Hello Seattle.
On Friday, just as Bafana Bafana scored their goal against Mexico and the airport erupted in wild cheers and the trumpeting of vuvuzelas, I boarded my plane to come home after what I would call the best and most rewarding experience of my life. My travels took me from Joburg to Dakar to DC, and 27 (mostly sleepless) hours after my initial departure, I looked out the window to see snowy mountains, evergreen forests, and sparkling expanses of water. That could only mean one thing: I had arrived home, in (my humble opinion) the most beautiful city in America. Goodbye Okavango, hello Puget Sound.
My last few days in Joburg, spent with my cousin-twice-removed (I think) Vivienne and her 18-year old daughter Alissa, passed wonderfully. We hit the museum circuit (the Cradle of Humankind, where a majority of hominid fossils have been discovered, and the Apartheid Museum), saw the Soccer City World Cup stadium, and enjoyed home-cooked family dinners every night. Our most exciting excursion was to the Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve in Gauteng, a private game park where I saw my first rhinos in Africa (they're not common in Botswana), as well as buffalo, gemsbok, eland, and other good stuff. Most of the predators are kept in their own enclosures, so not "wild," but I still saw a leopard there to complete my Big 5 sightings. Then, there were 2 adorable lion cubs named Lilo & Stitch, and for a meager R30 they allowed you into the enclosure to play with them! Alissa and I both went in and got 5 mins of quality lion time. For the record, lion cubs are the cutest and softest animals I have ever encountered. Lilo quite enjoyed biting my fingers and arm, but luckily he's still a little guy without the capacity to break skin.
After playing with the cubs, we went to watch a cheetah running demonstration on the lawn. A retractable line was criscrossed around the lawn with bait at the end, so that the cheetah would chase it when it started to move and thus show off his speed skills. The trainer began the demonstration by asking for 3 volunteers, who were then assigned to race the cheetah when it started to run. This was too cool, so when the first 3 had lost badly and the trainer asked for 3 more volunteers, I was the first out onto the pitch. So yes - I raced the cheetah. I held almost level with it for maybe 10 meters or so, but as soon as the line turned the cheetah cut the corner and I was left in the dust. Cheater. (Or should I say, Cheat-ah?) Basically I had the time of my life surrounded by animals that afternoon, which allowed me to be in denial that I was leaving the following day. But leave I did.
Now that I'm immersed in a land of freeways and free wi-fi, it's hard to reflect on life in a place that seems worlds away. American city life feels so normal to me again - I did spend 20+ years in this setting - but I'm also vaguely unsettled by it, since it's no longer the only way I've experienced. Maybe this will all become clearer to me in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, though, I can come up with a short list of things that Africa has given me a better appreciation of:
1. Cooking meals
2. Communication
3. Family
4. Patience
5. Clouds
I've chosen quite a busy time to come back home. (Side note: what does "home" even mean? I haven't lived in any one place for much more than a month this year, but I've called them all "home.") My cousin graduated from college the day I got back, the next day was Talia's last concert with the Garfield Jazz Band, and now she has her graduation on Wednesday. Then we're taking a celebratory trip up to Vancouver BC for a couple days (also for my parents' anniversary). And pretty soon I'll be shipping out again - I'll be spending the rest of the summer as a camp counselor at YMCA Camp Orkila (in the San Juan Islands). For a couple of the weeks I get to teach marine biology, which is exciting. And that takes me all the way up to mid-August, when I'll go back to Pomona to lead an orientation camping trip and then write my thesis fall semester and then enjoy being a second-semester senior and then graduate and then... let's not go that far into the future. Anyhow, one thing at a time. Currently that thing is unpacking and uploading my thousands of pictures from Botswana, which will go up on Facebook soon-ish.
Thank you all for sticking with me through these rambling stories of my time in Africa, and I hope I'll get to talk to you all soon (and listen to your stories!) in person. Since I'm closing the book on this adventure while I open many others, that's gonna be it for my first foray into the blogosphere. Hope you've all enjoyed it as much as I have! Of course, I'm sure I'll be right back here soon enough, because if there's one thing I'm positive of right now it's that I'll find a way to make it back to Africa. (And any or all of you are invited, too. You've really got to see it to know what it's all about.)
So, wherever you're reading this from, go siame! Adios! Sayonara! Shalom! Shapo! (That last one is a Setswana-fied version of the English word 'sharp,' and can mean anything from 'OK' to 'I'm full' to 'goodbye.' In this case, it could mean any of the above.) Bye!!!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Va-CAPE-tion!
