Destination: South Africa

February 19, 2008: Day 28?

Ok, today is the first day that we have been in Cape Town, South Africa, and I love it here, just as I knew I would (thus far, of course...)! But, to go back in the past a bit, the night after my last post we had another ballroom dancing session, which was walzting this time, and I had soooo much fun! I already know the waltz better than some people because I've learned it so many times in cotillion and my college dance classes. So, I was much more confident in what I was doing, and, therefore, having much more fun! I'm so glad that things are going so much better. It makes me happy :-) Oh, by the way, we have suffered 5 time changes since we left Brazil, which occurred every other night, and on the last two nights, consecutively, which was a-w-f-u-l and very hard to get used to. I haven't gotten much sleep/very good sleep because I don't want to go to bed/can't go to bed that early (yay homework) plus the fact that the ship, when the waves are particularly large, likes to push me up and down my bed, which makes sleeping properly a challenge. I'm confident, however, that I will become used to it sometime soon. The next night (yesterday) we had another ballroom dance session, and this time it was cha cha, which I have already learned as well, and that was so much fun. I really want to dance so much more, but it's just really hard to afford lessons... bleh. Anywho, then we had pre-port, which was by far the most boring pre-port ever, and I don't think that we even had an interport lecturer this time, just a South African student, so we all missed Javier that much more. Mauritius probably won't be much better, but it's cool. I never seem to meet these interport students—I swear they hide on the ship or something :-P Hmmm... Oh yeah, I went with Caitlin and Michael (Teneya would have gone if she didn't already have to do something else) to World Religions, a casual discussion on religions, but we're obviously stuck on Christianity because that's a huge part of American culture—so many people seem to be Christians or have Christian influence. That's ok, though, because we had an awesome 2 ½- hour conversation between 6 people about if and why we believe in God, and various other subjects, and I love explaining why what I do works for me. Then, we went up to the 7^th deck bar for some snacks, but the grill was closed (we really wanted pizza because dinner was disgusting) so we ate cup of noodles and froze outside until we were finished, talking (this is me, Caitlin, Teneya, and Catherine at this point). We had planned on sleeping outside under the stars to wake up to see the sunrise in the morning as we entered Cape Town, so we stripped our beds, bundled up big time (it was reeeeally cold outside), and settled on the port side of the 7^th deck. The sky was so clear and it was so interesting to watch the stars sway side to side as the ship moved—obviously, we were the ones moving, but it felt like the stars were instead. I could see the Southern Cross, which was cool, and we were all so wide awake (Teneya slept til 3 pm! She had been sick) that we stayed up until 3:30 am, freezing our butts off, and breathing in the good old salty air. We were being so loud and annoying, I hate to say it, because we were all so excited, so we kept waking up the other people on the deck... :-/ But, it was great fun, and three other people joined us. Then, Caitlin and I were so positively sick of freezing that we went back to bed for about an hour, and got up at 5 am to get back up on deck to watch the sunrise. Everyone came up there, it seemed, and it was really neat watching us come in, but I was soooo tired. Sleeping for an hour and half and that's it just isn't good for oneself. I hate to sound jaded, but the sunrise was not at all as beautiful as everyone had hyped it up to be—I was disappointed, and I appreciate those things more than some people seem to :-( Oh well. I was so tired/hungry/weak that I even got really nauseous for a while, which was awful. Thank goodness it went away. But, before the sun rose completely, a whole bunch of people came out with their African drums and started drumming out a beat as we approached land. It was sooo cool. Plus, some people right next to me played Lion King's "Circle of Life" song, which was awwwwesome (haaaa you ain't gonna get me onnne catbury egg? lol), so that was great. Then, we had our diplomatic briefing, and one of the American foreign ambassador people talked about the really bad HIV/AIDS issue in South Africa, and how the US has given S.A. millions of dollars to do this program that we devised, not the South Africans, to help the AIDS epidemic from continuing to spread, which stresses: abstinence, the use of condoms, and being faithful to one partner at a time. Clearly, the US does not understand African culture, because it does not work like ours does (as in, that program would come much closer to working in America than it ever will in Africa). Let me explain: Africans have more than one partner at one time, for starters. That's just the way they are, and to ask them to stay faithful is just silly because that's just who they are. Secondly, they're not going to employ abstinence. I know in one culture, you as a citizen of that ethnic group are encouraged to test out the waters with other people before you get married. That's kind of a taboo in the US, but we're not talking about the US here. I don't know how Africans would feel about using condoms, so that one I can't say much about. However, this woman said that they were making lots of progress in the program, but then contradicted herself by saying that progress has been really slow. If you want to make a difference, you cannot just go into someone else's country and give them advice/tell them how to fix a problem if you don't even know how things work in their land, because not every culture is the same. It's so near-sighted and I'm sick of the American approach to things like that because it a. doesn't work b. makes the subjects angry/apathetic to such motives and c. wastes away even more of our tax dollars.... Anyway, I really disagree with it, and if we really actually cared, I feel like we would have taken into consideration the fact that they're different from us, whether we like it or not, and cater to that difference to make a difference in whatever it is that us help-happy Americans are trying to solve. Anyway, then Caitlin and I showered and went out into the great unknown of South Africa. We walked 20 minutes in the direction of the Green(street?) Market and asked 5 people on the way how on earth to get there, until we finally arrived. The malls in Cape Town in the tourist section, by the way, are soooo much nicer than the one in Kennesaw, oh my goodness... I went grocery shopping there and got lots of snacks (I think I need to buy more lol) and then we arrived at Greenstreet Market—it's an open-air market with lots of awesome African stuff!!! :-D I wanted to buy everything... I got lots of stuff. The rand (their unit of currency) is worth our dollar divided by 7—the best we've had yet, so everything is soooo cheap for us. Yessss. The people here are so nice and helpful, and Table Mountain is such a sight to see. You all absolutely have to go there someday. One guy walked me at least 5 blocks to get to a taxi, and he was talkative and friendly, and I was 100% sure he was expecting money, but when we reached a taxi, he walked off before I could even offer money! He was so, so nice! Then, I ran to the ship to drop off my stuff and grab my ticket for the city orientation I did today (thank goodness that I made it just in time!) because I'm missing an FDP for my Art and Architecture class in India, so to make up for it, I have to write a short paper about the art and architecture I saw, but it wound up being decently enjoyable. We stopped for tea and scones, which was cute, and sat with two very nice and friendly girls from Cornell. I took a good deal of pictures, which was enjoyable, so I had a good day. I feel so bad for one of my friends, though, because her account got tapped into in Salvador, and she only has $3 left in it!!! I'm so sad for her! That's just terrible! The crazy thing is that whenever I was around her in Salvador and she got money out, there were guards around! :-( Hence, I shall definitely be using cash as much as possible, and only use the ATMs around the touristy areas near the wharf. Those are safe, I am told. But, we were going to go to a jazz club and dinner, and I want to pay for everything, but she won't let me. I want to go, and I insist that she come too, so hopefully she'll give in :-) I want to cheer her up about it, anyway. I really hope things work out for her as far as that goes. Well, that's all for now! I've got Habitat for Humanity tomorrow, and then hopefully high tea for $13 at the Mount Nelson (affectionately referred to as "Nellie") and Table Mountain. Table Mountain was closed today because it was too windy... I hope I'll be able to go up there sometime while I'm here. Well, that's all! Mucho amor!

