Greetings from Botswana! First internet opportunity in weeks and over 200 e-mails to respond to. Sorry if I haven’t written back to your individual e-mails. In a weeks time I can actually pick up the phone to have a chat or, even better, stop by to say hi (if you’re in Greenville)!
We have had a great time in Botswana thus far. Fortunately, the rain that had been bucketing down has stopped and we have enjoyed dry weather and cool nights as winter approaches. We started our trip in Ghanzi where we had interactions with the local bushmen both on a “bush walk” (showing us plants/herbs they use for medicinal purposes and plants/berries that they eat) and an evening of dancing and singing by the fire. From here we headed up to Tsodillo hills to hike and see the bushmen paintings on the rock cliffs. Crossing the delta on the rustic ferry in high flood waters was a thrill for the students and we spent a couple of nights in Seronga (where Paul was almost eaten by the dogs last July…but we didn’t visit those dogs this time).
In Seronga, we stayed at a community run lodge (giving the students a few nights off the ground), went out in mokoro boats (the dug out canoes) had great sightings of elephants and hippos, and then off to a village walk to see their clinic, primary school, kgotla (tribal space where the chief gives “strokes” for punishment if people misbehave or steal goats!). The students were fascinated by that! We crossed back across the delta via speed boat and spent the night at Sepupa Swamp Stop (since there was a line of 22 cars in front of the safari vehicles when they went to cross back over the delta via the ferry!).
After a quick stop in Maun to restock food we headed off to Moremi where we were inundated with flood waters and unable to make it to our original destination. After being stuck in the mud twice (once requiring all the students to get out and push which most thought was pretty cool and the second time 3 of 4 vehicles getting stuck for 2 and ½ hours in the mud), we decided to stay at a different destination. All was well. Nice animal sightings – impala, zebra, giraffe and the best lion sighting I’ve had in 2 years. We saw a pride of 5 lions including a small cub who was baiting the others to play with him. It was quite fun and we watched them for a good long time until the male got cheeky and decided to bite a hole in the spare tire on the back of Paul’s vehicle. Then we decided it was time to go.
We’ve been back in Maun for 3 days. Lots of programming here including a tour of the new hospital (which only has 14 doctors on staff for a hospital with 280 beds!), a lecture from the District AIDS Coordinator, student trips to the internet and shopping and a fun cruise out to Paul and my house at the ostrich farm for a pizza party and star gazing with the telescope last night.
We head off tomorrow for the final week of travel. By this time next week, we’ll be back in the states…hard to believe.
See or talk to you all soon.
Kristy
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
last day in South Africa
Tomorrow morning we depart for Botswana. It’s been a bit of a run without e-mail so my apologies if I haven’t responded to you directly. We’re staying at an Anglican run guest house in Joburg and have been on the run since our arrival Saturday night. Sunday we headed off to Rosebank, a local mall that has a HUGE African market on the entire second floor of their parking garage. While I’ve been here several times (Paul and I love to eat at the Thai/Vietnamese restaurant there called “Cranks” and see movies at their independent film theater), I’ve never been to the market. Sadly, I had to take another student to the doctors who had failed to mention to me that she had been coughing up green phlegm for several days. Yeah…I think it’s time to go to the doctor. So I didn’t get to go to the market or do much else, but eat at Cranks…which was delicious! Sunday evening a Furman alumni who now lives in Joburg and is involved in many citizen activist activities came to talk to us. I love Dale…he is so radical he was kicked out of the Communist party in South Africa. He is always quite challenging and inspiring to our students.
Monday we spent the full day at “Orange Farm” a community of deep poverty that has rallied together to create a variety of community oriented projects to earn money and survive. We visited their recycling plant (where glass, plastics and paper products are turned in for cash) and their day care center where the children recited the South African Bill of Rights for Children. Very poignant to hear kids reciting in unison how they have a right to shelter, food, water, an education as trenches are dug outside the building to put in plumbing (which they have been living without since they were established 10 years ago!). Our final visit that day was to a local talk radio station where our students got on the radio…that makes 2 media forms for 2 countries (they were photographed at a concert and in the paper in Namibia)…they’re hoping Paul can get them on TV in Botswana!
Tuesday we were off to Soweto, one of the biggest and most well known areas of Johannesburg. It is known particularly for the anti-apartheid violence that took place here prior to independence in 1994. Here we visited one of the biggest public hospitals in the world and then went off to a couple of very powerful museums dealing with the struggle of independence. We suffered a bit of cognitive dissonance when we stopped off at Gold Reef City for lunch, a big Casino situated right next to the Apartheid Museum. The irony of it was not lost on the students.