And just like that, my study abroad in Botswana was over. Crazy and amazing experience, I'll certainly never forget it, and I'll be collecting my thoughts and reflections on the whole time for a while - maybe by the time I post from the States I'll have some coherent conclusions. But not yet - for now, the adventure continues!
I took a bus out of Gabs the morning of Friday the 28th, bound for Joburg, where I would meet the others who had flown in - Peo, Lily, Sam, Andrea, and Matt - for the trip down to Capetown. (As you may remember, my original intention was to travel after the program on my own, theoretically to Namibia, but I decided to change my plan to Capetown about the same time the rest of the group came up with the idea of extending their stay. Worked out pretty great, and traveling with friends is always fun.) My bus to Joburg was supposed to arrive at 1, but we broke down by the side of the road and waited 2+ hours for a replacement bus (which was a double decker, for small consolation), so I ended up getting in at 4:30. Lucky we'd had a 4-hr layover to begin with, so it worked out ok. From there, we took a 20-hr bus trip to Capetown, putting my total travel time at 31 hours. Not something I'd like to repeat soon... oh yeah, I'll be flying around the world next week. Anyway.
Our exhausted selves were met at the Capetown station the next day by Katie, my friend from Pomona who'd been studying abroad there for the semester; it was nice to be in the company of someone who knew their way around the city, because after Gaborone, we were all going through major culture shock in the most developed city in Africa. I went home with Katie to the 20-person mansion she'd been living in (stairs? chandeliers? rooms the size of small houses??) while my friends got settled into their hostel. We ate dinner all together, at a restaurant ten times classier than anything I'd set foot in all semester, and we had SUSHI! Hello, Capetown!
During our wonderful week-long vacation, we hit all the major attractions. We took the cable car up Table Mountain, which towers over the whole city, and did some hiking on top. (One area of the mountain, appropriately called Echo Valley, has the best echoing I've ever heard; we spent 20 minutes shouting into the abyss and getting a kick out of the friendly replies.) We took a tour of Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for many years. We took the train to Boulders Beach, which is a gorgeous area on the coast famous for its colony of penguins! Spent quite an enjoyable couple hours climbing on rocks and chasing penguins around the beach. Possibly the most exciting excursion though, which I accompanied Katie on, was cage diving with great white sharks. Yes - SHARKS. So close I could have touched them, if I were stupid enough. Katie and I were driven out to the shark spot (Shark Alley), and then with a few others, rode out in a boat to find the sharks. The crew threw tuna heads and chum (tuna, fish oil, and seawater) over the side of the boat to attract sharks, and then as soon as we saw the first one we pulled on wetsuits and scrambled into the cage hung off the side of the boat. No snorkels or scuba was required, as the cage rose a few feet above the waterline, so we just had to duck under and hold our breath when the captain yelled, "Down!", meaning there was a shark for us to see. Turns out the Atlantic is pretty damn cold, and I was in the cage for an hour and a half - more than twice as long as most other divers, just by coincidence - so I was really more concerned with shivering and swallowing seawater than being attacked. (Only 5 people a year die from sharks, so I assure you, Mom, we were really safe the whole time.) But when we did see sharks, man, were they impressive! It's really an indescribable experience to see a ten-foot-long great white swim directly toward you to snatch some chum directly outside your cage. It was kind of like a reverse zoo, actually, if you think about it. But way cooler. We brought a disposable underwater camera with us, so once Katie finds somewhere to develop it there'll hopefully be some photographic evidence for this adventure!
Ending vacation is never fun, and it sucks times a million when you have to say goodbye to the friends who have been with you for four months through thick and thin. Especially those Colby girls, since it's unclear how or when I'll see them again. But ke botshelo - that's life. We all had an amazing time together, from Manyana to Capetown. Most of them are State-bound now, but I've got one last leg of my trip: I flew back into Joburg today to spend a few days with my cousins - well, second cousins actually, or something like that - who live here and have kept in contact with my family for several years. Just as every one of my Botswana families has been, the Gritzmans have been incredibly gracious in settling me into their home, and we've spent this afternoon planning activities for every day from now til I leave on Friday. Should be a great farewell to Africa - what a time it's been here!
p.s. In case you're living under a rock, or a pile of boulders, the World Cup starts Friday! I may not be a soccer fan in the traditional sense (or the non-traditional one), but nevertheless: Go Bafana Bafana! Ayoba!!!
