Red, Right, Returning.

I've been home for a month now. Not a day goes by that I don't think of South Africa, and I'm sure that anyone who has studied abroad can relate to that.  I miss the beautiful landscapes, the wildlife at every turn, the incredible cultural experiences, but most of all, I miss the people.  I still have yet to post the blog I've been working on about Walmer Township, but I'm going to try to finish that up in the next week and get it posted.

On a lighter note, some of the American girls I met at Annie's Cove and I have decided to meet up in N.Y.C. for New Year's Eve, and I am thrilled about that.  Until then, it's back up to Oxford in a week to work at the library (for the coming year, at least) and see where to go from here. Grad school? Government program like AmeriCorps? Who knows.

Anyway, one of the things I've done since I've been home is go out on dad's sailboat, "Gypsy Soul." Here are some pictures of our adventure from Pascagoula (on the Escatawpa River) to Sand Island this past Sunday.

Father's Day: Checking on the boat on the way home from the airport

Mom and Dad- Father's Day 2009

The sail on Gypsy Soul

Captain Starr

Sand Island

Sunset over the Escatawpa River

Just in Time: The sun was setting behind the boats just as we pulled into the dock in 'Goula

Daily Photo

I made a trip to Addo Elephant National Park last week with my Wisco friend Jane and her mom who was visiting.  We spotted this handsome lion on a late afternoon game drive; needless to say, we watched The Lion King shortly thereafter.

I have been terrible about updating, but I do have a lot of photos to upload.  The speed of the wireless here just isn't fast enough for my mass amount of photos and severely lacking amount of patience.  Bare with me, though, because I still have a post about Walmer Township I've been sitting on for a few months (with pictures of Homework Club.)  I also have more photos from Addo and other small trips I've taken since Fall Break.

I fly out of P.E. on June 20, putting me in New Orleans on the morning of Father's Day.  See you guys back in the U.S. soon! 

Daily Photo

This is the view from my "bungalow" at Annie's Cove.  I took this photo in February before the clouds rolled in for a quick afternoon shower.

Daily Photo

This photo (of surfers waiting until the tide was just right to swim out to the waves) was taken at Cape St. Francis on Saturday.

Daily Photo

Cape St. Francis (located 100 km from Port Elizabeth) is a coastal resort town, often referred to as "Little Venice" because of the canals that run through it.  The exclusive town consists of white-walled, thatch-roofed houses, and it was developed about 25 years ago by Leighton and Ann Hulett.  

Daily Photo

I took this photo of the Seal Point Lighthouse, located in Cape St. Francis, on Saturday. The lighthouse was installed in 1878, and its engineers included Joseph Flack, a man who was involved in construction on Robben Island. (After he died in 1876, W.B. Hayes took over.)  The small town of Cape St. Francis is known for its beaches and surfing, as well as the Penguin Rescue and Rehabilitation Center and Seal Point Lighthouse.

Daily Photo

Today I ventured out to find the Main Library in Port Elizabeth.  It's located on the Market Square, in an area of town that is being renovated for good reason; the Main Library was erected in 1902, after its terra cotta façade was manufactured in England and shipped to Algoa bay in pieces.

Unfortunately, it has been closed since April 14 for maintenance and restoration.  This is being done, in part, to address the damage caused by flooding which occurs whenever there are heavy rains.  

A vacation from a vacation

I took 592 photos on our Cape Town tour.

Most of them were landscape photos; it seemed like every time I turned my head in our huge silver van we were entering a new terrain.  Yet I still couldn't capture the beauty of all that we saw, or the memories that were made with those 592 pictures.

I viewed the Cape of Good Hope, where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet.

I got to see Nelson Mandela's jail cell on Robben Island.

I toured a Holocaust museum in Cape Town that paid tribute to those who lost their lives during Apartheid and the Holocaust.

I saw, in bewilderment, the 2nd largest township in the country, and I tried to capture its essence against the beauty of Table Mountain.

I climbed Table Mountain and celebrated with friends at the top as we joked about how we were told we'd be doing a "leisure walk" that day.

