As I sit in my new office (we moved...or rather, I moved, with the help of a hired truck owned by Jesus. Who knew that being a volunteer required so much manual labor. At least I can tell you first hand that Jesus came to the rescue. :) ) in the Indian part of town, where you can buy a samosa on every street corner, and there are too many different kinds of curries that purport to be from the motherland, I realize that I have less than 1 month left to enjoy the South African summer before my visa expires, and I have to declare political asylum in a third world country for fear of returning home. (that's the politicized part of my subject...) Political leanings aside, I'm sure all of you will be embarrassed to know what is being said here about the result of our illustrious elections. In the cities, the newspaper headlines are posted on street poles to entice people to buy the paper. On Nov. 4, 2 prominent headlines read as follows: "Bush Wins - Guns, Gays and God Swung It" "US Gives World Finger" I have been having a fabulous time travelling lately.
For 3 weeks inAugust and September, I travelled to rural Mozambique (wheremosquitoes outnumber people, deadly snakes abound, and I was given atent to sleep in), the most popular holiday town in South Africa along the Indian Ocean coast, and Cape Town, for work. I have been interviewing our fellows, people who have innovative and highly impactful social development projects, to assess the possibility of partnerships with the private sector to benefit the poorest of the poor. And, I got to go to some pretty cool places to do it!
And then, Mom and Dad Shah came to visit, and in less than two weeks,we managed to visit relatives, lions, baboons, whales, penguins,dolphins, Nelson Mandela's prison cell, the Indian and Atlantic Oceans and, because for some unfortunate reason I felt this was important, various social projects around the country, the grime and dirt of Johannesburg's inner city, a single parent with HIV, and the ritziest shopping complex in South Africa. After nearly 30 years of marriage, at least I know they will have something to talk about. :)
As a last hurrah for my roommates and I who have been living together since January, we took a weekend trip to the Kingdom of Swaziland, hoping to meet the king and his 17 wives. Instead, we amused ourselves at a "foam party" held at 1 of 2 clubs in Swaziland (which, incidently, is one of the best venues I have ever been to... go figure) and had a run in with a busload of french tourists who insisted that the Swazi craft vendors speak to them in french. The obvious language for a rural swazi woman to know. The upside to that was that when I negotiated with them in Zulu (very similar to siSwati, their language), they were so excited that I got some real bargains! Luckily for us, with 5 people in a Toyota Tazz (about the size of the old hatchbacks), there wasn't enough space to take stuff home.
Otherwise, I have been applying to graduate schools for next year, planning a trip to and around India this winter with some friends,and generally running amuck.
For those who celebrated this past weekend, Happy Diwali, Sal Mubarakand Eid Mubarak. Enjoy the winter. Don't worry, although it is summer here, it is ridiculously hot most days, with no air conditioning, fans, and cold water that never quite gets cold enough.
For 3 weeks inAugust and September, I travelled to rural Mozambique (wheremosquitoes outnumber people, deadly snakes abound, and I was given atent to sleep in), the most popular holiday town in South Africa along the Indian Ocean coast, and Cape Town, for work. I have been interviewing our fellows, people who have innovative and highly impactful social development projects, to assess the possibility of partnerships with the private sector to benefit the poorest of the poor. And, I got to go to some pretty cool places to do it!
And then, Mom and Dad Shah came to visit, and in less than two weeks,we managed to visit relatives, lions, baboons, whales, penguins,dolphins, Nelson Mandela's prison cell, the Indian and Atlantic Oceans and, because for some unfortunate reason I felt this was important, various social projects around the country, the grime and dirt of Johannesburg's inner city, a single parent with HIV, and the ritziest shopping complex in South Africa. After nearly 30 years of marriage, at least I know they will have something to talk about. :)
As a last hurrah for my roommates and I who have been living together since January, we took a weekend trip to the Kingdom of Swaziland, hoping to meet the king and his 17 wives. Instead, we amused ourselves at a "foam party" held at 1 of 2 clubs in Swaziland (which, incidently, is one of the best venues I have ever been to... go figure) and had a run in with a busload of french tourists who insisted that the Swazi craft vendors speak to them in french. The obvious language for a rural swazi woman to know. The upside to that was that when I negotiated with them in Zulu (very similar to siSwati, their language), they were so excited that I got some real bargains! Luckily for us, with 5 people in a Toyota Tazz (about the size of the old hatchbacks), there wasn't enough space to take stuff home.
Otherwise, I have been applying to graduate schools for next year, planning a trip to and around India this winter with some friends,and generally running amuck.
For those who celebrated this past weekend, Happy Diwali, Sal Mubarakand Eid Mubarak. Enjoy the winter. Don't worry, although it is summer here, it is ridiculously hot most days, with no air conditioning, fans, and cold water that never quite gets cold enough.