Wednesday was off to the capital of Pretoria to visit the outrageously ominous Vortrekker Monument built by the Boers in the 1940s and 1950s to commemorate their long trek and struggles with the English and Zulus. It’s huge. Overbearing. Kind of obnoxious. But my colleague, Erik, would be proud of how well the students worked to de-construct the narrative of the monument. Oh you would be so proud.
Last night we went to an African show called, “Umoja” which means “togetherness.” It used African music and dance to give an historical review leading up to today and the “togetherness” South Africa is now experiencing (not so sure about that last assumption as I sit in one of the most violent and dangerous cities in the world…there certainly isn’t a whole lot of “togetherness” between the South Africans and the Zimbabwean refuges…but maybe that wasn’t their point). The music and dance was entertaining if not a bit overwhelming and I think many of my young students saw more bare breasts than they have seen in their entire lives during the “native costume” section of the show. Others were impressed (or overwhelmed) by the African “booty” shaking that was part of the contemporary dance section. Wow! It gave a whole new meaning to “shake it if you got it.” It also reinforced why I am sometimes referred to as “scrawny” by African standards.
Today we visited a housing development program and then had to drop one of the students off at the airport who needed to depart early to get back to Washington for an important scholarship interview. A bit of a crisis occurred when it dawned me a half hour prior to her pick up that I still had her passport back in my suitcase at the guest house (45 minutes across town!). UGH! I can’t believe neither of us thought of it but we dashed back across town picked it up and sent her in the transport to the airport. At least I thought of it before I sent her to the airport. That would have been really bad.
To be honest, that is one of the things I’ve been struggling with in the last week or so. Having made the conscious decision not to have kids it is sometimes overwhelming to all of a sudden have 20 of them! And while we’ve been traveling for over 6 weeks they still don’t plan well…they don’t bring toilet paper, snacks, sun tan lotion and I think “what exactly do you have in your bag if you don’t have those things?” Anyway, we’re hoping they get a bit more common sense before we get to Botswana but I’m not counting on it.
So we head off tomorrow for Botswana. Sadly it has been raining like crazy there (still, even though we had pushed this part of the trip as late as possible to try to be “out” of rainy season). We’re hoping we don’t have 19 days of camping in the rain or getting stuck in the mud. But not much we can do about the weather. As they say in Africa… we’ll make a plan.
I’ll write when I can.
Love,
Kristy
Monday we spent the full day at “Orange Farm” a community of deep poverty that has rallied together to create a variety of community oriented projects to earn money and survive. We visited their recycling plant (where glass, plastics and paper products are turned in for cash) and their day care center where the children recited the South African Bill of Rights for Children. Very poignant to hear kids reciting in unison how they have a right to shelter, food, water, an education as trenches are dug outside the building to put in plumbing (which they have been living without since they were established 10 years ago!). Our final visit that day was to a local talk radio station where our students got on the radio…that makes 2 media forms for 2 countries (they were photographed at a concert and in the paper in Namibia)…they’re hoping Paul can get them on TV in Botswana!
Tuesday we were off to Soweto, one of the biggest and most well known areas of Johannesburg. It is known particularly for the anti-apartheid violence that took place here prior to independence in 1994. Here we visited one of the biggest public hospitals in the world and then went off to a couple of very powerful museums dealing with the struggle of independence. We suffered a bit of cognitive dissonance when we stopped off at Gold Reef City for lunch, a big Casino situated right next to the Apartheid Museum. The irony of it was not lost on the students.
Wednesday was off to the capital of Pretoria to visit the outrageously ominous Vortrekker Monument built by the Boers in the 1940s and 1950s to commemorate their long trek and struggles with the English and Zulus. It’s huge. Overbearing. Kind of obnoxious. But my colleague, Erik, would be proud of how well the students worked to de-construct the narrative of the monument. Oh you would be so proud.
Last night we went to an African show called, “Umoja” which means “togetherness.” It used African music and dance to give an historical review leading up to today and the “togetherness” South Africa is now experiencing (not so sure about that last assumption as I sit in one of the most violent and dangerous cities in the world…there certainly isn’t a whole lot of “togetherness” between the South Africans and the Zimbabwean refuges…but maybe that wasn’t their point). The music and dance was entertaining if not a bit overwhelming and I think many of my young students saw more bare breasts than they have seen in their entire lives during the “native costume” section of the show. Others were impressed (or overwhelmed) by the African “booty” shaking that was part of the contemporary dance section. Wow! It gave a whole new meaning to “shake it if you got it.” It also reinforced why I am sometimes referred to as “scrawny” by African standards.
