Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Home from Johannesburg
I left on Monday at 9pm and arrived in S.F. at about 3pm after over 24 hours of traveling. But at least I am alive and well, and ready for bed once again.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Cape Town
I don't have much time to write, but I had to at least say hi and yes I am alive. Yesterday I got back from Cape Town which was a wonderful experience. I love it and want to go back for 2010 world cup!
I toured the wine county (to much wine tasting, but I was outvoted by the other tourists on that point) went to Cape point and cape hope, say beautiful Kristenbosch gardens, went up the cable car to table mountain, and more. One day I had lunch right next to the ocean. There was the restaurant, a road, and then the beach. For 15 dollars, including tip, I had wonderful ravoli and a glass of wine (not the greatest, but still). I was sitting by the ocean and and eating for cheap. It was great.
Today I am off to pilansburg (I don't know if that is spelled correctly) to see wild animals. Yeea.
I was thinking if inviting you all (and those that don't read this) to my place friday 19th for dinner. I probably won't cook, but by pizza instead. Anyone interested or is there something going on that I, half way across the world don't know about. :-)
Love to all
I toured the wine county (to much wine tasting, but I was outvoted by the other tourists on that point) went to Cape point and cape hope, say beautiful Kristenbosch gardens, went up the cable car to table mountain, and more. One day I had lunch right next to the ocean. There was the restaurant, a road, and then the beach. For 15 dollars, including tip, I had wonderful ravoli and a glass of wine (not the greatest, but still). I was sitting by the ocean and and eating for cheap. It was great.
Today I am off to pilansburg (I don't know if that is spelled correctly) to see wild animals. Yeea.
I was thinking if inviting you all (and those that don't read this) to my place friday 19th for dinner. I probably won't cook, but by pizza instead. Anyone interested or is there something going on that I, half way across the world don't know about. :-)
Love to all
Monday, October 08, 2007
Soweto
During the weekend we, meaning Jeff, Magda, Kenneth, Frida, and I, went to Drakensberg. An absolutely beautiful place and I took lots of pictures. Too many pictures. They all look the same. Oh well. One cool thing was the big bug we found. It looked like a cricket, but was probably 25 times bigger and colorful. It had lots of bright red and blue all over it. It looked kind of, well, African.
But today was a cool history day. I took a tour of the township called Soweto. This is a place that was built for the blacks when the whites decided they didn't want them in Johanesburg any more. (Kind of rude, don't you think.) So the whites moved them out of town. As one can imagine, this has become a very poor place.
The tour guide, a very good looking black guy, grew up and lived in soweto so he knew the area. He picked up me and two others in this white microbus. We first saw the very richest of Johannesburg. Houses that probably look like they could be in Hollywood. The only problem is they were all surrounded by walls, barbed wire, etc. so it was hard to see very much. But we got the idea that these houses were just a little on the expensive side. We actually saw the building where Nelson Mandela lives. Pretty cool. Then we went to downtown Jo-berg, where we didn't see a single white person. Actually, take that back, I did see one white older man. This part of town was horrible. Broken windows everywhere, buildings run down, it was what I see in movies.
But we could stay there long, so off to Soweto. Again, we started in the richest area. Didn't quite manage the opulence of Jo-berg, but nice houses with no walls. The scariest part of the trip occurred here, there was a crime scene. The street was taped off, with a body in the middle. Our guide quickly got us a way from there. Then off to these buildings where most of the poor people stay. They were origninally built as dormatories for the black men who worked in the mines, but now mainly women and children live there.
We then went to a market type place. Nothing fancy like the farmer's market (can't believe i am calling a farmer's market fancy) but this was a just a few randomly scattered tables on both sides of the street near a taxi terminal (Taxi's are interesting here, I won't use them. Heck, I can't, I don't even know the hand signals). Our guide had us try what some people eat for breakfast. It's the meat of the head of a cow (not the brains). A person cooks the meat there, sticks in on the table, cuts it up, pours a little salt and chili pepper on the table, and you eat it right there dipping it in to the salt and pepper as you see fit. Of course my public health persona screamed the entire time. Where have this guys hands been, is the table clean, is the meat free of Mad Cow!!!!????? But when in Rome...I have to admit, it wasn't bad.
We then saw a Cathedral, the biggest in Soweto. It was used for political meetings at one time, proven by the bullet holes. The guide also pointed out the benches Bill and Hillary Clinton sat many years ago (interesting fact, Nelson Mandela likes the Clintons, won't meet with Bush. Any suprises there?). They also signed in on the guest list. Guess who else did? You won't ever, so I will tell you, Chris Rock! Who woulda thunk it?
