I'm Goin' Back, Back to School!

Today was our much anticipated school visit in Cape Town. The group met this morning and we were distributed to 4 local schools: a middle school in the Guguletu township, a Math/Science High School, a middle class "ex model c school" (a white school during the Apartheid), and the school I went to: Thandokhoulu - a high school for Xhosa speaking learners. All of the students live in the townships: Guguletu, Khayalitsha, and Langa and commute 1 hr to 1.5 hours by bus each day to and from school which is in a middle class neighborhood in Cape Town. It is the only Xhosa school in the city of Cape Town.

The bus dropped the 7 of us off and we walked into their main offices to discover that they really weren't aware we were all coming. We made our way to the teacher's lounge/lunchroom where we heard the sweet sounds of the copy machine. We chatted with a few of the teachers and with a girl from Canada doing her student teaching. We finally met with Mr. Tsoli, the English Department Head. He gave us some background on the school. The building of the school was a former primary school which was vacant before the school took it over in 1992. At that time, there was no funds to build a sufficient secondary school in Khayalitsha, and since the building in Cape Town was vacant for 7 years due to levels of lead present in the building, the parents, teachers, and students essentially became school "squatters." They met with much police opposition, but eventually negotiated and possess the building today. I assume the "lead" issue still exists today.

Public schooling in South Africa is not free like it is in the United States. Each school maintains it own tuition fees, and in the case of Thandokhoulu (meaning Greater Love in Xhosa), the fees are R350-R400 per year. That equates to about $40-50 per year. The students and required to wear uniforms and must purchase their supplies. Textbooks, although outdated, are supplied through the equivalent of the Dept of Education in Cape Town.


Here are a group of Grade 9 students hamming it up on their break. The students wanted me to take their pictures so they could see themselves on the screen.

As I mentioned, the school was vacant for many years, so as you can probably guess, the school facilities are less than desirable. The school includes grade 8-12. The 8-9 classes are held in "portables" outside of the main building. These portables are falling apart, and in one of them, the floor boards are missing and broken.

Class size is approximately 50-60 students per class. The unique thing about this school is that the students do not travel from class to class as they do in a conventional school in the States. Instead, the students STAY in the same room ALL DAY and the teachers travel from room to room for instruction. I can't imagine how this can possibly be effective. The students would have to go crazy and the teachers do not have a room to keep all of their belongings. I just think about some of my colleagues having to do that....June McCallumore, I'm thinking of you. What would you do without your room to hold all of your posters and knick knacks? :)

The school day runs from 8-3, with a 15 minute morning break 10:15-10:30 where the disadvantaged students get a meal of lentils and rice so they do not go hungry all day long. Lunch is 40 minutes and isn't until 1pm.

The highlight of the day was visiting Ms. Bopi's English classroom. In her lesson plans, she planned to show "Slumdog Millionaire" to her students. While we followed her to where her class was held, she stopped in a conference room of sorts where the only DVD/TV in the school is located. She had a quiet interaction with another staff member who refused to move his meeting out of the room. So, there went her lesson plan to show the film. How we take so much for granted!

We arrived to meet her group of about 50 students. We spent the hour telling them about America and fielding their questions about what it's like to live in America and what school is like for our students. The got most of their information about America from Oprah and of course, they know Obama. Dixie passed out her Obama stickers...we NEHers are sure leaving our Obama imprint upon South Africa. Overall, the class was pretty respectful toward their teacher. It was easy to say that she is the kind of teacher who cares about her students and reaches out to them. They were definitely like any high school kid: chatty and seeking attention from their peers. The English 12 curriculum consisted of mostly poetry and short stories. The grade 12 instruction is equivalent to Grade 9 English at Dakota.

After our classroom visit, we had the chance to sit down with Ms. Bopi in our office. She told us that she teaches 5 classes a day, and sees 240 students per day. 240 STUDENTS!!! I complain about my 150 students... I can't even imagine grading 240 papers!!! Ms. Bopi is truly inspirational...she does all of this: reaching out to her students, giving her students an opportunity to succeed, assessing a whole lot of work (she keeps a writing portfolio for each and every one of them!), all for about $15,000 per year. We asked her when she sleeps...and she just laughed. I no longer have any reason to complain about US teachers being underpaid and overworked.

Here is our group who visited Ms. Bopi's classroom: Kori from Hawaii, Tadashi from NYC, Mr. Tsoli (English Department Head), Me, Chris from D.C., Dixie from MO, and Ms. Bopi.

After our school visit, we headed to the Cecil Rhodes Monument overlooking Cape Town and back to debrief our school experiences. It was fascinating to hear from each of the teachers about their experiences in the three other schools. As a teacher, this was one of the most beneficial moments of the trip. I honestly wish we had more time to visit another school to get another perspective, but I feel fortunate to get a brief glimpse of the life of a Xhosa student and teacher in Cape Town. I now have so much to share with my staff and students - we really do not realize how fortunate we are.

And, just to lighten the mood after our long day...a group of us headed out for Indian Food at this AMAZING restaurant, Bukhari. Instead of napkins, we had to wear bibs! Bring on the food!

