» 2010 » November

For my second and last weekend in India, I had a few options:

1 – I was planning on visiting Jaipur which would have been fine, but I would have to go it alone. India is not the kind of place you want to travel alone as a woman, not because it is unsafe per se, but because it is just so foreign and hectic. I was also pretty tired of city life and sightseeing and wanted to see some natural beauty.

2 – I could have stayed in Faridabad and chill – which means do nothing really

3 – I could join two other volunteers who were taking a trip up north to see some more natural areas, namely a tiger reserve. I wasn’t sure about the name or location of where we were going, but I guessed it was better than doing nothing. A trip around the world would not be complete without seeing a tiger. I have seen lions and elephants (and everything in between) up close and personal but never a tiger. This would be a good chance to see one.

Mistake Number 1- Going. We had to go to Delhi, which is about 45 minutes away to catch a bus (mistake number 2) to Rannagar. This was a 7 hour ride which because of traffic ended up turning into 9 hour trip. It took us a production to even find the right bus since all the signs were in hindi. When going to the bathroom, some random guy stood in front and tried to charge us 5 rupees for the free bathroom. It was probably the dirtiest bus that I have ever been on, but wasn’t too bad. Good thing we were getting off at the last stop because I am not sure how else we would have known where to get off. It seemed like the bus never stopped anyway, people just ran on and hopped off.

Sights and sounds:

This lady in front of me kept spitting out of the window the whole entire trip, people got off an on all day relentlessly trying to sell you stuff, shoving it on you face even though you said no 30 times, and for some reason people thought it was ok to play their music loud enough for the whole bus to hear. In order to hear my own Ipod I had to turn it on full blast.

We finally got there at about 10pm and couldn’t find the hotel we were looking for from the lonely planet book. So we walked around and looked at rooms in about 5 hotels before settled on one. The hotel was crap at best with a damp mildew smell, cold water, squat toilet and the sound of snoring from somewhere when we went to bed and hawk spitting and throat scrapping when we woke up.

To spare you all the details I will give you some weekend highlights:

We (Allison, Jessica, Scarlet and I) awoke every morning to loud noises seeming coming from everywhere, sirens, music, horns, spitting, talking, motor sounds etc. This probably started at 5 am and we were not even close to the road.

I rode an Elephant for the first time through the Jungle. Well the first bit was through a trash infested area, then we got to the Jungle. That was the redeeming part of the weekend. After getting smacked by tree branches we made it to a quiet river. QUIET!!! Silence is golden. It was nice to be out of the city.

You have to always be aware here, it seems as though someone is always trying to rip you off or scam you. While on the elephant, the driver showed us a trick in which he rolled up a 500 rupee bill of his own, threw it on the ground and had the elephant retrieve it with its trunk. He then asked if we wanted to try. Scarlet stepped up. Of course a 10 or 20 rupee bill wouldn’t work, she needed a 100 at least. When the elephant retrieved it, the driver quickly pocketed it and wouldn’t return it.

Back at the hotel, while we were all taking a nap, Jessica decided to go for a walk. While out, some man started following her saying “Yes, Sex” “Yes, Sex,” tried to grab her and even came up to her door and was knocking saying the same thing. That was crazy and kind of scary.

We ate at the same restaurant all weekend, because it seemed like the only place in town that was clean. Scarlet ate some fish from an outside food vendor which was way past not being health code compliant. A man took fish out of a dingy shopping bag on the roof of his cart, chopped it up, seasoned it along with some chicken and deep fried it in front of us. It did actually look good, but I passed. Diarrhea was the last thing I wanted to have on that bus the next day.

The next day safari through the Tiger reserve was more like a nature drive because we barely saw any wildlife. We saw exactly 2 lizards, 3 elephants, countless deer and NO TIGER!!! The only saw tiger tracks and paw prints. MISSION FAILED!!! It was an eventful weekend though. I got the best laughs out of the craziness of it all.

Trip Home

Besides having to wait 2 hours for the bus to arrive, the bum rush to get on the bus and having to sit up front where you heard the horn blow full blast every 5 seconds (one of the girls had to sit in the back where apparently 3 people vomited along the way), the ride home was going well. About 30 miles from Delhi we hit traffic. I think an accident occurred, but instead of waiting, everybody immediately turns around and starts driving in the opposite direction and getting over to the next lane and driving the wrong direction in oncoming traffic. That created another traffic jam and a 2 hour delay with hundreds of people in the middle of the road and cars turning around and going both ways on both sides of the road. Police nowhere in sight.

When we finally arrived in Delhi non of our phones worked to call a cab, so we decided to take the metro then a rickshaw home. It took us another 3 hours to get home. Metro in the opposite direction and 2 transfers. Then the rickshaw who said he could take us from the station to home stopped and said he could not go through this toll area. Why he did not say that to begin with I am not sure. We walked through the toll booth and spent 10 minutes trying to get another rickshaw. He drops the first two girls off with no problem, but goes in the wrong direction to sector 80 instead of 18 to take me home. That was 30 minutes out of the way and then he actually doesn’t even know how to get to sector 18 where we live. Neither do we. After riding around aimlessly for a while we find our landmarks. Of course he wants to charge us an extra 100 rupees because he first got lost and then didn’t know where he was going. Not a chance!!!

