Howzit howzit everyone
Day in the Life, May 15 photos are up now on my picasa site. Thanks to Alyssa Sokolski who sent me a part of her day!! Alyssa's photos are also up in the "Day in the Life" gallery. I've also added some photos to the "General photos" and "Rotary Photos, general" section. Check them out at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lynseemelchi
So it's round about 4 months for me here in Pretoria, SA. I just wanted to sort of go thru what has happened to me so far, what I've achieved, etc. Here's 25 random things off the top...
1. Radio producer for college radio station: Tuks FM. Have now had 3-ish ads aired on the radio to around about 50,000 listeners in the Pretoria area.
2. Been to Cape Town, Durban, St Lucia Wetland Reserve, Warm Baths, and Joburg
3. Been on a date
4. Had potjie (said:poy-key), a traditional South African/Afrikaans meal that's cooked in a cast iron pot over a campfire
5. Had bunny chow, a very KwaZulu Natal dish that is basically a simple curry served in a hollowed out breadloaf.
6. Had biltong...a super South African food. Basically the same as beef jerky/dried meat...but goes well beyond that. These people take their biltong seriously! It's like a national obsession. There's a biltong shop in every mall!
7. Met people from: Namibia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Germany, Mozambique, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Switzerland, Nigeria, Kenya, England, Swaziland, Brazil, Eritrea, New Zealand, and probably more places...
8. Been burglarized
9. Learned swear words in Afrikaans...and some nice words
10. Learned my new cell phone number
11. Turned 26
12. Seen DJ Krush in Joburg
13. Watched the first Vodacom Super 14 Rugby finals ever hosted in South Africa in the Super 14's history
14. Spoken at 2 Rotary Clubs, been to 3 Rotary Clubs, attending my first Rotary Convention next weekend. Also attended 1 International Dinner for the Pretoria W Club and 1 GSE Dinner hosted by Pretoria E, Waterkloof, and Silverton Rotary Clubs.
15. Called the USA 4x at a pay phone, been called from the USA 3x (thanks Helen, Dad, and Ben), and used skype.com 2x to call home.
16. Met up w/old friends/acquaintances: Tongai, Kumbi, Gary, Cliff, Charlie, Chido, Jon Warner, Colin, Niall, Tozi, Robert, and Nolu. Have yet to see Gaby, Majo, Chambers, Mas, Roisin, Vicki, and Philile.
17. Have seen: hippo, crocodiles, all kinds of snakes, all kinds of geckos/lizards, chameleons, waterbuck, genet, reedbuck, warthogs, bushpigs, kudu, gray duiker, dung beetles, weaver birds, hammerkop (a bird)...and probably more. No! I didn't see any of these in anyone's backyard or just roaming the streets!!! Okay except when I was staying w/Jon Warner in St Lucia park...but that's another story all together.
18. Been out to a dancing club where I was the only white person there.
19. Broken 2 pairs of sandals
20. Quit smoking for 2 months...but just started again this past week.
21. Played a practical joke
22. Taken 6 tests that are printed in English and Afrikaans and taken 1 oral test. Gotten As on all of them (73% was my lowest score)
23. Slept over at 9 people's houses (4 Rotarians, 5 friends)
24. Bought 2 pairs of pants, 4 skirts, 2 pairs of sandals, 4 pairs of socks, 2 blouses, 1 shirt, 1 jacket, 2 tank tops, and 1 dress...still have nothing to wear!
25. Been to 1 house party
So this weekend I went on a date. It's a miracle...I know! I pretty much never get attention from guys...I think I scare the crap out of them. But maybe that's not true and I'm overreacting. All I know is that I just don't get much play on any continent! I met this Afrikaans dude called Jean (a lot of people have French names here, but they don't pronounce them properly) at a party a month or so back and we have been sms-ing (text messaging on cell phones) each other since then. He's 28 and is a manager at a security systems business. It's been hard to meet up because I don't have a car, his car is being borrowed by his sister (who has been staying in a town about 4 hours away), we live really far apart from one another in Pretoria, and he's not a student (so he's not around campus). Something was always coming up with him when we were supposed to meet up. I don't think he was being shady...things just happen sometimes, ya know?
So we finally met up this weekend. We went on a double date to Tings and Times, a local bar that I think I've mentioned before. It's basically a really chilled out place with a nice atmosphere. Everything was going pretty good...good stuff to talk about, etc. So good that I agreed to hang out w/him on Saturday as well to watch the rugby game. His family was having a potjie party and watching the rugby in a suburb of Pretoria. It was really fun! The potjie cooks almost all day in a cast iron pot. The pot is almost like a Dutch oven which is interesting because the Afrikaans people here are Dutch descendants. I wonder how those two ideas sort of fit together. Cooking potjie's a really slow process since it takes place on a campfire. Potjie (said: poy-key) is a pretty hard core Afrikaans tradition that I think is a cultural legacy from way back in the voortrekker days (pioneer days). The guy cooking made a curry potjie and a general stew thing w/tons of veggies and meat. Also they made pap...which is a super Southern African thing. They may also have it in other parts of Africa too. Each country/culture calls it something else (pap=SA, sadza=Zimbabwe), but it's all basically the same thing. It's made from super-refined corn meal and I've heard it's really similar to grits. But I've never had grits so I don't know if it's true or not. I kind think of it as super stiff cream of wheat. And of course, cos this is SA and sports were involved...there was much drinking to be had. The whole day was really fun and I didn't get made fun of *too* much for being an American.
Everything was going decent. His sister was like "no, this guy really likes you cos you're smart, etc. He's told me lots and lots about you," and such. That's good vibes...but then it went wrong. He started talking to another girl at the party and ultimately ended up kissing her in front of all of us (including me!). D'oh! and wtf. Red flags and flashing lights are revolving all around this situation. So that was pretty uncool and when I confronted him about it the next day he sort of didn't really do much (apologies were slow coming) and then he blamed it on too much to drink. Lame. But at least this behavior came out now and not after I had too much invested into anything. I can't really be too mad about the whole thing cos it's not like I've got much claim to him, but it still hurt and made me confused. I'd still like to be friends with him cos I think we get along good and I haven't met too many folks outside the radio station...I just need to keep my lips to myself ;)
But...I'm feeling good despite that situation going down. See, I'm not a revenge person at all. Mostly cos the person I would usually be going up against is my mom and brother. My mom is far more persistent on the revenge tip and always wins...no matter what. It's just the way it goes. I'm not into revenge enough to be in it for the long haul. If you are going to be a revenge-r...you really gotta be married to the revenge. I just don't have the hate in me. Also I don't do revenge because I'm just not clever in an evil way. It's really not my forte. Being mature and moving on is a very cool way of dealing with things...well I think so. But yesterday I had a plan. Thanks to my friends at the radio station, a very special edition of a daily entertainment program aired Monday on TuksFM with a very special message to this dude Jean...I hope he hears it! Don't mess w/those of us that dabble in the airwaves. Just don't do it ;)
The whole situation (including the slight revenge) is actually making me feel really good and positive about myself. I'm a smart, funny, nice girl that doesn't need to deal w/crap like that from guys. Even if they are really cute and have very nice blue eyes...I just don't need that. I deserve someone that is going to treat me proper! Right?!!?!