Tomorrow we head back to UWC for another day of lectures (FUN FUN FUN!) and then this weekend is jammed packed. Rugby game tomorrow night, followed by a visit to South Africa Wine Country on Saturday! We're going into uber planning mode, trying to fit every last thing we want to do in Cape Town into the next 5 days. How quickly this is all coming to an end!

Matjiesfontein in Pictures

As I mentioned in my last post, we stayed in the tiny town (and by tiny, I mean one street) of Matjiesfontein about 3 hours outside of Cape Town. It was like walking back in time - the grounds were just gorgeous.



Here are some of our duck friends that we encountered on our walk around the grounds. They just marched up right to us!

The wildflowers are starting to bloom! I still can't believe it's winter here...oh wait, I can. It's cold!

Ah yes, the "throne room" Check out that collection of commodes and chamber pots!!! This was in the basement or "bowels" of the museum...muhahahha. I crack myself up!

And finally, here I am taking in the views on the ride back to Cape Town!

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

We're finally back in Cape Town...after 3 LONG bus days (we covered 1000 miles in 3 days), everyone was more than excited to be at our "home" the Check-Inn for the next week. It's so nice to lay out my belongings and not have to constantly live out of my overcrowded suitcase. I'll miss my roomie, Elayna, though. Girl talks were the highlight of life on the road. The other thing I won't miss about life on the road: the rest stops. For lunch, it was always Steer's, Wimpy Burger, or the Pick and Pay. I've never eaten so many toasted cheese sandwiches, or smorgasborgd lunch of cheese and bread in my life. Cheese, dried fruit, almonds, digestive biscuits and Cadbury Bars (everything but Fruit and Nut, which some people disagree on...). The other thing I won't miss? The rest stops. I've never used so many nasty bathrooms in my life....But I digress. A small price to pay, I suppose, for my fully funded trip.

Here are some of the amazing things we find at rest stops and convience stores in South Africa. Hot Chutney...The PUFF that makes you TUFF! So good, I can't even make that up!


Ok, so after leaving Botswana, and heading into Mafeking, we made our way to Kimberly, the Diamond Capital of South Africa. It was there that we saw the BIG HOLE...yes, an entire museum dedicated to a giant mining hole - the biggest man made hole in the world, apparently. It was big...and a hole. Not much else to say about that. We also got to go into a "simulated mine" which included some fake explosions...we had a good time playing the game and screaming. Our group had reached the point where anything and everything was funny...

Look! I can hold up the big hole!!!

The highlight (after getting our coffee fix) was the walking around the Old Mine Town...another simulation, of course. We found our fun fix: the Skittle Alley bowling. It's basically old fashioned bowling meets Skee-ball. I managed to knock down 7 of 9 pins on one try, earning me a tie for 2nd place. My Polish bowling family should be proud. We also found the really cool replica bar.

Miner Bar

Dedication at a game of Skittles!!


We got to Kimberly and decided to take a taxi for dinner to head to a restaurant called "The Halfway House" In its hayday, people used to ride up in the horses and ring a bell and their meals/drinks would be delivered to them. Not quite the same today, but we did have a lot of fun. We met an interesting Afrikaaner lady who taught us how to swear. Always a good time.
Kimberly to Matjiesfontein was the longest haul of the trip...almost 500 miles in one day. Stir crazy doesn't even begin to explain it. I was doing everything I possibly could to make it through.... Kori came up with a great bus game which involved thinking of a word and then the first person who could sing a song with the word in it got a point. That kept us entertained for a while, although I'm not sure there rest of the bus enjoyed our outbursts of songs...including Christmas Carols.
We arrived at Matjiesfontein and checked into our hotel: the Lord Milner...which is basically a step back in time to a Colonial resort town. Awesome vibe and beautiful scenery. Dinner was served with silver untensils and I had the Bobotie which is a typical South African Malay dish of Mince meat a cheese over rice. Very interesting, and good. We finished off the night with some delish Malva Pudding...
After dinner the fun led us to the bar where we had an 80's dance party. I hit the hay early....so tired from sitting on the bus.
Today was our last bus ride, but we had some time this morning to explore the one-street town. Chris and I wandered about taking lots of pics (haven't uploaded them yet - will post later) and also visited the town museum which was essentially a house stuffed to the brim with anything and everything people were getting rid of in town. There was an entire room dedicated to chamber pots and toilets.
Our final drive was a short one, made more enjoyable by some ipod switching. Itunes is going to get a work out when I get home - got lots of great new stuff to download! We arrived back in Cape Town and were very very very excited to check in to the Check Inn. First thing on the agenda: turn in the laundry!!! Then we headed to the V&A for some shopping and to get our rugby tickets for Friday night. So EXCITED! We also went out for a nice dinner and celebrated the fact that Matt, a guy on my trip, finally got hired. The poor guy had to do a skype interview while in South Africa to secure his new job.
Tomorrow we head to the schools...it's going to be interesting! Look for a new post soon! One week from today I'll be flying over Africa.....

Botwana or Botsi-don’t-wana?