I took a bus out of Gabs the morning of Friday the 28th, bound for Joburg, where I would meet the others who had flown in - Peo, Lily, Sam, Andrea, and Matt - for the trip down to Capetown. (As you may remember, my original intention was to travel after the program on my own, theoretically to Namibia, but I decided to change my plan to Capetown about the same time the rest of the group came up with the idea of extending their stay. Worked out pretty great, and traveling with friends is always fun.) My bus to Joburg was supposed to arrive at 1, but we broke down by the side of the road and waited 2+ hours for a replacement bus (which was a double decker, for small consolation), so I ended up getting in at 4:30. Lucky we'd had a 4-hr layover to begin with, so it worked out ok. From there, we took a 20-hr bus trip to Capetown, putting my total travel time at 31 hours. Not something I'd like to repeat soon... oh yeah, I'll be flying around the world next week. Anyway.
Our exhausted selves were met at the Capetown station the next day by Katie, my friend from Pomona who'd been studying abroad there for the semester; it was nice to be in the company of someone who knew their way around the city, because after Gaborone, we were all going through major culture shock in the most developed city in Africa. I went home with Katie to the 20-person mansion she'd been living in (stairs? chandeliers? rooms the size of small houses??) while my friends got settled into their hostel. We ate dinner all together, at a restaurant ten times classier than anything I'd set foot in all semester, and we had SUSHI! Hello, Capetown!
During our wonderful week-long vacation, we hit all the major attractions. We took the cable car up Table Mountain, which towers over the whole city, and did some hiking on top. (One area of the mountain, appropriately called Echo Valley, has the best echoing I've ever heard; we spent 20 minutes shouting into the abyss and getting a kick out of the friendly replies.) We took a tour of Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for many years. We took the train to Boulders Beach, which is a gorgeous area on the coast famous for its colony of penguins! Spent quite an enjoyable couple hours climbing on rocks and chasing penguins around the beach. Possibly the most exciting excursion though, which I accompanied Katie on, was cage diving with great white sharks. Yes - SHARKS. So close I could have touched them, if I were stupid enough. Katie and I were driven out to the shark spot (Shark Alley), and then with a few others, rode out in a boat to find the sharks. The crew threw tuna heads and chum (tuna, fish oil, and seawater) over the side of the boat to attract sharks, and then as soon as we saw the first one we pulled on wetsuits and scrambled into the cage hung off the side of the boat. No snorkels or scuba was required, as the cage rose a few feet above the waterline, so we just had to duck under and hold our breath when the captain yelled, "Down!", meaning there was a shark for us to see. Turns out the Atlantic is pretty damn cold, and I was in the cage for an hour and a half - more than twice as long as most other divers, just by coincidence - so I was really more concerned with shivering and swallowing seawater than being attacked. (Only 5 people a year die from sharks, so I assure you, Mom, we were really safe the whole time.) But when we did see sharks, man, were they impressive! It's really an indescribable experience to see a ten-foot-long great white swim directly toward you to snatch some chum directly outside your cage. It was kind of like a reverse zoo, actually, if you think about it. But way cooler. We brought a disposable underwater camera with us, so once Katie finds somewhere to develop it there'll hopefully be some photographic evidence for this adventure!
Ending vacation is never fun, and it sucks times a million when you have to say goodbye to the friends who have been with you for four months through thick and thin. Especially those Colby girls, since it's unclear how or when I'll see them again. But ke botshelo - that's life. We all had an amazing time together, from Manyana to Capetown. Most of them are State-bound now, but I've got one last leg of my trip: I flew back into Joburg today to spend a few days with my cousins - well, second cousins actually, or something like that - who live here and have kept in contact with my family for several years. Just as every one of my Botswana families has been, the Gritzmans have been incredibly gracious in settling me into their home, and we've spent this afternoon planning activities for every day from now til I leave on Friday. Should be a great farewell to Africa - what a time it's been here!
p.s. In case you're living under a rock, or a pile of boulders, the World Cup starts Friday! I may not be a soccer fan in the traditional sense (or the non-traditional one), but nevertheless: Go Bafana Bafana! Ayoba!!!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Doing it savanna-style
I really can't believe I forgot this part on my last post - I was way too distracted, given I wrote it just as we were meeting our former teacher at a restaurant to say goodbye. But this event was so good it merits its own post, before I start up with my Capetown news. Because... on that last day of our safari in the Okavango, along with everything else, we saw another pair of lions, a male with a magnificent two-colored mane and a female. And as we watched them for several minutes, the guy got up, bit his girl on the neck, and mounted her. Yup. They had sex right in front of us. Surely a high point of the entire semester...
(In case you're wondering, mating lions do it for seven days straight, every 30 minutes, without eating all week. Now that's a rigorous schedule. And yes, we got pictures and video.)
(In case you're wondering, mating lions do it for seven days straight, every 30 minutes, without eating all week. Now that's a rigorous schedule. And yes, we got pictures and video.)
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