Picture a city at the southern point of a continent, nestled between a crashing sapphire surf and fierce, sheer cliff-faced mountains. Picture white and butter-coloured houses splashed with vibrant pink, red, and purple from the hibiscus, frangipanni and other flowering bushes that line the streets. Imagine a lively, bustling downtown and a beautiful waterfront lined with restaurants and serviced by water taxis. Imagine a population of interesting people from all sorts of backgrounds, wandering down streets chock full of little alternative stores, restaurants and galleries. Imagine miles of coastline populated by whales, sharks, seals and penguins. and then wake up and realize its all real!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Welcome to Cape Town.
I decided to visit Cape Town after finally getting everything settled and unpacked in Manihca, just in time for the school vacation to start, leaving me with nothing to do for two weeks. Things in Manhica are working out very well, i have absolutely fantastic neighbors who take care of me completely, and the volunteer program in Manhica provides me with many lovely friends to hang out with when my Portuguese falters or when I need a break from the Mozambican lifestyle. So I packed up my house and went first to the beach in Bilene, a guy from the same exchange program as the one in manhica was passing through and needed a place to stay so he kepped at my house and mentioned that he was going to the beach on Sunday with some guys he met at the hostel and would I like to come? We've been through what I say in every similar situation, :P so on Sunday I visited the ever incredible Bilene, this time without search boats and police! I was graciously invited to eat a fantastic meal at my new friend Rui's family's beautiful house, and I took the first hot shower of my trip since Swaziland. Totally amazing!!!!
The guy who stayed at my house, Freddie from England, and I slept at our other new friend Mauro's house in Maputo that night, and for the rest of my week I house hopped and ran errands while visiting the orphanage in Museu every day.
The majority of my kids from Laulane are still in Museu, and it was totally amazing to visit them, I didn't even realize how much i missed them! And how they've grown, especially Chertan, my baby boy. He has three teeth now and is almost walking, I hold his hands and almost cry every time he smiles at me. What a heart breaker! I took a video of him playing in my capulana that I show to just about everyone, the picture of one of those annoying moms who is always shoving photos of her kid under every one's nose.....
I would have left earlier than when I did, but my organization had take my passport to immigration to get me a new visa. Without telling me. Or giving me the receipt to show to the police if they demanded to see my passport. My headache from this program grew exponentially, erasing all traces of happiness I was feeling after seeing the way the program in Manhica works. I also received the information that AJUDE is not going to pay for my living costs in Manhica. Estoy harta, realmente harta. But more of that later. Right now Im in Cape Town, and life, is very, very good.
I took a bus early Saturday morning from Maputo to Joburg, the most cost effective manner of crossing the border, to fly from Maputo to Johannesburg, a flight of only 45 min, can be almost as expensive as the fourteen hour flight to Europe. Go figure. Anyways, I bussed for eight hours and arrived in the Joburg train station right on time, though I am a bit sad, I splurged and spent an extra ten bucks or so to take the bus with air con and a bathroom on board, but it was just as grimy and run down as the normal bus.... :P oh well! Upon arriving in the train station, I bought a South African Sim Card and asked several different people how much I should be paying for a taxi to the airport. They told me that I shouldn't be paying more than 50 Rand, but maybe I misheard, because when I asked how much it was, they said 250 and refused to budge. So I was in a bit of a pickle. What to do, pay the 25 US dollars to the thieving, conniving drivers, (the safest, quickest way to the airport), or spend more time looking for another way. I went inside and asked two security guards if there was any public transport available and they said yes of course, and it is eleven rand, but its not safe for me to walk from the bus station to the combi bus stop. So I went back to the taxi drivers and asked me if they could drop me at the public transport and they told me they didn't know where it was............................................................
Having already met several unpleasant people from South Africa in Maputo and at the beach, I was a little worried that this was how my whole stay would be, but thankfully I was totally mistaken. I went back to the security guards and told them of my plight, and soon came up with a plan. They would walk me to the public transport for 40 rand, the equal of about 4 US. I said great, and we set off. Joburg is a bit crazed at the moment, everywhere you look there is construction being done for the World Cup that will be held here next summer, and it really is a huuuuuuge city. Also, unlike still-segregated Cape Town, there are actually Native Africans living in the city.... What a concept. My only complaint about Cape Town is that it is so white. When Apartheid pushed all the Blacks out of the city proper, small communities were formed that are called townships. And now in the post-Apartheid era there have been a lot of community development projects in the Townships which have served to tighten the bonds between people and create the kind of neighborhoods and little village-like communities that would never be possible in the city, so one has to wonder if it isn't better this way. Or would be better if the living conditions were a bit more equal.
