All you see is crime in the city....

"What'd you do last night?
We did umm, two whole cars. It was me, Dez, and Main Three right?
And on the first car in small letters it said 'All you see is..'
and then you know big, big, you know some block silver letters that said
'..crime in the city' right?
It just took up the whole car?
Yeah yeah, it was a whole car and s**t..."

-intro to "Respiration" by Blackstar
(originally from Style Wars, a famous graffiti-writer movie)

Crime....

So it's a big thing here. And I'm sorry to start my blog post w/it cos it's a bit depressing...but that's life sometimes. And also it fits in so well w/the quote above (those words above popped into my head instantly after my incident) and a small part of my fabulous weekend in Cape Town. Crime here takes many forms. You've got the full spectrum with everything from petty crime to really violent crime. Like folks getting stabbed and shot for absolutely no reason. I feel like most people I've talked to here, from all walks of life, have some sort of misfortune in their lives to do w/crime. People that have been affected by relatives being stabbed or shot. People dying. Even this past week, one of my friends in Joburg has a cousin who was shot in an attempted robbery at the restaurant he manages. Life is on a much more tenuous thread here. Basically I know that I am destined to be robbed (again that is. You'll understand this comment soon...) or something in the time I'm here. The longer I stay, the more the likelihood increases. We take this for granted in the USA...cos overall things are safe. I don't even feel as vulnerable anywhere in Chicago (save maybe parts of the deep southside that I haven't been to...farther than the Thornton house at 95th St) as I do here. Even just walking home from places at night I feel like I gotta constantly be on top of things. Cos I do...not cos I am paranoid. It's weird for me to have to be at such a heightened state of awareness at all times. And it's probably the one thing I have had to adjust to (and am still adjusting to the most).

For example, today I couldn't get my bike into the complex for my dorm because the security guard wasn't at the gate. (S)he usually has to unlock a gate for me to get my bike into the dorm complex. My complex is regulated by a perimeter fence that has 2 openings for cars (which I don't have access to cos you have to pay for parking) and 2 turnstyles (which my bike doesn't fit thru). So I locked up my bike outside the fence and was just going to leave it til I left the complex again in the afternoon. But then there was this nagging in my head saying "Lynsee, don't be lazy! Go back downstairs, find that security guard and get your bike inside. It could make the difference between you having a bike and not having a bike." So I went back after maybe 20 minutes and found the guard and got my bike locked up inside the complex. These little behaviors (like making sure your bike is locked up in a secure place) are things that need to be added to my patterns. That's the adjusting I'm talking about...and I'm working on it...cos I value my life!

One interesting thing to note...the president of S Africa (Thabo Mbeki, said: THAI-bo M-becky) recently made a comment that crime was only a perceived problem in S Africa. That people/media are blowing the problem out of proportion. That REALLY caused an uproar!!!! He said this because overall crime statistics are declining in the country. But the situation on the ground doesn't feel like this. I mean there is razor wire on everything, security systems, guards everywhere, etc etc. Crime IS a problem here. I wonder how many guards and security systems keep Mr. Mbeki safe at night?? It was an extremely insensitive comment by the president that doesn't empathize at all w/what people are psychologically/physically dealing w/everyday in SA. Honestly this is just one in a string of many bad comments by Mbeki about issues in the country. (said w/grain of salt...Bush: Like a rock, only dumber) I remember when I was here in 2002 that Mbeki was absolutely convinced that HIV did not cause AIDS. For those of you not in the know...HIV is a virus that causes a disease called AIDS. I'm not trying to be patronizing...it's just that I know many folks use the 2 terms interchangeably. It's not correct. A person can have HIV and not AIDS. Mbeki insisted that the HIV/AIDS problem was caused by poverty...but gave no credence to the scientific link between HIV and AIDS. Now that REALLY caused an uproar!! He is right in getting at the fact that the AIDS problem is exacerbated by poverty/hunger/lack of resources...but, dude, HIV causes AIDS...it's just a scientific fact.

But I digress...

So this weekend I was in Cape Town and it was great!!! Cape Town is a brilliant venue for anything...as I'm sure those of you who have heard me ranting about how it's the greatest city in the world have already heard! Cape Town, also called the 'Mother City', is down in the far SW corner of the country. It's been an active center for a long time, as this is where most of the foreigners that have ever landed in SA initially arrived. The Dutch, British, French, folks from Indonesia, etc. It's a great city w/a mountain (Table Mountain, it's #1 well known feature) smack dab in the center. There's great beaches, great people, great nightlife, and great history. And it doesn't hurt that it's just a hop, skip, and a jump from one of the lushest wine producing regions in the world. Clara, when you come, this is where we will go!!! I could go on and on... but just google or Wikipedia this place to learn more basic info.