Today we visited a housing development program and then had to drop one of the students off at the airport who needed to depart early to get back to Washington for an important scholarship interview. A bit of a crisis occurred when it dawned me a half hour prior to her pick up that I still had her passport back in my suitcase at the guest house (45 minutes across town!). UGH! I can’t believe neither of us thought of it but we dashed back across town picked it up and sent her in the transport to the airport. At least I thought of it before I sent her to the airport. That would have been really bad.
To be honest, that is one of the things I’ve been struggling with in the last week or so. Having made the conscious decision not to have kids it is sometimes overwhelming to all of a sudden have 20 of them! And while we’ve been traveling for over 6 weeks they still don’t plan well…they don’t bring toilet paper, snacks, sun tan lotion and I think “what exactly do you have in your bag if you don’t have those things?” Anyway, we’re hoping they get a bit more common sense before we get to Botswana but I’m not counting on it.
So we head off tomorrow for Botswana. Sadly it has been raining like crazy there (still, even though we had pushed this part of the trip as late as possible to try to be “out” of rainy season). We’re hoping we don’t have 19 days of camping in the rain or getting stuck in the mud. But not much we can do about the weather. As they say in Africa… we’ll make a plan.
I’ll write when I can.
Love,
Kristy
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Shembe sacred dance, hiking Giant's Castle and sexist battle ground advice
Greetings from Dundee! We have been on a rather fast-paced set of two night stays in a series of locations since I last wrote. First, in Pietermaritzburg we visited Hindu temples and attended a Shembe religious ceremony. While I’ve been to Hindu temples before I have never witnessed the blessing of a new car which involves having the priest circle the vehicle carrying a flaming pumpkin followed by the new owners. Limes are then placed in front of each of the four tires and the driver proceeds to drive back and forth over them until the priest says to stop. The curiousness of this only slightly paled in comparison to the giant pit near us which is filled with burning coals once a year for the annual fire walking ritual. Believers are said to “put themselves in a trance” in order to walk across it (probably 30 feet in length) without burning their feet.
The next day we learned about the Shembe religion, an African Independent Religion started by a prophet Isaiah Shembe. While never formally trained he is said to have had visions from God instructing him on how people should live a godly life. To be honest, we didn’t know what was in store for us when we were invited out to a Shembe service (which takes place all day on Saturdays). Arriving at the end of the ceremony, we were asked to take our shoes off and walk down a rocked filled muddy road (I wished I knew how to get in a trance because it hurt my little feet) where we were invited into what I will describe as a “worship warehouse.” While ceremonies are usually held outside the rain was coming so we were squished into a big open building (no rooms, seats, etc.) where we were seated on straw mats on the floor. Despite the fact that the building looked rather small from the outside, there were hundreds of people already seated on the ground happy to welcome us to their worship ceremony. Since it was the end of what had already been several hours of worshiping, they decided to show us some of their ceremonial sacred dances which involved only men and lots of high stepping foot stamping line dancing while dressed in white robes and animal skins, carrying sticks (see Shembe sacred dance photo attached). By the end of the two days, the social construction of sacredness was all too apparent.
Next we headed to Giant’s Castle an amazingly beautiful area of the Drakensburg Mountains where we took a couple of days to rest, relax and hike. I would strongly encourage anyone who travels to this part of the world to make a trip out to the Drakensburgs (translates into “dragon’s mountains”). The views are breath-taking and hiking is challenging but well worth the views when you make it to the top. The main wild life we saw was elands – large antelope-like creatures who look like really big cows. They are thought to have mythical powers by the bushmen and it is truly a rare sight to see them in the distance on the mountain side. In the two years I’ve been coming to Africa I think I might have seen one other one prior to this visit. We were also barked at by baboons and I made sure to walk with a rock to throw at them in case they got too close (I don’t love baboons…they have big teeth and thumbs, thus the ability to open things). At one point during the two days I was grading quizzes and one of them parked himself in front of the sliding glass door to my chalet. That’s one way to keep me inside grading!
Finally, last night and tonight we spent in Dundee where we visited battlefields all day. I had a vague recollection from the last trip that I didn’t really enjoy the battlefield experience but I couldn’t quite place why. I assumed that it was just too much discussion of Zulus and Anglos fighting or Zulus and Boers fighting…death, brutality, horn shaped attack patterns of Shaka Zulu…blah, blah, blah… but then once our guide started talking I remembered why it annoyed me last time…Pat, our guide, is a sexist pig. I won’t go on too long but the main message he emphasized to the “ladies” in our group was how we have to remember that we are “concentrated fire power” just like the loggerheads the Boers used to fend off the Zulus at Blood River. Not only does the analogy not work but he continued on to elaborate by saying, “You know how you ladies are. When you get ready to go out on a date you get all dressed up to lure in the men. You put on your fishnet stockings and stiletto heels and you are ‘concentrated fire power.’” Apparently Pat has dated…hookers. If this wasn’t offensive enough, he explained polygamy to us by saying to the guys in the group, “You know it really is a good idea. Think about what happens to women as they age and they’ve been popping out those babies they’re not quite the beautiful young thing they used to be before so you just get a younger one.” Ugh! Thanks to Ching (my colleague who isn’t even here anymore) we had a full day with Pat…3 battlefields and lots of sexist advice to give away! Lovely.
