Respiration in the key of A, part deux

Part 2 commences…

So, as I said in my last post, I left my boys in Coffee Bay and headed north to Pretoria. This was Monday July 9th. I had to get back to Pretoria in enough time to gather supplies so I could leave with 2 Rotarians on Wednesday morning at 6am-ish for a place called Sabie Sands.

The bus ride home was pretty uneventful. Watched terrible movies (some stupid movie w/a woman handcuffed to a hot dog stand at the mercy of a Wesley Snipes as a sniper…ha ha, funny play on words), iPod joy, stared out the window (my favorite). I was starving on the ride home cos I only had breakfast that morning in Coffee Bay. We stopped at a gas station with a Wimpy and a double cheeseburger stole my heart. One of the fast food chains here is called Wimpy. No reason to add this…I just think it’s a cute name for a fast food chain. Wasn’t Wimpy one of Popeye’s friends that really loved hamburgers? I digress…letting fast food capture your heart is a danger in its own right. I just don’t do fast food anymore. I didn’t even do fast food at home. I just think it’s better to spend that extra 5-10 minutes to ensure that I get a nice meal made out of actual food not some manufactured burger that may have resembled real food at one point in its life. And, of course, the taqueria always makes its tacos fast. :) Have you seen Supersize Me or read Fast Food Nation? Do yourselves a favor and check these out! You will stop giving your money to McDonalds in a heartbeat, provided that your heart hasn’t already been clogged by McGrease! Anyways, that burger was harboring nasty germs, so I got food poisoning…again. Yes, this is the 3rd time I’ve had food poisoning in 7 months. I really don’t understand why this keeps happening. I have a strong stomach. I’ve been to places where the guide book says “don’t eat food cooked on the street.” But I have eaten that food. I am a strict believer in the 5-10 second rule when food falls on the floor. I also believe strongly in simply cutting off the rotten part of the fruit to enjoy the ripeness of the rest of it. But for some reason these policies are not doing much for me in South Africa. Maybe you can derive some symbolic inferences from it, but I surely cannot. I guess I’m just a fool for food, even when I think to myself while chowing “this is going to come back to haunt me.”

Bbecause I’ve had food poisoning so much in this country, I now know how to deal with it. The basic plan is just sleep all day. It’s simple and seems to do the trick for me. Vomiting also does wonders. So when I got to Pretoria on Tuesday morning I just went home and slept. Woke up to get my supplies (cheese sausages, eggs, juice, and wine) and then slept some more.

Rhett and Shad (the Rotarians) picked me up on Wednesday morning and we shuttled off to Arathusa, a private game farm in Sabie Sands Game Reserve (in the NE of S Africa, adjacent to the world famous Kruger Park), to see some wild animals. Rhett and Shad are 2 Rotarians I’ve met in Pretoria. They are members of Pretoria West Rotary Club, not my club which is Silverton Rotary Club. Rhett, in particular, has been one of the best Rotarians I have met. He actually gets in touch with me without any prompting…fantastic! He invites me over for Sunday lunch (a common ritual here). He takes me to other clubs. He sends me messages on my phone about big events happening in his club, as well as helps me get to his club meetings. All in all, a very passionate and admirable Rotarian!

We came to embark on this tour thanks to another Rotarian, Joan Greissel. I went with Rhett and Shad to go visit her club in Warm Baths, which is about 2 hours N of Pretoria, about 2 months earlier. When I was there and she found out I was into wildlife she said to me “Lynsee, you are coming to my game farm on such and such dates.” When someone proposes such things to you…you don’t say no. You clear your calendar and head off! Privately owned wildlife establishments are big business in this country. These private wildlife stocks take on various forms: wildlife ranches where animals are raised for meat or hunting or both, private game farms where wildlife is around to be enjoyed thru the buzz word “ecotourism”, and such. I don’t actually understand all the forms that private wildlife businesses encompass…which is why I’m here to learn. Gonz., I’m onto you when you say that the future of environmentalism is to make people understand that they can make money saving the environment! Joan’s “farm” is part of a larger system where the animals aren’t necessarily held back by fences (there aren’t really any fences to differentiate Joan’s farm from others…just large swatches of mowed grass to say “this is where property A begins and property B starts”). I don’t even know if the animals are managed in any way in the area where Joan’s farm is. I guess these sorts of establishments are primarily in place so that tourists can come and stay in a comfortable lodge, go around on game drives, and take photos of wild animals. I was skeptical at first, but all in all…it’s a pretty sweet set up. Joan actually stays next to a game farm that is owned by Richard Branson…if that means anything to you.

I’ve been to a few game reserves in South Africa. To me, they just seem to be large zoos without cages. An improvement, to be sure, on the traditional zoo where you walk along from cage to cage and see the wonders of the wild world in neat little packages. But, from my understanding, game reserves seem to be stocked with animals according to a certain capacity (such that there are enough resources for the animals to consume and live in harmony) so that you can drive around in your car, tour bus, or safari vehicle and see a ton of wild animals in a 2 hour sojourn. To me…it’s just not right. Not wild. Not real. But despite man’s constraints and best intentions, wild things always find a way to impress and amaze!

A great example is Kruger Park. Hands down the most famous game reserve in South Africa…if not southern Africa. It’s roughly the size of Wales (probably even bigger now that they have opened fences to Mozambique and Zimbabwe). I went there with my dad in 2002. We drove around and looked at animals, stayed in a nice lodge, and safely enjoyed nature (from the confines of our automobile). There are paved roads, tour buses, and the like in Kruger Park. Despite all this…I still think it’s one of the most real parks in SA. From a realistic viewpoint…how the heck can you control various groups of wild animals (in an area the size of Wales) such that tourists have a good time. It’s impossible. My father and I didn’t see every wild animal Kruger Park had to offer, but we did okay. When I went to Brazil in 2004 I remember our group being extremely pissed off that we didn’t see tons of wild animals while we were out and about in the rainforest. First of all, there were about 15 of us making a constant talking noise. Yo, animals hear that and move away. Second, just because you are in a wild place it doesn’t mean you will see wild animals just ambling around. Nature is capricious and enigmatic like that. It takes time to see what you expect. Even if you work with domestic animals, you only begin to realize the wide spectrum of animal behavior thru many many interactions. It doesn’t just happen all in one encounter. You must be a patient and persistant person to have a full range of wild things revealed to you. And nature will surprise you even in a domestic environment!

