JOBURG

Going back to our amazing trip to Johannesburg in February...

Emma and I are taking a seminar once a week run by Quinton Redcliffe, the leader of CIEE. The purpose of the seminar is to discuss our experiences living abroad in Cape Town. One of the perks of the class is that he takes the whole group a trip to Joburg in order to learn about a different side of South Africa. Talya and Anna came along as well...

The city offered a whole other side to South African history and culture that we had not experienced in Cape Town. Constitutional Square and the Apartheid Museum offered a historical perspective on the issues of racism and crime, while Chez Alna Restaurant, Umoja and the bicycle tour of Sowetto illustrated how these issues are manifested in everyday contemporary South Africa. (The Pirates' soccer game was just for fun!)

My feelings throughout the trip were both positive and negative. My Bed & Breakfast was absolutely wonderful: the room and meals were great, and the hostesses were so kind. I was amazed by the energy of the people at the Pirates’ soccer game, in church, and in the Umoja performance. We definitely felt that the people of Johannesburg have a vibrancy to them that is echoed by the city’s rapid industrialization, economic robustness, and growth in preparation for the World Cup. However, there were also many negatives. I was shocked to see the polarity of Sowetto: how people can be living in such horrific conditions only minutes away from the lavish houses of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. It was also disappointing to see many dangerous and negligent aspects of the city: abandoned buildings, homeless people, and slums.

Our most poignant observation was one that made us very confused about the city of Johannesburg: one that seems to be caught between the Third World and Modern World, held back due to its omnipresent historical past. This brings us to our one criticism of the trip: despite being very educational and enlightening, unfortunately we thought we only scratched the surface of Johannesburg. Perhaps we are demanding a clear answer to an infinitely complex question, but we felt that the trip served to highlight issues surrounding race rather than explain them. During our stay in Sowetto and our trips throughout Johannesburg, racism was obvious. We were surprised by how segregated the races were. We really saw ONLY black people—and manly blacks of a low socio-economic status. While it is very important to be exposed to this marginalized group of society, it is equally important to show how the other half live. We wish we had seen a variety of coloured and white communities so that we might get a fuller picture of South African society. We wish we had spoken more to Johannesburg natives about the issues surrounding race—such as politics, tribalism, and religion. We realize that these might be unrealistic expectancies for a weekend trip, but we hope we can continue expound upon these questions further in class.
Overall, it was an incredible experience in Johannesburg. Thank you Quinton for the opportunity!

Not Just Any Day

I'm writing this while I should really be focusing on the 12 page paper I have due tomorrow on "the politics of memory in a post-apartheid society." If anyone has any idea how to tackle a topic as grave as this, I will be forever in debt. In the mean time I'll focus on the memories from our most recent adventure. On to the most memorable day of my life...




When we heard that this "lion encounter" existed in Livingstone, Zambia, we knew it was an unheard of opportunity that would be worth every penny. The more we investigated, the more eager we were. ALERT, African Lion and Environmental Research Trust, is the organization that is associated with these walks that raises awareness and supports the healthy integration of lions across Africa. Before experiencing the lion encounter I was unaware of the "vulnerable" status of lions (not quite endangered) and the 85% decrease of the lion population over the past 35 years.















The experience basically consisted of Anna, Julie, Talya & I walking through the natural African bush with several trained guides (one carrying a rifle in case of emergency) side by side with two lions. Although the lions are not trained or zoo-like in any sense, they have daily interactions with people which allow them to feel more comfortable walking with us then a wild lion would. Regardless, we were all pretty terrified walking with only our sticks to use as distractions. We were especially scared when the lions quickly became too rowdy for comfort and started charging at us from behind. Oblivious as usual, the guides started screaming at us to move to the side, but we found ourselves paralyzed. One lion ran straight into Julie's tush, literally making all of our stomachs drop and hearts stop. The adrenaline rush took several hours to fade! To this day we still ask each other when else in our lives will we be so close to potentially the scariest animal on earth. I'm assuming the answer is never.




thandi from cape town,
emma

Just the Beginning

(Sunset on the Booze Cruise)

Where do I begin? That has been the question running in and out of my head for the past few days. How do I begin to explain the countless activities we did, people we met, animals we saw, living conditions in a form that I was unaware existed. The most troubling aspect of it all is that I still cannot really begin to understand it myself. I am going to try and keep the next few blog entries concise and to the point, but please bare with me if they get lengthy.

Anna, Julie, Talya and I flew into Zambia, Livingstone on a Friday the 19th with minimal problems and checked into the Jolly Boys Hostel located in the heart of Livingstone. We immediately signed ourselves up for a booze cruise on the Zambezi River for that night. The drinks were tasty, the people interesting, and most importantly the sunset was breathtaking. Woke up very early Saturday morning to embark on a 50 minute drive on the back of a jeep through a local village that brought us to a starting point on the Zambezi. There we were taken down in a cable car and spent 30 minutes on a “Jet Extreme” boat. Cool but not worth the money. That afternoon we walked with lions, which definitely deserves it’s own post, so look out for that.














