Headed back to Cape Town

Just wanted to update that I am currently at the Durban airport waiting for my flight back to Cape Town. We are just there until tomorrow. At 6pm, I board a flight back to the States. I have short layovers going home, so I do hope I make it. I had said that I didn't really care once I was in the states, but I am not sure that is true any longer. I am so ready to be home.

But for now, off to Cape Town. Patience.

The Workshop

After taking advantage of a free lunch at the conference, I went out on my own. This is not something that I am known for doing. As a matter of fact, I may have gone somewhere that my classmates haven’t been! You proud?

The Workshop is a “mall” in the center of the city. After having been to the Gateway “Theatre of Shopping!”, this was quite a stark contrast. It was full of seemingly locally owned shops with the exception of the cell phone places and a couple of what we would call anchor stores such as Pick-and-Pay, a local grocery store.

It was odd. All of a sudden and for the first time in my life, I realized that perhaps I was the only white person around. At that point, I looked around and could see no others. This didn’t affect my perception of my personal safety, but it caught me off guard. I think that what I found odd was that nobody around me seemed to care; that is I was not a spectacle to be looked at, I was just different and it seemed that only I was aware of it. That is not what I would have expected somehow.

I think that I must be shopped out because I bought nothing but a nail file (which I had previously been unable to fine in the small random stores around the hotel). This too is good.

Perhaps seeing the conditions at that “orphanage” has made it difficult to continue to seek out more “stuff.”

Who knows . . . .

Day Two of the Conference

This morning, I again attended two sessions. The first was Recasting Social Work: Human rights and political activism and the second was a group of four speakers discussing a range of topics.

Linda Briskman describes hereself as an academic activist in the Austrailian context. She spoke quick passionately about the current state of respect for human rights around the world, particularly in in a post 9/11 context. Being from Austrailia, she used examples violations as it related to asylum seekers. It was a real eye-opener to hear the stories of asylum seekers who would be imprisoned for indefinite periods of time, often years for no real reason. Once again, it was clear that my world is so very small compared to the realities that are going on around me. Again, I was humbled by my ignorance.

The second session included a discussion of attachment disorder and Employee Assistance Programs. Let me explain the format of the conference. Apparently, people are invited to submit abstracts of research or articles and if selected are allotted 15 minutes to present. Generally there are four presenters, following by a time for questions. For this session, two presenters did not show up so were heard about attachment theory and a discussion of EAP programs vs. Wellness programs and the confusion that is created between the two. I am not yet sure how the presentations are grouped because these two did not seem to related at all. Both were interesting, but with only 15 minutes, neither could be adequately addressed. Such is the life of an international conference I suppose.

Roma Revolving Restaurant!

On Sunday, Dr. Mannie had offered to have dinner with the group of us. Dr. Noel and I were the only ones from Sunday who took him up on it and then Pat Lager and Sally Mathieson joined us as well. We went to Dr. Mannie’s favorite spot to take visitors, the Roma Revolving Restaurant. The Roma is one of just 37 revolving restaurants in the world. It is on the 32nd floor. The interesting thing about this restaurant is that it was small and round with all the seating around the perimeter. Only the outside 12 feet or so moved; the center circle stayed in the same place. It was totally cool.

Dr. Mannie was able to take us up the stairs marked as the fire escape to the roof. Amazingly, I didn’t have my camera but hope to get back there to take pictures to share; unfortunately, tonight is not a very clear night. You’ll have to trust me that Durban looked like a huge, beautiful, urban city from the 32nd floor at night. We walked around and could see where McCords hospital was (marked by a microwave tower), 10 KM away and we could see the harbor. Simply amazing perspective of the city.

Oddly enough, none of us had noticed that Dr. Mannie had a signed placed over the table which welcomed his friends from Florida. We had a great time talking as old friends.

First Full Day of the Conference

Monday was the first full day of the conference. I attended two sessions; I attended a session with the parents of our keynote speaker followed by a session with a Professor from Howard University who discussed the role of the African American church in providing social services.

The first session with the parents of Anfani Okosun was very interesting. The father was the primary presenter and made it clear that he does not accept that his sons are gifted, geniuses or prodigies. He believes that they are the result of a thorough education that began in uterus. At the beginning of the forth month of gestation, he attached to his wife’s stomach wireless speakers through which a wide range of information was provided. It was fascinating to hear his “model”. Truly he has two extraordinary sons; I look forward to seeing how they plays out throughout their lives.

The second speaker, Charles Lewis, I believe it was was quite interesting. He discussed the history of the church as it relates to providing social services to local communities. The role has changed through the years in response to the ebb and flow of services provided by the government. It was a lively discussion with many being strongly opposed due to the lack of training on the part of such people while others were open to the fact that churches often represent otherwise untapped resources. Good balance and lots of respect. It was most interesting to hear the very common issues being raised through a variety of accents!

The Orphanage

When we arrived, I was introduced to Cindy, the one who had opened her home to the wounded children in the neighborhood. Currently, in her two bedroom home she lives with the 32 children for whom she cares. In 2004, she didn’t start out with the intention of opening her home to so many children, but as time went on, the need was so great.

This home was discovered by the daughter of a leader in the local church when she was interning giving immunizations in this community. Most of the children were running away from violently abusive homes. Today, I learned that there are over 500,000 rapes reported in South Africa each year. That is about 1 in 100 people, many children.

Cindy has been trying to support these children on her own. She cannot generally get a foster care grant for the children because she needs the "permission" of their parents who are often the perpetrators or or protecting the perpetrators. She can no longer work as she needs to be at home to care for the children and to protect them from predators who live very near to her house. As a matter of fact, one of the girls (her daughter, I think) was raped by the man next store; she is now infected with HIV.

This is a desperate situation, but not without hope. The church has committed to work with Cindy to help where possible. She is waiting to see if the government will provide a different home for her and the children, where they will be more safe from their predators.

Church is South Africa

This morning, I went to church here in Durban. When we visited McCords Hospital earlier in the week, I met Dr. Jay Mannie who is a Christian. When asked about a Christian church in Durban, he invited me to his church, which is part of the Reformed Church in Africa.

It was so good just to walk up to the service as the music was so familiar; it felt like home. There were a group of young people visiting the church who were on a mission trip from Ireland. The reality of the enormity of “the church” was simply wonderful to enjoy.

After Church, Dr. Mannie offered to bring us back to the hotel, take us out to lunch, or take us to a lunch at a rural orphanage. The social worker in all of us compelled us to go to the orphanage. it was an amazing experience

The Opening Session

This being the week of Nelson Mandela’s 90’s birthday, we together sang “Happy Birthday” to Mandeba (a term of honor to acknowledge the great work that one has been called to do since birth.) This followed the national anthem, of course, of South Africa.

I say, of course, because I am in South Africa, but I have to admit that I have found my world to be very small and very centered around my own experience. I don’t think that I am unusual in this, but I do think that by having traveled now, that I am more aware of it than I ever could have been otherwise.

