It seems ages since I first set foot in this big expanse of bush and mud we so lovingly call Africa... And yet it was a mere six months ago that I last saw your smiling faces... Less than six months by a week and a half, actually... In the span of a lifetime, that's peanuts! But to me it's been a long time, and I'm almost sort of disappointed by how excited I am to go home.
It's certainly been nothing I expected. By any account, in every aspect, it's been a basket full of surprises, with, unfortunately, more unpleasent ones than pleasent. Even about the unpleasentness I expected to find---
I just re-read the Poisonwood Bible, and boy let me tell you, does it ever make more sense now that I've been to Africa. One of my favorite lines goes something like (in explaining why she doesn't write home) she goes on and on about her day and says "before i've even gotten to breakfast I've already filled three sheets of paper and then you need words to explain the words and words to explain the explanation..."
It just is truly inexplicable. On every level. Something about this place brings you up short, smacks you hard and wakes you up, another slowly lulls you to sleep in the heat and the drowsy pace of things not happening. I have learned a thousand things I'd rather not know about the cruel reality of life here, and how impotent, hopeless and useless it is possible to feel in the face of such a life. I think I have also learned quite a bit about my own morality...And mortality.
If I take nothing else away it will be a profound, serious and deep appreciation for the things, people, and mostly, the love I have in my life. No, I'm not being silly and cheesey, it is just the most painful thing I have ever seen, in a country where no one has ANYthing, how they do not even show love to one another, and that is the one thing that doesn't cost. Or perhaps it costs more than everything else together, and it is just something else I cannot see. The longer I am here the more I realize I do not know.
I do know I will be happy to be home though.... Sort myself out, re-examine, re-plan, I still have no idea what i'll be doing in the future, I have many ideas but no idea of how to fit them together. Still. But I will be happy to return to a place where, at least, I will not have to see every day the evidence of our destructive worldly demise. Maybe that's cowardly of me, maybe if we all had to see it every day we would do something about it. But I think not. Those who live here seem to be the most uncaring about it. Maybe they just know something I don't.
ANYways, enough of the doom and gloom, I do have one (or two) dazzling adventures to look forward to. On the 19th of July I finally fly to Nampula (A city FAR to the north) to visit my friend David, a volunteer through a different organization there, and then spend a few days in and around the area. Then we'll bus all the way down, to Maragra and then to Johannesburg, three mortal days on the bus, AAARRRRGHHH!!! where we'll meet mom at the airport on the 28th. WOOT!!! We'll rent a car there and drive northeast into Swazi, where we'll spend some nights in a rock lodge (like natural stone not rock n roll :P) and also check out Bushfire, one of the coolest music fests in southern Africa, then drive north into Mozambique, check out Maputo, where I used to live and work, then Maragra where I live and work now, and then hit the beach!!! When we're done tanning we head back to s.a. for a Safari in Kruger Natl Park, then hop on a plane to Cape Town for a few days, then jet back to Joburg and HOME SWEET HOME!!!!
I miss you all like nobody's business.
love,
allie
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
A failure of internet...
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
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
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
Thursday, April 16, 2009
CAPE TOWN; the ultimate city of dreams
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
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
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
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
more in the life of pi....
so. here is the flesh to put on that poor poor skinny blog from a couple days ago.
Many things have happened. To finish with the Swazi Story, The 4x4 ing was truly a blast, I got to watch my Canadian friend Dougie do somersaults into a river ahead of me, eat maize and drink hot pepper tea in traditional homesteads, and most excitingly, we climbed a waterfall for a good two hours, each moment like something out of jumanji with the trailing vines, verdant beauty, rushing water, tiny lilies and orchids growing in fragile, unreal beauty from cracks in the rocks, gigantic spiders on poisonous yellow dripping webs, viciously coloured in bright blue and yellow, trees growing in the middle of the river hanging with tenacious fervour to the rocks, and many beautiful granite boulders exuding confidence and serenity in their grandiose largeness. (excuse the verbosity, ive just finished reading A Many Splendored Thing and am a bit inspired....!)
We also went into the capital Mbabane, just for a bit to shop....Swazi has so much that Moz does not, in the way of infastructure, material goods, TRASH CANS, cleanliness and simple human dignity. Truly the most astonishing thing about humans is that they can so divide themselves and the land that they live on that from ten feet beyond the border you are in a totally and completely different world. Really.