Randomness

Despite the fact that this is the craziest place I have been, it has soooo much character and I like it for the fact that it is nothing else like I have ever experienced. Where I am is not western at all which is hard and good at the same time. This is one of few places I would like to return. The country is so multidimensional that I feel like I haven’t even taken a bite out of all it has to offer. If would like to go up north closer to the Himalayas, West to the desserts of Rajasthan for a camel safari and south to the beaches of Goa. I would come back with others, cause like a said, this is not a place you want to try to navigate alone. Your head would spin exorcist style.

Indians randomly do this bobble head shake when saying yes or in indecision. It’s pretty funny

The children at the orphanage call all of the female volunteers “Didi” which means big sister. I doubt they even know my name. I just turn around when someone calls “didi”

There are more people spitting and men peeing on the side of the rode then I have ever experienced in my life.

While here, I have seen about 3 men washing I in the street, soap suds and all. Luckily they had underpants on. Barber shops are also outside or on sides of roads.

Somebody told me that India was the second fastest growing nation in the world. I believe it. There are highrise buildings going up everywhere and signs for new housing development all over. There were also metro stations, roads and bridges being built all along our bus route this weekend. I have also heard that their population will double by 2025. They already have over a billion people. WOW

I read the other day of this organization in India called SEWA which helps organize and unionize poor woman who make bidi’s (cigarettes) or do handcrafts. It functions off the notion that poor women need organization not aid. Www.sewa.org. Seems like they are doing some good things. I wrote this poem about a child in bonded labor, a modern day problem in India and a form of modern day slavery.

There is just something I hate about cigarette smoke

It’s not just that is burns my throat,

Fills lungs with cancer or makes me choke

Every time someone lets out a puff of haze

I see Shama’s face

A 10 year old daughter of India

Sitting on the cold floor of poverty

Forced to close the ends of cigarettes

Sealing her fate to a lifetime of bondage

She will not play, read or enjoy her youthful days

Shama is enslaved

Tobacco for her is not recreation

But her occupation

That red glow burning at the end of those buds

Are her eyes exhaling exhaust

Burning from working 14 hour days

Overworked hands ablaze

Her childhood is going down in flames

As you tip those ashes into a tray

Shama has been taking hits since she was 8

Forced into labor that pays her family’s debt

Trying to save one ailing child from death

Another’s life was swept into servitude

This sounds crude, but what else could they do when scarcity rules

The interest accumulates and

money lenders, those manipulative snakes

Pile on costs and extend release dates

While Shama sits on a floor rolling thousands of bidi’s a day

And waits

To be rescued

For 600 rupees her family could bring her home

They don’t have 600 rupees

They will never have 600 rupees

They will never have $13 dollars

Her freedom costs two packs of cigarettes in the West

Outrageous but nobody in power frets

Illegal of course but the laws are not enforced

Nations have warned and sent threats

And yet, a major secret is still being kept

In the world’s largest democracy

Million’s of children are trapped in slavery

To pay small debts

Are you angry yet?

» 2010 » November

This week I have started my volunteer placement at The Lakshaya  Orphanage which is kind of a dual program. First its a home for street boys run by former street boys and their families. Many of the younger children were left at the Delhi station or dropped off by their parents who could not take care of them.

At the same time Lakshaya is a bag making company. The older boys make bags from scrap fabric to support the orphanage. Another program run by the same people is a paper bag making operation. About 120 women in the nearby village who would otherwise not have an income make bags out of old newpaper to supplement their husbands income. They get the materials for free, which is essentially old newspapers, glue, and strings for handles. Bags are shipped to the UK and USA for sale. Photos to come….

What do I do? From about 12-3pm we go to one of the woman’s houses, try to converse with them and mostly help them make bags. Although yesterday, one of the ladies insisted on having us dance to India music, so we all danced for about 20 minutes. We also usually get served chai and I must say that Indian chai is the best and one of my favorite things here.

At about 3 I go back to the shelter to eat lunch and work with the children there for the remainder of the afternoon/evening. This includes helping with homework, working on English conversation and writing, playing games and helping cook dinner. My favorite student is Sonie. She is 11 and speaks the best English of all the children. I helped her learn a song/poem she had to memorize for school.

We all know about the wealth pyramid – top 5 percent having most of the wealth and most of the people at the bottom. I was reading in the newspaper the other day that India has a distribution sort of like a diamond. With 350 million ppl at the bottom and living on less than 1$, 250 million at the top living on above $3 a day and 500 million ppl in the middle not destitute, but lacking the means to earn a living. The article I read also talked about a movement that is geared at youth from the middle 500 million to promote social entrepreneurship. In countries like India where the population is growing, unemployment and poverty are high, these have been efforts to promote innovation and ingenuity. One such initiative is the bag making another such initiative is the Tata Jagriti Yatra which is a train going throughout India which takes youth around the country to help motivate them in the arena of social entrepreneurship and to energize young mind for the future of the country. The five elements are outer journey, inner journey, innovation, collaboration and transformation. They want to capture that “yes we can” attitude and idealist that young people exude.

