BAPworld

Transfer

2012-01-08T01:12:00.000-05:00

As I was just copying and pasting this to my other blog and realizing that Blogger sucks and none of my old pictures/header seem to be working, I asked myself, Why am I doing this? So, I've come to a decision. I'm only posting on An American Girl in Washington from now on. So follow me there! And thanks for all of the Bapworld love! =)

kat

San Francisco Retreat

2012-01-08T01:05:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

I didn't write over the break because I was too busy hanging out with the fam. But, then I went to San Francisco for a retreat with my team and it was wonderful. Not only did we get a ton of work done but... I got to be in San Francisco! At this point, it doesn't beat DC, which I am dying to get back to (I have another week before I can go home minus a four hour suitcase exchange tomorrow =/) but it's a great city. Plus, for the first time I stayed at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, which is gorgeous and has been a part of San Francisco culture since 1928.

The Staircase

The Bar

The Vintage Bed

A chair in the lobby

The super awesome red dresser

Luckily, the San Francisco office is right in Union Square so we were in the perfect location for some shopping (clearance at H2O!) and delicious eating. The first night we had dinner at Tropisueno, a delicious Mexican restaurant. The second night, we unfortunately had dinner at The Pub at Ghirardelli Square and it was terrible. The mac and cheese tasted like boxed Velveeta and the waiter was really rude when I said they weren't good. Like, "Oh, well I'm sorry that you have pathetic taste buds and don't know what good is". And the rest of the food wasn't good enough to justify the cost and the rudeness. But, then again, it was a tourist trap, so consider yourself warned.

After the terrible dinner we took the miserable streetcar (one of my team members had never been to SF) back to the hotel. Or, at least, we tried. At the crest of a hill the streetcar died and we sat there forever before we finally just gave up and caught a cab. On the way back to the hotel we passed two other immobile streetcars. Apparently this is a thing that happens sometimes. Good thing we weren't on a hill!

Today we drove the gorgeous drive to Sacramento, had a delicious lunch at Grange at the beautiful Citizen Hotel, stopped at Temple Coffee for a tea refill, and then drove back up, which was even more beautiful because the sun was setting.

Now I'm taking advantage of the free wifi at the San Francisco airport, watching Archer on Netflix and getting ready to fly a red eye on Jet Blue back to DC, change my suitcase, and head to Cleveland and then San Diego! And then, finally, I get four whole days at home! Woohoo!

So that's that. I'm off to sleep on the plane! Ciao!

kat

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-26T01:37:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I'm in beautiful Seattle with my even more beautiful niece and wonderful family. I'm completely stuffed, have been watching Midsomer Murders for two days and have discovered how thoroughly exhausting two-year-olds can be. I'm here for a while longer so hopefully I'll get to visit some of my favourite haunts before I head down to San Francisco. I'll keep you posted!

Have a great last week of the year!
kat

TurlyTag

2011-12-22T22:00:00.001-05:00

When I got the new job (see above) one of the first things I thought was "If I'm going to be flying 4 times a week, I need to make sure my stuff doesn't get lost!". So, I found TurlyTag. TT, as it shall henceforth be known, is an awesome service that helps you retrieve your lost goodies. For $3 a month they send you a sheet of sticker tags and a sheet of plastic tags with zip liner thingies that say "Return Me" and have a code on them and TT's website. Then, when someone finds your goods, they can just got to TurlyTag.com, enter the code, and you'll get an email saying that they found your items and showing you the zipcode. Then you can choose to either go pick it up or have them send the finder a prepaid envelope with which to return it.

I happen to know this works because like an idiot I left my BlackBerry at the concierge's desk yesterday. She immediately went to the TT site and entered the info. I got an email from them with the above information. Of course, by then I'd already figured out where I left it and picked it up so I ignored the email. I then got a personal email from someone who works at TT and a phone call until I finally responded and said that yes, I know where my phone is and I already picked it up. All this in less than 12 hours and for $3 a month. LOVE it.

If you're traveling, or even just forgetful, I cannot recommend TurlyTag enough. Check it out.

Toodles!
kat

The Blog Revival

2011-12-21T23:20:00.000-05:00

Hello all!

It's been too long! I haven't written in a while because I started my new blog at AmericanGirlinWashington.wordpress.com and it was less travel-y and more blog-y. BUT, I have a new gig that requires mucho travel (sadly all domestic) and so I'm reviving the bapworld and taking you along with me. Yaay! The new blog will re-post a lot of the posts that I'm putting on AGinDC but will also include little posts about new travel sites and tools that I've found, airport reviews, tips and tricks, etc. The job is craziness personified so I'll do my best to keep up regularly but I'm really excited to get started again! So now, without further ado, the first post:

Sacramento

Today I'm in Sacramento! I have to admit, I was not at all excited about Sacramento. It didn't sound exotic, no one ever talks about it, and I was pretty sure it would be boring. I was soooo wrong.

First of all, my hotel, the Hyatt Regency, is gorgeous. Apparently it's just been renovated and I can tell. They have to bars, and cafe with a delicious breakfast brunch, and a restaurant downstairs. It's about ten feet from the Capitol, is right by great restaurants and two movie theatres (including an IMAX) and has gorgeous views of the city from the top floor (when the fog is clear).

Outside, the weather is sunny and cool, the way December should be. The Capitol is beautiful, as are the many sculptures, signs and random artsiness along the streets. Everyone I've spoken to here is super proud of how many local shops and restaurants there are and the airport even gives a rental discount to local businesses so they can compete with the McDonald'ses (?) of the world.

I've been doing my best to sample the local flavor and so far I've fallen so in love with the tangerine ginger tea at Temple Coffee that I bought a tin of it, I had amazing gelato at Hot Italian and I absolutely fell in love with Mayahuel, or, rather, Maya's Kitchen, the fab little takeout section where the waiter (who looked like Justin Timberlake with hair) gave me a free bowl of the most amazing lentil soup while I waited and I got three giant carnitas tacos for $8 which included a free bowl of soup (another, and I ate that too because it was soooo good). This place is fantastic and I will definitely be coming back with every visit.

Sacramento has turned out to be a pretty great town and I can't wait to come back next month. One of the best things about the new gig is that I get to come back to the towns I'm visiting over and over so I'll really get to know them. Of course, tomorrow I'm heading home to Seattle and I could not be more excited. I haven't been home in two years and I get to see my ridiculously adorable niece Bella who is two and brilliant and perfect. I also get to see the big people like grandma and grandpa and daddy and I'm sure that will be almost if not quite as exciting! I'm sure that most of my Seattle experiences will be child-themed, which means seeing the city from that perspective for the first time, since I was two in Arizona!

