This is my blog from friday, but it just wouldn't post, and doesn't it always go, it was time specific!!! Arrrrgghhh!!!! Anyways, here goes. ::sheepish smile::
Today is a very important day for me, because it is a very important day in the life of somebody I love. Today my best friend in the whole wide world is going to graduate from high school, and I’m not going to be there to see it. It will be the first major event in our lives for which we are not together.
As much as I am happy here, enjoying myself, having insane and amazing experiences, I miss home. I miss all of you, I miss Portland, I miss my security and I REALLY miss my anonymity. I am experiencing racism here, every day, and it is harder than you can even imagine. I cannot walk anywhere without people staring at me. I cannot do anything without people remarking on it. Everyone knows who I am, everyone talks about me, it’s bizarre, and I often feel as though I’m an animal in a zoo. I was very unhappy that I didn’t make more local friends, but it’s hard when they can’t connect with you at all. Like, I try to be as open and friendly as possible, but they just can’t get over the color of my skin. When I come home I am going to volunteer against racism. It makes you feel so low, so alone, so….debased. No one should ever have to suffer that. People are people, the more I travel the more I understand that. And speaking of traveling, I’ve decided to come home in the end of July, to come be in my beloved Portland, and just live and work and possibly take some college classes, but I’m really more interested in making some decent money to go to Cape Town with, so if anyone spots a job for me, let me know!!!
I am quite settled here now; my daily routine has fallen into a pattern, altered only by one thing. When I fell off that horse in Tofo, it turns out that I fractured one of my vertebrae, the fourth from the bottom… This is pretty serious, and while fortunately it doesn’t pose any immediate problems, chances are that it will in the future. So I’m taking it easy, dieting and exercising as best I can, it’s hard to lose weight when you’re not supposed to do strenuous exercise, and this Africa rice baby has got to go!!! I’m about twenty pounds over where I should be, and the less I weigh the better it is for my back.
However, this is a bit difficult in that the education system here frustrates me to the point of tears, and what helps a girl feel better more than some fresh white bread and a generous helping of nutella?? I truly despair. The kids here are so underprivileged in so many ways, and no one cares. I feel like I’m trying to move a mountain here, and it’s just laughing at me. Luckily, I am resilient, and am attempting to locate some earth movers. J
I know it’s a common complaint among aid workers, and I’m sure that I’ll be fine, at least I’m still moving forward. And I have all of your smiling faces to look forward to!!!
So don’t miss me too much, I’ll be back before you know it.
Love
allie
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Burning time
It’s the burning time now, and the tiny wisps of sugar cane leafs float in through every crack and litter the ground. These curling black scraps of charcoal disintegrate under the lightest touch and leave black smudges on walls and fingers alike. The miles of sugar cane, burned before harvesting to get rid of the lower leafs and make the cane easier to harvest that surround Manhiça belong to a sugar mill called Maragra, which is where I’m living now. I moved out of my two little rooms in Manhiça on Monday. I was sad to leave, but the rats in it were quite bad, and though they don’t frighten me, they woke me up at night with their scampering, and because I had very little furniture I was forced to keep my dishes on the floor, and rat urine and feces can cause all sorts of nasty diseases that I am in no way prepared to deal with, being so far from decent medical care. However, what with Maragra Company vehicles going past and the help of some friendly parents from my school, getting to work will actually be much easier. I am continuing my classes with some frustration but a decent amount of progress… Truly, things are different here. Example: Dia das Criãnças, Day of the Children, begun by a speech about how each child has rights and how if you study you will always be happy, followed by competitive contests focused only on winning coupled with smacks from brooms and sticks of bamboo when the children expressed their enthusiasm by pressing too close to the competitors. The day ended with the teachers sitting in chairs under a tree chatting while the kids played soccer, danced and were completely ignored by the adults who were supposedly in charge of them. No cooperative games were played, and a decent amount of fighting took place over everything from who was a better dancer to who was given the most juice at lunchtime. I find it very…different…to teach in a culture where the manners and etiquette that I consider to be the basis of human interaction are rarely even mentioned, much less used as the guidelines and essential tools I was raised to see them as. Perhaps I am not open-minded enough to be able to accept such behaviour with good grace, but it just feels wrong to me, like maybe the cooperative behaviour was one of the things stolen from them by the Portuguese. However, taking into account the long history of inter-tribal warfare in this part of Africa, I’m not so sure. Anyways, I’ve only been here for four and a half months, what do I know? :P