<3,>

**Update**: Caitlin and I went to the waterfront (you basically step off the ship and you're there—it's so nice; everything's right there) this evening to enjoy some South African jazz music. So, we first went to this one place that I'd read in the travel book that said it was good, but there was only one guy playing guitar and the rest was synthesized stuff, and she wanted a real band, and I thought, "Good point," and so we went to another place that proved me wrong about first impressions... it looked to me to be about as respectable as a Three Dollar Cafe, and maybe an IHOP, from the outside. It's called the Green Dolphin, which was another turn-off, but once we stepped inside—lo!—(haha) we beheld an entirely different scene than we expected: it was actually a really nice atmosphere, like one from Buckhead kind of nice, and a jazz trio was playing live. Caitlin and I were like, we wanna sit in view of these guys!!! So, the hostess tried to work with us and sit us upstairs, but you couldn't see them at all, and I really wanted to videotape them... So, Caitlin and I decided to wait until a table opened up on the floor so we could see these guys play, and right as we were descending the stairs, the other host told us that he had a two top just for us, quite literally in the front row! We could touch the stage without any effort whatsoever from where we were sitting. It was ssooooo cool. We definitely got what we asked for :-) Caitlin was having a bad day, so I bought her a glass of wine—she had a shiraz and I got a pinot-thingy (pinotate??? pinote? I don't remember lol, but it wasn't a regular pinot), and hers was definitely better. She knows wine much better than I do. Anyway, we sat there, feeling all sophisticated in our awesome tunic-shirts (I just bought mine today—the lady called it a kimono, but it's a shirt that's like a kimono. It's so unique, I just had to get it, and she hand-made it. I bought a "kimono" from an Indian woman in South Africa—that just strikes me as interesting, and I like it) and drinking our red wines with the jazz band playing in the background... it was cool. My wine was gross but oh well. We stayed for about 2 hours, and it was quite enjoyable. I got one glass of wine (plus the one I bought for Caitlin), a braised lamb shank (it was soooo good!), some Amarula (that stuff is amazing, I have discovered), the entertainment fee, the tip, and the dessert (Caitlin's paying me back half) for only 357!........ haha, just kidding! That's actually what I paid in rands, which means I spent about $50 on a very good meal—I had a great time and finally relaxed, so it was totally worth it. I ran into my Transcendentalism professor and his wife, there, too, so that was cool... It's funny how one can easily escape one's professors and classmates, but as we all live together, you cannot get away from these people. For example: I'm used to having that "wall" between me and my professors where it's really awkward to be forced for conversation in the hallway or something like that, but here, your professors and staff join in on the dances and ship activities, so we call all our professors and superiors by their first names. We're all familiar with each other whether we like it or not :-P Well, something that's not good is that somehow my knee got hurt while I was walking around town today (which is surprising because the sidewalks and roads are in as perfect condition as those in America) and it gradually got worse to the point where I couldn't straighten/lock my knee without it being painful. This is worrisome because I'm supposed to be doing Habitat for Humanity. I'm icing it right now, so hopefully that will help... :-/