I flew down there for a Rotary International scholars orientation (remember those are the folks hooking it up w/the scholarship). Basically all the inbound scholars in Southern Africa (like me) were invited...but mostly just folks studying in SA showed up. There were also folks who were outbound (like going to study in other parts of the world after this semester). There were 2 girls from Namibia and the rest were from SA. It was a great chance to network w/other folks going thru the same thing as me. Just a way to chat and see what other people were experiencing about Rotary, what they were planning, etc. And it's always a comfort to be able to talk 'American' and have people understand phrases like "kickin' it" and "it's all good." Yeah!

We had a great host/hostess that planned everything superbly such that there was a good mix of informational speeches about Rotary and SA as well as fun activities. We went to the Cape Town Chamber of Commerce, had a sundowner on Lion's Head (part of the Table Mountain mountain complex), did some drumming, went dragonboat racing, had an afternoon at Rustenburg vineyard/dairy farm, and learned lots and lots about Rotary. I was very tired when I came home!

Some vocab from the preceeding paragraph:

sundowner-a particularly SA activity that usually involves wine, champagne in this case! You get together w/a group of people and watch the sun go down over drinks/food. Usually you make a point to get to a cool venue for this event (like a rocky outrcrop on Lion's Head) or a massive sand dune overlooking the ocean.

dragonboat racing- a type of boat race from Asia somewhere (Japan, China?). It's very team-oriented sport in the same sense that crewing/rowing is. Check out the pictures on the link below and you'll see what I mean

One really awesome thing is that my scholarship coordinator, Brent, was there. This is the dude who holds my Rotary scholarship bureaucracy in his hands. It's his job to make sure I get my money and deal w/any issues that might arise to do w/my scholarship. An important guy, non? Evanston, Illinois is the Rotary International headquarters...so he's based in Chicago. It was cool to vibe w/someone from Chicago proper! He's a hiphop DJ, still a skater (at 31!), and seems to be into the same sort of scene as I would be into if I was still in Chicago...so it was great to talk shop in that sense. Mostly I'm just relieved to know that my administrator "gets" me. Sometimes I feel like administrators don't get me and what I'm after, cos I think it's not really the norm of what most folks are after. I guess I mean that I'm not your typical "button up shirt" overachiever. I'm wacky. It took me a lot of time to come to terms w/this at U of IL...the fact that I could be wacky and also acheive. I think that there is this perception that you have to be a model whatever to receive accolades, scholarships, whatever. It's not true. You just have to be good at what you do and you have to be able to express this. Mageria boys...if you are reading this...take note!! This is the other part of my worldy college advice that you should take to heart!!! So, this makes the Dr Keslers, Dean Olsons, Julie/Daves, and Brents of the world very special to me indeed. I can just be myself w/out having to walk on eggshells in administrative dealings. Nice! Synergy rules! I guess even now as I'm plopped into a new culture, etc I'm trying to get my sea legs again as far as how I can act and stuff. This same process happens when I'm looking for a job...until I give up trying to be the "right thing" and just be me...which is, ironically, the right thing. This process of really really being myself is something I always give up and then re-adopt thinking "how many times have I learned this?" But...I'll just keep doing it. Even now...

Here's a sampling of photos of the weekend as taken by Trevor, our Rotary host:
http://picasaweb.google.com/wilcopix?pli=1

I also have photos that I want to add, but can't use my computer right now cos I was the victim of crime in Cape Town...

So here's the tiny grain of negative in the overall beautiful beach that was the weekend in Cape Town. I was the victim of theft. I used the word robbed yesterday to someone, but the dude thought I was mugged...which isn't the case. We were out the whole day on Sunday and when we came back to the backpackers/hostel we were staying at, I wanted to wash up. We were on our way to a concert in the Kirstenbosch botanical gardens (which I did miss cos I had to talk to the cops...) and it had been a sweaty and salty day. But I come to find my room standing wide open. No big deal I thought, cos our lock was really shady on the door. Like I could stick 3-4 fingers between the door frame and the piece of wood that was holding the lock to the frame...not good. I was going to mention something to the staff when I arrived, but thought it would be fine since it was all Rotary kids there that weekend. Trust. Yeah, check the signature on my email to see how I feel about that. So I went to get my toiletry bag, but it was gone. After some more searching all over the room...it's definitely gone. And then so is my small stuff sack w/my iPod, USA/SA plug convertor, and batteries. D'oh! Luckily my iPod is insured here (thanks Alan!!) so I know that this is unfortunate, but manageable. But my toiletries...come on man!!!! I've been traveling for awhile now and so my toiletry bag has evolved into the perfectly transportable bathroom unit. So there goes my cool hairbrush that retracts into itself, my rabbit soap dish from Pierre K (one of the most inspirational dudes I've ever met), my collapseable cup/medicine container, and so on...what a drag! Another girl had her entire bag stolen which included the keys to her car and the keys to her house...a major drag!!!!