But so much has happened in these months, I find it hard to believe that it has been only such a short time. I recently arrived back from a journey I took to the province of Inhambane, north of the province of Gaza. What was supposed to be a short and sweet beach hopping jaunt with my volunteer friends and then a visit to the far north to see another volunteer friend in Nampula and a visit to the Island of Mozambique turned into a beach bumming, penniless, R&R, party town extravaganza. The second day after arriving in Tofo, a beautiful beach town known world wide for its diving, snorkeling, whale sharks, surfing and general Daytona Beach party scene, I went horse back riding along the dunes. Due to my own arrogance (I know how to ride WESTERN style. I am not a proficient English rider at high speeds. End of Story) I fell off and sustained a rather serious back injury that immobilized me for a good three days, and it took me a full three weeks to recover a full range of motion and the ability to run without pain. I am going to South Africa this weekend to get some X-rays taken as well, no sense in not checking it out, even if it does feel a whole lot better now. After my accident, and the terrifying discovery of how e.x.p.e.n.s.i.v.e. that little tourist trap town can be, I was forced to slow waaaaaay down. In a way I suppose it was a good thing, when you are in pain if you move quickly you don’t feel so bad about not having the cash to go on boat rides or kayak trips or more horse back rides. I was very literally broke, mom texted me about five days into my trip to say that I had a big fat goose egg of a bank account and that she’d had to advance money on my credit card to keep the thing open. Oops! Luckily, the people of Tofo are as generous and kind and lovely and excellent as you could ever possibly hope to find. We (my volunteer friends and I) moved after the first night to a hostel called Bamboozi, a bit further down the beach from town towards the light house and Barra, but with a fantastic atmosphere and beautiful accommodation (or so we thought! more in a bit!). There is also a dive shop adjacent to Bamboozi, and after meeting one of the staff members I ended up spending quite a bit of time there, business was slow for them and I just chilled and hung out with the staff, who I ended up partying with and Cindy, the owner of Liquid Adventures, the dive shop, let me stay at her house for the weekend while her husband was away. What a kind, lovely woman, she has two beautiful, lively, intelligent children and I am so grateful to them and wish them all the best.
With Liquid Adventures I had my second foray into ocean snorkeling with whale sharks, my goodness, they are such beautiful, incredible and fantastic animals. And so big, so BIG!!! One swam right at me and allowed me to swim and duck dive right next to his head, he checked me out with his bright eye and bobbed his head as we swam together… It was a wonderful moment full of peace and a feeling of rightness, of belonging, and I shall treasure it forever. I think that if I am allowed a choice, I would like to come back in the next life as a whale shark.
I also saw that elusive and fantastic creature of the deep, a manta ray… It lifted its fin…wing…arm? Whatever you call the wing like appendages that allow it to undulate so gracefully under the water, it lifted the tip in a curl haloed by sea spray, and the dark eggplant purple of the top and shimmering white of the under side perfected one of the most stunning sights I think I will ever see.
I have decided that if I live here, I would like a boat. ::grin:: I believe that this may be a long term plan, since a decent boat costs more than a car and I have absolutely zero knowledge of how to handle one, but honestly, zipping over swells and spotting denizens of the ocean is probably one of the cooler things I will ever do, and I want to do it again and again and again. :)
Aside from that one snorkeling trip on the boat and brief ride on horseback, I didn’t have the cash to do much else, but that factor allowed me to simply relax, walk around, lie on the beach, work on the first ever real tan of my life (YES it CAN be done! Woohoo!) and get to know a bit of the local people and lifestyle. I also met many many South Africans, all pleasant but a few so racist it was difficult to be around them after a while. On the other hand it was very interesting in a sort of scientific, observational way, to spend prolonged periods of time with people who were so alike, and yet thought so differently than me. What kept me from disliking them (solely on that basis, in every other way they were kind, thoughtful, interesting and lovely) was the thought that if I had grown up where they did, I would be exactly the same. So bizarre to really like and appreciate a person and yet be so violently opposed to some of their principles. Truly a mind-expanding experience, one that I will surely need to accustom myself to if I want to attend college in Cape Town…!