Botwana or Botsi-don’t-wana?
After the emotional day in Jo’burg followed by the “let’s celebrate African nationalism” in Pretoria, we left the country and headed to Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana. Crossing the border went smoothly…the hightlght was that we actually had to WALK across the border. Pretty cool. About 2 hours later, we arrived in Gaborone and pulled into our hotel.
Now, our previous hotel in Jo’burg was the lap of luzury: two full beds with down comforters, huge bathroom with deluxe shower, sitting area, satalite TV…you name it, we had it and we were spoiled. When we pulled into the Hotel Gabarone, things were VERY different. The hotel was situated in the middle of the city’s bus station. Now, a bus staition in Africa is not what you perceive in America. By bus station, I mean a HUGE lot full of mini busses and people everywhere! Gabarone is one of the cities in southern Africa which act as a gateway to the rest of the continent, so there were people from all over Africa. During our time in Botswana, we met a Kenyan as well as a man from Rwanda who walked away when we asked about his country. Anyway, back to the hotel: billed as the Gaborone Hotel and Casino, we were treated to one of the dumpiest places ever. My cold shower, paired with the oh so pleasant “eau de Gaborone” hotel stench, made the stay an interesting one, more akin to what one would experience in West Africa. It was safe to say that group morale was a bit low upon arrival, especially when Rich and Kay said “we’ve never been here, we don’t know anything about Botswana. We’ll see you at 8am.” No one had a guidebook, much less a semblence of what to do that night for dinner.
A group of us decided to explore and headed to the SupaSave Grocery store. Pure chaos. I couldn’t help but to think that it was the first time in my life where I was a minority, and felt like one. We managed to grab some bread and PB for breakfast (no breakfast included and we were NOT going to eat in the hotel restaurant…). After hitting up the ATM to grab some Pula (which means Rain in Tsatsawni), we headed back to the “Jaundice Tower” as we called it, and decided to get the heck out of the hotel and explore the rest of Gaborone.
A group of 12 of us negotiated with some cab drivers (no formal running meters on the cab - we had to negotiate our price!), and we headed to a local bar and resuaturant called the Bull and Bush. When we arrived, we grabbed a long picnic table outside beside some firepits, and let the fun begin. The restaurant had a very diverse crowd - a far cry from what we experienced at the hotel. The highglight of the evening was the female karaoke singer who had a love for Tina Turner. We all danced and sang around the fire to keep warm while waiting an hour and a half to get our pizza. Chris and I decided to split a pepperoni, onion and green pepper pizza, and what arrived over an hour later was an olive, mushroom and garlic pizza. We were so hungry we didn’t complain and scarfed it down.
After surviving the night, we headed out to shop for Botswana crafts. Our first stop with a Pottery studio…what beautiful work. It’s just too bad they didn’t take credit cards, and the fact that we all have to get pottery back to the states in a suitcase. I picked up a couple of pieces - hope it survives! Many of us had spent all of our Pula, so we stopped at a bank/ATM and then off to lunch at the Botswana specialty: KFC. In the afternoon we headed to a Weavers Co-op where I made my big “I’ll always have this item for Africa” purchase: a beautiful hand woven, hand died, hand spun tapestry made by a Botswana woman that took one month to complete. It will look great hanging in my living room, and will forever remind me of this experience.
Our typical lunch on the road...Pick and Pay for Cheese and Crackers or the dreaded Wimpy Burger. I hope never to visit another gas station bathroom after this trip...

Here I am with my favorite Botswana artist!!

Typical View of Botswana!


The highlight of our Botswana experience was meeting with the Peace Corps Country Director, Peggy. She was an absolutely fascinating woman and shared her love of the Peace Corps with all of us. Botswana gained independence in 1966, at which point there were only 11 miles of tarred roads and only 8 University graduates in the entire country at the time. The Peace Corps helped establish the Botswana laws as well as develop the country’s infrastructure in the 60’s. Their main focus now is to help with HIV/AIDS prevention and education. Botswana’s rate of HIV/AIDS infection is second highest in the world just behind Swaziland. The CDC estimates that 40% of the population is infected country-wide. The Peace Corps aims to combat this through life skills education programs in schools, along with a strong mother-child program to combat transmission. They also work on developing public awaresness through various campains like “Who is in your sexual network?” as an aim to get out the message against HIV/AIDS. Most infections are spread through heterosexual relationships with multiple people. Botswana’s goal is “No new infections by 2016!” A lofty goal, but the government with the aid of the Peace Corps is working to make this a reality. I have definitely noticed the much strong public outreach for HIV/AIDS prvention through the use of condoms here in Botswana. There are condom dispensers in every bathroom, public building, at the border, in the hotel room(ironically, in the safe)…it is everywhere.
I am totally sold on the Peace Corps, and would love to be a part of it at some point in my life. Peggy was telling us that Obama is looking at new ways to recruit more teachers into the program and is considering a funded “sabbatical” year where teachers would leave the classroom for a year to go and teach overseas with the Peace Corps. I really hope this becomes a reality because I would sign up in a second. A 27 month committement is a bit daunting, but a year sabatical seems much more reasonable. Like I’ve said in previous posts: I need to find my way to reach out to the rest of the world.
Our last night in Botswana brought us to the Riverwalk Mall where we had some Indian food. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel, spent of 20 pula voucher in the casino (lasted me about 10 minutes on the slots!), and then sat around and had some great conversations. The conversations are definitely the highlight of the trip!
We left Botswana early in the morning and headed back to South Africa and finally to Mafikeng. We got in early and had some down time…very nice and much needed during these long bus days! We had dinner at this restaurant called Spurs, which was essentially South Africa’s version of Chilis. It was good, except that I didn’t expect my chicken burger to be the side of my head…. We all had an early night and crawled into our freezing hotel rooms…and by freezing I mean no heat and the outside temperature in the 30s. I made myself into a human burrito and slept for a solid 9 hours. Wonderful rest.
We’re on our way to Kimberly, the diamond capital of South Africa. Two more nights and then I’ll be back in Capetown for our last week. I can’t believe how time is flying! As much as I don’t want to return to Cape Town because that means our time here is almost over…I am really sick and tired of lugging my now VERY heavy suitcase around!
See you all in just over a week…CRAZY!!