So they took me to the airport and everything went smoothly, plane ride uneventful, and then I stepped off of the airplane into the cold. It's COLD here! sometimes. at night. when the wind blows. Its about 75. POINT BEING, I'm not used to being chilly!!! how strange!
Stranger still is this city. A world city, I am back in San Francisco, really, this place reminds me of nothing more than a big, tropical San Fran. Its absolutely stunning. Since arriving I have met a pair of traveling Danes with the same names as my Danish friends in Maputo!!! Weird. I also stayed at literally the coolest hostel EVER, gone kayaking in the bay where I saw three Southern Right whales, two mating, a leaping, crashing, noisy and fun-looking experience, and one lone male almost close enough to touch, gone on a train down the point to walk on the most beautiful beach that is full of penguins, hiked Table Mountain, wandered around downtown, gotten three cartilage piercings, a rook in my right, and a tragis and normal cartilage in my left, and gone out to some great clubs with some fantastic people. I do love to meet people when travelling, they are just every sort........ So cool.
I've also decided that while one day wandering around in bookshops by myself is fun, I really do prefer traveling with someone else. When traveling I just think of so many things, and when im alone ive no one to share them with. Its also amazing to travel with people you have just met, interesting, eye opening, and surprising. Very bomb.
Well, that only takes the tip off the iceberg, but I'm sitting in a lovely neighborhood now and my tummy is rumbling, so I'm off to get some sushi!!!!!!!!!
love love love
allie
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Small Town in the Big Africa
So here I am in lovely Manhiça, population 5 if you dont count the cockroaches, a few of whom are large and intelligent enough to be considered for the census. xD
Just kidding, it´s a very nice little town and its honestly a pity that I cant put pictures up (though I might this weekend!!!) because I could show you my nice little house.... And the pictures from ponto douro.......
A couple of weeks ago I was crouching on the sidewalk (i was tired and its too dirty to sit down) and an interesting-looking dude with curly hair in a ponytail passed by. I smiled and he waved and we got to talking and it turns out his name is Giuseppe (guess what his nationality is!!!! Come on, take a keap xD) from Italy, and he´s working for the Italian government doing desenvolvimento, which is a clever portuguese word that is bandied about all the time but has yet to be properly defined for me in any language. It´s sort of like progress and it´s sort of like developement and it´s sort of like globalization but not any one of these things exactly. Desenvolvimento covers everything from trade relations with the west to agricultural non-profit organizations setting up sustainable farms in rural areas. Anyways, Giuseppe did desinvolvimento work at the local hospital, accounting and bookeeping for their medical goods department, kind of a funny occupation for a hard core rock fan with multiple brightly coloured tattoos.... But hes a gem, and one afternoon over coffee in downtown Maputo he mentioned that he was going to Ponto Douro (point of gold) over the weekend and would I like to come? Well everyone knows what my answer to would you like to come hang out on a splendid and world famous beach for a few days would be. So on Friday I packed my bag and met him at his beautiful house in Matola, a city-suburb just north of Maputo proper. He and his friends that we went with, except for one who is doing voluntary work at a dance school, earn decent Italian salaries in Mozambique, and it was totally bizarre to be around people with disposable income after months of scrimping volunteers!!! They certainly live a different lifestyle than I do....
But they were all super nice and we had a fabulous time bumping along the sandy track that is the main road to Ponto.
The beach there.... is rather beyond words. At sunset there is a sort of pastel glimmer on the water that is so pretty it seems nearly unreal, and at night the stars seem to continue directly into the sea. In the day its even better, the water is just the most perfect shade of turquoise, the water is not to warm though the current is VERY strong and definitely to be watched out for.
So I beach bummed and thought about colleges and took in the sun and didnt get any tanner barely at all even though I didnt use a drop of sunscreen..... I really do have the strangest skin....! And then. On sunday morning at seven, a group of about twelve people got on a boat and went out to swim with dolphins, but we couldn´t find a single pod.
Instead, I swam with three different, beautifully, majestically and totally awe-inspiring whale sharks, or basking sharks. These filter feeders are known for their gentleness and mostly for their size, they are the largest shark in the ocean, and the ones I saw were not an inch under twenty to 25 feet long.... I really have never seen anything like it.