I'll do my best to keep up a little travelogue of my trips, somewhat because people might be interested but mostly because I'm traveling by myself and I want to tell people about awesome places like Maya's!

Until the next post, have a great night and, if I don't write before the end of the month, happy holidays!

=)
AGinDC

The J-Dub

2010-08-07T14:42:00.001-04:00

I am having so much fun in DC! I forgot how much fun it is to go exploring in your new home. Of course, my hotel is in such a perfect location, I haven't even been on the Metro yet! Everything we've wanted to do has been no more than three blocks away, including the White House. It's wonderful. Maybe I'll just live in the hotel...

I'm staying at the JW Marriott, a giant hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. The Jdub, as I like to call it, is ridiculously nice. There are ginormous chandeliers that Joe and I are convinced we've seen crashing onto bad guys in at least one James Bond movie, the bar has delicious food and a great happy hour, the lobby has super comfortable couches like the one on which I am currently perched, and after 11pm on weekends there is a security guard at the door to keep out the ruffians and only allow entrance to the holders of black cards. It's all very posh and Washington-y.

The beds are also super comfortable, which is nice since it's August in DC so I have spent about as much time lounging on the beds as I have on my feet.

My favourite feature though is the window seat in my room. On the left I can see the Washington Monument and straight ahead I can see the very Parisian Willard InterContinental Hotel. And to the right I can see the Borders that is going out of business but that's not so great because it's difficult to resist temptation. I spend a lot of time sitting on that window seat and I think I'm going to miss it the most when I check out tomorrow. Oh well. I'll definitely be coming back to happy hour at 1331 a lot!

The Monument

The Willard

Going back to bed and A/C...
kat

Just Practising for the Future

2010-08-06T22:56:00.002-04:00

I went to the White House today!! It was amazing. A group of current and former law students and I were invited after ValJar came to events that two student organizations held during my graduation, at which she was the commencement speaker. I was especially excited because I planned one of the events and invited her and I was absolutely shocked when she said yes!! We found out a few months ago that we had been invited to the WH and today was finally the day!

The White House from the inside.

After the requisite posing for photographs in the blazing sun and waiting in line at security as they took our IDs and did their security thing, we were in! After seeing the WH through cast iron gates for so long, it was amazing to see it right in front of us, up close, with nothing in the way. It really is the most beautiful home in America.

There were about 15 of us in the group and we were met by one of VJ's assistants. She led us down the lawn and into a door held open by a very handsome Marine. The room inside was divine. All crimson and cushions and lush, with gorgeous artwork on the walls. As we headed to the Roosevelt room and deposited our electronics outside, I noticed an amazing four-part Norman Rockwell painting called "So You Want to See the President". It was incredible. You can see it here. Finally, we went in and took our seats at the table where the President and his senior staff meet every single day.

Me with the super cute bag my aunt bought me. I was the only one not wearing a boring colour... of course.

I won't go into the details about the meeting but suffice it to say that, just like the last time we met, VJ was absolutely stylish, kind, gracious, and brilliant. She's so smart it's crazy and far more humble than she deserves to be. I totally love her. I also love her because when I told her that I just moved here two days ago and don't have a job yet she said, "Well you moved here on Wednesday and are at the White House on Friday so I'd say you're doing pretty well." I couldn't agree more VJ! We talked about everything from the November elections to the President's birthday to the White House's role in crafting their message. It was an incredibly open and honest talk about what's going on in the administration and it was reassuring to know that everything she was saying was something that we had heard before, which means they really are getting their message out there, at least to those of us who are paying attention. And, after she left us she went to the confirmation of Elena Kagan!! Yaay!!!!

We were so lucky to meet VJ, to sit in that historic room with the portrait of Teddy Roosevelt on the wall, and to get to experience even the tiniest part of history. I can't wait til I find a way to get back again.

Sweet dreams from the capitol!
kat

I'm a little rusty, but I'm working on it

2010-08-05T09:07:00.001-04:00

I started this blog post over a week ago and everytime I sat down to write I found myself staring at the screen and wanting to take a nap. Clearly, my brain wasn't ready for the thinking yet... But, here I am and I'm BACK and have a super fun (relatively speaking) trip to talk about. Also, a disclaimer. There are no photographs of any of the pre-bar descriptions here because, quite frankly, I was too terrified to think about taking pictures.

Ohhhhh Canada

Since we had to take the bar in New York, my friend Raph and I decided to drive there to save money (ha!), relax before the exam (hahaha!) and see a new part of the country at the same time. So, we hopped in a rental car and drove the five hours (through Canada) from Ann Arbor to Buffalo, where I was to drop Raph on my way to Albany.

Buffalo, NY is a pretty cool little town. It looks a little like Detroit when you first drive in: sad, post-industrial, abandoned. A reminder of the boom time towns that are now bust. But after meeting up with one of Raph's bffs from Bryn Mawr, we got to see a much cooler part of the city. We went to the Anchor Bar, home of the original buffalo wings where I scarfed down a plate of the most delicious wings that I have had in a long and dedicated buffalo wing eating career. We also drove around and saw some of the quaint little neighborhoods with colourful Victorian houses, the adorable cafes and boutiques, and the awesome buffalo artwork all over the town. By the next morning I was sad to be leaving. Well, I was mostly sad because I was that much closer to the bar exam, but also because Buffalo was such a chill little town.

However, I had to move on so I hopped in my Chrysler Sebring (the new ones are really really nice, btw), cranked up the SiriusXM (it was better when it was just Sirius) and sang my way through the lush vegetation of upstate New York to the capital city.

Albany is awesome. It's full of great little restaurants, cafes and boutiques. It has some amazing architecture, including the American-Parliament-esque state capital, and it even features some of the most terrifying sculptures that I have ever seen. One particular featured an 8-foot-tall Victorian couple dancing while the man chewed off the woman's ear like some pre-Holyfield/Tyson nightmare. My friends insist that he was only whispering to her but I am convinced that I saw drops of blood and masticating. Yeah, it was gross. HOWEVER, other than the oddly chosen sculptures, Albany was a pretty cool town. They do make a killing off bar students though, overcharging for everything from hotels rooms to taxi cabs to slices of pizza being sold on the street corner, but whatevs, a town's gotta do what a town's gotta do.

Then came the bar. Blah blah blah. Done.