What else? We passed by the homes of many of the poorest. Shacks made up of scrap metal, carboard, etc. We went into one of them. There were two guys living in a space smaller than my closet. They cooked using parriffin. The poverty is everywhere.
Another place we visited was the site of a rebellion. The school councils, at one time, tried to set it up so all classes had to be taught in Afrikaans. Which was nothing more than discrimination against the blacks, they didn't know afrikaans, the whites did. The students didn't know it, the teachers didn't know it, the families didn't know it and yet the class had to be taught in it. There's more to the story, but there was a protest, the police killed kids, and riots ensued. In the end, the Africaans restriction was removed.
Let's see, we also saw the house Nelson Mandela lived in before he went to prison, Winnie Mandela's house, and Desmond Tutu's house. There was a lot of learning, and a lot to be learned (I need to buy some books about S.A. now). What an interesting tour.
But today was a cool history day. I took a tour of the township called Soweto. This is a place that was built for the blacks when the whites decided they didn't want them in Johanesburg any more. (Kind of rude, don't you think.) So the whites moved them out of town. As one can imagine, this has become a very poor place.
The tour guide, a very good looking black guy, grew up and lived in soweto so he knew the area. He picked up me and two others in this white microbus. We first saw the very richest of Johannesburg. Houses that probably look like they could be in Hollywood. The only problem is they were all surrounded by walls, barbed wire, etc. so it was hard to see very much. But we got the idea that these houses were just a little on the expensive side. We actually saw the building where Nelson Mandela lives. Pretty cool. Then we went to downtown Jo-berg, where we didn't see a single white person. Actually, take that back, I did see one white older man. This part of town was horrible. Broken windows everywhere, buildings run down, it was what I see in movies.
But we could stay there long, so off to Soweto. Again, we started in the richest area. Didn't quite manage the opulence of Jo-berg, but nice houses with no walls. The scariest part of the trip occurred here, there was a crime scene. The street was taped off, with a body in the middle. Our guide quickly got us a way from there. Then off to these buildings where most of the poor people stay. They were origninally built as dormatories for the black men who worked in the mines, but now mainly women and children live there.
We then went to a market type place. Nothing fancy like the farmer's market (can't believe i am calling a farmer's market fancy) but this was a just a few randomly scattered tables on both sides of the street near a taxi terminal (Taxi's are interesting here, I won't use them. Heck, I can't, I don't even know the hand signals). Our guide had us try what some people eat for breakfast. It's the meat of the head of a cow (not the brains). A person cooks the meat there, sticks in on the table, cuts it up, pours a little salt and chili pepper on the table, and you eat it right there dipping it in to the salt and pepper as you see fit. Of course my public health persona screamed the entire time. Where have this guys hands been, is the table clean, is the meat free of Mad Cow!!!!????? But when in Rome...I have to admit, it wasn't bad.
We then saw a Cathedral, the biggest in Soweto. It was used for political meetings at one time, proven by the bullet holes. The guide also pointed out the benches Bill and Hillary Clinton sat many years ago (interesting fact, Nelson Mandela likes the Clintons, won't meet with Bush. Any suprises there?). They also signed in on the guest list. Guess who else did? You won't ever, so I will tell you, Chris Rock! Who woulda thunk it?
What else? We passed by the homes of many of the poorest. Shacks made up of scrap metal, carboard, etc. We went into one of them. There were two guys living in a space smaller than my closet. They cooked using parriffin. The poverty is everywhere.
Another place we visited was the site of a rebellion. The school councils, at one time, tried to set it up so all classes had to be taught in Afrikaans. Which was nothing more than discrimination against the blacks, they didn't know afrikaans, the whites did. The students didn't know it, the teachers didn't know it, the families didn't know it and yet the class had to be taught in it. There's more to the story, but there was a protest, the police killed kids, and riots ensued. In the end, the Africaans restriction was removed.
Let's see, we also saw the house Nelson Mandela lived in before he went to prison, Winnie Mandela's house, and Desmond Tutu's house. There was a lot of learning, and a lot to be learned (I need to buy some books about S.A. now). What an interesting tour.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Thunder and Lightening
Did I mention something about wanting lightening and thunder? I think I did. And guess what, we've gotten it the past couple of nights, and it's been amazing.
Jeff and Magda's bedroom is on the second floor with a great view. One can see the city on the hills. Watching the lightening from there is great because you don't just see the flash of light in the clouds, you actually see the lightening bolt itself hitting the ground. It's kind of like one of those cool photos you can buy. After watching the storm for a while, my brother pointed out the lightening rods about 20 meters away from their building. See, they live on a small hill, so in fact they are on of the highest points around in the area. The rods have probably saved them, according to my brother. He says you know the storm is bad when you can smell the electricity. Well, duh.
