Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Today I did a bit of tourist stuff with Thapelo, Porsche, and Tsebo. They showed me around town a bit, we went through the Apartheid Museum, saw the jail that used to hold political prisoners (now an art museum), went to Nelson Mandela square, saw one of Jo'burg's main libraries, and walked around downtown a bit. I took some pictures of the view overlooking the city from a rooftop, and some things around town, but since cameras weren't allowed in the museum, most of what I did today was unphotographable.

There's a lot to absorb in the Apartheid museum. Like any museum, you could spend days there and still not take everything in. I knew about Apartheid before, because I'm not completely devoid of historical knowledge, but at the museum they go into such detail about how it got to be that way, who fought against it, how it managed to change, and what happened to people because of it. It's really almost overwhelming.

In the evening Porsche cooked for us again, this time chili over pasta, and again it was delicious. We spent pretty much the rest of the night chatting on the couch, watching TV (I learned about Kwaito music and how it is like a youth movement, as well as the big problems that people face because of theft of electricity and copper), and being amused by Tsebo's antics. He warmed up to me by the end of the day, and he was really quite funny. It made me kind of sad to leave just as the baby was getting comfortable with me and I was getting to know the family. They did say I could stay the rest of the week if I wanted (after originally saying they'd only be able to host me for a day or two), but I'd made other plans and already had another host expecting me for the remainder of the week. It's good to know that next time I visit South Africa, I've got a number of friends I can stay with for more than a night. Even though I didn't get to do a heck of a lot of touring of the city, I got to know the people I've been staying with pretty well in a really short amount of time, and I think if you're going to experience another country, getting to know the people who live there is just as important, perhaps moreso, than doing all the things that everybody else does when they come to visit a place.

I know this makes me sound like a spoiled American brat (and I'll admit that I am), but I'm so used to high-speed WiFi. I've been borrowing Thapelo's laptop to check my email and make sure I've still got my other hosts lined up, but I haven't felt comfortable imposing and just sitting on it for hours blogging and facebooking and emailing and such (even though he said it was perfectly fine to do so). Tomorrow I'll probably be on my own in the city for a bit, and I think I might find an internet café somewhere to upload the blog posts I've been writing in NeoOffice and maybe some pictures. I called Dad when I couldn't sleep again tonight (still jet-lagged) just so that he knows I'm not dead. I kind of figured he'd be worried with two full days of no blog posts or other internet communication. That's kind of half the reason I got a cell phone down here in the first place.

Anyway, I should try to sleep, because tomorrow I'm sure will be busy, and I do have to get up early. Ciao ciao.

Monday, January 4th, 2010

It appears I'm not completely over jet-lag. Every night I've slept here, I've been incredibly tired when I went to bed (anytime between 10 PM and 1 AM), but then I'll wake up in the middle of the night and won't be able to fall back asleep. I'll get tired again when it's time to wake up in the morning, and wind up sleeping most of the day. Although the times I've been falling asleep/waking up/getting tired at have been slowly shifting, I'm not quite on South African time yet. It's been overcast and rainy since I got here, and I haven't spent a heck of a lot of time outside in general, but I'm hoping tomorrow it will be sunny and I'll spend some time outdoors. Natural light and fresh air are the best cures for jet-lag. Your body won't know when it's supposed to sleep if it never sees the sun.

My first hosts were really nice and even though they originally only agreed to keep me for the weekend, they said that after having me there, I could stay the rest of the week if I wanted. I'd already made arrangements with another host family for the next two days, though, so I declined. It's nice to know that I can go back if need be. Henti and Bronwen taught me a lot of things about the political and economic and racial situation here. Plus, they're really friendly and their daughter Victoria is adorable. They introduced me to a few new things, like biltong (literal translation “bull tongue”) which is a lot like beef jerky but not as dry, and this weird malted milkshake whose name I don't remember but it was good and tasted very familiar, and helped me figure out some of the differences in language between here and the U.S.A. Here's a run-down of what I've learned so far:

stroller/baby carriage = pram

period (punctuation) = full stop

traffic light = robot

fries = chips

napkin = serviette

line = queue

not all burgers are ground meat (some are patties/fillets)

five minutes or so into the future = now now

ten minutes or so into the future = just now

hello (telephone greeting) = how's it

languages are very fluid here, and it's not uncommon for English and Afrikaans to borrow words from each other randomly in the middle of a sentence