Speaking of “yes we can” while I was making newspaper bags this week, I noticed the Obama was on the cover of almost all of them. The made a visit to India earlier this month on his Asia tour and from what I could gather from the folded papers, had India gushing. The future of the India-US relations remains to be seen, but from this side seems like he made a good impression.

Randomness

The house I am staying at now is even more basic and cramped than the last, but the volunteers are fun. Denali from Seattle, Khadijah from England, Brian from Ireland, Derrick from the US and Scarlet from England. Yesterday we went to the Market, which was a long long street, of shops selling everything from fabric to sweets. I tasted bunch of india sweets, one which was like a munchkin soaked in liquid sugar, wasnt bad but not my thing. So much was going on at the market, many signs, traffic, so many shops in one and two story buildings. I have had so many laugh out loud moment here though.

Yesterday, a women who was just memorized by my hair I suppose (everybody wants to know if it is original) just stood in front of me staring for like 3 minutes.

This morning, we had our door open and a cow passing by stuck its head in.

Brian one of the volunteers was leaving yesterday, so he went to the market and they killed a chicken on the spot, skinned it and that was our dinner. It was probably the best curry chicken i have had. I am glad i didn’t see it slaughtered, probably would have ruined by appetite

Happy Thanksgiving. I am not doing anything thanksgivingish – just another random thursday in a foreign country really.

» 2010 » November

This weekend i ventured a couple of hours east to Agra, the city that houses the Taj Mahal. A memrial that was built as a mausoleumafter the Emperor Shah Jahan`lost his beloved wife Mumtaz, is a magnificentmarvel of marble. There is arabic on the doors, floral decorations carved all over and even semi precious jewels set as flowers. I can see why it is a wonder of the world. It took 22 years to build. I added a few pics, you can see for yourself. Unfortunately the reflecting pools did not have water in them which would have made the pics better.

Getting there was another story, it was like being on a roller coaster ride for hours. The drive was manic, but we made it there and back in one piece. That concludes most of my sightseeing, I am happy to start volunteering. I move locations to a host family and doubt they have wifi, so you might not here from me until i get to Bangkok.

Randomness

I saw a elephant walking down the street in front of one of the entrances to the Taj Mahal, a monkey with a skirt and lipstick on on the ride to agra and a man with a dead pig strapped to his bicycle riding along. I will say that this is the most sensational (arousing or intended to arouse strong curiosity, interest, or reaction, especially by exaggerated or lurid details) place i have been. Meaning you can not help but be on sensory overload with all of the sights, sounds, smells and flavors. Its pretty amazing and overwhelming at the same time. Its an experience!!

» 2010 » November

India

Incredible India is what all of the tourist maps, signs and paraphernalia say in Delhi, but my verdict is still out.

Incredible India is what all the billboards say

Incredibly crazy indeed

Let me explain

Since I got off the plane its been incredibly insane

a cacophonous tapestry of sounds, sights, smells

and flavors exploding into my brain

Iridescent sarees paint the dusty breeze of the gray streets

Drawings are drafted on hands and feet

And toes, ears, noses and wrists bejewel modern day queens

Blood red is the dot the denotes beauty on a forehead

while henna lights a fire to the men with orange flamed heads

Driving is a massive storm sweeping the roads

with hailing horns

Traffic whirls with a precipitation

of cows, bicycles, motorbikes,

rickshaws, cars, buses and trucks

In India, chaos runs a muck

And this poem is to be continued because I am stuck…………hahahaha (there is a little bit of freestyle fun for ya)

Its definitely a jaw dropping place though, however you cut it. But one thing is absolutely official, I am so very much OVER sight seeing in general, its actually becoming quite boring. But its an almost necessity, you can’t really go to a place without seeing all of the must sees. So for the past few days I have been partaking in the necessary evil/joy of traipsing around Old and New Delhi being a tourist.

However, what I did not realize was that I was going to be the attraction. All day people stopped, shook my hand, stared, followed and incessantly asked to take pictures. It was on the verge between funny and annoying. I obliged about half of them as I was in their country taking pics of them too, but to others that were rather obnoxious and rude, I said no. School children are the funniest. I think I actually scared a little girl today. Walking in a group of about 100 children, she was laughing and not paying attention and then turned around and there I was waiting for them to pass so I could get by. Then she let out a big, ahhhhhhh, as her eye bulged, mouth opened and her tongue stuck out. I could do nothing but laugh. After the novelty wears off , its just rather annoying being a spectacle, I suppose one can never get used to being stared at.