Afterwards, I hopped in the auto and jetted back to Buffalo where I picked up Raph and, after a crazy delicious salmon and olive paste sandwich at some little cafe where I also picked up an Ann Rice novel for $2, we decided to go to Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls is AWESOME! The Canadian side is incredimazing. Not only did they get the best view of the falls (we must have been feeling generous that day) but they've turned it into a mini-Vegas with casinos, a Stratosphere-looking thing, and even a Legoland. Yeah, you heard right. Lego. Land. Of course, being Canadian, they had to wuss it up by calling it "Lego Brick City" and not actually being awesome, but whatevs, it's still giant Legos. Not that we went. No, we jetted through, parked at the falls, took some pics, I spent half the time on the phone working out the details of an exciting visit about which I shall tell you this weekend, and then jetted back out.

Me on the phone at the falls. Clearly I will be heading back to the gym ASAP!

After over an hour at customs, in which the INS/ICE/BS woman asked us everything from "where have you been and what have you been doing?" to "where did you two meet?". Raph and I spent a lot of time guessing what the wrong answer to that question is. I think it's "We met at Jihad summer camp", she went with "Islamic lesbian lovefest". Either way, the question, like the wait, were highly inappropriate, especially since the Canadian dude waived us in without even looking at our passports. But finally we were HOME!! I love coming back to America more than most but after finally being liberated of all law school related duties, I have never felt so free. It was a highly symbolic moment.

Haaaaaalelujah! Free at last!

To celebrate, I spent the rest of the week partying every night with my equally liberated friends, packing up, and saying goodbye to my beloved Ann Arbor. I'm writing to you now from the lobby of the crazy gorgeous hotel that my parents sent me to to start my new life in DC.

Another adventure awaits!

I missed you all, but now I'm baaaack!!
kat

DOOONNNEEE!!!

2010-07-28T19:44:00.000-04:00

I just finished the New York Bar Exam! No idea if I passed or not, but ten weeks of studying are finally over!!! woohoo!!!

That is all.

I'll be back soon.

I have a Law Degree!!!

2010-05-09T19:30:00.000-04:00

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG. I'm done!! I can't believe it!

Thank you so much to everyone who sent emails/tweets/whatever when I went offline to wish me luck. I finally finished my crazy busy stressful exciting scary confusing out-of-control semester is finally over and I graduated from law school on Saturday!!!

Not only did I graduate but I was in charge of planning an event for the Black Law Students Alliance and I invited Valerie Jarrett (she's a MichLaw alum) and she actually came!!! She met us before the event began and spoke to the ten of us and was basically the sweetest, nicest, most wonderful person in the world. I was so nervous the night before that I didn't sleep a wink but she was so incredibly kind, all of the admiration and slightly obsessive Googling of her that I've done in the past two years was totally worth it. She also gave our commencement speech and she said it was her first (!) and she was completely amazing.

This was, so far, the best freaking day of my life.

*Side note: Yes, President Obama did speak at our all-school graduation last week. Awesome!!!*

Technically, I haven't graduated yet. Our grades aren't due from the professors until June and we don't get our actual diplomas until July, but I turned in all of my work and as far as I'm concerned, I am DONE!

What's next you ask? Well my mom and stepfather are here (my aunt left yesterday), so I'm going to spend the next couple of days hanging out with them. Then, I haven't slept in about three weeks so that's first on my to do list. And on Saturday I'm going home to Arizona!!! I know we're supposed to be boycotting the state and all but my grandmother is in AZ and I miss her so much and I can't wait to see her! I'll try not to buy very much while I'm there. :-P

When I get back, it's time for hard core study for the bar. I'm taking the New York bar (for those of you looking quizzically at your screens right now, I'm not moving to Detroit any more) and as you probably know, JFK Jr. failed it THREE TIMES! So, bad news for the blog, mama is going to be more offline than ever until the end of July. Then I take the bar, and then my long and fruitful career of homelessness and unemployment will begin. :-/

No, I'm kidding. My week in Arizona is also "start looking for a job week" and I'm pretty sure that I'll find something in 6-12 years.

Anyways, I just wanted to say thanks so so much to everyone for your support and to announce that yes, it will still be a while before I'm able to start posting again. Becoming a lawyer is no joke yo!

love you all!
kat

Technical Difficulties

2010-02-02T11:00:00.000-05:00

Hi all!

I know I haven't written in a while. So sorry. Last semester of law school and all. If I had known how much I would have to catch up on after going abroad, I may never have gone! Hahaha, okay, not really, but from now until I pass (or fail) the bar this summer, BAPworld and I may be going through separation anxiety. I'll try to post interesting travel items when I can, but since I'm not really reading anything on the internet except research and TelevisionWithoutPity updates (I haven't even watched the finale of Dollhouse yet!), don't count on anything soon.

Thanks for your patience, wish me luck!
k

Nepotism is Good

2010-01-05T15:50:00.001-05:00

I'm down with the French in many ways. I think they've pretty much got wine, cheese, fashion, and arrogance down to an art. I think their art and architecture is hard to compete with. I don't think I'm rocking the boat with these observations. However, there is one other thing that I think the French have down pat. Nepotism. The French think it's honourable, and just good business, to pass a business from father to son (or daughter), to raise children to take over the family corporation, to seat your children on the board of say, LVMH. I have to agree with this mafia mentality. What's family for if not to rely on, to help out, to hire? I am all about promoting mi familia ] . And using them when I need stuff for free. I recognize, of course, that saying this opens me up to future family pandering, but that's what I'm here for. I have certainly mastered the art myself.

I really only said all of that as an excuse for promoting my brother yet again. He actually did start that blog (yaay!) and it's already up to a cool start. If anything, visit and download his free music. Also, check out some of the pictures taken by Bella's mommy. She's a great photographer and a graphic designer in case you need any work done :-P.

9thdimensionmusic.blogspot.com

Have a great first week of January!
kat

When I Grow Up

2009-12-30T20:58:00.000-05:00

When I grow up, everything I own will be bespoke. Bespoke shoes, bespoke clothes, bespoke luggage, bespoke dogs. Everything will be custom made to my exact likes and specifications. Rien de naff pour moi! Along with my fabulous bespoke couches and curtains and linens and chairs I will also have bespoke life experiences of the travel variety. And when I do, I will, in turn, hire Truffle Pig and Black Tomato (that's to-mah-to, dahling) to design them.

Truffle and Tomato are both quite fabulous travel designers. They take your every whim, interest, and desire and mix it with their unequalled travel and luxury experts to create the holiday of your very expensive dreams. After backpacking on a budget for the last six and a half months, I have to tell you, this sounds like the way travel should be done.