Hope you are all well and getting that dirt off your shoulders! I know I've dusted off my shoulder and feeling good!
Much Love
Lynsee
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Ons bloed is blou!
The hills of SA are alive with the sound of…rugby!
Yes, that's right…rugby.
Sports is very very important to folks round here…but it's like that just about anywhere you go. I mean it's either White Sox or Illini basketball or Manchester United or Oscar de la Hoya or whatever. South Africa is no different. The big sports here are rugby, cricket,and soccer. Like a lot of things in SA, even sports affinities are sort of drawn across racial lines. Traditionally whites tend tofollow rugby/cricket and blacks tend to follow soccer. Not sure about the other groups here (Indians, Coloreds). I'm guessing Indian folks are huge cricket fans though. British folks dig cricket. Afrikaaners dig rugby. These aren't hard and fast alliances...but more a rule of thumb.
As of Saturday, South Africa has made major history in rugby. See, there's this rugby tournament called the Super 14. I don't know how it might compare to the Superbowl in NFL...but I think it's sort ofsimilar. It's like the big one of rugby tournaments around here. The teams that compete in the Super 14 are from South Africa and Australia...and there might be some New Zealand teams in the mix there somewhere. This alone deserves a little explaining...SA and Australia are rivals. It's mostly a sports thing (Australia tends to kick SA's butt in a lot of sports) but there are finer nuances to it. Like the fact that a MAJOR portion of the (white) South African population has emigrated to Australia. Other people might add other nuances to the mix...but those are the ones that I've picked up on. It's always a good time to poke fun at how South Africans get whipped by Australians...it's bound to stir up some healthy cameraderie in the teasing department. As long as you aren't nasty about :) So it's a big deal that any SA team is in the finals...let alone that both teams are from SA and that the final game is going to be played here. I bite my thumb at you Australia. Also it doesn't hurt that Australia just won the Cricket World Cup (after SA made it to the semi-finals). This is causing a nice healthy dose of SA sports pride.
Okay...so the super 14. I'm not sure how long it's been going on...but as of this weekend the 1st ever South African team has made it to the final game. And not 1 SA team...but 2 have made it. So 2 SA teams will be playing one another in the final game of the Super 14 tournament for the 1st time in the history of the tournament. And the game is being hosted in SA...also a first. Not bad, not bad at all. Now...some more explanation. The two teams that are playing each other are HUGE rivals. The Sharks (from Durban/KwaZulu Natal) vs TheBlue Bulls (from Pretoria). It's like saying the Cubs vs WhiteSox...and, interestingly, inferences about the culture here can be drawn from this rivalry. Exactly in the same way that you can drawn conclusions about how Chicago works from looking at the sports rivalry between the Sox and the Cubs. Northside vs Southside. Yuppie whites vs working class minorities, etc. Has anyone at home seen that AWESOME commercial where the prototypical Cubbie fan (blond haired frat boy type) is at the tattoo parlor getting a tattoo on his back? He's talking to his friend on his cell phone and is like 'Yeah man I'm getting it done now...Cubbie blue...yeah!' When in fact the artist (big Latino dude) is tattooing a GIANT Sox emblem on his back. That ad killed me!!! Those ad execs earned their money on that one!!
Now some more background info for ya. I stay in Pretoria. It's like the Afrikaner homeland. Afrikaners are a group of white people here. There are basically 2 white people groups in SA: English and Afrikaners. I don't really get all the differences between the two groups (I'm here to learn stuff like this), but apparently there are some very striking differences. For many years there has been a pretty healthy rivalry going on between the 2 white tribes. Way back when there were Dutch people that landed in the Cape (Cape Town). 1652 is I think when Jan van Rieebeck (Dutch) first arrived in the Cape. Eventually the British also came to the Cape and started imposing rules. Rules which some of the Dutch folks living in the Cape were not cool with (like taxation and I think anti-slavery stuff). So a group of these Dutch people sort of rebeled and headed into the interior of South Africa. These people were called the voortrekkers and are the ancestors of the Afrikaans people. You can think of them like the pioneers in the USA. The voortrekkers eventually sort of settled in the area where Pretoria is and set up this republic called the Transvaal. There's actually a GIGANTIC monument to the voortrekkers here in Pretoria...but I've yet to see it. One day, one day. Then gold was discovered in the Transvaal (okay in the Witswaterstrand)...I think in the late 1800s. So, of course the British were trying to get a piece of that pie. Another big thing that is important to this old skool rivalry is this little event called the Anglo-Boer War...I think there was actually at least 2 A-B wars. I don't remember (forgive me Mr Nelson!). It happened in the early 1900s and was really really nasty. The British were super ruthless and put a lot of Afrikaners in concentration camps (SA is where the very first concentration camps ever were) as well as sending people off to other British colonies like Sri Lanka and stuff. Even sending little kids off to these foreign prison camps. And of course, tons of people died on either side of the conflict. So...the British and Afrikaners...well they got some beef that's pretty established in the history of this country. There are also cultural differences that seem to divide the groups. Like Afrikaners tend to be pretty conservative and religious and stuff. I equate Afrikaner culture w/small town American culture to an extent. But I'm still working on this hypothesis. British tend to be more liberal, etc. There's probably more...I just am not sure what these "things"are all about.
The Blue Bulls (actually it's Blou Bulls...Afrikaans, baby!) are the Pretoria team. They play like 5-6 blocks from my house at Loftus Stadium. (Wow...remember when stadiums in the USA weren't named after corporations????? Ohhh Old Comiskey...*sniff*) Game day here is NUTS! Blue Bull fans are really really hardcore. People with flags flying off their cars, helmets w/GIANT bull horns on them, tailgating, boozin', signs all over that say "Ons bloed is blou" (our blood is blue). Basically, it can be infered that there's a very strong Afrikaans vibe following the team.
The Sharks are from KwaZulu Natal (KZN)...specifically the city of Durban. KZN is a pretty British province in this country. Way back when SA wasn't exactly provincially united...KZN(known as Natal in those days) was a British protectorate. So it has a leftover British vibe going on. And a lot of British descendants live in that province. That is the province where I went to school back in 2002. I didn't know hardly any Afrikaners then. Actually I don't think I knew any. They just weren't really around. There are Afrikaners that live there...but it's a pretty staid British stronghold.