The sights and highlights:

The (Bahai) Lotus Temple – a marble structure in the shape of a lotus to signify purity and universality. From what I can remember it has 27 petals and is surrounded by 9 small ponds. Inside is rather basic and nowhere near as extravagant as the exterior. You must remove your shoes and be silent. Once inside you can pray to whatever God your religion worships.

Next was the Qutab Minar – a world heritage and archeological complex built in 1193 which remembers the first Muslims to rule in India. Its over 200 feet tall and is one of the tallest red brick structures in India. There are other mosques, gardens and ruins in the complex.

Dilli Haat is a craft market with some very good artwork, clothing, handcrafts and good. I had some curried veggies, something like a samosa I cant remember the name for the life of me and a Popsicle called I Kulfie I think. All VERY good and spicy.

I also took a picture in front of the India gate. It remembers the Indian soldiers that died in the Afghan wars and WWI.

Today, I went to Raj Ghat (the eternal flame and resting place of Gandhi), the Red fort (a monument of the Mughal empire built by emperor Shah Jahan in 1638 and named for its red sandstone), and my favorite Humayan’s Tomb (a Mughal monument and tomb to the emperor which is a precursor to the Taj Mahal). The Tomb complex is beautiful and has a few Mosque like structures and gardens.

Randomness

The driving here is out of control, more out of control then other places i have been. Its just a very chaotic place for lack of a better word and the prevailing sound is honking. Honking to pass, signal, cut someone off, just incessant honking. My driver today side swiped somebody, it was only inevitable, I am surprised it didn’t happen sooner. It also impossible to try to cross the street, there seems to be little rhyme or rhythm, just go when cars seem to slow and try not to get hit by a car, motorcycle, truck, tuc tuc bicycle or bicycle carriage.

Earlier this week, I watched a Bollywood movie entitled Golmaal 3. It was all in Hindi and absolutely ridiculous but entertaining. Its so expressive that I felt like I knew most of what was going on even though it was not in English. I love the busting out in singing and dancing at random times. My favorite was one of the main character’s dog was named Facebook.

All 6 volunteer packed into a tuc tuc, that was fun, we held up much traffic trying to negotiate a price in the middle of the road. Again more incessant honking, but we were used to that regardless.

Yesterday, I saw a cow with a loaf of bread on its horns running down the street. With a shop keeper running behind it, I guessed it had stolen it and was running away. Too too much.

There are many smells that your nose experiences here with in minutes of each other. Maybe a wiff of urine from an informal bathroom, or rotten egg smell, then maybe a sweet smelling something coming from somewhere, curry simmering or a strange but nostril twinkling incense. I must say the air is flavorful one way or another. Its about 40/60 on the pleasant to unpleasant. Inside the city of Delhi its crazy and hectic, outside of it where I am staying in Faridabad is still hectic, but more rural feeling and you have to step over cow dung often and it seems a lot more dusty.

» 2010 » November

  

I arrived in India a little over 2 days ago, very tired from my overnight flight and anxious because I arriving to a new country and the first three days are always the hardest. There are usually 3 worries that I have, 1 – what if the person who I supposed to come and pick me up doesn’t arrive? 2- What if the place that I am staying is dirty or sketchy 3- I always wonder if I will like the project and whether the work will be meaningful.

The person who was indeed suppose to pick me up, Ananta, the volunteer program director in Delhi, was not present. I had to call him and wait over and hour for him to arrive. He was rushing through crazy traffic and ended up getting stopped by the police. They took an $1000 rupee bribe, made him say sorry and he was on his way. FYI a dollar is worth about 45 rupees.

After some more crazy driving which consisted of a lot of cutting people off, beeping and bobbing and weaving out of traffic we arrived to the volunteer house/office. Its a high rise building in the Gurgoan area of Delhi which according to Ananta used to be forest not that long ago. Now, its shopping malls/centers and high rise residences. He also told me the within the last 2 months, the metro we passed was just constructed and the airport I flew into has gotten a major upgrade because of the Commonwealth games that took place here not that long ago.

The apartment is nice and I take a breather. There are 3 other volunteers who are waiting for us. As soon as I arrive, we have a lunch of chapati and curried cauliflower and jump right into our Orientation to India (history, customs, religion, food etc) and then learned some Hindi greetings. Hello is Namaste and See you later is Phir Milenge.

In the past three days much has happened.

I received about 6-7 hours of Hindi lessons over two days – Ananta is not the most exciting teacher but we got the basic of greetings, pronouns, adjectives, food, sayings, questions, household items, numbers and animals. Most signs are in Hindi characters and English and many people know English here, but it always helps if you know a few words. Below is a sampling:

1=EK

monkey=bandar

house=ghar

How are you = Aap Kaise hai?