Here is the burger almost as big as my head...

Love you all! :)

A Day in Pretoria

Ahhhh...a non-emotional day - just what I needed after yesterday!

To decompress after last night, a group of us hung out in my room and had our customary "pot luck" dinner of cheese and crackers (we decided that sharp cheddar would be the only cheese we'd eat for the rest of our lives, if we had to choose...), digestive biscuits (with chocolate, of course!), and a huge bag of M&Ms which we polished off quite quickly! We definitely needed the chocolate! Our hotel in Jo'burg has VH1, so we spent quite a bit of time watching that...except

it's not like the VH1 at home. In South Africa, VH1 will play a Beyonce Video and then the next one is Dancing in the Streets by Mick Jagger and David Bowie. Awesome, to say the least. During our "dinner" the security knocked at the door and turns out that Mary and Jane left the water running in their sink and flooded their bathroom and part of their room. Not what they wanted to deal with after the day we had!

This morning we headed into Pretoria, the Administrative capital of South Africa. It's a big city outside of Jo'burg. Our first stop was to the Administrative building and gardens. We frolicked about and took some fun pictures on the steps.

Here we all are, in age order, acting goofy! I especially love the wet willy that Mary is giving Chris! More proof of the fun people I've come to know and love!

Our next stop was the Voeltrekker monument which pays homage to the white Nationalists. They were responsible for starting the Apartheid. Really don't have much to say about that... Moving on.

Then we went to some fort and aside from laying on the steps and basking in the sun, we saw this gem of a picture.

We had time to kill before our date at Freedom Park, so we went to the Kruger house. He was a former PResident of the SA republic... He had a large pipe collection. That's about all I got from that. We left HEather behind at the museum....whoops. Partially my fault because she is one of my "people" aka her name is after mine in alpha order, so I have to make sure she's on the bus. Whoops.

We finally made it to Freedom Park (after going back to get Heather), and got a tour of the park wh

ich commemorates the lives of all South Africans and all the lives lost in the liberation struggle, South AFrican War, Slavery, Genocide, etc. The highlight of the Freedom Park is the Wall of Names which had the names of everyone killed in various struggles in South African history.

After that we headed back to Jo'burg (it took us 2 hrs...fun fun traffic!), and then we headed out to Melville for dinner. Our group went back to SOI (the Thai/Vietnamese Place) and we had some amazing Saigon Sizzling Beef, Chili Ginger Chicken, Pho Ga etc. DELISH...I will miss that restaurant.

Tomorrow we leave bright and early for our two day stay in Botswana. After that it's three, one night stops and back to CapeTown. I can't believe that I'll be home in 2 weeks. I don't want to leave.

Emotional

Need to Decompress…
Emotional. That’s the only word I can use to describe today. Over the past 4 weeks, I have driven past the worst poverty I’ve ever seen…I’ve visited the Cape Town townships and saw it with my own eyes…I’ve visited countless museums depicting the oppression and the Apartheid, but it wasn’t until this afternoon that it all came to a head and I had a major catharsis. The agenda for today included visiting the Apartheid and then on to Soweto, the largest township in South Africa right outside of Jo’burg.