I guess it would be good to differentiate game reserve vs game farm right now. I’ll try to the best of my ability. Game reserves in SA are more of a government controlled thing. I guess you could think of Yellowstone National Park in the USA as a game reserve. A game farm is a privately owned thing where animals may or may not be managed. Like I said, I don’t think the animals on Joan’s farm are managed. When I say managed, I mean that the animals are stocked to a specific density such that they are able to be easily viewed by people but the animals aren’t stripping all the trees and vegetation for food. Management also means that the animals may or may not be receiving medical treatment. Management means that someone is employed to deal with the needs of the animals. I hope this makes sense.

Okay so we arrived at Arathusa Game Farm after a long and winding sightseeing trip through the NE of South Africa. Beautiful mountains (always a pleasure for a girl from the topographically-challenged Midwest) and quaint Afrikaans dorps. Dorp=village in Afrikaans…basically cute small towns. The name of my dorm is called Tuksdorp, which means Tuks village.

Joan’s farm consists of the people places and the wild places. The rooms were wonderful: big warm beds, cleaned everyday by the maid, hot showers, nice cooking facilities, a pool, hot tub, and such. Joan’s father bought the place in the 50s-60s and her family has had it since. I think that Joan has the place so she can invite people to check out the wildlife of SA and so that she has a place to come and chill out when she wants to get away. Pretty cool if you ask me!

Now it would also behoove me to speak of the “big 5.” A HUGE deal in SA, and probably Southern Africa. It’s such a big deal in SA that the money here is adorned with the big 5. 10 Rand note: White rhino. 20 Rand note: Elephant. 50 Rand note: Lion. 100 Rand note: Water buffalo. 200 Rand note: Leopard. That’s your big 5. I would love to go into the history of how the “big 5” as a term came about…but I just don’t have the time to research. These days it seems like it’s a marketing term. A way to brand some aspect of South African life so that it can be sold to tourists. You can buy T-shirts, shot glasses, postcards, etc with the big 5 on them. Seeing the big 5 is a cornerstone of all wildlife-centered tourist expeditions. I had never seen the big 5 before I went to Joan’s place. Before Joan’s, I had seen rhino (there are two species here: white rhino w/a square upper lip and black rhino w/a pointy upper lip), elephant, and that’s about it. I guess, before Joan’s, my wild life in SA had been quite unfulfilled according to all reasonable tourist logic. Fortunately, I’m pretty sure that I don’t live my life according to reasonable tourist logic, so I was not feeling so incredibly unfulfilled. I had seen zebras, giraffes, hippos, cool snakes, and more. Not the big 5, but awe inspiring animals nonetheless. I saw the big 5 within the first 24 hours of being at Arathusa. It was incredible! Leopards, hands down, are the hardest of all the big 5 to spot in the wild. I saw a leopard (the same one) 3 times within the first 24 hours of being at Joan’s. We saw other leopards in the coming days. Great! Every time I see a leopard my bottom jaw separates from the top…mouth agape, people!!

So the basic routine at Joan’s was: game drive in the morning, chilling out in between, game drive in the evening, wonderful dinner, drinks/chatting/game of pool, sleep. I went on most of the game drives, but at times I just wanted to chill around Joan’s “compound” so I didn’t get into all the drives. Even just sitting around Joan’s place meant seeing or hearing wild animals. It was fantastic. She has an artificial watering hole just at the back of her house where elephants (and other animals) often come to quench their thirst. Her people places (a few little houses for guests, etc) are on a ridge that looks over a big grassy area called Elephant Plains…where you can also check out animals cruising around. Mornings where I didn’t join the game drives meant having my coffee while watching elephants congregate and cavort around this pool of water. It was incredible to be just 20 feet from 5+ elephants having a drink and playing in the water with only a 3 foot high electric fence separating you from the scene. The drives consisted of whoever was staying at the farm that wanted to join the drive sitting in a safari 4x4 with a game ranger sitting on the front of the truck pointing things out, tracking, and telling us about the natural history of the area. Our ranger, Jeffrey, was new and didn’t actually tell us that much information. It was pretty sad, but I guess I understand. When I was in Kruger with my dad in 2002, we went on a walking tour one morning. It was probably my favorite wildlife experience in SA. We walked around with 2 armed game rangers for an hour or 2. We didn’t see many animals, but learned a lot about the landscape. Seeing animals is great, but inquisitive minds want to know. Hey, that’s me! I like to know about plants and landscapes and behaviors. Seeing wild animals is a treat in its own respect, but that animal you are viewing does not live in a vacuum. It must eat. It must walk on the sandy paths in the morning to avoid the dew on the grass. It must leave evidence it was there (tracks and poop…or spoor and scat if you want to be all scientifical about it). Etc Etc. These are the types of things I want to know about even more than just seeing an animal run across a field.

We saw lots and lots of animals at Joan’s place. Here’s the list (in case you are interested): impala, kudu (my favorite deer in SA, but in competition w/the springbok), white tail mongoose, lions (male, female, and cubs), nyala, hyena, giraffe, elephant, hippo (my favorite animal), civet, leopard, red duiker, blue duiker, waterbok, steenbok, squirrels, hornbills, warthog, blue crane, long tail shrike, bats, mice, wildebeest, zebra, genet, fish eagle, baboon, bushbok, spring hare, mongoose, water buffalo, white rhino…and probably others. We saw lots and lots of birds I didn’t mention here because they are too numerous to mention. The birds here are incredible. I see some cool birds at school in Pretoria, but the birds at Joan’s place were SO beautiful. The colors and feathers and tails…nice! A lot of the animals mentioned above are various types of deer. Southern Africa has a billion different kinds of deer. It has to do with the nature of the landscape here. Back in the day, grasslands were a fertile ground for an explosion of ungulates (hoofed animals). The savanna/veld (grassland…veld is an Afrikaans word that basically means grassland w/thorny trees…pronounced like “felt”) is king here, so that’s why there are so many types of deer (or boks as they are called here, Afrikaans word that I guess generally means deer). The conditions were just favorable. I don’t even know all the different bok that are present in Southern Africa. There are just too many of them. If you want to check out some of the animals above that you have never heard of then I highly recommend http://www.google.com/ (images of course, baby!) and www.wikipedia.org to check out: kudu, civet, leopard, genet, white tailed mongoose. I didn’t see a gemsbok or springbok at Joan’s place, but they are also incredibly beautiful animals that deserve an information treasure hunt on google/wikipedia! The springbok is the mascot of the SA national rugby team.