My name is Ebony – Meraa naam Ebony hai

Chapati= roti

Food or meal=Khaanaa

I=Mai Me=Mujhe and My=meraa

Beautiful=Khabsuret

Hello=Namaste (while putting your hands together in a prayer like fashion and nodding your head)

In between Hindi, we ask Ananta 1000 questions about India, its culture etc and make it around the Gurgaon area and got lost in downtown Delhi. Ananta is actually from Nepal but has lived here most of his life. We also find our way down to the supermarket, which is more like an outside mall with lots of markets, a coffee shop and internet cafe. I downtown Delhi people were eager to help us but unfortunately I am a skeptic of people being too nice in foreign places. Some random guy was pointing us to a supposed mufti-level mall which ended up being about 5 vendors.

While I have been here this is what I have seen walking down the street: rickshaws carrying up to 10 people, three wheeled bikes that carry about 2-3 ppl, roaming cows, monkeys, women with very colorful traditional dress (the women are generally sooo verybeautiful), men (whom are also rather handsome) in regular clothes or with turbans (there are a lot more men walking around then women), a family of 4 riding on the back of a motorcycle cycle, a sitting women on the back of a motorcycle (sideways) holding the driver with one arm and her baby with another. Other sites: fruit and snack stands on the side of the road, men pushing their snack (something similar looking to peanuts or samosas) stores down the street, women carrying a large bundle of laundry on there heads. Randomly there are also lots of western eateries, McDonald’s of course, but KFC, domino’s etc. I was at a school today teaching kids science and I hear blaring from a man’s car a rap song “to the windows…to the walls…to the sweat drop down my balls.” On television, you can easily spot India soap opera’s which are dramatic and zoom in on every face for affect and US videos. Every place that I have been, there never ceases to be a dearth of US videos, songs playing and eateries. I always here American music on the way from the airport to my stay….it never fails.

One of my favorite experiences has been riding the metro into the city proper and being in a ladies only carriage. I appreciated this luxury really. After all of the craziness and violence I have heard about against women during my travels, the signs that say ladies only make me smile. The men are not allowed in and there are these small but intimidating women that kicked one man out who was standing, another who was sitting and another who was too far over the borderline between carriages. I am not sure why the distinction is made but the men cars are packed and its nice to not have to worry about being groped or pick pocketed (although obviously this can happen in the woman’s carriage, but I am guessing less likely).

On the way to the metro the other day, we encountered a street child about the age of 6 who followed us for about .5 miles begging. Persistence wears you thin, so she got 5 rupees and we were left alone. We encountered more along our way.

I was standing outside of the house trying to get a good signal to make a Skype call and over the fence jumps a monkey or a baboon the size of a small child, maybe a 6 year old. Inside I went.

Yesterday, we were shipped to Faridabad which was supposed to be about 20KM from where we were but ended up taking nearly two hours. I have never seen traffic this bad. If have learned anything, it is that nothing is as it seems with volunteering. We got shipped here because Ananta had to go to Nepal to apply for an American visa. The rest of our orientation week will be coordinated by Dr. Bandu here. I thought I was going to his house, but its actually a guest house where other volunteers live along with Indian women who are attending university. Its basic accommodation with a few bathrooms, living room and kitchen. No bunk beds is a good thing, but there is an infamous mouse running around and a few bugs here and there…oh let me not forget a gecko in the bathroom. I haven’t seen it and will not be looking for it. The food is good though, although much of it is tinted yellow, but I LOVE curry. I had chapati with some kind of hot sauce for breakfast.

Today we went to the Prakash Deep School for underprivileged children in Faridabad. Its a school started by a woman named Savidatt about 7 years ago. She was a formally a nuclear weapens researcher but saw a need for educating street children. Now, there are about 250 children from the nearby slums that meet in two parks from 9-1pm each day to learn. The classes are small, the children get a lot of attention, they are bought uniforms and fed a healthy lunch. I taught science today. We learned about the earth and the moon. They were surprised to know that when it is day in India, where I am from in America is night. Me and my hair continue to be show stoppers. Many of the children stared but they warmed up pretty quick. They wanted to know how it was done and of course to touch it. One girl, Sonie wanted me to palm roll hers,. There were a few random passerby’s that came over to the park where the school is to take pictures of me and the other volunteers who are white. I posed for him. Haha

Anyway, many of the children know English and they learn many of their subjects in both hindi and English. The government schools are free, but often the parents who are poor can not afford uniforms and books or there seems not to be a quality education in Savidatt’s eyes. Some of her staff go into the slums and beg the children’s parents to let them come to school. As sometimes the children are helping hands to the parents or can earn the household some money begging as opposed to attending school. Children are also allowed to bring their smaller siblings to school if they had to watch them at home.

The children sang for us, played with us, posed for pics and we taught them songs like twinkle twinkle little star. They will surely wear you out. I have never been to a school which did not have a building, so this was definitely what I would call a “thin place,” but it was a fun day. Savidatt was an inspiring women and took time out to talk with us, get to know us and take us around. I am always moved by the women who see some of the nastiness of the worth and decide to do something about the ugliness instead of saying that is a shame and going on with their lives. They are so beautiful to me….things like this remind me of why I am taking this trip.