Pillars of the Apartheid Museum


Our morning began at the Apartheid museum where we were handed a ticket that said “White” or “Non-white.” We had to enter the museum through our classification we received to simulate what it was like during the Apartheid period. I was designated a “non-white” and walked in and was greeted to identification cards of Africans. I was then greeted with this quote:
“The white man is the master in South Africa, and the white man from the very nature of his origins, from the very nature of his birth, and from the very nature of his guardianship, will remain master in South Africa to the end.” - House Assembly Debates March 15, 1950.
I made my way through the museum which detailed the entire Apartheid experience from the 1948 until the end and Mandela’s election as President in 1994. The museum gave off a very industrial with a prison like feel - cement floors and walls, steel bars and chains leading you through the exhibits. The museum itself was very effective in its use of lots of photographs, videos, and artifacts from the years.
In 1948 the National Part comes into power; it was an alliance of white, Afrikaans speaking farmers, business people, workers, and professionals. They all supported white supremacy and racial purity. However, their main focus was for more material reasons: secured cheap African labor, employment protection from black competition and of course, the best jobs kept for whites. The 1948 election (which brought about Apartheid) centered around the central issue of “swart gevaar” which means black menace in Afrikaans. The election succeeded in mobilizing support of whites on grounds of fear about a black “oorstroming” or flood into the cities.
The Apartheid brought various Acts that included: racial classification for all, prohibition for different racial groups living together, outlawed sex and marriage across marriage lines, prohibited racial groups from using the same facilities (toilets, parks, beaches), and finally separate schooling for native race with an aim in preventing those people to reach the same education and skill level as other groups. These acts lead to the establishment of the ANC (African National Congress).
Africans sought to resist the oppression, and did so in a myriad of ways. I already discussed Steve Biko and his Black Consciousness Movement in a previous post. The BCM concentrated on ideas rather than mass mobilization. Biko, and many other political prisoners were subjected to torture, sleep deprivation, electric shocks with a wet bag over their heads, suffocation, and solitary confinement up to 540 days. 540 days alone in a cell with nothing but a Bible and no contact with others. Of these political prisoners, 131 were executed, yet the state proclaimed that they committed suicide in the detention center. This occurred in the 1960’s and the 1970s.
The ironic thing about the Apartheid is that this was happening only in South Africa while the rest of the world was advancing. The museum did a great job of capturing this irony with a video montage called “Meanwhile, the rest of the world…” The montage contained footage of Woodstock, the moon walk, the Beatles, Elvis, and the most ironic of all: Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech.

As I walked out of the museum, very much affected, I saw a poster that best sums up the experience: “Apartheid is exactly where it belongs: In the Apartheid Museum”


The next part of our day is what affected me most: our tour of Soweto. Soweto stands for South West Township. Soweto is one of the biggest cities in South Africa - 4.5-6 million people live there. The lack of resources include: 1 firestation, 1 hospital and 300 failing schools. Facilities are improving, however, as they are building another hospital. There are no factories or places of employment within Soweto, so residents are forces to use public transport to find work which leads to a 20% unemployment rate. The health system is free, thankfully; however, people with HIV/AIDS get more government funding, and our guide mentioned that some people actually seek to acquire HIV/AIDS so they get more money.

Despite these terrible statistics, our guide, Mandy, told us that Soweto is one of the safest places to live in South Africa. There are no high walls, wire or electric fences. There is a great community spirit which people rally around. I could definitely see this while touring Soweto and visiting Mandela’s house, lunch at Wandi’s Place (amazing South African food: samp and beans, mealie pap, collared greens, curry..yummy!), and the Regina Mundi church.

1976 was a year that made Soweto famous. On June 16, 1976 a group of 15,000 school children marched on the Police Station to protest the Afrikaans Only Instruction in Schools. None of these children could speak, much less understand Afrikaans, so how were they supposed to get an education? It was just another way the Government was oppressing Africans during the Apartheid. When the children arrived at the Police station they were shot at and 600 school aged children ranging in age from 7-17 were killed, captured, detained, and tortured. These were KIDS doing nothing but fighting for their right to get an education. We visited the Hector Pieterson Memorial to commemoration the Soweto uprising. The memorial consisted of a brick for every child killed in the massacre. Many of them said “Unknown” simply because the brutal assault. I still can’t believe this happened in 1976. Our guide recounted that day, as she was shot as a young girl in Primary School. When the children organized, the Secondary School children insisted that the Primary School children march in front so the police wouldn’t shoot at them. Wrong. Today, June 16 is celebrated as National Youth Day. Our guide has a terrible time accepting this. How can a day when over 600 children were killed be considered National Youth Day when all youths are celebrated?

Hector Pieterson monument in Soweto. The water represents the blood flow from the massacre of 600 children.

One of the many unknown bricks

Our last stop of the day was a visit to Kliptown, one of the worst poverty stricken areas in South Africa. Prior to arriving, we stopped at a market and each put in 20 rand (2.50) to purchase rice, eggs, oil, and bread to distribute to the women. When we pulled into Kliptown I had NO idea what was about to hit me. This small community consisted of no running water (one spicket of water for about 1000 people), no electricity, and a slew of shacks one after another. The shanties were so close together there was barely enough room to walk between them. In one of the alleys, there was a stream of water full of filth and garbage just running down the center.

Our guide took us to his house and around the area. He was still a high school student and was living in a one room, one bed corrugated iron shack with his brother, sister, and her child. Both his parents had died. The most heartbreaking thing was when we walked back to where the bus was parked; two lines, one of children, and one of adults, each one at least 50-100 people long just waiting for a handout of eggs, rice, bread, or oil. Elayna and I went to the candy stand and I bought 200 pieces of candy to pass out to the line of kids. It was the best $2.50 I’ve ever spent. I’ve never seen such happiness and excitement over two pieces of candy or a bag of rice. These people have NOTHING…NOTHING AT ALL. One woman said “thank you, I have a meal tonight.” This was after we gave her a loaf of bread. The extreme emotions didn’t hit me until we got on the bus and pulled away. I was writing in my journal and I flipped back to some lines from the South African Bill of Rights that I copied down earlier in the day at the Apartheid Museum:
“
Everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing.”
“Everyone has the right to have access to health care services, sufficient food and water.”

