and the retired school principal was preaching. He preached for over an hour. Not just that, it was one of those "back in the day..." sermons, lamenting the fall of religiosity and hoping for renewed faith of the masses... One of those sermons where everyone got to learn a very revisionist version of the past from an overzealous speaker. But church was nice nonetheless.
So after church there was this big gathering in front of a bottle shop (where they sell booze) that lasted for hours. Traditional dance troupes performed one after another and people schmoozed. That was also nice, but as the afternoon went on people started to get drunk, and we left as it was kinda sketch and some of the people on our program were getting a bit more attention than they wanted from drunk locals.
Which brings us to dinner. There is a white guy who lives in our village part time named Jim. He is from upstate NY and still is a US citizen who resides there and has a car wash business. He got a degree from Texas AM for Renewable Resource Management and works with water in the surrounding villages. He has a flush toilet, a shower, running water, a green and trimmed front lawn, and A POOL and HOT TUB. This is in a place where water scarcity is a huge issue and people drag drums to local taps to fill with water and carry back to their homes. He is like 70 or something and has a 1 year old son with a local woman, in addition to having grown up kids in the states. He's probably corrupt and as a group the people in my village and I that were there were kind of on edge. Another matter, he has employees that cook, clean, and care for his home. Let's just say he was generally offensive and somewhat repulsive, though interesting as a specimen. We all left early, befuddled by the encounter, and kind of pissed off at him.
So all in all I would say it was one of the most informative days I've had in Bushbuckridge so far. I really got a taste for what life was like and how people interacted, even if that interaction involves drunk conduct towards people I know. The day had its downsides, sure, but you work through whatever is thrown your way, move past it, and that's what is important.
So how did you all spend Valentine's day?
10 February, 2010
Sekome
So my name is now Alexander Sekome as my host family's surname is Sekome... That's right, I have a host family. They're really nice, btw. It's really amazing, my host mom built the house we live in entirely by hand, and she carried the materials all the way from Mozambique. It is definitely a lifestyle I have never seen and prob. never will again.
The other day, talking to my mom, she asked why I didn't just get a picture developed at a CVS equivalent to give to my host family. The answer is rather simple: where the hell is there a CVS equivalent? I'm living in a house off a dirt road with electricity but no running water, an outhouse, corn is growing around the house, and a fire is kept going on the side of the house to boil water before using it. Despite all of that, the community seems to be happy with what they have and how they live, and it's charming to live there.
I'm staying with another guy and a girl from my program at this house, and there are two other families in my village hosting other IHP students. We are in Welverdiend (SP? I will check the spelling for my next post), and the other two villages are 10 and 20 minutes away, respectively. The better part of an hour away is Acornhoek, where there is a doctor's office, a grocery store, other stuff... So, yea, we're somewhere that is nowhere in particular, and it's kind of neat if you ignore the extreme heat (which of course means I'm sweating a swimming pool), which I am learning to do slowly.
For classes we are using space at the South African Wildlife College, and that borders Kruger National Park essentially, so there have been some rather cool finds. We've seen elephants, zebras, giraffes, impala, other animals I am currently blanking on... We also went to a wildlife rehab center and got to feed vultures (ugly things) and pet a cheetah, as well as see some really neat elephants. Of course, being near Kruger also means there are snakes, scorpions, and spiders that would prefer never to see... So far so good on that front. Although about an hour ago they were removing a spitting cobra from the path at the Wildlife College...
So I'm enjoying myself in Bushbuckridge, even if it means sweating profusely and being slightly paranoid of creepy crawlies with a nasty bite. Signing off for now!
The other day, talking to my mom, she asked why I didn't just get a picture developed at a CVS equivalent to give to my host family. The answer is rather simple: where the hell is there a CVS equivalent? I'm living in a house off a dirt road with electricity but no running water, an outhouse, corn is growing around the house, and a fire is kept going on the side of the house to boil water before using it. Despite all of that, the community seems to be happy with what they have and how they live, and it's charming to live there.
I'm staying with another guy and a girl from my program at this house, and there are two other families in my village hosting other IHP students. We are in Welverdiend (SP? I will check the spelling for my next post), and the other two villages are 10 and 20 minutes away, respectively. The better part of an hour away is Acornhoek, where there is a doctor's office, a grocery store, other stuff... So, yea, we're somewhere that is nowhere in particular, and it's kind of neat if you ignore the extreme heat (which of course means I'm sweating a swimming pool), which I am learning to do slowly.
For classes we are using space at the South African Wildlife College, and that borders Kruger National Park essentially, so there have been some rather cool finds. We've seen elephants, zebras, giraffes, impala, other animals I am currently blanking on... We also went to a wildlife rehab center and got to feed vultures (ugly things) and pet a cheetah, as well as see some really neat elephants. Of course, being near Kruger also means there are snakes, scorpions, and spiders that would prefer never to see... So far so good on that front. Although about an hour ago they were removing a spitting cobra from the path at the Wildlife College...
So I'm enjoying myself in Bushbuckridge, even if it means sweating profusely and being slightly paranoid of creepy crawlies with a nasty bite. Signing off for now!
04 February, 2010
Wilgespruit
Don't bother with the name of the post, it's Afrikans and it's the name of the place we stayed in Joburg before driving on out to Bushbuckridge. It was a wonderful little spot on the hillside in a suburb of Joburg, and the staff were really nice and warm people. A Christian institution, it played a large role in the struggle for equality and enfranchisement in South Africa and has been touched by many important figures in South Africa's most recent history, since 1950.
