A way for you to keep up with me. Basically.

The Part Where the Nice Lady Lures Us Home and Chops Us Up, September 29



We got up at a decent hour so we could pack and check out before we left for the Waterfront. I stole a book from the backpacker shelves, but only knowing that I'd be back with my dad and could return it then. We drove to the other side of town to pick up Mindy then got to the dock to pick up our tickets for the 11:00 ferry. We were early so we did a little shopping before heading back to the dock to board. On the way, I watched the video they played on Robben Island, and it was honestly the most informative part of the day.



When we got off the boat, we got onto a bus where this really great tour guide told us about the island. He said that everyone who works on the island is somehow related to it. Our bus driver's dad was imprisoned here and the tour guide was in exile in the Netherlands for years. We looped around the island (which at different points in history was a leper colony and a military base as well as being a prison). Back at the start again, we offloaded and took a walking tour of the prison. The highlight of this, of course, was seeing Nelson Mandela's cell and seeing the corner of the courtyard where he kept his writings (later A Long Walk to Freedom) hidden.



We took the boat back to the Waterfront where I bought a postcard and we hit the craft market yet again. Finally, it was getting late so we got back in the car and dropped Mindy off so we could get on the road. We drove to Hermanus first and stopped for gelato at this cute little place. We went to find a deck of cards at a pharmacy and when we asked, this lady said, "We don't have any here, but back at my house I have a brand new deck and I'll never play because I live alone. So if you just wait until I get off in a half hour I'll get them for you." So at 7:30, we were following a strange South African woman to her house so we could get a deck of cards. The nicest, most accommodating people, these South Africans.



We did a little more whale watching then called a backpacker in Gansbaai and booked it before we got back into the car. Deb asked me if I'd taken any politics classes and I told her I had so she asked if I'd give her a rundown of African politics. This is a daunting task for me, even after having taken the class and it took me a good five minutes to really fall into step, but once I did, there was a lot to talk about. Keilani was even impressed, as I know she hasn't really heard me talk about this stuff. I'm no expert, but as a lay observer, I think it gave them at least a starting point.



At the backpacker, we had to wait a bit before the owners came and let us in, then we gathered our stuff and moved into a room. Feeling a bit hyperactive, Keilani and I were dancing around the room singing "I got my bunkbed" (okay, mostly just me.) until Mama Debs came in and told us to settle down. It was funny being scolded for the first time in, I don't know how long.



I showered quickly then made some ramen noodles for dinner. We played cards and talked and I read until finally falling asleep.



Quote of the day from Riceyman Steps: "He failed to descry her, but his thoughts pleasantly held her image, and she held his thoughts."



Americans Don't Totally Suck at Rugby, September 30



We got up at the crack of dawn to get on the road early. Keilani's and my DVD of the shark dive was skipping so we wanted to make a pit stop in Kleinbaai to get a new copy. We stopped at the office first and the receptionist sent us over to the video place where they said they'd whip out another in 20 minutes if we'd just stay in the office and wait. 20 minutes quickly turned into 40, but it gave us time to talk to the receptionist again. She still promised to call about Brad Pitt. She said, "I don't care what time it is there, I'm going to call you!"



While we waited, we watched the Discovery Channel DVD again. Then the strangest thing happened because Mike, the guy on the TV walked in the doors of the office. Of course, Keilani's mom started chatting him up, and so he came in and we all got to talk to him. It was very cool, to be honest. I asked him some questions about what he does and what kind of credentials you have to have to be able to do it and he said there's no degree, it's just something you have to commit yourself to. Way cool.



Finally the video was done, so we picked it up and brought it back to the office to watch and be certain that it plays okay. I went to say goodbye to the receptionist lady and told her that I'll probably bring my dad to come dive in December. She said if I tell her I've been diving before, she'll give me a good price, so I'm happy for that. On the way out of town, we stopped at a souvenir shop and a Spar to pick up necessities. Then we jumped back in the car to start the long trek to Cape Agulhas. It seemed we'd never get there but we finally did it.



We parked then walked to the little monument officially denoting this as the southernmost point of Africa. Keilani and I climbed on the rocks so we could try to put our feet in the water of both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. This proved more difficult in practice than theory, but we had fun doing it. We took goofy pictures in front of the monument, then picked up and drove back into town. We ate lunch at a cute little place called Angelo's where we had pizza and then got on the road. No time to spare, we had to make tracks to get to George before it was dark.



Finally inside, we dropped our stuff off then drove to town to look for cheese (to leave with some wine) and find dinner. It was too late for any nice little cheese places to be open so we had to go to Spar. Then we went to eat at the Spur steakhouse, which felt very American inside. Sure enough, we realized Spur is owned by McDonald's! Typical Americans, we are. We saw that the South Africa/USA rugby was on, so we ate quickly and went home to watch the rest of the game. I showered in a hurry and watched the second half. We lost, but we put up a better fight than England and that's saying something, I think. It was late then, and it'd been a very long day, so I had little trouble falling asleep.



Quote of the day from Riceyman Steps: "Exquisitely feminine, he thought! 'Why couldn't they have had it all on the same level?' Absurd! Delicious! He adored the delicious, girlish absurdity."



Angry Swedish May Be the Funniest Thing I've Ever Heard, October 1



We were out before Mary and Harry were back, and we ate leftover pizza for breakfast. We stopped first in Wilderness to look for shoes for Keilani then saw brown signs (denoting a landmark of sorts) saying "Map of Africa". Intrigued, we followed them. We drove for twenty minutes and with every passing moment, we were more anxious to figure out just what the heck this was. Finally we see this bench with a sign over it saying Map of Africa. Still not quite sure what it is we're looking for or at, we park and get out and look over this ledge. Down below, I can vaguely make out what may be a land mass that is shaped like Africa bordered by a creek. We couldn't see it in its entirety from this angle, you'd have to see it from bird's eye to know for sure, but I feel like it was both an awesome thing and a huge waste of time. I'll have to google it. At any rate, there was a sign partially covered by foliage saying the Map of Africa is sponsored by a bunch of environmental organizations and the forestry department, so I'm assuming it's just a conservation of sorts.



We stopped in this little out of the way place for crepes, and when we got out of the car smelled sulfur but thought little of it. (I wish we had thought more of it-would have saved us some heartache later...) After we finished being tourists there, we moved on to Plettenberg Bay to walk through Monkeyland and Birds of Eden, two sanctuaries for animals that were a great deal of fun. For the first time in my life, I was kind of excited to see and hear conures and be reminded of crazy, evil Ralph at home. Keilani and her mom stopped to get a snack in Birds of Eden so I fed the macaws. There was one who would not take food from me, he just wanted to eat my fingers so I went to sit down at the picnic table and saw that there was this one little bird that had fallen in love with Deb. He just kept crawling on her and if we shooed him away, he came right back. We got some super cute pictures of that before walking down to the gift shop.



I found Garden Route playing cards that I could bring back to the group home and give to them from my trip. From there we drove to J-Bay to do a little more shopping. Not finding anything I liked, I walked over to Billabong to scoop up Keilani. Then the weird stuff started happening. It started when she was checking out and this kid walked up to the counter and suddenly I realized he wasn't a kid, but a dwarf man. That wasn't so weird, but then Deb came in with a panicked look on her face and pointed outside, saying something to an employee. I couldn't hear what she was saying so we walked outside after her and saw this homeless kid on the bench with his face all beat up. His eye was swollen shut and his lip and teeth were bleeding.



Not sure what to do, Keilani and I just hurried to the car and Deb followed. Then she tried starting the car and it wouldn't turn over. The same employee from inside came out to help us and got a hold on some mechanics who told jumped the car and said the battery was dead. Keilani talked to the car rental people and then we grabbed gas and got the heck out of there. The trip was so normal, and then it all hit in the last hour.



Finally in PE, we stopped to get Nando's for dinner then took it home to eat a picnic on Keilani's floor. After we ate, John and Cassandra picked us up to go to the Swedish movie and they even paid for us! The movie was called As it Is in Heaven and was actually very good. We made a lot of jokes to John, but I really did enjoy it. We got home at 11 and I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't unpack so as tired as I was, I got most of the big work out of the way. Then I almost literally passed out.



Quote of the day from the book: (After describing in great detail the trivial but endless complaints of the women on the first floor) "The spinster on the second floor was profoundly and bitterly dissatisfied for the mere reason that she was a spinster; whereas the other two women would have sold their souls to be spinsters."

I Could Be Jeff Corwin if I Wanted, September 26



The next morning, we got up and piled into John's car to drive to the skydiving place. When we got there, it was pretty quick the way they suit the girls up and whisk them up into the sky. Deb, John and I stood behind the hangar waiting for them to circle around. John threw rocks at me the whole time and the horseflies would not let me be, so I was thoroughly bothered on all fronts. I paced around patiently waiting for them to hurry the heck up and get back here. Once they were safely landed, they got lunch at the place. I was anxious to leave because the bugs were getting worse and they were starting to bite through my jeans so I've never been so grateful to get in the car. We drove back to the hotel and I ate leftover Chinese for lunch. Then the three of us got into Deb's car to pick up Mindy (Deb's best friend's daughter who is our age and doing an internship in Cape Town-what a coincidence!). She lives in a rough part of town though, and we got horrifically lost trying to find her. We literally drove around for well over an hour and a half.



I wasn't sure we'd ever make it, but after we scooped Mindy up, we parked at the foot of Table Mountain and the next thing I know, we're riding up the side in a huge gondola. I wasn't thrilled about being in there, but the ride was short and it sure as heck beat hiking it. The view from the top was incredible, but I was most amused by the lizards sunning themselves on the rocks. I spent a good amount of time trying (fruitlessly) to catch one of the little guys. We lucked out megatime with weather too, because it can change so quickly up there, but it was warm and clear and breezy and absolute perfection.



Once we did all our souveniring, we hurried home to pick people up for dinner and Keilani and I did a quick change. We all drove together to Mama Africa on Long Street, and sat and ordered drinks. Keilani and I got crocodile skewers as a starter and they were really tasty. I'm going to really have to get into this exotic food thing! Our main dishes took over an hour to get to us, so John was really mad, but the rest of us were just drinking and enjoying one another's company. I tried Keilani's ostrich too and it was likewise delicious. I got the bobotie, which was pretty good too, but I was totally stuffed from the appetizers and beer that I didn't eat very much. Much to my personal chagrin, Deb caught the bill for all us before we could protest and she paid for everyone. When we got outside, I stuffed R120 into her shirt, and said I don't want that back.



She, John, and Cassandra took Mindy home while Keilani, Mike, Emily, and I found a nice pub a block or two down and grabbed a benchseat. The singer got onstage just after we ordered our first round and he was so funny. I was worried at first because he looked like a cheesy wedding singer, which he pretty much was, but he was hilarious. There were some people dancing on the dance floor and he said, "What do you want? Tango? Salsa? Ramba? Mambo?" and Emily yelled out, "Mambo No 5!" And he said, "Alright," and all of a sudden he was playing Lou Bega.



We were ready for a change after a while, so we settled the tab and walked over to a club called Stones. It had nice balconies and a ton of pool tables, so I sat outside with John and Cassandra. We got into a big debate about the tobacco pouches he puts under his top lip. He says you can't see them, but I can tell the difference when he's got them in and when he hasn't and I said even though I know everything can give you cancer these days, it's not like I go out looking for it. I brought up that they used to put fiberglass in chew so people would get the rush faster and stay addicted longer and he said they don't do that anymore. But I looked at him and said, "Are you really willing to trust and industry who will manipulate its consumers like that?" I told him I don't think it makes him a bad person, but I still wish he didn't do it.



Emily and Mike got into a pool competition with John and Cassandra and halfway through, Deb and Keilani made their exit, but I decided I wanted to hang out. Not long after that, Emily and Cassandra were bored of playing, so they went outside to talk and I hung out with the guys. They were so dumb though, and Mike is so competitive and self deprecating it's unhealthy. But it was funny trying to sell him on the wonders of having a positive outlook. All the while, John kept talking in my other ear about how much Mike sucks.



At 3, they finally called it quits and gathered the women. Luckily, Keilani was just about to go to bed when I got home, so I didn't wake her. I changed and brushed my teeth quickly and went to bed.



Can You Find "Hair of the Dog" at a Vineyard?, September 27



Waking at about 8 was really unfortunate. I wasn't feeling well when we went out last night, but I ignored my better judgment to be social and I knew right away I'd be paying for it all day today. We had to hurry to get ready and drop Emily and Mike off at the airport. Once we saw them off, we made our way south towards the point. We stopped in Camps Bay for breakfast and I got this huge greasy plate with eggs and sausage and though it made me nauseas to look at it, I knew I'd feel better once I had something in my stomach, so I ate.



Deb told me all about Indigo children and I'm really starting to get used to some of this stuff. I'm not necessarily thinking I believe it or will follow it, but it's not so oogie to me and it's actually quite interesting. We walked down the lane to Pick N Pay for a few filler snacks and things before jumping back on the road. We headed up toward Chapman's Peak Drive, but found out that it was closed for road maintenance. It sucked, but I was feeling better and in far higher spirits, so I was ready to navigate a new route for us. We decided to cross to the east coast of the point and take that south, and on the way we hit the Constantia wineries.



We leisurely browsed the museum and house on the land and took pictures of the beautiful Dutch architecture and the sunny vineyards. We were too early for the cellar tour and realized if we waited to do it, we'd never make it to Cape Point, so we opted instead to go wine tasting. It looked so pretty inside, I was worried, but it ended up only being R22 for 5 glasses of wine! I only tried four, but since Keilani hates wine (though she tries desperately to like it) I drank one of hers too. After that I was definitely feeling much better and it was really a lot of fun to hang out, the three of us.



We ate snacks in the car and got on the road. In Simon's Town, we stopped at Boulder Bay to see the penguins. It costs R40 to get into the park, but if you cross the parking lot there's a little gate and you can walk in there for free and there are penguins all over just the same. I wanted to pet one, but I remembered that they bite and I didn't want to bleed today. I had texted Nicky earlier to tell all my guys at the group home that I'm thinking of them, and she called me back just then. I spoke to her and then she let me talk to Harriet and I told her to tell everyone I couldn't wait to see them next Thursday.



After we finished playing with the penguins, we finished the trip to Cape Point. At the tourist area for the point, we mostly just took pictures and got postcards. Then we got in the car to drive down to the Cape of Good Hope. We really wanted to see baboons but weren't sure were to find them, and shortly thereafter, they came to us. We came around a curve and there were a pair of them, cleaning one another on the other side of the road. We took a bunch of pictures then drove a little further and saw a train of ten or twenty more coming along. We even saw a baby with its family and a baby baboon is, well, as cute as baboons are going to get.



Down at the water front, Keilani and I got out of the car and walked down the rocks, because we wanted to put our feet in the water. About halfway down, I saw in front of me some rocks with cockroach looking bugs on them. Startled, I moved around them and realized it wasn't only on that spot-they were all over the place! Freaked out, I told Keilani and she saw them too and started yelling, "Retreat! Retreat!" We ran back and on safe ground, took a series of goofy pictures with each other on the rocks.



Finished being tourists, we got back in the car and made our way back. We took a detour to find some ostriches on a beach and take pictures, because admittedly, that's an odd sight. Since we were so close, I coaxed Keilani into walking down and putting our feet in the water. We took some more pictures then got on the road for good.



Deb was so happy when we saw another car pulled over and we figured out what they were taking pictures of: Zebras! She hadn't seen any before, so we stopped to take pictures too. Once on the highway, we ate dinner in Simon's Town in a little harbor front place and I had carbonara and a milkshake. I made Deb let me pay for the whole thing, because she's been doing nothing but spending money on me it feels like.



Since it had long since grown dark, we hurried straight home and had a very chill night in the backpacker until an early bed.



Learning Facts in a Cape Town Zone Space, September 28



Keilani and I both woke with a serious case of the giggles and we chatted and laughed hysterically for the first twenty minutes after we got up. Every day should start like that. We had a slow morning, with coffee and showering and lounging. We ate breakfast downstairs with Cassandra and John and they invited us to see a Swedish movie that was coming to Green Acres when we were back in PE. We agreed and said goodbye-they were headed out of town today. We moved our rooms because someone was coming to stay in our room, then got in the car to do some more Cape Town. We parked in a parking structure just off Wales Dr and before we went to the Slave Lodge museum, we stopped in at St. George's cathedral. It was gorgeous inside and it felt nice to be in a church again (it's been a while). We wandered around and looked at the stained glass and the architecture before going out back to see the labyrinth. Apparently they're pretty popular and I feel like I've never heard of them. Anyway, it's like a mosaic of a maze on the ground (no walls) and you're supposed to walk around it slowly, kind of meditating as you go and by the time you reach the middle you're supposed to be looking for enlightenment. Anyway, it was unusual, but pretty neat. Back inside the church, we walked over to where they have the candles set up, and I lit one for Craig; I think he would appreciate that.



Outside, we walked down to the Slave Lodge and SA Cultural History Museum. We walked through the first few rooms and waited for the informational video to start again. It was kind of odd because here we were to learn about South African history and in the back there's a huge exhibit on the American Civil Rights period. One thing I learned that I didn't know before was that LBJ was a teacher in Texas of an all Mexican elementary school class before he was later president and a key advocate of civil rights. After we'd been all the way through, we walked down a path that led to a bunch of other museums, but it just wasn't our luck because everything we wanted to see was closed for renovations. Then we walked to the Holocaust and Jewish museum and it too was closed, because it was a Jewish holiday! Instead, we walked back through the Company Gardens which were pretty and then down toward the market area.



That wasn't much fun either, it was mostly people fencing clothes and shoes and stuff. Not a lot of cool crafty things at all. We grabbed lunch on the go and then drove back through town to the V&A Waterfront. The coolest place there was the Craft Market which had all the crafty stuff we love at really good prices. I didn't buy much but I figured we'd come back so I kept things in mind.



We also found a little kids area that had dress up games and there I found my pirate costume-it's just a piece of cardboard with plastic accessories strapped to it, but it was only R30 and it had a gun, a sword, a hook, and of course, an eyepatch. My costume is practically done! We also walked through the "wellness" area, which is all kinds of stuff that Keilani and Deb love. Tarot, psychics, massages, books and cds and potions and light therapy and all kinds of crazy stuff. It was interesting though. We walked out to explore the rest of the Waterfront, but made a pitstop at The Little Mermaid for some coffee. I was busy playing with my plastic gun when this random guy trying to sell boat rides came over and said, "Wanna real one?" Creepy. But hilarious.



I finally went back to the Craft Market later and bought a few of the souvenirs I'd wanted then we went back to the street our backpacker was on to look for dinner. Keilani's flip flop had broken, so as we got out of the car, it started raining and I gave her a piggy back ride across the street. We were debating between two restaurants and we settled on Stake. It looked kind of nice inside, but the prices were reasonable so we sat. We were the only ones in the place for a while, but the manager and our waiter were super attentive. They asked if we wanted the door closed or to move tables because it was too cold and our waiter even asked how everything was going before we'd gotten our food!



I got nachos, Keilani got a steak, and Deb got a cheese board and soup and everything was incredibly good. The bill came and we looked at it and the receipt was empty. The waiter had written his name with "Thank you" on there, but there was no information. Confused, we didn't know what to do, so Keilani went up to him and said, "I think your printer is broken." He pointed to the receipt and said, "No, it's right there." We just thought maybe it's light ink...Then he came to the table and said, "You're the first diners at our newly renovated place, so the meal is on us." Shocked, we decided to leave a R100 tip for him. Keilani even left a note saying thanks and I told her to put her number on there in case he's ever in PE. (He was cute!) Happy after such a nice day, we went home to the backpacker to relax until bed.

I'll have to post this in large chunks over the next few days to get caught up. Sorry!!


On the Open Road, September 23



I woke pretty early to dress and get ready to head to the market just before 8. When we got down there, they weren't even set up yet, so we opted to eat breakfast at Blue Water instead of lunch. Since the Boardwalk was right across the street, we went over and shopped a little. After, we went back to the market, but the stands were sparse. I guess people heard the weather was going to be bad, so no one came out.



We headed back to the car and made a quick stop at the house so Keilani could surprise her mom with a cake since today was her birthday. Then we got on the road early, so we could make some tracks on the way to George. Our first stop was in Jeffreys Bay where the weather was less than ideal. We shopped in some of the beach stores so Keilani could find some Billabong crap, then we went into a store where there was a sarong sale. We ended up talking to the two guys working there for a bit, about the upcoming SA-USA rugby match. They made fun of us and how bad our team will be, but we tried to defend ourselves by saying that rugby isn't an American priority and that everyone built to play rugby plays football instead. They were nice though.



After we were saronged up, we went out to the Shell Festival which just happened to be on this weekend. We walked through all the sales stands, and didn't really find anything too interesting or out of the ordinary, so we moseyed on back to the car. The weather was still bad, so we opted to try for Monkeyland on the way back through next weekend. We did find time to stop at the Bloukrans bridge which is home to the highest bungy jump in the world-216 meters. We watched a few people bungy down and then I bet Keilani that the next person that did it was going to die. The cord didn't snap, so I owe her R5 but it still scared me just watching. It was growing dark fast, both because of the hour and the weather, so we hurried back on the road.



We were a little late in getting there, due to the shoddy maps and the dark roads, but that's what we get for dilly-dallying. We walked in the door and dinner was pretty much on the table. We had meat, potatoes, and vegetables, and I tell you it was delicious after the long day. She even had homemade apple pie for us! I didn't have much to contribute to the conversation, as Mary Beth's sister lives in Red Lake Falls where Deb and Kiks are from, and they were talking about mutual friends and whatnot, but I listened and ate and it was a nice wind-down.



Late in the meal, Deb asked about apartheid and how Mary Beth and Harry feel about the status quo pre and post it. It was interesting to hear another perspective, but much of what they said was definitely tinged by the fact that they lived the majority of their adult lives under apartheid and didn't necessarily have a problem with that. They talked a lot about what's called the "brain drain" (where all the smart up and coming kids [white, generally] leave to work in the US or the UK or Australia because they can't get the jobs they want here). They also spoke of reverse discrimination with giving blacks jobs they are unqualified for, and I didn't say anything, because I understand where they're coming from and how something like that can be immensely frustrating, but I couldn't stop myself from thinking, well, you can own land still. And you can at least compete for those jobs. And you're allowed out in public after sundown without threats of incarceration or worse. So if a black gets a job without the college education he wasn't entitled to ten years ago over a white who's had most all the doors opened for him, well I'll be damned if I don't lose too much sleep.



Speaking of sleep, it was a long first day to a very long week, so I showered and hit the sack.



For What its Worth, September 24



For breakfast, we had coffee and Harry made eggs to order. We packed up our stuff from the room and Keilani noticed a painting of a naked anime lady on the top of the bookshelf-this was obviously one of her son's rooms. Odd that they'd keep that up and yet they have no family pictures in the house. Architects.



We got on the road in good time and our first stop was Mossel Bay. We didn't hang out for too long, but the weather was nice so we walked a bit on the beach. Keilani decided she was ready to drive, and we made our way along the N2. We stopped at a gas station to make sandwiches and we went inside to get drinks.



With Deb back behind the wheel and our bladders empty and our tummies full, we made pretty good time to Hermanus. It was late afternoon when we got there and we could already tell it was gorgeous. It took us a while to find the backpacker and when we did, we noticed a bunch of the Germans checking in as well. Sometimes I think they just ruin everything. Of course two seconds after I said, "If they're going on the shark dive tomorrow..." I found out they were. I'm not about to let them ruin the coolest experience ever for me, so I made up my mind to shove them overboard first thing tomorrow.



We dropped off our things then left again to find dinner. We decided to eat at this great looking restaurant called Cubana and we all three ordered Cuban drinks and took goofy pictures. By the time we got out, all the shops were closing, so we went back to the hostel. Deb needed airtime to make some phonecalls so we ran out to a gas station to pick up some snacks and stuff. On the way back, Deb told us about this thing called a Quest Deck she has and it's supposed to tell you about your passions. I was interested, so we decided we'd get them out when we got home.



The process of the cards was a pretty complex one, but basically how it works is each card has a little phrase and a picture on it. You sort the cards by the phrases into most like me/important to me, somewhat, and not at all. Then you pick top five most like me and top five least like me. Then there are little readings according to the pictures and phrases associated with each card. Anyway, I ended up picking phrases like "being seen as responsible" and "bringing order" and "having integrity" for most like me and phrases like "being mystical" and "being sensitive to others feelings" as least like me. A lot of the things she read were pretty accurate, but it at times it was only 50/50. It was fun to do though.



It was getting late and I was getting excited about the next day, so we decided to go to bed. Of course, it wasn't long before Keilani and I got the giggles and since we were on a bunk bed (me on top of course) she kept sticking her hand up the side like she was a shark and kicking the mattress. Finally, Mama Debs told us to settle down and we went to sleep.



'Eyeball to Eyeball', Just like Brad Pitt Said, September 25



We got up early and got ready, eating breakfast in the room, so we could cut out and do some quick whale watching. We went down to the waterfront and walked along a trail edging some cliffs and looked out into the open water. It took a little while, but once one started breaching a few followed and it was really more exciting than I'd have imagined. Hermanus may be the prettiest place I've ever been.



We caught a ride with the Germans to Kleinbaai, about 45 minutes away. Once at the place at 11, we walked in and saw a huge breakfast laid out for us. I got some coffee and toast and sat down. Keilani pointed out in the brochure that it said Brad Pitt has been here, so while I ate, she went over to sign the guestbook and hunt for his name. I watched the DVD they put on-this particular dive place has been featured on several documentaries on the Discovery Channel and the like, and this one was about the main dive guy, Mike, trying to put a great white shark into tonic, a kind of sleep state. I guess they play a DVD before every dive group goes out.



Anyway, Keilani runs up to me excitedly clutching the guestbook and flashes Brad Pitt's name at me. Admittedly I was skeptical along with the Germans that it was really him, but I did think, man, that'd be pretty cool. We went in to pay the receptionist lady and I couldn't resist. I asked, "Alright, so we've been dying to know: Was Brad Pitt really here?" Her eyes lit up like a little girl and she said, "Oh yes. He's been three times now. The first time, he came with all his bodyguards and it was all a real pain so he came later that week just by himself and he let us take pictures and we had a good time. Then he just came a while back with Maddox." She promised that when the other lady came back she'd show us pictures on the computer.