This begs the question: WHAT IS THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT DOING? How can these people live under these conditions with no hope of getting out? There aren’t enough jobs…housing isn’t affordable for some (no jobs!). I was in tears almost the entire way home…and I’m still getting choked up writing this….I want to do so much more…I need to do so much more. This whole experience has opened my eyes to so much out there in the world… I can no longer live my life with tunnel vision. This is changing me as a person. All my material possessions and my wants seem so petty after seeing a line up of 100 women waiting for a loaf of bread…

But don't worry...South Africa will be ready for the World Cup. Priorities?

Jo'burg and back in contact!!We

We have finally made it to Jo'burg. A bright and early departure followed by a long drive, I am now here chillin' in my hotel room sucking in my 24 hrs of wireless internet for $10...sweet, sweet connection the outside world.

Last night's braai was a huge success and a total blast. I ate some of the best chicken of my life thanks to Willie Brown from Alabama's secret maranade. That man knows how to cook a chicken. It was such a fun bonding expereince for the whole group and it ended with a dance party to Neil Diamond and Duran Duran...under the stars...in the Drakensberg mountains. Love love love it all.

Here are a few more pictures from our stay in the Drakensberg.

Here is the picture of the waterfall we hiked to on the way back from the rock art...beautiful! I am taking the picture from the cave behind the waterfall.

Here is a picture of the chalets we stayed in overlooking the beautiful Drakensberg mountains.

Ahh yes, our fearless grillers, Chris and John, lookin' mighty masculine!

Tonight we're doing dinner in Jo'Burg (in a safe area, as this is a VERY dangerous city), and then tomorrow we're off to the Apartheid Museum and Soweto (one of the townships) Should be a heavy day. More later!

Monday, July 20: Into the Valley and on to the mountains!

After my exciting adventures at the game reserve, it was time for a little R&R at the Babanango Valley Lodge. Our drive from Hluhluwe was uneventful; every one seemed a bit worn out from all the hours in the safari vehicles…tough life, I know. When we arrived in Babanango, set in this absolutely picturesque valley, we found out that our group would be split up. Some of us would be staying in the lodge, some in a cottage, while others would have to rough it in the bush camp down by the river. I was one of the lucky 10 to be staying in the lodge for two nights. This place was absolutely top of the line! Colonial style furniture, turn down service, terry cloth robes, huge beautiful bathroom…we were living’ the life. Sadly though, all of our friends were out in the bush camp 3km away. Their accommodations weren’t quite as spectacular: three wall cinder block "tents" with a canvas flap complete with zipping door and window. I honestly was bummed because I wanted a "roughin’ it" experience, but I was verrrry happy I was in the lodge during the two nights when it got down into the thirties and all the tent campers had was a space heater that put out little to no heat. Meanwhile, Elayna and I were having a dance party in our robes and watching Twilight on her laptop…. We had to document it and showed it to our bush camp friends the next morning…they weren’t too pleased by our fortune!


Morning View of the Babanango Valley from outside my room.


Babanango is located near the Zulu-British battlefields as seen in the film "Zulu" starring Michael Caine. No, I’ve never seen it, so I can’t recommend it, but I can now tell you how many inaccuracies there are in the film after our 8 hour tour of the battle fields. Our first stop was the fields of Isandlwana which was where the Zulu army massacred the British during one battle in January 1879. In the humiliating defeat, the British lost 1200 men. The huge battle field (we climbed a hill to get the full view) is littered with white cairns of stones to commemorate the mass British graves. The British soldiers did not come back until 4 months later to bury the dead. 4 months.
After Isandlwana, we visited Rorke’s Drift which was another battle site that occurred on the same day as Ilanswana. Rorke’s drift was the site of the British military hospital and outpost. 170 British defended themselves against 4000 Zulu warriors. The battle lasted for 12 hours and the British succeeded by barricading themselves in with maize bags and biscuit boxes. The Brits only lost 17 men. Our guide for both these sites was just ridiculously knowledgeable about the battle fields and had some of us in stitches when he kept saying "biscuit box barricade" in his silly South African accent. After 8 hours of military history, I had to find something to entertain myself. In all honesty, it was a very informative day, but I’m just really not into Military History.
We returned to the Lodge for one more night, and one more dinner together in Bush Camp. One of the highlights of the stay in Babanango was an around the fire discussion with the entire group where we shared what we were grateful or thankful for on the trip thus far. It was just a great bonding experience, and helped all of us realize (yet again) how fortunate we are the be seeing this, experiencing this, and sharing it with some of the most amazing, talented educators I have met in my life. But don’t worry, Dakota teachers are still the best! The responses ranged from serious to silly, with the customary "I’m grateful for the US Taxpayers for funding all of this!"
We left Babanango and on our way to the Drakensberg mountains we stopped at a traditional Zulu Village. Ahh…another cultural highlight of the trip. The village consisted of a family of 15 with 20 cattle and lots of goats. They did not speak any English so we had a translator to help guide our discussion. We learned about their customs and religious beliefs. The children walk 8km EACH way to school every day…OVER A MOUNTAIN. Yeah, makes all my students who complain about taking the school bus seem downright discredited. The highlight of the experience was being allowed to enter the "kitchen" and share some homemade maize beer with the Zulu family. Upon entering, women had to move to the left and men to the right, as a custom of respect. From there we had to get down on our haunches in a circle and the cup as passed around. It was just an amazing experience that so few people have been able to experience!