The next few days will be touring Old and New Delhi and then to the Taj Mahal this weekend. Sunday I move in with my host family and Monday I start working at the woman’s shelter. Not sure what I will be doing, but we will see.

» 2010 » November

I have landed on continent number 4. After hours and hours of traveling i am in Delhi, India. It was an 8 hour plane ride to Doha, Qatar in the middle east, then a 3.5 hour layover and then a 4 hour flight to delhi. I am probably on like 25,000 miles traveled about now.

I got a taste of the middle east at a stop over in Doha were many men and almost all of the women were traditionally dressed. They had one big mosque outside of the airport and one in the airport. The food in the food court smelled so good, but i did not have any local currency.

In Delhi, the weather is hot, there is a fog over the sky and the traffic is crazy. Again, i had to wait over and hour for someone to pic me up, mistake was thinking i arrived at 8:15pm instead of am. Booooo!!!

Anyway, on the streets you will see many people riding bikes, others riding bikes with a seat to carry two or three people on the back (A 3 wheeler), tuctucs or rickshaws depending on where you are from, fruit and vegetable stands and women with their saries. Its pretty cool so far. Today was orientation, which was slightly insufficient, but i think it will be cool here. I will be doing a week of orientation – learning some hindi, touring delhi etc.  More to come and pics too

» 2010 » November

» 2010 » November

 

If South Africa was a super hero

all of its supernatural power would be in its Cape

with its whirling wind doctor

that in one breath

blows poisonous pollution southeast

and out to the sea

Or maybe it would be a mother

with turquoise arms wrapping

around her beloved

with a grip

stronger than two oceans

Perhaps a township

with colorful tin shacks in stacks

a vibrant cultural experience

blooming from a history

of segregation and lack

A vivid memory of how the Afrikaners

shipped out

coloreds and blacks

Possibly strong tides and a surfers wave

Kruger’s Big Five or Johannesburg’s gold mines

Soweto’s soccer fields or cottage pies

Its no doubt a multicultural stew

of Afrikaners, Xhosas, Ndebeles

Indians, Malays and the Zulu

All caught up in the aftermath of apartheid

trying to live in the spirit of Ubuntu

reconciling themselves to the meaning

of “I exist because of you”

Hello friends, sorry my writing has been less frequent these days. I have had fewer opportunities to sit and download my brain over the past few weeks. Consequently, I’ve only written one poem here. Or maybe my excitement has generally warn off. I think my brain is on overload and my ability to process more experiences and information has become limited. My introvert self can almost not handle anymore getting to meet new people and reintroducing myself and my trip. But as a friend I met in england told me as I was lamenting, “well you are traveling around the world, what do you expect, you brought this on yourself”. Haha

Since we last spoke, I turned 30 yay!!! That was a good day, all that I mentioned before that I did was fabulous. The SPA was great and Ostrich was good. It pretty much looks and tastes like beef, but slightly different. I got a MUCH needed pedicure. After traveling walking so much in 1 of 2 pairs of shoes my feet were ROUGH to say the least and my shoes actually smell like straight up trash. I am not even exaggerating. But it think I will try and bronze them when I get home. Those shoes will have touched on 6 continents by the time I get home.

During the past 9 days I have been to 5 cities. I was traveling along the Garden Route in South Africa which is a string of beach, tourist, nature, wildlife and vacation areas. Backpacking around is really not my favorite thing anymore, but these were some beautiful areas to visit as I wanted to see more of South Africa.I was in Mossel Bay for my birthday, then I was off to Knysna where I enjoyed the nice waterfront and took a sunset cruise around the lagoon. I paid for the cheaper, less nice and shorter cruise but that boat’s engine would not start so I received free upgrade. Upgrade yah!!!

This is home of the Knysna heads, which I think are the meeting of two land bodies and in between them is some pretty rough patch of water. While in Knysna, I went on a brewery tour and tasted local some South African beer and visited a township which is less than a mile from the town of Knysna. One mile up the hill (tucked away) from the tourist and vacationers is a completely different world. In one direction up the hill is the township full of poor blacks and many with substandard housing and another way up a hill are the summer homes of rich white South Africans and foreigners. In my experience most townships are miles from the city but this one is rather close in comparison. Traveling on the Garden Route was strange because I am quite the anomaly. A single women black traveler doing a bunch of touristy stuff and 10 times out of 10 I am surrounded by all white people. The only other black people around are domestic workers or other service workers. Although this is a lot of my experience in the US and traveling in general, it seems even starker contrast here. I presume this is less of a black middle class or maybe I just haven’t seen it. Of all the places I have been, Kenya and South Africa are the places I wish I could have experienced along side other African Americans because its quite interesting and feel like I need someone to process it with who would have had a similar experience would be helpful. I also wish I have more time to get to know black, colored and indian south Africans. We also visited a Rasta community in the knysna township. That was an experience.