Upon my return to Swazi two days later (my very good swedish friend Lina had to renew her passport so i gladly went back with her) I was a bit ill, just the normal stomach ick that most travelers are fated to recieve at some point or another, so I didnt do all the things i had planned to do. However, we visited the Cultural Village, a homestead built to be exactly like things have been in Swazi for hundreds of years, and apparently it is still lived in as a traditional homestead, but I dont really think so. The grass huts had that inescapable "for show" look, and did not appear to be lived in. We also got to see an exhibition of their dancing, a very athletic, high kicking thing of great beauty and excitement. However, here, as in Moz, the men expend a lot of time and evergy trying to make everything seem extremely difficult while the women show off effortlessly and without fuss. I am so proud to be female sometimes. Lina and I split the cost of a dvd and cd set so you can all see it when i return, I forgot to mention the singing, choral works very majestic and pretty, much better than the gospel you see on tv here on sundays. really, gospel gets really overdone sometimes, it loses its melodic integrity with the feral intensity of the religious fervor associated with it.
With our friend Ralph from the 4x4 trip we also went to another waterfall and was the second largest solid rock in the world. It was a far sized hill, solid and absolute and breath taking. The striated granite with rivulets of water and vegetation just about took my breath away. I am such a sucker for amazing natural sites. I HAVE to get to Victoria falls before leaving. End of Story.
Really, Lidwala Lodge was a little haven of paradise in my months of crazed doings. It was quite hard to leave.
After Swazi I was back in Manhiça, putting a down payment on my rooms and getting things fixed up. Yesterday the window bars were fixed and today the door hinges will be reinforced. Mahiça is a quiet, fairly happy little town with a very low crime rate, but as a white woman living alone, I aint takin no chances. There are still problems with getting there, if I cannot find a ride today or tomorrow I will have to pay for taxi and chapa, which will be a hassle and a bother. But such is life here, and I am rather excited at the prospect of living a simple life, I think it will be good for me, especially in light of my jumbled future. I have now been accepted to eight institutions of higher learning, to Washington State University in Pullman, Pacific University in Forest Grove, Willamette University in Salem and Western Washington University in Bellingham all with sizable scholarships. I have also been accepted to Evergreen State College in Olympia with a minimal scholarship, not to mention University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, California State College at Northridge andPortland State University. In addition I am waiting for news of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Reed College in Portland and Whitman College in Walla Walla. I also applied to the University of California in Berkeley but since I didnt take the SATS and dont really see a way of fixing that problem here, I think I will not be admitted.
I applied to so many because I thought that with my strange mish mash of a high school education many colleges would reject me! Seems as though my plan back fired. Add to this the confusion of wanting to know where Andrea is headed, weighing the option of traveling longer, and now thinking that I am still not entirely sure of what i want to major in, (please dont give me the you should go to college to find out speech. I think it is preposterous to waste SO much money if you are not sure, I mean, how many people got their bachelors and dont even use it?!?!?!?!? If I am still very unsure I think I will be using my time far better by teaching, traveling or working, and probably taking classes at community college than spending 30,000 dollars a year to dork around and party.)
Thus is my future a mud pit of confusion, and because of this I smile and focus on the task at hand. Planning curriculum, planning weekend travels, and experiencing life here will most likely help me to see my future more clearly anyways.
So now I am going to go figure out how to get myself to Manhiça, so i bid you all a happy, succesful day,
much love
allie
Many things have happened. To finish with the Swazi Story, The 4x4 ing was truly a blast, I got to watch my Canadian friend Dougie do somersaults into a river ahead of me, eat maize and drink hot pepper tea in traditional homesteads, and most excitingly, we climbed a waterfall for a good two hours, each moment like something out of jumanji with the trailing vines, verdant beauty, rushing water, tiny lilies and orchids growing in fragile, unreal beauty from cracks in the rocks, gigantic spiders on poisonous yellow dripping webs, viciously coloured in bright blue and yellow, trees growing in the middle of the river hanging with tenacious fervour to the rocks, and many beautiful granite boulders exuding confidence and serenity in their grandiose largeness. (excuse the verbosity, ive just finished reading A Many Splendored Thing and am a bit inspired....!)
We also went into the capital Mbabane, just for a bit to shop....Swazi has so much that Moz does not, in the way of infastructure, material goods, TRASH CANS, cleanliness and simple human dignity. Truly the most astonishing thing about humans is that they can so divide themselves and the land that they live on that from ten feet beyond the border you are in a totally and completely different world. Really.