I also got the opportunity to meet and hang out with a great deal of surfers, the cheapest place to stay in Tofo is Turtle Cove, and by tight budgeting and the ever so helpful loan of a tent (thank you Michelle!!!) and a sleeping bag (thank you Bryan!!!), I was able to stay the full extent of the time I had planned to. They were a great group of people, certainly not the spaced out Bros you get in Southern Cali, and I had a marvelous time with them, as the designated watch-the-stuff girl I got rides to some cool beaches, including Tofinho, and watched some fantastic surfers, and sunned and read borrowed books to my heart’s content.
I must also mention the partying, of which I am not at all ashamed to say I did quite a lot of. Apparently I am not a normal American though; I know how to hold my liquor and when to say no more, thanks. :) It helps that I don’t get hangovers. I am told that this golden blessing will wear off somewhere into my mid-twenties, but for now, I am taking definite advantage of it! As it was the middle of off-season, the tourist tide was low low low, and yet it is an indication of the type of place that Tofo is when I say that there was a party somewhere, every single night. The local rum, Tipo Tinto, is sweet and tastes slightly of bananas, plus it’s cheap, four bucks for a fifth, and it goes down oh so smoothly with just a bit of coca-cola. Basically, it was a LOT of fun; I made some great friends, went out dancing almost every night, and just generally had a ball.
A sparse few things happened in Tofo that were not so lovely, I had to rescue a super drunk girl from possible date rape and cajole her home, hoping at each second that she would not collapse on the sand with alcohol poisoning, and I got my camera and mp3 player stolen, no worries though, I managed to save my pictures! I do feel the loss of my music though, and am hoping to find a cheap replacement in SA this weekend, though as all technological items are imported, the chances are a bit slim, and I won’t be able to put any music on it, so perhaps it’s just best left for later. I also got quite homesick at one point, you know, I’ve never had the feeling before, never been gone so long or been without mom and Andrea for so long, and at first I couldn’t understand why I was depressed in the middle of my incredible vacation. But Portland will always have its pull on me, its tree-lined streets, restaurants, cafes, and most of all, all of you who I am missing with all my heart…
But aside from that, my holiday was quite a bit like paradise, and after visiting the vacation homes on my friend’s construction site, huge, gorgeous, fully furnished homes with an incredible ocean view for $130,000, I’m thinking I might just have to win the lottery and buy one. Anyone interested in retirement home? You can watch dolphins and humpback whales from your porch, and the walk to the beach takes all of about two minutes….!
On my way home I got to visit the lodge of a true gentleman I met on my way to Swaziland, an extremely generous, extremely kind chappie by the name of Greg, who invited me to stay for free at his beautiful lodge on Nhambavale lake, about sixty kilometers north of Xai-Xai. There I did the most incredible snorkeling of my life, at a place called King’s pools. These pools are formed between a 25k long reef and the shore and they are total finding Nemo style reefs, with the big green ears of sponges, pink coral, big black spiky urchins, and fish fish fish fish fish! Angel fish and parrot fish and Moorish angels or whatever, black fish and blue fish with turquoise stripes, pink fish and yellow fish and moray eels and colourful black and red lobsters… Absolutely stunning.
Now that I am safely ensconced in this comfortable house with my friend Talo, another beautifully generous, honorable soul who is letting me stay rent free out of simple kindness and friendship (what a good guy!! Round of applause, ladies and gentlemen), my trip seems almost like a beautiful dream. This reality is perhaps a bit more dull, but much more satisfying for my workaholic soul. Also now that I have access to the internet I promise to post more regularly, my apologies and thank you for your concern, it’s nice to know you all still think about me!! I certainly think about you.