So we watched the documentary a little longer until the lady called us back in and we scrolled through some really awesome pictures of him on the boat and in a wetsuit and the whole nine. They fawned over him and we oohed and aahed, and they told us that he was the nicest guy and that he tries to come once a year. I joked, "Well you better call me when he comes back." And the receptionist lady looked at me and said, "Write your number in the guestbook and I'll call you. I promise."



I thought she was joking, but she wasn't. So you can be sure I wrote my name and number in there and said "Call me when Brad comes back!" Finally, we had a short briefing then walked down to the dock. We climbed aboard and grabbed a bench seat and rode for about 20 minutes on some pretty rough seas to where they had the cage anchored. After a few minutes of trying to lure some sharks around, they passed out wetsuits and told us to suit up. My wetsuit was already a bit wet so I had to fight to get it on. My fingers hurt after I was finished, but I was in and I was excited.



We volunteered to go first, even though the visibility was only about 1.5 meters, I didn't want to wait and have it get worse, and I was really ready to get it started. We goggled up and they threw weight belts over our shoulders and we slid into the cage-Keilani on the far end and me next to her. The water was cold, and even though we didn't have gloves on, I was surprised at how insulated the wetsuit kept us. I was scared already, because the cage does not feel that sturdy. The holes were probably like 9x9 and it is all too easy to accidentally reach a hand or kick a foot out. And I couldn't help the thought running through my mind: what if a shark got its head in? What the hell do you do then?!



So we waited for about ten minutes and our dive master explained that they're going to bait the shark to bring it in as close as possible, and we will just sit in the top of the cage looking out above the water. Then when it comes by, he'll yell "down!" and we'll dive down and try and get a look. He said the further down you dive, the better the view you're likely to get. After those first ten minutes, he called the first down. I was cold and nervous and my goggles were fogging and the weight belt was pushing on my chest and I hesitated to take a breath and dive. When I did, I searched left and right but couldn't see anything. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I saw Keilani's foot kick up as she was breaking the surface and just below, to my left in the bottom of the cage, I saw a Great White nose literally sticking into the cage. It took me a second, but I realized he was shaking the whole thing, so I panicked and kicked up to get air. The cage was just again settling from the impact, but I was far from calm. I didn't yell, but my heart was in my throat and I couldn't really think straight. I was just mumbling things to Keilani, who was mostly just laughing at my ridiculous behavior because she'd missed the whole thing. Of course when I explained exactly what had just gone down, she changed her tune a bit, but it took me a while to get my head on straight.



Keilani said, "Man, it's really scary here on the end." And I don't know what on earth possessed me to be the hero, but I, barely calmed, volunteered to trade spots with her. Of course, I didn't think at the time that not only am I most exposed to the sharks, I am also furthest from the ladder into the boat, so my fate is pretty much sealed and my death is pretty much imminent. My next down was about as nerve wracking, but I only just caught the tail end of the shark. After that, we were above water for about 30 minutes waiting for a shark to come. I sat with my body braced between my back on the wall of the cage and my shins resting on the hand bar in the front of the cage. In this time, my courage grew, and I planned how I'd do my next down, reaching to the bar and using it for leverage to push me all the way to the bottom of the cage. It's scarier down there because you're less oriented to which way is up since everything happens so fast, and you're also likely to kick or push out of the cage and lose a limb, but I wasn't about to leave without a really good view of the shark.



We played around with the underwater camera, though it's almost impossible to get a good shot of the shark during a dive. There are too many other things to be focused on and I'd rather just see the thing than try and photograph it. After we were near freezing, the shark finally got more active, and we had three or four more downs. I missed him a couple times when he was on the other end of the cage, but I was patient. The last time our dive master called down, I had my system down pretty well and using the bar, I took a huge breath and went straight down. I held myself there and I saw the shark make a pass right in front of me for 180 degrees, far enough that I could see him from nose to tail but close enough that I could see his big black eye. Easily the coolest moment of my life to date.



He called us out of the water so the other group could get in before the visibility worsened. It was cool to have the opposite view and get to see just how often the shark was around the cage, just not close enough to see underwater. I asked the dive master how long we were under and he said well over an hour. In some ways it felt that long, but in most ways not at all. It went by so fast! I got dressed and warmed up a bit and Keilani and I dug into the snacks we'd brought.



I felt a little bad for the second group because they weren't having very much luck. The visibility had in fact worsened and the shark wasn't very active. While we were watching, I asked the dive master if he ever gets scared around the sharks. He looked at me and said, "I get scared walking in Joburg. Not here." They did at one time have two sharks, but they were only in for 50 minutes before being called back out. And the shark jumped out of the water way more while we were in the water than during the second group. But sometimes it's just the luck of the draw. We ate sandwiches and chips on the boat while the crew packed up the chum and hauled the cage on board.



Thankfully the ride home was calmer than the ride out, because my stomach was ready for dry land and solid ground. We jumped off the boat and walked up the hill to the office again. There, they had soup and bread to warm us and we all hung out and relaxed and compared notes while the film guy prepared our video. We watched it there before deciding who wanted to buy it, and Keilani and I definitely decided we were in. I told the guy we were in for one, and Keilani went to shower. My phone rang and it was my mom, worried that I hadn't yet called. I told her we only just got in and that I was fine. I told her about the trip and how it was such a blast. Keilani got out of the shower and we waited for the guy to come back with our movie.



When he finally gave us our copy, we drove back with Flo (who did a lot of annoying complaining) and then jumped straight into the car with Deb. We drove to Cape Town and found the backpacker with moderate confusion and then caught up with Emily, Mike, John, and Cassasndra. I called my dad to see how he was doing and tell him I was alive. I asked if maybe this was something he'd like to do and he said that it was up to me, but I've pretty much decided I'll take him. Keilani's going skydiving tomorrow, but everyone's been skydiving. Even my dad. I have never met anyone in my life who has gone Great White shark cage diving.



There was free wifi in Big Blue so Keilani and I played around on her computer. Keilani, Cassandra and I ordered Chinese and ate, but by then I was totally exhausted from being out in the sun all day, so I got into my pajamas and went right to sleep.

I'm Just a Planning Fool, September 11-12

I woke just before 7:30 and ate granola for breakfast. Keilani came down and we talked about going to campus together to buy Durban tickets. I told Laura I'd get the flight information and pass it along to her so she could book the same ones. Then I did dishes and got dressed. We left the house at 9:30 and went to the lab. I still hadn't gotten word back from Diane, but I went ahead and bought the tickets anyway. I emailed a revised game plan to my folks about my dad's trip here, and it seems to be coming together nicely. I'm really looking forward to it.

Keilani left for class so I stayed on a bit longer to send out inquiries to the Namibia safari place and to car companies, and when I was finished I packed up and headed to the post office. There I sent my last few postcards and then mailed Eric's little Zombie Chew. I met Keilani back over at the international office and we walked home together. I got a text from Cassandra asking if we wanted to go to lunch with her at 1:30, so we decided we would. I just had to make sure I'd be back at Annie's by 4:30 in time to catch the ride to tutoring.

Lunch with her and Aya was loads of fun and when we went home, we swung by Spar. I went home, but realized it was getting late so I walked over to Annie's. Once again, the rides didn't show up, so we bailed at 15 after 5. I ate a grilled cheese and an apple for dinner, watched CSI, hung out with Kiki and then read before hitting the sack.

I woke and ate and walked to campus early. I got through my class then went up to the 8th floor to check on test scores. They were posted and I nervously found mine: 72, holy cow! I had one of the highest scores in the class. I couldn't believe it-after coming here and knowing quite literally nothing about African Politics, I was so proud of myself. All my work had paid off.

I walked happily to the lab and did a bunch of emailing. Of course in planning this safari to Namibia, I emailed my dad and asked if he'd like a Big 5 safari one of the days we're here in PE. You can't really leave Africa without one of those! I emailed out some car and safari information too, then read an email from Diane. Good news on that front, she's still totally excited about it and will pick us up from the airport and it even sounds like she's going to take us to Pietermaritzburg! I figured we'd just bus it or something, but now we won't have to. At the house, I ate lunch then Keilani and I went out to the beach with Cassandra to watch some martial arts practice thing. It was kind of weird, but it was nice to be out of the house and in the sunshine. From there we walked over to the Boardwalk to eat crepes and since Travolta had just gotten out of class, he came over and met us. When we got home, I did some half-work, then made dinner a bit later.

Emily, Mike and Keilani really want internet, so they bought this thing that you plug into your computer and it's like a mobile internet device but they realized it doesn't work in their computers. So Keilani asks if she can try mine and I say that's fine and of course, lo and frickin behold, it works. And the thing of it is, I don't really care about internet now. I'm fine with using the lab and I most of all don't want to have to pay for it. We'll see how it works out though.

I thought about working on my final assignment for African Politics, but I'm not really worried about it, so I put it off yet again. Instead, I read as much as I could of The Covenant before crashing around midnight.

Showing Your True Schizophrenic Colors, September 13

I woke up and made breakfast, but the toaster broke all of a sudden, so I had to eat a cold sandwich. I actually got a little work done on my paper before going upstairs and talking. Not paying attention to the time, it wasn't till 10:30 that I left, and of course it took forever for me to catch the first taxi. Then when I jumped in the second one, I was in the front seat and this guy didn't have a money taker, so I was voted in. I don't even know how much they charge for that one (R4.80 I think) and I'm expected to be able to do it. I was just relieved when my stop came.

Right when I got to Capricorn they were making tea, so I drank some while I told Nicky that Keilani and I would like to come on Monday for a few hours to celebrate Kim and Marce's birthdays. She said that'd be fine, so I texted Keilani. Then I peeled potatoes in the kitchen before we ran some stress exercises outside. Then we gathered in the living room to do a little session on health, where Nicky taught them about TB.

Back in the kitchen, Nicky told me about what's been going on with Craig. She said he's doing alright, but he'll probably have to be in the hospital for a while. She said before they finally admitted him, she'd taken him in several times because he'd been acting strange and the medication wasn't working properly, but they just kept administering shots and then sending him home. She said she knew it was bad when he went to Pick N Pay with Jean and Nosipho and when he came back was all worked up and talked about how there was a Muslim there taking pictures of him. Nicky asked if Jean and Nosipho saw him, but Craig said no, it was just him. And from there, he became afraid to leave the house because they were following him. But now they've got him on new meds and once he's readjusted he should be able to come back.

I ate lunch and then did some of the ladies' nails which was so fun. They really seemed to enjoy it and it was nice to actually have something to occupy our time, because otherwise we're just sitting around. I felt like I should get going, but then Nicky started talking about the residents again and I didn't want to miss out on this information. Tertius is an interesting case because five years ago, he owned and ran his own pawn shop and may have even been married and lived a very normal life. I'm not surprised Nicky's had a little trouble with him adjusting to life here.

Nicky also told me that before she was here, the residents weren't active in living there, they just kind of lived. But Nicky changed that and she started incorporating routines and activities to life, so it may not be perfect but it's better than it has been in the past. Then she had Harriet come in and play the piano for me-which she's very talented. I finally left just shy of 3:30 and grabbed a taxi home. I got out at Norwich and snagged the nearest one to Summerstrand and hit the jackpot because the money taker was so cute. He had such a baby face and looked like he was probably 19. If they'd have dropped all the students off at the school before swinging by my house, I probably would have told him he was cute, but there were too many people so I didn't want to. But when I got off, I was in the back, so a bunch of people had to get off so it was really awkward but then I walked to the gate and opened it and as I was turned around to close it I saw the taxi kid stick his head out the window looking back at me. That's love.

Anyway, Laura was inside on the couch so I stopped and talked to her for a while before buckling down to work on my paper. I made dinner and went through some old documents on my computer to find funny quotes that Julia had made. I went upstairs and Emily, Keilani and I ended up just telling funny stories from our lives for a long time. Then I went out into the living room and Mike asked about internet again. The whole thing is stupid, and it makes me even more frustrated that it bothers me so much, but I tried to be noncommittal and make a speedy exit to my room.

First Day of New Term Classes, September 14

I walked to building 35 at 9 and found my classroom. We started a little late, but I think I'm going to love this class. The teacher talks fast and you can tell he loves what he does. He's funny too, so that helps things go by quickly. I can't wait to get the text and spend all my time reading about abnormal psychology! I hope to talk to him at some point about the volunteering I'm doing now and what he thinks about the role of correctional psychology. We got out early, so I ran by the international office to see if the fax for financial aid had finally come in. It had, and the lady said she was just waiting for a confirmation fax to be returned.

I was still way early for my next class, so I just sat down on a bench outside the room and looked over my plans for my dad's visit. I made lists of what I wanted to do and when and how I was planning on doing it. It looks crazy action-packed, but when I emailed my dad today, I told him I've got to cram 5 months of excitement into 12 days. I think it looks pretty all-inclusive though and should prove awesome for us. It'll be a tight squeeze, but nothing we can't handle. Finally, it was time for class to start, so I went in.

We talked about realism today, which I only just half grasp. But it's interesting, and it's nice because it's a small class. There's maybe ten of us. We got out a bit early since our teacher had to do a workshop this afternoon, so I started walking home. I ran into Marissa so we walked together and she stopped with me at the bookstore so I could buy my two new texts.

Later that night, Cassandra texted to see if we wanted to go to a poetry reading at Red Location. I wasn't feeling well, so I ate a piece of bread with peanut butter and honey which made me feel a lot better, and then we sat and waited for Cassandra to pick us up. She was late, and it was dark by the time we left at 6:30. It was a little weird getting lost in the township as a car full of non-black American girls, but we finally found the museum and went in just shy of 7. It was late getting started anyway, so we hadn't missed anything. I'm so glad we went though, because it was so incredible. It was some music, some dancing, and a lot of spoken word poetry. Even better, only a few of them were in Xhosa, so I could understand everything! The first half was better, I think than the second, but it was pretty heavy material. Some of the first stuff was about AIDS and prostitution and racism and "if this is freedom, if this is democracy, I don't want to be free." I want to see if I can get a copy of the video they were taking. That would be something really neat to take home with me. One guy talked about a girl who was a prostitute at a corner and he said, "first orange, then red, then green. and I'm not talking about the light she was standing next to, I'm talking about the cars that came to pick her up." And he talked about how AIDS was waiting for her in the next backseat of the next car that pulls up and there was one really great line that said, "You don't listen to her problems, yet you call her a problem and don't offer any solutions." Such a cool experience.

We left a little early because it was already 9:40 and we were supposed to watch the rugby game at 9. Cassandra dropped Michelle off at Annie's then drove to John's house where we ate some of their food for dinner and watched the second half. Cassandra plays rugby at school in California so she explained some of the game to us so we weren't totally lost. It was a big game though, South Africa and England, and SA shut out England something like 38-0. And England won the world cup last year! Anyway, we decided we would definitely go out, so Cassandra took us home to change and then went home herself to change. First, we stopped at a house in the Dunes and it was pretty hectic already. Although we had forgotten it was after 11, so people have been drinking for ages. We went to the house and were ready quickly and soon enough Cassandra was here with Aya to pick us up. We drove over to Brooks. The parking lot was packed and there were drunk people everywhere and I knew it was gonna be a crazy night. Which it was, and we didn't get home till 5 in the morning. I've never done that in my entire life, but it was pretty awesome.

Let's Do the Time Warp Again, September 20

Okay so I just got my computer back on two days ago-it crashed Saturday afternoon after I installed the internet thing, so who knows if that was the biggest coincidence in the world or what, but I'm not going to go back and re hash everything that happened this week. Suffice it to say it was nothing earth shattering and when and how I need to mention something, I'll do so. At any rate, the techs on campus are miracle workers and they salvaged all my important data and that makes me happy. My only concerns now with trying again that internet device are 1) it'll frickin' happen again and 2) I no longer have McAfee virus scan and firewall, so I'm concerned about getting on the internet unprotected. I'm not going to go out asking for my computer to crash again, you know.

In the meantime, let's get to today. I woke at 7:30 sick as a dog. My throat was killing me and I was totally congested. But I'm just hoping it'll pass quickly. I ate and hung out upstairs with Keilani. We made a card for Craig who is still in the hospital. Finally at 10 after 10, I hurried off to catch a taxi. As soon as I got there, I gave Craig's card to Nicky, who was on the phone. Then I hung out outside with Frank for a bit, who told me seven or eight times that there was a family meeting with the social workers this afternoon.

Then Nicky called me inside to talk to Craig who she was about to call. Excitedly, I got on the phone and asked how he was doing. He sounded good and his voice was bright, and it was nice how happy he was to talk to me. He told me he misses me a lot, which is sweet considering we've only met once. I told him Nicky had a surprise for when she comes next, and he was thankful. I said for him to be good so he can come home soon because we all miss him and he promised he would.

The social workers showed up shortly thereafter and Janine pulled me aside to ask how things were going. I assured her all was well and I'm learning a lot. After that I spoke with Priscilla briefly in the kitchen and she asked about my studies. Kim and Harriet were working on lunch, and I stood there when Priscilla and Janine took Nicky to start her bi-yearly appraisal. For the first time in recorded history, Kim looked up and asked me if I was a student. I told her I was and she asked why I was here-was I on a work holiday? I explained that I'm here studying for a semester and though the exchange lasted less than two minutes, it was nice that she does have those social skills in her, and maybe it is a choice that she's so solitary that she leaves the room when anyone else enters.

I helped them prepare the tomato and cheese sandwiches then ate with the crew. As is the usual routine, Jean and Tertius and Frank went outside to smoke, and when Jean rolled his in his room, I knew he was probably mixing dagga (weed) in with it. My suspicions were confirmed when he went out into the garden to smoke it, rather than at the table with the others. I decided today that I know them well enough, I'm going to start asking more questions, because I want to know who they are, and where they're from and how they see themselves. That's important to me and to my experience here. So I walked over to Jean and engaged him in conversation about his family. He said he's the youngest of eight, all the older ones being girls. He said he had a brother, but he passed away.

We walked inside to play a few rounds of rummy, and I asked some more questions. I asked if he could go anywhere, where would he go? He told me nowhere. I wasn't sure how to take it, and I asked really, anywhere in the world and he again said he'd be content to stay here in PE. He was born and raised here and he was always a happy go lucky type and he was fine here. He did say that he might like to go to Cape Town since he's never been, but there's nothing he really yearns to see. This was strange to me, and it made me feel a little sad. He's just a simple Afrikaner, and I can't imagine he'd have done any harm to anyone ever or even cross anyone, and I think he'd have probably made a really good dad, but he's here.

We went back outside, and before long, Jean's mom showed up. She was a sweet little lady with the same bright blue eyes Jean has. She talked to me for a while about who I am and what I'm doing here and she even suggested I could come back here to work one day. Jean's contact fell out, which gave me a nice segue to ask if she gave all her children those pretty eyes. In fact, all the others had brown eyes, except one girl with green.

I went inside to help Nicky prepare the tea and biscuits for the meeting then when the family members arrived, she went in with the social workers to speak about how the families should call and visit more often. I hung outside with Harriet and decided I'd ask her some questions too.

Nicky had mentioned before that Harriet used to be a nurse, and I brought it up hesitantly, because I knew it might make her sad, which it did, but I could tell she liked talking about it. Nicky told me that every few months Harriet goes to apply at the hospital and since they're used to it, the doctors thank her for her application and say there aren't any openings at the moment, but they'll call as soon as one frees up. I told her I can tell she'd make a wonderful nurse, she's got such a kindness about her, and this made her light up proudly. She explained to me that twenty years ago, she didn't know it, but the Muslims put Black Poison in her food and that's what made her crazy and she had to go into treatment and she was out of work for a long time. I asked if they got any other nurses. She said no, just her.

Maybe it's something with schizophrenics and Muslims.

I went inside and checked my phone and found a message from one of my groupmates from my politics class. Apparently, no one had showed up for the meeting so she needed me to email her the paper I wrote so she could make the poster. Thankfully just then Nicky came out of the room to get the tea and I made a speedy exit. I took my two taxis and got home in record time-though I still can't find my handsome Summerstrand taxi boy. One of these days I really am just going to sit out in the middle of central and watch every taxi that comes through and track him down!

I ate a few pieces of pineapple at home, then turned around and ran to the internet café to email along the form. Then I came back home to relax and decompress for a while. I cut up my chicken for dinner but couldn't shake a headache so I went back to bed to play spider solitaire and depress myself by listening to Christmas music. Then I got distracted by spending a few hours upstairs talking with Keilani while I ate (pasta with chicken and mozzarella and spices...so good!) Somewhere along the line we dreamt up this elaborate plan for our future careers. See, she's really into positive psychology, and mentioned something about what is she going to do with all the land her stepdad is going to will her. I said we could always start a group home where we have animals so we've got something for the residents to do, so they feel responsible and connected.

Suddenly it ballooned into a farm in Oregon, where we're just about an hour away from a city (so I can work days in a prison so we have some income). We'd have 10 residents (all with mental disorders, but they would have to be relatively high functioning so they could work with the animals) and we'd have donkeys and peacocks and ponies and chickens and a garden so we can live at least a little organically (though she knows I can't handle too much of that earthy stuff) and she'd have her own private client base where she could practice her positive psychology and life coaching. I mean, we even had it down to when and how we'd get started between grad school and staffing and what kind of living environment they'd have (a real house run by them, with minimal supervision so they'd learn to be independent) and everything. We'd have a pumpkin patch and an orchard and at Halloween-time we could have hayrides and during the school year, we'd have student groups come and have the residents do pony rides and stuff. And it was funny, because the only time we talked about money was how we would fund it-not how much we'd be making. After working here, I could totally see myself doing that, though I'm not ready to let go of working in corrections. If I could have both, that'd be really ideal. And working with Keilani would be nice-her with her client base that's normal but want to become better, me with mine who are criminal and want to become normal. And I of course promised I'd groom my clients to be her future clients! Anyway, it was just a really cool plan. And maybe it'll happen one day.

We've even named it: Koustapiej Ranch.

It's the Day Before Break Starts and I'm Ready to Go, September 21

I woke at 7:15 and ate and made coffee. I sat on my computer for a few minutes, but mostly read The Covenant. I'd like to have it finished so I can bring a new book on the road trip this week. I filled out my Transformers postcard for Kyle, then left for campus early. I got there about twenty minutes before class started, so I ran up to the 8th floor to check my paper scores. Nervously, I found my student number and traced the line over to the number. 70! I quickly scanned the other scores to see how I measured up-tied at third highest score amongst the group. Happily, I descended to the ground floor and walked to building 35.

Since it's the day before break, no one was in either of my classes. But Dr. du Toit gave a full lecture, so I was glad I went. I felt bad for coughing through the whole thing, but I really like him and I'm enjoying the material. Someday soon I plan to go and speak with him about being a psychologist and working in psychopathology. Who knows? Maybe I will come back and work here someday. We got out a bit early, so I mailed Kyle's postcard before my next class.

Predictably, only four people showed up in my politics class, comprising fractions of two groups-the third not showing at all. But Ms. Steyn went on like usual and simply asked us to present. Thankfully, Jobela, my groupmate, had put together a nice poster and it went right along with what I'd written, so we had a coherent presentation to give. In the end, both our groups received 9 out of 10, and I was glad when she took down just our names and student numbers so we get the credit we deserve. That was over quickly so I walked home to eat lunch and do a whole lot of nothing for the afternoon. I typed an email to my mom at home and then went to the internet café to send it.

Back at the house, I read some and played cards with Keilani. Then I made dinner while most of the house got ready to go out. Seriously trying to conserve funds, Keilani and I are staying home and watching "Get Rich or Die Tryin'". I made dinner (chicken with masala and honey on rice) and Keilani came down and we kept each other awake till 11. Hilda and Marissa came down to watch it with us, and to my great surprise, it wasn't terrible. And 50 Cent is not hard to look at for two hours. I was in bed by 2.

I Really Can't Wait for this Term to Wrap Up, August 31-September 1



When I woke, I showered and washed my hair then ate granola with yoghurt and bananas. It was really tasty, and a good way to start the day after such a rough night. I walked to class with Emily and Keilani told me the scores were finally up. I was nervous, but I asked her to check mine for me. I'd gotten a 73%! I was so happy. Once class started, our teacher told us that the average was 57%, so I was even more excited. Class got out early, so I walked over to the library to make copies of one of the texts.



First, I couldn't find the book. I searched and searched and even looked it up in the card catalogue, to no avail. Finally I asked and it was behind the counter. Of course. Then I went to copy it and the pages I needed were all ripped up. Then I found out the card only had R3 on it, which would get me ten copies. I don't know how to make both pages fit on one copy, so I ask for help and no one knows how to do it. Finally someone who knows how came over, but he doesn't know how to work the copier I'm on. So I wait to get on the one he knows how to work, and shows me what to do. So he does one practice page and of course it's not zoomed out enough so that's 30 cents wasted. So I've finally got the zoom right, and I make two copies and get into a rhythm when the paper jams. Now I have to wait for one of the staff to come fix it. Then I make the rest of the copies I can on the balance I have left and then have to hurry to class so I won't be late.



Really lame.



At the house, I read the research I'd saved to my flash drive this morning about schizophrenia so I have a better grasp of what I'm working with. I hope to be able to ask Nicky if I can look at what antipsychotics they're taking and even sometime down the line talk to them, if they're willing, about their conditions. It just got me more excited about this experience.



The next day was just a blur of studying and writing. The countdown to when classes were over was officially beginning.



Art in the Park and Playing Tutor, September 2-3



I was up early, though this time I actually planned to be. I got ready and ate breakfast. Then I made up some pancake batter and waited for some others to be up and made pancakes for Laura and Keilani. A group of us wanted to go to Art in the Park in Central, so we gathered together to walk to the Spar to get Emily (who'd gone to eat breakfast at Picadeli). As soon as we got there, the sky opened up and it started to rain. We thought it'd be cancelled, so we went back home.



I sat on the couch, bummed that we'd struck out, then what happens ten minutes later but the sun breaks through and it's suddenly beautiful. So we round up the troops again and head out. We get to St. George's Park and have to walk all the way through it to find the actual event, but it was actually a lot of fun. It was half art vendors and half yard sale. There was also a dog show going on, which Emily and I loved. After that we walked over to the museum which had one very weird exhibition and one very cool one. But I guess that's how it goes with art and artists. We entertained the idea of going out to lunch, but we ended up just heading home.