There was a lot of down time in between these game drives. The mix of people at Joan’s place was an interesting one! Most folks were Rotarians: read older folks. There were 2 families there. One with 3 younger girls (13-ish to high school age) and another family w/ a girl my age. Also add in Shad and Rhett. I spent most days sitting in the sun reading or writing for my blog. I have managed to get a tan in the winter of South Africa. I’m not quite sure how that played out, but when I got back to Pretoria and looked in the mirror I just thought “Geez! I’m browner.” The freckle patch on my forehead is back and everything…and I only see that thing come out in the summer time at home! Winter in SA is a trip! One day the girls asked to braid my hair while I read. It was good times. Joan asked me to read a book while I was there, that she produced out of a nightstand by her bed, called Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. It was an incredible book about apocalyptic times orchestrated by a sentient group of plants. An old skool science fiction read, but not really too science-fictiony for all of you scared of that term. All in all, an incredibly well written, and certainly a book I’d highly recommend to anyone interested in a good book! She came to recommend this book to me after a night of spirits where a discussion of a post 9/11 world came about. My whole belief is that the USA has become, in time, too big for its britches. I think it’s tragic that life in the USA seems to exist out of sync w/the rest of the world. I personally think of/call America “Disneyland.” Despite the problems that any person in the USA faces, we just live by a different set of rules compared to all other people in the world. I think it’s wrong, because no country of people should be above the general problems of the greater human population. It’s not like we deserve it or anything. It just has happened and we are enjoying the fruits of it for free. The aftermath of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina are great examples of how events the rest of the world often deals with came to the USA and we just didn’t know how to deal with it. We felt victimized and singled out. People around the world are dealing with massive tragedies and living a less Disney life every single day. Many of these events are even orchestrated by the “intentions” of the USA government, but that won’t make the 5 o’clock news now will it? In the USA, these things just don’t affect us on a daily basis. Think about it. Have you ever walked a mile to fetch water? Have you ever washed all your clothes by hand? Do you remember what country was affected the most by Hurricane Mitch? Do you know what commodity is tearing up the Niger Delta in Nigeria? Probably not. You wake up, go to work, come home, make supper without problems of acquiring food, watch a bit of TV, and then go to bed. Then lather, rinse, repeat. The problems of a family affected by the tsunami in Indochina, the war in Iraq, the genocide in Sudan just don’t affect people that live in the USA. I have had to talk a lot about the USA in SA. My accent gives me away and then I must speak about George Bush and imperialism…without fail. My favorite is when people ask me if I’m a Bush supporter, because they assume all Americans are Bush supporters. Wow it is nice to have a good hearty laugh, isn’t it? That question always makes me laugh and then I get to say “what do you think?” If you know me for 5 minutes I would hope you could guess where I stand. At my birthday party in March, I had a conversation about the USA where I was up against some serious USA bashing. No worries! I get a lot of “what’s up with you guys in the USA taking everything over and dominating the world?” It’s funny to have such an overarching question asked of one person who lives in the USA. Funny because I have to answer for millions of people that I differ from as well as answering for my government…which I don’t approve of. I asked the question to my audience “What event or indicator do you think will prove that the USA empire has indeed fallen?” Wow! This question sparked a lively debate. My whole perspective was that the US will indeed fall one day (just look at history! Ever heard of a little empire called Rome??) and the indicator will be that the general population of the USA will feel the problems of the world in the same way that all people in the world are dealing with those problems now. It’s not that I hope for any group of people in the USA to be victimized and punished…but I still don’t think it’s right that we enjoy so much while so many others suffer SO greatly.

Oh, I’m sorry, did I get on a soapbox again?? I guess I did. My bad.

Ok…I’ve descended again. So I guess the time at Joan’s was a blast. I missed the first week of classes to come and hang out in the bush. Good times, good times. Joan herself really can’t go w/out mention at this point. I guess you’d have to point out that she’s pretty wealthy. No danger. I would have to say that I don’t know that much about her, despite spending quite a bit of quality time with her. At some point she was a teacher and married…circumstances that no longer constrain her these days. She is an active Rotarian that is involved with a number of projects including wildlife conservation, literacy/education, and HIV/AIDS activism. She’s a woman that I find incredibly fascinating. Someone you just can’t put your finger on. There’s a bumper sticker I’ve seen quite a bit in the USA that says “Well behaved women rarely make history.” I’m sorry to doom Joan to this convention, but I would have to say that she embodies this cliché very well. I only hope that I can live my life w/half the grace and style that she has when I reach her age in life. We had a lot of great and hilarious conversations while I was in her company. And she’s a woman that digs her whiskey, which I always respect. I’m very lucky to have spent time with her and I look forward to seeing her again. Also she’s a woman who speaks her mind…and that is always something to respect as well. I’ve been offered to come stay with her in Warm Baths after school (when I’ll be homeless cos I live in a dorm right now)…a prospect I’m very eager to accept.

Yeah, so I came back to Pretoria after hanging at Joan’s place. On the way home, Rhett, Shad, and I checked out the Blyde River Canyon. It was really really beautiful. I think I’ve been there before with my dad…but beautiful scenes are never dull when dealt with in repetition.

I was so happy to come back to Pretoria and start school again (can you believe it?) until about 4 hours after I arrived home. I don’t want to blame Pretoria…but it all fits into my theory that this is just somewhere that evil spirits seem to campaign against me. I hope you will remember hearing about my friend Raoni in the last post I wrote. Well, maybe you can see from what I wrote that I really dig this guy. When I arrived home to Pretoria I spent some time with my friend Luso in my dorm. It was so positive. I hadn’t spoken to her in ages and as we walked around my complex I was greeted from all angles by people I know. It was great! Made me feel at home for a second. Then I read my emails only to see that Raoni just wanted to “be friends” with me. D’oh!