One day I am going to get to Antartica (hopefully before it melts), and when I do, I'm going on Black Tomato's Into the Abyss journey. This particular journey to the bottom of the Earth will have to wait until I have an extra $60,000, but I think it will be worth every penny.

Probably before having tea with the penguins, I am going to hire Truffle Pig to go absolutely anywhere. The guys (and possibly girls) at Truffle are smart, witty, experienced, and know how to plan a fantabulous journey. Even their website is quirky, creative, and fun. I imagine their trips to be even more so.

Yes, when I grow up, I'll breed bespoke horses, drive bespoke automobiles, and clone bespoke men to style my bespoke hair. But first, I'm going on a couple of truly luxurious and individualized journeys, just to know how it feels to travel without a backpack.

kat

OC Notes for Christmas

2009-12-28T20:16:00.001-05:00

Hello all!

I hope you had a great Chrismukkah! I had a great Christmas and over the holiday I discovered that my brother who I only see once every few years has turned into quite the busy musician. He's been making all kinds of albums and stuff, which is only different from the past fifteen years or so because people are actually starting to pay attention. To that end, he's got crazy folks making videos to his music on the YouTube (this is one of his own and definitely the best):

Here is his YouTube page so you can see the other stuff he has on there. I just went on there and he clearly rarely updates it: Youtube.com/ocnotes

He even has an album on iTunes!

Lots of his stuff is free though, and it's all available on THEESatisfaction's website. You should all go to iTunes and buy his album and support my niece!! Then go to theesatisfaction.blogspot.com and download his free stuff as it comes along. I'm trying to convince him to start his own blog so it's easier for folks to keep up so if and when he does I'll add links to it here. Yaay for my brother! Buy his album!

Happy holidays!
kat

Pictures, Yaay!

2009-12-12T20:15:00.003-05:00

Finally! Now that I am in the land of the internets, I was finally able to upload a slide show. I briefly considered uploading every single one of the hundreds of photos taking up precious gigabytes on my hard drive, but I finally settled on a "best of" of sorts, a few of my favourite pics from Cambodia and Africa. Enjoy!

k

A Good Year for Black Women

2009-12-11T23:02:00.005-05:00

I just saw The Princess and the Frog!!! I am so excited, I have been waiting for this movie since I was 5 and it was everything that I have always wanted it to be. I loooove that it was set in NOLA (and it looked and sounded just like the Louisiana I used to live in, right down to the occasional Voodoo influences), love that she was absolutely beautiful and played by the inestimable Anika Noni Rose, who did a phenomenal job, love that they finally went back to gorgeous hand drawn animation, and love love love the Randy Newman jazz-Zydeco-Disney interpretations!!

I loved every minute of the film, but what I loved most of all was that in this long, long awaited film, Disney finally dispensed of some of the ridiculous pre-feminist fairy tale dogma that has gotten little girls in trouble since the Grimm Brothers first imagined Cinderella. And I think it's more than a little ironic that it took a Black princess to do it. In this film Disney finally tossed out the "When you wish upon a star" bullshit. Excuse my language. Yes, Tiana (I still like Maddy better) looked to a star for

hope and inspiration, but she counted on her own hard work and ingenuity to finally achieve her dreams. And yes, the frogs went to the Voodoo Queen for magic help, but it was up to them to find the answers. And then, just when it looks like the pretty white princess is going to save the day, Disney pulls the magic carpet out from under your feet and says, "Naw chere, you're going to have to do this one on your own. Those stereotypes are not valid any more" and Tiana and the super cute Prince Naveen have to find their own way. I love Tiana. She has big dreams and knows how to get what she wants. She works hard, she saves money (what an excellent example for little girls!), she's true to her friends and loyal to her own intuition, and in the end she is rewarded with everything she wants, and, more importantly, everything she needs. Disney finally told little girls what they need to hear: Work hard, dream hard, and don't count on anyone to hand you the answers.

2009 has been a remarkable year for all of us, but especially for Black women. We got a Black President, a Black First Lady, and a Black Princess, all at once.

Parole

2009-12-11T23:01:00.002-05:00

I'm un-privating my blog. For several reasons really, mostly because it was becoming a pain in the arse. Also because I'm now back in the USofA so the security breach is no longer an issue. But don't worry, the list is saved so if I have to switch back you won't have to sign in and out again!

Ciaosers,
kat

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Coming to America

2009-12-04T11:53:00.001-05:00

Never has a black person left Africa for America so gleefully. I’m finally going home! After being unceremoniously dumped at the airport by my roommate of the last three months, I was in seventh heaven. Every person I have seen in the airport has said, “You’re going to America?” And I can hardly contain my joyful smile. This journey will be far shorter than the one that brought me here. Flying into the nation’s capital will be the crowning moment of my journey. Looking back, I am incredibly lucky. I lived and traveled in two pretty dangerous countries and didn’t even have a book stolen. No crime, no danger, no sketchy cops. As always I came out unharmed. I owe this as much to luck and my grandfather/guardian angel as to the fact that by now I’ve learned how to be a safe traveler. There really is nothing to be worried about in most places if you’re smart and self-aware. Of course, I wouldn’t recommend traveling to Somalia by yourself or anything, but for most places, a girl on her own will be just fine if she keeps her head on straight.

I am also quite proud of how little I have acquired in the last six months. I only packed one suitcase and one carry on when I started and I am leaving with the big suitcase I brought, a very small, very cute teal carry-on size suitcase, a backpack, and the same messenger bag that I came with. I bought a lot less than I had planned, I thought I would be leaving here with a much bigger second suitcase.