I saw, with delight, penguins and and rock dassies and ostriches and baboons.

I tasted wines in the vineyards of Stellenbosch and learned about different flavors that hit the nose and palate.

I stayed at four different backpackers, and I thought about how much fun it would be to open a backpacker some day.

And I thought about how I still have two more months of this.

Still alive

I'm sorry for not posting lately, everyone!  We've had major issues at Annie's with our wireless internet; I had no connection whatsoever for 2 weeks.  Now we've been forced to sign contracts with a different company, and the connectivity is much less than what I'd desire for what we're paying.

Anyway, in the last month I've continued to help with Homework Club, and thanks to the package I got in the mail today from Mom&friends I'll be able to better entertain the kids while they wait to be tutored.  We also took a weekend trip to Tsitsikamma National Park, where we zip-lined and almost everyone (except for me!) went bungee jumping. (Pictures and other details to come.)

I still absolutely love it here.  I do believe that the first month was more or less a "honeymoon" phase, and I think that anyone else who has studied abroad can attest to that.  But I think I like the slower pace now; we're all more settled now.  We've realized that while we're here to experience new cultures, we have to go to class, too.  We're all still left with plenty of free time, (which we're filling with reading the Twilight series and watching Dexter and Weeds,) but it's a completely different experience than that first month or so that we were here.

Speaking of classes, this is the last week of Term 1, so after I turn in a paper on Friday (on some of T.S. Eliot's poetry,) I'll have off until April 14.  My plan for the fall break is to go on the International Office's sponsored trip to Cape Town.  I had other plans to go more independently (rent a car with friends, stop and go as we pleased,) but I'm happy that I've decided to go with the I.O.  The trip is all-inclusive, and it will be much safer since we'll be accompanied by a driver, guide, and someone from the I.O.

I can e-mail the specific itinerary to anyone who wants it, but here are the high points:

Knysna scenic tour, Simola Golf Estate visit, Thesen Island, Mosselbay Dias Museum & Harbor tour, Hermanus walkabout, Cape Town cultural tour-Castle of Good Hope tour and Holocaust museum, Table Mountain Platteklip hike, Township tour, Cape Point funicular tour, and Wine route with a wine tasting and cellar tour

I saved you all the trouble by linking the websites of some of them, so click away. :)

We're leaving on Sunday and will return the following Saturday.  Once I get my paper done I'll try to do more updates (before I head out of town,) since I have a lot to catch up on.

What a Weekend

This past weekend was a mix of activities and emotions, but it was certainly memorable.

Friday night there was a huge party on Tenbe Street.  It's an annual gig, and the people who live at this particular house on the street hire a dj and make a big deal of it.  I went for about 20 minutes (long enough to wait in line for the bathroom,) and then upon hearing that everyone was getting thrown into the pool (with clothes, cameras, and cell phones intact,) some of us decided to leave.  We went on to Toby Joe's, a bar that has been said to be closing for about 3 weeks now, and also one that is known for having pickpocketers, beggars, and prostitutes lurking outside.  Someone has attempted to pick my purse twice there, but they haven't gotten anything yet-- mostly because I keep everything zipped up, I don't take my camera, and they aren't very smooth operators.  I guess they think everyone is so drunk that they won't feel someone grabbing at them?  Once I was sitting on a stairwell, talking to a friend, maybe 15 feet from the entrance of Toby's, and a man crawled underneath the stairwell from the other side and grabbed at my purse.  I screamed, no doubt, and I really try not to go there anymore.  Note: I know I should be more careful.  I shouldn't go there anymore, etc., etc., but go ahead and scold me if you wish.

Anyway, Saturday a group of 7 of us girls from Annie's decided to go horseback riding at Heavenly Stables, a farm close to Sardinia Bay (an excellent place for kite surfing.)  It's owned by Jackie and Sydney, a lovely couple with three amazing kids who help out on the farm.

My horse's name was Red Eagle, and he had a few issues because he doesn't like having other horses behind him (read: lazy.) We brought up the rear, and what made things interesting was that Kari and her pony, Hercules, were in front of us and Hercules wasn't exactly motivated. Basically, Kari and I felt like we were getting lost in the bush several times since the guides stayed in the front.