Here I am sampling the Maize beer in the rondaval at the Zulu Village.


We arrived the Drakensberg at Didima camp and were treated to even more amazing scenery. It seems that each and every day tops the last…I don’t think I can say that about anything else I’ve ever experienced before. We are staying in chalets which look like they came straight out of a Dr. Seuss book! The views…oh the views….the best way I can describe it is that it looks a lot like Lord of the Rings. Mountains, valleys, gorges…with tons of baboons running around. I awoke this morning to the sound of a baboon hooting outside my chalet. Not a bad way to wake up! Yesterday afternoon we left our door wall open to get some air in, and we almost had a visitor; the large male baboon was lurking on our patio trying to get in for a snack. Keep all food out of site and keep the doors closed! Aside from sneaky baboons, it is such a peaceful, beautiful, relaxing place. We did another potluck dinner last night and then spent the evening watching The Rock while piling into a king size bed…. Definitely not a moment I thought I’d have in South Africa, but it sure was fun.

Here is a view of the Drakensberg from the patio of my Chalet.


This morning I was up bright and early (Thank you baboons and skylight coming into my chalet!), to head up to see the San rock art. The San people, as I mentioned in a previous blog, were the first people in South Africa tracing back to 4000 years ago. The Drakensberg is the only place in South Africa where you can still see their cave paintings. A group of 12 of us hiked up to see it this morning. It was a strenuous but rewarding hike! In addition to the paintings, the views were out of this world. Our guide took us to this cave outcropping where the paintings were. They were much bigger than I thought and still in really good condition. When we asked our guide how old the paintings were, he just said 1800, so we‘re not sure if that means 1800 years old or from 1800 (the San were still in the Drakensberg until the late 1800s) Either way, it‘s still old and cool. On the way back we stopped off at a waterfall and took a ton more pictures. It was a great way to start a Monday! This afternoon, after refueling from the punishing hike, a few of us headed to the Didima Rock Art Museum. Pretty interesting…lots about the San people and their beliefs and customs. The caves where the paintings are held are still visited today by Zulu and Xhosa healers because they are believed to hold spiritual power. The other highlight was the SHOPPING! Outside of the Didima museum was a local craft market full of any and every woven basket, tray, or wall hanging one could imagine. The best part was that each piece was made by a Zulu woman in the Drakensberg area and all the money went directly back to her. I did my fair share of supporting the local economy.

The San rock art that I hiked to!


Tonight we are having a Braai (South African barbeque) with the entire group. We did a massive shopping trip before arriving here in Drakensberg. I foresee an exciting and fun night! I’m sad to leave this beautiful place, but it’s off to Joburg tomorrow for three nights and then on to Botswana. I can’t believe tomorrow is the start of week 5. Time is just flying…I’ll be home in just over two weeks. Time to savor the moment and kick back on my patio, watch the sunset over the Drakensberg, and listen to the baboons. Life is good.

More Safari Pictures

Check out the BABY elephant rolling in the mud!!! Ahhh so adorable!

Zebras right next to the vehicle. The one on the left is a youngster!

Now THIS is how I pictured Africa!

The VonTrapped Family Singers in front of the "Hills are Alive" Sign at Hluhluwe!

On the next Mutual of Omaha: Animal Kingdom: On the Hunt for the elusive Lion!