Then I went in my room and just started writing writing writing writing. Once I filled out all my commentary in between my quotes, I had a solid 12 pages done. I couldn't really look at it anymore without being sick, so I watched Idols. After a few minutes, I realized I hadn't called home yet, so I went to do that. I talked to my mom a while about what life is going to be like when I get back home and I told her the main thing I'm worried about is that my friends will want to hear my stories for like 20 minutes and then be sick of it. I just don't want them think, well that's Africa and that's over so get with it or whatever. It's just weird to think I have a whole chapter of my life apart from all of them.



Anyway, we also talked about the group home and what that experience is going to be like, and it just makes me more excited. My dad also said that they've been taking pictures of the dogs lately, so I made a note to email my mom and ask for them. Then I got off the phone, promising to email soon. For dinner, I stir fried some chicken and veggies and made rice and did the instant sweet and sour sauce again. That meal is so good! I'm going to have to do that a lot.



I realized Laura hadn't been out of her room much, so I checked on her. She was sitting on her bed with books and papers strewn about and it was clear she was struggling. She'd had the assignment since the beginning of the semester and it was due tomorrow, so I didn't really want to help, but I couldn't exactly abandon her. So I sat down and helped her at least get an outline going, so she had direction. After that, I watched King of Queens then ended up going to bed.



I got up and started working almost immediately. I walked to campus with Laura so we could get some stuff done in the lab. I was at my computer when Laura came over and asked if I'd looked at her paper. I agreed and when I looked at it, it was an honest to goodness mess. I made some corrections and suggestions then sent her back to work on it. I finished up what I had to do then went back over to help her. I sat there for about forty five minutes before her class helping her revamp it and make it into something decent to turn in. It was a job and a half though. She printed it and ran off to class, and I walked home. I studied a bit for my test but didn't get much of anywhere before going upstairs to hang out.



There were dishes all over and moldy food in the fridge, so Keilani and Emily put post it notes out to remind whosever they were that they needed to clean up after themselves. They are a bit slobbish up there, so I have to remind myself that the odd dirty mug in the sink isn't so bad!



At 5, I made dinner and went back into my room to read. Kiks came in with her dinner and we ended up talking for like an hour and a half about relationships and life. It was very weird but nice. I know I've said it loads of times, but I'm glad to have her around. We've grown so close! She left to go do dishes and I followed her up after a few minutes. Good timing though, because all of a sudden, Marissa got really pissed about the post its and threw around Hilda and Dana's names like they were all mad about it. First, the post its were totally harmless and second, I can't see Hilda getting mad about anything, much less those little notes. But Marissa was heated, and Keilani got in her face. It was really quite funny. Though I want to steer clear, because Marissa is the quiet type that will just one day up and buy a gun. So I'm sticking to her good side.



At 8:30, Capote was on, so a group of us watched that. I'd forgotten that it was so good, so I was happy I stayed up. Right after though, I went to bed.



Buckling Down and Studying-It's Crunch Time! September 4-5



I woke up once again without an alarm at 7:30. I made a bowl of granola for breakfast and watched a bit of the news, but had to get to work studying. I couldn't believe I'd actually put it off so long! Unfortunately, I felt terrible. I felt nauseas since the minute I woke up and my head was pounding. But it was my own fault for procrastinating, so I studied nevertheless.



I left for campus early so I could go to the lab. It was super slow so I didn't get much of anything done before class. Thankfully it was short and I ran down to mail all my post cards before walking home with Keilani. I made lunch and holed myself up in my room to study. My phone rang and it was Cassandra asking if I wanted to go out to lunch with her. I declined but Keilani decided to go. Once again, I hid in my room. Knowing I couldn't avoid it any longer, I texted Robyn and she came over to study some. It wasn't so bad, and it actually reassured me a little.



4:30 came too soon and I had to go to tutoring in Walmer. It went okay, though I couldn't shake the sickenss, and I just wanted to be at home. What made matters worse was our ride showed up thirty minutes late and we didn't get home till 7:30. I made dinner and coffee and studied like crazy. I made a little study guide with three mock outlines for potential questions I thought she was likely to ask. Feeling better after having eaten and set those up, I watched CSI with Laura at 8:30. At 9 I took a sleeping pill so I was absolutely out by 10. But I didn't go to bed without first asking Keilani to check on me in the morning to make sure I was up!



I set my alarm for 6 so I could get up and study while eating. I dressed and ran over my notes a million times. Keilani and I walked to school at 7:30 and I sat in the classroom reading until the teacher came in. She passed out the sheets with the questions on them and the essay packets and I was relieved at last.



It took me the full hour, but I left feeling fairly confident. Straight from there, I went to the lab. Downloading pictures ate up my internet time so I went home to relax. I made some coffee and realized I may have just today developed a coffee addiction (black with sugar. it's amazing.) I ate lunch and read in the living room.



Later, I went to my room to paint my nails and listen to Eric's music he'd given me. I went outside because I heard voices and it was Emily, Mike, and Linda playing with a tennis ball. So I stood out there and talked to them for a while and Mike and I ended up getting into a conversation about religion. Pretty interesting. It was getting dark fast, and the air was cooling so we went back inside. I put fish and chips into the oven at about 6:45, but then Emily and Mike said they were going to Spar and Keilani, Linda, and I decided to tag along.



I needed breakfast things so I grabbed bread, bananas, juice, and milk. I was worried about my food burning so we walked home. Back at the house, I put my groceries away. I ate in my room and played cards and read, and Keilani came in to hang out. At 9, we went to the living room to watch Shopgirl, which I was really excited about. But I was watching it with Laura, Sam, Keilani, and Chetna, and most of them wouldn't know a decent storyline or good dialogue if it punched them in the face. So they talked through the whole thing, but I still gathered that it was interesting. I read and went to bed after that.



Seems Even Africa Can't Change my Luck, September 6



Against my own will, my brain woke up at 6:15. I made toast and coffee and put away the dishes then went back into my room to work on my paper. I finished it up and felt really good about it. I got ready and left at 10, taking the two taxis I needed to get there. Just as I walked up to the house, Nicky was leaving to take Craig to the hospital because he wasn't feeling well. I realized then that it'd just be me and them, which, I guess, what better way is there to get comfortable?



We hung out for a while, then Jean suggested we take a walk. So he rounded up Frank and Virginia and we walked around the block and up to Pick N Pay and back again. I walked with Frank for a lot of it, and he told me how he doesn't like staying here but he has nowhere else to stay. Again it was hard to understand a lot of what he said, but he was mostly happy to have someone listening. Then of course, he decided it was an opportune time to tell me, all toothless smiles, that he's in love with me and he'd like me to be his girlfriend. I tried to distract him from this line of thought but it was tough. He was pretty set on it. Thankfully we were less than a block from the house, so I just hurried in where I was around others.



At lunchtime, Jean invited me to help him and Harriet in the kitchen. He laid out bread (three apiece) to butter for the bean soup we were having. My favorite part was that he laid out the bread with the first two columns right side up and the third upside down all the way along. Two columns up and one upside down. We ate together again, and I sat in Craig's seat since they hadn't returned. Jean showed me his progress on needlepoint then we thought we saw a car. It was a new guy coming to move in. He was very nice and actually didn't really seem...off like the others. He was very cogent and with it. He asked a lot about where I lived and he talked a lot about the weather. Very curious about the temperature and climate and humidity and everything between here and NC and CA. When he wasn't talking to me, he was speaking Afrikaans though, so I feel like I'm going to have to pick up some of this!



Jean and I played cards and there was a lot of sitting around. I'm going to have to come up with more things for us to do, because they may have a certain amount of freedom in being able to leave if they want to, but it's very much like a prison where all they have to do at any given time is think about their condition and how they're here alone and unhappy. It's something I'll probably face a lot of if I do work in corrections. I played with Meow until my allergies acted up, at which point Jean, Harriet, and I played a few rounds of dominoes.



It was after 3 by then, so I headed home. Jean and Frank walked me to the taxi and I was home an hour later. Keilani gave me a package slip so I decided to go pick it up tomorrow afternoon. She also asked if I wanted to go to J-Bay with Cassandra tomorrow at noon, but I have class so I said I couldn't. We talked about going out this weekend, but I'm still not sure if I want to. I'll have to see if I'm feeling up to it.



In my room, I looked over my paper. The only thing I'm really missing is a title, but I'm hoping something will come to me. I made coffee and read and then called my dad to talk about our trip and what I need him to do. I went out to Panarotti's again with Emily, Mike, and Keilani and it was actually much better this time. Once we got home, Travolta was there and he gave me a hug and asked if I was coming to J-Bay. I told him I couldn't, but if I got out of class early, I'd give them a call. We talked for a bit longer until they had to go and then I just hung out for a bit before going to bed.



Somehow, I Have the Best Family Ever, September 7



I woke before my alarm once again, got up and made a peanut butter and banana sandwich and coffee for breakfast. I watched some of the news with Laura then dressed and got ready. I finally sat down and titled my paper (Neo-Colonialism in Africa: The Quest to Turn a Parasitic Relationship Symbiotic). Dramatic and...scientific, I know. But it'll suffice. Since I was ready to go, I left the house at 7:45 and got to campus at about ten after 8:00. I went straight to the lab and printed my paper first thing.



I walked to class early and read over my paper. Keilani came in and while I took notes, she read through it. She found one grammatical error and I'd found one earlier, so I guess two in fifteen pages isn't so bad. I was just ready for it to be over with. Class went by fairly quickly and I was glad it was the last one. I hurried on to my African Politics class and she took the papers up at the beginning of class. Then the lecture ended up being more a Socratic discussion, which was really nice. It was good to see how much I really had learned from the class and from having written the paper and stuff and I actually felt like I'd contributed insightful things to the discussion.



We got out a little early, and I walked straight to Pick N Pay. It took about a half hour, but it was beautiful out and the air was salty along the ocean and made me happy to think of Wilmington and that I've made a bit of a home for myself here. I picked out two postcards for my brothers and went over to pick up my package then went outside to catch a ride home.



Back at the house, I went straight to my room and tore open my box. I got two books (one about South Africa and the other de Tocqueville's book on democracy). The rest of the stuff was food. I got candy and sauce packets and spices for chicken and best of all Nutella! I can get it here, but it's expensive. It's just nice to have things from home and know exactly why my mom bought me stroganoff sauce and panda cookies. I ate granola for lunch and read some more of The Covenant. I'm well past halfway, but I've got a long way to go. And now that I've got new books to read and only two classes next term, I'm going to get more ravenous, I know.



I picked up one of the Coast to Coast guides and found some really good information about Namibia and I'll have to get on the computer tomorrow and send the websites to my dad. I found two places that do 2, 3, and 4 day safaris, so I'll have to pray they'll coincide with the times we'll be there. I really want to do the desert though, that's my goal if we go there. I also found a couple places in and around Durban I'll want to go to, so I may actually decide to fly to Durban, stay there for a few days and see everything then spend the last 2 days in Pietermaritzburg or Shaka's Rock for the history.



I made dinner and ate. We hemmed and hawed a lot about going out, but it all kind of fell through, so I spent a couple of hours talking to Keilani in her room. She told me all about her aunt and all the strange psychic things she's into and spirit guides and all this stuff. It's cool to me, because I'm not used to it, it's all really foreign to me. It's funny too, because with such rough relationships with both her dad and stepdad, when I told her stories about my dad and how when there were thunder storms he'd sleep in the hallway so my brothers and I would know he was there she was likewise surprised by it. And I didn't realize it at the time, but to both things, we both responded like, "There's someone who'll do that stuff?" It was so weird. Reminds me how lucky I am. Before we knew it, it was past midnight, so I went down and read and went to bed.



Procrastinating and Wishful Thinking, September 8-9



I slept in till 9:00, made a Nutella and banana sandwich and went upstairs to sit with Emily and Keilani. I had planned on going to the lab today, but Emily wanted to go to Green Acres and talked the two of us into tagging along. So I dressed downstairs and let them know when I was ready. We took two taxis to get there and did some shopping. I found a cool shirt with Africa on it and told Keilani since we were looking for something that kind of proves we were here. We ate lunch at Dulce which was really good and then wrapped up the rest of what we had to do. It was a nice outing though, hanging out the four of us.



We called Pang and got a cab home with our bags. Keilani and I turned around and went up to the Spar to use the internet. I looked up the safaris and zipped an email to my dad about them. My mouse was all messed up so I got really frustrated and finally just said forget it. I'd had a headache all day and it wouldn't let up. That was the only thing making me think I didn't want to go out, because I did want to go. Back at the house, I called home and talked to my mom about how things were going and then she put my dad on the phone to talk about the email I'd sent. I told him to look over the stuff and see what he wanted to do. I told them to send my love to Julia and I'd talk to them later this week.



I was feeling worse, so I stayed upstairs for a while, then went down to my room to try and shake it off. I showered and that made me feel a bit better, but then I started to get ready and it got worse again. I ate some leftover tuna stuff for dinner. Still not feeling much better, I went upstairs and told them to just call a cab. Though the plan was to go to Virtual Sport, Mike wanted to watch soccer so we decided to go to Primi first then walk over later. We stayed at Primi for a while and I realized quickly we were getting too drunk there to walk all the way to Brooks.



Anyway, I ordered a beer and drank that slowly, then when someone suggested shots, I agreed to do a shot of tequila with Emily. I'd never done it and I shouldn't have done it when I was feeling bad, but que sera. Why not, in Africa? Emily had ordered this pizza thing, so I ate some of that and it made me feel much better. When I started feeling worse again, I knew it wasn't going to get better, so I told Keilani to call me a cab, as they were planning on going upstairs to Giovani's to see Cassandra and her friends. I was bummed because Travolta was going to be there, but it was okay, I'd rather get home. I was just so bummed, because the one time I actually really wanted to go out and stay out, I wasn't physically up to it.



But I got a lot of sleep. I woke officially at about 11:00 and I read health psych for a half hour and then Keilani came and got me to go to the Spar for internet again. I emailed Diane finally then looked up flights to Durban. I found perfect ones for Wed and the following Mon at R399 and R499 respectively. So that's good news, and I hope things work out with Diane letting me stay there. Otherwise, I was finished and my computer crashed anyway, so Keilani and I walked home.



We talked to Emily and Mike about Hogsback this weekend, but they don't seem to want to rent a car and if we don't do that we have to bus it and that's really hard to organize over just three days of a weekend. That's looking less and less likely, though maybe we'll find time later to do that. I really hope so. I went downstairs and made ramen for lunch then did some more reading for psych. After having slept so much this morning, I was surprised when afternoon turned to night, and I made dinner at 6:00. I had fish and chips again, because someone told me grease is good for a hangover. I watched Idols for a while, then went upstairs to see what was up. Keilani woke up from a nap and we played cards then I taught her how to play that little fortune telling game with the kings and that quickly turned into a round of MASH. It was a good time, pretending to be in 6th grade again. I watched a bit of Pink Panther since it was on, and it was mostly dumb, but the scene where Steve Martin is trying to shake his French accent and say, "I would like to buy a hamburger" is priceless. It reminded me of Hugh Grant in Mickey Blue Eyes.



Keilani headed to bed at 9:30 or 10:00, so I called Brad. We talked for a long time, and once again I'd forgotten how much I really really miss him. And it's really just the casual conversations that mean the most to me. I like hearing about his classes and his internship and the crazy stuff his sister's friends do. I got off the phone just shy of 11:00, and went back into my room to finish reading one chapter then get a few pages of The Covenant read before going to bed. I knew I had a lot to do tomorrow, and I needed to be well rested to do it!

Threadless and Vacations...Something to Look Forward To, August 28



I slept in till almost 9:00, then got up and ate some granola. Laura was up too, and though I don't have class till 12:15, I told her I'd walk with her before her 10:45 class. That gave me over an hour to spend in the computer lab to do a bit of research for the democracy essay. After I ate, I spent a bit of time going over my paper for African Politics and my essay for Democratization.



Laura and I left just after 10:15. It was beautiful out, with a nice breeze and I knew it'd warm up later. As soon as we got on campus, I returned my last two books and went to the lab. My mom bought my dad's plane ticket yesterday and he'd be arriving on the 26th of November. I also got the Threadless newsletter that they were having another $10 sale. So I was thoroughly distracted and instead of working on my essay as I'd planned, I figured out what shirts I wanted and started planning the trip with my dad.



I looked up a ton of flights and finally decided that the game plan that would best suit us would be for us to fly to Joburg or Cape Town, then to wherever we wanted to go (Namibia or Zambia or Mauritius, whichever he decides) and then fly into Cape Town so we can drive the Garden Route back. Both our flights leave out of PE (though I'm not sure we fly together-which would be lame) so it's the most sensible way I can think to organize it. But all that searching took forever and though I was in there for an hour and a half, I was almost late to class.



Health psychology was pretty boring and long. We don't get our tests back till Friday so it's more waiting. After class I went straight home and started work on my essay. I called my pops to let him know the new information I'd gotten from Hilda (who's from Namibia) and told him to get to work on researching so I could start booking things.



I was having trouble thinking of a title for my essay, so I did a lot of brainstorming. CSI Miami was on at 8:30, so I took a break to watch it. Maybe one of their stupid lines would inspire me-who knows? It didn't really inspire anything, but it was at least a nice distraction. Once it was over, I went through old quotes I had on my computer and found one that said "underpromise; overdeliver". I switched it around and titled my essay "Defining Democracy in the 21st Century: Perfecting the Art of Overpromising and Underdelivering". I thought that was suitable. Pretty exhausted, I read for a little while, then went straight to bed.



Prime Genes, August 29



As my usual routine goes, I ate breakfast and put away dishes before walking to campus at about 7:30. The class ran the whole time and she assigned a new paper, but I was focused on getting my essay for democracy done, so I wasn't too bothered. In the lab, I printed my essay right away, then went on with my stuff. I did some researching teaching English in Latin America or Eastern Europe then found a website that talked about being a missionary in South America. I was particularly interested in places like Colombia, Peru, or Venezuela. I emailed for more information, then saved a bunch of text to my flash drive so I could read through it at my leisure. I always thought it'd be nice to take a year off after I get out of undergrad and do something like that before heading into, well, the rest of my life.



As I was walking off campus, this boy stopped me because he saw my Threadless sweatshirt. "Is that Threadless?" Yes! "Yeah, this is too," he gestured at his shirt. "I don't know anyone out here who knows Threadless." Well I think it's awesome. "It's expensive to get it sent here though." I know, I can imagine. They're having the $10 sale now so I just had my mom buy some for me for when I get back home. "Yeah, that's cool."



He mentioned a shirt he'd wanted and we just kind of marveled at the 'small world' coincidence and then went on our ways. Before he walked off, he said, "Well...you have good taste." Ha. I realized immediately of course, wouldn't it have been nice for me to freaking stick out my hand and say, "By the way, I'm Lara," but I'm just not that quick on the uptake. He was cute too!



Back at home, Hiromi and Keilani invited me to lunch with them. Hiromi's leaving tomorrow, so she wanted to do a few things before heading out of town. We ate lunch at Blue Water, which was fantastic. After we ate, we walked over to the Boardwalk to do a little window shopping to walk off the big lunch and make room for dessert. It was really nice though, because the three of us get along really well. We're definitely going to miss Hiromi around the house a lot.



For dessert we had these incredible crepes they make at a little stand in the Boardwalk. The people that own it are actually French and I tell you, I close my eyes and I'm in Paris again. We took a taxi home and ended up in my room looking at pictures of family and friends. Hiromi wanted to see my brothers (she and Keilani both think Kyle is hot...lame! And Keilani pointed out that Alex looks like Seth Rogen.) Even weirder, Keilani said I have a hot dad. Too funny. Plus they thought my mom was too, and I told them when my friends at UNCW met her I said, "Hey fellas, if you like this, just think: it's me in 30 years!"



Hiromi wanted to go out to Giovani's for her last night, so we got ready. We went early since it was ladies' night and they had free drinks, and we didn't want to be out too late. Of course the only free drinks they had were girly martinis. So I finally decided to order a Beck's, but they tell me they don't have any. So I order a Foster's, an they don't have any of those either. I decided to leave when Emily and Mike said they were headed out early. We took a cab home, I set out clothes for tomorrow, watched Whose Line at 9:30 (so exciting!) and went to bed straight after. I have a big day tomorrow!



South African Rhapsody, August 30



I woke up three minutes before my alarm at 7:00, and had little trouble getting up. I ate granola and dressed leisurely. Just before 8:30, I went upstairs to hug Hiromi and tell her to have a safe trip, then walked out to grab a taxi. I finally met Janine and she told me all about the program at Capricorn, the group home I'd be working at. She fed me a lot of information about the patients and the goals of the home and it was a lot to take in at one time. I was really excited though when I found out all the residents are diagnosed schizophrenics, though I may be the only person I know to have gotten excited about working with real psychiatric patients. I just told Janine that I'm really happy to get some serious face time with people who are dealing with these things. I have had almost all the textbook and theory I can stomach, and I'm ready to get my hands dirty.



After we went over everything, she pulled a car around and drove me over to the Capricorn center in Walmer. We walked through the driveway gate and Janine introduced me to everyone. All in all, everyone was friendly. There are three men and five women living here, all probably forties and older. Janine then gave me the grand tour of the place. It's pretty big and actually pretty nice. I would compare it to what it's like at our house in Summerstrand.



Before I get into the rest of the events of the day, I feel like I should go through and give my first impressions of everyone I met.

Virginia doesn't talk much. She's missing most of her front teeth, but she's still got an easy smile. Every time I looked at her, she had this shy, coquettish way of smiling back. Nicky (the house mom) told me she can be a big problem, because she's stubborn and if she's got it in her head to not do something, she won't be convinced otherwise. She also paces a lot because she's got bad arthritis and can't sit for long.

Harriet wasn't feeling well today, so I didn't talk to her much, but by late afternoon when we had tea, she opened up a bit and asked about where I was from and what I was doing here. She seemed to like being in the kitchen.

Marsha looks a bit like she has Down Syndrome, and also was very quiet. But she really liked doing the needlepoint and apparently also loves to knit and crochet. She's good with her hands and very creative.

Nosipho speaks only Xhosa, and though Nicky can speak with her, I don't think I heard her say a word. She's also most definitely got some intellectual disabilities. We played dominoes and no matter how many times we showed her that fives go next to fives, she had a great deal of difficulty with it. But she never once got frustrated at being constantly corrected. She has an ear-to-ear grin that easy to coax out, and she loves Nicky.

Kim I got the least face time with, and that will probably be the way it goes. Janine warned me about her before I got there, but sometimes you have to see things to really get it. You could easily tell she'd been in and out of institutions for most of her adult life. When Nicky called her to come meet me, she grudgingly walked over and stared at her shoes. I told her my name and without looking up but for maybe a half second, she turned and hurried away. She isolated herself for the rest of the day and when she wasn't chain smoking outside, she was laying in bed. I could tell why Janine said she was sometimes a behavior problem.

Jean is a tall, quiet guy. He's got piercing blue eyes and graying hair. He was nothing but agreeable all day, and though he said he was clumsy with his hands, he was the best at needlepoint and he picked it up right away. He's got a quiet sense of humor that came out most when we played cards and dominoes that afternoon. Janine said his blessing and curse is he's got a soft heart and is easily swayed, and after meeting him I can definitely see it.

Frank is the oldest of the crew. He is bald on top and has no teeth (and no dentures). He speaks Afrikaans and has a thick accent, so between that and the teeth situation, I didn't understand a damn word he said all day. Thankfully, he asked a lot of the same questions over and over, so I knew what to say. He was most fascinated by the fact that I'd taken taxis to get here. It's almost like he didn't believe me.

Craig I probably talked to the most today. He smokes a lot and he was very curious about me. He wanted to know how secure I feel here compared to in the states and it seemed like he always had a string of questions ready. He doesn't like cooking so much as he likes serving the meal to people. He likes being around the food.

Nicky is the house mom and she kind of fascinates me. I mean, she lives there in the house with them, 24/7. She's always on the clock, but she loves what she does. She's a woman to be admired, that's for certain.



There was another volunteer there, Rosemary, who was teaching them how to needlepoint little Christmas motifs. She showed me how to do the stitches then had Nicky and me go around and teach the others. I worked with the guys and she worked with the girls. It took me a while to get it right, and it was kind of tough teaching it to them. When I worked with Frank, he kept saying he "can't" do needlepoint and though it took me a long time to teach him, he finally was able to, and so I told him I don't want to hear him say that again. After working with Craig for a while, he got a little frustrated and finally had to go smoke and take a break. When he came back, I showed him one more time how to do it and he said he wanted to wait till next week to work on it again. I said that would be fine and maybe it would help to look at it later with fresh eyes. He turned on the TV and watched a choral performance and sang along with everything. They even did a four part harmony on Bohemian Rhapsody.



I think they were all ready for a break, and lunch came just in time. I went into the kitchen to see if I could help with anything, but there was nothing really, so Nicky said I could go to the table. I asked Craig where I was meant to sit and he pointed to the couch and the coffee table, and I said, "No, I want to sit at the table with you guys." And he looked at me kind of sideways and made some comment like, "Well if you feel comfortable..." It was kind of funny. We had this vegetable soup which was delicious and these rolls that were so amazing. Nicky made the bread dough that morning and cut it into little rectangles which she then fried in oil. They were like doughnuts except savory and I tell you they were incredible. I think they call them fat cakes or something, which is exactly what they are, but they were worth every single calorie.



After everyone finished eating, I went outside to talk with them as the smokers had their fix. They don't have rolling papers so they all smoke from newspapers which I can't imagine what that does to your lungs, so I made a comment about it. This caused Craig and me to get into some strange conversation about health and the population and technology and religion. It was really quite bizarre, but interesting. He believes smoking has no impact on your health whatsoever, and though I tried to reason with him, he could not be convinced. Then we talked for a while about medicine and how he believes that people get sick because they've sinned. He mentioned something about his schizophrenia so I asked if he believed God gave him schizophrenia because he'd done something wrong. He said no, but he doesn't really believe in going to the doctor for help, that all things can be healed through faith and prayer. I was curious so I engaged him for a long time and it was really very interesting.



Nicky finally came out and suggested we move on to lighter topics so she asked Jean to get the cards. They taught me how to play a game which I lost big time, then we moved on to dominoes where my losing streak continued. After we played for a little over a half hour, Nicky took me inside to talk about how I felt my first day went and all that stuff. She gave me a lot of insight into the goings on of the house and how she deals with them. She's been there since last October and she seems happy with everything. She knows the residents inside and out, and she said they're very much like children. I really think this experience is going to be incredible for me.