Red Eagle:

The bush and beach were both beautiful, and it was neat to see the contrast in terrain since we went through the bush, then around a sand dune, and then onto the beach.  

After the 3 hour horseride, we went to Jackie's sister's house for a braii.  We're learning that braiing isn't the most timely event, so while we were waiting on our delicious meal from the indoor braii pit, we enjoyed Hunter's Dry cider.  This is a photo of our father figures for the evening.

And here are our mother figures:

And our family photo:

Side note: I've learned that I really like cider.  You still get that beer feel without the bitter taste and fullness.  And Hunter's Dry and Sarita ciders (both brewed in South Africa) have become a fave among a lot of the girls at Annie's.   

We also played with the family's pets while we waited for the meat to cook.  So here's a shout-out to everyone at the library! This family has a Scout Junior, and seeing this cat made me miss all of you and Scout and Atticus!

The meal was the best most of us had eaten since arriving in S.A.  We still aren't too sure if that had more to do with the homely feel to the braii (and the 2 dogs and 7 cats the family owns, and the adorable children, and the cider,) or the food itself, but nonetheless, we had an amazing time. (Thanks for the photo, Kari!)

To be continued... Next post: The Walmer Township tour

Courses

 Classes started last Monday, and since this is my last semester of college, I decided to take the required English course I need and then pick and choose other random classes to take.  I was going to take Xhosa for Beginners but once I got here and started talking to the locals I realized that I can't even pronounce the name of the language, so I decided against it.  I should at least take Afrikaans, but because I'm lacking in the linguistics department, I've decided to try learning it from the locals and through the program Kline set up on my computer.  It's almost embarrassing to meet people who speak at least 2 and up to 7 languages, so I'm working on it.

I am taking Aquatic Ecology with a friend.  It meets 3x/week and we go on field trips on Fridays during lab time to study coral reefs, marine life, etc., around P.E. (or so I'm told.)

I'm also taking Modernism and Literature (which will finish out my English major.)

The class I'm most excited about is Community Service Learning.  There are several community service projects around town (in the townships and such,) and we have the opportunity to participate in one of those once a week.  My project is Homework Club, and others include Aids Haven (I absolutely hate that name,) Learn4Life, and a few others.  I'm not quite sure how many or how old the children will be at Homework Club, but I'll find out today at 2:30 p.m.   The coursework for this class consists of keeping a journal about what types of things I'm learning, what I need to learn, what my expectations are, etc.

NMMU does two terms per semester (9 weeks sort of classes,) but it's confusing since some courses last two terms and some only last one.  Other classes require that you take part 1 (Biology 211, for example) during term 1 and part 2 (Biology 212) during term 2, even if you only need Biology 212.  Anyway, Aquatic Ecology only lasts for term 1, and then I'll pick up Pre-Colonial African History and Philosophy for term 2.

Also, I just logged onto NMMU's website to make sure I had the course title correct for African History, and this poll came up on the school's homepage:

Sex on the first date?

__ Disgusting and wrong

__ So what?

__ Cool!

I didn't respond, in case you're wondering.

3 weeks

I've been in Port Elizabeth for 3 weeks, and I just got wireless at Annie's Cove.  I'm not complaining or anything since TIA (This is Africa,) but I've missed it more than I thought I would.  I have a lot to catch everyone up on, so I'll just start from the beginning.

The two 8-hour flights were a bit more stressful than expected, but I made all of time and arrived at Annie's Cove by 10 p.m. on Wednesday, January 28.  This is what my room looked like then.

And this is more or less what it looks like now.

On Thursday we went to campus, and we got to see the monkeys.

And on Friday we left for Bush camp at Umlambo.