There has been much drama that has ensued since that initial “just friends” email. I just can’t get into it in this forum. I mean, I could write a book on what’s happened between us in the weeks since we’ve met…but I won’t bore you with it now.

I arrived in Pretoria on a Sunday and then the upcoming Tuesday my posse from Grahamstown (Raoni and Brigitte) arrived to experience Pretoria and visit me. So I rushed around to prepare for them as well as trying to get back into the school swing. Hey, I still haven’t gotten into the school swing…but these next few days are mine to get these classes under control.
Since I’ve been back…well what exactly can I say I did? I have been to some classes. Have tried to figure out my schedule, but mostly I’ve just been hanging out with people. Like I said, Brigitte and Raoni came to visit me in Pretoria. We mostly just chilled out and tooled around Pretoria. They got to meet a wide range of my friends here which was pretty cool. I actually felt like I had made progress on the people front in Pretoria. Gathering the homies like that was evidence to me that I’m indeed starting to make this place my home. We scoped the campus and watched movies. We enjoyed the dismal nightlife that Pretoria has to offer, etc. I actually got in trouble from the people that run my dorm for having unregistered guests staying in my room, d’oh! But everything’s okay now. The guy that runs this place is incredibly reasonable and after I had a chat with him he basically told me that I should do what I want…just don’t get caught. Alrighty then! Now that’s advice I can live with!

On a high note I must mention my friend Cliff here. He’s a guy I know from 2002. He’s from Zimbabwe and is the best friend of a boy I was kissing back in the day. We met during the infamous Zimbabwean donkey episode, if you are hip to that story. Honestly, Cliff and I are closer now than I ever was to his best friend that I was kissing. Cliff is an energetic spirit that you can’t help but smile around. Noddy aka Nate aka wshbtx…I’m thinking of you in a great comparison to Cliff. He calls me his “teddy bear”…which I don’t mind at all. But don’t any of the rest of you try it!! While Brigitte and Raoni were here, Cliff called me to tell me he was in Pretoria. I show up to meet him and when I get there he steps out of a car wearing a very nice suit (with fancy shoes and all). Apparently he’s got some fancy finances job (which I still don’t quite understand) and has bought a car and is doing well. I’m so proud of him! He stays in Joburg in a pretty dodgy place called Braamfontein, but is planning on “moving on up to the east side.” Literally. Anyways…I just want to give him props. Well done Cliff! I think he’s in the perfect job for himself (even if it’s not something that appeals to me) and on his way up. You can’t deny the beauty of that!!!

So since I’ve arrived home I’ve been busy as all get out and spending too much time with people. I don’t see this as a bad thing…because when it comes down to it, I’m here to do school and do it well! Make no mistake of that. I’ve been dealing with a lot of bad vibes radiating off myself because of all this Raoni business, but it’s beginning to be a really positive thing again. Mostly I’m just happy that he’s sticking around to deal with all this so that we can stay friends. I’ve had other guys just run away when talk got a bit confusing and deep. And it’s just sad to lose a friend in any situation. Especially when you feel so close to the person in question.

On the radio tip…(you knew it was coming) we just hired a bunch of new people. The radio station does interviews at the beginning of every semester in the attempt to get new blood into the station. I had to go thru the interview process again too. My interview was pretty cool. The station manager said “you’re doing great.” My boss said that I know in less than 6 months what it took him a year to master. I was also asked to write a segment in our new training manual about a “day in the life of a producer.” It was fun and some people at the station were like “your day in the life thing was hilarious!” Cool! I like hearing all this nice feedback. Helps kick out the bad vibes. We’ve hired 2 new producers (as well as new DJs, marketing peeps, news readers, etc) that already have experience at the station and at doing production work, so I’m hoping that some of the heat will be taken off of the existing production crew (my boss and me). I’m so happy about these 2 guys joining us! I’m still working on a daily segment that airs during lunchtime, but thankfully it’s not taking all my time to make this segment anymore. I was making this 5 min segment in just under 2 hours, but on Monday I made it in about an hour. I even had to make some music to play with the program…maybe this doesn’t make sense to you...but it’s a big accomplishment to me! I’ve never produced this segment in such a short time. I guess I’m coming along!!! If any of you would like to hear some of the work I do, then just email me (lynseemelchi@gmail.com) and I’ll send you a few mp3s. Maybe it will help you understand what the heck it is that I actually do here.

On the school tip…my talks to administrators have been pretty fruitless. The head of my college/faculty told me that he can’t really do anything for me, despite his empathy for my situation. D’oh! I must still suffer with these classes that are pretty much repeats of things I’ve already done at my university at home. This semester I’m taking: Biochemistry in Perspective, Lipid metabolism, Introduction to Fungi, and Quantative Genetics (yuck!). A very positive thing to report is the I’m almost guaranteed a spot in vet school here (knock on wood) because they hold 10 spots for international students, but have never had more than 10 students apply for these spots. And I have good grades here anyways. I just found this out this week, so maybe I can be happy and less stressed this semester. I just handed in my application for vet school this week. It consisted of my contact details and my student number…and that’s it. No essays, no interviews…it’s all about your grades. Pretty funny compared to the process in the USA that consists of paying lots of money, taking GREs, writing essays, noting your previous veterinary experiences, an interview (if you are lucky), and more. SA rocks!

I was very down this week, but Friday really redeemed the rest of the week. I got to have homemade bunny chow thanks to a girl that works at the radio station (thanks Kriya’s mom!!) and then went to go watch the Simpsons movie. It was so rad!!! I can’t wait to go see it again! I haven’t watched the Simpsons since I left home…and that is a long dry spell I’m not proud of. I don’t really watch TV or movies, but I’m a Simpsons junkie of the first order. Handing off my precious collection of Simpsons tapes to my brother was a very sad moment for me when I left the USA. Matt, you besta be takin’ care of those babies!!! It's a family heirloom now...