So, my second host family is another young couple, Thapelo and his wife Porsche, and their baby boy, Tsebo (he's very cute, but seems much more shy around me than Vicky was). I'm probably really spelling their names wrong, for which I'm sorry. Anyway, this morning my hosts had to work, and I wound up sleeping until they came home in the afternoon. Then I spent the rest of the evening just chatting with Thapelo about just about everything. He's traveled a lot, backpacked through a good portion of Africa, and so he told me what it was like visiting other African countries. And he took some amazing pictures on his journeys as well. Porsche cooked us supper, and it was delicious. The food here isn't all that different from traditional American/European food, in general, but there are a few things I've encountered so far that the States doesn't have. Mostly they just have a bunch of different kinds of sauces/gravies to flavor their food than what I'm used to, but they're really good. One thing I tried today was called pap (again I'm probably spelling it wrong). It looks like mashed potatoes but the consistency is a little more solid. It's kind of their staple starch, like rice or bread or potatoes. It was pretty good when eaten with meat and gravy. Later my hosts took me to the casino where, again we didn't gamble, but window-shopped and stopped in a bar for a drink and to chat. Again, I just really enjoyed their company, and comparing things like racism and poverty and education to that in the U.S.A. really makes one think.

I'm writing this on Tuesday at some bizarre hour of the morning, because again I can't sleep through the night, but I'm going to try and get back to sleep now. Because tomorrow (or, rather, later today), Porsche and Thapelo are taking me out into the city where I'll actually be doing some of the tourist-y things and getting to see what being out and about in the city of Jo'burg is like. So, I really ought to be well-rested for that.

An evening in Johannesburg

Today was my first full day in Johannesburg. I spent most of it sleeping. D'oh! Jet-lag is a bitch. I fell asleep around 10:30 PM and woke up at around 4:00 PM the next day. I woke up a couple of times in between, mostly because of Vicky crying, but I fell right back asleep. I kind of feel bad that my hosts were hoping to show me around all day but only got an evening. They said not to worry about it, though, and had a good time showing me about.

Henti, Bronwen, and Vicky took me to a casino, where we didn't gamble, but we window-shopped and ate out. It was a good time. They had the ceiling painted to look like a sky and the architecture of the place made it look like an old European village. Mostly I just liked chatting with my hosts about South Africa and the differences between here and America.

Not to sound like a complete American, but some of the stuff they said about the way things are here just seems really backwards to me. For instance, after we left the casino, we went on a drive around Jo'burg, and in that drive, we passed a fairly large shanty-town. These are places, villages, made up of shacks that are thrown together from whatever materials a person can find, where families of ten to twelve people inhabit a hut not much bigger than a car, and have no running water, but there's a satellite dish on their roof, or a BMW parked outside the hut, and chances are the people have the latest cell phone and flat-screen TV. It just doesn't make sense to me. And the people who live there have no motivation to get out and better themselves because what's emphasized is not quality of life determining status, but owning consumer products. And nobody's doing anything to change it, because the government, who has the power to enact this type of change, doesn't want an educated, free-thinking public, because then they'd lose power. It's all very bizarre.

The fruit I couldn't remember the name of last night is called naartjie. It's delicious. Also, today I had a monkey gland burger. Despite what it sounds like, it was actually pretty good.

Vicky is an adorable child. She was so good while we were out today, and Henti and Bronwen let me sing her to sleep when we got home. I love having conversations with my hosts about their country and about mine. It's such a great thing, going to another country. I know this next sentence is probably going to make my dad go slightly more gray than he already is, but I like traveling, and I want to travel more.