By the time we arrived I was sunburned and exhausted from pulling an all-nighter, but Bush camp was fun.  I did the zip-line (more photos from that later) and we did community-building activities all weekend and went for a long hike through the surrounding orchards and farms. Most of the people who went to Bush camp live at Annie's Cove, and all of us were international students.  I'd met a lot of people by then: from the States, various countries in Africa, and other countries like Norway, Sweden (hey Kline!,) New Zealand, and Ireland.  It has been very interesting to be one of few people from the southern U.S. because to everyone else I have a thick southern accent.  (There is only one other student here from Ole Miss, and he's from Memphis; the other "southerners" go to school at UNC-W.)  

I don't have much more time to post today, but I will post more frequently now that I'm back online. I will say that I've already learned a lot about South Africa and the people and issues here. I've also met so many wonderful people, and I've had a surfing lesson!  I've also been to both a cricket and rugby match. I am constantly learning new things and trying to wrap my head around the cultural differences between home and here, like the racism (and the comparison by some locals to the racism in the U.S.) Much more on all of that later, but until then, I have a list of some things I've learned since I've been here.  Some are funny, some serious, and I've already thought of more since I wrote this over a week ago.

1.  Don't feed the monkeys

2.  There are no single checks at restaurants

3.  Air conditioners aren't necessary

4.  Port Elizabeth really is both the friendly and the windy city

5.  "Just now" can mean any time between 5 minutes and 3 hours, (and I'm learning to be okay with that!)

6.  Bottled water always comes in two varieties: sparkling or still.  I don't like sparkling.

7.  South Africans love Beyonce. And Coldplay. And Britney Spears. And No Doubt. And Alanis Morisette.  I've known this since I got on the plane in Jo-burg, and it has made the transition easier. 

8.  Having the phone number of a reliable, inexpensive cab driver is a big deal. (We love Pang!)

9.  NMMU doesn't have the greatest reputation among locals.  I've heard it called "No more money university," among other things-- more on this later.

10.   People are excited to discuss politics with the American students.

I hope everyone is doing well.  Take care!

We made it to New Orleans.

After a stop in D'Iberville at the Super Wal-mart (because, of course, I needed that double pack of Equate facial cleansing towelettes,) Mom, Dad, and I headed to downtown Nola for a walk.

 

After aimlessly wandering around for a couple of hours, and after I proved to Mom and Dad that I had been into nearly every bar on Bourbon Street (“This is where I learned how to salsa dance at 5 a.m.” and “This is where the police officer and his wife from the Coast hit on Beth,”) we decided to venture over to Poyndras to eat at Mother’s. Thirty minutes later, we found the restaurant. Dad’s GPS device, that he’s affectionately named “Mistress,” didn’t seem to have a handle on New Orleans, but then again, neither did we. Parking was our next issue, but thirty-ish minutes later, we made it to Mother’s and ordered our food and drinks (a Bud Light in a can for me; who knows when I'll have one of those again, right?) So we’re standing around, deciding where to sit, when the blasted fire alarm goes off. Lovely. It was actually quite humorous though, because I flashed back to my times as an R.A. when the fire alarm would go off in Miller Hall, and we’d yell at our residents for standing around and just looking at one another and not moving a muscle. I was reminded of this because that’s exactly what everyone, including the restaurant staff members, did. It seemed as though we’d rather die in a fiery blaze than be inconvenienced. And I love how, in the case of a fire alarm going off, people have to be engulfed in flames or smell a forest fire in order to evacuate. No one evacuated, and eventually the fire truck arrived to OK the building. 

Anyway, dinner was great, and we only got lost heading back to the car once. We found the hotel without incident, and Dad and I were stoked to find that the hotel we're staying at (The Radisson) has Sleep Number beds.  Seriously, who hasn't seen that infomercial and wondered what their sleep number was? Anyway, to top things off, Edward Scissorhands was on TV, so Mom was doing her thing in the bathroom and dad and I were alternately freaking out about the beds, and then the movie, when, I kid you not, a roach crawled up from behind Dad's pillow.  So I told him that a roach was about to eat his face off, and he freaked out, and jumped up and used the plastic wrap from one of the styrofoam cups provided in the room to dispose of the roach.  Then he flipped over the pillow.  We still haven't told Mom about the incident.  

I’m all set to fly out of the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International airport (in Kenner) at 11:31 a.m.  Talk to y'all soon!