Before I forget…there’s one more happiness to report. I FINALLY received a package my mom prepared for me! My birthday package arrived a few months late, but better late than never I guess. The story goes like this…my fav professor from home, Dr Kesler, offers a wildlife trip to students from U of IL. He works with a guy in SA, Andy, to bring students over so that they can get their hands dirty on the SA wildlife scene. It’s pretty cool. Dr. Kesler also runs the trip to Brazil that I went on awhile back. That trip is one of the main reasons I’m where I am right now…so, respect, Dr. K! Dr. Kesler came over here at the end of May and I asked him to bring a package my mom had made for my birthday. He agreed, but when he was in Pretoria we had a miscommunication and were not able to meet up. My package ended up going to Nelspruit (about 5 hours away) w/Andy. No danger cos they would be back in Pretoria a few weeks later to host another student group from the USA. They came thru but Andy thought I was going to be out of town, so he didn’t bring the package. D’oh! No danger, again, cos they were coming back to Pretoria a few weeks later. Unfortunately when Andy came back with the students it was at the beginning of a government workers’ strike that was happening all over the country. Because Pretoria is one of the governmental centers (like Washington DC in the USA) there were a lot of protests/riots in the area. I wasn’t affected by any of these, so it’s not like it was widespread danger everywhere. Just in localized spots. Apparently Andy’s group got caught up in these protests had some things stolen from them and in the end they hightailed it out of Pretoria almost as soon as they got here. Hectic! So this is the 3rd missed package rendezvous. Alright…I’m still patient even though my mom is emailing me every week asking if I’ve received this package yet. I just have to keep telling her that things in SA move a bit different than at home. Patience is a virtue. Well, long story long, I finally got the package last week and I got to see and talk to Dr. Kesler for about an hour…which was great! Dr. Kesler is one of those people that I’m really tight with (remember what I said about cool adults in my last post re: John the Rotarian in Grahamstown). When I was still at home in Champaign-Urbana, but out of school, I would go visit Dr. Kesler just to catch up with him. I was really happy that he is one of the people I have gotten to see in SA from the USA!! The package was great! Some of my clothes from home that I miss a lot, a new toiletry bag that my mom sewed and embroidered, my favorite soap, a picture of steak tacos (that is now hanging up above my desk so I can see it everyday), a really cool card, and the best part of all…a new messenger bag for school. My mom is a talented lady! She screenprinted, dyed (with a homemade onion peel dye), sewed, and embroidered this bag for me. It took her months and months do it, but when I laid my eyes on it…fireworks, puppy dogs, candy, and all other things sweet!!!!!! Much love momma! And also after all that drama…it was really nice to get the prize.

Today I rode my bike into downtown Pretoria (which was a great ride!) to visit one of my friends that I made in 2002. Philile. I haven't seen her in 5 years...so it was pretty rad to go hang out with her. We had lunch and talked about tons and tons of stuff. I can't wait to hang out with again soon.

Anyways…that’s all that’s happening to me at the moment. I know it might be a lot to digest, but probiotics do wonders for digestion. I suggest acidophilus, papaya, and plain yogurt.

I’ve got photos coming up when I can spend a million hours in the computer lab uploading them. There was a Day in the Life that happened while I was away, so you can also look forward to that. Stay posted to my picasa site for new pics!

Much Love
Lynsee

Respiration in the key of G, part 1

Welcome back friends and family! I’ve been away having a nice holiday…which you are sure to hear about if you read a bit further down the page! If you are too lazy right now, then I’m going to add some quick highlights and hilarities in bullet format. So check those out right now and when you get the chance…take the dive into the larger narrative. Just a quick refresher…I went to the National Arts Fest in Grahamstown, hit Coffee Bay (also in the Eastern Cape province of SA) for a drum fest, and then went to a private game farm in Sabie Sands Reserve (near the Kruger Park). This will be presented in 2 parts cos really this all happened in 2 sections. This post is about the Eastern Cape and the next one will be about going to Arathusa Game Farm in Sabie.

Some random points of interest from a much needed holiday:

• Zedakstan, the space man…”I’ll come down as quietly as the snow and take you for a ride in my UFO.”
• Seeing a gigantic whale cruising through the waves at Coffee Bay
• Having a guy ask me if I was “afraid of darkies.” He asked me this because I wouldn’t give him my phone number. Really…who expects a girl to give her phone # to a guy she has only 4 sentences to and met on the lawn waiting for a bus. Seriously! Darkie love or hate’s got nothing to do with it!!
• Playing the marimba (a huge wooden xylophone) at the International Library of African Music, Grahamstown
• Eating a pineapple with chili powder and salt on it
• Talking about Barack Obama w/earring sellers from Zimbabwe
• Taking minibus taxis for the first time (since I’ve been back in SA) in Port Elizabeth
• Speaking Portuguese, French, Spanish, and Afrikaans
• My giant crab, Albany Museum, Grahamstown
• Met people from Malawi, Brazil, Denmark, Sardinia (Italy), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zimbabwe, United Kingdom (UK), Ireland, USA, Sweden, Switzerland…and probably other places.
• Ate water buffalo potjie
• Debated Freud, Jung, Bob Marley, Che Guevara, China, and India over wine with Rotarians
• Seeing a rhino midden (a spot where a rhino consistently poops)
• Elephant poop smells like horse poop…only WAY more gigantic
• Elephant mammary glands are located between the front legs of the elephant female instead of between the rear legs (like w/cows)
• Seeing the breath of a roaring lion at 9am
• Bunny Chow success
• Seeing “fireworks” on the 4th of July courtesy of a very cool fire dancer
• Saw the shows: Bongiwe and the Beanstalk (a version of Jack and the Beanstalk), DOF (Department of Forensics), Bafana Republic, Faces for Radio, The Andrew Tracey Steel Drum band, and A Moliere in Soweto
• Watching Nigerian movies on the bus to Grahamstown and seeing a Nigerian royal table adorned with Carlo Rossi table wine

And now the narrative…

I rediscovered the beauty of breathing. The natural inhale/exhale rhythm needed for life. Not existence, life. I’ve been breathing in Pretoria, but only in short gasps. Just the sort of motion to put air in my lungs so I stay alive, but no pleasure. No rhythm. Synthetic iron lung-assisted air.

I’m just coming off an amazing vacation high! I hope the withdrawals are kind to me. My time away from Pretoria was exactly what I needed to confirm that there is still beauty in this world and that I’m still connected to that beauty. That there is a rhythm to life that is attainable. That I haven’t been permanently excluded from that rhythm. Life has felt very forced for me in the last year or so. Maybe you can’t tell to look at me or to hear my stories, but things just feel out of wack. This feeling is especially magnified in Pretoria for many reasons, some having to do with Pretoria and some independent of Pretoria. My recent vacation performed just the function vacations should: shedding the day to day grind from one’s mortal coil, attainment of vigor, getting away from it all, restoration of rosy cheeks (literally…I got a tan in the middle of winter. I never thought that was possible!). Remembering what it means to breathe and live.