The few clothes that I brought (that I’m burning as soon as I get home, I hope to never see those 10 t-shirts again), most of which are so frayed as to be almost unrecognizable, did me well and survived the traveling, touring, and working environments with dignity. Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Ralph Lauren and J.Crew should be proud. As should two pairs of Old Navy ballet flats that have lived to tell a tale worthy of their many cracks, holes, worn down soles and dingy exteriors. The shoes will have to be retired and bronzed as soon as I get to Seattle. My Longchamp le Pliage remains the most durable, reliable, and classy bag there ever was and is currently folded pleasantly in my suitcase, prepared to enjoy a holiday after serving as my only handbag these long months. My MacBook is dirty and cracked and in need of some Genius Bar TLC but is still clicking away, ready for one more semester of law school and whatever else I can throw at it until I can afford a new one. And my little $50 iPod shuffle, bought especially for the journey, is charged up and ready for a long jam session on the many flights to come.
In fact, everything that I brought with me is coming home relatively undamaged, if a little worse for the wear. My Matt & Nat clutch lost its leather wrist strap somewhere in Siem Reap, but it still holds things just fine. My favourite silver bracelet was misplaced somewhere between my many moves in Phnom Penh, but it is easily replaceable and is already in my Tiffany shopping cart ready to be re-purchased as soon as I get a job. My beautiful leather messenger bag has a battle scar in the form of a ripped seam but it just makes it look more hardcore and experienced. It’s still the best bag I have ever seen. And my prescription sunglasses have been sporting the Harry Potter look (except the tape is on the side rather than the bridge of the nose) but the lenses still work and they suit me just fine for driving. Oh yeah, and my swimsuit has seen better days, but it’s not like I’ll be swimming in Michigan anytime soon anyways. Other than that, everything is pretty okay. Not bad for six months of roughing it I say.

Well that’s all for now. The weather has been rainy and awful for two days. I think Africa is trying to mitigate the shock of my return by giving me weather that’s as close to home as possible. How kind.

That’s all for now. The next time I write I’ll be home!!!

P.S. I wrote this many, many hours ago. AFter my already long layover in Johannesburg my flight is now over an hour late. I may never get out of here!!

Ciaosers,
kat

Last Night in Africa

2009-12-03T03:09:00.004-05:00

Hello All!

I know it's been forever since I've written but luckily for me, this is my last day of dead slow internet. I'm going home tomorrow!!! I know, I was supposed to stay in Africa until January, but due to an unexpected fiscal situation (I'm broke), my fam helped me change my ticket so I am actually leaving tomorrow. Honestly, I am so happy to be going home. The last six and a half months have been fantastic. I've learned, seen, and done a lot of things that I never expected and I will never forget the experience. However, I have without a doubt learned that, while I love to travel and still want to see the world, my heart and ambition lie in America, and I feel guilty every minute that I am working to change things abroad rather than at home. This is an excellent revelation for me to have, and at the appropriate time. Before I left I was torn between my dual goals, the same Teach For America vs. Peace Corps debate that I had in college. I didn't want to stay home and not see the world but I knew that while I was out seeing the world I would feel guilty about not working to better things here. This trip was designed to challenge that and help me decide once and for all what I wanted. And it worked. I love experiencing new things but I am not the Jane Goodall I thought I was. I'm an American girl and my future lies in my own country. Now I can go back and very happily find a job and a life at home.

Not that I'm giving up and making it too easy. I mean, I am moving to Detroit. And all by myself with no friends or connections or any idea of where my life is headed. My family will still be far away and I'll still have plenty of challenging work ahead of me. Besides, being domesticated will be a new adventure. I haven't lived in one place for a whole year since high school. In fact, I've had so many addresses in the last nine years that my Amazon.com account has over two pages just for shipping addresses alone! Moving to Detroit means I'll actually get an apartment and sign a lease! This is a novelty for me. The last time I signed a lease for a year a hurricane broke it for me. This will be the first time I have to get a new driver's license since I got a 45-year Arizona one when I was in college (I'm pretty sad about that actually. I love my license that expires in 2048). It will be the first time I actually buy a couch (my last apartment was strictly BYOS- Bring Your Own Seat). Plus it will be the first place I've ever lived without an expiration date (Ft. X until we get transferred, Seattle through high school, Massachusetts until graduation, Louisiana through the Corps years, Michigan until the bar exam...). My whole life has been about moving on. Pretty soon it will be about settling in. Sigh. There's something sad about a girl going from Wide Open Spaces to A Home. But I guess it happens to everyone. And besides, it's not over yet. The Dixie Chicks have yet to sing Bitter End for me!

Tomorrow I fly back to Seattle, to see the 'rents, meet my niece Bella, and get a job to make up for all of the money I've spent this year. I also have two very big papers to write that I haven't even thought about starting yet. And I'll be applying for a lot of jobs. Happy Christmas to me. I hope to get to AZ to see ma grand-mère but we'll see if that works out. Then, back to Ann Arbor (yaay!) for my very last semester of law school ever. Thank goodness. I don't know what classes I'm taking and I don't care. I'm just going to barrel my way through to the end. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just hope it's not a train coming towards me.

So that's my life in a nutshell. Thrilling, I know. :-/ When I get back I'll add slide shows of the millions of pictures that I took and couldn't load while I was here. I'll also try to put up that post about Robben Island. I wish I had some profound closing thoughts about South Africa but really I'm just very, very worried about where they're going. And so are they, but not enough to change anything. If I have learned anything from Cambodia and SA it's that the world is not as stable as it should be on the verge of 2010. Nations that look precarious are and nations that look stable and modern are often anything but. Everything teeters on the edge of disaster. And it's always the same people who pay.

Happy thoughts to end the post.

Ciao,
k

A Long Hiatus

2009-11-16T01:38:00.003-05:00

I haven't written for a long time, I know. Mostly because there hasn't been much to write about. We've been in the typical work-home-tv rut of any other old married couple. Lill and I have mind melded. We actually just separately reserved seats on a plane that were right next to each other. We're even finishing each other's sentences now. It's a problem.

Other than bonding with my new life partner, there hasn't been that much else going on. However, all of that changed last week, we finally got to visit Cape Town!! Cape Town is a really cool city. Not as aesthetically beautiful as Durban but full of young people and things to do. There are also more white people than Lill and I have seen in a while!

One of the first and most surprising things that we noticed about Cape Town is that Table Mountain is way closer to the city than we thought. The city is between a rock and a hard place. Or the devil and the deep blue sea... well, it's kind of between a rock and the deep blue sea actually. And, while they could have come up with a more creative name for Table Mountain, they could hardly have come up with a more descriptive one, unless they had called it Flat Mountain. The Kloofers (which is what they call the big group of Mich folks who live on Kloof St.) have an amazing apartment with a balcony on the street and an artificial backyard overlooking Table Mountain. It's incredible. As soon as Lill and I got in we chilled in the Kloofer's backyard with white wine and some delicious sushi.