The last two days of my life have been, in a word: SAFARITASTIC!! In a span of 24 hours, I spent 12 hours in a safari vehicle on the hunt to see the animals. We got incredibly lucky on our four, three hour safari drives. When we arrived at Hilltop Camp at Hluhlue Umfolozi park (the oldest in Africa!), we immediately booked our drives. My mantra for this safari trip was "well, I don’t know if and when I’ll ever be back on a safari in Africa, so I’m going to do them all!" Our accommodation was amazing - two bedroom houses with a living room, kitchen and a huge balcony overlooking the valley. On the way to the bungalow, while hauling all my stuff up a massive hill, we saw vervet monkeys playing in the tree. Crazy!!
Our first night safari drive started off slow…but our anticipation kept us all going. We were excited by the thought of seeing….something, anything. And we definitely didn’t know what to expect. I got to play "spotlight" girl and shine the light off into the bush to help spot the animals at night. I spotted a huge giraffe, and everyone got trigger happy with our cameras. Later on we saw a huge hippo right beside the road (probably 10 ft from the truck). He was out grazing, and not in the water. At our rest stop, I was trying to teach Kori how to clog, and then she started giving us some hula lessons (she’s from Hawaii), when one of our guides joined in and attempted to teach us an African stomp dance. He was laughing at our lack of rhythm, but it was definitely a fun moment. On the way back to camp, our vehicle came upon two male white rhinos walking down the middle of the road. They just strolled and took their sweet time, we following them for a good twenty minutes. When we got back to the lodge, we ran to the buffet dinner, as many of us did not each lunch and were starving by 8pm when we returned. We hit the hay early in anticipation of our 6am drive in the morning.
Oh the perks of getting up early. It was like Elk Patrol on steroids! At 5:50 am we departed and began seeing lots of deer - Kudu, Springbok, Dyka, Impala,etc. We got some close up views of the water buffalos (one of the big 5), but the best moment was to come. The sun had just come up and we were driving on this remote dirt road, when Mary in the very back of the vehicle (each vehicle holds 10 people plus the driver - 3 rows and 3 and the front seat - all open air), started whispering LEOPARD, LEOPARD, LEOPARD! Our guide threw it in reverse and there was a small female leopard about 20 ft away from the car. She stayed there posing for us for about 30 seconds, and I was able to snap a picture or two, despite the fact that she was partly hidden behind the brush. We were totally exhilarated and our guide told us we were very lucky because he’s only seen a leopard that up close only 3 times in the 5 years he’s been doing this. High off our sighting, we continued driving down the road when we saw the male leopard standing on the side of the road! We had a perfect profile view of the profile, but the ran way too quickly to get a good shot. I still can’t believe I saw TWO leopards on the drive! When we headed back to the main road, we turned the corner and were again treated to a lone hyena returning from his hunt walking TOWARD our vehicle. We all got some great shots and were once again exhilarated! Our final great sighting of our early morning drive was the herd of five giraffes right beside the road. We stayed there for a good 20 minutes just watching them eat and mosey around. They are such clumsy, yet graceful creatures. I think they might be my new favorite animal!


There's the leopard I saw about 10 ft away!

GOOD MORNING SOUTH AFRICA!! Early morning game drive sunrise

The hyena that walked TOWARD our car!

Giraffe Family!


When we got back, we bragged to the other vehicles about our leopard spotting - we were the only ones who got to see a leopard. Lucky us! We were so amped up from our drive that we decided we needed to book the 10 am drive (we got back around 8:30), so we headed back out to the bush for another three hours of fun. Heck, for $25 of 3 hours of driving looking for animals I’ll probably never see again in the wild…SIGN ME UP! The theme of our second day drive was :baby animals. We were on the pursuit to see Elephant and Lion (the rest of the big 5 we hadn’t seen), and were treated to more fabulous encounters. Baby zebra and mom right in front of the vehicle…baby giraffe and mom 50 feet out…and the best: family of elephants in a watering hole. The elephants…ahh I cannot say enough about the elephants. We spotted them from a distance down in the watering hole, and our guide, Xolani, put the pedal the metal to get us there in time. Chris, Jane, and I were in the very back of the truck and we hit a bump and got about 5 inches of air! When we arrived in viewing distance of the waterhole there were the five elephants: 3 adults, the baby, and the young adolescent frolicking in the water. Spraying water through their trunks, drinking, marching in line…and the highlight: the baby rolling around taking a mud bath. It was just such an awesome sight….every moment in the game reserve was just amazing! On our way back to camp, we saw more rhinos and water buffalos up close, a line of blue wildebeest, and a lone baboon sitting on a branch right next to the vehicle. The thing that really surprised me about all our time on safari is how unfazed the animals are by our presence; I’m sure they’re used to seeing the vehicles all the time, but it still surprised me. When we got back I crashed, and managed to scrounge up some real food, as I hadn’t eaten anything all day except a candy bar. Ahh Snickers bar: the breakfast of champions. We did a community dinner of grilled cheese, tomato soup, tuna fish, cheese and olives around 4pm and then we departed on our final night drive.
The night drive was in a word: COLD. The animals really weren’t out at all, but we did manage to see a ton of zebras right around our vehicle, as well as a mongoose. We had the same guide all day, and he knew we were on the pursuit to see a lion - the last of the big 5 we had yet to see in the wild. He tried really hard to deliver, and even took us down some forbidden roads with a lot of tall grass. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our night. I guess I always have to have a reason to return to a place, and for my African safari experience, I need to return to see a lion.
Our safari experience ended with a small group dinner in one of our bungalows. We all shared spaghetti and swapped stories ( a la college style). One of the groups had a giant bull elephant following their truck and he got about 10 ft away from them. Another group went on a hike with a guide and his rifle. They managed to get stuck between a confrontation between rhinos and elephants. The guide had the gun locked and loaded and had to scare of the rhino so they elephants wouldn’t charge. Crazy! The night ended with some star gazing a million stars with the milky way as clear as day, a beautiful view of the southern cross, and a wish on a shooting star. I think I might be one of the luckiest people alive….

A Few Pics

This is the security around our hotel in Umtata...electric fence and all.

The group at the Mandela museum

It was a tad bit windy on the Beach at Durban...

Mural from the Blue Roof Clinic - HIV/AIDS clinic in Durban