A little while later, it was tea time, so I went in the kitchen with Nicky and Harriet. On the wall, I saw she had a list of birthdays, so I made note of the ones this semester so that I could see what days they fell on. Even if they weren't on Thursdays, I'd still like to make the trip out to spend time with them. Nicky said she usually makes them a special dinner and if she has the money, she'll buy a cake. I made a mental to talk to my housemates and either see if we wanted to pitch in or even make something from home.



After tea, I had to get going as it was already 4:00. Nicky had Craig walk me to the taxi, and Frank and Jean ended up coming as well. I think they're looking forward to me coming back next week, which makes me happy. At home, Laura asked about my day and I told her some of the stuff. Talking about it makes me more excited that I'm doing it. I also made a mental note to google schizophrenia tomorrow, just so I can refresh myself on the textbook side of things, so I know what I'm involved with.



Keilani asked if she could come along one time and I said that'd probably be fine. I told her it'd probably be best if she came on one of the birthdays, because I think they'd really like that. She volunteered making cupcakes too. I walked with Laura to the Spar to get airtime and a snack, then came home to make a sandwich since I wasn't really up to cooking. We decided we would watch Hoffa on TV tonight, only because Jack Nicholson is in it. Then I went in my room and got a few pages of my paper written before I got distracted anymore.

There's a First Time for Everything, August 21



I slept in till 9:00, ate breakfast and did laundry. After showering and washing my hair, I hung my clothes out on the line and left for school early at 11:00. The shuttle was running for free again, so I jumped on.



Keilani and I walked to class. Our usual room had another class in it and the other room we sometimes go to was also occupied, so we figured maybe class was cancelled since we have a test tonight. The syllabus still said we had it, but we couldn't find them anywhere. I walked down to the bus stop to wait for the shuttle again and did some reading on a bench. On the way home, the guy was telling us how the taxi drivers aren't really happy with the shuttle, it seems to be taking away their business, so at one point, some taxi drivers waved the shuttle over and I'm not kidding, I thought there was going to be a rumble.



There were like ten drivers all kind of ganging up on the driver of the shuttle saying that he's taking bread out of their mouths and stuff. And the driver is just an employee! So the guy running the show tried to explain that it just runs from the Spar to school, it doesn't go into town or anything. Then the driver went off on this spiel in Xhosa, so none of us knew what they were talking about. It seemed to calm the taxi guys a little, but not much. The shuttle was running behind schedule, so the guy told the driver to tell the taxi guys that they'd come back around and talk in a minute. I can't really blame the taxi drivers for being upset-it's competition that they don't really want. But the shuttle is entitled to offer competitive prices for a certain service. And they really aren't taking a great deal of patronage away from the taxi drivers, just a bit. The shuttle is serving a need that the students have that an appealing price, so I say more power to them.



At home, I made lunch and read and studied. I think this test is actually going to be alright. I'm not certain, but I feel like I've soaked up a lot of the terminology and stuff.



Keilani and I took the shuttle to campus (why not, now that it's free?) and walked to the test venue. It was different than I was expecting, harder actually. The first page or two really threw me off, because it was tough. But it evened out after that and when I went back to double check my answers, the correct responses came to me and I feel that I did okay overall. I finished first and when Keilani came out, we compared experiences while we walked home. It was getting dark so we walked fast. We had about the same questions and we answered some of the same ones as complete guesses.



When we got home, a million people were in the kitchen, so I waited a while before I got cooking. There were too many people in there still, many of them not cooking and just sitting around, so I was a little annoyed. I guess it's this pseudo-PMS thing. But anyway, I just got really quiet and Hiromi was getting on my case about it-"I want you to talk! Say something. Say anything. Tell us a story." But I wasn't really interested. She said she noticed that when I'm cooking I get quiet. I guess that's true though. I'm focused on what I'm doing. I made some rice and stir fried chicken and vegetables and mixed up the sweet and sour sauce. Keilani and I looked up some of the answers to the questions we were unsure of, and of the five, I got three right and two wrong. Hopefully that's the worst of it, but I'm trying to be realistic. I'm just glad the first test is out of the way and I know exactly how to study for the next one.



I was really full from dinner and not feeling very social-just having an off night-so I went into my room to play cards on my computer and listen to music. I can tell it's an off day though. I did laundry earlier and I actually folded my underwear.



I've never done that in my life.



I'm hoping to sleep it off and tomorrow's a new day. It can never hurt to go to bed early on Tuesdays since I have to get up before the sun rises.



I Have an Impressive 'Mom Voice', August 22



I woke an hour before my alarm, but couldn't fall back asleep, so I lay there. Then my alarm went off and I fell asleep till 7:00. Panicked, I was relieved when I saw the time, but I rushed to get ready. I gave Laura R30 to give to Chetna so she could buy tickets to a fashion show on campus tonight. Class was class as usual, and I was glad to get home and eat lunch.



Laura and I hung out on the couch until the ride showed up for tutoring. Keilani and I climbed in and we rode to Walmer Township. As soon as we walked in the Xolelani children center, kids came up and gave us hugs right away. There was one little boy who attached himself to me immediately and his name was Pumelela. We played a game called Zingo which is like Bingo and every time a piece came up that fit on my board, even if I didn't call it, he'd be looking at what I needed and give it straight to me. He was so sweet.



Then I started practicing English flash cards for three girls and we first made it a game, but they got really competitive so I opted to just go one by one. I'd have them tell me the word and if I saw they struggled, I'd have them use it in a sentence. The second girl I did this with, Nali, had a tough outer shell, but she turned out to be so sweet. It was hard explaining to her the differences between to, too, and two, but she had very good English. She stumbled on the world 'only' so I told her to use it in a sentence and she did, and when the next word was 'you' she asked if she could use it in a sentence. I said of course and so she said, in her broken English, "You are byoo-tee-ful" and I said very good, and she said, "No, you are beautiful." I smiled and said, "Well you are too! We are two beautiful girls."



All afternoon, Pumelela was calling Keilani Jacki Chan because apparently these kids don't see many Asians. She would laugh it off, but I could tell it was annoying, and I know how kids are so I stopped him. "Pumelela, you know her name. What is her name?"

Kiki. "Yes, that's right. Now I will never hear you call her Jackie Chan again, right?" Okay. "What is her name?" Kiki. "And what will you never say again?" Jackie Chan. "Thank you." Keilani said I have a really good mom voice and that she'll have to take lessons from me. They kept playing games on the computer, which they are not allowed to do, so at first I'd say, "You know if I catch you playing games, the rule is you have to bake me a cake." And they'd laugh, but if they kept doing it, you have to look them in the eye and say, "Enough. Cut it out" sternly, or else they just don't get it. I like being friends with the kids and not having to yell at them, but they need boundaries and they need to hear it firmly.



Finally 5:00 was upon us and the car was waiting. The guy running things said since next week we're doing the life skills program instead of tutoring we'd have to go to a meeting on Thursday. I still hadn't heard from the Mental Health Society, so I guessed that would be okay. As soon as I got home, I cooked up some rice and reheated my sweet and sour veggies and chicken. I changed into a sweater and put on some makeup and left with Sam, Chetna, Laura, and Keilani for the fashion show. We had a blast, and the clothes were really cool. Some were mainstream, some were really out there, but all of it showed a great deal of ability. Who knows if some of them will be big name designers one day? It was definitely a fun night out.



On the way home, Keilani and I stopped by Annie's because Darren was celebrating his birthday. We only hung out for a while since I wanted to be home in time to make some popcorn and watch The Royal Tenenbaums. I was in bed at a decent hour and looking forward to a day off.



Bad Pizza and Even Worse Procrastination, August 23-24



I woke up at around 8:30 and a few minutes later heard my phone rang. I checked the number and didn't recognize it, but knew it was probably Janine. I listened to the voicemail and it was her, so I made breakfast before calling her back.



I was relieved to hear she wanted me to come in next Thursday morning, get orientated at the office then go with her to the other facility to see what I could do there. After a half hour of laying there, I finally just focused myself on doing some reading and writing. The more research I did, the better I felt about the paper I was formulating in my head.



Keilani came in, followed by Linda and we talked about going to Panarotti's for lunch, since they have an all-you-can-eat for R30 on Thursdays. We asked around and Mike and Emily were planning on going for dinner, so we decided to do that instead. Keilani invited me to come to Cape Town with her and her mother, so I told her if she thinks her mom can stand me, then I'd love to join them. I think that will be a fun trip.



I made lunch for myself then walked to campus with Keilani to use the lab. As soon as we were done, we hurried over to the training session in the main building, although I wish we'd have skipped it. It was a major waste of time and utterly useless. But it was over in under an hour and we walked home in the rain. When we got home, I changed clothes and called a cab and Linda, Kiki, Emily, Mike and I went out to dinner. It wasn't very good, but we had a good time so it was all worth it.



Back at home, I did more work. I was really trying to get this research out of the way and finish up with my textbooks. Tests are coming up soon. A few of the girls tried to convince me to go out, but they know better. Linda even said, before I could, "It's a school night!" They know my policy. I was happy to stay home though, and I was in bed by 10.



Friday was fairly typical. I had my two classes back to back. After my African Politics class, we asked the teacher about the test and it seems like it's going to be a tough one. I went to the library with Lars and he made copies of my notes. He's really having a rough go of it, because not only does she put up a lot of notes to write down, she's also talking at the same time, and with him not being a native speaker I can't imagine how difficult it must get. And since I know he comes to every class, I have no qualms with allowing him to use my notes as well.



I went to the computer lab, but zipped through everything quickly, as I was starving. I came home and ate lunch and did a lot of sitting around. All the girls were at Walmer Mall for the afternoon, so I twiddled my thumbs. When they got back, I realized I really didn't feel like making dinner so we decided we'd try the new seafood place by the Spar. So Mike, Emily, Laura, Keilani, Hiromi, and myself all walked down there. The food was really good and the place was nice. Nicer than I'd expected. I'll have to learn to eat fish again though, because that's all that was on the menu. Mike said he'd noticed a few books (about criminals) I might like when he was at the mall today and I thought it was nice of him to think of me. I've already forgotten what books they are, but I'll have to ask again later and have my mom look them up on Amazon.



After dinner, we all got ready and went out to Giovanni's. Unfortunately, Miller was having a promo and there was a DJ so it wasn't the quiet night out that we'd been hoping for. We stayed for maybe an hour, then went downstairs to Primi. We were having a good time, but Laura had a migraine so she called a cab and we all just kind of left. At home, I made a sandwich and watched a few minutes of TV with Laura and Hiromi, then went to bed.



An Unexpected Houseguest, August 25-26



I woke relatively early and felt okay. Not taking any chances, I downed two Excedrin before eating some granola for breakfast. I planned on having a slow day doing homework and hitting the computer lab later this afternoon. Emily and Mike left to get groceries at Spar and I showered and dressed. When Emily got back, she came inside and said, "Hey Lara come outside. We found a dog."



Now I've been wanting a dog here since I arrived, so I run out after her and see a beautiful golden lab/hound mix male with Mike. We don't really know what to do since he doesn't have an address on his tag, just an ID number. So we're trying to figure out what to do, and I go ahead and name him Rufus. Manka thinks we're crazy for even bringing it home, so she's shocked when I say I'm going to go buy a small bag of dog food for the meantime. Mike calls a pet place to see if they can track him and I run up to the Spar to pick up food. I got the cheapest one and figure it will at least last him through the weekend and that if nothing else, we may find out to whom he belongs come Monday.



I gave him some food as soon as I got home and he wolfed it down ravenously. I gave him a little more then played with him. Since the guys were working on the wall again, we had to keep someone with Rufus at all times so he wouldn't get out the gate. I found out he can sit, lay down, fetch and come really well. He's a very smart dog. He's a bit older and he's got a limp in his hind legs and what looks like a little tumor on one shoulder, but he's a great animal. I of course fell in love playing with him, and I found a sock I could use for tug of war. Mike said the pet place said they'd call the owners if they had the ID in their system.



A bit later in the afternoon, one of the cops showed up and apparently knew the dog. He said he thought he knew whose it was and that he'd stop by their house to tell them where he was. Obviously it's best if he gets back to his own home, but it really would be nice to have a dog around the place.



Hiromi and I went to the internet café so I could do some stuff before coming back. Rufus was still there when we got back. Laura and Keilani left with one of the guys from their school's international office to go to Addo, so the house was pretty quiet.



At 5:00, I read some more of my democracy text and wrote an essay about civil society. I pretty much had to make the whole thing up, as I really didn't know what exactly I was talking about. Dana came down and gave me a tennis ball she'd found, so I played with the dog a little and Hiromi and I made a bed for him out of towels. I hoped he'd at least be a little shielded from the wind. I don't know how often he spends the night outside, but he seems like a tough guy.



Laura wanted to go get Roman's and I have trouble saying no to that pizza. It'll be the death of me, I'm sure. When we came back, I read some more before Ocean's 12 started at 8:00.



I watched the movie with Laura and debated letting Rufus sleep in my room. When the movie was over, I took him in, but he wouldn't settle and he kept bothering me, so I had to take him back out. To muffle the sound, I turned the TV back on and kicked him outside. Since it was on, I stayed up to watch Good Night and Good Luck. It's such a great movie. Rufus barked a lot and I grew worried that people were going to complain. Halfway through the movie though, he was quiet and I didn't hear much of him the rest of the night.



Every Dog Really Has His Day, August 26



I woke to the sound of Rufus barking at 8:00 on the dot. He wouldn't stop, so I ran outside to feed him and say good morning. I ate breakfast and watched some TV, then walked with Laura and Linda to Pick N Pay. I spent more than I usually do on groceries, so I was cranky when we left, and I hadn't even gotten everything I needed. The taxi ride was awful too, with all my bags, plus an extra one since Linda decided she wanted to walk, but didn't want to carry her own damn bags. It was crowded and the driver was terrible and they dropped us off a block away from our house so we still had to walk. Pretty miserable.



But then I walked through the gate and here comes Rufus bounding toward us. This is why I love having a dog. I dropped my bags to pet him, then brought them inside. Laura, Hiromi and I went into the backyard after I'd put up my groceries and I threw the ball with Rufus. We noticed a couple ticks on Rufus, so we got rid of them right away. If we keep him, we'll definitely need to get some Frontline or something. Although I'm still planning on calling vets tomorrow to see if he's in their system. If he has a home, he should be there, no matter how much I adore him.



Anyway, I heated up my leftover pizza from last night and ate before buckling down to do some work and fill out some postcards. Linda came in and did homework with me for a few hours, then in the late afternoon, I went outside and played with the dog again.



At 6:00, I cooked dinner and watched American Idol. The St. Cloud girls went out to dinner with their advisor so once the show was over I got some work done. I called Brad and talked to him for a half hour or so. He sounded good but Ambassadors sounds like it's suffering from lackluster membership. I told him to keep things together until I get back. Then I finally called home at 8:30. I was glad to hear Julia had such a good time at the fair and I'm looking forward to getting the box they sent me.

Tests are coming up quickly so my life mostly consists of work lately. But I can't wait till the September break here in a few weeks...

I Can't Even Spell Neo-Colonialism, August 14



After my only class, I walked across campus to my African politics teacher's office so I could ask about the paper. She was on the phone so I waited for her to get off. I explained my problem, that I had chosen a topic and had gathered a ton of information but was having trouble channeling it into a cohesive paper. From there, she asked me a series of maybe five questions.



"What is your impression of neo-colonialism?"



Well, I've gotten two perspectives so far: one, it doesn't even exist and two, not only does it exist, it's terrible.



"Which do you believe?"



It's ridiculous to say it doesn't exist.



"So that's already a direction. And since you say it exists, what do you think of it?"



I think it's awful. You can't escape international influence in today's world, but to the extent it's exhibited in Africa, it's terrible.



"There's further in a direction. Now is this open neo-colonialism?"



No, it's under the table.



"Why?"



Because it's not perceived as a positive thing. Africa should be able to run itself.



As I gained steam, I realized that I was formulating a good argument. I hurried out of her office so I could get started writing. Which is exactly what I did; when I got off the elevator, I walked over to the stairs, took out my notebook and pen and just started jotting down thoughts as they came to me. Things were suddenly coming together and I began to feel better about this assignment. I walked over to my class and since I was early, I started on the book I'd gotten in the library as research for the paper.



At about five after, I got a seat in class and saved one for Keilani. It was pretty boring yet again, and we have a test next Tuesday. I really don't care that much. I'll do the review packet with Kiki, but I'm not that worried about the test. I'm sure I'll do alright, and if I don't, oh well.



I walked home, heated up leftovers from last night and ate. Then I rounded up some of the girls to walk with me to the Spar. I needed granola and yogurt and I also needed airtime so I could call the Mental Health Society again. Naturally, their airtime system was down, so I decided I'd try to call anyway.



It cut off after two minutes when my airtime ran out. Keilani let me use her phone and I called back. This time she passed the phone to another lady who set up an appointment for me to come in on Monday at 2:00 to talk about things. I got directions and it seems like it might be a painto get there, but I hope it's worth it.



I called home to tell them that finally someone was working on the wall and also to let her know about Monday. I figured I should get at least a little work done with the daylight left, so I typed up my notes for my paper and did a little bit of reading before I made dinner. After I'd eaten (a heaping bowl of brown rice--mmm...) I got up to get something, then realized I'd been putting off some schoolwork, so took a detour into my room and hit the books. Exhausted by 9:30, I went to bed.



I'm a Sucker for a Good Prison Movie, August 15-16



I woke up early and it took me a while to drag myself out of bed. But I managed to, somehow, and felt more awake after eating a bowl of granola and a piece of toast. I walked to campus with Keilani and realized we'd had the same thing to eat. We're clearly spending too much time together.



At dinner, I talked with Sam some. She's having trouble because she feels like all the other students in the graphic design department are ahead of her and the head of the department is not being very patient with her. I told her that sometimes I have the same problems in my politics classes because they have a whole basis of understanding that I've just come into as of three weeks ago. If I'm still on training wheels, I can't compare myself to Lance Armstrong. I just said that the thing I keep reminding myself is that I'm going to grow and learn in more ways than I can see yet, and that I'm going to go home a better student than when I came, so I don't get too caught up in the comparison. I think it reassured her to know that all of us feel it too.



I borrowed "Shawshank Redemption" from Emily and watched that before going to bed. It was such a great movie, and I was so glad it had such a happy ending.



At 7:40, I woke, looked at the clock and rolled over happily; it's nice to have a day off. At 9:00 or so, I finally got up and ate. I took my time getting ready-I only just had a few things to take care of. I walked to campus around 10 and went to the lab.



I walked from there to the library. I searched again for "neocolonialism" and got the same few books. So instead of searching more, I walked over to where I'd found a book that actually seemed helpful and just scanned the rows and started looking in appendixes for keywords that would benefit me. This turned out to be pretty fruitful, and by the end I walked out with five books.



On the way home, a bee stung me on the ear, which really sucks. I don't know if I can even remember the last time I got stung by a bee, but I guess these things happen from time to time. To make matters worse, on my trek back to the house, it started raining. But I hurried inside and made lunch. I walked upstairs and talked with some of the girls.



Later, we're cooking dinner and all of us are getting psyched up because Tri-Varsity is this weekend which is a huge athletic regional with us and two other schools in the area (read: a massive, campus-sponsored drunk fest). I'm not sure I want to go out both Friday and Saturday, but I may not be able to get out of it. We'll see what happens.



A Hundred Reasons I Should Never Enter into Politics, August 17



I woke up a couple of times before my alarm, and so finally just got up and showered. My bee sting is even more swollen today and now it's even made my neck/cheek/jaw swell up. I hope I don't die from this. Aren't African bees the killer ones? It hurts really badly too. This sucks. Anyway, I ate some granola and put dishes away since the drainer was full.



Linda and I walked to campus together. I had health first, which was useless as usual. It's a shame I like the teacher so much, because I really can't stand the material! There was an interesting debate today though, about the definition of wellness that came up between the more westernized white/European South Africans and the more communal ideology of the black Africans. Westerners tend to be very individualized when it comes to personalizing a definition of wellness whereas the black Africans are more inclined to subscribe to umbuntu-"I am because you are". In America the racial divide is far more superficial, in my opinion, than here. Here it's because of real, ingrained cultural differences. That's not to say they can't be worked around, but it's a different struggle altogether.



We got out early, so I went to the lab. More stupid crap to deal with from UNCW about financial aid. I really wish they would get their act together. And I can't wait until the international studies office asks me to come speak about my experiences on campus next semester-I've got great things to say about the country, but it's funny how stupid bureaucracies are cross-continental.



My next class was African politics and we had a guest speaker in today about the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Interesting stuff, although much of it we'd been over in US History. He'd just come from a convention in Ghana about the slave trade so he brought with him a video showing Elmina Castle which was used as a slave dungeon until ships came to cart them off to Europe and the New World. One thing of particular interest, however, was when he told us about a big debate going on between the Ghanese people and African-Americans.



The slave trade really got started in the 1440s by Portugal in Ghana, and from then, Europeans made it a common practice to travel to West Africa to bring in slaves for the booming agriculture in North America (cotton, sugar, tobacco, etc). But Europeans alone couldn't collect the slaves themselves all the time. As such, when different tribes in Ghana had battle, many prisoners of war they collected from the opposing clans would be sold into slavery. Flash forward to today, many African-Americans who can trace their lineage back to the original Ghanese slaves are calling for Ghana to make a public apology on behalf of their ancestors who sold their own "brothers and sisters" into slavery. Because of this newly developed mentality, much of the video we watched was kind of an appeal to the American black, with songs singing lines like, "Welcome home, you've been gone too long" and so forth.



I kind of take issue with this. I know how important it is to be connected with your own personal history. I have had the good fortune to be a third generation American, with my grandfather immigrating to the United States from Poland during World War II. I've also had the experience of returning to Poland with him. He cried at the border. We went to Auschwitz together as a family. That kind of understanding is life-altering. And don't you imagine there were some Polish traitors who gave up their own countrymen, like my grandfather and his family, and sent their own people to work and concentration camps elsewhere in Europe just to save their own hides? Of course there were. People will do horrible things in desperation. But I don't need Poland to issue an apology for sending my grandfather to Germany, because if they hadn't, he'd have never made it to America and he'd have never had my father. And I think that the scholars who are having this outcry for contrition would put their energies to far better use in understanding that they themselves would not be American scholars if their ancestors hadn't been shipped to the New World so callously. You can't alter history by apologizing for it; All you can hope to do is alter the future by learning from the mistakes of the past, and I think that's what should be taken away from experiences like this.



Enough of the soap box. When I got out of class I saw Duncan had SMSed me saying to come see his tennis match. I considered going then thought better of it. I didn't even know where the fields were. On the walk home I saw Chetna and Sam and they were headed there. Sam wanted me to come, but I was hungry for lunch and turned them down. I made a peanut butter and banana on toast, and after eating, I did some reading and started a grocery list.



I ran to Spar because I needed to pick up a few things and get airtime. Once I got home, a few of the girls needed to go to Spar, so I walked with them a second time. We made more solid plans for the family breakfast on Sunday, then walked home. I made dinner at the same time as Linda, so we spent about an hour or two in the kitchen talking about a lot of stuff. It's always nice to have that one on one time.



Tri-Varsity: Foreigners, Jumpsuits, Debauchery, and Downright Criminality, August 18



I woke at 9:00 even though I didn't want to be awake. I got out of bed to check on Linda. At some point last night, she woke me to let me know she was home and that she spent the night in the hospital getting stitches because bottle hit her. Barely cogent, I grunted something then fell back asleep. When I woke I wasn't sure if it was a dream, so I walked out and made breakfast, then heard her come out of her room. As it turns out, it was thankfully just a cut on her foot, but it did look pretty ugly. And in true Linda fashion, she immediately began plotting how to go out tonight. I counted myself out.



Unfortunately, I didn't get too terribly far on my to-do list. At 12:00 or so, Bugs (from East London) texted me to say he was in PE. He asked if I was going to go to the rugby, which I hadn't planned on doing, but I figured if he was there, I could stand the trip. I was going to the computer lab anyway, so I walked to South Campus and called Keilani. I told her that after I was done in the lab, we'd meet halfway and walk together to the fields. I SMSed Bugs to find out if he was still there. We finally made it to the stadium, and there were crazy drunken people everywhere. All the Rhodes students were wearing purple jumpsuits and NMMU in the blue, and everyone was covered in paint and marker and makeup and it was all very bizarre and, as Darren called it, savage.



I didn't know where to find Bugs, so we just walked down the stairs and found a seat until we could find out who all was here that we knew. Kiki SMSed Jessica and she said she was there, so we started walking to try and find them. All the way down at the other end, we found the Annie's crew and lo and behold, Bugs is sitting right next to them! His face lit up and he gave me a huge hug. I could tell he was totally wasted, but he was so sweet. He must have said a thousand times how much he loved America and how he can't wait to go there and all this stuff. We hung out for a while, but we didn't have booze on us, all of it was at home and we didn't want to pay for more, so we decided we were ready to leave. We let everyone know we were planning on having a pre-party at Rubin later, and Bugs said he'd be sure to be there.



Darren, a South African, gave us a ride home and Keilani and I debated our plans. We didn't know if we wanted to go out or if we wanted to just hang out or go somewhere in the neighborhood, so we put it off until we'd done some health psych. After we finished up, we walked to the Spar to get some last minute things before going out. After we got what we needed, Kiki and I went over to Roman's to get pizza and the Germans were there. They were nice enough to give us a ride home.



I did a bit of reading then Keilani came and got me and we walked over to the Dunes (a housing complex just down the road). Two seconds after we found our crew, the cops showed up, so we made a beeline to Annie's. Darren said it was getting crazy out there, fights and cars getting smashed up and stuff, so we were probably better off behind gates. I actually started to have an okay time. Naturally, that's when my phone rang.



It was Linda and she started with, "I don't want to scare you, but don't come home tonight. You should stay at Annie's."



Awesome.



Apparently, some windows had been broken back at the house. No one was hurt and nothing was stolen, but they were pretty shook up. I told Keilani about it and we weren't sure what to do. Our first plan of action was to tell Marius, the landlord. So we walked over to his flat and rang the doorbell. His wife answered and we told her what happened and she literally said, "Okay," and closed the door. Excellent. That was the attitude most everyone at the party gave us, in fact. Although they were all very drunk as well, so I can't exactly hold it against them. We decided to walk home and see what we could do, if anything, and Darren walked with us.