So these two teams are playing one another on Saturday. The first time a SA team has been in the finals...the first time 2 SA teams have been in the finals. The 2 most hardcore rivals in the country. Yeah...it's going to be NUTS around here. Just to give you an example...I own a Sharks jersey. Back when I was in KZN I met a cute boy who played rugby for a junior team of the Sharks. Basically he was on one of the teams the Sharks monitor for new players. A hot rugby player...how could I go wrong? So I got a Sharks jersey. I'm a huge rugby fan, if I can be said to be a sports fan at all, and getting a Sharks jersey was an obvious choice. When I wear the jersey around here I get tons of flak/attention for it (think wearing a Bears jersey in Northern Wisconsin...you just don't get away with that w/out a word or two). I actually used to wear the jersey on purpose when I first got here just so ANYONE would talk to me. It always works. If you want people to talk to you...wear the other team's jersey! Works every time. Except sometimes they just speak to you in Afrikaans...which is about the same as not being spoken to since I don't understand the language. There are also a lot of Sharks fans around here. I don't get that. I think it must be white people that have come up here from KZN to study or something. I haven't figured that anomaly out yet. So I either get tons of crap for wearing the jersey or "I like your jersey." Either way...people talk to me...and on some days that is enough to keep my spirits up a bit. Yeah so that's your little slice of SA history. Past and present.
I sort of pieced this info together from my random knowledge of SA...if I got something wrong...let me know!
I'm going home to go to bed now.
It's 'Day in the Life' today...so let's see those photos!
Much Love
Lynsee
Yes, that's right…rugby.
Sports is very very important to folks round here…but it's like that just about anywhere you go. I mean it's either White Sox or Illini basketball or Manchester United or Oscar de la Hoya or whatever. South Africa is no different. The big sports here are rugby, cricket,and soccer. Like a lot of things in SA, even sports affinities are sort of drawn across racial lines. Traditionally whites tend tofollow rugby/cricket and blacks tend to follow soccer. Not sure about the other groups here (Indians, Coloreds). I'm guessing Indian folks are huge cricket fans though. British folks dig cricket. Afrikaaners dig rugby. These aren't hard and fast alliances...but more a rule of thumb.
As of Saturday, South Africa has made major history in rugby. See, there's this rugby tournament called the Super 14. I don't know how it might compare to the Superbowl in NFL...but I think it's sort ofsimilar. It's like the big one of rugby tournaments around here. The teams that compete in the Super 14 are from South Africa and Australia...and there might be some New Zealand teams in the mix there somewhere. This alone deserves a little explaining...SA and Australia are rivals. It's mostly a sports thing (Australia tends to kick SA's butt in a lot of sports) but there are finer nuances to it. Like the fact that a MAJOR portion of the (white) South African population has emigrated to Australia. Other people might add other nuances to the mix...but those are the ones that I've picked up on. It's always a good time to poke fun at how South Africans get whipped by Australians...it's bound to stir up some healthy cameraderie in the teasing department. As long as you aren't nasty about :) So it's a big deal that any SA team is in the finals...let alone that both teams are from SA and that the final game is going to be played here. I bite my thumb at you Australia. Also it doesn't hurt that Australia just won the Cricket World Cup (after SA made it to the semi-finals). This is causing a nice healthy dose of SA sports pride.
Okay...so the super 14. I'm not sure how long it's been going on...but as of this weekend the 1st ever South African team has made it to the final game. And not 1 SA team...but 2 have made it. So 2 SA teams will be playing one another in the final game of the Super 14 tournament for the 1st time in the history of the tournament. And the game is being hosted in SA...also a first. Not bad, not bad at all. Now...some more explanation. The two teams that are playing each other are HUGE rivals. The Sharks (from Durban/KwaZulu Natal) vs TheBlue Bulls (from Pretoria). It's like saying the Cubs vs WhiteSox...and, interestingly, inferences about the culture here can be drawn from this rivalry. Exactly in the same way that you can drawn conclusions about how Chicago works from looking at the sports rivalry between the Sox and the Cubs. Northside vs Southside. Yuppie whites vs working class minorities, etc. Has anyone at home seen that AWESOME commercial where the prototypical Cubbie fan (blond haired frat boy type) is at the tattoo parlor getting a tattoo on his back? He's talking to his friend on his cell phone and is like 'Yeah man I'm getting it done now...Cubbie blue...yeah!' When in fact the artist (big Latino dude) is tattooing a GIANT Sox emblem on his back. That ad killed me!!! Those ad execs earned their money on that one!!
Now some more background info for ya. I stay in Pretoria. It's like the Afrikaner homeland. Afrikaners are a group of white people here. There are basically 2 white people groups in SA: English and Afrikaners. I don't really get all the differences between the two groups (I'm here to learn stuff like this), but apparently there are some very striking differences. For many years there has been a pretty healthy rivalry going on between the 2 white tribes. Way back when there were Dutch people that landed in the Cape (Cape Town). 1652 is I think when Jan van Rieebeck (Dutch) first arrived in the Cape. Eventually the British also came to the Cape and started imposing rules. Rules which some of the Dutch folks living in the Cape were not cool with (like taxation and I think anti-slavery stuff). So a group of these Dutch people sort of rebeled and headed into the interior of South Africa. These people were called the voortrekkers and are the ancestors of the Afrikaans people. You can think of them like the pioneers in the USA. The voortrekkers eventually sort of settled in the area where Pretoria is and set up this republic called the Transvaal. There's actually a GIGANTIC monument to the voortrekkers here in Pretoria...but I've yet to see it. One day, one day. Then gold was discovered in the Transvaal (okay in the Witswaterstrand)...I think in the late 1800s. So, of course the British were trying to get a piece of that pie. Another big thing that is important to this old skool rivalry is this little event called the Anglo-Boer War...I think there was actually at least 2 A-B wars. I don't remember (forgive me Mr Nelson!). It happened in the early 1900s and was really really nasty. The British were super ruthless and put a lot of Afrikaners in concentration camps (SA is where the very first concentration camps ever were) as well as sending people off to other British colonies like Sri Lanka and stuff. Even sending little kids off to these foreign prison camps. And of course, tons of people died on either side of the conflict. So...the British and Afrikaners...well they got some beef that's pretty established in the history of this country. There are also cultural differences that seem to divide the groups. Like Afrikaners tend to be pretty conservative and religious and stuff. I equate Afrikaner culture w/small town American culture to an extent. But I'm still working on this hypothesis. British tend to be more liberal, etc. There's probably more...I just am not sure what these "things"are all about.