I remember being absolutely terrified of thunder and lightening. It all started with one of those little v-w vans. The camping one with a top that popped up to make room for a bed, which my brother and I shared (along with about 15 of my stuffed animals. Can't figure out why Jeff always got mad at me over those). One night, while we were camping in Oregon, we had a night of thunder and lightening like I have never experienced. It was loud, constant, and to a ten year old, one of the scariest things ever. There was no question the lightening was right on top of us, and you want to talk about the smell. Oh my, you could smell every snap, crackle, and pop. Of course, I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of it, but there was no walking outside in that storm. We were safe in the car (and no, not because the wheels ground you. Urban legend. Because a car is a Faraday cage, meaning the electricity will stay on the outside and not go inside. Believe me, my mom is a physics teacher) but probably not outside. My poor parents.
Then next night we ended up renting a house in a place called sunriver. We did experience other storms, although nothing like that first one, I was damn glad to be in a home watching out the windows instead of a little flimsy van in the middle of the forest.
Now I think thunder and lightening storms are amazing and beautiful, but still I am glad I am not, repeat not, in a little v-w van.
Jeff and Magda's bedroom is on the second floor with a great view. One can see the city on the hills. Watching the lightening from there is great because you don't just see the flash of light in the clouds, you actually see the lightening bolt itself hitting the ground. It's kind of like one of those cool photos you can buy. After watching the storm for a while, my brother pointed out the lightening rods about 20 meters away from their building. See, they live on a small hill, so in fact they are on of the highest points around in the area. The rods have probably saved them, according to my brother. He says you know the storm is bad when you can smell the electricity. Well, duh.
I remember being absolutely terrified of thunder and lightening. It all started with one of those little v-w vans. The camping one with a top that popped up to make room for a bed, which my brother and I shared (along with about 15 of my stuffed animals. Can't figure out why Jeff always got mad at me over those). One night, while we were camping in Oregon, we had a night of thunder and lightening like I have never experienced. It was loud, constant, and to a ten year old, one of the scariest things ever. There was no question the lightening was right on top of us, and you want to talk about the smell. Oh my, you could smell every snap, crackle, and pop. Of course, I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of it, but there was no walking outside in that storm. We were safe in the car (and no, not because the wheels ground you. Urban legend. Because a car is a Faraday cage, meaning the electricity will stay on the outside and not go inside. Believe me, my mom is a physics teacher) but probably not outside. My poor parents.
Then next night we ended up renting a house in a place called sunriver. We did experience other storms, although nothing like that first one, I was damn glad to be in a home watching out the windows instead of a little flimsy van in the middle of the forest.
Now I think thunder and lightening storms are amazing and beautiful, but still I am glad I am not, repeat not, in a little v-w van.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Still Nothing
I'm on my third day here and I have done, well, absolutely nothing. It's rainy (and we are hoping for a good thunder and lightning storm... no luck as of yet) and I am still tired. Despite my 10 hour sleep my first night here, I crashed at 2200 last night, and woke up at 2. My brain was wired and I was thinking about pretty much everything, especially sleep, which did not come again. Tonight, I hope. I don't think I have ever desired bedtime to come as much as I do today... and I sure as heck not letting myself go to sleep early and waste all that energy I've put into adjusting.
In truth, I haven't done absolutely nothing. My first morning here, right after my 30 hour trip, we celebrated Kenny's birthday. It's actually on the fifth, but come on, at his age, is he really going to realize the party's a week early? We are off to the Drakensburg Mtns. next weekend, so it made sense to celebrate this Sunday. It was a very nice party. There are a few other families and kids in the complex. The kids made a ruckus and I tried to make conversation. Of course my brain wasn't working very well. So instead I sat and listened. The main topic of conversation was the kids. In truth, that seems to be the main topic of conversation of everyone I hang out with these days. Not that it's a bad thing...just an observation. But it is a topic on which I have little to say. Everyone once in a while I interjected a comment, such as my friend's mother-in-law gave her baby a lamb bone to chew on. That was about all I could add.
Then the topic changed to good restaurants and cars. There are plenty of good restaurants here, food at least is cheap (I had an amazing steak fillet for about $12). The cars on the other hand, are not cheap. One person was raving about her brand new 2008S class BMW (?), I think. I'm not completely sure. Way beyond my league, so I didn't pay much attention. I had to laugh at the women complaining about the new speed bump in my brothers complex. Apparently, her Ferrari is too low to go over the bump w/o scraping the bottom every time. I admit, I didn't feel very sorry for her. Was that wrong of me?