We got the whole story and by now Marius was there too. We went into Hiromi's room, where it happened, and saw both the windows shattered. Given the weekend, it was obviously just some stupid drunk guys thinking of stuff to do, but it's all the more reason this wall should be fixed. Marius was useless once more, so I walked upstairs to check on Hiromi. She'd moved all her stuff to the upstairs room and she was pretty shaken. Laura called some of the staff at St. Cloud but they were similarly nonchalant. They just told us to have a guy spend the night. Like that was going to help. Honestly, we weren't so much scared at this point as we were pissed. We just don't know why people don't see this as any big deal at all. I mean, it's but for the grace of God no one got hurt, so what is it going to take for them to take note?



We all kind of festered for a while and then the cops showed up. It was pretty standard at first and then it turned very strange. They sat down on the couch and made themselves comfortable, not hiding the fact that they were pretty psyched to have hit the jackpot-a house of twelve girls. Awesome. We said we were impressed with their response time (two hours) and he said that if he'd known there were damsels in distress, he'd have been here in five seconds. They were overall nice, though, and Laura and I probably had the most fun talking with them. They let us put on their bullet proof vest and hold their guns and stuff. Some of the girls even took pictures with them (such tourists!). Of course, they also told us cool cop stories-one of them has been shot twice!



I can't imagine a scene like this taking place back in the states, you know. So they hung out for like an hour it must have been, then finally left (after about ten false attempts). Keilani and I once again debated whether or not to go out, and I figured since the other girls were still going out, it was better if we stayed so someone was home.



She too was a bit shaken up so I slept on the floor in her room to keep her company. I figured I was probably better off on the second floor anyway. It was a little slumber party, and it was actually quite nice. I was just tired, so I was out pretty quick.



Top of the World, August 19



I woke to my alarm at 9:00 and went downstairs. I cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom before I started cooking, and slowly but surely, the house woke up. Breakfast was a great deal of fun though, and I do love cooking for people. We had pancakes, crepes, scrambled eggs, sausages, fruit, hash browns, an egg bake (using some of the sausage and sun dried tomatoes and cheese-so good!) and it was just a nice morning. Everyone helped out and everyone stuffed their faces so it was an overall success.



I finally had a little time to get some work done, considering my list was all but out the window by this morning. But it was a beautiful day outside, hot and sunny with a nice breeze, so I couldn't resist going to the beach for an hour. It was a nice walk and I laid out with Keilani and Laura for a bit before walking back ahead of them. I showered and did some reading before going to Spar with Hiromi and Laura to get grocery shopping done. I got a ton of stuff and I was so worried it was going to be expensive, but it ended up being only $17.00 US so I was relieved.



Back at home, I realized that South African Idol started that night, and Lord knows I can't turn that down, so I got thirty minutes of reading in before watching that for an hour and a half. It made me homesick for Katie, so during a commercial I called her and left her a voicemail so she knew I was thinking of her.



Called home and talked to my mom for a bit. Told her about last night's events. She just asked what I wanted her to do, and I told her there's not much we can do yet. The director of international studies here said the wall should be done by the end of this week, so hopefully that will be the case. If not, I'll get the girls together and we'll all go to their office and say, "Um, by the way, we're not frickin kidding."



Anyway, I'm in the middle of my conversation when behind me I hear voices. I turn around and the cops are back!! I said so to my mom and she said to go talk to them and try calling back. I'm not even sure they were back for any real reason. I guess they had to give us the case number, but really that could have been done in a voicemail or something. It didn't really require a personal trip, although we all know why they came back. It doesn't bother me so much though. Especially once I found out that they drove by the house several times last night. It's good to have a police presence around-it should most obviously deter crime.



Once I realized they were not here for important things, I called home again. When our time ran out, I told them I'd try to call again soon, then went downstairs to relieve Keilani who was now sitting by herself with the cops who were still hanging around. We only talked for maybe fifteen or twenty more minutes, but I get a strong impression they'll be back again next week once they're on duty again. I started to watch Firewall with Laura, but then I realized Keilani and I hadn't done homework yet, so I went upstairs with her. We talked for a while about how I believe she may have created a monster in that one of the cops wants to date her (literally) and they're going to be frequenting the house. Hopefully the wall will be up next weekend and we can say, "Hey thanks for everything and good luck with life." We did a good chunk of the review, but then it was 10:00 and I had to get some other stuff done before bed. I finally finished my African Politics text then went right to bed. I wanted to be well rested because I know I have a long day tomorrow.



The Search for a Vacant Room at a Crazy House, August 20



After classes and lunch, I put on slacks and a collared shirt and threw on a little makeup. I read my democracy text for a bit longer before putting on my shoes and heading out the door at 12:30.



It took me twenty minutes to find a taxi, and ten more for it to fill up. Once in Central, I asked where to go to get a taxi to Newton Park, and the driver heard my accent. He asked where I was from and why I was here and what is America like. He was really nice and told me I can't catch a taxi here, I have to go to Korsten first, then from there to Newton Park. So he told me to get back in and he'd take me to a taxi that could get me there. He got me to a taxi headed to Korsten and I climbed in. This driver too heard my accent and the next time he stopped he asked me to jump up to the front seat. I was grateful that there was at least another person between us, though he was nice as well. He was much older, probably forty-ish, and asked about what I was doing here and all that. When we got to Korsten, he pointed me in the right direction and I started walking, pretty unsure of myself. I asked a young guy in one of the empty taxis where I could find one to take me to 7th Avenue, and he pointed me further into the lot. I found one that had people in it and I asked the driver where they were going. He said he could get me to 6th and I'd have to walk the rest of the way.



Now it's already a bit of a hike from 7th to where I need to go, so I asked if there was one that could get me closer to William St. He pointed across the street and said there was another lot there and there'd be ones that when to Burt Road (a cross street of William). I passed by the young guy again and he asked what I'd been told. I explained it to him and he said, yes that's good, and told me to "Have a nice day, sweetie." He was cute. Too bad I wasn't in his taxi.



When I left the house, knowing I'd have to take several taxis by myself through Central, I was nervous. I thought being an American girl was going to work against me when in fact it clearly worked in my favor. Everyone wants to be your friend when you're an American in Africa! Even before I left, I was nervous about anti-American sentiments, and those incidents have been incredibly few and ridiculously far between. It's a bit reassuring to know...we've still got it.



So I found a taxi going to Burt and got in, and mine was pretty much the first stop. I walked up the road, not certain I was headed the right way, but I had an idea. Then I saw the sign for the center and then the building itself. I walked up the drive and into the lobby. It wasn't at all what I was expecting, and this reaction was to follow me. A secretary came to the reception window and said that they were expecting me and would be out shortly. I sat to wait and prayed I'd stop sweating-the sun was strong today. A short heavy-set black woman came to the door and led me to her office. I sat down and she told me all about what they do and asked what I was hoping to do with them.



I realized quickly that they don't offer any psychiatric services at these facilities. They are group homes and are centered on rehabilitating people with intellectual disabilities and psychiatric disorders, so they learn things like domestic and trade skills, along with some semi-counseling sessions. I wasn't very excited and was actually hoping she could point me in the direction of one of the psychiatric hospitals they use so I could get the experience I'd been hoping for. Then she called the social worker in to meet with me, and she's the one who really changed my mind.



Another short black woman, this one petite with short brown ringlets surrounding her face, came into the office. I stood up to shake her hand then we all sat down. She started describing some of the patients and their needs; about how their families kind of abandon them and they don't have much to occupy their time and so they get into trouble. About how they're underfunded and understaffed and the patients are just hungry for other people to talk to and confide in and get advice from. She had this imploring sweetness and such an earnest kindness about her, I couldn't say, "Sorry this really wasn't what I was signing up for." I got the number of one of the clinics just in case, to see if I might be able to do work at both, and then left. It figures it took an hour and a half to get there and I only spent half an hour with them before making the trip back.



But I feel good about it. And I think it will be excellent experience given that I'll still be dealing with psychological issues, just not in a psychological setting. I have the rest of my life to study these people, I think it'll be good to spend a little time with them. So I'm going to go on Thursday for a bit of an orientation (the facility itself is in Walmer, which is only two taxis away, thank goodness) before I start to come on a regular basis. They also mentioned they do some testing and things too, and that definitely will work into my curriculum.



The trip back to Summerstrand only took an hour, since I actually knew what I was doing. At home, I tell Laura and Linda and Keilani about my afternoon before calling home to tell my mom. I think this will be a fun experience.



I ran to the Spar to get airtime then tried calling the clinic. Besides the lady being difficult to understand, it seems they don't have anything for me. I'm glad the idea of the group home grew on me so fast, otherwise I'd be out of luck!



I did homework, made dinner, then watched Syriana at 8. After that, I read and went to bed.

I've got papers and tests to work on, so I'm keeping travel to a minimum till our September break. But Lord knows I'll have good stories coming out of Cape Town!

Catastrophes and Contingency Plans, August 7



Though I don't have class till 12:15, I of course woke up at 7:40. I ate some breakfast then lie in bed and read some more of The Covenant. Then I got dressed and did some more school work. On the way I saw Jessica and we talked about the weekend. We were both getting pretty excited, but I was anxious to get everything in order. I promised to call her later when I figured out the car stuff for sure.



Psych was kind of interesting today, and it was actually kind of cool. Keilani and I were sitting in the front of the class and a few times when the teacher asked a question like "What does SES mean?" or something and no one answered, I knew it so I answered. So either the class didn't know or they were just shy. But this happened like twice and then I noticed that when she had something she was unsure about (how much sodium we recommended to have in a day) she looked to me for the answer. I didn't know of course, but it was cool to be the smart one.



After class, Keilani and I walked over to the library so she could look up some books on cultural anthropology. Then we walked back and stopped at Annie's to see Jessica again. I went home and made lunch. I did some work then heard Chetna's voice outside so I walked out to talk to her. So we started talking about the whole process of renting the car and suddenly things fell apart.



One, I discovered she does not have a credit card on which the rental place holds R4500 as collateral in case of an accident. So maybe we can get by that if they let us use mine. But it got worse. She doesn't have a license. I didn't know that, but that means we're screwed. So I went into damage control mode and just started looking up buses. I wasted away like R20 of airtime on asking if buses went to Hogsback and no one even knew what Hogsback was. But everyone went to East London so I went to my travel crew and asked what they'd think if we postponed Hogsback till we could sort it in a few months and go to East London in the meantime. Jessica had decided to go with all the Annie's people on a trip up the Garden Route, so it was down to me, Sam, Keilani, and Chetna. I made some dinner and sat with my housemates talking about other things.



When I finished eating, I didn't have anything to do, really, so I decided I'd take a bath. I went up to ask the girls if I could borrow some bath bubbles and they were talking about cheers back at school. I told them Brad's "We eat baby squirrels, go hawks go!" and that made me a homesick for him. Emily let me use some of her stuff, so I took a nice long bath and read. Man, I felt so refreshed. After I got out, I put on pajamas and called Brad to talk for a bit.



Once I got off the phone I went back to my room. I didn't feel like doing any more reading today, so I decided to watch Anchorman again, this time with the commentary on. I know I'd watched it once already with the commentary, and I remembered most of it was just Will and the director cursing gratuitously. But I know it'll be good for a laugh, so I don't mind.



A Wish, a Prayer, Rugby Guys, Rugby Guys, and More Rugby Guys, August 8



I got up early and got ready for class. I walked with Keilani and on the way, Tyler and Robin honked at us from the car they'd rented for the weekend. They gave us a ride to school and I went to my class with Robin early. Class was okay; she went the whole time this period and I took like five pages of notes.



Opting out of the ride home, I went to the computer lab. I looked up some of the bus schedules. The websites were difficult to navigate, but I got some phone numbers and some times. There was one via Roadlink that left the following day at 6:30 am that would get us there at 11:00. When I met up with Keilani, she let me call from her phone and I put my name in for four seats. The lady said I had to pay for them by 5:00 tonight, but that I could call back later to pay with a credit card once I confirmed all my travel buddies. I started to feel better about things.



A few of my housemates noticed the little flower I put on my nails with nail polish and everyone wanted one. So I spent the next while playing nail salon, and it was nice that we were all matching. Realizing it was already 3:00, I thought I should probably go ahead and call back the bus people. This lady said that they didn't take credit cards over the phone anymore, we had to come down to the station. I said the lady before said I could but that didn't mean anything. I could pay for them online, so I grabbed Keilani who called Reid and we hurried over to Annie's to work on it. Of course, the one website that refuses to work is the bus one. So I get halfway through the process and ultimately get nowhere. Soon enough, 5:00 had come and gone and I didn't have tickets. I called Roadlink again and said the website wasn't working and she essentially said I'm SOL unless I could get to the station. Which I couldn't.



People who take buses, as a rule, don't have easy access to cars. Otherwise they wouldn't be taking a bus. Just an observation.



So we revamped the plan again and decided to leave Friday morning. This meant Chetna couldn't come, but we got Reid on board so it was okay. By this time, I was more than sick of thinking about things and talking about things.



Jess showed up at about 7:15 and we all piled into her car. At the field, we helped her bring ice into the bar area and then bought some drink tickets and watched the rugby. One of the South African guys behind the bar was cute so I started talking to him. He said he went to an American high school in Switzerland, but was born in Germany. I asked him where and he said Stuttgart. I told him I'd lived there on Patch Base and he's the first person I'd met who knew what that was! So that was cool...you know, small world. It was a fun party, and I have to say it was cool that it was all on campus.



Breaking Even, August 9-10



I woke at 4:30 to the unfortunate sound of my alarm in the darkness. I rolled out of bed and into the shower. I ate a bowl of cereal to finish my milk, and felt considerably wakeful given the ungodly hour. I did all my last minute packing and prep before it was time to go. Reid came over at 5:20 and we all sat and waited for the cab. Pang (the cabbie) finally showed up at 5:45. I was nervous we'd be late, but it was okay, I knew we'd live. Pang was of no help though, because he asked us who we were taking to East London and he had nothing but bad things to say about Roadlink and how they were always late. So that was kind of a downer. The charge ended up being R70, so that sucked a bit, but I was mainly just excited to get on the road.



The bus showed up on time, and we boarded. When the lady checked off our names, she heard we were American. She asked where I was from and I told her California and that we were here studying. She asked when we were going back and when I said December she asked if she could come with me.



Nine out of every ten South Africans I've met are fascinated with America.



We climbed up the stairs and sat on the top deck of the bus. Finding seats was a pain because most people on there were trying to lay down and take up two seats. I got lucky and sat next to some guy but also next to the seats Reid and Keilani snagged. They started playing music and all the songs were R&B slow jams. Like baby-making music. [A theme that followed us all weekend.] But most of it was pretty good stuff. It was just funny bus music. Once it was fully light out, I pulled out my text and started doing a little bit of reading. But then a movie came on and that distracted me. Which was too bad, because it was a crappy movie and instead of doing something productive, I was wasting brain cells and energy on Nick Cannon's poor acting and the tired storyline of "Love Don't Cost A Thing".



I didn't have too long to be bummed about that though. Because I suddenly noticed we were in East London. We unloaded at a stop that was basically on the beach. The four of us walked over to the Spar across the street to use the bathroom and call the hostel. Thankfully they had room for us. Everyone was a little cranky so I was getting anxious to get checked in. While Reid grabbed food and the girls were in the restroom, I took out the Coast to Coast backpacker guide and asked an employee where the hostel was in reference to here. She pointed to another guy, so I asked him. He pointed to another guy who pointed to another guy who pointed to a woman then another man and finally a woman in an office who could tell me something. As it turns out, the backpacker was literally a five minute walk down the street. We could have seen it from the Spar. Helpful people, those employees.



Anyway, we started walking toward the hostel which sat on a road paralleling the ocean. I know we live at the beach in PE, but this place is gorgeous. The gate to the backpacker had a surfboard above it, painted with its name: The Sugar Shack. I have to say, this is the coolest backpacker I've ever seen. There's a big braai and bonfire area and palm trees and surfboards everywhere. This is the type of place that feels like the tropics. You'd never find anything like this in the states. Maybe you could find places that look similar, but it's not genuine-it would be trying to be like this, but not authentically. This is the real deal.



The guy who runs the place, a skinny, shortish black guy with a shaved head and goatee who is probably late twenties, early thirties came down the stairs to greet us. His welcoming smile that flashed bright white was just what the doctor ordered after a four and a half hour bus ride that left us a bit drained. He checked us in and showed us to our room. We met Bugs, the surf instructor (a youngish twenty something tan guy with bright blue eyes and a tangled mass of curly brown hair who looks every bit a surf instructor). We dropped our stuff on our beds and followed them around for the tour. Since we're short on time, we decided to hit the ground running. We got a map of East London and I asked the main guy what's around and how to get there. He drew on the map to give us directions into town.



We walked about twenty or thirty minutes leisurely into the main area of town. All along the sidewalk paralleling the water there were vendors selling things similar to what we find at the flea market. I was excited though when I saw some art made of banana leaves, because dad had just mentioned to me that Greg had told him about them. So I talked to the guy selling them and found one I really liked. He said R50, but I wasn't sure I wanted it for that much, so I told him to put it aside for me and I'd be back later to get it so I didn't have to carry it all day.



Once we got on the main drag of town, we all started to get hungry and right in front of us was a Butterfield Bakery-the same kind that was in Central. I got a cheese pastry for lunch and we wandered around a bit, just getting a feel for the town. After thirty or forty minutes, we decided we ought to start heading back. We were all pretty tired and wanted to do some relaxing around the backpacker or on the beach. Keilani had already spotted that they do massages there and she had her mind set on one today. And I knew my text and highlighter were a-calling. We made a pit-stop in the tourist center, but they really didn't have much in the way of information about East London, it was all about pretty much everywhere else. But we got some brochures on Hogsback to hang on to for later. I stopped again at the vendor and offered R40 for the picture. He gave me a hard time about it, and I got the impression he was really counting on this sale for his dinner. It's strange how that kind of knowledge hits you. But he took it and I was happy about my acquisition.



There were three dogs and a cat at the backpacker, which of course made me really happy because I miss my dogs so much. I played with Motley a lot. She's a stocky little thing, but tough. She's got the same square head Brutus has, so it made me miss him. I did some reading in the room while Sam and Reid wandered the beach and Keilani got her massge. From my bed there was an unobstructed view to the ocean, and it made me think I can't imagine a more incredible existence than living and working here. I know it'd be a tough job because since you live here, it's like you're on the clock all the time, but I don't imagine backpackers and students are the most difficult of clientele; they just want to travel and drink. Anyway, as I was doing some work, Bugs sat out on the picnic table and played the guitar. It was kind of a cool moment, because I was by myself and it was like the sounds of the ocean and a cool breeze and an acoustic guitar just daring me to be uptight. Impossible.



Once everyone had come back from their various activities, we figured out that we'd go to the restaurant next door for dinner. Apparently with a stamp from the Sugar Shack you get a free drink with your meal. And we're not ones to turn down a good deal. So we ate an early meal, at about 5:00. We all got pizzas and they were very good. Some of the East London guys had already eyed us or said something to us, so we knew the crazies were out in full force tonight. Dinner was very pleasant though, since we sat outside on the balcony that overlooked the beach. For having haphazardly thrown this trip together, we seem to enjoy each others' company fairly well.



Back at the Shack, I threw on some warmer clothes since the sun had gone down and went into the bar area where there was a pool table. I watched some of the guys play for a while and grabbed a beer. The last time I played pool I was in like 8th grade, so I wasn't exactly keen on volunteering to play, but the manager guy volunteered me to be his partner, and I had a beer and a half in me so I acquiesced. It was a fun game excluding the fact that my performance was pathetic at best. Somehow we won, no thanks to me, though he made me feel like I'd contributed.



After a few hours, I did finally get tired and it became kind of awkward since I didn't have anyone I really knew there, so I got ready to head to bed. We slept with the curtain closed but the door open, so every time I woke up in the night I heard the steady sound of the ocean. Staying at this backpacker is an experience like no other.



I Hope I Can Be Like this in America Too, August 11



I woke at 7:00, but finally dragged myself out of bed at 7:30. Keilani was up shortly after me, so we went upstairs and made toast and coffee. It was nice out so we sat outside on the balcony facing the water. Bugs walked upstairs with his guitar so I asked if he was coming to serenade us. He sat down and played us a bunch of songs. He did his Electric Snake stuff, and then more acoustic stuff. I told him he'd get much further on his own as a singer/songwriter guy than with the band thing.



We rounded up Sam and Reid and got ready to go out on a hike. When they went out yesterday they met a fisherman who told them about a cave further up the beach that they wanted to check out so we all decided to hike out there together. A lot of people around warned us to be careful. Apparently there are bushmen up there, so I left all my valuables. I decided to change into a swimsuit in case I wanted to go swimming at all before we left. I wore tennis shoes though, since I knew we'd be doing some climbing and stuff. We listened carefully when people told us to stay together and not get lost, but we weren't going to be deterred. We started on the way and since the tide was out, we were able to walk along on the rocky reefs.



There were a lot of really cool rock formations too that we had fun climbing on. It was the most beautiful day as well. It turned out so fortunate that we left a day later than we had originally planned because we would have missed this awesome day. After wandering at our own pace for about an hour, we found the cave. It was pretty spectacular. Just a few feet below us we saw two other backpackers (a couple) who looked like they were about to jump off a cliff across from the cave into the small inlet below. I wasn't sure the water looked deep enough, but apparently he had already gone and he was still alive. I thought it was a ridiculous idea, but Sam got really excited and set on doing it. So we climbed down to where the Dutch were. The more I thought about it, I realized I wasn't scared at all. I pretty much decided I have to do this. I can't think about it anymore than that-just point blank, it's going to happen. I took off my shoes and shorts while Sam got ready to go. She and Reid went first and then the Dutch.



I walked over to the edge when they yelled I had to go up onto the higher lip. Now I knew that I had to jump and plan it right, because it wasn't hard to recognize you could get very hurt jumping into such a small pool surrounded by rocky ledges. I crossed myself and said the first lines of the Our Father. I hesitated for a minute, so I yelled out to Sam that I needed her to count for me. So she yelled slowly, "1...2....3!" And I launched myself as hard as I could. It went so fast I wasn't paying attention to getting a decent breath so I was gasping when I hit the surface, from the cold water and the insane rush.



All I could say as I climbed out of the water onto the ledge was, "I would never do that. I would never do that." I was proud and excited and in shock. Once out of the water, I took a little walk around on the rocks on the shoreline and found my own way back up to the cliff. Keilani got a really good picture of me in the air and another of me in the water. Sam and Reid wanted to keep walking, but Keilani and I had planned to go into the city that afternoon to check out a museum or something so we made the hike back to the backpacker. We showered and decided to go get Chinese.



We called the museums, but they all closed in the early afternoon, so we were a little bummed. We figured we'd still go get lunch and then just go from there. So we called a cab and while we waited for it, we went upstairs to talk to one of the employees at the place. We told him what we'd done and he was so surprised. He thought we were crazy-he was from East London and said he'd never have jumped off that cliff. I'm only glad he told us that after we went, because if I'd have known a local wouldn't do it, I'd have had much less nerve.



The mall was under renovation so it was kind of a mess, but we walked around to look for new outfits for the night. We were planning to go to Numbers, a hot club in town that everyone says if you're in East London, you must go. I had brought a top, so I was less urgent about finding something. Keilani found a cheap top that was really cute so it was a success. Before we left, we grabbed iced coffees at Dulce Café and talked about our trip so far. It really was the perfect thing for us, because it got us out and meeting other people, but it also made us grateful for PE as home. Of course we both found cliff diving one of those amazingly incredible life affirming moments that really don't make sense save for in the abstract. Reid called to tell us that the only tickets they had available for the following day were actually at 2:20am that night. Sure it was an inconvenience, but I felt that anyone would be hard pressed to ruin this particular day.



We took a cab home and met up with Reid and Sam to discuss the game plan for the night. We decided to go out to dinner at a nice place on the water that was up the road and then hit the club kind of early, so we could leave at like 1:00 to be back here to pack and get to the bus station. I went outside to invite some of the guys that work at the backpacker to come out with us. Bugs said he was game.



Since the boys were hogging the pool table, I grabbed Keilani and challenged her to a game. After our embarrassing show, Keilani forfeit, so some English guy said that seeing as how I was the winner, he wanted to challenge me. But then it turned into a team situation again, and as it turns out, we made an okay team. First of all, he was so nice and patient with me, even when I screwed stuff up. I called him Damage Control, since I didn't know his actual name. I said every time it's my turn, I just ruin everything and he comes behind me to clean up the mess I've made. After we'd beat two teams, he finally introduced himself as Oliver. He'd been backpacking for eight months through South America and Africa, which would be the coolest thing ever. Just go wherever the wind takes you.



Oliver and I lost our third or fourth game, so I took the opportunity to go change into my nice outfit for the evening. Bugs was kind enough to give us a ride to the restaurant and we got a table next to the window right out over the water.



I played some more pool when we got back to the backpacker, then when Bugs got back, he was ready to go. Numbers was only okay. It felt very European, which meant a lot of techno and loads of short guys. I quickly missed the laid-back easy atmosphere of the Shack, so after an hour or two, I found Bugs and the girls and we took a vote to leave.



The whole way back home, Bugs told us about his dream to come to America and make it as a musician and stuff. I mean, he's really obsessed with this whole thing, which was actually very cool. It's just nice that people can hate Bush and still love America. His big problem was saving up money and so I told him I cant help him with that, but once he gets stateside I said that he can sleep on my couch as long as it takes for him to get on his feet. Who knows if it'd ever pan out, but he was so appreciative. He doesn't seem to know many Americans so I said I'd do whatever I could to help.



We can get his music online, so I'm going to join the facebook group and spread the word. It's the least I can do for a guy with a dream. After we packed our stuff, he gave us a ride to the bus station and I fell asleep on the bus right away. The trip went by quickly and we got back to the house at 7:00 in the morning. I climbed straight into bed and after I caught up on sleep, I took a lazy day unpacking, doing laundry, and reading.



The absolute perfect weekend. I'm already trying to figure out when we can get back out that way again.

Exploring Central and Living the Dream, August 2-3

I hit the books for a while before making lunch and getting ready to go to Central.