Arrival in Africa

I'm here! Huzzah!

Next time I fly, though, I want to be sedated. Seriously.

The two-hour connector to D. C. wasn't that bad, despite being a bit bumpy. Then the plane ride to Africa was split into two parts. We flew across to Dakar, which took roughly six hours, and then the people going to Johannesburg had to stay on board as other passengers came and went for about an hour. That's when I started to feel sick. I realized they were pumping some sort of chemical cleanser into the air system of the plane because I could see the white coming out of the vents and it smelled funny. The next eight hours were pure misery. I felt so queasy it was all I could do to remember to breathe and not throw up. I nibbled on the bread from my airline meals (three in all, which wouldn't have been half bad had I been able to keep them down). Eventually I started feeling better and the kid next to me, Lazarel something was his name, asked me to be his opponent in Chess. I wasn't half-bad, considering I only vaguely even know the rules of chess. I even won once. I also did a bit of reading and failed miserably at every attempt to sleep on the plane. I'm not usually anti-child, but there were far too many sick/screaming children onboard for me to feel entirely comfortable. That's what happens when you fly coach, though. Meh.

Finally we landed, I get through immigration and customs without any problems, claim my baggage and find out that one of my checked pieces of luggage was torn open in transit. I was too hot and tired to give a damn at the moment, but tomorrow I'm going to go back to the airline with the ripped bag and see if they can't pay me to replace it.

Anyway, my host family for the week, Henti, his wife Bronwen and their two-year-old daughter Victoria, came to pick me up at the airport and took me out to get food. Chicken burgers with pineapple and some weird sauce, and a citrus drink from a fruit whose name I don't remember...it was delicious. Particularly because I was on solid ground and could eat without feeling sick to my stomach. After that a shower was had, because after over 24 hours of straight traveling (from the time I left my house in the States to when I got to my host family's home), I was in dire need of one. And now that I've given you all a basic run-down of my journey, it's time to sleep. Tomorrow my hosts are going to show me around town so I've got to be well-rested.

Making layover

Daddy, I made it to D. C. and I'm boarding for Africa. I'll let you know when I get there.

In the airport

It appears I have quite some time before I get on my plane. Because of "increased security measures" the airlines have advised us that we need up to six hours before we get on a flight to get through security. I thought that was a little bit ridiculous, so I decide to give it three, with a buffer for traffic. We left my house at 9:00 AM-ish, and Daddy dropped me off at my terminal by 10:00 AM-ish. We hit no traffic. It took me fifteen, maybe twenty minutes from the time I got out of the car to get to my boarding gate. There was hardly anybody in line ahead of me. I got through without even taking off my jewelry for the metal detector, no searches, no questions (not that I was expecting any, since I'm traveling relatively light and not carrying anything suspicious). My plane leaves sometime after 2:00 PM. I've got some time to kill. Good thing I brought a book. Also, thank Google for the Internet. They're providing free WiFi at Logan airport for the holiday season as a gift to the general public. Google may be taking over the world, but they are a benevolent dictator.

My flight out of Boston, though, is just a connector. I actually fly to Africa from Washington D. C. I hope my transfer and international flight goes as smoothly as the domestic one has gone so far.

Final Preparations...Complete!

I'm all packed, disease-free, I finally got my visa/passport situation straightened out, I've said good-bye to people, I've got my itinerary all set for when I get there....now all I've got to do is get on the plane.

I'm nervous and excited all at the same time. I'm going to miss people back home, but I'm very excited to go and live on another continent and immerse myself in another culture and meet new people there and learn a lot.

Thank you to everyone who was supportive of me and my journey and who are/have been/will be sending their love and good wishes my way.

I won't be gone long...four months will fly by...and we'll be together again before you know it. Plus, I'll have plenty of interesting stories to tell when I get back, I'm sure.