(Out on the Jet Extreme Boat, Zambezi River)

Sunday morning we had another early wake up and were greeted by our new best friend for the day, Potatoe. Yes, that is his actual name. And yes, he claims his sister is Sweet Potatoe. Anyways, Potatoe jeeped us along with three inflatable “canoes” (they seemed more like kayaaks to me but who knows) to the Upper Zambezi River. We set out for a full day canoeing trip, and spent a lot of downtime floating with the current, bathing in the broiling sun, and screaming through the occasional rapid. Also spent most of our time in immense fear due to the fact that Potatoe continued to steer us through “hippo territory.” Being that hippos kill the most humans of any animals in Africa (mosquitoes being second, malaria), I was not so thrilled. Every several minutes Potatoe would take his oar and smack it on the water to “wake the hippos up” in case they were too close so we could scramble out of that area. At first I thought that, like the name Potatoe, the reality of hippos was a funny joke, but quickly learned otherwise. All in all, the day was a success and no one was eaten by hippos or crocs. We also ended our adventure virtually at the top of Victoria Falls- stunning view. When we returned back to Jolly Boys that afternoon we had Ariel waiting for us which was (obviously) magical and that is when our adventures really began...







The above is only brief details about the first weekend of our trip-a lot more to come-hopefully in the near future.

thandi from africa
emma

Theme Song/ Lion King Remix

a video everyone must watch that makes our lives

emma & anna

Oh Happy Day

We laughed, cried, bled, learned, laughed, saw, experienced, misunderstood, laughed more, and left- with the memories from a once in a life time trip. Starting out with four jam-packed adventure days in Livingstone, Zambia, we rested comfortably by night at the Jolly Boys hostel run by our new found friend Kim. Departing Zambia we went on safari with a group of our five friends in Chobe National Park in Botswana followed by several days in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Missing Jolly Boys and Zambia, we returned for our last three days. Because some of the most memorable aspects of the journey were those we could have never predicted, ie working with four forms of currency, cutting my toe in half resulting in gushing blood in the middle of the african bush, being forced out of a taxi while crossing from zim into zambia and essentially all getting lost and picked up by zambian police and a yellow pick up truck, and being caught in the middle of a very scary physical fight at our hostel in Zim. Did I mention that the jeep we were on safari in Botswana broke down surrounded by a herd of elephants and we all had to get out and push? Oh and casually ran into a family of five lions a short time later and watched a live show of lion hunts the impala. On a more negative note, our travel agent ruined our lives and booked us out of the wrong airport (equivalent to NY instead of DC) so we had no idea how we were getting back to Cape Town until Sunday morning right before we left (ended up having to drive from Zambia back to Zimbabwe to catch a plane). To sum it up, many details and fun stories to come but for now we need to shower, worship the rand, and enjoy not being referred to as "white person" in one of the 72 languages spoken in Zambia. As nice as it feels to be back in Cape Town, we miss our trip !!

love emma

LOTS MORE TO COME...

TRAVEL PLANS

Leaving tomorrow bright & early for our 10 day trip! Our home base will be the Jolly Boys Hostel in Zambia. Hopefully we will get some sort of internet access along the way...

CHOSA

A big part of our experience in Cape Town has been volunteering. I volunteer with CHOSA (Children of South Africa) at Baphumelele, which is a children’s home in the township of Khayelitsha. CHOSA was started by American study-abroad students five years ago who were volunteering with these same kids, and now provides support to over 10 community-based children's projects in South Africa. Baphumelele is home to about 150 kids who have been placed there due to neglect, abuse, or a whole other slew of heartbreaking reasons. The kids who live there are the most amazing group of children I have ever encountered. All they want to do is climb all over you, touch you with their sticky hands, and steal your sunglasses and jewelry…I am not really making them sound incredible…but they are. It is amazing to see how happy and resilient these children are, and just how willing they are to welcome you into their lives.

Ariel and I have an after school class of 8 kids who are six and seven years old. They are the youngest group of kids who are in the after school program, or “study” as they like to call it. Most of our kids barely know the English alphabet, but they are so eager to learn anything. We have slowly begun to do all the letters, currently on “C”, and we are teaching them all kinds of songs. Sometimes the kids are perfect angels and you just want to cuddle them forever, and other times it as if they have been possessed by the devil and we leave covered in dirt, tears, blood and snot. But all the good always outweighs the crazy.Yesterday was a very good day. We sang mother doodle bird, colored some letters, and even had time for a little baby shark.
Mother doodle bird was quite a big hit. They really loved when they had to shake their tushes and waggle their tongues. These kids have more rhythm than I ever knew possible.
I am pretty convinced that they pop out of the womb dancing. I am actually falling in love with these monster children and will most definitely be taking two or three back to New York in my suitcase. I feel so privileged that I am having the opportunity to develop relationships with them and am getting to know each of their personalities so well…even if some involve hitting and biting.
CHOSA is currently taking part in an online fundraising competition to win a $4,000 dollar grant. The online competition is not about seeing how much money we can raise, but trying to get the greatest amount of people to donate $10. The competition lasts from now until March 30th, so please please please donate so that we can win this grant. Donate $10 to CHOSA and help us win $4,000. It is really easy to do, and you will be helping these kids out so much. So please please please donate to an amazing cause. Thanksss.


-Talya


Ps. I blogged! Now Emma can’t threaten to cut off my lady parts.