Tyler and Reed came over from Annie’s at 2:00 and I walked over to the taxi stop with them, Keilani, and Laura. I squished in the backseat with Laura and Keilani and when another passenger got in, he sat between Keilani and me. He ended up sitting with his arm around me, so by the time we got out, I felt like we might as well have been dating, or he at least owed me dinner and a movie. We walked up a block and then down the street and went into a couple of shops. I saw a lot of striped hoodies, so I really started getting excited for the factory outlet store on Saturday. We saw a bunch of fast food places and started getting hungry, so we made our way back to where we started. We saw a little underground shopping mall and walked through it. They have a really cool spice store there that I’ll have to go back and check out sometime. We came up on the other side into a courtyard and saw the public library which looks like something out of Harry Potter; it’s really cool. There was a lot of construction going on and Tyler told me that the World Cup is coming here in 2010, to Port Elizabeth! I had no idea. He said they’re cleaning the place up so that if all goes well, PE will be put on the map. I said we should come back then and have a reunion.

We ate dinner at a KFC which was really good, and really cheap, then walked down the street to a bakery we’d passed earlier for dessert. I got a twisty pastry covered in coconut shavings which was delicious. And I think since it was the end of the day, she gave me two! We met up with Hiromi and Robin who were at Hiromi’s office for the day and followed them to catch a taxi back.

The next day, I called the rental place and went ahead and put a car on hold for the time being. I put it in my name, though they said they’d need the credit card information of the person who’d actually be renting it in their name. But I’d worry about that later. Then I tried calling Marius about internet, but no answer. Keilani tried calling the internet guy and he didn’t answer either. I did some homework and sat around for a while, then when Chetna came home I went out to see her. She said she was pretty certain she’d be coming to Hogsback with us, so I hope that on Monday we can call to confirm the car, then we’d be able to call the hostel.

Emily and Linda came back from the salon and talked about going to a party in Summer Seas. I was nonplussed, but Keilani seemed interested for a bit. She and I made dinner together—lemon pepper chicken and rice with soy sauce. Once again, we make a pretty dynamite combination. We’ve decided to start planning meals together. Hiromi and Laura came back from dinner and we finally got things set up for the excursion. We’d be leaving tomorrow at 9 am to go to the cheetah park and the lion park. For R375, it was a pretty awesome deal with transport included.

Somehow, though I still can’t quite figure how, Emily convinced me to come to the party, just to hang out, and Keilani decided to come too. Anyway, we caught a cab and took it to Summer Seas. We didn’t have any clue where the party was, but the cab driver knew that some Germans lived in 67, so we dialed that. Lo and behold, good old Robert answers. He yells 67 and 26 a couple of times, but we don’t know what he means. So we hang up and dial 26, but no one answers. So we call Robert back again, and tell him to buzz us in, but he doesn’t. He just yells 26 and 67 some more. Thankfully, the guy in the security building comes out and lets us in and points us how to get to number 26.

So we walk over and hear voices inside, none of which we recognize. We’re scared to knock, but finally Keilani just goes over and does. Someone yells to come in so we swing the door open and look around the corner and it’s like seven guys we don’t know. So we are about to make a quick exit, but Linda started talking to them and called us back. We went in and sat down and introduced ourselves. I sat on a couch and shortly, a guy named Sam and a guy named Ziggy, both South Africans (and both rugby players, as I later found, how novel) sat down with me. Ziggy told me that he’d lived in Denver for a year and that he’d visited San Francisco. I told him that’s near where I lived, and he said his favorite part was that next to his hotel, there was an arcade with the best video games and since all the kids were in school he had it to himself. I explained how that was funny to me, especially that having grown up in Japan and Germany as a kid, often the things I remembered weren’t Tokyo and the Eiffel Tower, but man I had a great crepe one time.

Keilani and I sat there, not drinking for a while longer as more and more people showed up. Linda came over and asked how we were doing, and we were fine, and the party was fine, it’s just that situations like this are never as fun when you’re sober. So Keilani called a cab and we hit the road. We got home and I changed into pj’s. I had a bowl of cereal then got in bed to do some reading. I was out by midnight and good thing too, since I had to get up at 7:45 again.

Little Victories and Big Lunatics, August 4

I woke up to my alarm at 7:45 again and made a peanut butter and jelly toast sandwich. Hiromi walked out and we looked outside—rain. We didn’t know what it’d be like to do the cheetahs in the rain, so we called the guy organizing it. He let us reschedule it for tomorrow, since it’s supposed to be nicer. We hope. We went around and let everyone know the change of plans and sat around for a while. When Chetna woke up, she said she was still game to take us to Meltz, so I sat while everyone ate breakfast. We saw a dog outside and tried to chase it down, but couldn’t catch it. We looked pretty ridiculous though, outside in the rain in our pajamas. Crazy Americans.

We left for Meltz at about 1:00, and the gang was Chetna, Laura, Sam, Hiromi, and myself. We called a cab, which took thirty minutes more than they said it would to get there, and once it was outside we all piled in. On the way, Chetna pointed out a mental institution, and I made a note of it. I think on Monday I’ll google it and see if I can’t get a brief internship or something. Or even just to visit. I have every Thursday off, after all. I could always volunteer there.

As soon a we walked into Meltz, the search was on. The first thing I did was look all over for my striped hoodie. Alas, to no avail. They had none, anywhere. Then I resulted to looking at other clothes and mostly just waiting for everyone else to finish up. Finally, half the group was done, so we walked over to a coffee shop to take a break and regroup. I didn’t want to spend money, but I saw the most beautiful chocolate mousse cake in the front that I decided I just had to have a slice. It was a good decision too, because first of all, it was R17 for a huge piece, and it was luscious. The cake was moist, the mousse was rich, and the dark chocolate ganache covering the whole thing was perfection. Before we’d left, everyone had a bite and I was stuffed.

Chetna told me we might have better luck at a store called Mr. Price. So we asked the waitress where the nearest one was and she said Walmer Park. So onward and outward we went to catch a taxi over. As soon as we walked inside, I was scoping out every clothing store for a glimpse of a striped hoodie.

We finally made our way back to the Mr. Price and though I searched fervently, once more, no hoodies in sight. Feeling somewhat dejected and hopeless, I walked out with Laura to check Woolworths. That’s when she saw it: Markham! The only place in Central I saw hoodies was this same store! Sure it was a boy’s store, but a hoodie’s a hoodie, right? So I went in and the first thing I did was look at prices. R220. Yikes. More than I was anticipating spending, so I became wary. We made a lap through Woolworths, but once again, no dice. At long last, I decided that it was a purchase I wanted to make, so I marched down to Markham with Hiromi and Laura and tried some on. My first choice didn’t have my size, but the one Laura liked, with light and dark grey stripes fit me just right. I bought it and signed the receipt happily.

We waited another forty minutes for a cab, and asked the driver what the weather was to be like tomorrow. He assured us it would be more of the same, and I grew nervous. Once home, I showered and washed my hair so I could gel it and wear it down. I put on nice jeans and a tank with my burnt orange collared shirt—it was freezing and still rainy outside. I called to make reservations at El Greco, but they were closed for a private party, so we went with Plan B: 34° South.

Shockingly, everyone was ready to be out the door at 7:30, right on time. An old housemate gave us a ride and we had a crew of 11 roll into the restaurant. The food was mediocre but the company was superb, so I didn’t fret over the tab. We talked for a bit about going to Giovanni’s for drinks, and I considered it, but decided I’d rather have a more quiet night. Keilani wanted to swing by Annie’s to see what was up. There was supposed to have been a drinking contest (the epitome of testosterone driven senselessness) so we figured we’d see if anyone died. [I’ll end the suspense, no one did.]

After wasting an hour or two there, we walked back and I borrowed Anchorman from Keilani. I was going to watch it until I realized the hour, and if we hoped to pet the cheetahs in the morning, I’d need to get some serious sleep now. It was lame that I wasted the day doing nothing terribly important, especially considering I was thoroughly behind on my schoolwork. I’ll have to make up for it double time this week too, since I plan to be out of town next weekend.

This whole school thing could do well to not coincide with my time in Africa and likewise my time in Africa would be nice sans school.

I Could Teach You a Thing or Two about Animals, August 5

The first thing I did when I woke up, besides try not to fall back asleep, was look outside. And I tell you, it’s a beautiful day to pet a cheetah. I dressed and ate and waited for the others to get up. Greg showed up right at 9:00 and the five of us piled into the van.

About a half hour out of town, we saw Sardinia Bay then moved up the hills overlooking the ocean. We drove through the gates and up a dirt road into the park. The first animals we saw were wildebeest and zebras. Greg told us that these two are always found together because they compliment each other. Zebras have good eyesight and poor hearing while wildebeest have good hearing and poor eyesight. Also, wildebeest graze on the dying grass and zebras eat the new shoots. Also, he pointed out that these zebras have a little shadow stripe in between black stripes over part of the white. This actually saved them from poaching, because poachers didn’t want that—they saw it as a flaw.

We drove a little further and saw a few giraffes feeding. Greg told us that they have the same number of vertebrae as we do, and I told him hummingbirds do too. He didn’t know that, so at least he learned one thing today! We parked at the front of the lion cages. Up on a hill, we saw tigers laying in the sun. Though they’re not indigenous to SA, these tigers were rescued from being mistreated at another facility. We walked over and saw a pair of white lions. I named them Henry and Martha, and they were really beautiful. Martha didn’t like Keliani, and actually crouched down and jumped at her once. I told her it’s because she smells like a pork chop.

Then, Keilani and I were first into the cub cage. They were so adorable and so soft. Their fur was kind of like a bunny’s almost. Surprising, considering they have skin that’s eight and a half times thicker than ours. They also had spots, which I didn’t know that lion cubs did. They were three boys, born on May 9 and their names were Deacon, Peter, and Matthew. The volunteers working there told us to sit down and they’d bring one over to hold. I held Peter, and he was sweet, but he was so curious. He loved my brand new striped hoodie so much, he kept biting it. And in so doing, he bit me a few times. They have crazy sharp teeth and a really strong jaw for such little guys. And a couple of times he got his claws into my shirt while he was pawing me, and that was likewise pretty unpleasant. But he was adorable, and really, how can you be mad at little Simba?!

Once everyone rotated through, we walked back to the van and headed down to Kragga Kamma Game Park, about fifteen or twenty minutes away. This one was more like you just drive through and don’t get out of your car or else you get eaten by something. They didn’t have wild cats or anything, but they did have rhinos, who had rhino babies and that could be dangerous. The first animals we saw were ostriches. Greg told us that the joint in their leg that looks like a backwards knee is actually their ankle, and their knee is up where you’d think their shoulder would be, like under the wing. He also said their eyes are bigger than their brains.

We drove around a corner and saw the white rhino male. Now, he’s not technically white, he’s more dark grey or black, but Greg said it’s not because of their color. It’s because when settlers came in and heard the Afrikaners using the Dutch “weit”, they thought they were saying white, when in fact they were saying wide, because these rhinos have wide lips. Another interesting poacher point is that the only reason this line of rhino beat poaching is because in Kwazulu-Natal, they have a species of fly that bites and causes sleeping sickness, poachers wouldn’t go there to hunt rhinos. So they thrived in that region and staved off endangerment. The rhino kept getting closer and closer to us, then it was right in front of us, checking out the van. Thankfully it crossed our path and went on to graze on the other side.

After that, we drove further and saw all kinds of animals—impalas, waterbuck, wildebeest, more zebras and giraffes. To see the cheetahs, we had to drive into a gated facility that kept them separate from the others. Right inside the section, they were laying up on a hill. Greg said their claws are out all the time like track spikes and they have a long flat tail that works just like a rudder. They’re literally built for speed, everything about them is meant for maximum potential. Because of this though, they are not very strong animals. They aren’t very muscular or tough, which means they have to hunt every day, and eat as much as they can in about 20 minutes, before some stronger animal like a lion will come and take their catch.

We parked at the visitor center and went to eat lunch. We ordered our food, then a guy came by to say that it was time to go see the cheetahs. So we put a hold on our food and followed Michael. He unlocked the cage and went back into a second half of the cage to chase them out. Apparently one of them is the tame cheetah’s girlfriend, and she is not tame. So we steered clear of her. Michael told us to wait, ran over to Duma (the tame one) and was talking to him and like snuggling with him for a minute. It was kind of weird, but as long as whatever he said was something along the lines of, “These girls want to keep their faces,” then I’m fine with all the cheetah snuggling in the world. Duma walked up the hill a bit and lay down, and Michael called us over.

Duma was purring really loudly, and I asked to make sure this sound was a good one. Michael said as long as he doesn’t start sounding like a bad car, then we’re okay, and that this sound is just contentment. So I knelt down and started petting a cheetah. Holy cow, I was just hanging out with a cheetah. We all got our pictures with it then Michael hurried us out so more people could come in before Duma got restless.

We walked back to the lodge and ate lunch, got postcards and all that. On the drive out, we got to see buffalos, which meant we’d seen 4 out of the big 5 today. I basically went on a safari! I loaded my pictures on my computer right away.

I started on some of that makeup homework I’d been meaning to do. I made rice with mushrooms for dinner, which hit the spot. Then I filled out the postcard I’d gotten for Julia, and did homework until bed. It’d been a long, exciting day, and I was exhausted.

Peace Be Still My Child-I’ll Carry You Through This Valley, August 6

I woke up a half hour before my alarm, so I jumped in the shower then put a load of laundry in the washer. I ate breakfast, then I hung my clothes on the line then walked to class with Laura. I was almost late, but made it just in time, thankfully. The most interesting thing I learned today was that the per capita income gap between the rich and poor in South Africa was 10th largest in the world during apartheid. Now that they’re officially a liberal democracy, SA has shot up to 2nd. It may not say much for the apartheid regime, but it certainly says a lot about democracy’s “success” in Africa, that the income gap was smaller under a repressive rule.

I headed to the computer lab, excited to email some pictures through from yesterday’s activities. I looked up the mental health place and got a phone number that I’ll call a bit later to ask about opportunities. I checked my gmail and sent pictures to my folks, then read an email from my sister. She sent it in the middle of the night there, and said she’d just gotten a call from Aunt Maria saying that Uncle Willie died. It was hardest to get the news in a computer lab, where I was surrounded by a hundred students. I just can’t believe it had to happen while I’m here, so far away. At least in NC, I could have talked to my mom more easily and for longer and stuff, and I would have still been home right now. I don’t know, it’s just hard to be so far removed right now. I walked home and went into my room to do some work before making lunch.

I called the lady at the Mental Health Society a bit nervously, because I didn’t know exactly what to say or how to say it. I spoke to a secretary first, and she patched me through to Merle. Immediately, her voice was friendly and inviting, so I explained that I was an international student studying at NMMU. She seemed very excited by that, and I told her that I’m studying psychology and would like to one day work in the mental health industry in some capacity. I asked if there might be any volunteer or intern opportunities available this semester. She asked what year I was and how long I’d be here, which started to sound promising. Then she asked if I’d rather one on one experience or group settings. Taken a bit by surprise, I said, “Honestly, whatever you can throw at me, I’m more than willing to go for.” She took my number and promised she’d talk to her volunteer team and see what she had, and she’d get back to me by Wednesday. On top of it being really good experience, it’s also experience I’ll be gaining in SA, which will look really good my resume. So fingers crossed, this will pan out.

At 3:00, I finally decided I should call home and talk to my mom. We only talked for a few minutes, and she sounded okay, but of course it figures I’d start crying. I know I should be better for her, but I hadn’t been able to cry about it yet, so I couldn’t help it. I went back into my room and listened to Daniel Kirkley’s “Peace Be Still” which made me cry some more, but it was okay. I did some reading and made dinner (rice with stir fried vegetables) then call my dad. We talked for a bit, then I did some more work before Laura called me out into the living room; Fear Factor was on. I watched that, then some of Anchorman and went to sleep.

Looking forward to an exciting weekend trip ahead of me, so look out for an entry on that early next week. That's all for now!

Meeting Jessica, July 26

Despite my late arrival last night, I woke at 7:30. I made breakfast and then the power went out, so Laura and I tried to fix it. Instead we blew a fuse and had to call the landlord. I showered and got ready, then Keilani rolls up in last night’s clothes and apparently spent the night having SnuggleFest ’07 with Tyler.

She got ready and we left at about 10:30 to meet with Jessica. On the way to the taxi, she calls and offers to pick us up so we waited in front of the house. When she pulls up, she gets out to meet us formally, then she drives down to the Pick n Pay and we sit outside at a coffee shop. We sat and chatted for about an hour, just getting to know one another and learn more about PE. She invites us to a big rugby party her boyfriend is putting together and it seems we may get VIP status. (I hope that means we get first pick of the rugby players.) Then she drops us back off at the house. She is super nice, so I’m glad things have been working out so well with my contacts.

Realized today that I finally caught the cold that’s been making the rounds at the house. I’ve been coping okay, just coughing and sniffling and praying it’ll pass. Watched “As Good as it Gets” with some of the girls then went straight to bed.

“That was nice. Let’s hug it out.”, July 27

Good news as of today…I just figured out that this semester is not setting me back at all. In fact, even if my democratization class only transfers back as a PLS elective, I’m still ahead. I only have eight criminal justice classes, two political science, and one psychology when I get back stateside. That means no 18 hour semesters, and I still have time to have three semesters of psychology research assisting if I want to. Or I could just take an easy semester. Either way, it’s good to have that out of the way.

When Keilani swung by to pick me up from the computer lab on campus, we walked to the bookstore and I got my final text. Then we opted to take a taxi to the house because the weather was terrible. I ate soup for lunch and started on some reading, which is beastly. We already only have ten classes left for all my courses and this brief timeline is going to take some adjusting. Keilani and I worked on some health psych study guide and ended up talking a lot. She had anxiety attacks in high school because her family was going through a hard time, so it was comforting to talk to someone who understood. She’s awesome, really. I’m glad that she’s in the house. I do worry though with the money thing and with such a tight school schedule that I’m still going to be the same old Lara when I go home. It’s early yet, so I don’t know.

I made dinner and ate then called Kyle. I felt so bad that I hadn’t gotten in touch with him, but it made me happy how surprised and glad he was to hear from me. He said he wants to send me a letter—too cute. A couple people from Annie’s Cove came over and drank before getting cabs and going out. I said I’m still recovering from Wednesday so I’m waiting till tomorrow. Although I did text a bunch of people earlier saying there was a pre-party here, so I’ve a strange feeling people will show up around 10 expecting a party. That’s a half hour from now, so I think in the meantime I’m going to do a little reading. Everyone’s yelled at me that it’s Friday and homework is what Sunday is for.

Clearly these people wouldn’t recognize the Lara at UNCW.

Thankfully no one showed, and I went upstairs and watched Lucky Number Slevin with Keilani. After that I got straight in bed.

AKA Party Central, July 28

A bunch of the housemates seemed to want to do something that night, but didn’t want to go out, so we figured we’d have a get together at the house. That afternoon, Hiromi decided to do a bunch of makeover stuff, so she did my makeup and Laura’s, then I straightened my hair to get ready for the party. I called my parents to get some things in order and just check in, and promised I wouldn’t call again till next weekend.

I made dinner with Keilani and we had rice and chicken with a sweet and sour sauce. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty amazing. Then we did dishes and sat around to see if anyone would show up. We had all but given up and about decided to go to bed when Tyler showed up and said that like thirty people were coming. He wasn’t kidding. There were a load of South Africans and also the French. I met a French guy named Joe and just as we were talking, Manka and Lucas got back from seeing the Simpsons movie. Apparently it was good and I told Joe so, and from there we decided we wanted to go see it, and probably tomorrow.

I didn’t have any booze on me, so I bummed two beers (terrible milk stouts) from Robin and drank those. The Germans showed up a while later, and I kid you not, there were like forty of them all at once. They left after a short while to go to some club in Central, so I was relieved. A few hours go by and a bunch of the housemates for whatever reason were not interested in the party, so by 12:30, Keilani and I made the executive decision (as the only 2 of the house still up) to kick everyone out. I felt bad about doing it, but sometimes you just have to.

In the meantime, my only concern was getting some rest before the market tomorrow. I’m so looking forward to it, and lunch on the Boardwalk again. And who knows, maybe I’ll go see a movie with a Frenchman.

Sundays at the Boardwalk, July 29

Woke before 8:00 with the sun, ate soup for breakfast then got ready to go to the market with Laura and Hiromi. The wind was horrible, so by the time we got there, most of the vendors were closing up shop. Thankfully I caught James just before he left and bought my zebra painting. Then we walked over to the Boardwalk and ate at the Japanese place. I had chicken udon, which was delicious there. We walked around the shops and there are some really nice places. There’s even a place that’s kind of like an indoor flea market, only they’re permanent stores. But they sell the same kinds of things. At any rate, I’ve locked it away as a “must return.”

We caught a taxi back and I turned right around to go buy groceries. Once I had stocked up on everything, I put it away and went back to my room to paint my nails and do a little homework. With the text next to me, the classes are sounding more understandable. Hung out with Chetna (a girl from Zimbabwe) and Laura a bit. Laura said she liked my shirt (Everything is A-OK) and asked why all my shirts have names. I told her it was because they are all Threadless, and Chetna, a fashion design student, said she’s just about to do research involving them. So I got all excited and offered to show her all my gear. They seemed to really like it, which was cool. Threadless is pretty much my favorite topic of conversation. It was also nice to be of help to her! I made a sandwich, then finally got in touch with the French guys so we could meet up for the movie.

We took a taxi back to the Boardwalk and found them, shockingly, at a French café. Apparently they make authentic crepes there, so I’ll have to go back soon. Joe convinced me that maybe I should try something other than Nutella and banana (my signature crepe) and maybe I will. We went to the 6:15 showing of the Simpsons, and it was really good—so funny. Caught a cab back home just in time to catch The Break Up on tv. I made some rice with butter and season salt for dinner and watched the movie with Laura. I made a list of things I have to get done tomorrow, then read a little and went to bed.

The West is Shoving Democracy Down Our Throats: an essay, July 30

Today I woke and ate breakfast then showered before walking to campus with Laura and Manka for our 9:15 classes. We had a guest lecturer in my democratization course, and it was pretty much discussion based. We talked about whether or not democratization is over and how much further can the spread go. He, I guess, knew there were Americans in the class and asked for an American defense of the idea of the spread of Western democracy.

I raised my hand and answered as best as I could. “I think, in order for any democracy to succeed and flourish in the global market, it has to be a decision made from within and not one that is forced upon a nation.” I think the class was expecting otherwise, so I heard a few surprised grunts and a couple, “I totally agree.”

The lecturer then went on to talk about the three so called ‘waves of democratization’ wherein certain periods of time the number of countries moving toward democracy far outnumbered those moving in the reverse direction. The third wave of democracy is said to have begun in 1974, in the post cold war recovery era, with nations in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa beginning the move toward democratic regimes. We talked about the conflicts of culture and tradition between these areas and the West and how that can create a great deal of tension in establishing a new political order. Our lecturer, in fact, charged that democratization may be over, in that we have a great many countries, Zimbabwe being an example, that claim democracy but are only quasi-democratic. They are still corrupt and pseudo-socialist and oppressive, and that in this respect, can we even consider this an official third wave? Obviously, I don’t know much of anything about democratization. Heck, I’ve never even taken a single international relations course.

But that didn’t stop me from raising my hand. “If you look at the first wave from 1828-1926, Europe and America, who came from centuries of tradition as monarchies, you see it took nearly one hundred years to make the transition into full-fledged democracies. The countries of Africa and Asia and the like may just be going through those self-same ‘birth pains,’ but we can’t really know for sure at this point. As such, I think it’s entirely too hard to have a solid perspective on things that are happening right now.”

As an American, I know the US has a vested interest in seen a democratic world, and the waters are muddied by these ulterior motives. Our text even states that America’s “identity as a nation is inseparable from its commitment to liberal and democratic values.” One note I found of particular surprise, however, was that democracies have fought wars as often as authoritarian countries, but while authoritarian countries have fought democracies and each other, democracies from the early nineteenth century did not, with only trivial exceptions, fight other democracies. Anyway, that’s one thing I learned today. (See Dad? I’m doing more than partying!)

After class, I went to the computer lab to check my email. Heard from my mom and though it was a perfectly normal email, felt the pangs of homesickness. Plus, about seven people had written on my facebook wall since I’d posted pictures and this too added to the moment.

I Feel a RoadTrip Coming On, July 31

Woke once again with the sun and made myself some coffee. It’s a beautiful day. The chill of the past few days has eased a bit, and the sun is shining. I think I’ll even go to the beach tomorrow afternoon!

Laura called me out into the living room and mentioned going to Durban next weekend, by air. First, I really don’t want to fly anywhere, as there is too much to see both on the way to Durban and on the way to Cape Town (the Wild Coast and the Garden Route respectively). Besides, I want to go to Durban next term when I can afford to go for a four day trip and spend time with Diane. So since they were making plans, I mentioned that since we have Thursday and Friday off, I would put together a little road trip to Hogsback.

By then it was about time to leave, so Laura and I walked to campus together. I went to the lab for a bit to check up on things and while I had a few new facebook notifications, the internet was way too slow and I couldn’t manage to get anything to load. I found Keilani in there so we walked together to psych. I told her about Hogsback and she took an interest so I decided for certain then that we’d get a group together. After class we walked home to grab a quick bite, then changed and headed out to the beach for the last bit of sunlight. We watched Tyler and Eric and some of the Germans surf and hung out with Sam and Jessica. Both of them joined in on the Hogsback trip, so we’ve almost got a full car. Thankfully, Jessica and Keilani can both drive a stick. The sun was fading and the wind was picking up, so the four of us began the trek back home. Once there, we decided to go get pizzas at Roman’s again, and I swear I’m going to lose my budget in that place. The food is just too good!

In the living room back at home, Hiromi came out and told us about the cheetahs. She talked to the guy and he said that if they got a group of four, he could get the price all the way down from R600 to R370, which is just over fifty bucks. Included in that you get to spend time both with cheetahs and lions. So we’re probably going to do that this Sunday, and I can’t wait. Also, on Saturday Chetna is going to take some of us to a factory outlet store and I’m hoping I can find a striped hoodie there. I’m not kidding, horizontal stripes are so in here, it’s insane. So in order to fit in, I’ve determined my best bet to looking like a local is get a striped hoodie.

Hiromi, Keilani, and I walked Jessica back to Annie’s and hung out with her for a while. We started planning the Hogsback trip in depth and we’re all getting pretty excited. We also got to use her internet which was nice. Then we made our way over to Robin and Eric’s room and talked with them for a while. Finally people are picking up on my love of threadless, so I’ve been showing a bunch of people my shirts and explaining them. I’m excited to now spread threadless to Minnesota, Norway, and of course, Africa. It’s a beautiful thing. It was getting a bit late so we finally walked home so I could do some homework and get in a decent bit of sleep before my 7:45 tomorrow.