The main keynote speaker was a 10 year old boy, Anfani Okosun, who is a second year Mechanical Engineering student at Purdue University. His topic was “Transforming Global Trends: The Challenging Role of Social Work.” I have to confess that I only understood a small portion of his one hour speech. I can’t even say that language was an issue as he was raised in the USA.

Then came the most moving speaker - a young man who lived on the streets of Durban, pleading for respect, to be seen as an individual. Probably not as impressive, but much more powerful.

Our Day Off

Today was our first day off really since we got here. We were supposed to have off last Thursday, but when the Robben Island was cancelled on Wednesday, I did that on Thursday. All that to say, we have had a full week and today was my day to regroup. For me, this couldn’t have been better timing. Last night, I was feeling kind of homesick. I realized that I haven’t ever been away from my own bed for over two weeks. We are now in our third week here in South Africa.

A group of us headed out to the huge mall - Gateway: Theatre of Shopping here in Durban. It has the largest rock wall in South Africa (maybe the world, an indoor wave for surfing and a whole bunch of theaters. You could spend a week there and not get bored. Keep in mind that I don’t go to the mall at home, but to be in a mall today, was so comforting to me. We even ate lunch at the mall - I had pizza that tasted like something I’ve had before!

With all the new experiences that I’ve had in the past two weeks, most good, some more challenging that others, I was so glad to be able to just relax and mindlessly take in a mall. Surprised even me how good that felt.

If you want to check it out, you can see all about it at www.gatewayworld.co.za!

Sunrise over the indian Ocean

I woke up this morning about about 5:20, my usual time in the States. Finally just after 6, I got out of bed, gathered myself and headed across the street for the beach to see the sunrise over the Indian Ocean. What an amazing experience. Can't exactly describe it, but you'll have to trust me it was amazing.

Adding to the glory of it all was a group of young Africans. As the sun was close to breaking the plane of the horizon, they gathered at the water's edge and were signing. To me, all African singing sounds joyful, so I didn't know what to think. As the sun rose, I realized that they had gathered for several baptisms. I asked one of the group to confirm what I thought was happening. Not wanting to be presumptuous, I asked if this was Christian baptism. She nodded, but I wasn't sure that she understood. As I walked away, I was near a young woman who had been baptized. I asked her if it was a Christian baptism and she said "yes", but with a question in her voice. At that point, I simply said, "Jesus!" to which she responded with a broad smile and clearly we had communicated.

What a sight to behold!

Pinetown Child Welfare Agency

This was the forth day in a row of site visits to agencies. We’ve been to a hotline for the abused, a child welfare agency, an emergency shelter for abuse women and children and today we saw first had what an effective community development program can do.

We traveled into the hills of a very rural community whose name I don’t remember where there were small cement block homes. This was a rural area where the homes were spread across the side of a hill/mountain. It was a treacherous dirt road for our 12 passenger and 19 passenger vehicles. We made it up and learned about the community.

This is an area that just got electricity two years ago. The government provides six kilowatts of electricity for free. After that, there is a prepaid card device installed in each home. They also now have water, although it is not running water. There is a 25 liter barrel near the house that fills overnight, very slowly. When that is gone, there will be no more until the following morning. This allotment applies regardless of how many people are in a home. The also now have outhouses; cement block structures outside their home. This is their form of progress - they received these “amenities” in 2006.

With agency goes into communities such as this and works with the Zulu leadership to understand their needs and to try to create relationships where they can work together to meet these needs. In the community where we visited, they provided adult literacy training. Along with this, they also provided training on various life skills where the community can begin to provide for itself. In the case of the Granny that we met, she had developed a relationship with a local church to which she could sell her beaded works. In additional, she makes candles for use in her home and the homes of others in the community. Also, they have begun to plant home gardens. The families can use the produce for their own use or for battering with those in the community. They are doing an amazing work, training up peer trainers (their version of train-the-trainer).

The process of building the relationships to even go into a community can take over 6-8 months. it is all about relationship. In addition to the community services mentions, they also try to provide training for family members who are caring for the orphaned children in the community, enrolling them in the foster care grant programs. It is a comprehensive approach to a desperate situation full of poverty. We heard a story of the Granny we met who was so proud that after the literacy training, she could go to the bank and she would be able to sign her own name.

All this can be done with between $25-$40K. Amazing.

The Women’s Shelter

After going to the Phoenix Center, we went over to a home that they operate. This is used for women (and their children, if needed) who are seeking safety. It is also where they care for infants who are “in the system”.

The day that we visited, there was a little girl who was being given up for adoption by her mom. In South Africa, a mothers has 60 days to reconsider their decision to give a baby for adoption. They don’t place the child in with the adoptive family until after this period has passed; they have had some devastating experiences including a case where the mom changed her mind at day 59, long after the baby was placed with the adoptive family. In this baby’s case, her dad had not yet signed so there were still some obstacles to be overcome as well.

There was another baby there who was less than a week old who had been abandoned in the bathroom of a hospital. There is a waiting list for people to adopt infants so as soon as some paperwork is completed, she’ll be matched with a family. There were three other children in this home that day. They were there seeking refuge with their mother.

They were all such precious children; it is hard to imagine where they would be were it not for this safe-house.

The Phoenix Child Welfare Agency

This was an amazing place. The work they do (or are committed to do) is just overwhelming. The Phoenix community within Durban is a historically Indian Community of about 800,000 people. This agency is “contracted” with the government to handle all adoptions of abandoned and orphaned children. The Agency also has responsibility for these services in two neighboring communities that include about 1K-2K people each. In addition, they do child protective services for the area and all foster care. The only exception being that they don’t do foster care for children over 10 with behavior issues; those are handled by the state. They also run group programs designed to education on issues related to abuse. They get into the schools and also run a teen program. All of this is done by 12 social work positions.

As we have observed in other settings, there is no way to really control the work that social workers do here. The Phoenix center has their office in the community where they serve so they have a lot of “walk-ins.” Once again, the caseload is often not as it appears and it seems that you tend to serve the needs of the family as a whole.

Add to large caseloads (120 or so per worker), this is a private agency which is only funded 70% through state support. They need to do fund raisers in order to be able to make it through the year. The nature of these fund raisers is simply amazing; the biggest fundraiser they do is a fair that runs for nine days, including two weekends. Just to give you an idea of the magnitude of this event, on one Sunday they have a party for the Children where children get in free. At the 2008 event, there were 2,000 children who showed up! In addition, they a Senior day for the older members of the community. An this isn’t their only event. I don’t know how they do their job and have the time to volunteer to make these events happen. This makes the foster parent appreciation dinner that I helped with look like a afternoon tea!