I managed to get a lot in over the week. I went to the National Gallery, over half of which is being renovated, the Jewish Museum, which is pretty interesting, and the Holocaust Exhibition on the same campus, which is more an educational review of the events of the Holocaust than a museum. We saw Disgrace, the film based on the novel by J.M. Coetzee, one of the most famous contemporary South African novelists, which Lill and I both read when we got here. The film was, of course, set in South Africa so it was pretty cool to watch it while we're here but it's a massively depressing book and movie and mostly made us hate stupid women and black people. Which is probably why most black South Africans think Coetzee is a racist. He's not, but he does depict the unpleasant side of post-Apartheid life for white people, which is something that most people don't want to think about. The truth is that Truth and Reconciliation was a little less of either than it was meant to be and of course, all wounds were not healed just because Mandela said they were. Life for whites in many parts of South Africa is less than pleasant. Besides their own guilt, anger, and sense of betrayal at times, they have to deal with the fact that they now live in a country in which 95% of the people hate them. Plust most of the rest of the world. Not only that, but they'll never get elected to high office and their concerns aren't ever going to be a priority for the ANC. And, of course, they are living with the products of the system that they created, and with the retribution and revenge that the victims of that system feel they deserve. History repeatedly shows us that providing an entire population with a limited education hurts those in power just as much, and sometimes more, as those they have conquered, but the Afrikaaners didn't get that memo. Anyways, it's interesting and provides what I've found to be a valid point of view. I don't think Coetzee's a racist, he just tells another side of the story. I could go on, but I won't.

On a happier note, we all drove out to Simon's Town because Lill was obsessed with seeing the penguins. It turns out that somehow there are penguins in Africa, how or why we don't know, and most of them congregate in this little area in Simon's Town, although there were some on Robben Island too and who knows where else. They're actually called African Jackass Penguins (seriously) and they're tiny little pygmy versions of the originals. It was super cute, like looking at herds of baby penguins, all laying out in the sun. They definitely looked happier than the Emperor Penguins in that awful documentary. No digging for food in the snow for these birds.

Along with the museums and the movies we went to Robben Island, which I'll write about in a separate post, and we ate a lot. After living in a town that only has fast food restaurants it was so nice to be in a city with real food. We ate sushi and tex-mex, and really delicious burgers and tapas and goodness knows what else. It was wonderful. We also went to a spa called the Wellness Warehouse and got really amazing deals on spa packages. Overall, it was quite the wonderful week.

After a week or so in Cape Town we all (all of the Mich folks) went to a wine town called Franschoek, where we stayed at an amazing guesthouse and enjoyed the company of friends we haven't seen in a while, two of our professors, and lots of really decadent meals provided by the good folks at Michigan Law School (and, technically, the exorbitant tuition that we're paying to be here). We also got to go on wine tastings, chocolate tastings (amazing), and basically enjoyed being in one of the most beautiful places in the world, surrounded by mountains and vineyards and basically feeling like we were in the Shire.

The pictures are amazing and you would really enjoy them if the internet would load, but it won't, so you just have to take my word for it until I get back! But we did have an amazing week and are so glad to be back for our last three weeks of work. Almost done!

Ciao!
k

Weekend in Durban

2009-10-28T02:27:00.004-04:00

Lill and I went to Durban this weekend and had a marvelous time. Rather than go through the expense and hassle of driving again, this time we took the bus. There are a few busses that go around South Africa, the SA Roadlink, the nicest but most dangerous of the lines (they kill people on occasion), the SA version of Greyhound, the fabled Baz Bus, which is the backpacker's line but is also maaaad expensive, and the Translux City to City. We took the Translux because it was the first office we went into at the bus station. We got a pretty decent deal on the tickets, R396 which is about $55, much less expensive than the gas we spent on the first trip. Unfortunately, the bus ride is also about 9 1/2 hours. :-/ Oh well, we charged up our laptops and iPods, threw on some comfy clothes and loaded up for a looong ride and fabulous weekend.

Last time we went to Durban we didn't really get to see the city because we went straight to the safari. So, this time we took five days (although two were spent traveling) and gave ourselves time to see a little more. On Friday, while everyone was working, we went to Africare, a fabulous salon, where Lill got her hair done for the first time since I've known her! It was like seeing a unicorn, I had to take pictures so people would believe me. Sadly, I can't upload those or any others because I've been trying for two hours and they won't load! Sorry folks. I'll put up a slide show when I get home.

Then we walked (bad idea) through some mad sketchy parts of town until we got to West Street, one of the main downtown streets where they have a lot of shopping and such, and which is also near the workplaces of the Durban crew. West Street is crowded and dirty and nothing like Fifth Ave or Oxford Street but it is an amazing place to people watch. We sat in McDonald's for a while looking out of the windows at the variety of folks walking by in big wigs, loud clothes, and uniforms of various description. Durban is so interesting compared to East London because it is incredibly diverse and cosmopolitan. All weekend I realized that I was actually surprised to see so many Indians and Coloureds as well as a very large Muslim population. East London is pretty much black/white but KwaZulu-Natal (the province) and especially Durban have always been home to a very large Indian population. Ghandi lived in Durban so there you go. It was really nice to be in such a diverse setting again after getting used to the segregation of EL. It was also nice to have INDIAN FOOD again!!! I missed it so much!

On Saturday there is an awesome flea market a couple of blocks from my friend's apartment. The day was gorgeous so we made the most of it and walked around looking at the artwork, the beaded jewelry, the handmade clothing and everything else that was on display. This was actually the first time that I had seen the handmade African-type goods one comes to expect when touring since I've been in the country and I was glad to see that there is a place where I can get souvenirs! More importantly, however, was the delicious food for sale. I had the most delicious samoosas and Greek doughnuty things that were basically fried dough and honey. Yum. Later on we went to the beach and made a big pasta dinner for everyone. And by we I mean Rob, who is an amazing chef. After dinner we headed out to a club and then a lounge and basically made a night of it. By the time we came in we all just crashed.

Sunday was rainy which was perfect for us as all we wanted to do was chill. We went to Oscar's, a fabulous cafe/video rental store across the street from the apartment. They have an amazing Greek lamb salad and really yummy French toast. Then we pretty much stayed in and watched movies and slept for most of the day. Eventually we roused ourselves and headed out for Indian food for dinner and then went to see Inglorious Basterds. Blood and gore aside, Tarantino is a master storyteller and this was a phenomenal movie. He is the king of dragging out suspense until you can't take it anymore and then taking it a few extra miles, then adding the terrifying music to such a degree that when the moment finally comes, you're so terrified nothing even has to happen and you want to pee in your pants. It was painful to watch but absolutely genius. Plus, Brad Pitt was in it so I was automatically a fan.