Homesick for Threadless and 30STM, August 1

Up before the sun this time, then showered and ate breakfast before walking to school. Found out once I got there that class doesn’t start until 8:00, apparently, so that’s good to know for next week. Our teacher told us about a speaker on the 2nd Avenue campus, so two Germans, Robin and I decided to go. Lars gave us a ride and we got over there just at 9:00. He didn’t start until like 9:30, but it was so informative. He’s the special advisor to the Minister for Provincial and Local Government, and he talked about all the pertinent issues of today in delivering services via the local government to places all over SA. It was insane to see the statistics about people without water and electricity and sanitation today. I mean, 2007. It’s positively unreal.

At the end, he asked the international students what we felt we learned from his lecture and would it benefit us the rest of our time here. I said that I came here so clueless about Africa and that I’m learning so much already. I said I am learning how much more important it is to listen more and talk less and even beyond my time here, I look forward to taking these things back to America with me.

It was 11:30 by the time he finished, so Lars dropped Robin and I back on campus so we could get to our 12:15 class on time. It was pretty interesting today too. Our teacher told us about how some theorize we’re about to enter a fourth wave of democracy where everyone moves toward the same ideals and borders dissolve and globalization takes on a whole new meaning as the craving for cultural and national identity declines. I argued that I don’t see any reason why we can’t all be democratic and still maintain a sense of national identity. I mean, no matter how many countries turn to democracy or claim to be democratic, every country has different needs and subsequently will run their government differently and it will always be controlled by different people. The only way I could see us being that globally interconnected is if we turned to a “King of the World” kind of system. Once again, students seemed agreeable and I got a few laughs, so that was good.

Finally at 2 I trekked back to the house and ate leftover pizza for lunch. I talked to Laura some about Hogsback and stuff and looked up car places. I called one to get a price, and it seems pretty reasonable. Only problem was you have to be 21 to rent at all. Which is bad, because none of the people planning to go are 21. Thankfully, I told Chetna about it and she seemed really interested, so if she comes we’re in the clear. I called my folks to talk about a few things, then tried Katie. They are moving in today, so I wanted to see how things were going. She didn’t answer so I left a voicemail promising to call again later.

Laura came into my room and saw my 30STM pictures and asked, “Is that you with Jared Leto?” and I said, “Why yes it is…” It’s nice that in the past few days my housemates have learned about my favorite things (like Threadless and my superfan status). I decided against going out, because even thought Toby Joe’s is cheap, I was really pretty focused on saving money for the trip. I did some math and it seems that between the car, food, and lodging, and activities, the whole thing will cost between R500-700, which isn’t bad at all, considering it’s one of three trips I am certain I’m going to take before my dad comes.

I called Katie again and this time got a hold of her. Things sounded good and I told her I was jealous and that I can’t wait to move in too. She told me she had a surprise and that someone wanted to talk to me, and I thought it might be Gary or something, so when the guy got on the phone it took a few sentences before it registered. Then it clicked—Dan! I was so happy to talk to him, because I do miss him a lot. We just chatted and he asked how things were going and stuff and I asked the same, and then I promised I’d facebook soon. Katie and I talked for a few more minutes, but I knew they were busy so I told her to say hey to her family for me and that I’d call again soon.

I made rice for dinner and did some general hanging around. Then I knew it was time to do some reading, so I did just that.

But alls well on the homefront, and I promise another update soon.

I know this post has been hotly anticipated and fear not, the wait is over. Make sure you've got a good chunk of time to dedicate to it, because it is thorough. I promise from here on out I'll make a post at least weekly.

So, without further ado, here is a sum of my life for the past fourteen days.

Plane Travel, July 12-14

 

So my first travel day was hectic. We got to the airport on time and I checked in. Said goodbye to the folks and then went through security. I waited a while at my gate to board, saw a cute guy on the other end of the lounge, made eye contact, then his wife and kid showed up. It happens.

 

So I get on the flight and sit next to a nice man named Roger. He talked to me a lot, and was very friendly. That, or a pathological liar. And it was equally as likely he was either. Didn’t matter much. The first drink cart came through and I asked for a ginger ale. Once she gave it to me, I asked what the policy was about drinking alcohol over the Atlantic and she said I could have a drink now. I said I’d just wait, but she said, “Oh, no. Have one now. What would you like?” I got a Carlsberg and reminisced about having my first pint in Liverpool. I sat back and took it in. Free flowing booze and the fresh scent of B.O. Ahhh, to be in Europe again.

 

I watched Hot Fuzz which was hilarious and then tried to sleep. Most of the flight was spent trying, and I only slept for three or so hours. I didn’t feel like trying to concentrate on a new movie, so I watched the end half of Blades of Glory. It’s not any better the second time around.

 

We landed in Heathrow at about 1:30 local time, after having been in a holding pattern for fifteen minutes. Once we’re on the ground, we’re held up again, as the plane that’s in our spot hasn’t left yet due to technical problems. So we wait. And we wait. And we wait. The next thing I know, it’s 3:00 and 3:30 and then we finally start to move. We’re taken to the terminal where it’s more waiting and then we have to go through security, which sucked because I had to do the whole shoes, hoodie, laptop dance again. Then I headed to my terminal. I grab the first payphone I can find to call my folks. I can’t figure out how to work the damn phone card or the machine, and I may very well have spent four hundred pounds just trying to make a single call. After speaking with my mom briefly, I try to call Nadia at NMMU, to see if I have someone to pick me up at the airport tomorrow, but no such luck—the number doesn’t work. I get a coffee and sit down and try to sift through all the phone card crap.

 

So I’m tired and stressed and frustrated and hungry, so I call my mom again (the phone card works this time) and let her know that I couldn’t get through to Nadia and that I’ll have to totally wing it in Port Elizabeth. But talking and thinking about things upset me, so I went to the bathroom to stave off a panic attack. “Bootstraps, Lara,” I think to myself. “Bootstraps.” So, I change my jeans (since my Bermuda shorts left me freezing on the last flight) and do my hair a different way and brush my teeth and put Leonard (my lucky army man) in my pocket and walk out, feeling like a whole new woman. I exchange some money for Rands and find the British Airways customer service desk to ask about baggage and check in for my connection flight from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth. Then I walk around a bit and then find a seat, and here I sit, writing this. I’ve twenty or thirty minutes before I find out what gate I’m flying out of, and I’m trying to hack into some wireless. To no avail.

 

A while before boarding began, I headed to my gate in Heathrow and sat and waited. We boarded all at once and I found my seat. Then I saw two random guys about my age come to put their bags in the compartments by me. The blonde one told me he was seated in the middle and that his friend was seated in the middle on the opposite end of the row. I took pity on them and gave up my seat so they could sit together. They were very thankful though, and the black haired one called me a superstar. They were cute.

 

It did admittedly suck to be stuck in the middle, and it sucked for ten and a half hours. I watched Disturbia, which was pretty much terrible, made even more terrible by the fact that the magazine described it as a reworking of Rear Window. I just recently watched Rear Window with Julia, and it was excellent, and no matter how cute Shia LaBeouf is, he’s never going to be Jimmy Stewart.

 

I had another Carlsberg before dinner was served and once it went straight to my head, I realized how long it had been since my last substantial food. Dinner was finally served, and I had a dish called cottage pie. I actually really liked it and have already started thinking of ways I could reinvent it to make it better. I slept a fair amount on that flight, which will hopefully get me on a good path toward adjusting quickly. I woke up just as the next round of movies was coming on and watched the Bourne Identity. I’m excited for the Bourne Ultimatum to come out.

 

Breakfast was served an hour or so before landing, and I was happy to find it was a traditional English breakfast. Although I did notice the lack of beans on toast. Who’d have ever thought I’d love English food so much? Anyway, we began our descent at about 6:30 South African time, just as the sun was rising. I have to say, it was a magnificent way to start my time here.

 

After we de-planed, we got on a shuttle that took us to the terminal. It was pretty cold out in the morning, 41, but I expect it will warm up as the day goes on. Of course, I always recognize that a trip where nothing goes wrong is a trip Lara never has, so I got held up for fifteen minutes because they couldn’t read the code on my study permit in my passport. I just thank God I got both my bags out and that customs was a breeze. Once through, a man in an orange jumpsuit (one of many in the terminal) grabbed one of my bags and asked where I was headed. Suddenly I realized that ultimately he was expecting a tip, and as much as it would have sucked to drag my two big ass bags all the way to the other terminal, I didn’t like being swindled like that.

 

I hadn’t been there twenty minutes and I was already the dumb American.

 

So he took me to check in and I had to break change to give him a stupid tip. He was blind in one eye and missing teeth, so I just pretended that it was more like charity than theft. Once I checked my bags, I wandered around and called my folks. Still no news on what the H is happening when I get to PE, but I can’t do anything at this point. I ate some almonds to keep my blood sugar level and drank a coke for the caffeine. Then I finally made my way through security so I could come sit here at my gate for the final leg of my journey.

 

Already they’ve had some shops with toys and jewelry and trourist-y accoutrements and I have a feeling this trip is going to break the bank. I’ve also seen a bunch of adorable baby stuff so I’m really excited to shop for Robert. All this in the airport alone! I have to pace myself.

 

The traveling has beat the hell out of my body. I’m sore and feeling unwell and ready to be settled. God willing it’ll all come together. We finally boarded and I’ve never known cabin fever quite like I did when I strapped in. I felt like I’d been staring at the same scenery for the past two days. Most likely because I pretty much had. It was an agonizing hour and a half and I was positively exhausted.

 

By the time I got off the plane, I was borderline delirious, but I was using all my energy to will a chauffer into existence. He would be handsome and tall and South African and he’d have my name spelled correctly on a placard and he would help me put my bags in the back and he would let me ride shotgun. But then I walked around the airport aimlessly for twenty minutes, hoping against hope before I grabbed a cab driven by an old man named Johnny with a dirty goatee and glasses. But he got me to Rubin safely, and that counted for something.

 

Meeting everyone in the house was a total blur and I knew it’d be a while before I actually retained all their names and information. A lot of the girls were from St. Cloud State in Minnesota, and everyone was nice and welcoming. I put my bags in an empty room and chatted. I wanted to stave off sleep so I could make quick work of the time zone adjustment.

 

I walked with one of the St. Cloud girls, Laura to the Spar (a supermarket/pharmacy type place) a few blocks away and picked up Chinese for dinner. We socialized a bit more, but I was ready for bed, and hit the hay by 10.

 

Being a Tourist, July 15

 

Sunday we were up at a decent hour and headed out in a big group to the flea market. I took the time to get to know Manka better. She’s been in the house for four years and she’s from Kenya. She’s a good person to have around, because she’s so laid back and easy to talk to. The flea market itself was amazing. They have every size and shape of wooden carved animals, that I’ve pretty much decided I’ll have to bring home a whole zoo of them. Especially the giraffes. They’re awesome. And I’ve already been looking for stuff for the Weird Wall back home, and there’s no shortage. Manka was a huge help too, because most of the vendors were Kenyan, so if she thought they were ripping us off, she’d talk to them in Swahili and coax them down on the price. Indispensible.

 

Afterwards, we went to lunch at this local chain called Nando’s. We had chicken burgers and fries, and it was pretty delicious. We walked a few blocks down to Happy Valley and walked through. It’s the strangest place, filled with little scenes of Disney characters all over. It really was a pretty happy valley, but Manka warned us that after dark, they call it Death Valley. So I’ve certainly noted that.

 

We walked down to the Pick n Pay which is a lot like our Spar. They were out of converters in that shopping area, so I hit the internet café to check up on things. We took a taxi home and hung around for a while. Then some of my housemates wanted to go to Annie’s Cove because they were having a brai and we decided to crash it. So I decided I’d go hang out for a while and be social. When we got there, I went to say hey to Tyler (another St. Cloud kid) and he was standing with some Germans. I met them—Lars, Sofie, and Robert—and they were very funny. I right away just started calling them the Crazy Germans. I was drawn to Robert, mostly because he was tall (1.92 meters, whatever that means. I think he’s about 6’3”). Suddenly, this other crazy German showed up, named Hannes. They joked about him living in the pool house, so I dubbed him Pool Boy.

 

A while later, we were all standing around and in passing, I mentioned having lived in Germany and that I was young so all I really remembered was how to count. Robert told me to count, and I did. I felt I did quite impressively for not having practiced in eight years, but that may just be me. Also, the whole night, I went around breaking up German cliques and saying “English please! Stop speaking German!” They are such a fun bunch.

 

It was getting late, so we went back to Rubin and I went to bed.

 

My First Official Brai and Karaoke Night, July 16

 

Monday afternoon, I went with Angie to shop for a brai we were having that night. She’s leaving on Wednesday, so we are throwing her a goodbye party.

 

So we stocked up on food and booze and went back to the homestead. At about 4:00, Marissa, Angie, Manka and I started cooking together and we also started drinking. Manka marinated the meat while I boiled pasta and cut up veggies for a pasta salad. A few hours later, people started showing up, and we kept drinking. Tyler was the only person I knew who had the Germans’ numbers so I spent I don’t know how many hours harassing him to call them. I was completely wasted by 8:00 and the Germans didn’t think they were coming for a few hours still. Lars and his crew arrived between 9:30 and 10:00. I talked to him for a long time. First, his English is pretty excellent. Also, I told him how Alex calls me Lars, so now we’re kind of a team. He’s adorable.

 

A group of us decided to head to a bar called Captain’s for karaoke. We went back to wait in the living room with the rest, and I sat down between Pool Boy and Robert on the couch. I made Robert promise to sing a song with me at karoke and he said he would. The three of us decided to wait on the porch for the cabs. They pulled out a bottle of wine and gave me some. The cab arrived and I realized that of my crew, I was the last man standing. So I chugged my wine and jumped in.

 

So we get to Captain’s and Robert and I go over to look for a song for us to sing. I ask what his favorite kind of music is and he says rap and hip hop. His favorite artist is Jay-Z, which made me laugh out loud. So he keeps suggesting rap songs that I either don’t know at all or don’t know well enough to sing with him. Then all of a sudden, he sees it.

 

Aerosmith. I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing.

 

So we put in our names and a while later, the MC calls our names and we go up onstage. I don’t even think about how I sound or look, I just kind of belt it out drunkenly, as you’re supposed to at places like these. At any rate, it was epic, and he ended it on one knee with a hand out to me.

 

I found out that Hannes had thrown up, so I rounded up Robert and told him we should get going. Hannes said he would walk and I refused to let him. I tried to plead Robert into convincing Hannes otherwise, but nothing worked. He didn’t want to pay for a cab, and wouldn’t let me pay for him. I tried to reason with them, that I have to take a cab either way and they live on the way so it makes no difference.

 

Finally, Duncan (a local) came over and I asked if he would please tell them to take a taxi and he straight faced, seriously looked at them and said, “Take a cab.” I turned to thank him and the next second, Robert and Pool Boy have split. I ran after them and saw them just down the road. I considered getting a cab myself and leaving them, but took off my shoes and jogged to catch up. This is the part where I chewed them out. I literally stood in front of them and just yelled for two minutes straight about how stupid and stubborn they were being. They made excuses but none were worth anything. Robert ended up reasoning with me to walk with them to Robert’s place just down the road and then we’d catch a cab from there. So they called one for me and we started walking again. As we passed Happy Valley, Hannes pointed it out and I told them what Manka had said. They didn’t believe me, so I said, “If you get raped and killed it’s your own damn fault.”

 

Robert’s only response was: “I would like to be raped by a pretty South African girl.” I had to laugh, but they were being jerkfaces. I got into the cab, and Hannes wouldn’t come so now I had to ride in a cab alone. Gee thanks guys. To make matters worse, the guy got lost and it ended up costing me R10 more than it should have. Frick, I was mad.

 

As soon as I got home, I put out clothes for the next day and passed out.

 

Orientation, July 17-19

 

Two hours later, I woke before my alarm to get ready for orientation. I realized promptly that I was still drunk and had the sinking feeling I’d be drunk for a while. I went through the motions dizzy and giggly, but made it out okay. At noon, they had a drum performance by an African group. Sometimes, like when I’m getting drunk and socializing, it’s easy to forget I’m in Africa, but then things like the monkeys that live on campus will remind me.

 

The rest of the afternoon went without event, and I went to bed early to catch up.

 

The campus tour on Wednesday was all but useless, but I guess it was good exercise. We reconvened at the International Office to head for the buses for our first excursion. Jessica, one of the Minnesota girls who lives at Annie’s Cove, and I sat together and became bus buddies. We sat in front of our German friends. The bust was hot, so I reached up to open the window, but it was jammed. So I turned around and asked if one of the strapping young men could open it for me. Robert leaned over and put one finger on the handle as if he was going to do it like that. He said, “Should I take my shirt off?” We laughed when he had to stand up and use both hands and still couldn’t get it.

 

The guide was really hard to understand, so I don’t know any more about the history of PE than I ever did before, but I do know we stopped at this huge tower and I made the dumb decision to climb to the top, all 204 steps. It was just like the Arc d’Triomphe. But I guess I can say now I’ve done it, whatever it was.

 

We went to Sardinia Bay next, and I finally set foot in the Indian Ocean. It was cold, but it was beautiful. They had fish and chips for dinner and set up volleyball, soccer, and human foosball for us to play. On the bus ride back, they passed out a cup of sherry for everyone, which was seemed such a strange thing to do, but I drank it. They dropped us off at a corner and we walked home. Once again, I pretty much headed straight for bed.

 

I got on the bus Thursday morning with Jessica and we drove about a half hour out of our nice clean pleasant suburb into a township called Red Location. When the apartheid laws came into effect, this is where all the Africans were forced to move. I’ve seen pictures and video of places like this, shanties and shacks made up of practically nothing, everything ramshackle, rusty and dirty, but it was a strange change of pace to actually be there and see the people. It was so funny too, because as we drove by, all these people, families, would come out of their homes and smile and wave at us. Everyone was so good-natured.

 

Our ultimate destination was the Red Location Museum that basically housed the history of the area, as well as its contextual value to the rest of the apartheid era in South Africa. I walked through and looked at the dates of these events and the new housing that the government was building for the residents of the area, real housing with windows and floors, only just began in early 2001. We learn about the Civil Rights Movement in school, but this stuff is so real here. There are still people here living in segregation, and you can say they live there voluntarily, and yes some do choose to stay, but it’s because they don’t know any other way, because their parents didn’t know any other way.

 

The museum exhibits were designed in a strange way. It was basically two rows of a bunch of columns that were probably ten by ten and each column had a door and a room inside with artifacts or photographs or replicas of something or other. I went in a few of these rooms (the power was out in the museum so some of the things were difficult to see) and the first one I went into had several nooses hanging from the ceiling. Stacked all along the walls of the room were small boxes that had labels indicating files in them. Each one had a name, a cause of death, and results of an inquiry into their deaths. Every single one of them had some variant of “no one found responsible”. Men and women who were shot, beaten, hanged, essentially murdered and their own police force were the culprits.

 

Our guide told us stories about how when Mandela and his contemporaries finally started to fight the apartheid laws, the police became even stricter with the blacks. If they ever saw more than one person protesting alone, they could be arrested because the government was afraid they would organize an opposition. One striking example is the Langar Massacre. There was a gathering in the community, I believe for a funeral, one day in the streets, and the police saw it and though it’s unclear what happened to incite it, the police opened fire and killed some two or three dozen people and wounded many more. The official police report that was released said that the group that was organizing started throwing rocks and the police were acting only in retaliation. But photos taken shortly after the even show few rocks in the vicinity. There are accounts of people who were wounded that lay there, pretending to be dead, while the police walked through to check for survivors to shoot them again. One man was kicked in the head several times until he passed out and another pretending to be dead was shot again, in the foot. It was a pretty intense museum, but it’s good to know the history of the area in which you are staying.

 

Just before we left, we met these two old men who told us about what life was really like in these townships. They said that if you wanted to go into town, you had to have identification on you and if you didn’t, you could be arrested. Also, at about quarter to 9, a siren would sound that basically said, if you’re black, you better get out, or else you could be taken to jail for three months. It’s frightening how recent all this is in the minds of men like this.

 

The next stop was Bayworld where we saw a dolphin show, and I got to volunteer and help out. We walked through the little aquarium and saw the penguins and seals and then ate lunch. After that, they dropped us off at Green Acres, a mall, where I finally got a phone and converters. A bunch of the girls from the house took a taxi home and it was like party central. The music was so loud and there were, I’m not kidding, 23 people in that van. It was crazy. Jessica, Hiromi and I went to the Boardwalk to ask about safaris then to Pick n Pay to get another converter. Jessica and I walked home, which is a bit of a hike, but it’s nice.

 

Emily’s Birthday and Meeting my First Two South African Boys, July 19-20

 

That night, we went out for Emily’s birthday, and since she lives in the house, a whole crew of us went. We ate dinner at Primi’s first, which was pretty good, then headed upstairs to Giovani’s for drinks. The best part about being there was getting to know the bartender. He was one of three, and by far the cutest one, so I felt a little bad for the others, but not too bad. Anyway, he was a local and his name was David and I’m pretty sure he had a collective crush on all of us girls. Although looking at us, who wouldn’t?

 

I realized we were going to hang out here for a while before we headed over to the Boardwalk and the Casino, so I ordered a Beck’s and talked to Laura and David. He poured about ten shots and passed them around and I asked what he was giving us. “Liquid cocaine,” he said. This made me nervous, but I’d had a beer at dinner and another here, so I wasn’t interested in nerves. “That’s what we call a friendly welcome to PE.” At any rate, David was such a sweetheart, I’m certain we’ll frequent Giovani’s during our stay here. We finally left there around ten and one of our old housemates gave us a ride down to the Casino.

 

We walked inside and it was huge; I’d not been there before and it was really very nice. We made a pit stop in the bathroom before we headed into the club, then made our way down to the bar. I got myself a Castle and bought Keilani a mixed drink. I noticed some international students there, so I wanted to walk around and see who was out, so I enlisted Keilani to walk with me. The place was packed, but once we got away from the bar, we were able to breathe.

 

Apparently karaoke is really popular here, because this was karaoke night here too. We watched the performances and laughed at most of them, until some guy got up there and sang “Sweet Child of Mine.” First of all, he did an excellent air guitar. And on top of it, he could actually sing. I said so to Keilani and the guys standing next to us heard me and interjected, “He’s a professional actor.” We talked to them for a bit while we watched their friend perform and it was kind of evident they were trying to talk him up. Why I don’t know, considering there were two of us and two of them, and bringing in their (much cuter) friend didn’t seem smart to me, but what do I know? So he finally made his way off stage and came up to where we were standing.

 

I introduced myself and we got to talking, and he was really friendly. He’s 22 and a local, but goes to school in Cape Town. I saw a tattoo on his forearm and of course, like a drunkass, I reach out so I can read it and hit my hand right on his cigarette. I apologized and said don’t worry, that it was my fault. He said, “You have to remember me forever now.” At any rate, the tattoo was in Latin and I asked what it said. “Jesus is coming…Look busy.” I laughed and said, “No really…” And I’ll be a monkey’s uncle if I don’t forget what it actually said, but I know it’s the first half of his family crest. He said his last name is Scottish, so that’s what it comes from. Anyway, Keilani and I ran down to the bar to check on the other girls and I got a fresh pint.

 

Laura had signed us up for karaoke for Emily’s birthday, so Keilani and I were on the lookout for when they headed up onstage. When we saw them, we ran down and followed. Earlier, Mat said that when he went up to sing, he twirled the mic and the guy running the thing said that if he did that again, he’d be off the stage. I told Mat not to take it to heart, since that old guy probably lives for karaoke night and he takes it very seriously. One of his friends told me that the guy was just a creepy old guy who likes to hit on young girls and I said I’d be sure to keep away from him, and thanks for the advice. So anyway, when we get up to the stage, some guy at the stairs tells me that only four are allowed onstage at a time, so I have to wait in the wing. They start singing Rihanna’s “Umbrella” which I freaking hate, and I was glad I didn’t have to get up there since I don’t know the words. So this other creepy guy in the stairwell, I guess he’s creepy guy’s sidekick, asks where I’m from and where the girls are from and tells me I’m pretty for someone from California. Thankfully, Emily comes offstage halfway through and says she’s too drunk to do that, so I run up there. I realize I don’t know any of the words outside of the chorus, so I just do a little dance. I was lucky since it was the end of the song and pretty much at the part where they just repeat the chorus, so I dance and sing with the girls and curtsy when it’s over. I grab my beer and go back up to Mat to hang out.

 

He didn’t understand why we’d come to PE to study, when there are so many other great places we could be. He mentioned that he’s not been to the U.S. but he’s always been fascinated by it since he was a kid. So I explained that’s why I’m here—because I’ve been to Asia and Europe and wanted to see something else. He did say he was going to Aspen (I think) in December, so I told him if he wants to come out, I’ll be in California. He took down my name and said he’d facebook me and then took my phone and punched in his number.

 

Laura came up to us and grabbed Keilani and said, “Emily’s gonna puke, so we’ve got to go.” I looked at Keilani and said that I didn’t really want to go yet. I didn’t want to stay too much longer, but I still had a third of a beer left and I was having fun. She and I agreed to stay and get a cab in a bit. We only hung out for another half hour or so before getting a cab and getting home, after which I promptly passed out.

 

Registration and classes begin, July 20-25

 

Thankfully, an uneventful day. I got registered for all five classes I wanted to take and spent the rest of the day hanging out. My classes are as follows:

 

Term 3: Democratization and State Transformation, Health Psychology, and State, Society, and Economy in Africa

Term 4: Theory of International Relations and Psychopathology

 

The first days of classes went very well. DST seems like it will be fairly easy and straightforward. The teacher is not shy about her distaste for the west’s aggressive way of pushing their form of democracy on everyone else even though she’s got Americans in the class, so that’s good. I am nervous about debating in class though—I don’t want to be seen as overbearing or haughty just because I’m American. I’ll temper it and see how it goes. Psychology is great as usual. Every time I take a class in psych, it reminds me that this is where I belong. African politics will be tough because it involves loads of current events that I’m just not that familiar with in the states. I’m going to need to do a great deal of reading to get up to speed. I expect to be challenged, and that’s exactly what I was hoping for.

If you want pictures but haven't gotten them, email me or my mom and one of us can get them to you. I've only got a few so far, but it's a taste.