The Blue Bulls (actually it's Blou Bulls...Afrikaans, baby!) are the Pretoria team. They play like 5-6 blocks from my house at Loftus Stadium. (Wow...remember when stadiums in the USA weren't named after corporations????? Ohhh Old Comiskey...*sniff*) Game day here is NUTS! Blue Bull fans are really really hardcore. People with flags flying off their cars, helmets w/GIANT bull horns on them, tailgating, boozin', signs all over that say "Ons bloed is blou" (our blood is blue). Basically, it can be infered that there's a very strong Afrikaans vibe following the team.
The Sharks are from KwaZulu Natal (KZN)...specifically the city of Durban. KZN is a pretty British province in this country. Way back when SA wasn't exactly provincially united...KZN(known as Natal in those days) was a British protectorate. So it has a leftover British vibe going on. And a lot of British descendants live in that province. That is the province where I went to school back in 2002. I didn't know hardly any Afrikaners then. Actually I don't think I knew any. They just weren't really around. There are Afrikaners that live there...but it's a pretty staid British stronghold.
So these two teams are playing one another on Saturday. The first time a SA team has been in the finals...the first time 2 SA teams have been in the finals. The 2 most hardcore rivals in the country. Yeah...it's going to be NUTS around here. Just to give you an example...I own a Sharks jersey. Back when I was in KZN I met a cute boy who played rugby for a junior team of the Sharks. Basically he was on one of the teams the Sharks monitor for new players. A hot rugby player...how could I go wrong? So I got a Sharks jersey. I'm a huge rugby fan, if I can be said to be a sports fan at all, and getting a Sharks jersey was an obvious choice. When I wear the jersey around here I get tons of flak/attention for it (think wearing a Bears jersey in Northern Wisconsin...you just don't get away with that w/out a word or two). I actually used to wear the jersey on purpose when I first got here just so ANYONE would talk to me. It always works. If you want people to talk to you...wear the other team's jersey! Works every time. Except sometimes they just speak to you in Afrikaans...which is about the same as not being spoken to since I don't understand the language. There are also a lot of Sharks fans around here. I don't get that. I think it must be white people that have come up here from KZN to study or something. I haven't figured that anomaly out yet. So I either get tons of crap for wearing the jersey or "I like your jersey." Either way...people talk to me...and on some days that is enough to keep my spirits up a bit. Yeah so that's your little slice of SA history. Past and present.
I sort of pieced this info together from my random knowledge of SA...if I got something wrong...let me know!
I'm going home to go to bed now.
It's 'Day in the Life' today...so let's see those photos!
Much Love
Lynsee
Monday, May 7, 2007
The blahs...
Hidey ho!
I know some of you are probably having convulsive fits because it’s been so long since I’ve posted. Sorry! Here’s your meds!!
Not much has really been happening I guess except that I have been studying. Yeah…I’m in school again. Woo. Please help me contain my excitement…
Wow, do I really need to spend another post complaining about how much school sucks and how much I hate it? I’m sorry, but it’s really consuming me right now and I don’t know how to sort of be chill because of it. I just feel so frustrated and also like I’m sort of bashing my head up against a brick wall. Remember early on when I said I was just going to try to have a positive outlook and make the best of it? Well, that plan isn’t really working. I just feel like school is eating all my time that could be used for better things…like picking my nose or something. I’m not learning anything…which really sucks all the joy out of going to lectures, reading textbooks, studying notes, taking tests. Yes, I actually found enjoyment in those things at one time…but not these days. It’s just a frustrating, near pointless, routine designed to stress me out. Busy work in the form of stupid little homework assignments, going to lab sessions that don’t teach you anything or give you the chance to get dirty, and lots of vagueries about how this whole process even works in the first place. The worst part of this is that I don’t know if I’ll get into vet school, even after this year of academic walking in place. That’s the worst part! At least I’m getting decent grades…
Another random rant about school…the way they grade here is really odd to me, and almost unfair at times. I mean the classes I’m in are all about 500 people on average, so there are teaching assistants for all the classes. I’m sure they do all the grading. All our tests here are written ones…no multiple choice. I heard one teacher here refer to multiple choice tests as “monkey puzzles.” Hey, she’s right. So we have to write out these long answers to questions on all the tests. If you don’t answer exactly in the same way the teacher does on the grading key the students use…you don’t get points. It’s such a subjective way of grading, which is weird in science. I mean I get in an English class that a teacher may not dig your style of answering a question in the form of a paper, but it shouldn’t be like that in science. Glycolysis works in the same way no matter what your interpretation of the event is…there’s not really that much wiggle room. Just to give you an example…I got a test back a week or so ago that was a 73%. That’s not too bad here (it’s almost an A), but after I went thru the teacher’s answer key (called a “memo” here), I saw that I had answered some of the same things but in different words. So I went to the teacher and got him to give me back a bunch more points such that my final grade was an 84%!!! That’s an 11 percentage point difference that changed my grade from almost an A to a grade folks would kill for! Insane. At least the teachers give us the chance to contest our grades at all though! Next week I’m going to take an oral exam because I want to miss the regular test time to go to a Rotary event in another town. I’ll let you know all about that! It sounds really scary cos it only takes 20 minutes…compared to a 1 hour written test. Wish me luck!
I’ve had some hope on the “school sucks” front though…I had an “altercation” of sorts w/a woman in my dorm about 2 weeks ago. She yelled at me because I don’t know how any procedures in my dorm work…but no one has actually given me any guidance as to how anything works. So I got angry (cos I don’t like to be yelled at when it’s not my fault) and I ended up going to talk to the guy that runs my dorm to find out how things work. He is personal friends w/the dean of the Veterinary school here. So I’m in contact with the veterinary dean now and hope that maybe something can be done by going to the top. Once I got this process going it really made me realize how weird I’ve been acting here about certain things. Usually when I have a problem w/something I don’t sit around and just let it pass me by. I do something about it. I problem-solve and think of ways around it and then start trying to make those plans work. I just haven’t been doing that all the time here, so far as I can tell. That’s bad cos that’s a trait I really value in myself. So I guess I need to focus on less bad vibes and more positive action. Whew…easy to say, harder to employ.
Good vibes…I had my first ad and produced segment go out over the air!!!!!! My first ad aired on Wed April 27th at 1:20pm to 50,000 potential loyal listeners in the Pretoria area! I literally jumped for joy when I heard it play =) The ad was for a very cool party at a local venue for a radio show my boss does: The Eclectic Mix. I LOVE this radio show! It’s one of my 2 fav things about Pretoria. The music (DnB, house, funk, triphop, etc) really takes me back to the musical days of my time at U of IL as well as just checking out random DJs in dank basements from Chicago to CU. He surrounds himself w/excellent DJs w/nice records. I thought the ad was really boring (my fault) but my boss and colleague were pretty geeked over it, so I was happy too. I was actually pretty stressed about this ad cos I wanted it to be good, but still don’t feel I really know what I’m doing when it comes to this audio stuff. It scares me when I can pass off something as good when I feel it was pieced together w/a lot of dumb luck. Apparently it was good though: nice crisp vocals, fun music, interesting start and finish. Whew!