After our great weekend, we were sad to leave. We were even sadder to leave at 6am, but that's when the bus was heading out. :-( So, we said our goodbyes and hopped on the Translux for another day of rainy traveling. By the time we got home a typhoon (not really) had headed in and all night the house was beat upon by massive winds and rain. They say summer is supposed to be here soon but I don't believe it.

I'm not slowly making it to the end of my term. I have two weeks until I get to spend a week in Cape Town (yaay!!!) and then two or three weeks until we're done. I'm sad but I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to America. However, luckily after work ends I still have a few weeks of hanging out to do. Everyone is staying later so we'll get to see more of Durban and Cape Town, I have to make it to Joburg before I leave, and, depending on money and time (mostly money), I may even leave the country a bit. We shall see.

For now though, back to work!

ciao,
kat

Best day of the year (after July 4th)

2009-10-20T04:11:00.005-04:00

It’s my birthday!!

Yaay! I’m 26! Four years to 30, woohoo!

I love my birthday. Mostly because when we were kids my mom made birthdays such a big deal that I now have a positive Pavlovian response to anything birthday related. I always wake up super early in anticipation of my early morning birthday phone calls (which were not forthcoming with my being in Africa, sadly). And I always play Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday”, even though it’s about Martin Luther King Jr. and not me. But still, I could have a holiday! And then I check my email and open my Hallmark E-Cards from my mom and aunt (they sent me awesome ones this year. Did you know Alvin Ailey has e-cards?). And then I check Facebook throughout the day to see who’s sending birthday greetings on my wall.

As a girl, I feel incredibly lucky that my birthday is in October. Not only because it’s the best month ever, and totally beautiful, but because it’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. Long ago I instituted a policy that anything I buy for myself in the entire month of October is a birthday gift. Note: This is a dangerous policy. Especially in October, when everything is pink and you can buy anything and 10% goes to a charity that is near and dear to my heart (my Grandmother had breast cancer but she DETECTED IT EARLY and is amazing and strong and now she’s fine). So the policy quickly became “Anything-I-buy-in-October-is-a-birthday-present-plus-if-it’s-pink-it’s-for-a-good-cause-too” and that is why I never have any money in October. Sadly, I’m traveling and broke so I couldn’t buy anything for myself. Well, I couldn’t buy much for myself. ;-) But I’m also having a birthday in Africa so I figured that made up for it.

So anyways, today I woke up, listened to my birthday song, and jammed to “I Gotta Feeling” while I got dressed. Then I drove to work (it’s a beautiful sunny day btw) and Mzu had gotten me a beautiful birthday cake! One of his friends made it and it’s the most delicious and chocolatey cake that I have had in a long time. In fact, I had two slices for breakfast and I’ll probably have it for lunch too. And then I’m going to buy vanilla ice cream and have it for dinner. :-/ Yum!

Lill’s birthday is on the 27th so we were already planning on having a joint “do” (last year we went to Orlando with a big group of friends) so this weekend we’re taking Thursday and Friday off of work and going to Durban to party with our friends! We are sooo excited and I think it’s really going to be a great weekend. Yaay!

Anyways, happy birthday to me!

Ciao,
k

Update

2009-10-12T06:12:00.006-04:00

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I've written!!

This is not for lack of trying, some days the internet is just too slow or not working at all and it's impossible to get on. Other days I've been out of the office at meetings (or in the office in meetings) that last for houuurrs. African meetings never start on time, and then once they do they go for hours and hours while every person repeatedly tells their life story. They always start, "In the interest of time, I'll keep this brief.." and then, twenty minutes later, actually start talking about the matter at hand. After a three hour meeting or so, they stop in time for lunch. This is the good part, as usually the host organization provides a really delicious meal of several kinds of meat, vegetables, potatoes, and rice or something. I always have to ask for a knife as I just can't bring myself to eat with my hands in the middle of a business meeting...

So anyways, I've had lots of meetings. After a month of not having much to do we're finally getting busy. I've gotten a couple of big projects that are exciting, working on things like educational outreach about Ukuthwala (I think I wrote about that in a previous post) and helping villagers get fair treatment from a coal mine that just opened and things like that.

Other than that, not much else happening. It's a pretty slow life in the small town, we go to work (which I really enjoy, I spend a lot of time hanging out with the other people in the office and they're hilarious), go home, I walk on the beach every night, and then we have dinner and watch TV and go to bed. We haven't gone anywhere since Port Elizabeth, we probably won't until our big trip to Cape Town and the vineyard for our Michigan retreat in November. Planning trips on the weekends is difficult when you have to work. So we'll probably postpone our birthday trips (mine is on the 20th and Lill's is on the 27th so we were going to do something) for another time. We'll have more time after we stop working.

On weekends we most watch TV or go to the mall. We often braai on Sundays if it's nice out. Well, yesterday we braaid (braaied? not sure about the past tense on that one) through the sprinkles because we really wanted bbq! That's about it. We're sort of like two little old women but without cats or polyester sweatsuits. But it's fun and relaxing and I'm getting a lot of reading done and it's infinitely better than being in law school. Realistically, I could be being a lot more productive than I am, I have two papers to write and some other things to get done but the problem with having nothing to do is that it's so hard to get yourself to do anything.

So yeah, that's all. I'll try to update more frequently, even if there isn't anything to say. I was trying to add pictures of the new house but it's taking hours to load so I'll try again later.

Ciao!
kat

A Long Weekend

2009-09-28T05:48:00.003-04:00

Thursday was Heritage Day here in South Africa so we had a wonderful long weekend. Lill and I were going to go back to Durban but disaster struck and we had to stay. The women who’s house we were renting decided to come back from Ireland. This was no surprise to us. The women, however, seemed honestly astonished that they couldn’t find jobs in Ireland because there’s this thing called a recession and this other thing called the EU. They were also shocked (shocked!) that Dublin is an expensive city. Apparently Google doesn’t exist on their planet. (Ironically, the day before they came back Lill and I saw a news crawl that said that Ireland is experiencing their worst emigration in 20 years…). So, they decided to come back and we had a minor tussle over their responsibilities under the lease. Luckily, their mother (who actually owns the house) knows all about leases and while they were still away her husband (who, as a former magistrate, gave me a huge compliment when he said that the email that I had sent them was “elegantly written” and an even bigger compliment when he went on to say that it was “clearly written by someone who wouldn’t be afraid to take legal measures if necessary”, which was exactly what I was aiming for. I generally find that my new found legal expertise comes in handy more in my personal life than in any professional setting. I enjoy the subtleties of behaving in a legal manner more than the exhausting detail of actually being a lawyer.

