Goodbye South Africa

Wow, can’t believe I am leaving so soon. Its really been a blur these last two months and I still feel I have so much left to do.

Its interesting seeing people’s reactions to coming/going from a place, hellos/goodbyes. One of our June students who has been with us since about the time I got here just left amidst tears, melodramatic goodbyes, etc. I doubt I will feel the same way when I leave. What I am not sure of is why I don’t feel too much emotional attachment here despite the experience I’ve had and the people I’ve met.
Have I become so jaded from traveling around the world and meeting people that I cannot form deep emotional attachments anymore? Or maybe I am just a spoiled, rich kid who assumes that I can always fly back to any place as I wish?

My approach to traveling: I see myself walking my own path in life, at different times and in different places, I will cross paths with people and form connections with them. We may walk together for a time or go our separate ways. Either way, I treasure the time we have together. If we see each other again great, if not I wish you well on your journey.

The Internet helps but it too has its limits. We shall see, I have two goodbyes coming up: one for Capetown and another for San Francisco.

Pictures from Lesotho/Durban

New pictures from my weekend trip!

The Drakensberg mountains on the way to the Sani Pass

Having a Maluti (Lesotho beer) at the highest pub in southern Africa

Taking pictures with kids we met from Lesotho at St. James Missionary.

Mr. Moshoeshoe and his home in Lesotho

The rows of tricked out minibus taxis in the streets of Durban

The dirt roads and mud houses of Umlazi (a poor township near Durban) and interviewing microfinance clients and their microbusinesses

The view of Umlazi, rows upon rows of poverty

The view from my hotel room in Durban on the beachfront, white sandy beaches and frothy surf breaking on the shores. Money = Happiness right?

GOOOD FOOOD!

Last week, the June CFHI group left but not before they fed the students. Of course, the esteemed Alumni Fellow was also invited to some of these meals. Here are some highlights

Rooibos tea with Mark at the Noordiens, and yes the men get served here first!

Snoek braai by Mr. Snyders! He loves snoek!

and the table was set for the feast . . . First course: snoek braai with honey sauce, avocado and pineapple salad and three kinds of bread

Second course: Rooti with lentil curry

Dessert: a divine apple turnover!

Me still eating . . .

So much to do in so little time . . .

Man, I can’t believe that I am leaving Africa in a little over 3 weeks. It feels like I have been here forever and not at all. Since the last group, I have decided that I have seen enough tourist things and it will be time to get out to the communities and learn as much as I can about their developmental needs.

Today, spent some time digging around to find the right contact for microfinance here in the Western Cape. Another lead, another name but so far still no actionable activity. However, I did make a useful public health contact at the University of Capetown who would be very useful should I decide to come back to do research sometime in the future.

I will probably going to Durban in the Eastern part of the country next week to do some traveling and visit FINCA, a microfinance network whose founder I met in Berkeley.

Note to self: Somewhere in the next two weeks, I also have to budget myself some time to just sit and relax . . .

The Big Irony

My roommate just got a bunch of money stolen from her room. I think it was my host mom who stole it. The same host mom who tells me how all “African” blacks are liars, cheats and theives and how the coloureds are so much more proper (the term coloureds refer to mulattoes, allowed to get an education and more upwardly mobile under the apartheid regime).

How ironic.

Anyway, sucks for Anna but she is taking it as just a lesson for herself. I guess it just shows me once again the light and dark shades of Africa. Its about halfway through my trip and the time really has passed very quickly. Hopefully I will be able to relax the rest of the way through and distance myself from the students in the group a bit (too much drama).

Feelin a bit blue . . .

Feel strange today. Had a meeting where I got lectured about students skipping rotations and how I was condoning it by hanging out with them on Wednesday etc etc. So I guess I cannot hang out with the students, but can I just hang out with these old guys with families. Not either. I did not sign up to spend my last summer of freedom around strangers and feeling isolated and out of place. Argh!

I tell myself that this is not really not that bad. I am still having a good time, the weather is nice today and there are always interesting things to learn and see here. The key is to relax, I say. Yet, how am I to relax when everything around me is foreign and kinda strange and I’m not allowed to hang out with the people I came here with? Maybe I’m just homesick. . .

The Perfect Day!

Yesterday was a PERFECT day in every sense of the word! Wine tasting in Constantia, visiting a farm in Nordehoek, swimming in the Atlantic and watching the sunset. Here are some highlights.

A view of the vineyards at Groot Constantia with Table Mt. in the background

A farm house at Nordehoek, we might go horseback riding around there!

The beach at Camps Bay, beautiful and serene . . . maybe I will retire here

The houses at Llandudno beach (beautiful little cove) against little Lion’s Head. I am going to have one of those houses someday.

Sunset at Llandudno beach . . . one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Climbing Lion’s Head!

Sometimes you just need to challenge yourself. In my case, I decided to trek 3 hours OFFROAD through brush, trees, rocky trails to find a new way to get up Lion’s Head. It was great after a few days of feeling stuck with the group to get away, go off on my own, challenge myself and get to the top. Here are some pics from that trek.

A view of me after climbing for 2 hours and finding a new route up to the entrance to Lion’s Head (notice the sweat)

A view from the top of lion’s head at dusk, it was dark by the time I got up but the moon came out and I got a great view of the full moon!

Cape of Good Hope!

Went down the Cape Peninsula on our day off this past Thursday June 16 (Youth Day commemorating a day in 1976 during the apartheid government when some young students and children were killed by the police in Soweto)

These pictures are from the Cape of Good Hope, at the intersection of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans

From the top of Cape Point overlooking the Cape of Good Hope.

Another artsy picture of clouds and the ocean seen from the top of Cape Point. This is such a beautiful country.

The Directory in front of the lighthouse on top of Cape Point. I wonder how far I am from San Francisco??

Lookin Studly on the Cape . . .

Look! They’ve got penguins here!

NICE DAY!

Its sunny, warm, not a cloud in the sky today. If only it could be like this every day, it would bring out the best in people. Found out that I am on the bottom part of the wait list at Davis . . . kinda bummed.

But its too nice a day, I’m going to the beach . . .