Life’s rhythm came back to me the moment I stepped off the bus in Grahamstown. I had just spent about 16 hours on a cramped bus killing the time with Lemony Snicket books and hilarious Nigerian movies. When I arrived in Grahamstown I realized that, although Grahamstown is a very small place and I had been there 5 years ago, I had no idea how to get to my hostel. Sometimes these small details escape me, but I usually still manage. One of my parents says “Don’t sweat the small stuff, and everything is small stuff.” I guess this would fall under that category.

I had chatted a bit to my neighbor on the bus, a TV producer from Joburg, so I asked her how to point me in the right direction. Tshego (said: TSAY-ho) was also going the same way, so we walked together. The place I was staying wasn’t open yet to take me in because it was about 7:30am. In the meantime, Tshego invited me to come chill with her friends that she was staying with. They just lived around the block, so I agreed. What else was I gonna do? Within an hour we were awake and having breakfast and a beer. It’s never too early for a beer during the Arts Fest in Grahamstown! And for the next few days this was my adopted posse. We had a nice jol (SA term that means to party and have a good time). It was fantastic to feel so at ease with strangers. We had a picnic one day, roamed around town causing mischief, and just generally partied. These folks had so much energy and I was happy to be taken along with it!!

The place I stayed was a former jail (probably colonial) that has since been transformed into cheap accommodation for (mostly) young travelers. I shared a cell (literally) with 5 other travelers. The beds were big (bigger than my cot in Pretoria!!) and warm (very important in the midst of winter in the Eastern Cape) and the general atmosphere was energetic, fun, and diverse. Pretty much the perfect place for a girl like me who’s out exploring the world. Every day and night I met new people that I could spend hours or days with. I met people that I spoke w/for a night of beers, people I spent the whole week with, and even people that I’m still hanging out with. My father used to explain my personality when I was younger as such:

“There’s no stranger to Lynsee, just people she hasn’t met yet.”

This quality found fertile soil in Grahamstown and, specifically, at the jail. Pretoria has been sort of arid ground, so it was nice to put my skills to work again!

Most notably I met my once and future husband, Raoni (said: HOW-nee) from Brazil. “Once” because more than 1 person on more than 1 occasion thought we were married. “Future” because, hey, a girl can dream, right? I first noticed his pants. Why? I have no clue. It’s who I am. Sometimes broad details escape me. Sometimes I have sat next to a person in class and chatted with them every day for an entire semester only to forget them the next week. Sometimes the fine details stick with me…like the pants you were wearing when I saw you for the first time. Hey, the mind works in mysterious ways. I had exchanged pleasantries w/Raoni one day and then went off and cavorted with my first Grahamstown posse (Tshego’s friends). The next night I saw Raoni in the bar at the jail and when he saw me he said “Hey where were you today?!? I thought we were supposed to hang out. Why didn’t you hang out with me?” Okay…this was news to me, but also very intriguing. It’s not often that you are chided by a cute boy you don’t know for not hanging out with him. This interaction resulted in us making plans to hang out the next day. We went to the International Library of African Music, Raoni’s choice. And it was on like Donkey Kong after that!!

I haven’t met anyone in Pretoria yet that I almost 100% vibed with from the get go. Don’t get me wrong…I’ve met some kindred spirits, but the gel that formed between Raoni and me is different somehow. Maybe it’s partially vacation magic that helped the bond form so quick. I’ve had this same instant camaraderie with others before: Graeme, Danny, Moe. Every time it’s special and, in a sometimes lonely world, I’m constantly grateful for having been in the right place at the right time such that these relationships were possible in the first place. How do I keep getting this lucky?

Ok…back to the narrative. I must also mention the other posse elements like Brigitte from Denmark. We shared the same room and hung out together, literally, from the moment she arrived. She was meant to meet some girls from the UK that were also sharing a room w/us. The UK girls had arrived a few days before Brigitte. They are all in the same volunteer program in the Eastern Cape, but live in different communities. Unbeknownst to Brigitte, these girls were about as inviting and warm as a witch’s (insert body part here) in the dead of an Eastern Cape winter. Basically when the British girls saw Brigitte for the first time after she arrived, they didn’t even stop walking to greet her. They said a very rude hello and just sort of kept on their way. They made a slight pause, but it was almost undetectable to the human eye. Bogus! I think it was tough at first for Brigitte to take this cos she had basically come to Grahamstown to be with these cold blooded girls. D’oh! I told Brigitte to stuff the ice queens and we’d hang out cos I was pretty much a free agent at this point. And that’s how the Danish-Brazil-USA posse was formed.

For the rest of the time in Grahamstown we were pretty much inseparable. It was sweet! We saw plays, had beers, looked at my giant crab at the museum, bummed around the International Library of African Music, etc etc. I wish I could convey every hilarious, wonderful, inspiring, art-filled moment of Grahamstown…but it’s too impossible. Things would end up omitted even if I wrote a volume. It’s just the way of life I guess. I saw some great plays, music, and art exhibits. A fantastic crab from Japan that if I ever came across in the wild would make me 100% sure I had teleported to Mars. Great conversations with strangers on the street. Bunny chow. Crafts. A couch made entirely out of wire. Clocks that kept African time (now, now now, just now, later). And more cool stuff that is now buried somewhere in a sluice or fissure of gray matter.

On the Rotary tip…met a GREAT bunch of Rotarians!! I know quite a few Rotary scholars that study in Grahamstown at Rhodes University. I made contact with them before I went down for the fest so I could make a Rotary connection while I was in town. Because of the nature of my scholarship, it’s important to me to make contact with Rotarians whenever I can. Vacations give me the chance to mix business and pleasure. The Rotarians in Grahamstown are in a different district than my own, so technically it’s not necessary for me to make contact, but I like to. It’s fascinating for me to meet Rotarians despite the fact that they are a bunch of old farts ;) Just kidding…sort of. No matter, old farts have something to share and I like their company. Fellowship’s a big part of Rotary and it does one good to cultivate this at any stop along the way!
I attended a social for Grahamstown Sunset Rotary Club on Monday July 2nd. Met some great Rotarians and rendezvoused w/one of my favorite ambassadorial scholars: Riona (said: REE-nuh) from Ireland. We met in Cape Town in February and it was nice to have some time with her. The Rotarians in Grahamstown were really concerned for my mental health and happiness in SA. I was so appreciative of their concern. At times in Pretoria I’ve felt pretty stranded, isolated, and lonely. It meant a lot to me to have complete strangers show so much concern. Thanks guys!