Mucho amor,

Michelle

February 20, 2008: Day 29?

Hello all,

Today was wonderful. I woke up at 7 am and Caitlin and I got breakfast before

we parted ways on our separate adventures. I don't remember what she did, but

I went with a group of people through SAS to a township, where we helped build

a house for this sweet older Khosa woman through Habitat for Humanity. It was such an awesome experience. I was kinda disappointed when I didn't get a township visit, but now I know that this was much more meaningful than a visit would have been, and I am so glad that I got to do it. The children were so sweet and the people we worked with were so nice. The shacks these people lived in are dilapidated tin houses that are smaller than trailer homes, and are probably extremely hot in that African sun thanks to the metal. The most amazing part about it, though, is these people are genuinely happy with life, especially the children. If you took their pictures, they loooooved to see themselves on your camera screen. I even let a few kids take pictures with my camera. There was one very little boy who gave hugs to every single person in our group with a huge smile on his face. It was so, so heartwarming. I kept almost tearing up... I realize that I might not have mentioned the fact that in both Brazil and South Africa, the people really do not like it when you take their pictures without asking. I don't like this because I love candid shots, and of course, when you ask, people strike a pose, and that's not nearly as meaningful. But, I want to be respectful, so if they're within "asking distance," I make sure to do so, but secretly I just want to take their pictures without permission. Oh well. Anyway, there was one little boy who kept wanting to try on my sunglasses, so I let him, and the second time I did it was lunchtime, so I went to eat and came back and he was gone, so I accidentally gave him my glasses, but it's fine—even though I use them a lot, it's good not to be selfish. But, what really made me feel annoyed/sad was when he asked me for more sunglasses when God knows where the other ones wound up a few hours later, and I told him I had no more, and then he asked for my hat, and I told him no: it just made me sad that he completely missed the point of me allowing him to keep my sunglasses and just wanted more. I know he's a child, but it's too bad that he couldn't appreciate my gift (of sorts) :-( poor kid. Hopefully he'll learn someday... Anyway, the future homeowner made us such a nice little lunch with this interesting rice-like side dish (rice-like in that it has the same consistency and was pure white) that was interesting and very fine—I think it was some sort of vegetable meal. It was good. I got lots of good pictures throughout the day, which was awesome. Then we cleaned up and left—it was such a great experience... I just got back from watching the sunset on Table Mountain, and it was unbelievable—even though there was a whoooole lot of pollution, in this instance it is strangely both a good and bad thing, because if there wasn't pollution today, it would be too windy to use the cable car to go up (and there was no way I would hike up because of my knee and because I hate hiking/I'm lazy), but pollution is a bad thing and it also prevented us from seeing the city as well (and who doesn't like a nice, clear day for nice, crisp photos?? I sure do!)... But, the sunset was fantastic nonetheless, and was a very enjoyable experience. The moon was spectacular as well and the city lights were sparkling down below. Wow. Now, as I have no one else to go do stuff with, I am about to find myself at the Green Dolphin yet again and I'm going to hope that I will run into someone who wants to do something else—not that I don't like the people I'm going with—it's just I already went there and I have a very limited amount of time in Cape Town and I want to do as much stuff as possible. But, that's quite alright! Things tend to work out for me, so I just have to hope :-) Much love,

Michelle