In less exciting news, I am finally moved in and almost entirely unpacked, I will start work at the schools when the holidays are over in fifteen days, and in the meantime I am thinking of going north... At least to Bilene and perhaps to Inhambane and maybe Tofo, but I dont know when I will get a long break like this again and am considering going all the way to nampula and the ilha de mozambique to visit some friends..... but I have other friends going north a bit later so I may just take my two week vacation to travel with them. we´ll see. I have become involved with an exchange program taking place between mozambique and England, 8 vols from the UK and 9 from here, they are doing community developement projects and all have work placements and live with host families. The level of organization is astonishing, they are more than supplied with support and rules and regulations and activities..... and yet I am starting to see the other side of the coin. Yes, there are some serious and basic problems with ICYE and AJUDE that need to be dealt with, but on the other hand, the complete and total freedom we ICYE moz vols are blessed with has been shown into sharp relief here. They are not allowed to do basically anything without group consent, are not allowed to travel or do anything on their own, and can´t really even leave Manhiça at all. I know that I would be totally stifled under those rules, and I am beginning to gain a different perspective on our program in Maputo.... Hmmm........ Oh africa, the place of my deepest and most convoluted thoughts.
However, my thoughts will shortly become much more convoluted if I dont eat something, and I am perilously close to being late for lunch at a friends house, so more later, much love
allie
Just kidding, it´s a very nice little town and its honestly a pity that I cant put pictures up (though I might this weekend!!!) because I could show you my nice little house.... And the pictures from ponto douro.......
A couple of weeks ago I was crouching on the sidewalk (i was tired and its too dirty to sit down) and an interesting-looking dude with curly hair in a ponytail passed by. I smiled and he waved and we got to talking and it turns out his name is Giuseppe (guess what his nationality is!!!! Come on, take a keap xD) from Italy, and he´s working for the Italian government doing desenvolvimento, which is a clever portuguese word that is bandied about all the time but has yet to be properly defined for me in any language. It´s sort of like progress and it´s sort of like developement and it´s sort of like globalization but not any one of these things exactly. Desenvolvimento covers everything from trade relations with the west to agricultural non-profit organizations setting up sustainable farms in rural areas. Anyways, Giuseppe did desinvolvimento work at the local hospital, accounting and bookeeping for their medical goods department, kind of a funny occupation for a hard core rock fan with multiple brightly coloured tattoos.... But hes a gem, and one afternoon over coffee in downtown Maputo he mentioned that he was going to Ponto Douro (point of gold) over the weekend and would I like to come? Well everyone knows what my answer to would you like to come hang out on a splendid and world famous beach for a few days would be. So on Friday I packed my bag and met him at his beautiful house in Matola, a city-suburb just north of Maputo proper. He and his friends that we went with, except for one who is doing voluntary work at a dance school, earn decent Italian salaries in Mozambique, and it was totally bizarre to be around people with disposable income after months of scrimping volunteers!!! They certainly live a different lifestyle than I do....
But they were all super nice and we had a fabulous time bumping along the sandy track that is the main road to Ponto.
The beach there.... is rather beyond words. At sunset there is a sort of pastel glimmer on the water that is so pretty it seems nearly unreal, and at night the stars seem to continue directly into the sea. In the day its even better, the water is just the most perfect shade of turquoise, the water is not to warm though the current is VERY strong and definitely to be watched out for.
So I beach bummed and thought about colleges and took in the sun and didnt get any tanner barely at all even though I didnt use a drop of sunscreen..... I really do have the strangest skin....! And then. On sunday morning at seven, a group of about twelve people got on a boat and went out to swim with dolphins, but we couldn´t find a single pod.
Instead, I swam with three different, beautifully, majestically and totally awe-inspiring whale sharks, or basking sharks. These filter feeders are known for their gentleness and mostly for their size, they are the largest shark in the ocean, and the ones I saw were not an inch under twenty to 25 feet long.... I really have never seen anything like it.
In less exciting news, I am finally moved in and almost entirely unpacked, I will start work at the schools when the holidays are over in fifteen days, and in the meantime I am thinking of going north... At least to Bilene and perhaps to Inhambane and maybe Tofo, but I dont know when I will get a long break like this again and am considering going all the way to nampula and the ilha de mozambique to visit some friends..... but I have other friends going north a bit later so I may just take my two week vacation to travel with them. we´ll see. I have become involved with an exchange program taking place between mozambique and England, 8 vols from the UK and 9 from here, they are doing community developement projects and all have work placements and live with host families. The level of organization is astonishing, they are more than supplied with support and rules and regulations and activities..... and yet I am starting to see the other side of the coin. Yes, there are some serious and basic problems with ICYE and AJUDE that need to be dealt with, but on the other hand, the complete and total freedom we ICYE moz vols are blessed with has been shown into sharp relief here. They are not allowed to do basically anything without group consent, are not allowed to travel or do anything on their own, and can´t really even leave Manhiça at all. I know that I would be totally stifled under those rules, and I am beginning to gain a different perspective on our program in Maputo.... Hmmm........ Oh africa, the place of my deepest and most convoluted thoughts.
However, my thoughts will shortly become much more convoluted if I dont eat something, and I am perilously close to being late for lunch at a friends house, so more later, much love
allie
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