McCord Hospital Medical Center

We visited a local, private hospital that was established by a McCord who had been a Christian missionary. On the side of the building, there was a sign with the heading that said “Sinikithemba.” At the hotel restaurant this morning, I asked one of the servers who speaks Zulu what this meant. She said “always believe” and used the example that if you want to be a doctor, you must always believe that you will be a doctor. This heading was followed by a quote of Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Our focus was their HIV/AIDS clinic. We were told about the full range of services that are offered. They are doing an amazing work. Their focus is get people tested, to understand their diagnosis and then to accept treatment. The are involved in a lot of outreach to try to encourage testing. Currently, they do not hand out testing kits, but will go to groups such as workplaces and churches that invite them in to do a testing day.

There is a lot of counseling involved when there is a positive test. The primary issue is for people to understand the hope that they have in spite of their diagnosis. This is critical to successful treatment. Most importantly they prepare the people to disclose their status. As a matter of fact, they will not provide anti-retro virus medications to those who are unwilling to disclose their status; The concern is that this is a difficult disease to face alone and the likelihood of compliance with a strict regiment of medications is less likely if they have not disclosed.

Because this is a private hospital, there is a cost to these services. For an adult the “all inclusive cost” to being on ARV therapy is R140 per month; for a child it is R50 per month. If you cannot pay this, you are referred to a public clinic.

The (I think) Medical Director came and spoke with us. He has such a good perspective for a group of social workers to hear. He was a Christian man, which was revealed when he led us in a prayer before our meal. He was a very lighthearted man, not taking himself to seriously. He acknowledged this and said that he believes that we have to have balance in our lives. It was such a refreshing perspective in a land of such overwhelming need.

The Center for the Abused

This Center used bot be called, the center for abused women. Then they came to more fully realize that abuse doesn’t just happen to women. The sad thing is that funding is so very limited. They actually have a safe house for women that currently can’t be used due to a lack of funding. But there remains so much need.

They operate a hotline to deal with crisis situations. They work with people to make sure that they understand the legal process, primarily, exactly what it does mean to get an order of protection what we might call a restraining order.) Often the survivor (often called the victim) has no idea the process that they are entering with that first step.

We heard an amazing story of a woman who had been being abused for over five years by her son. She went to get an order or protection and met a counselor (all volunteers) who explained the process. She has now been a volunteer with the Center for three years. The skills she learned, particularly related to being empowered, enabled here to move ahead in a positive way. She has a relationship with her son, who has learned through her guidance, how to move past drug addictions. What a powerful testimony. And due to a lack of funding, they are so limited in what they can do.

Durban Botanic Gardens

Our last stop was at the Durban Botanic Gardens. It was beautiful, particularly amazing was the Lilly room. I just walked in and was overwhelmed with the aroma. It was truly amazing. I so enjoyed these times in Gardens. The awesomeness of the variety of creation is simply makes me feel apart of something much bigger than myself. The other amazing thing about these Gardens that this is a they are part of the public park system. Even though Tallahassee has a great park system, they aren’t flowered. There is something very special about the gardens.

Indian Market

The Indian Market is like an indoor flea market. It is a place that we were told to go right in the door and come out the same door. To use any other exit would not be safe. Before we went in, they took us by a Zulu animal parts store for the items to be used by the medicine man and the spiritual healer in a Zulu community. I chose to not look. It was very nasty, if you ask me.

We then were allocated 30 minutes to shop. I made my way to a specialty store on the second floor. I had told the guide on our safari that I needed a place to get my brother a good gift. He told me to go in there and tell the owner “Tim sent me!” I did that and the guy was great - actually somebody Jim would really like. He was great. Of course, they could all be in cahoots, but I think that I he was okay.

Golden Mile

This is actually, the golden six kilometers. Apparently, they didn’t think that sounded as good. Who knows. It is kind of a sad stretch. The North point is a casino. The south point is uShaka Marineland at the Harbor. From north to south it gets a little seedier as you go. Kind of looks like a 30 year old strip in Miami. There are a lot of street vendors along the beach side (hotels are all across the street from the beach) that used to be illegal. Now they are all registered. Guess that is better . .

Our City Tour of Durban

Durban is a coastal town with the most active harbor in the whole of South Africa. I imagine that it was once a beautiful city. But now, it is old and gray (of course it is winter here). I am not sure that the weather is really what I am talking about. There are between 4-5 million people in the Durban metropolitan area. Too many people. They have a huge problem with homelessness, which makes the streets not particularly safe after dark. Unemployment is about 30 percent in this area. Not hard to figure out what the problem is.

One of the contributing factors has been the move from the city to the suburbs (sound familiar). Especially now, with the internet and such, more people can work from home.

University of KwaZulu Natal

On Tuesday morning, we went to the University here in Durban. We learned that the University in its current for is only 3 years old. The former University of Durban was a university for whites only except that it had a medical school that was for blacks only. This arrangement was only allowed during the apartheid time through a special dispensation. The reason was that there was no other place for black to be trained in medicine. The former University of Durban Wastelands, was a University that was for Indians. (As you might recall, from our previous lessons, there are basically four recognized races here in South Africa: white, colored, black and Indian, with the colored being those of mixed heritage.)

Their educational systems is different from ours. The typical undergraduate degree is three years and professional degrees just add a fourth year to the undergraduate programs. This would include social work, engineering, accounting, etc. There are also post graduate degrees, but they are not “necessary” to work in what is considered a professional field.

Much to everybody’s surprise, we were all glad to be in a classroom. We have taken in so much information with little opportunity to discuss it (or process is as we like to say!) This time at the University included a little history of the University, as I have already outlined and well as some time interacting with students.

There is a student here at the University who is coming to Florida State for the fall semester. The two Universities have and exchange program agreement. More often it is students from FSU who benefit because the University here is unable to raise funds to send students over. Mthebisi (I think that is close) is the first one for which they have had funds. I spoke with three other students who, if they had the funds, would love to have the opportunity.

Mthebisi talked to us about what he has been doing as part of his field work. He is an amazing young man. He was assigned a caseload within a local “informal settlement”. These areas used to be known as squatters settlements, but that is no longer politically correct. (I have not been comfortable taking pictures of this, but Mthebisi had a powerpoint that he was going to make available to us, so I’ll be able to show you what we are talking about!) He was explaining to use how a small caseload quickly grows. He had a 14 year old boy who was only in the 5th grade, which is obviously very far behind. When he began to talk to the boy, he learned that his mother had AIDS and he was caring for her. She died of the disease with the boy in the room. There is no bereavement counseling for these children so they are just left with this grief. Since he has been working with this boy, his father has also died and he is living with an auntie who is also sick (with some other disease). His caseload may be officially few but it rapidly grows as he gets to understand the issues for the individual child. Now he is working to get the child into the foster care system so that he will be entitled to a grant - a subsidy - for his aunt to be able to care for him. There is apparently, not unlike Florida, a hesitation to put children into formal foster care due to the cost. The subsidy is almost R1,000 and there are estimated to be over a million children orphaned by AIDS.