On that I’m off. We’re headed to Ulundi next where, last time, we were given a goat for sacrifice by the Zulu chief and I was called scrawny and told I would never get a Zulu man by the mayor. Perhaps with all the ice cream I’ve been eating I’ll be worthy this time (although I have a Botswana man so don’t really need a Zulu one!).
Hope you all are well.
Kristy
The next day we learned about the Shembe religion, an African Independent Religion started by a prophet Isaiah Shembe. While never formally trained he is said to have had visions from God instructing him on how people should live a godly life. To be honest, we didn’t know what was in store for us when we were invited out to a Shembe service (which takes place all day on Saturdays). Arriving at the end of the ceremony, we were asked to take our shoes off and walk down a rocked filled muddy road (I wished I knew how to get in a trance because it hurt my little feet) where we were invited into what I will describe as a “worship warehouse.” While ceremonies are usually held outside the rain was coming so we were squished into a big open building (no rooms, seats, etc.) where we were seated on straw mats on the floor. Despite the fact that the building looked rather small from the outside, there were hundreds of people already seated on the ground happy to welcome us to their worship ceremony. Since it was the end of what had already been several hours of worshiping, they decided to show us some of their ceremonial sacred dances which involved only men and lots of high stepping foot stamping line dancing while dressed in white robes and animal skins, carrying sticks (see Shembe sacred dance photo attached). By the end of the two days, the social construction of sacredness was all too apparent.
Next we headed to Giant’s Castle an amazingly beautiful area of the Drakensburg Mountains where we took a couple of days to rest, relax and hike. I would strongly encourage anyone who travels to this part of the world to make a trip out to the Drakensburgs (translates into “dragon’s mountains”). The views are breath-taking and hiking is challenging but well worth the views when you make it to the top. The main wild life we saw was elands – large antelope-like creatures who look like really big cows. They are thought to have mythical powers by the bushmen and it is truly a rare sight to see them in the distance on the mountain side. In the two years I’ve been coming to Africa I think I might have seen one other one prior to this visit. We were also barked at by baboons and I made sure to walk with a rock to throw at them in case they got too close (I don’t love baboons…they have big teeth and thumbs, thus the ability to open things). At one point during the two days I was grading quizzes and one of them parked himself in front of the sliding glass door to my chalet. That’s one way to keep me inside grading!
Finally, last night and tonight we spent in Dundee where we visited battlefields all day. I had a vague recollection from the last trip that I didn’t really enjoy the battlefield experience but I couldn’t quite place why. I assumed that it was just too much discussion of Zulus and Anglos fighting or Zulus and Boers fighting…death, brutality, horn shaped attack patterns of Shaka Zulu…blah, blah, blah… but then once our guide started talking I remembered why it annoyed me last time…Pat, our guide, is a sexist pig. I won’t go on too long but the main message he emphasized to the “ladies” in our group was how we have to remember that we are “concentrated fire power” just like the loggerheads the Boers used to fend off the Zulus at Blood River. Not only does the analogy not work but he continued on to elaborate by saying, “You know how you ladies are. When you get ready to go out on a date you get all dressed up to lure in the men. You put on your fishnet stockings and stiletto heels and you are ‘concentrated fire power.’” Apparently Pat has dated…hookers. If this wasn’t offensive enough, he explained polygamy to us by saying to the guys in the group, “You know it really is a good idea. Think about what happens to women as they age and they’ve been popping out those babies they’re not quite the beautiful young thing they used to be before so you just get a younger one.” Ugh! Thanks to Ching (my colleague who isn’t even here anymore) we had a full day with Pat…3 battlefields and lots of sexist advice to give away! Lovely.
On that I’m off. We’re headed to Ulundi next where, last time, we were given a goat for sacrifice by the Zulu chief and I was called scrawny and told I would never get a Zulu man by the mayor. Perhaps with all the ice cream I’ve been eating I’ll be worthy this time (although I have a Botswana man so don’t really need a Zulu one!).
Hope you all are well.
Kristy
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