Upon my return to Swazi two days later (my very good swedish friend Lina had to renew her passport so i gladly went back with her) I was a bit ill, just the normal stomach ick that most travelers are fated to recieve at some point or another, so I didnt do all the things i had planned to do. However, we visited the Cultural Village, a homestead built to be exactly like things have been in Swazi for hundreds of years, and apparently it is still lived in as a traditional homestead, but I dont really think so. The grass huts had that inescapable "for show" look, and did not appear to be lived in. We also got to see an exhibition of their dancing, a very athletic, high kicking thing of great beauty and excitement. However, here, as in Moz, the men expend a lot of time and evergy trying to make everything seem extremely difficult while the women show off effortlessly and without fuss. I am so proud to be female sometimes. Lina and I split the cost of a dvd and cd set so you can all see it when i return, I forgot to mention the singing, choral works very majestic and pretty, much better than the gospel you see on tv here on sundays. really, gospel gets really overdone sometimes, it loses its melodic integrity with the feral intensity of the religious fervor associated with it.
With our friend Ralph from the 4x4 trip we also went to another waterfall and was the second largest solid rock in the world. It was a far sized hill, solid and absolute and breath taking. The striated granite with rivulets of water and vegetation just about took my breath away. I am such a sucker for amazing natural sites. I HAVE to get to Victoria falls before leaving. End of Story.
Really, Lidwala Lodge was a little haven of paradise in my months of crazed doings. It was quite hard to leave.
After Swazi I was back in Manhiça, putting a down payment on my rooms and getting things fixed up. Yesterday the window bars were fixed and today the door hinges will be reinforced. Mahiça is a quiet, fairly happy little town with a very low crime rate, but as a white woman living alone, I aint takin no chances. There are still problems with getting there, if I cannot find a ride today or tomorrow I will have to pay for taxi and chapa, which will be a hassle and a bother. But such is life here, and I am rather excited at the prospect of living a simple life, I think it will be good for me, especially in light of my jumbled future. I have now been accepted to eight institutions of higher learning, to Washington State University in Pullman, Pacific University in Forest Grove, Willamette University in Salem and Western Washington University in Bellingham all with sizable scholarships. I have also been accepted to Evergreen State College in Olympia with a minimal scholarship, not to mention University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, California State College at Northridge andPortland State University. In addition I am waiting for news of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Reed College in Portland and Whitman College in Walla Walla. I also applied to the University of California in Berkeley but since I didnt take the SATS and dont really see a way of fixing that problem here, I think I will not be admitted.
I applied to so many because I thought that with my strange mish mash of a high school education many colleges would reject me! Seems as though my plan back fired. Add to this the confusion of wanting to know where Andrea is headed, weighing the option of traveling longer, and now thinking that I am still not entirely sure of what i want to major in, (please dont give me the you should go to college to find out speech. I think it is preposterous to waste SO much money if you are not sure, I mean, how many people got their bachelors and dont even use it?!?!?!?!? If I am still very unsure I think I will be using my time far better by teaching, traveling or working, and probably taking classes at community college than spending 30,000 dollars a year to dork around and party.)
Thus is my future a mud pit of confusion, and because of this I smile and focus on the task at hand. Planning curriculum, planning weekend travels, and experiencing life here will most likely help me to see my future more clearly anyways.
So now I am going to go figure out how to get myself to Manhiça, so i bid you all a happy, succesful day,
much love
allie
Friday, March 20, 2009
A new-ish beginning...
If you are ever presented with the opportunity to visit Swaziland, please, please take it! I never thought a monarchy could be so good.
I went to Swaziland twice, once with my Danish friends Søren and Rasmus, (soon joined by the ever present Dougie from Canada, my resident brother), and again two days later with my friend Lina from Sweden. The place we stayed is about four hours from Maputo straight through, longer with the stop at the border and the change from bus to combi (the swazi term for chapa) in Manzini. Regardless, it is SO worth it. The part of Swazi we were in is "mountainous" only we pacific northwesterners have a different definition of "mountain" and "big hill". ;) Differing definitions or no, these old lava flow mounds are incredible, consisting of huge boulders of granite, striated granite and huge bare rock formations (forgive me John Richter, it has been SO long since year of the mountain)rising out of the forest in gravity-defying positions. Swaziland is rainier and more fertile than Mozambique, and even though it´s fall right now, the flowers, hibiscus, lillies, and flowering bushes of all kinds line the road. The backpackers lodge in which we, er, lodged, was breath-takingly landscaped, with a stream running through it, avocado trees, white lillies in huge clumps, aloe plants, purple flowering bushes and all sorts of cute and clever paths through the vegetation. It´s called Lidwala Lodge, and for €7 a night you get hot showers, free coffee and tea, a comfortable bunk bed, a big porch with an incredible view, and some of the best company in southern Africa. The lodge was partially filled with volunteers through a program called All-Out Africa, one that seems to be organized, up and running, fun, and jesus C-hrist I don´t think it is in any way corrupted, if you can believe it. They were mostly from England again, so i picked up a Northern English accent and with their help, I actually won a game of pool!