While working in this same community, it was decided that they needed to begin working with the Grannies, the old women who are taking care of grandchildren because their children have died from HIV. They meet with the Grannies every Friday and talk about their needs. Out of this, they learned that these women can make jam. When asked what they needed to get started, they simply needed fruit and sugar. Now the women (along with the students, I believe) are making jam and are able to sell it. They are trying to find new avenues to sell it, perhaps through a local school or church. It is fascinating to see the creativity that these students bring to the process.

It was interesting to hear of some of the issues to establish a social welfare system post apartheid. First of all, all governments functions had been divided by race. So there was a state department for social welfare for blacks, one for whites, one for coloreds and one for Indians. This was true on many levels. Of course, under apartheid, the majority of the resources went to the whites, although they account for only 10% of the population. One of the Faculty members here indicated that there were 17 agencies that had to be combined. so now, you have virtually the same resources and need to serve 10 times the number of people. In the whole of South Africa, which as nearly 50 million people, there are only 13,000 social workers. Do the math. It is not a good situation, especially if you look at the extreme issues that they are facing.

It was interesting to hear them talk about their excitement over the expanded Social Security system, but they are already talking about the lack of money to meet the needs. Understanding that I was talking with Social Workers, they seemed excited to see evidence of South Africa’s move towards a welfare state. I almost wish they would slow down and ask us how welfare is working. I am sure that we can all learn something.

Back to Durban

The 2+ hour trip back, might have been uneventful had it not been for one girl. She calmly came to the front of the bus to ask if there would be a bathroom stop. She was told that we hadn’t planned on it, but that if we needed on we would stop in about 25 minutes. She smiled and thanked him and returned to her set. Not two minutes later, she came back up front to ask if there was some place closer to stop. She was told that there wasn’t, but that we could pull over if she really needed. She smiled and thanked him and returned to her seat. Again, within a couple of minutes, she was back up front telling all that she couldn’t wait and needed to stop. When told that it would only be 10 minutes or so, she said she would try, but this time, she decided to stay standing in hopes that would help. It didn’t. Within a minute or two, the bus pulled along the side of the South African highway for a 21 year old, American women to pee.

Shakaland

King Shaka was an amazing leader of the Zulu community. It is an amazing story. Shakaland was built in the mid-80’s for the making of a documentary. It was decided to leave it there as a living museum. The land is part of the Zulu property, but it is run by a hotel company that pays a “concession” to the Zulus. In addition, they employee Zulu members to work there and also have contributed a lot to the building of roads and schools.

This was a very odd experience. I have been to places before where they were re-enacting an earlier period from history. In this case, it was like watching a community in a zoo. The people were playing the rolls that, as I understand it, they live out in real life. There were girls there who balanced jars on their head, old women weaving mats, men tailoring garments, people stringing beads, and other activities. Nobody there seemed happy to be there. They would never get hired at Epcot.

The only people who seemed to enjoy what they were doing were the people who demonstrated the various tribal dances. The power was overwhelming. It was very fun to watch and their athleticism was quite impressive.

As we left, we all kind of agreed that it was kind of uncomfortable peeking in on their way of life. We figure that is must be what they need to do to survive, but it felt like they had sold their souls. The only thing in the States that might be comparable was visiting a reservation. I recall the same discomfort when Christopher and I went on an airboat ride in the Everglades. They were selling all this stuff were told had been made by the indians themselves. Who knows. I just made me kind of sad.

The Tree Lodge

The Tree Lodge is located within Ubizane Game Reserve. The room were individual cabins that were up on stilts. The idea is to allow the animals to walk under the units. It works! As I walked back to my room, I had to stop as two Impala’s crossed the walkway. Later, we could see two impala’s butting heads from the back porch.

The other neighbors included Monkeys. They were so funny. At dinner, I learned that while touring the place, Jim and Martha Pitts left their patio door open only to return to find a money on their bed. Our guide for the two day adventure told us that while on a cell phone, we wandered from his room, leaving the door open. When he returned, he found that his room had been ravaged by a group of monkeys. Everything was pulled out and dumped. He was so very thankful that he had not left his bag open!

When we returned from dinner, our room had been prepared, with the covers pulled back and the mosquito net let down. It was the kind of place that many of the twenty-something women talked about hoping for such a place to which to honeymoon! It was really cool.

Hluhluwe Game Reserve

On Sunday morning, we were to meat at 6:30 a.m. to head out on our 3+ hour drive to the Hluhluwe Game reserve. Leaving the hotel became quite the adventure with two girls oversleeping and then one of them got trapped in her room! Security had to come up and do “something” to get the door open. Once we got going, it was a wonderful day. Let me tell you about it! (That is why you are here, isn’t it?)

When we arrived at the Reserve, we split up and loaded into 3 4x4’s and then we headed out. Within minutes, we spotted Zebra’s (contrary to popular believe, Zebra rhymes with Debra!) followed immediately by Giraffes! It was spectacular, although I had to laugh; within minutes, we were saying, “Oh, it is just a giraffe!” Imagine that we got

As we moved on, we saw many hippopotamuses (just so you know, I was able to spell that without spell-check) and well as impala, something called Nyala (both male and female), vrener monkeys. Ours was the only group to not see an elephant. The other groups were boasted quite a bit, sharing videos with us that night.

I quickly found out what it the expression means when you say that someone can’t see the forest for the trees. As we were riding along, we were all so focused on trying to find animals that I almost failed to notice how stunningly beautiful the entire place was. It was huge. It reminded me of driving through Yellowstone with Christopher. The enormity of it all was just as impressive as the specifics. What an amazing opportunity!

Then, on to our “hotel” . . .

First Impressions of Durban

We have only been in Durban for a few hours. We arrived at 2:30 on Saturday, left early Sunday and just returned at about 5:00 this evening. We aren’t off to a particularly good start. To begin with, we were clearly told that the area was safe to walk around during the day, but not at night. At night we would walk around in large groups or request that a security guard accompany us. To reinforce this “warm” feeling, we were instructed to put all of our valuables in a security box on the first floor. In addition, we were told to always drop our key at the reception desk. The keys are “regular” keys, not the electronic ones and they have the room number as well as the hotel name on it. They want the keys left on site in case our belongs are stolen when we are out on the street. Comforting, wouldn’t you say?

In light of this information, some of my classmates went and bought locks to lock their luggage in their room. Well, today we returned and two of the girls had the lock off their luggage broken off and their luggage was gone through. I didn’t do this because I feel to lock it up is to tell the world that I think that I have something they want. I just leave my suitcases wide open on the extra bed! The girls are thinking is that they were looking for passports which are a very valuable possession apparently as nothing else was missing and some valuables where clearly found, but left. Fortunately, we were well advised to lock our passports in the security box for safe keeping. Nothing was lost, except that the comfort level was further diminished.

Apparently, the issue is that the housekeeping staff are not employees of the hotel. Therefore, they are only provided keys to the rooms that need cleaning. Therefore, it has been decided that we will all go without housekeeping services unless we are in the room. It does appear that things are safe here, except for your belongings. It is our understanding that people don’t get hurt, they just get robbed! (That makes you feel better, right Mom?) I’ve told my classmates that I feel quite secure as my clothes aren’t anything anybody would want and I keep all my gadgets locked up. Besides, this is a great excuse to skip going out at night, which I prefer not to do anyway. After about 8-12 hours with everybody, I am ready for some alone time!