My next piece went out on Monday Apr 30. It was a 5 min segment that airs every weekday at 1:30pm and it’s an entertainment thing(music, movies, gossip, local gigs, etc). I did most of the production work on that one, but this other guy finished up the loose ends for me…which I didn’t mind at all cos that 5 min was a lot of work. More than I expected it would be. I’m so eager to get into the studio and produce more ads and stuff, but I have so much schoolwork to do that I just spend a lot of time studying. Luckily my boss told me that at the station they prioritize schoolwork…so he said if it’s that bad then he’ll even start producing ads. That helps me out a lot cos I feel a lot of pressure to come in and do more work (I really want to!!), but I just don’t have a lot of free time after studying.
So, I’m officially a radio producer in South Africa. How cool is that?
We just had this super long weekend from Apr 27 to May 1. Apr 27 was Freedom Day, which is the first day that Nelson Mandela took office or something like that. I can’t remember. Basically it’s the 1st day of official democracy after years and years of apartheid lockdown. I guess it’s sort of like the 4th of July except it didn’t seem like that big of a deal. Like I mentioned before…public holiday means things are closed and people chill out. But there weren’t fireworks or any events, so far as I could tell. Then May 1 is Workers Day…which is the same as May Day. It’s an international labor holiday that started from events in Chicago involving the Haymarket Bombing and trials and stuff. I actually worked for about a month (until I got fired!) just a block from the Haymarket Square in Chicago. There’s a really neat sculpture there commemorating the bombing and labor rights people involved. I think it’s a cool public art piece because some anarchist folks came by and added their own flair to the sculpture…but w/out desecrating it. They souped it up a bit. It’s nice…check it out at the corner of Randolph and Des Plaines (I think)…either way it’s just off the Clinton Green Line stop. A block S and 2 blocks W.
The long weekend was at first incredibly lonely. Two of my friends from the radio station that I would have normally hung out with were both gone: Luso to Cape Town, Kenzy to Botswana. I really didn’t have anyone to hang out with at all. I tried to make some plans with a Rotarian that’s offered to hang out with me, but he was going fishing or something w/his son. I feel like I’ve had trouble hooking up with Rotarians at times. People have been super nice to invite me to this or that, but then I’m usually busy w/school. Or then when I’m free I don’t really know how to hook back up w/the Rotarians to say “no look, I’m free now!” I feel sort of uncomfortable just going back to them and asking if now is when we can hang out…it makes me feel like I’m imposing myself on them. Maybe I just need to not think about it so much. It’s been another frustration for me in general.
Yeah, so I was super lonely. I just spent the first 2 nights in my dorm room having a drink or two and watching some DVDs. It’s really the worst feeling when you are completely free to hang out and then have absolutely no options as far as people to hang out with. And this ain’t home…I can’t just go wandering around alone at night in search of a house party or to the park. That will not fly. I don’t have a car either, so I can’t really go anywhere at night except my immediate vicinity. So I was sort of stranded.
But things picked up. I had the feeling that I was going to be really lonely for the weekend cos I had no plan, so I asked another girl I know from the radio station (Karlien) if I could stay at her family’s house one night during the weekend. She said yes, so I went over for Sunday lunch. People here have Sunday lunch. It seems like sort of a pattern, but maybe not necessarily a cultural trend. People might go to someone’s house on a Sunday and have a nice lunch and coffee/wine or something. It’s a pretty cool activity. I went to Sunday lunch w/a Rotarian a few weekends ago and I had Sunday lunch over the long weekend w/Karlien’s family. It was fun. I really love other people’s families…and I’m secretly gathering families all over the world for when the apocalypse comes. Okay…maybe not for that reason…I just like families. I like to see where my friends come from and I also find other people’s families fascinating. Staying w/Karlien’s family was really relaxing and reminded me of going over to visit my friend Ben’s family at home. In the days before I came here (when I was stressed out of my gourd), going to visit Ben’s family in the ‘burbs was one of my favorite activities. Such a simple activity, but it really meant a lot more to me than almost any other activity available to me at the time. At Karlien’s, we just watched movies and vegged out. It doesn’t sound like much, but I don’t veg anymore. I just don’t have any place to. I live in a room w/a cot and a plastic chair…no lounging at all! It’s actually something I miss quite a bit. Especially when I finally have some free time to recline. Wow a la-z-boy would be like heaven now. 603 W High St porch and 2101 S Michigan’s room o’ the mattress…my love goes out to you!!! Hey it’s almost porch season at home, huh? Get out there and enjoy those porches for me, people!! I’m 100% confident that my heart lives on a porch somewhere in this crazy world! The perfect porch is my soul spot…
Monday night of the long holiday I went to the Eclectic Mix party (that I did the ad for). It was super fun. It made me feel like I was partying back at home…like I was maybe starting to feel some sort of groove here. That felt good after pretty much feeling discombobulated most of the time. Also I went into the bar alone and ended up seeing 2 folks I recognized, so I didn’t have to be alone til radio people showed up. Again, it gave me hope. It’s sort of hard at times to come from a place like CU (or even in Chi) where you go in somewhere and you are bound to know someone in the crowd. Someone you want to talk to. It makes it hard to be where everyone is a stranger, especially at a time when you are feeling lonely and you are desperate to just connect w/ ANYONE. Anyways, the music was GREAT!!! There were a bunch of DJs as well as a live drumming/DJ group from Brazil. That was an explosive mix! It was at a bar near my house called Tings and Times. It’s basically a really chilled out bar w/a strong reggae/rasta vibe. There’s tons of really cool art everywhere and their food is great. It’s a really nice spot and I think we get along well. The other bars close to me are more like campus bars in CU…so, more of a meat market or “let’s get DRUNK” type of thing going on. Not so heavy on the live music (which is what I’m in it for). Not really my kind of places, but if you are thirsty…
Then the week was all messed up cos of the long holiday so it was mostly just an attempt to sort out my head as far as what classes I had and stuff. We had Monday classes on a Wed and Tuesday classes on a Thurs…confusing. I had this huge final laboratory report due on Friday (yeah! more busy work) that was a pretty huge hassle. See, it’s these little things that are tripping me up. But at least it was only a huge hassle for 24 hours and then it was turned in. I even got help from Ben all the way over in Chicago…bless the internet and thanks to Ben’s big nerd brain!!