Afterwards we went to Sandton City to visit Nelson Mandela Square. The best part of the square (for me so far, the fountains were turned off so I can't compare everything) was the huge statue of Nelson Mandela. When I say huge, I mean I could have walked between his legs (the little ones did, I felt it would be a little undignified of me if I walked through the legs of Nelson Mandela. It just felt wrong). We ate at the butcher's Shop and Grill (guess where I had that fillet) and went home.
The next day we went to Rosemarket (I think that's wrong, need to check) and then to see "ratatouille." Yes, again. It just came out here, and as much as my brother kept saying Kenny wanted to see the movie, it so was my brother that wanted to go. I didn't mind. It was cute and it helped pass the time till I could allow myself to sleep.
For those that are curious, my brother and I are getting along. He keeps picking at me (unconsciously I believe) but I have come to accept that he will always do that. For example, he keeps telling me what horrible books the Harry Potter series is and continues to ask me why any adult will read them since they are so poorly written.... after I have expressly stated I really like Harry Potter. But I have learned it's okay for me to like this book, even if my brother doesn't and there is no need for the two of us to fight over it. So - I don't respond to him when he does things like that. How important is it really that we agree on a book, when we do agree on much more important issues - like pretty much everything in politics.
Today has been enjoyable, despite my tiredness. Frida fell asleep in my arms. Everytime I set her down to sleep, she would wake. So I spent about two hours watching TV and holding little Frida. And then I gave her back to her mom when the crying starting. Also, little Kenny has been running around calling me "Auntie Cheryl" all day. It's nice to hear.
So, that is my stay so far. Nothing fancy or interesting, but actually enjoyable. And I can tell you, I appreciate not sitting in front of the computer for 8 hours straight.
In truth, I haven't done absolutely nothing. My first morning here, right after my 30 hour trip, we celebrated Kenny's birthday. It's actually on the fifth, but come on, at his age, is he really going to realize the party's a week early? We are off to the Drakensburg Mtns. next weekend, so it made sense to celebrate this Sunday. It was a very nice party. There are a few other families and kids in the complex. The kids made a ruckus and I tried to make conversation. Of course my brain wasn't working very well. So instead I sat and listened. The main topic of conversation was the kids. In truth, that seems to be the main topic of conversation of everyone I hang out with these days. Not that it's a bad thing...just an observation. But it is a topic on which I have little to say. Everyone once in a while I interjected a comment, such as my friend's mother-in-law gave her baby a lamb bone to chew on. That was about all I could add.
Then the topic changed to good restaurants and cars. There are plenty of good restaurants here, food at least is cheap (I had an amazing steak fillet for about $12). The cars on the other hand, are not cheap. One person was raving about her brand new 2008S class BMW (?), I think. I'm not completely sure. Way beyond my league, so I didn't pay much attention. I had to laugh at the women complaining about the new speed bump in my brothers complex. Apparently, her Ferrari is too low to go over the bump w/o scraping the bottom every time. I admit, I didn't feel very sorry for her. Was that wrong of me?
Afterwards we went to Sandton City to visit Nelson Mandela Square. The best part of the square (for me so far, the fountains were turned off so I can't compare everything) was the huge statue of Nelson Mandela. When I say huge, I mean I could have walked between his legs (the little ones did, I felt it would be a little undignified of me if I walked through the legs of Nelson Mandela. It just felt wrong). We ate at the butcher's Shop and Grill (guess where I had that fillet) and went home.
The next day we went to Rosemarket (I think that's wrong, need to check) and then to see "ratatouille." Yes, again. It just came out here, and as much as my brother kept saying Kenny wanted to see the movie, it so was my brother that wanted to go. I didn't mind. It was cute and it helped pass the time till I could allow myself to sleep.
For those that are curious, my brother and I are getting along. He keeps picking at me (unconsciously I believe) but I have come to accept that he will always do that. For example, he keeps telling me what horrible books the Harry Potter series is and continues to ask me why any adult will read them since they are so poorly written.... after I have expressly stated I really like Harry Potter. But I have learned it's okay for me to like this book, even if my brother doesn't and there is no need for the two of us to fight over it. So - I don't respond to him when he does things like that. How important is it really that we agree on a book, when we do agree on much more important issues - like pretty much everything in politics.
Today has been enjoyable, despite my tiredness. Frida fell asleep in my arms. Everytime I set her down to sleep, she would wake. So I spent about two hours watching TV and holding little Frida. And then I gave her back to her mom when the crying starting. Also, little Kenny has been running around calling me "Auntie Cheryl" all day. It's nice to hear.
So, that is my stay so far. Nothing fancy or interesting, but actually enjoyable. And I can tell you, I appreciate not sitting in front of the computer for 8 hours straight.
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