Flight to Durban

Normally, I wouldn’t bother to mention just a flight from Cape Town to Durban, but this was a unique experience. First of all, the customer service agents at the terminal were all sitting down. (We had found this to be the case with cashiers in the grocery store as well.) I took a picture in case my brother Jim wants to bring this to the attention of management at USAir! The actual flight was fun because the stewardesses (and I call them that for a reason) reminded me of what you found in the States in the movies of old. They smartly dressed women. Add to that, on a two hour domestic flight, we got a meal! Can you believe it? Many of my classmates kept talking about how much better South African Airlines was than anything in the US!

Boring Update

I just wanted to let you know that the Internet is not as convenient here in Durban. Furthermore, I am leaving in the morning (very early - 6:30!) for a safari! There is a possibility that we will be able to see all of the big five! For those you not from South Africa, that would be the Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Lion, and Leopard. I'll be sure to let you know!

Have a great day and look forward to waking up on Tuesday morning to more exciting news from the adventure of a lifetime!

Blessings!

Judy

A Very Long Day . . .

On Friday, we went on a structured tour. I am not even sure that I can remember all the stops that we made along the way. I do remember stopping at Maidens Bay, the Marina, Cape Point, Cape Hope, the Penguins, and the botanical gardens that was all before dinner. Then I adventured out an ate at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant! What a day - this is definitely geared towards the energy level of a 24 year old, which I am increasingly aware that I am not! I'll probably do a separate page for each venue so that I can include a representative picture for now, let me just give you some of my overall impressions.

It is interesting to me what post-apartheid South Africa looks like. I have to be generous because new South Africa (as some call it) is just in its teens. The United States is over 200 years old and we are still battling some of the very same issues. Having said that, I am constantly amazed about the ease with which they speak of race. There are generally recognized to have four races: whites, colored (mixed race), Indian, and Black. As we have been driving around South Africa, I have been amazed how easy it is to point to a community and say "that is a colored neighborhood". Or in one case, they were talking about the area down by the marina which had traditionally been all white, but since apartheid, a settlement had been established. This is back to those make-shift communities made out of random scrap metal, often without electricity. That is what he points to to show that they have integrated. Of course, he adds that the values of the houses had decreased in value by 50% because they now had a "poor neighbor." If found the use of the word neighbor interesting because it was as if the entire black community were an entity rather that a population of people.

The natural beauty in South Africa is just overwhelming; it is all so majestic! I can't imagine that people can't see the creator behind all of this. There is no way that this is anything but intentional and, oh my, the creativity, it has to be an awesome God! Okay, enough. The range of experiences has been incredible. I saw some of the most beautiful coast lines, mountains, while also seeing Whales, baboons, as well as various varieties of antelope and this all before the safari!

Today is a kind down day as we just travel to Durban. Can you imagine that I could use the word "just" when speaking of going to another city in South Africa? Amazing!

Ethiopian Dinner

After this full day of seeing the cape, we, of course, had to eat. Okay, so I am not very brave when it comes to “foreign” food, but I am trying to experience as much as possible while I am here. Friday night was probably the best example (and you thought that Ostrich was adventuresome . . .). Let me tell you about Ethiopian Dinner.

First, we all selected a dish. There were nine (around two plates) of us, so we worked to ensure that we all got something different. Before being served, our server came around with a pitcher of warm water and poured them over our hands for use to wash before dinner. When they brought the food, they served half a portion of each of the nine dished on each of the two plates. From there, we all used this spongy kind of sour dough bread to pick up some of the food to eat.

This picture is what our plates looked like. Imagine four or five people picking from this with a piece of bread. It was so weird, reaching across, literally to grab a bite to eat. As if that wasn’t weird enough, there aren’t words to describe the various tastes that I experienced. Tastes and textures that I don’t think were mean to be experienced.

I am glad I went (I guess), but it isn’t a place that I’d go back to under normal circumstances, as if there is ever a normal circumstance that I’ll ever be in South Africa again.

Botanical Garden

Anybody who knows me know that I do not have a green thumb, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate the beauty of a well maintained garden! What beautiful sights to behold at Kirstenbosch. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate and we were cut even more in our time to appreciate all they had to offer. I just spent a few minutes trying to take it in when it started to rain. The guide indicated that you really need to dedicate a full day to see them all!

These gardens are located in the same area where the embassy homes are located. It was an exquisite (Can you tell that I am running out of adjective) neighborhood.

By this time, it is after 5:00 and we head back to the hotel. We passed by the monument to Rhodes, of Rhodes scholar fame. He is the one who created the De Beers diamond monopoly that keeps diamond prices high. He owned an amazing amount of land in South Africa. Having never married and having no (known) children, he left everything to the state.

Hmmmm . . . what to have for dinner? How ‘bout Ethiopian, whatever that is!

Penguins

Would you have ever thought that there would be penguins in South Africa? Me neither, but there are Africa Penguins, formerly known as Jackass Penguins. I can tell you that they really do make a braying sound. I have a video of them that I’ll post when I get home. For now, you’ll just have to take my word for it.

They have kind of an interesting story. First of all, did you know that all species of penguins all live in the southern hemisphere? I didn’t, but according to the guide that is the case. Anyway, penguins apparently typically live on islands and this breed did too. Then, there was an attack of seals and they were practically killed off as a species. They, without human intervention, relocated to the mainland where they are today. Somehow they knew that they needed to relocate in order to preserve their species. Pretty smart, huh?

At some point earlier on the tour we had heard that the various breeds of antelope only breed if there are predators and sufficient food. They seem to instinctively know how to preserve their species and, unlike us, they follow those instincts!

Okay - On to the botanical gardens!

Cape of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope used to be called else (which escapes me except that it had a negative connotation.) Someone decided that maybe there would be few shipwrecks of they renamed it something more positive. So it was named, Cape of Good Hope. It worked! Shipwrecks went down! They usually fail to mention that at the same time there were many navigational improvements and related documentation that more likely account for the reduced number of accidents.

Once again, it was spectacular! (Are you getting tired of this theme? Too bad!)

Okay . . . Off to see the penguins!

Cape Point

Cape Point is amazing. There I had my first encounter with Baboons! Cape Point is part of Table Mountain National Park. As we were driving up, we saw a Baboon along the road. When we got to the destination, they were literally all over the place. The guide spent quite a bit of time telling us of the guidelines should a Baboon jump us. The primary point is that they will steal your food right out of your hand.

The first order of business was to get lunch. The only option at this park was a small convenience store with “those” sandwiches. We all were in the store and someone who was ahead of me and had already gone outside to eat, came back in with “A baboon took my sandwich so I need to get another one.” She was sitting along a wall and a baboon came out of nowhere and snatched her unopened sandwich. She was stunned. I later learned that another in our group had his cookies stolen as well. As a result, we all ate as as fast as we could, huddled up against the wall of the store, looking out for baboons. So what did you do on your summer vacation?