This weekend was pretty cool. I have 2 tests next week, so I’ve meant to study…but that hasn’t really happened. And I don’t care. It’s great. Friday we had a social at the station cos some dude is leaving. Free food, booze, and partying w/radio people is always a good time. Saturday I had a fuzzy head because the radio station people make this punch that will make you forget your name…but I still got some good explorations out of Saturday!
I’ve had a mental block about my geography ever since I got here. I have been feeling really isolated and stranded in my dorm. Part of that has to do w/the fact that I have to study a lot. Part of it has to do with the fact that I don’t have a car. Part of it has to do w/the fact that riding a bike here is scary. Part of it has do w/my brain. Part of it has to do w/the fact that I don’t really know that many people…such that I’m not out getting around the town. Part of it has to do w/my perceptions of crime and stuff. Part of it has to do w/the fact that it was so hot and dry (means I can’t breath when I cycle) when I first arrived. So the point is…I haven’t really explored my immediate geography too much.
Right now it’s gorgeous outside. It’s fall here. The leaves are falling off the trees and it’s starting to cool down, but the sun is so nice during the day. It’s Allerton Park weather!!! I’ve really been hankering to go out and get to a park, but I don’t know where anything is around here. Saturday I decided to go check out this church bazaar cos they were selling clothes (man I need some new clothes!!) and I have this love of secondhand clothes that is not being fulfilled in a country w/little or no thrift stores. The thing was closing by the time I finally found it and the clothes were wack. But I was so happy cos I was just out riding my bike around. I was loving it. I passed a park called Magnolia Dell, so I went there and checked out a market they were having. Then I just laid in the sun on the grass…brilliant! I need to explore more on my bike and hope to do a bit more of this. There’s a lot of roads in my general area that I’ve not been down yet and that’s a crime.
Today, I baked cookies. And that’s about it. Studied, did laundry w/my friend Luso.
This week Dr Kesler, one of my fav professors from U of IL, is coming to visit Pretoria. I’m so excited about this! First of all, my mom gave him some stuff to give me. Second, he’s a freaking awesome guy and it’ll be nice to connect w/someone I like a lot from home. And it will also be good to tap into the animal science resources he has here.
I guess in summary...I’m feeling super lonely and frustrated these days. I miss home and people at home. Not because I want to come home, just because I feel awkward here right now and that’s a breeding ground for homesickness. It’s not all doom and gloom every day…some days I bake cookies or lay in the park or have radio ads on the air. But overall I just feel kinda sad and that really isn’t my style. Like I said, I sort of feel like I’m bashing my head up against a wall. Or trying to bash every problem I come across w/my head. I’m not a mountain goat…that shouldn’t be my modus operandi. But I’m not quite sure how to fix it cos I feel stressed and frustrated and sad. I guess maybe this is that “culture shock” all the literature warned about. I don’t even know if it’s that. I think it more just has to do w/being any new person in any new place. I’m not over that yet. It’s maybe only just beginning. I thought maybe this feeling of loneliness would be reduced a lot cos of having this Rotary network to come into. But really I think I haven’t quite developed the Rotary network potential enough. It’s a vast untapped resource and I just don’t know how to dig into it w/both hands. In time I guess. Sorry…this has been really long and rambling. I’ve actually been putting this off cos I just have been feeling sort of crappy and didn’t really know what to talk about that would be cool and positive. I don’t really like posting up info that’s sad or boring…but I guess that’s just the way of things right now.
Oh and if you want to check out something really messed up:
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2007/05/197919.php
Click on the bottom link to Telemundo52. Then click on the Top Left "Reproducir".
Check the police beating down "rioters" in LA for a May 1 immigration rally. Bogus! I'm ashamed...but then again I'm almost always ashamed of the police. Apparently the riot gear routine was in response to about 10 youth "troublemakers." Wow...why do we let the police get away w/stuff like this again? You can also access the footage of the police brutality at www.youtube.com. Search for "May 1 protest" or anything related.
There's a lot of info on the police attacks at: la.indymedia.org
The nice thing about this information is that it's collected by regular people that were actually at the march. It's not on some corporate or mass media agenda...
Search for May 1 protest or something.
Or try this link too(it's my search for May 1):
http://la.indymedia.org/news/?comments=yes&medium=&keyword=may+1
Spread the word...
You may have mixed feelings about immigrants and whether or not they deserve rights in our country. However no human should ever allow violence like this to happen to anyone anywhere. Keep that in mind. Aren't we, as Americans, against terror? Well the police actions in these circumstances can't really be labelled as anything but terrorization, right? And just remember that anything we allow to people without rights is bound to come back to us one day. No matter how patriotic you are. No matter how rightfully American you are...it's coming back on you.
Hope you are all well
Much Love
Lynsee
I know some of you are probably having convulsive fits because it’s been so long since I’ve posted. Sorry! Here’s your meds!!
Not much has really been happening I guess except that I have been studying. Yeah…I’m in school again. Woo. Please help me contain my excitement…
Wow, do I really need to spend another post complaining about how much school sucks and how much I hate it? I’m sorry, but it’s really consuming me right now and I don’t know how to sort of be chill because of it. I just feel so frustrated and also like I’m sort of bashing my head up against a brick wall. Remember early on when I said I was just going to try to have a positive outlook and make the best of it? Well, that plan isn’t really working. I just feel like school is eating all my time that could be used for better things…like picking my nose or something. I’m not learning anything…which really sucks all the joy out of going to lectures, reading textbooks, studying notes, taking tests. Yes, I actually found enjoyment in those things at one time…but not these days. It’s just a frustrating, near pointless, routine designed to stress me out. Busy work in the form of stupid little homework assignments, going to lab sessions that don’t teach you anything or give you the chance to get dirty, and lots of vagueries about how this whole process even works in the first place. The worst part of this is that I don’t know if I’ll get into vet school, even after this year of academic walking in place. That’s the worst part! At least I’m getting decent grades…
Another random rant about school…the way they grade here is really odd to me, and almost unfair at times. I mean the classes I’m in are all about 500 people on average, so there are teaching assistants for all the classes. I’m sure they do all the grading. All our tests here are written ones…no multiple choice. I heard one teacher here refer to multiple choice tests as “monkey puzzles.” Hey, she’s right. So we have to write out these long answers to questions on all the tests. If you don’t answer exactly in the same way the teacher does on the grading key the students use…you don’t get points. It’s such a subjective way of grading, which is weird in science. I mean I get in an English class that a teacher may not dig your style of answering a question in the form of a paper, but it shouldn’t be like that in science. Glycolysis works in the same way no matter what your interpretation of the event is…there’s not really that much wiggle room. Just to give you an example…I got a test back a week or so ago that was a 73%. That’s not too bad here (it’s almost an A), but after I went thru the teacher’s answer key (called a “memo” here), I saw that I had answered some of the same things but in different words. So I went to the teacher and got him to give me back a bunch more points such that my final grade was an 84%!!! That’s an 11 percentage point difference that changed my grade from almost an A to a grade folks would kill for! Insane. At least the teachers give us the chance to contest our grades at all though! Next week I’m going to take an oral exam because I want to miss the regular test time to go to a Rotary event in another town. I’ll let you know all about that! It sounds really scary cos it only takes 20 minutes…compared to a 1 hour written test. Wish me luck!