The best part of Rotary in Grahamstown was meeting Rotarian John. He also joined the posse and we had great fun together. Spent just about every day from Monday w/him. We got together, went to shows, had meals, saw a bit of Grahamstown, and just sat around and chatted. We also went to the International Library of African Music to check it out and play instruments. John was eager to hang out so that’s what we did. He’s a computer science professor at Rhodes and other universities in the area like Fort Hare (a very famous institution that cultivated important SA struggle figures like Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko). I think his professor status was one reason why we clicked so well. Brigitte, in explaining John to someone at our backpackers (I think some people thought it was weird that she and I were hanging out with this white haired dude all week…), said he was so laid back and open that he could even “handle some of the wild things coming out of Lynsee’s mouth.” Yeah! See, I like to think of myself as a pretty free person. Goodness…that is sooooo American! Guilty as charged I guess. I like to be and speak free to all those I meet. Some take this as a form of disrespect on my part. To me it’s a form of respect to everyone concerned when we can all share and be open equally on the same plain. A very Western/American thing. I’ve had to check this behavior a lot in South Africa because of differing viewpoints of elders vs. youth, conservative vs. liberal, Western vs. African, SA old guard vs. the new, etc. All in a day’s work for an ambassador. :) Learning something new everyday…most importantly the value of well placed silence. I never stop appreciating those adults, like John, that allow me to be myself. It’s a great thing to be free to speak what is really on one’s mind.

So, meeting John was great! Hooray for Rotary! Thanks John for showing Brigitte and I such a great time! And thanks for reading my blog! It’s always great to get feedback from folks that are reading my words! John confessed that he thinks I’m actually a journalist. Guilty as charged, but I can’t stop chasing this veterinary rainbow until it’s over. Lately there have been a lot of people telling me to get on the media/communicationst train. But they just don’t know what’s in my heart…

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. And so it was that I had to say goodbye to Grahamstown and all its positive vibes. D’oh! I left on Friday July 6th for the next mission. My next plan was to go to Joburg to spend time with some old friends that I haven’t seen since February/April-ish. They are working stiffs now and since I was planning on arriving in Joburg on Sunday morning, I knew I’d only have that 1 day to spend w/them before I’d be left alone at their house to veg out on the couch in front of the TV. I didn’t mind this plan at first because I didn’t have any other ideas for what to do with myself. Also it’s good to see friends. And if you will recall, I do miss lounging and vegging out on a nice couch. It’s a luxury I just don’t have in the place I live in Pretoria. But, now I was presented another option…so I took it! My Joburg friends will be there next month…bless them.

Raoni was headed to a small Eastern Cape town to check out a drum fest called Bomvu, so I joined that mission instead of going to Joburg. Honestly I didn’t want to leave his company. I think the happiest I’ve been since arriving in SA has been the time I’ve spent with Raoni. It feels really good. I’m not about to give that up until I have to!

I had already traveled to another city, Port Elizabeth, to catch a bus back to Joburg when I thought “what am I doing? I want to be having fun with Raoni.” Raoni will go back to Brazil by the end of the year. Kumbi, Gary, Cliff, and Gaby will be in Joburg for a span. There’s no rush to go be with them. The choice was easy given those perspectives. So I bought bus tickets to Coffee Bay’s Bomvu Drum Fest and got in touch with Raoni. We hooked up and headed to Coffee Bay the next day.

Sitting solo on buses for long trips is one of the situations that really makes me feel sad and alone. I’m always fantasizing about sharing a seat w/a friend when I’m on a long bus trip. Maybe it’s lame, but it happens every time I get on a bus. It was so wonderful to spend time cooped up with a kindred spirit like Raoni, even during the times when we just silently stared out the window in awe of the Eastern Cape’s beauty. We arrived w/out much trouble in Coffee Bay via a long and windy road filled with roaming cows and quaint Xhosa communities. Welcome to rural Eastern Cape!

Coffee Bay, though short lived for me, was great! Rustic (if you want to call it that), gorgeous, and filled with music. Raoni and I set up camp and hit the “beach.” Really a bunch of rocks w/out a sandy spit in sight. Had some beers under magnificent stars, the likes of which I haven’t seen in quite some time, and just talked. We checked out some great acts: traditional Xhosa dancers, drumming, etc. Then we got a great surprise! 2 of our new friends from Grahamstown who had decided to hitchhike from Grahamstown arrived the same night we did. It’s about 6 hours by car to Coffee Bay from Grahamstown, but hitching to such a remote location does usually take a bit longer. Personally I didn’t expect to see them so soon. Raoni had planned to hitch with them, but wanted to get to the fest ASAP. He came w/me partially cos it was the fastest way to drumming nirvana. After Jean (DRC artist…makes clothing) and Filipe (Sardinia…lives on a farm near E London) arrived things were GREAT! Raoni and I were so happy to see them! The night was new again!

The new posse carried on thru the night meeting all sorts of folks. Speaking French, Spanish, Portuguese, English, and Afrikaans to all sorts. Peruvians, Brazilians, South Africans, Americans, Italians, Congolese….