At this same place, I took my first ride on a funicular. This is a two car mode of transportation for getting up a hill (in this case). It is kind of cool. Only one of the cars had a driver and the other car moves based on a pulley system. When one goes up, the other comes down. They use the same track, but in the middle, there is a split in the tracks for one to go to one side while passing the other. I was quite fascinated by this and much preferred it to walking, thank you very much!

The view at the top was (again) amazing. I could have (but chose not to) walked further up to a lighthouse. The interesting thing about this lighthouse is that it was built at the top of this mountain and not very close to the coast. As a result, it didn’t really work very well and another one had to be built about halfway down the mountain on the point side.

Another interesting fact to know about Cape Point is that some want to believe (and their printed material suggests) that this is the point where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet, but it isn’t. That point is actually at Cape Agulhas National Park.

Then on to the next stop - - - Cape of Good Hope

But before we got that that, we were driving along the coast and our driver spotted two Right Whales just off the shore. (I am not sure that he should have been looking for whales while driving, but I’m glad he was!) We stopped and watched them for quite some time, seeing their fins and an occasional blow out their hole! The guide indicated that this was very early for them to be here. Usually, they don’t appear until possibly as late as September! He said that he could say for certain that we were the first tour to have seen them!

Hout Harbor

This was a gorgeous harbor with some beautiful boats. This area had, during the apartheid days had been all, rather affluent whites. This is the area where a settlement was built that lowered the property values. No matter that these people are living in total poverty and stand on the street corner hoping to be hired for the day. The going rate for a single day might be 100 Rand which is about $14US. Imagine getting someone to do yard work all day for just $14. Amazing.

At this point in the trip, the guide also explained that the average farm worker might earn R940 per month. That would be less than $140, but he would also be provided accommodations, of what type, I don’t know. (As you might image with the dollar being equivalent to 7 or 8 Rand, South Africa is one of the most economical international programs available these days!)

Back to the harbor . . .
Along the edge of the docks, there was an open air market where a variety of good were sold. This was not at all unlike the Green Market in the center of town. It was interesting that as we approached, the guide explained that the vendors expected us to bargain. He said that the way you could tell if an offer that was not accepted was unreasonable was to walk away. That is, if you walked away and your offer was close, the vendor would pursue you. If they didn’t, you know your offer was too low. It was an interesting process. For example, there was something that I wanted to buy that I was told would cost R80. I hesitated and she quickly lowered it to 70 and then to 60. I had determined that I wanted two, so I offered 80 for two and she declined. Even though I really wanted them, I started to walk away and she quickly followed with a “just for you” acceptance of my offer. I immediately knew that my mother would be so very proud of me!

From there we headed on to our next stop - - Cape Point.

Maidens Cove

Maidens Cove was our first stop. This is an absolutely amazing site. Behind us were the twelve apostles and in front of us was the ocean. Twelve apostles, you ask. Well, this is actually a mountain range with 12 peaks, the first being the end of Table Mountain. It was an incredible sight, as you can see.

From there we headed on to our next stop - Hout harbor.

Robben Island

The visit to Robben Island was amazing. I guess it is most amazing when you consider that it all happened within my lifetime. It is actually almost shameful.

We got there by taking a boat (obviously) over from Cape Town. It was 11 km and we rocked - literally! The boat that we took was an original boat that was bought by a politician of the day and named after his wife, Susan Krueger. I believe that it was to bring both prisoners and well as the workers at the prison.

Then we loaded a bus; a bus that was also used to transport prisoners. All the tour guides are men who had been prisoners. Shadrak, the guide on the bus, was amazing. We has able to identify ways that each of the countries represented helped in their fight. He didn’t disclose much about his personal experience, which made his joy even more astounding. We traveled around the Island and learned of his history.

The island was used before apartheid. It was used during the World Wars to protect Cape Town and it was used as a leper colony. He explained how the men and women were kept separate because it was believed that the disease would be transmitted to a new baby. In spite of their efforts, 41 children were born, free of leprosy. They were immediately taken to the mainland to be adopted. He explained the process of doctors from various countries contributing to the cure with such hope that the same thing will so happen for HIV/AIDS. There was a leper grave site full of people who were forced to be buried away from their families.

We also spent a lot of time hearing the stories of the work that the prisoners were forced to do; work that had no purpose other than to break their spirit. They would be forced to move limestone from one end of the query to another. The mined limestone for 8 hours a day for five days a week. The limestone was used to used to build the roads. They were required to go into the freezing water to pull out bamboo. We were told how they would move whole piles of sand from one place to another only to move it back to the original spot the next day.

Then we toured the actual prison. The tour guide had spent five years imprisoned. All he would tell us is that he was arrested when he was 16 for being a student activist. He celebrated his 17th birthday on the way to prison. Oh, there was still such pain as he spoke. As he put it, his experience didn’t end when he was released. At the same time, he talked about seeing former guards on tours and the decision to forgive. It certainly put a whole new perspective on what forgiveness and reconciliation really mean. It was a very powerful experience just to hear him talk.

Our guide, whose name I don’t remember except that it means “Shepherd”, told a lot of details, without going to far. The conditions that he was describing were painful to even hear. We saw the cell in a section for leaders. where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 years. The space was two by two and a half meters. Very small. They all slept on pallets that weren’t much more than a half-inch thick. Eventually, the International Red Cross was able to fight on their behalf to get cots.

Total Bust? Nope!

Some might have thought yesterday would have been a total bust.  It was cold (high expected to be 51), damp, and rain off and on all day.  Terrible weather that caused our tour of Robben Island to be cancelled.  (As you may know, Robben Island is where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner for so many years.)  Well, when you are in a totally new place, nothing is really a bust because everything is a new experience.

We headed out and went to the African Women's Trading Market.  This is a storefront downtown that is kind of like a flea market with individuals having their own space to sell their goods.  Some really beautiful stuff and very interesting people who are willing to talk with you.  That may have been because there were not a lot of customers due to the weather.  

From there, we walked over to the Green Market.  The Green Market is very similar except that it is all outdoors.  It is on a cobblestone square in the middle of town.  Apparently it has a history of being used to exchange good when ships came in to Cape Town.   It is kind of amazing.  The people come and set up this area every day, not unlike the flea market, but they also take down the infrastructure (the skeleton on which the tents are built) of the each day.  It is an amazing process to watch.  Again, there is a range beautiful good for sale.  It seems as if in both places there are people who buy and re-sell goods from across Africa.

We were caught in a huge down pour while at the Green Market.  While others headed off to a museum, I headed back to regroup.  For me that turned into some playing on the computer, taking a nap and watching a movie I had downloaded from iTunes before I left.  Interestingly enough, the movie was Amazing Grace, the story of William Wilberforce's work to see that the slave trade was abolished in England.  I am counting that as part of my educational experience in South Africa if anybody asks!