I’ve had some hope on the “school sucks” front though…I had an “altercation” of sorts w/a woman in my dorm about 2 weeks ago. She yelled at me because I don’t know how any procedures in my dorm work…but no one has actually given me any guidance as to how anything works. So I got angry (cos I don’t like to be yelled at when it’s not my fault) and I ended up going to talk to the guy that runs my dorm to find out how things work. He is personal friends w/the dean of the Veterinary school here. So I’m in contact with the veterinary dean now and hope that maybe something can be done by going to the top. Once I got this process going it really made me realize how weird I’ve been acting here about certain things. Usually when I have a problem w/something I don’t sit around and just let it pass me by. I do something about it. I problem-solve and think of ways around it and then start trying to make those plans work. I just haven’t been doing that all the time here, so far as I can tell. That’s bad cos that’s a trait I really value in myself. So I guess I need to focus on less bad vibes and more positive action. Whew…easy to say, harder to employ.
Good vibes…I had my first ad and produced segment go out over the air!!!!!! My first ad aired on Wed April 27th at 1:20pm to 50,000 potential loyal listeners in the Pretoria area! I literally jumped for joy when I heard it play =) The ad was for a very cool party at a local venue for a radio show my boss does: The Eclectic Mix. I LOVE this radio show! It’s one of my 2 fav things about Pretoria. The music (DnB, house, funk, triphop, etc) really takes me back to the musical days of my time at U of IL as well as just checking out random DJs in dank basements from Chicago to CU. He surrounds himself w/excellent DJs w/nice records. I thought the ad was really boring (my fault) but my boss and colleague were pretty geeked over it, so I was happy too. I was actually pretty stressed about this ad cos I wanted it to be good, but still don’t feel I really know what I’m doing when it comes to this audio stuff. It scares me when I can pass off something as good when I feel it was pieced together w/a lot of dumb luck. Apparently it was good though: nice crisp vocals, fun music, interesting start and finish. Whew!
My next piece went out on Monday Apr 30. It was a 5 min segment that airs every weekday at 1:30pm and it’s an entertainment thing(music, movies, gossip, local gigs, etc). I did most of the production work on that one, but this other guy finished up the loose ends for me…which I didn’t mind at all cos that 5 min was a lot of work. More than I expected it would be. I’m so eager to get into the studio and produce more ads and stuff, but I have so much schoolwork to do that I just spend a lot of time studying. Luckily my boss told me that at the station they prioritize schoolwork…so he said if it’s that bad then he’ll even start producing ads. That helps me out a lot cos I feel a lot of pressure to come in and do more work (I really want to!!), but I just don’t have a lot of free time after studying.
So, I’m officially a radio producer in South Africa. How cool is that?
We just had this super long weekend from Apr 27 to May 1. Apr 27 was Freedom Day, which is the first day that Nelson Mandela took office or something like that. I can’t remember. Basically it’s the 1st day of official democracy after years and years of apartheid lockdown. I guess it’s sort of like the 4th of July except it didn’t seem like that big of a deal. Like I mentioned before…public holiday means things are closed and people chill out. But there weren’t fireworks or any events, so far as I could tell. Then May 1 is Workers Day…which is the same as May Day. It’s an international labor holiday that started from events in Chicago involving the Haymarket Bombing and trials and stuff. I actually worked for about a month (until I got fired!) just a block from the Haymarket Square in Chicago. There’s a really neat sculpture there commemorating the bombing and labor rights people involved. I think it’s a cool public art piece because some anarchist folks came by and added their own flair to the sculpture…but w/out desecrating it. They souped it up a bit. It’s nice…check it out at the corner of Randolph and Des Plaines (I think)…either way it’s just off the Clinton Green Line stop. A block S and 2 blocks W.
The long weekend was at first incredibly lonely. Two of my friends from the radio station that I would have normally hung out with were both gone: Luso to Cape Town, Kenzy to Botswana. I really didn’t have anyone to hang out with at all. I tried to make some plans with a Rotarian that’s offered to hang out with me, but he was going fishing or something w/his son. I feel like I’ve had trouble hooking up with Rotarians at times. People have been super nice to invite me to this or that, but then I’m usually busy w/school. Or then when I’m free I don’t really know how to hook back up w/the Rotarians to say “no look, I’m free now!” I feel sort of uncomfortable just going back to them and asking if now is when we can hang out…it makes me feel like I’m imposing myself on them. Maybe I just need to not think about it so much. It’s been another frustration for me in general.
Yeah, so I was super lonely. I just spent the first 2 nights in my dorm room having a drink or two and watching some DVDs. It’s really the worst feeling when you are completely free to hang out and then have absolutely no options as far as people to hang out with. And this ain’t home…I can’t just go wandering around alone at night in search of a house party or to the park. That will not fly. I don’t have a car either, so I can’t really go anywhere at night except my immediate vicinity. So I was sort of stranded.