With all my love,
cheers!
Allie
But so much has happened in these months, I find it hard to believe that it has been only such a short time. I recently arrived back from a journey I took to the province of Inhambane, north of the province of Gaza. What was supposed to be a short and sweet beach hopping jaunt with my volunteer friends and then a visit to the far north to see another volunteer friend in Nampula and a visit to the Island of Mozambique turned into a beach bumming, penniless, R&R, party town extravaganza. The second day after arriving in Tofo, a beautiful beach town known world wide for its diving, snorkeling, whale sharks, surfing and general Daytona Beach party scene, I went horse back riding along the dunes. Due to my own arrogance (I know how to ride WESTERN style. I am not a proficient English rider at high speeds. End of Story) I fell off and sustained a rather serious back injury that immobilized me for a good three days, and it took me a full three weeks to recover a full range of motion and the ability to run without pain. I am going to South Africa this weekend to get some X-rays taken as well, no sense in not checking it out, even if it does feel a whole lot better now. After my accident, and the terrifying discovery of how e.x.p.e.n.s.i.v.e. that little tourist trap town can be, I was forced to slow waaaaaay down. In a way I suppose it was a good thing, when you are in pain if you move quickly you don’t feel so bad about not having the cash to go on boat rides or kayak trips or more horse back rides. I was very literally broke, mom texted me about five days into my trip to say that I had a big fat goose egg of a bank account and that she’d had to advance money on my credit card to keep the thing open. Oops! Luckily, the people of Tofo are as generous and kind and lovely and excellent as you could ever possibly hope to find. We (my volunteer friends and I) moved after the first night to a hostel called Bamboozi, a bit further down the beach from town towards the light house and Barra, but with a fantastic atmosphere and beautiful accommodation (or so we thought! more in a bit!). There is also a dive shop adjacent to Bamboozi, and after meeting one of the staff members I ended up spending quite a bit of time there, business was slow for them and I just chilled and hung out with the staff, who I ended up partying with and Cindy, the owner of Liquid Adventures, the dive shop, let me stay at her house for the weekend while her husband was away. What a kind, lovely woman, she has two beautiful, lively, intelligent children and I am so grateful to them and wish them all the best.
With Liquid Adventures I had my second foray into ocean snorkeling with whale sharks, my goodness, they are such beautiful, incredible and fantastic animals. And so big, so BIG!!! One swam right at me and allowed me to swim and duck dive right next to his head, he checked me out with his bright eye and bobbed his head as we swam together… It was a wonderful moment full of peace and a feeling of rightness, of belonging, and I shall treasure it forever. I think that if I am allowed a choice, I would like to come back in the next life as a whale shark.
I also saw that elusive and fantastic creature of the deep, a manta ray… It lifted its fin…wing…arm? Whatever you call the wing like appendages that allow it to undulate so gracefully under the water, it lifted the tip in a curl haloed by sea spray, and the dark eggplant purple of the top and shimmering white of the under side perfected one of the most stunning sights I think I will ever see.
I have decided that if I live here, I would like a boat. ::grin:: I believe that this may be a long term plan, since a decent boat costs more than a car and I have absolutely zero knowledge of how to handle one, but honestly, zipping over swells and spotting denizens of the ocean is probably one of the cooler things I will ever do, and I want to do it again and again and again. :)
Aside from that one snorkeling trip on the boat and brief ride on horseback, I didn’t have the cash to do much else, but that factor allowed me to simply relax, walk around, lie on the beach, work on the first ever real tan of my life (YES it CAN be done! Woohoo!) and get to know a bit of the local people and lifestyle. I also met many many South Africans, all pleasant but a few so racist it was difficult to be around them after a while. On the other hand it was very interesting in a sort of scientific, observational way, to spend prolonged periods of time with people who were so alike, and yet thought so differently than me. What kept me from disliking them (solely on that basis, in every other way they were kind, thoughtful, interesting and lovely) was the thought that if I had grown up where they did, I would be exactly the same. So bizarre to really like and appreciate a person and yet be so violently opposed to some of their principles. Truly a mind-expanding experience, one that I will surely need to accustom myself to if I want to attend college in Cape Town…!