For dinner we went to a game restaurant called Khaya-Nyama, which means "house of meat".  We all have been very brave in our eating over here. I had a game kabob that included Eland, Ostrich, and some other deer-like animal.  It was an amazing "presentation".  Everything was great.  That dinner cost the equivalent of $13.  Simply amazing.

Walking around Cape Town

Cape Town is not unlike a lot of urban cities during the day.  There is a lot of bustle and activity.  It looks similar, but I am not sure that it really is.

We have been advised, especially at night, to walk in groups, never going out alone.  On Monday night, with a group of seven, we were approached by a young man who stroked my arm and said "Yo Mama, Yo Mama".  I ignored him and he soon left.  Another in our group tried to engage him in a discussion encouraging him to move on.  That was totally ineffective.  Ultimately, this only ended when she abruptly told him "NO" and we crossed the street.  

We had a couple in our group who last night were approached by a man.  They gave him their leftover dessert.  He wouldn't leave them alone, wanting to get her purse.  They ultimately ducked into a restaurant and called a cab to get back to our hotel.

The Director of International programs who is with us this week, relayed a story where he was approached by someone who asked for money.  He said no to which the young man responded, "it is better for me to ask than to steal."  Not a very welled veiled threat.

I feel safe.  I am not inclined to even make eye contact, let alone engage in any conversation.  As one of my classmates (Kelso) said, "It's all about attitude."  Those who know me, know I can do attitude as good as the best of them.

Hope Worldwide in South Africa

Okay, I have been totally humbled.  Yesterday we visited a branch of Hope Worldwide South Africa which was located just outside the city in a little township.  As far as I can tell, a township around here are makeshift "houses" that have been built out of spare materials.  Generally, these people were black and were forcibly relocated to this "township".  Actually, where we were, the people were relocated in 1985.

I was humbled, not only by the conditions in which people were living, but also by one man in particular.  He is a 26 years old and has an amazing passion for providing a positive role model to young men.  He is a part of a singing group (and has been since 1997).  All of these men have committed to providing after school in the middle of this township.  They talk to the kids about gender roles and other issues that may well be missing in these children's lives.

The organization which employs this young man is Hope Worldwide of South Africa.  This agency has historically been funded by USAID to work with HIV/AIDS prevention, primarily through abstinence.  In addition, with other funding, they do provide counsel about safe sex and the use of condoms.

One of the main programs that HOPE offers used to be called (and remains based on) Men as Partners program.  The idea here is to teach men a different way to treat women.  The goal is to raise up men who will promote gender quality and family health, not a usual role for African men.  The passion with which these men work is amazing.  One man sounded like a preacher as he described the work in which he is involved.

I think that I was most humbled by the group of young men who, of their own initiative, have taken on this responsibility to train up the next generation of African men to make for a new South Africa.  The one with whom I spoke, works for HOPE from 8 am until 4pm, works at the center with the youth (which is not a part of his employment), from 4-6 in the evening and then he rehearses with his musical group until 8 pm.  (I recorded the group performing and I will upload it when I get back to the States.)  He is a passionate, devoted man who has done more for his community at age 26 than I suspect that I will ever do.

I always have a hard time going to places like this.  The dogs that are around give me so much perspective.  If I saw a dog in the states in the condition I saw yesterday, I would be appalled.  Here, when you see children in the same condition standing around, I have to admit that I don't much care about the dogs.

The City Tour!

I'm going to correct it, but the fact that I though it was Sunday July 5 should tell you how confused on days we all are.  I think it is that 16 hour flight that messes you up.  I left Tallahassee at 7:00 on Friday morning and arrived in South Africa and was at the hotel at 6 pm (local time) on Saturday.  It is hard to adjust to the fact that travel took two days!

Yesterday was the day of for the city tour. We were supposed to travel up to Table Rock, but we are still enduring cold, rainy, and overcast days.  (Brings back fond memories from Cleveland!)  

The city tour started out by visiting the Slave Lodge.  This is the oldest building in Cape Town and was used to house slaves of the Dutch East India Company.  This building is now a museum.  It was astonishing to see the realities (as much as you can from history) of slavery.  In addition, there was a exhibit regarding the women's movement in South Africa.  All I can say is that those were some tough women!

Before I go on with the day, let me tell you how museums and such are different here.  They are much less glamorous and they don't have printed materials!  As a result, you are victims of my poor memory!  I certainly tried to take in as much as possible, but there are limits!

From there we walked through the company garden, around which are the presidents house and Parliament building.  It was amazing.  Being the simple ones that we are, we were almost most fascinated by the squirrels!  They are huge (we suspect that this is because it is early winter and they have fattened up in preparation!), but more than that, they act like puppies, coming up to you as if you have a treat for them.  Obviously, they are fed often by passers by.

From there, we loaded the bus and rode up to a mountain (whose name now escapes me).  Unfortunately, just as we arrived, the rains poured down.  On the way up, we could see the construction of the new stadium being built for the Soccer World Cup to be hosted here in 2010 (I think).  From this mountain, they continue to sound a blast at noon each day.  Originally, this was used to notify farmers that the boats had arrived so that they could load up and bring their goods for sale.  As the population spread out, there became a series of blasts throughout the land to spread the news.  

After a ride along the beautiful coast, we came back to the city and learned the history of the District 6.  In Apartheid, they separated the communities by race.  The District 6 was prime property by the water so it was set aside for the whites.  They forcibly removed people from this community and tore down the homes.  Because it was such a brutal act, it was difficult to find people who wanted to live there so much of the land is still vacant.  The government is to repaying those who were displaced either by building them a home back in the District 6 or by giving them money. It is a very slow process.  Can you imagine that politics gets in the way?

From there we toured the Castle of Good Hope.  This is a pentagon shaped building set on what was once the waterfront.  It was never attacked (due it part to its shape) except that the British fired a practice round from a neighboring mountain and hit the castle.  Oops.

One of the challenges is listening to the tour guide is that South Africa is totally metric!  They did this at some point in order to be separate and distinct from England!  If it weren't for the Director of International Programs, Jim Pitts, who is traveling with us and is able to convert virtually everything on the spot, I would have no idea about much of anything!  Thanks Jim!

Today we are off to visit an agency.  (That's a teaser to get you coming back tomorrow!)

Hanging Out - Shopping!

Good morning!  Actually is it just 1:30 am back home.  Very weird, seven hour time difference!

Well, it never did get much beyond rainy yesterday, but we made ti work out just fine.  After breakfast (a full breakfast which is included with the cost of the hotel), I solved the problem of electricity to stay online, for which I am very thankful.  From there, we took a cab down to the Waterfront.