But things picked up. I had the feeling that I was going to be really lonely for the weekend cos I had no plan, so I asked another girl I know from the radio station (Karlien) if I could stay at her family’s house one night during the weekend. She said yes, so I went over for Sunday lunch. People here have Sunday lunch. It seems like sort of a pattern, but maybe not necessarily a cultural trend. People might go to someone’s house on a Sunday and have a nice lunch and coffee/wine or something. It’s a pretty cool activity. I went to Sunday lunch w/a Rotarian a few weekends ago and I had Sunday lunch over the long weekend w/Karlien’s family. It was fun. I really love other people’s families…and I’m secretly gathering families all over the world for when the apocalypse comes. Okay…maybe not for that reason…I just like families. I like to see where my friends come from and I also find other people’s families fascinating. Staying w/Karlien’s family was really relaxing and reminded me of going over to visit my friend Ben’s family at home. In the days before I came here (when I was stressed out of my gourd), going to visit Ben’s family in the ‘burbs was one of my favorite activities. Such a simple activity, but it really meant a lot more to me than almost any other activity available to me at the time. At Karlien’s, we just watched movies and vegged out. It doesn’t sound like much, but I don’t veg anymore. I just don’t have any place to. I live in a room w/a cot and a plastic chair…no lounging at all! It’s actually something I miss quite a bit. Especially when I finally have some free time to recline. Wow a la-z-boy would be like heaven now. 603 W High St porch and 2101 S Michigan’s room o’ the mattress…my love goes out to you!!! Hey it’s almost porch season at home, huh? Get out there and enjoy those porches for me, people!! I’m 100% confident that my heart lives on a porch somewhere in this crazy world! The perfect porch is my soul spot…
Monday night of the long holiday I went to the Eclectic Mix party (that I did the ad for). It was super fun. It made me feel like I was partying back at home…like I was maybe starting to feel some sort of groove here. That felt good after pretty much feeling discombobulated most of the time. Also I went into the bar alone and ended up seeing 2 folks I recognized, so I didn’t have to be alone til radio people showed up. Again, it gave me hope. It’s sort of hard at times to come from a place like CU (or even in Chi) where you go in somewhere and you are bound to know someone in the crowd. Someone you want to talk to. It makes it hard to be where everyone is a stranger, especially at a time when you are feeling lonely and you are desperate to just connect w/ ANYONE. Anyways, the music was GREAT!!! There were a bunch of DJs as well as a live drumming/DJ group from Brazil. That was an explosive mix! It was at a bar near my house called Tings and Times. It’s basically a really chilled out bar w/a strong reggae/rasta vibe. There’s tons of really cool art everywhere and their food is great. It’s a really nice spot and I think we get along well. The other bars close to me are more like campus bars in CU…so, more of a meat market or “let’s get DRUNK” type of thing going on. Not so heavy on the live music (which is what I’m in it for). Not really my kind of places, but if you are thirsty…
Then the week was all messed up cos of the long holiday so it was mostly just an attempt to sort out my head as far as what classes I had and stuff. We had Monday classes on a Wed and Tuesday classes on a Thurs…confusing. I had this huge final laboratory report due on Friday (yeah! more busy work) that was a pretty huge hassle. See, it’s these little things that are tripping me up. But at least it was only a huge hassle for 24 hours and then it was turned in. I even got help from Ben all the way over in Chicago…bless the internet and thanks to Ben’s big nerd brain!!
This weekend was pretty cool. I have 2 tests next week, so I’ve meant to study…but that hasn’t really happened. And I don’t care. It’s great. Friday we had a social at the station cos some dude is leaving. Free food, booze, and partying w/radio people is always a good time. Saturday I had a fuzzy head because the radio station people make this punch that will make you forget your name…but I still got some good explorations out of Saturday!
I’ve had a mental block about my geography ever since I got here. I have been feeling really isolated and stranded in my dorm. Part of that has to do w/the fact that I have to study a lot. Part of it has to do with the fact that I don’t have a car. Part of it has to do w/the fact that riding a bike here is scary. Part of it has do w/my brain. Part of it has to do w/the fact that I don’t really know that many people…such that I’m not out getting around the town. Part of it has to do w/my perceptions of crime and stuff. Part of it has to do w/the fact that it was so hot and dry (means I can’t breath when I cycle) when I first arrived. So the point is…I haven’t really explored my immediate geography too much.
Right now it’s gorgeous outside. It’s fall here. The leaves are falling off the trees and it’s starting to cool down, but the sun is so nice during the day. It’s Allerton Park weather!!! I’ve really been hankering to go out and get to a park, but I don’t know where anything is around here. Saturday I decided to go check out this church bazaar cos they were selling clothes (man I need some new clothes!!) and I have this love of secondhand clothes that is not being fulfilled in a country w/little or no thrift stores. The thing was closing by the time I finally found it and the clothes were wack. But I was so happy cos I was just out riding my bike around. I was loving it. I passed a park called Magnolia Dell, so I went there and checked out a market they were having. Then I just laid in the sun on the grass…brilliant! I need to explore more on my bike and hope to do a bit more of this. There’s a lot of roads in my general area that I’ve not been down yet and that’s a crime.
Today, I baked cookies. And that’s about it. Studied, did laundry w/my friend Luso.
This week Dr Kesler, one of my fav professors from U of IL, is coming to visit Pretoria. I’m so excited about this! First of all, my mom gave him some stuff to give me. Second, he’s a freaking awesome guy and it’ll be nice to connect w/someone I like a lot from home. And it will also be good to tap into the animal science resources he has here.
I guess in summary...I’m feeling super lonely and frustrated these days. I miss home and people at home. Not because I want to come home, just because I feel awkward here right now and that’s a breeding ground for homesickness. It’s not all doom and gloom every day…some days I bake cookies or lay in the park or have radio ads on the air. But overall I just feel kinda sad and that really isn’t my style. Like I said, I sort of feel like I’m bashing my head up against a wall. Or trying to bash every problem I come across w/my head. I’m not a mountain goat…that shouldn’t be my modus operandi. But I’m not quite sure how to fix it cos I feel stressed and frustrated and sad. I guess maybe this is that “culture shock” all the literature warned about. I don’t even know if it’s that. I think it more just has to do w/being any new person in any new place. I’m not over that yet. It’s maybe only just beginning. I thought maybe this feeling of loneliness would be reduced a lot cos of having this Rotary network to come into. But really I think I haven’t quite developed the Rotary network potential enough. It’s a vast untapped resource and I just don’t know how to dig into it w/both hands. In time I guess. Sorry…this has been really long and rambling. I’ve actually been putting this off cos I just have been feeling sort of crappy and didn’t really know what to talk about that would be cool and positive. I don’t really like posting up info that’s sad or boring…but I guess that’s just the way of things right now.
Oh and if you want to check out something really messed up:
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2007/05/197919.php
Click on the bottom link to Telemundo52. Then click on the Top Left "Reproducir".
Check the police beating down "rioters" in LA for a May 1 immigration rally. Bogus! I'm ashamed...but then again I'm almost always ashamed of the police. Apparently the riot gear routine was in response to about 10 youth "troublemakers." Wow...why do we let the police get away w/stuff like this again? You can also access the footage of the police brutality at www.youtube.com. Search for "May 1 protest" or anything related.
There's a lot of info on the police attacks at: la.indymedia.org
The nice thing about this information is that it's collected by regular people that were actually at the march. It's not on some corporate or mass media agenda...
Search for May 1 protest or something.
Or try this link too(it's my search for May 1):
http://la.indymedia.org/news/?comments=yes&medium=&keyword=may+1
Spread the word...
You may have mixed feelings about immigrants and whether or not they deserve rights in our country. However no human should ever allow violence like this to happen to anyone anywhere. Keep that in mind. Aren't we, as Americans, against terror? Well the police actions in these circumstances can't really be labelled as anything but terrorization, right? And just remember that anything we allow to people without rights is bound to come back to us one day. No matter how patriotic you are. No matter how rightfully American you are...it's coming back on you.
Hope you are all well
Much Love
Lynsee
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)