Love and miss you all, and thanks for caring.

Till next time.....

I know it's been ages and a post has been promised, but I'll have to get one out come Monay or so. Everything's on my laptop and as is, I'm internet cafe-ing it when possible. 

But to those who are checking up on me, thank you. Things are wonderful so far, and only going to get better.

--Lara

I'm leaving today.

I'll post as soon as I get the chance from South Africa.

Say a prayer.

I miss you already.

i got my study permit in the mail today which means i've got my stuff lined up finally. plus, i got my malaria pills too. so that's always cause for celebration.

it's nice to have good news for once.

Yesterday we woke up relatively early so we could get out to see Victoria. I dressed and ate breakfast and we were out the door by 9:30. My parents dropped Julia and myself off at the Royal British Columbia Museum so they could go out of town and see some gardens and things Julia and I weren’t interested in.

 

The BC Museum had the Titanic exhibit, which I was really excited to see. Since it was early enough, we went ahead and got tickets for the 10am showing of the IMAX “Titanica” along with our museum tickets. The movie was pretty amazing, with new footage of the wreckage and interviews with survivors. Plus it was a Russian dive crew so Julia felt right at home.

 

When the movie ended, we made our way upstairs to tour the exhibit. I have to tell you, if you ever catch it coming to a museum anywhere near you, you’ve got to check it out. It’s amazing. The first thing they do when you walk through the door is give you a boarding pass with an actual person’s name and story on it. It says who they were, why they were on Titanic, where they were coming from, who they were with and some other interesting little nuggets. I was Dorothy Gibson, a 22 year old actress traveling with my mother, Pauline. I was headed to New York City to start a new film. I traveled first class, naturally, which in those days cost $450 (adjusted for inflation, $78,000 today—and you think JLo is bad…)

 

The first room of the exhibit had all the planning of the ship. It was one of three built that was meant to cross the Atlantic hundreds of times. It took 17,000 workers several years to complete. It stood eleven stories high and 90 something feet across. It was the largest moving object ever built. The next room showed the difference between the classes. Third class was in bunks, second class was comparable to most first class accommodations on the ships of the day, and first class on Titanic was incredibly extravagant. The main exhibit itself had all kinds of pieces brought up from the wreckage. They had one of the stewards’ jackets and lots of dishes and personal items of those traveling. There were several people dressed in costume walking around and periodically they would call attention to the patrons around them and offer up their stories. One man looked to be a crew member and another a passenger and the one Julia and I caught was Molly Brown’s story. She told all about why she was on the ship and who she was traveling with and what her experience was like, all the while underscored by the story of the events of the sinking of the Titanic. The next room basically showed a timeline starting with the first warnings of icebergs offered by other ships ahead of Titanic, then all the events following the collision. This room also showed a little bit of the science behind icebergs and even had a giant piece of ice in the room that you could touch. The second to final space was documenting the process undergone to retrieve and preserve things brought up from the wreckage. This room actually had one of the doors that lead from first class into the dining area on display. The last room was probably most interesting. On three of the four walls, there were biographies of several passengers along with display cases carrying some of their personal items that had been retrieved. On the fourth wall, from first class to second class to third class to the crew, there were listed first the survivors above, then enormous lists of those lost. Julia and I both survived, being first class, and so did my mother. Her husband died. About 2/3 of first class survived, about half of both second and third class, and barely a third of the crew made it out alive. This was probably my favorite part of the exhibit and whoever came up with this idea deserves a medal. It makes the whole thing come alive because you become emotionally invested in the fact that so many things coincided to create such a tragedy—the ignored warnings of iceberg infested waters, the moonless night that made such icebergs almost invisible, the loss of the binoculars in the crow’s nest, the slow response by the man at the helm, the mixed up orders between the engine room and the captain’s office (“all stop” and “slow ahead”), the disregarded distress call to the Californian, the complete lack of rescue equipment, the chaos and panic creating disorder and the sending out of half empty lifeboats, the below freezing waters, and what may have been worst of all, the God-challenging assertion that the Titanic was unsinkable.

 

I think you get it by now—it’s an incredible exhibit and well worth the price of admission. And then some.

 

Admittedly, it was a nice change of scenery to head to another section of the museum. We moseyed through the natural history of British Columbia and an ocean history and the climate change exhibit. Julia and I got into a philosophical argument about the whole global warming thing. She said that the important thing is to inform people about the truth of what’s occurring and what our impact is and what they do with that information is up to them. I said that unless people are willing to commit to change, knowing their impact isn’t going to make any difference—at least it hasn’t proven to thus far. Besides, the actual impact of what we are doing today is really difficult to pinpoint with any real degree of absolute accuracy. It’s new territory and the guy with the most grant money is the only one that’s going to be heard. No matter what your stance, you will be able to find a whole slew of scientists to back you; whether you say carbon dioxide actually makes the world happy or whether the world will implode in five years, you can find statistics that you can bend in just the right light to sound perfectly reasonable. What I say is this: Consistent recycling and the conservation of water and energy has been principles that are important to me (as any of my roommates will gladly attest to) ever since I can remember. Julia argues that if we don’t use it, so what? Someone else will. I don’t know. I’ve always believed in leading by example.

 

So suck on that, Al Gore. With your SUV’s and sixteen houses. Oh that’s right. You buy CARBON OFFSETS. All’s forgiven…I know he means well. We all do. Our hearts’ in the right place but until we recognize that getting our head in the right place isn’t always convenient, nothing’s going to happen. We’re doing a lot of good, but we’ve got a long way to go.

 

At any rate, I know from personal experience that we all go through a phase in high school where we speak and behave as if we know everything. It isn’t until college that we realize that not only do we not know everything, we are far closer to knowing nothing. The great thing about that is we learn that talking doesn’t get us anywhere and we get a lot better at listening.

 

But I digress.

What’s a good exhibit if it doesn’t incite conversation? Once we both got off our soapboxes, we went up to the third floor where they had human history exhibits. The traveling display was from the Tsimshian tribe from northwest British Columbia. It had native masks and spiritual healing fetishes and cool stuff like that. Then it moved into the history of the people of British Columbia itself, with a decade by decade set of display cases holding everything from clothing to toys to appliances ranging from 1900 to today. My favorite part was at the end when the museum opened up into what looked like 20^th century road with facades of stores and offices and houses that held doctor’s tools and tailor’s shops and a house you could actually walk through and see furniture and appliances from an early 1900s home. Beyond that was a real water wheel and displays depicting the mining and logging and farming industries in BC, followed by an almost full scale third of a ship that you could walk through and see captain’s quarters. It really was one of the best museums I’ve ever been to. And trust me, I’m a nerd, I’ve been to tons.

 

We met up with my folks for lunch at a nice little Indian place. We mostly just ate off the appetizer menu (all our favorites like samosas and pakoras and naan bread). Then we stopped at a few bakeries, one Dutch and one German, which really made me pine for the fresh bread and pastries of Europe. Naturally, we couldn’t resist buying a few goodies.

 

Our next stop was my favorite thing on the whole entire trip: the Victoria Bug Zoo. A tour guide named Alan took us around two small rooms full of bug cages. He’d talk about each and pass one around for anyone who wanted to touch them. I held a stick bug, a Madagascar cockroach, a couple of beetles, some other stuff…and the be all end all: for the first time, I held a tarantula. And actually, now I really want one. They’re surprisingly good natured and in the weird reptile-arachnid way, cute. They had a huge ant farm and a lot of species of scorpions—I left before Alan took them out. Yelch.

 

We went back to the hotel after that and took a while to relax. My mom had made reservations at a place downtown at 7:30, so we had a good two and a half hours to hang out and rest our feet before we had to head back out the door. I changed and read some of the “Choose Your Own Adventure” with Julia and we watched some of Will Ferrell’s “Best of SNL” on my computer to pass the time.

 

We left the hotel at 7 and went to Chandler’s, a seafood and steakhouse—pretty fancy shmancy. I looked at the menu and saw like ninety five fish dishes and got nervous. But then I looked at the “sides” menu and decided I’d just go with a salad, cheese bread, and grilled mushrooms. I tell you what, the mushrooms were to die for and it was the single best Caesar salad I’ve ever had in my life. No kidding. I also figured I’d take advantage of the fact that I’m of age in Canada, so I got a locally brewed beer called Piper’s Pale Ale which was tasty.

 

Once we got out of dinner, we did some last minute souvenir shopping before heading back to the hotel for the night. I got tired in a hurry and hit the sack early. Today we got back on the ferry and started to make our way back to the old U.S. of A. On the ship we found one last shop so my dad could buy a t-shirt. I also found a sweet shirt that said Port Angeles and Victoria on it, with “Black Ball” plastered huge across the back. I also bought two little black stress balls that also say “black ball” on them as gag gifts for friends.

 

We’re on the road now, on the way to Grant’s Pass, Oregon. My pops called Jerry (from the Poi Dawgs) and found that we won our game last night, 17-4, against the only team that’s beat us so far. That’s a good feeling. Anyhow, we won’t be at the hotel till about 10 tonight, so it’s one of those days. But it’s home tomorrow, and I’m happy for that.

Goodnight. And have a pleasant tomorrow.

The longest day of our journey began this morning at 4am with the radio alarm. We dressed quickly and huddled into the car. Julia was back asleep within seconds, so I sat up with my dad to keep him company as he drove. It was about two hours to Port Angeles where we’d catch the ferry up to Victoria. We made it there in good time and grabbed McDonald’s for breakfast then searched for the Blackball ferry service. (Yes, that’s really the company’s name. And I’m embarrassed at how amusing my dad found it.)

 

We boarded the ferry with the van at ten of 8 and made our way upstairs. First we found a booth to keep all our stuff in and then wandered around. Julia and I got coffee and came back to sit down. Once everyone was gathered and settled, I laid out the game plan for the places I wanted to see while in Victoria and together we mapped out an itinerary for the next two days.

 

After that was out of the way, Julia and I decided we’d do some exploring. A little road weary and hopped up on caffeine, we were giggly as we tried to keep steady with the rocking of the ship on our walk outside. I’ll be honest, I don’t have great sea legs, but I thankfully don’t get seasick either. We pretended to be pirates and “arrgghheed” our way up to the observation deck drinking our coffee like it was rum and stumbling about like Jack Sparrow.

 

The wind was fierce and the mist was icy so we tired of our game quickly and scurried inside. I pulled out my handheld 20Q game and asked if she’d like to play. I’m amazed every time I play that thing; it’s brilliant! Endless fun, easily amused though I may be. We docked at port just shy of 10am and drove through customs. The security officer asked all kinds of intense questions like what our purpose in Canada was, where are we staying and what our plans are for then next few days. Julia and I thought it might have been funny to say we were building pipe bombs and would he like to join us later if he wasn’t busy.

 

We hit the ground running so as soon as we parked, Julia and I made a pit stop in the bathroom before we got to our first activity. I explained to her some lessons in Canadian. For example, we should say “oot and aboot” a lot and end every sentence with “eh”. So as soon as we walk into the lobby of this place, full of people, on our way to the bathroom she says so loudly in her Russian accent, “This place is so nice, eh!”

 

Oh yeah, we blend riiiiight in.

 

I noticed there was an outlet, so I ran back out to the car to grab my straightener. I didn’t want to look like a total ass all day just because I’d been up since 4, so I at least fixed my bangs. I know I looked like a crazy person, but I am comforted that it wasn’t the first time, nor will it be the last.

 

My parents opted out of mine and Julia’s first planned activity (the wax museum) and instead did a little shopping. This of course was fine by me, considering my distaste of all things shopping related. Once we finished, we called my folks and met up so we could go into a different attraction called Undersea Gardens. It’s basically a building that’s built half under water that’s 60% windows and you can see into the Puget Sound at all the marine life. Not a fantastic exhibit, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it (though I loved the wax museums) but I have to admit the dive show was pretty neat. There’s an undersea theater portion that’s just benches lined up in front of a series of windows and a diver comes down and holds up all different sorts of creatures as a narrator describes each one. Honestly, getting to see a huge octopus so close up was worth the price of admission to me. It was a pretty neat experience.

 

I began to notice a rumbly in my tumbly and suggested to my mom that this might be a good time to eat. We walked up the road a block or two and found a little place called Sam’s Deli on Government Street. The sandwiches are only served on rye or multigrain bread, so I opted instead for a bowl of chili, which was definitely the way to go. It was excellent. The clam chowder missed the mark, but my family did like the sandwiches. Decent prices and they don’t skimp on the meat.

 

Having exhausted the morning’s agenda already, we decided to head to the hotel to see if we could check in early. After getting miserably lost and accidentally finding the place, of course we discovered we could not check in early. Instead we went up the road a bit to a strip mall and did a little wandering. We checked out a Canadian Dollar Store, though its inauthentic because most everything is more. Julia and I still got some sweet Canadian stickers. Then we went into a used bookstore. Julia was carrying a book and was super paranoid that she would get arrested for shoplifting if she went inside with it. My parents were across the street at a coffee shop, so I told her to just put it under the tire of the car. Then we went into the bookstore and browsed. I found some “Choose Your Own Adventure” old style books and we got two of them so we could kill some time on the road together. Then we met up with my parents and checked out a Canadian grocery store.

 

My dad ran back to the car to let the dog walk around so Julia asked if he could move her book into the car. When he met back up with us, he asked Julia where she had put it. She said under the car and he said it was on the windshield. Apparently some nice person thought that we had dropped it and didn’t want us to lose it.

 

Maybe Canadians aren’t so terrible after all!

 

Finally we checked in and I just hung around while the rest of my pansy family napped. Then at five they managed to rouse themselves so we could find dinner and walk around Victoria’s Chinatown. It’s touted as some great thing, but I’ve just been spoiled by San Fransisco’s. It was nice, but it was only a block long and there were only a few shops worth actually exploring. We ate at a great place called Ocean Gardens and for the price and the portion size, you really couldn’t beat the value. (Just goes to show you—ask the locals!) Afterwards, we wandered through some more of Victoria’s quaint downtown and did a little [groan] shopping.

 

We came back to the hotel for some serious downtime, so I read with my sister. Now it’s not even 10pm and everybody’s knocked out behind me. Lame. Well, it’s not so bad when they say if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

We woke up fairly leisurely and ate breakfast. This hotel is much nicer and the breakfast far tastier. Hot chocolate hits the spot at 8 am in Seattle. We were ready before my mom’s sister et al, so we headed across the street to a huge Korean market store. I recognized a lot of things, since Japan and Korea have similar cuisines, and I looked through the candy and toy aisles with Julia reminiscing.

 

My Aunt Lynn and her family were on the way over, so I ran to Barnes and Noble to get coffee for my dad and grabbed the June issue of Esquire. Jeremy Piven’s on the cover, and on top of my obsession with Entourage, I’ve had a bit of a crush on him since high school. He’s a fox.

 

Finally we’re on the road toward the main part of Seattle and shock of shocks, it’s raining. Thankfully it’s not at all unpleasant, nor is it too cold out. Our first stop is the Space Needle. My dad dropped us at the doors and parked while we picked up the tickets and browsed the overpriced souvenir shop. My dad, sister, mom, and I got in line with my cousin’s husband Eric, their daughter Haley, and my cousins’ half sister Nicole. A girl not much older than myself led us into the elevator contraption and rattled off a few statistics about the needle. We stood by the windows and looked out over rainy, cloudy Seattle. It’s really very pretty, despite the sour weather. The elevator goes up so quickly though, my ears popped a few times. We walked around the inside of the needle first, then made a lap around the outside. They had telescopes and binoculars that were free to use and we could see all the way down to people on the ground. It’s something like 520 feet tall. Outside of that, there’s not a great deal to do up there. It’s crowded and noisy and really, it’s the type of place where you only go to say you’ve been. We regrouped by the exit and prepared to head down. An unenthused ‘tour guide’ [loosely termed] corralled us back into the elevator and we made our descent to solid ground.

 

From there we went over to Ivar’s, a famous clam joint in the Seattle area. I had a cup of bangin’ clam chowder and a Portobello burger. Pretty tasty. Another place I’d definitely recommend.

 

We were getting ready to head toward Pike’s Place Market, but first made a pit stop at the Curiosity Shoppe. It’s a quaint little odds and ends store that has all kinds of crazy things in it. Nothing really struck my fancy, but they did have a whole bunch of those old fashioned machines that tell your fortune or determine what kind of personality you have. Julia and I paid our 25 cents to see what type of lovers we were. She went up first and got “Passionate”. I was determined to beat her out, but to my surprise and utter devastation, the light bulb next to “Clammy!” sparked on. I was two lights away from “Poor Fish, Try Again”.

 

Pathetic.

 

Needless to say, I was in a hurry to move on along to the market. It was a bit of a walk, but less rainy. The whole thing is under a tunnel, so we had a reprieve from the cold, but it was insanely busy, elbow to elbow the whole way. You wouldn’t believe the array of fruits and vegetables that lay out in front of us. Literally, everything you could imagine and completely reasonable prices to boot. There were booths with handmade pastas and oils and crafts and all kinds of neat things. The star of the show was the Pike’s Place fish market. It really was as cool as it seems on TV and the monkfish that moves is hilarious—Haley almost touched it, but got too spooked. Eric even got a picture of the fish tossers holding Jonathan as if he’s about to be tossed too! Very cute…

 

The next stop was just outside the market, Julia and my dad were thrilled to visit the original Starbucks. It was so tiny, it’s strange to think that a corporation so enormous came from such humble beginnings. We of course stopped and grabbed a coffee. As I was walking in, in fact, a guy stopped me because he noticed my Threadless hoodie. It’s rad to feel like an insider. The next store over was called “Pirosky Piroshky” which is a staple in Russian food so we grabbed a bunch of them to take back with us. I think Julia was happy to see something of the motherland.

 

We walked around some other stores for a bit, but the kids were worn out and the old people were getting tired [naptime for all parties, it seemed] so we headed back to Jenny’s to eat and hang out. After that, we just returned to the hotel to rest up for another big day.

 

After one more excellent breakfast, I put on my freshly pressed slacks and shirt and climbed into the car. It was about thirty minutes to Qwest Field—where the Seattle Seahawks play—to watch my cousin Sandra graduate. It was pretty exciting and the whole family was so proud of her. And I of course was reminded several times that I am up next. [God willing.]

 

Once the ceremony ended, we swung by the hotel to take care of the puppy and change into more comfortable clothes before returning once more to Jenny’s house for dinner and celebrations. They had barbecue catered, but it was no kind of North Carolina barbecue. It made me homesick for some pulled pork…Mmm.

 

Some of Jenny’s family friends came over and brought their son (Tyler) who is Haley’s age. They kept most of us pretty entertained. One time, Tyler came by playing with Haley’s slinky and Haley followed him sullenly. Sandra asked her, “What’s the matter, Haley?”

 

She sulked, “I want my slinky!”

 

Sandra, sensibly, responded, “Well Tyler’s playing with it now. You can play with it in a few minutes.”

 

Haley brightened. “I know what to do! Share!”

 

Then, as if in an after school special, Tyler turned and without missing a beat yelled, “Yeah! Sharing is caring!”

 

Until yesterday, I could swear things like that don’t happen in real life. The slinky talk brought about Sandra’s sudden fixation with figuring out the slinky jingle. We finally succumbed to youtubing it and found the old commercial. This of course resulted in watching it repeatedly and singing the slinky song all around the house.

 

Before we knew it, the hour was late and we had to be heading home. We had a ridiculously early day coming up and we needed to pack the car. So we said goodbye and wished all well and promised to keep in touch.

 

I’ll write later about our first day in Canada. Then I’ll be all caught up.

 

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

After we left Multnomah, we started the three hour trek to Tacoma to see my cousin before a quick thirty minute hop to the hotel. We stopped after two hours (it’s hard to make really long stretches with parents as old as mine and a puppy in the backseat). We ate lunch at this fantastic place called Ramblin’ Jacks. They have ace homemade lemonade and incredible macaroni and cheese—maybe the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had. And that’s saying something given that I consider myself somewhat of a mac and cheese connoisseur. So really, if you’re traveling through Olympia, Washington, hit up Ramblin’ Jacks. It’s on the corner of fifth and Cherry. You wont’ be sorry.

 

Finally we’re back on the road and we make it to my cousin Jenny’s house. Her husband Eric is a pastor so they live in a tiny house on the property of his church. It’s adorable and she’s got two kids to match. Haley is three and the chattiest thing I’ve ever seen, though she’s shy at first. Then their son Jonathan is less than 6 months old. He’s absolutely precious, but then again, most babies are. At any rate, we only hung out for a while, then headed back out the door to check into the second hotel.

 

This hotel is much cleaner and nicer, and we’ve got a bit more space. We had an hour or two of downtime until we had to get back on the road to Tacoma. The traffic was supposed to be terrible, so Jenny and Eric gave us back road directions. Unfortunately, it seemed the back way would take just as long as the traffic, but at least there was more to look at.

 

Once we finally got back to Jenny’s we all spent time with my aunt and uncle and cousins, and it was really pleasant. The ladies stood around the kitchen drinking wine and talking about how my mom and aunt managed to raise us kids without killing us. My mom told a story about how when I was about 2 years old, she came into a room and saw gum on the ceiling. She called me in and said, “Alright Lara, now what do you think daddy’s going to say when he sees this?” I [allegedly] put my hand on my hip, looked up and said, “He’s going to say ‘What in the hell is that?’”

 

I never realized what an awesome kid I was.

 

After dinner, we ate cake celebrating my other cousin’s birthday. I held Jonathan while I ate because he was calm and quiet for me. He was on my right hip, so I couldn’t use my right hand to eat, and had to go lefty, though I guess you take for granted how most moms have to be ambidextrous. I can’t wait to have kids though who knows when I’ll get the chance. And that of course assumes I’ll find someone who puts up with me long enough to consider it!

 

We left and headed home to relieve the poor dog. Back at the hotel, Julia and I changed into our swimsuits and hit the hot tub. It was nice to spend some time out of the room just hanging out, her and me. Since today was a long, busy day, I won’t overwhelm all of my avid readers with the whole charade tonight. Maybe on one of the less eventful days I’ll double up and get on the right track, but for now this seems to manage just fine.

 

Seacrest out.

Sorry this is so late in coming—though it’s third day on the NorthWestAdventure, internet access has been sporadic so it’s been a challenge getting this out.

 

Things started well on Thursday. Getting the two older dogs in the kennels was a bit of a production, we got on the road promptly at 10. I learned quickly that though I had packed a variety of CDs, they were not going to last long given that we would be driving well over 40 hours in the trip.

 

Speaking of which, the game plan for the week goes as follows:

Thursday: Tracy to Portland

Friday: Portland to Multnomah Falls to Seattle

Saturday: Seattle Seattle Seattle

Sunday: Cousin’s graduation in Seattle

Monday: Off to Victoria, British Columbia

Tuesday: Canada!

Wednesday: Victoria to Oregon

Thursday: Oregon to Tracy

 

A long trip with a lot of stuff packed in, but stuff I haven’t ever seen. And we’re getting to spend time with two of my cousins we don’t often see. At any rate, we drove for a few hours into the north of California.

 

I made my mom promise that if we saw any weird or cool things on the highway that we could stop and check them out in all their kitschy glory. When we saw billboards for The Olive Pit in Corning “Olive City”, California, I said there’s no way we’re not stopping. It was actually pretty lame, but that’s kind of the point. I tried a bunch of olives and bought a jar of Italian seasoned ones that were particularly tasty. I also got a postcard, since I decided that’s what I’m collecting everywhere I go from now on. (Mainly because magnets are upwards of $4.99 and postcards are 25 cents.)

 

My mom found a restaurant in a guidebook that looked good, so a few hours later we stopped in Redding to eat. It touted a view of Mt. Shasta. Unfortunately, it was false advertising and we instead got a great view of a Mexican restaurant and a school supply store. Needless to say, once we ate, I was ready to get back on the road.

 

I must admit that the drive up Highway 5 is scenic and beautiful. Things are green in California for four weeks, which makes me homesick for North Carolina in about five seconds. Thankfully all the way up the northwest, things are hilly and green all over. Lake Shasta may be the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in recent history. I’ve made a mental note to camp there sometime soon.

 

Eleven and a half hours after we’d left the house that morning, we arrived in Portland. It’s a pretty city, set right on the Columbia River, with views all its own. Our hotel was pretty standard. I was beat, so I went to bed almost immediately.

 

I woke to the sounds of the puppy playing and my parents talking. It took a half hour before I managed to drag myself out of bed and jump in the shower. I dressed comfortably because it’d be cool where we were going and we were to do a little hiking so I planned accordingly. We ate the continental breakfast in the hotel lobby. First I have to ask what the hell happened to the great hot breakfasts hotels used to have? They clearly went the way of actual meals on airplanes. At any rate, this particular hotel had the same old crap, but to make matters worse, the dining area was atrocious. Food and spills all over the tables and chairs, none of the counters were clean…I couldn’t stand it. I grabbed the only kosher things I saw—a banana and a little pack of peanut butter. I ate in the car.

 

Good news on the South Africa front though. I got all my study permit stuff in the mail the other day to the consulate. Turns out, the consulate called my mom in Portland that morning saying that they needed my actual passport and not just a copy of my passport in order to process my paperwork. It’s a pain in the ass that I can’t send it till after I go to Canada, but the important thing is that one, all my other paperwork is fine and two, they actually called which means they’re actually processing my paperwork already and they actually care that I’m going through the system. Hooray for South Africans!

 

The drive to Multnomah Falls was really short, only ten or fifteen minutes. It was beautiful weather for such an outing. Cool and breezy, but very pleasant. We stood at the bottom of the falls and took pictures, then took the small trail up to cross the bridge right in the middle. If I had any shoes other than chucks with me, I’d have opted for the mile hike up to the top of the falls, but converse shoes have no traction and I really didn’t want to crash on the rocks—though I must admit, it’d be a rad way to go.

 

We visited the gift shop and I picked up a postcard. I know it’s a cheesy souvenir, especially since I’d taken a bunch of pictures myself, but my dad made a good point; at least the postcard is a perfect picture.

 

I’m watching the new episode of Intervention in the Seattle hotel right now and I’m getting sleepy. I’ll write about today tomorrow. Maybe I’ll just keep posting these a day late. By the way, those Robert Goulet commercials for Emerald Nuts are out of control. But it at least makes me laugh thinking of Will Ferrell challenging a stuffed ram to a staring contest.

 

“You win. You always do.”

 

Catch you on the flip side.