About the cab, it cost us 35 Rand to get there and 45 Rand to get back - either one didn't know the most shortest route or meters run differently.  I must get the name of the first company.  This one was called by the hotel staff whereas to return, we were at the mercy of whoever was sitting there waiting for an opportunity.  There were five of us for the ride and that is the total ride cost.  Just to give you an idea, it is about 7-8 rand American dollar so both ways, cost us just about a dollar each.  Pretty nice for door to door service, especially when it rains.

At the Waterfront, there is a very western-style mall (I wonder if you are from South Africa and travel to the US if you say that there is a very South African style mall?).  It was huge and had everything you might imagine.   The one thing that made me laugh was that there was a Woolworth's!  This was not your mother's Woolworth's (nor mine!).  This was like a JCPenney.  I was able to get a nice jacket to deal with the drizzly weather.  Weird to see the prices be 299.00.  That converts to about $25 dollars.  

I don't really notice too much difference between me and my classmates, despite the 20+ year difference except that they have SO much more energy.  I haven't walked a mall for 4 hours in I don't know how long.  I was worn out and they didn't even go back to their rooms before heading back out to an Internet Cafe (I access the net in the lobby of the hotel.  So glad I brought my laptop and don't always have to go outside in this weather.)  I skipped dinner as we didn't have lunch until late, while they had dinner downstairs and shared a bottle of wine.  Oh, to be young again . . . actually, no thanks.

On today's agenda, we have orientation at 10:00 and have a private city tour for the afternoon.  I am looking forward to that as, with the way these cabs go, I can't figure out the city at all.  I guess that is the way my mom feels when she says that every time we go someplace, I go a different way!  Sorry mom.

It is cold and rainy again this morning.  I am pretty easy with it all, but some of my classmates are very frustrated. Kind of interesting to watch.  If you think about it pray for the three classmates whose luggage didn't make it.  It is interesting to see how each of them handle it - one girl, Christine, just takes it all in stride and is kind of fun about it.  I so appreciate that example.

About that Plane Ride . . .

Traveling here went really well.  I left out of Tallahassee on time and made my connection in Atlanta without incident.  From there I went to JFK in NYC.  I was astonished that they didn't have wireless Internet throughout the airport.  Can you imagine that Tallahassee Regional is ahead of JFK International?  Who'd have thunk it!

So I am in JFK for what seems to be hours (because I got there at noon for a 3:35 flight).  Finally I found one person who was on the trip with FSU.  I found it odd that I am naturally so ignorant to what people do;  I kind of looked at everyone who appeared to be 20-something and wondered if they were with my group as I couldn't imagine why others would be going to South Africa!  Such a narrow view.

About 30 minutes before the flight we found each other; there were 12 of us on that flight.  It was fun to be able to start to get excited with others who had the same anticipation.  Then there was "the flight".  We flew from JFK to Dakar, Senegal.  We arrived at 4:00 am local time which was midnight our time.  Our departure time from there was to be 5:40, but they didn't let us off the place.  Instead, we watched as the security came in and made sure that every bag in the cabin belonged to one of us.  Then they searched the plane.  I mean they searched the plane.  I had no idea that all those seats were really just Velcro-ed together and could be pulled apart.  So hear we are, in the middle of the night, watching these people searching up and under and in all of our seats.  It was quite fascinating.  

My western arrogance clearly came into play as I wondered why they would do this.  After all, the security in the US was thorough and didn't allow anything dangerous on the plane.  Didn't they trust us?  It finally dawned on me that other countries don't trust us any more than we trust them.  Okay, I admit, I'm slow, but it was the middle of the night!

The next thing that was odd is that after they closed the doors, they announced that the government of South Africa required the the plane personnel provide two empty cans of bug spray.  Apparently the government of South Africa wants to be sure that flying insects don't hop the flight from Senegal to South Africa.  So, the flight attendants walked up and down the isles spraying this bug spray so that we had empty cans to present when we arrived in South Africa.

It was a little disconcerting when we were taking off from from Dakar, they announced that our time in the air would by eight hours and twelve minutes.  Did you hear that - over eight hours.  Keep in mind that it was that long to get to that point.  There was a collective moan at that point.  

Amazing, I slept probably 7 of the 8 hours.  I love Lunesta!  Sleeping so much makes an 8 hour flight quite manageable.  The sleep was also aided by the fact that I discovered that if I lifted the arm rest almost all the way up, that I could put my pillow on it and it really was pretty comfortable.  Only took me about 12 hours in the air that day to figure that out!  Again, I am not to quick to some things.

So we made it.  I am glad that I have three weeks here before I have to do that again.  I suspect that by that time, I'll be ready to get home which will make it tolerable.

Made It!

Well, I arrived on schedule last night.  Dr. Wilke was kind enough to have come out to greet us.  That was a great relief as there were 12 of us on that flight, none of whom knew what we were doing.

After much discussion and waiting, Yakiry and I decided to take a cab to the hotel, while others decided to wait for the shuttle.  That decision got us to the hotel about an hour before everybody else.  The hotel, The Cape Diamond, is really cute.  Cute because the rooms are really small with few amenities, but it has a good shower and that makes everything else okay as far as I am concerned.  When we walked in, we had a shock as there was a king sized bed.  I didn't know if I knew these people well enough . . . but much to my relief, remove the bedspread and it was really two twin beds, made separately, pushed together!  Whew!  That was one stress removed.

Dinner last night was awesome.  We walked as a group of 10 (we lost the UPenn folks for the evening) to a recommended restaurant called Five Flies.  Notwithstanding the name, we walked in and felt very underdressed!  It was a wonderful meal - much above what I am used to.  I ordered a two course meal (as did everybody else) which included the main course and a dessert - one must have their priorities!  I chose Ostrich!  It was really good.  I highly recommend it!  The dessert was amazing chocolate creation with almond ice cream.  It too might be worth a second visit. 

Assuming that I successful find a power adaptor, I hope to update this every morning, since appears that I get up before most of my classmates!  I am going to publish now.  I may update this for the delightful 16 hour flight details, but I am about out of batter!

Looking forward to going down to the Waterfront for the afternoon.  I need for the rain to stay away, if you are inclined to pray!

On My Way

I am at the Tallahassee Airport in total amazement that I am on my way to South Africa.  I love this part of the trip, because I am checked in and if I forgot anything, it simply does not matter; I can't do anything about it now!

This trip is such a blessing.  I am so thankful for the opportunity, not only to learn about social work in a totally different environment, but also for the break that I hope this trip provides.  These past 6 (now almost 7 months) have been hard.  This week has been one of the toughest.  But things are at a point where they should be settled down for a while and I can press pause on things for 3 weeks.  My prayer is that I would be able to be in the "here and now" while I am in South Africa, totally immersing myself in all there is to experience.

Of course at the moment, I am more than tired as I only slept about three and a half hours last night.  I was so hyped that I just didn't want to go to bed.  Then I woke up at about 3:20 a.m. (alarm was set for 3:45) and felt ready to start the day.  My dear friend Connie arrived at 4:50 and we headed out.  

Can you believe that I am on my way to South Africa?

All I can say is "WOW!"