W.E.B Dubois said in the early 1903 that the problem of the century (which would be last century) was that of the color line. Being here and reflecting on the issues we have at home makes it more apparent how things have changed, but also how much work needs to be done. That perhaps that color is still one of the biggest issues of this century and centuries to come. In comparison to the US, racial issues are much fresher, more tense because of that, and they face some different complications. There are 11 official languages there to navigate which adds a complexity. It seems as though in the blacks eyes, much needs to be change still and there is anger behind the slow change, leaving white South Africa often bewildered or angry, wondering how much is enough, about their future and their place in this country. Of course these are generalizations from my short time here and limited experience. I would be interested to know how the coloreds and Indians see things. A part of me is so very sick of thinking and talking about race from my own experiences, that it all makes my head spin.

My last stop was Port Elizabeth, where I stayed over just one night in this hostel which was really a mansion converted into a hostel.I flew to Jo’burg from Port Elizabeth and met up with Brionne, whom went to Georgetown with me. One of my favorite things about this trip is meeting up with people from the US or local friends of friends and staying in their homes. Its always refreshing. A nice bed to myself and some good food made my week.

During my stay in Jo’burg I went to Constitution Hill, The Apartheid Museum and visited Soweto.

Constitution Hill is where the Constitutional Court is located. Its it were cases related to constitutionality are heard. They have a separate supreme court. The South African Constitution was signed in 1996, so it is fairly young. Its unique in that it covers some issues like the right to medical care. This is the former site of a jail which housed both Mandela and Gandhi. The jail whose conditions were appalling at best, was a former symbol of how people’s rights had been violated. It is now a museum highlighting those wrongs and a constitutional court that now protects people’s rights and dignity. One of my favorite. Its also designed conscientiously to promote transparency and represent the idea of “African justice under a tree.”

The Apartheid Museum was also good. It went through the background, rise and fall of apartheid. I was there over 2.5 hours and still did not get through to the end because there is so much information. Its not a place you can go through quickly. The lights shut off on me at at 5 (I thought it closed at 6) and I was booted out. Sad!!!

In Soweto – which I think is the largest (5 million ppl) and most famous (Mandela and Tutu lived here) township is South Africa, I was given a personal tour by Gigi and Sihle, a couple who are friends of a friend. Gigi is from the US and Sihle is a local, and they live and do ministry there. It was nice getting both their perspectives on present day South Africa. I ate some traditional food, went past the world cup arena, walked through various parts of Soweto, passed by the homes of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu (which are right across from each other) and went to the Hector Pieterson Museum. Soweto is a key location for the youth resistance movement to Apartheid and the 1976 uprising of 15,000 youth, which turned into a massacre represented a turning point in the movement. Hector was the first person shot killed at this demonstration. Its a sobering museum as they all were.

After my morning Soweto visit, I got handed off to Thorsten who is a friend of one of my pastor friends in the US and the friend of Gigi and Sihle. Coincidentally enough, Thorsten knows a South African women I met while I was at L’abri England in September. The world gets smaller for me everyday. Thorten lives outside of I, Pretoria which is a important city about 30 miles north of Jo’burg. Its where the executive offices are. I am staying with Thorsten and his family for the weekend. Yesterday, I was the speaker at TGIF, a Friday event where about 30 or so people come together before work and have a speaker talk on various topics. I talked about my trip and read some poems. It was fun. Doing things like this help me to see the greater purpose in this journey and see the blessing in such an endeavor.

Yesterday, I visited freedom park, a site/museum commemorating of the struggle for liberation in South Africa. It has a 360 view of Pretoria and was lovely and serene.

Now I am chilling and preparing to go to India tomorrow, if you can actually prepare for such an trip. I will be traveling from tomorrow afternoon and arrive on Monday morning. I have had mixed reviews of peoples experiences there, so I am slightly apprehensive but i’ll let you know what I think. I will be in Delhi, where I will to volunteer for 2.5 weeks. It is 10.5 hours ahead of US time, the weather will be in the mid 80′s, I will be working at a Women and Children’s Orphanage and back to using squat toilets again. I am excited about working with women, seeing a Bollywood movie and visiting the Taj Mahal. I think Asia will be the region that feels most foreign to me and thereby the hardest. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I am still enjoying myself but in a travel fatigue slump.

» 2010 » November

Time flies so quickly readers, I cant believe its been almost a week since I last wrote. Much has happened since then of course, as the life of a world traveler is both full of excitement and boredom at the same time. It ebbs and flows.

Last Saturday I had an extravagant time on a 4 winery tour around the Stellenbosch and Francshoek wine regions/routes with my Swiss companion Silvana who is also a volunteer. Wine drinkers should definitely be jealous. Beautiful scenery and good wine. South Africa is of course wine country and I am a frequent connoisseur…so I had to partake of the liquid elixir. Stellenbosch was voted one of the best wine regions in the world. There are over 220 wineries in this region and I tasted way too many wines from grapes that I had never even heard of. My favorite was Mont Rochelle, the only vineyard in South Africa owned by a black person. There we splurged and had lunch. I had some grilled fish, spicy polenta and asparagus…..soooo good. Especially after worst than camp or cafeteria food at the volunteer house. At another(Fairview) winery there was a festival and you could taste 8 wines and probably 10 cheeses. This was the 4th winery, so I was all wined out and I could only taste 3. I did go for seconds of the cheeses though. They had some cheese with apricot in it that was to die for. For some reason there were camels at this festival, so I got to see one up close and a little too personal.