I’m discovering that I’m a language junkie. I think it’s cos I like to talk a lot. I hate not being able to express myself to others and I’m not going to let a little thing like a foreign language get in my way. No way! I took French for about 6 years from the ages of 12 to 18 and was even writing papers, reading plays and novels, having dreams, and watching movies in French at one point. Don’t ask me to flex my skills like that anymore…my vocabulary is totally gone in French. If you put Le Monde in front of me today I probably wouldn’t be able to read more than a few words, but all the grammar I so painstakingly memorized is still stashed somewhere in my brain such that I know I could dig it up if I needed to. I’ve spoken a bit of French to some guys around Pretoria from the French-speaking African countries (Cameroon, DRC, etc), but not much more than simple sentences. I’ve learned a bit of Spanish from my travels in CentroAmerica and from living in Waukegan. I can’t say much more than simple things like how old I am and “Do you sell beer here?” If I listen to people speaking Spanish I can hear all their words, but my vocabulary and understanding of what those words means is pretty bad. Because of time I spent in Brazil, I can also understand a bit of Portuguese. I went to Brazil w/about 15 other non-Portuguese speaking Americans and only 1 translator among us. I was not about to wait for the attention of the translator as he explained for 15 other people, so when I was there I took it upon myself to learn some Portuguese. I know less Portuguese than Spanish, but I can fake it a bit. I’m working on Afrikaans right now and I think if I actually applied myself I would be speaking fluent Afrikaans in about a month. Because of all the other stuff I’m doing here I just haven’t had the time to really graft hard (as they say in SA) enough to be speaking fluent Afrikaans. But give me a bit more time…I can also say hello and “how are you?” in a couple different African languages like Zulu, Tswana, and Xhosa. But I’m not even going to pretend I know more than that. My landmark in feeling like I can command a language is whether or not I can make a joke in that language. You know that when you make someone else laugh in another language that you are in! It’s a great feeling! Graeme…I say “Que barbero!” to you!!!

One thing I really like about Raoni is just talking to him. Remember that Brazilians speak primarily Portuguese w/some indigenous languages peppered in there. But mostly Portuguese. Raoni’s English is really really bad ass, but not perfect. Heck if I could speak any language as good as he speaks English, I would be feeling pretty good about it. But, I can tell sometimes he doesn’t know what people are talking about and that he gets frustrated by that. He doesn’t laugh at my jokes sometimes. Not cos I’m not funny…duh! Okay I hope it’s cos he doesn’t understand…not cos I’m not funny. But a great thing about Raoni is that he isn’t afraid to ask the meaning of something. It’s fun to try to rephrase and explain what I mean or what someone else means. I went to Brazil for about 2 weeks in January 2004, so I’ve got a pretty rough sketch of Brazil and an even rougher command of Portuguese. Speaking with Raoni is a mosaic of Portuguese, English, eye contact, music banter, rephrasing, and a bit of Spanish and French for comparison. Even the most banal conversation is exciting because it’s like a journey to understanding. Like a game or puzzle to figure out. I think we both do pretty well at picking up what the other one is putting down. It’s refreshing to be able to bridge a gap like that despite obvious language barriers that sometimes pop up. I think that we formed a bond that mostly transcends spoken language, so a well placed look or wink goes a long way. And sometimes he forgets I don’t really understand Portuguese and will just start talking to me in Portuguese. It’s funny. It’s also nice to be able to absorb a bit more Portuguese. If he can’t get the meaning across in English I ask him to say it in Portuguese and we try to piece it together from there. What fun!

Now…add Filipe (Spanish-speaking) and Jean (French-speaking) to the mix. Good times! Romance languages all over the show! A language explosion!

Hearing Filipe speak Spanish w/this Peruvian dude, Carlos, actually made me a bit homesick. Well, more like missing Latino culture which of course made me miss tacos. Predictable, really. Is there anything that doesn’t make me think of tacos con carne asada y cebolla y cilantro??? Nope…not really.

As you could probably guess…there’s not really a hint of Latino culture in SA. Yeah they have enchiladas and burritos on some menus, but you would laugh to bite into one! Jalapeños is pronounced w/a hard ‘j’, not silent. Tortilla in SA rhymes with “Atilla” not “IKEA”…which also makes me laugh. I can’t even say ‘agua’ in casual conversation (“pass the agua,” for example) w/out someone giving me a puzzled look. It’s interesting to me how Latino culture has influenced me in the USA. In my home town of Waukegan, Illinois there are even streets where all the signs are in Spanish. Wake up America! Latinos aren’t going anywhere and won’t it be better to be positive about it instead of stubborn and narrow-minded about it (Mom…I’m looking at you!!) Acceptance is a beautiful thing!

Sorry…I’ll get off my soapbox now. The point of this tangential ramble is just to say how it was great to hear people speaking Spanish again. It made me miss home and realize what a big part of my cultural molding has been influenced by Latinos. Interesting revelation for me. And, yes, I still want a taco!

Back to the narrative! The night I spent at Bomvu Drum Fest included a drumming marathon. Basically the people that organized the fest brought a ton of drums and percussion instruments onto the stage and said “come play if you want to.” They had some folks keeping the basic rhythm and then audience members filled it in. Jean, Filipe, and Raoni drummed for hours. Raoni sang. Jean played a million drums and was even playing a glass bottle and a rock at some point. Filipe added to the drum extravaganza. I didn’t drum cos, although I’m not completely without rhythm (yes, some white people DO have rhythm), keeping up with a repetitive rhythm for a long time is something I really suck at. It’s why I’m terrible at things like aerobics and line dancing. I just can’t keep up w/the pattern of motion for long spans of time. Jean has the rastaman vibration on his side. Raoni has some beat pulsing thru his body. Sometimes it escapes in song, sometimes drumming. Filipe just goes with it. I enjoyed the music alllllll night long….cos it lasted alllll night long and was still going on when I woke up at 10am. I watched my boys getting funky and letting their inner rhythm out. Shared blankets, fire, and beers with strangers. Smiled, danced, and bobbed my head like a true hiphopper. Raoni and I camped by the stage, so we heard the drums all night and they woke us up in the morning. I enjoyed being rousted by the drums…but Raoni may have been of a different mindset ;) When we woke up he said “why the heck are they still drumming?” Before I could answer “ummm…it’s a drum marathon” he said “Oh yeah, it’s a drum marathon.” Great minds do think alike!

I had to leave the fest and my boys that next morning in order to high tail it back to Pretoria to prepare for my next adventure in Sabie Sands. D’oh! I did manage to get down to the beach one more time with Filipe and Raoni before I left. Soaked up some rays and spied dolphins and a huge whale navigating the tide. It was so cool! I’ve never seen a whale in the wild before. But then I had to say goodbye…sniffles! I got a lift from the backpackers to Mthatha and took the bus back to Pretoria.

I guess this ends part 1…stay tuned for part 2!