I also got the opportunity to meet and hang out with a great deal of surfers, the cheapest place to stay in Tofo is Turtle Cove, and by tight budgeting and the ever so helpful loan of a tent (thank you Michelle!!!) and a sleeping bag (thank you Bryan!!!), I was able to stay the full extent of the time I had planned to. They were a great group of people, certainly not the spaced out Bros you get in Southern Cali, and I had a marvelous time with them, as the designated watch-the-stuff girl I got rides to some cool beaches, including Tofinho, and watched some fantastic surfers, and sunned and read borrowed books to my heart’s content.
I must also mention the partying, of which I am not at all ashamed to say I did quite a lot of. Apparently I am not a normal American though; I know how to hold my liquor and when to say no more, thanks. :) It helps that I don’t get hangovers. I am told that this golden blessing will wear off somewhere into my mid-twenties, but for now, I am taking definite advantage of it! As it was the middle of off-season, the tourist tide was low low low, and yet it is an indication of the type of place that Tofo is when I say that there was a party somewhere, every single night. The local rum, Tipo Tinto, is sweet and tastes slightly of bananas, plus it’s cheap, four bucks for a fifth, and it goes down oh so smoothly with just a bit of coca-cola. Basically, it was a LOT of fun; I made some great friends, went out dancing almost every night, and just generally had a ball.
A sparse few things happened in Tofo that were not so lovely, I had to rescue a super drunk girl from possible date rape and cajole her home, hoping at each second that she would not collapse on the sand with alcohol poisoning, and I got my camera and mp3 player stolen, no worries though, I managed to save my pictures! I do feel the loss of my music though, and am hoping to find a cheap replacement in SA this weekend, though as all technological items are imported, the chances are a bit slim, and I won’t be able to put any music on it, so perhaps it’s just best left for later. I also got quite homesick at one point, you know, I’ve never had the feeling before, never been gone so long or been without mom and Andrea for so long, and at first I couldn’t understand why I was depressed in the middle of my incredible vacation. But Portland will always have its pull on me, its tree-lined streets, restaurants, cafes, and most of all, all of you who I am missing with all my heart…
But aside from that, my holiday was quite a bit like paradise, and after visiting the vacation homes on my friend’s construction site, huge, gorgeous, fully furnished homes with an incredible ocean view for $130,000, I’m thinking I might just have to win the lottery and buy one. Anyone interested in retirement home? You can watch dolphins and humpback whales from your porch, and the walk to the beach takes all of about two minutes….!
On my way home I got to visit the lodge of a true gentleman I met on my way to Swaziland, an extremely generous, extremely kind chappie by the name of Greg, who invited me to stay for free at his beautiful lodge on Nhambavale lake, about sixty kilometers north of Xai-Xai. There I did the most incredible snorkeling of my life, at a place called King’s pools. These pools are formed between a 25k long reef and the shore and they are total finding Nemo style reefs, with the big green ears of sponges, pink coral, big black spiky urchins, and fish fish fish fish fish! Angel fish and parrot fish and Moorish angels or whatever, black fish and blue fish with turquoise stripes, pink fish and yellow fish and moray eels and colourful black and red lobsters… Absolutely stunning.
Now that I am safely ensconced in this comfortable house with my friend Talo, another beautifully generous, honorable soul who is letting me stay rent free out of simple kindness and friendship (what a good guy!! Round of applause, ladies and gentlemen), my trip seems almost like a beautiful dream. This reality is perhaps a bit more dull, but much more satisfying for my workaholic soul. Also now that I have access to the internet I promise to post more regularly, my apologies and thank you for your concern, it’s nice to know you all still think about me!! I certainly think about you.
With all my love,
cheers!
Allie
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