Jan, our new country coordinator, lined up some great speakers. He even managed, through some contacts, to work with Wilgespruit and line up a former minister of Law and Order from the apartheid regime, even though as a speaker he wound up being a nutty blabbering missionary, in effect.
We went to two particularly memorable museums, the apartheid museum and one commemorating the student riots in the mid 1970s. Both of them reminded me of Holocaust museums in their presentation and style, which was interesting and unexpected. Fun fact: as in the States, the Jews of South Africa played a major role in struggling against apartheid.
Now I've been in South Africa for almost a week, and the broader arc of the trip is beginning to show itself in a very cool light. The towns around here are quaint to be generous, and hospital access, while present, is not necessarily close. Also, today we had a briefing that essentially listed all the animals and microbes that could kill us, and coupled with poverty this created an intriguing situation. My goal has changed from not getting sick to not being bitten...
But the drive to Bushbuckridge was beautiful and the area itself is amazing. Today, for instance, we saw an elephant just wandering on the side of the road. How pleasantly surprising... and totally not possible in Chicago.
The group is getting more close knit and the plethora of intellectual backgrounds represented on our program is beginning to show in the understandings people bring to the table. I'm still waiting for the South Africa aha! moment, but I know it's coming and in the mean time I'm enjoying the ride.
Adios.
Jan, our new country coordinator, lined up some great speakers. He even managed, through some contacts, to work with Wilgespruit and line up a former minister of Law and Order from the apartheid regime, even though as a speaker he wound up being a nutty blabbering missionary, in effect.
We went to two particularly memorable museums, the apartheid museum and one commemorating the student riots in the mid 1970s. Both of them reminded me of Holocaust museums in their presentation and style, which was interesting and unexpected. Fun fact: as in the States, the Jews of South Africa played a major role in struggling against apartheid.
Now I've been in South Africa for almost a week, and the broader arc of the trip is beginning to show itself in a very cool light. The towns around here are quaint to be generous, and hospital access, while present, is not necessarily close. Also, today we had a briefing that essentially listed all the animals and microbes that could kill us, and coupled with poverty this created an intriguing situation. My goal has changed from not getting sick to not being bitten...
But the drive to Bushbuckridge was beautiful and the area itself is amazing. Today, for instance, we saw an elephant just wandering on the side of the road. How pleasantly surprising... and totally not possible in Chicago.
The group is getting more close knit and the plethora of intellectual backgrounds represented on our program is beginning to show in the understandings people bring to the table. I'm still waiting for the South Africa aha! moment, but I know it's coming and in the mean time I'm enjoying the ride.
Adios.
belated post to conclude DC
Hey all, I kind of forgot to do this back in DC, and we didn't really have internet access until now, so there will be more current posts directly following this one.
Belated post:
So the country coordinator for DC was a really nice guy named Jeremy, and he did a FANTASTIC job pulling together all sorts of speakers and trips. As a result of his awesomeness I got to meet with Bob Moffit of the Heritage Foundation, Stan Dorn at the Urban Institute, Ruth Levine, Robert Hecht, and a host of other terrific speakers. Robert Hecht was one of the WDR93 coauthors at the World Bank, and that was an amazing perspective on global health and the challenges it faces.
Then Jeremy organized a lobbying day on the hill, and that was wonderful. We were advocating for S987/HR2103, legislation introduced by Durbin and Snowe/McCollum to improve USAID's efforts in curbing child marriage in the developing world. I found that to be lots of fun... maybe that's the debater in me.
Although I credit Jeremy with DC being terrific, he can't take all of the credit. It was really great to begin to get to know everyone on the trip with me, and we did some neat stuff like wander in vain to find a bowling alley, see Invictus (good timing for that, seeing I'm now in South Africa), and countless random little walks to wherever.
It was also nice to see Cy, Lucas, and Carlo at GWII... Screw you for not coming Jenny, if you're reading this. If you are not reading this, will someone that is following this blog that knows Jenny pass on the message? Thanks.
So, yea, DC ended well and now I'm in the early stages of the South Africa leg of the journey.
Belated post:
So the country coordinator for DC was a really nice guy named Jeremy, and he did a FANTASTIC job pulling together all sorts of speakers and trips. As a result of his awesomeness I got to meet with Bob Moffit of the Heritage Foundation, Stan Dorn at the Urban Institute, Ruth Levine, Robert Hecht, and a host of other terrific speakers. Robert Hecht was one of the WDR93 coauthors at the World Bank, and that was an amazing perspective on global health and the challenges it faces.
Then Jeremy organized a lobbying day on the hill, and that was wonderful. We were advocating for S987/HR2103, legislation introduced by Durbin and Snowe/McCollum to improve USAID's efforts in curbing child marriage in the developing world. I found that to be lots of fun... maybe that's the debater in me.
Although I credit Jeremy with DC being terrific, he can't take all of the credit. It was really great to begin to get to know everyone on the trip with me, and we did some neat stuff like wander in vain to find a bowling alley, see Invictus (good timing for that, seeing I'm now in South Africa), and countless random little walks to wherever.
It was also nice to see Cy, Lucas, and Carlo at GWII... Screw you for not coming Jenny, if you're reading this. If you are not reading this, will someone that is following this blog that knows Jenny pass on the message? Thanks.
So, yea, DC ended well and now I'm in the early stages of the South Africa leg of the journey.
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