Anyways, so Lill and I had to stay and deal with the housing mess on Thursday, and then Friday we went to Port Elizabeth. We went to go shopping but sadly the shopping in PE is just as bad as the shopping in East London. They have a bigger mall but filled with the same sad excuses for stores. We’ll have to go shopping in Durban and Cape Town. We drove Noma, the receptionist from work, to PE with us because it’s where she is from and otherwise she would have had to take a Combi. Noma is hilarious and very kindly pointed out everything that we were passing, even if it was more than a little obvious. When we finally got to PE we had to take her to the township and Lill was thrilled to finally get to go into one of those little houses, she’s been dying to see what they look like on the inside. PE was less than thrilling so we braved the terrifying roads in the dark, came home and moved into our new house (until Thursday, then we have to move next door) on Sunday. We ended the weekend with a celebratory braai for two.

Being friends with Thembi and Mzukisi has proven remarkably instructional. I have learned so much about apartheid and what it was like for them when they got democracy (which is how everyone says it here, “We got democracy 15 years ago.”) including having to desegregate their schools (they’re not much different than Ruby Bridges and the Little Rock Nine) and getting rid of their Christian names (or slave names as they are often referred to here). It’s endlessly fascinating. It is also fascinating learning about their views and expectations of Americans, especially black Americans, and how differently they view us than we view them. Apparently everyone here thinks I’m Coloured and yet no one can quite describe for me what that means.

Relating with us can be really confusing for black South Africans because they automatically assume that since we're black we all must see them as brothers, the way they see us. I had a long talk with a man at the computer store the other day and he told me all about how they all are so proud of us because of all that we've accomplished and that they see black Americans as family and always root for a black American over a white South African in a race, etc. I talk to Mzukisi about this and about the fact that in black America simply don't look at Africans as though they are related to us at all. The 70's are over and most of us are no longer trying to find our African roots, we're Americans, more so than most, and feel no connection to the Continent. In fact, usually when we speak of Africa or call someone African it's meant derogatorily. Mzu made a good point when he said it would have been easier if Lill and I were white because then they wouldn't have expected us to connect with them, but they simply do not understand being black and not being African. We have had to tell quite a few people that we're actually the minority in the U.S., living in a world of white people is something so foreign (and so unappealing) to them that they can't even imagine it. Mzu said he really wants to go to the whitest part of America (I told him he can go visit my mom in Seattle) and just sit in a coffee shop and stare at all of the white people going by and just watch them be white!!

So, we're not only learning a lot about South Africa but also about black South Africans' perceptions of America and Black America. The longer I am here the more I understand why the African girls in college hated us so much. They must have been so confused. Unfortunately we haven't yet had much opportunity to make friends with any white South Africans (we've only interacted with the house people) so that's a goal. I'm toying with the idea of a gym membership... I might meet people there.

So anyways, things are good. I'll post pictures of the new townhouse when we move to the one next door. But there are no more dogs!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!

That's all folks,
kat

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Lions and tigers and... well, none of the above

2009-09-23T03:56:00.007-04:00

This weekend, Lill and I drove seven hours to Durban. The drive through the Eastern Cape and into KwaZulu-Natal (adjoining provinces) is absolutely beautiful. The sky was perfect and it felt like we were driving through a painting. The Eastern Cape is a hilly region and we most drove on a lot of curvy, sometimes pretty hairy roads past rondavels (round huts), hitchhikers, and general village life. Luckily the roads are better than they could be (if you stay on the highway) and it’s just like driving on a country highway at home, except past a bunch of sheep and cattle and on the wrong side of the road.

Durban is an absolutely beautiful city. We didn't get to see much of it because we were only there to sleep but what we saw was gorgeous. Well, not when we first drove in. It was dark when we got there and we were sooo lost and we're pretty sure our friends were trying to kill us because they led us to the HOOD!! And I mean, crack dealers on the sidewalk, bums warming themselves over a roaring fire HOOOODDD. We were not amused. However, in the morning everything looked much more pleasant. Plus, they have actual restaurants and clubs and buildings and it just felt amazing to be in a real city again. It was also really fun to see some of our friends from school. I got really lucky, about seven of the 13 people here in South Africa are people who I hang out with at home so I always have a place to stay in Durban and Cape Town! Another interesting thing about Durban is that the dominant tribe is the Zulu and there is also a significant Indian population. It was fun to see something other than the black/white that we get in East London and Zulus and Xhosas could not look more different. Zulu men are tall, dark, very handsome, and apparently very chauvinistic. Xhosa men are lighter, shorter, and less obviously good looking but so far they have also been very kind and generous and thoughtful. A girl's dilemna...

This weekend we weren't up to see the city, we were going on a safari!!! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was. However, Latoya and Matt (the friends we were visiting) neglected to tell us that we would have to get up at 4 AM to drive to the site. I wasn't thrilled but the promise of lions and elephants (which were not to be) got me up and behind the wheel. After driving for about three hours through a landscape that changed from Northwest to wine country to, finally, African bush, we drove for another forty minutes on some of the worst dirt roads in history before we finally made it to the Mzuki Game Reserve.

This was a particularly low-budget type of safari, a drive-it-yourself type of deal, a lot like the buffalo farm places we used to go to as kids when we lived in Oklahoma. We paid our 35 rand (about $4.50) and drove through the gates, determined to see some animals. The game reserve was kind of like a zoo with no cages. There were a bunch of animals that were clearly used to seeing humans (they didn't attack and didn't run) and much like a really good zoo, there was so much natural vegetation that we probably only saw about 1/4 of the animals that were there. It was sort of like Jurassic Park before the T-Rex attack.

However, we did see a bunch of deer and antelope (they really look like they're loping, it's kind of cool, except when they're loping in front of your car...), zebras (very awesome), giraffes (which are way more graceful than you would think), a very large African moose looking thing that we couldn't identify, two warthogs that we only id'd because they looked like Pumba from The Lion King, some hippos (apparently some of the group was almost attacked while I was on the other side of the watering hole), and the other car saw an elephant but my car was too far behind :-(. Overall, it was a pretty awesome day. The giraffes and zebras were totally worth it.

We're definitely planning on going on lots more safaris, including one that includes lions, but this one was awesome. When I first got to Africa I was devastated to discover that tigers are not native to the continent. I was just about ready to go back home but now I'm glad I stayed. They may not have tigers but Africa definitely has just about everything else you could want. And South Africa is just so incredibly beautiful. It's no America, but it's close...

Travel well,
kat

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