So we (Loredana from Switzerland and I) stayed behind and filed a police report w/some very nice cops. And that was that. The owner of the backpackers was incredibly insensitive to us regarding the matter and that is why I would not recommend staying at the place we stayed at: Mountain Manor Backpackers. The facilities were fine, but why make someone who doesn't care about you money? People in the hospitality business that are rude to their guests should not be in that industry! For those of you in Urbana...you know my bar blacklisting policy. If you treat me bad (and I don't deserve it)...I don't spend my money there. Boltini, I'm looking in your general direction!!! The owner was only mildly helpful on the theft matter and also blamed our group for leaving her security door open. She didn't seem to think that the lock on our door was inadequate in any way (which is crap...it's the only reason someone was successful in penetrating our room and not everyone else's room) and that the responsibility rested solely in our negligent behavior. On the flip, the rest of the staff was really cool!! They mentioned that things like this had happened before and the owner was also not cool to those other folks...I detect a pattern...anyways, enough about that.

And the great friend train stopped in Cape Town too...I met up w/Tozi, Nolu, and Robert from the old Maritzburg days! It was soooooo sweet to see more of my friends from my S African past. I didn't get to spend too much time w/them cos I was rolling in a big group of Rotary scholars, but something is better than nothing at all!! And this is only the beginning!! Robert had just arrived in Cape Town from Manchester, England so it was lucky to arrive in Cape Town at the same time as him. Tozi's up in Joburg this weekend, so I'm hoping we can negotiate hanging out this weekend too. Nice! That's the homies over there on the right. L-R: Robert, Tozi, Me, Nolu

The weekend was good. It was hard to come back to Pretoria on Monday after seeing the glory of Cape Town ;)

This week I've been trying to juggle Rotary/radio/school...in that order. I went to an international banquet yesterday for the Pretoria West Rotary Club. It was really fun and nice to get out and see another Rotary Club in action. The main speaker was the High Commissioner from New Zealand (the New Zealand ambassador to SA) and the food was great! I am going to speak at this club in 2 weeks.

As far as radio is concerned, just been trying to learn the ropes at the studio. Working the board and the music management system they use here Also been trying to get familiar w/Adobe Audition...it's a very rad program. Carissa (the other production chick) and I have been writing and thinking of new jingles for the station. It's interesting for me because I don't know what cultural context to put some things as far as what SA folks would readily understand cos frankly, this ain't my culture ;) Also I haven't really listened to the station too much. But now that my iPod's gone I'll be listening a lot more ;)

School...well I can't get out of my classes...it's official. Straight from Mrs van Vuuren's mouth today. So I must make a plan to minimize my effort and maximize my grade point average. Secret Agent Brain...I'm talking to you!!! For those of you not familiar w/Secret Agent Brain, it's my secret (well, not so secret) weapon against classes. It's how I can get awesome grades w/out lots of effort. I don't profess to know how it works...but it does. And I can say that I don't use it all the time...just when I need it. Now may be one of the times to dust it off...

I also got a bunch of errands done in the last few days. I have a cooking pot! Woohoo! Also went grocery shopping today in 2 waves. 1: to the fruit/veg store and butcher (they are next to each other) cos the supermarket veggies are not cool. 2: Woolworths to see what the hype is. Woolworths is a supermarket here. (and I think clothing store? in some places) It's very "upmarket" (as they would say in SA). You can find any fancy prosciutto-type meat, rare spanish vegetable, whatever worldly item you want...it's at Woolworths. They have a lot of organic stuff and cool flavors. It's the most expensive supermarket, but probably worth it. I went to a tiny one over in a neighborhood called Arcadia. The big one is on the other side of the university...so I'll check that one out next time.

On a random note...I went to the American Embassy today. It was a hilarious splash of all the homeland security hype I'm happy to leave w/you all over there across the ocean. I had to go thru about 45.6 security hoops (including turning off and locking up my cell phone in a lockbox...?) just to find out that what I came to do could be done on-line and that the embassy is totally worthless for figuring out my drivers license. The woman I initially talked to actually suggested I call the Illinois DMV. I literally laughed in her face. I think she was S African and didn't understand that you just don't call the DMV expecting to get thru. After going back and forth w/her I finally got her to call someone else (who confirmed that you NEVER call the DMV in the USA) who gave me some place in Pretoria to get sorted. Great...what helpful bureaucracy!!! I heard from a guy here that all the building materials for the embassy were brought from the USA so that the security risk was kept to a minimum. Sounds sorta crazy...but I wouldn't put it past the good ol' US of A government. Remember...you are being watched...which used to be a joke on us "crazy liberal hippies" but you all know now that we really were onto something w/that!

On a final up note:

Massive congratulations to Paula and Gonz in Brazil who are going to be tying the knot. Hey Gonz, it's about time you anted up!!! Hearing that, like hearing about Tom and Ofelia's baby, really really made my day. Congrats you guys!!!!!!

Hope you are all well and still alive after spending most of your waking life reading this blog!

Much Love
Lynsee

Gonz n Paula