Sunday, I dragged Frank with me (remember frank the painter I met on the beach that bought me drinks) to Simon’s Town to go see the penguins. For some reason I had it in my mind that only cold and arctic places had penguins but apparently that’s not the case and there are many in South Africa. So we chilled with the penguins. They are cute and look just like penguins. How about that!!! Frank professed his love for me of course and tired to get me to stay in South Africa. Ummmmmmmmmmm NO!!! I have to finish my trip and I am most definitely going back to the US. Its hard being an international heart breaker ya know. For some reason I turn a lot more heads here, I think its because I am obviously a foreigner. Not sure why else, since I look like a ragamuffin most days.

Oh almost forgot, on Sunday morning I went to Church at my friend Wendy’s church and that was an experience. This is probably the most multicultural congregation I have been to. There were people representing 4 continents. That was really impressive. And the worship was good too..we say songs in different languages.

At the Volunteer House

Over the past few weeks, things have kind of cooled down and stabilized at the volunteer house. Although, there has been much external drama. Muizenburg seems so safe, but 3 people were mugged last week alone. Over the weekend 11 volunteers dressed up in the spirit of Halloween (they celebrate it here actually) and went to Capetown. On their way back they were set up by their car driver, robbed and left in the middle of no where. I know I know…. I am making all efforts to be safe and watch my back. They also celebrate Guy Fox day in South Africa. This is a holiday that celebrates a guy who almost blew up the British parliament, but got caught. For some some reason its means mayhem for teens in the townships and we were told various stories about how we should watch out this week and not even go to our volunteer placements most of the week and definitely not on Friday.

Last days of Soccer

Monday and Tuesday were my last two days of soccer. I must say that I had fun over the past 3 weeks. Although I was trying to teach and bond with the kids, I knew nothing about soccer and now I have a working knowledge at least. These kids need some work on playing their positions, but many of them really know how to handle the ball. Now I can say that I learned how to play soccer from township children in South Africa. They really do appreciate our presence and cling to the volunteers. Playing sports with them also gives us some insight into how we may be able to meet other needs…such as physical and medical needs. Many of the children have minor medical issues like ear infections, allergies, dental issues etc that volunteers have been able to help address. My favorite two are Kyumba who is just too cute and a good soccer play and Lucus who doesn’t remember my name, but calls me “Rasta”. They sang a goodbye song on my last day as well as the South Africa national anthem.

Cape Point

Wednesday, my friend Wendy was gracious enough to take me on a tour of the Cape Peninsula which included Chapman’s Peak – one of the worlds 10 most scenic drives and Cape Point/The Cape of Good Hope the most south westerly point of Africa. I went to the edge of the continent and was almost blown away by the wind, but I didn’t fall off. We also visited Houts Bay where I spotted a cousin of Andre the Seal.

Yesterday was my last day at the volunteer house I left at about 5:30 this morning. Some of the volunteers made me some brownies for my birthday. In honor of turning 30, I am taking myself on a tour of the Garden Route for the weekend. This is basically the tourist route in South Africa going from Capetown up the eastern cape. I treated myself to a single room at a Guest House. This is a definite upgrade from 3 weeks on the top bunk in a room with 5 other people at the volunteer house and 5 months sleeping on a twin bed in dorm style room. I am going to go to the SPA today, for a pedicure, massage and body wrap (to be wrapped in lindt chocolate) and have a nice dinner. I think I will try Ostrich. This whole trip is a gift in and of itself and as a friend of mine said….”what a say to bring in your 30′s”. If you read this send me some happy birthday love.

Thoughts on turning 30

Mostly, I am thankful to be traveling around the world and grateful for the friends and family I have back home. This experience has been amazing but its you all that are actually priceless to me. I still look (if I do say so myself) and feel 23. I am single and content to be, glad I don’t have children at this point and like myself and my life. I am and world traveler and emerging poet….i.e. THE BOMB… (although when I return I think I will put the poets pen down for a while). After all of this volunteering I am really starting to miss my job (it took 5 months) but I also like my job and current career in the urban planning/community development arena. Its actually been very interesting to think about my trip from a planning perspective. For example…some of the townships have over 1.5 million people living in substandard housing – how do you even think about redeveloping a place like this.

The only thing I would change about myself right now is I would be the same size I was when I left for my trip. hahaha I think I have gained like 10 or 12 lbs but shedding lbs will give me something to do when I get home. If I could have anything today, is that a few of you would be here with me.

Until next time…..I am off to celebrate life and myself