With the danes and dougie I went 4x4-ing....don´t freak out. I did it because it´s partially a community developement project and you get to see parts of Swazi you´d never get to without one....YES, it was terrifying and NO, i´m not doing it again, give me a fast horse any day.
Ok so apparently this internet cafe is closing early for no good reason..... Oh Africa, the beautiful, the stunning, the frustrating.
So there are things I need to say. First off, I have a position in Manhica now, teaching english at a Maristas Brothers religious school and teaching music and theatre at Manhica Cede, the local primary school. This should be perfect, although the curriculum I was given IS English from England, so Iºm gonna have to fudge the rhymes. And what is a block of flats??? An apartment building, right??
My apartment is mine, two little rooms in a house on the main road with lots of friendly neighbors to look after me, no running water but i haul it from the tap next door, an outdoor shower and pit toilet. Looks like I´m getting the experience I expected after all! AJUDE at first told me they wouldn´t pay for it because it´s an apartment and I "didn´t follow procedure", I SWEAR beaurocracy is my worst enemy, but we´re talking now.
I´m moving in tomorrow with the help of my English friend Michael and there is an internet cafe in town so I will flesh this bone structure of a post out soon.
Much love
Allie
I went to Swaziland twice, once with my Danish friends Søren and Rasmus, (soon joined by the ever present Dougie from Canada, my resident brother), and again two days later with my friend Lina from Sweden. The place we stayed is about four hours from Maputo straight through, longer with the stop at the border and the change from bus to combi (the swazi term for chapa) in Manzini. Regardless, it is SO worth it. The part of Swazi we were in is "mountainous" only we pacific northwesterners have a different definition of "mountain" and "big hill". ;) Differing definitions or no, these old lava flow mounds are incredible, consisting of huge boulders of granite, striated granite and huge bare rock formations (forgive me John Richter, it has been SO long since year of the mountain)rising out of the forest in gravity-defying positions. Swaziland is rainier and more fertile than Mozambique, and even though it´s fall right now, the flowers, hibiscus, lillies, and flowering bushes of all kinds line the road. The backpackers lodge in which we, er, lodged, was breath-takingly landscaped, with a stream running through it, avocado trees, white lillies in huge clumps, aloe plants, purple flowering bushes and all sorts of cute and clever paths through the vegetation. It´s called Lidwala Lodge, and for €7 a night you get hot showers, free coffee and tea, a comfortable bunk bed, a big porch with an incredible view, and some of the best company in southern Africa. The lodge was partially filled with volunteers through a program called All-Out Africa, one that seems to be organized, up and running, fun, and jesus C-hrist I don´t think it is in any way corrupted, if you can believe it. They were mostly from England again, so i picked up a Northern English accent and with their help, I actually won a game of pool!
With the danes and dougie I went 4x4-ing....don´t freak out. I did it because it´s partially a community developement project and you get to see parts of Swazi you´d never get to without one....YES, it was terrifying and NO, i´m not doing it again, give me a fast horse any day.
Ok so apparently this internet cafe is closing early for no good reason..... Oh Africa, the beautiful, the stunning, the frustrating.
So there are things I need to say. First off, I have a position in Manhica now, teaching english at a Maristas Brothers religious school and teaching music and theatre at Manhica Cede, the local primary school. This should be perfect, although the curriculum I was given IS English from England, so Iºm gonna have to fudge the rhymes. And what is a block of flats??? An apartment building, right??
My apartment is mine, two little rooms in a house on the main road with lots of friendly neighbors to look after me, no running water but i haul it from the tap next door, an outdoor shower and pit toilet. Looks like I´m getting the experience I expected after all! AJUDE at first told me they wouldn´t pay for it because it´s an apartment and I "didn´t follow procedure", I SWEAR beaurocracy is my worst enemy, but we´re talking now.
I´m moving in tomorrow with the help of my English friend Michael and there is an internet cafe in town so I will flesh this bone structure of a post out soon.
Much love
Allie
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