Socks and Underwear

Finally

2011-10-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

My friend from home came to South Africa for only a couple of weeks but we managed to have an eventful trip and I enjoyed myself thoroughly and I am pretty sure he did as well. We traveled far and spent a couple of days on the road but I think it was worth it for my friend to see such different and beautiful parts of South Africa. And although I had seen almost every area we had traveled to, there were activities I had not done for my two years so I managed to have a fresh experience.

Here is the basic itinerary of our trip: Joburg => Sabie => Through Kruger into Mbabane in Swaziland (long day) => Back into South Africa to Coffee Bay (really long day) => Plettenberg Bay => Hermanus => Cape Town. When all was said and done we had put 4000 km on the rental car, ate like kings, and jumped off of many ledges of varying height.

I only uploaded the pictures from the first half of the trip but I will (eventually) get to the second half.

Kloofing

I have missed a couple off opportunities to kloof and would have been remiss if I didn't try my best to do it before I left. Thankfully, my friend was up for a bit of adventuring so we got in there despite the cold water. A "kloof" is a canyon in Afrikaans and basically you hike, climb, jump and swim along the river. It was incredibly fun.

A fellow from the backpacker guided us through and roughly split the kloofing into 4 different sections of which I can only remember 3 and the last part was the hike up the kloof back to the car. The first part was made up mostly of the smaller rocks and the gentle flow of water seen above. The second part which I did not include a representative picture of was characterized by much larger boulders that required some difficult maneuvering. There were frequent slips resulting in small cuts and bashed fingers, shins and tail bones. Minor injuries really make you feel alive, don't they?

The next time I go through High School this is going to be my senior picture and my quote will be "Don't go chasing waterfalls, please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to. I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all but I think you're moving too fast."

While beautiful in its own right, this crevasse leads to a stunning water fall called Pixie Falls. I couldn't bring my camera because there was no way it would not have gotten water logged so just imagine water falling from top of the rocks to the water below.

We ended at Mac Mac falls which was a rewarding finish. We attempted to swim to where the falls was but there were too much resistance and our stamina was all but depleted. Later on at the beach, my friend and I agreed we would not go down the falls in a barrel.

Panorama Route

I should mention that many of these pictures if not most are not mine but my friend's. He bought a swanky new camera for the trip and it had a nice panorama function which came in especially handy for the Panorama route. This drive is along the Blyde River Canyon which I had not seen on my 2 previous visits to the area. After kloofing we headed out to see as much of it as we could before it started to rain. Our first stop was the Three Rondavals which are the three cone shaped peaks in the center of the picture. Well alright it is more like one cone (rondaval) and two domes but it's pretty close.

Next stop was the Bourke's Luck Potholes. The water has done funny things to these rocks which in turn makes the water split off into different streams, then gather into pools and then converge again at the bottom. It was fascinating to watch but we had a quick once over so we could see one more part of the route before the rain came.

Our last stop was at Lisbon Falls which was nice and large but it didn't move us as much as it might have if we hadn't been directly under Mac Mac falls earlier in the day. After this we raced out to see God's Window but the clouds and the rain rolled in so we didn't get much of a view.

Kruger

After two years I managed to go to just about every game park in South Africa except for Kruger. I had heard all the rationalizations for not going- it is too big to see anything, too expensive, too busy with people- but I figured I would give it a shot for my last adventure. We focused on the very southern part of the park since we were only driving through it for the day but it was probably the best game park experience I had in South Africa.

We spent all day in the park and saw many interesting animals but the day instantly was noteworthy after we saw this wild dog. We actually saw two wild dogs that appeared to have just been fighting each other and this one had a damaged leg. Too bad for the dog but it was nice and slow when it skittered off so we got a nice view.

I have seen elephants in many game parks and while I have become somewhat jaded, I really never tire of seeing them. It was a nice change of pace to be with someone seeing them for the first time because the joy is contagious. Anyhow we were in the right place and time for a large herd of elephants to cross the road. There were a couple elephants that bucked at the car to let us know that they didn't really like us being so close to them and it made me think what I was going to do when the elephants charged the car. I didn't come up with much more than to curl up into a ball and cry hard enough to make the elephants pity me.

All the rare and most interesting animal sighting were near the end of the day. We had to get out of the park but it is hard to pull yourself away from staring at rhinos in the middle of the road. Also the rhinos were quite expertly blocking our path and there was no way I was going to just drive past like they couldn't destroy the car without hesitation. We called the insurance company later to find out if we were covered in the event of rhino collision. We were covered if you are curious.

We saw a leopard! It was just walking in the middle of the road. It did not even seem to care that we were right in front of it and then following it as far as we could. It was probably groggy from waking up from a CAT NAP but a sleepy leopard sighting is still a leopard sighting. The giddiness in the car afterwards was at the level of school girl giddiness.

Swaziland

After Kruger we drove into Swaziland and stayed for the night. The next day we continued down towards the coast. I am sure there are things to do and see in Swaziland but we were really driving through because it was the most direct route to where we wanted to go. It also brought up my tally of Southern African countries I have been to.

It was a lovely drive. We managed to get lost because we were busy looking at the scenery and conversing but the people we asked for directions were kind and helpful so it all worked out.

Swazi merchant shack. It is pretty similar to a South African merchant shack but a trained eye can tell the difference.

Bungie

The Bloukrans bridge. The jump is 261 m. There are jagged rocks at the bottom to dash your brains out and demolish your bones if the rope happens to snap.

They somehow managed to get a pretty decent picture of my jump. This is deceiving because it looks like I am going to push out with my knees at this point and do a nice dive but in actuality I got the Fear at this point and my legs locked up and I just kind of dropped in that position.

My friend had a much more graceful dive off the bridge. They should use this picture for advertisement. I will accept payments on his behalf.

Again, they did an excellent job at taking the photos at the right time. They got me just at the point were my weighty head started to tip towards the ground so it looks like I managed to dive off.

All the adrenaline was dumped into our bloodstream and then our blood violently sloshed into our heads, how could we not be thrilled?

Extreme Tubing is Extreme

2011-09-24T23:54:00.000-07:00

I didn't finish everything about Peace Corps, I didn't even come close. Luckily, Peace Corps taught me how to cope with failure and broken promises so I will be able to move on. Next time I am in the same location for a long period of time and with internet I will try again.

Tom is here now and we have started our trip. We stopped over in Sabie first and did a trio of activities. Our first one was tubing down the Sabie river. Unfortunately I have no pictures of the actual event because the guides warned that the camera would get destroyed and they were correct in saying so. We went down the largest rapids I have been in and it was a great deal of fun. I am in a bit of a rush because we have a long trip ahead of us now, hopefully I can get to the rest of it later!

Post tubing. The adrenaline and endorphins are allowing us to smile for the photo.

I found this watch near the beginning of Peace Corps in the ocean. The tubing killed it. Poseidon giveth and he taketh away.

Vacations

2011-09-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

This country has been good to me as far as vacations go. Being low on funds and a dirty backpacker didn't prevent me from seeing much of South Africa and many parts of the rest of Southern Africa too. I cannot say whether other Peace Corps volunteers in other countries have such rich opportunities to explore on a volunteer stipend but I am thankful that I was able to travel as much as I did. Having seen and done so much here has made me ashamed of how little I have traveled in my own country which I will have to start remedying when I get back. Highlights and ahem official trips:

Wild Coast (Coffee Bay)

Cape Town and more and more and more and more/ WHS: Robben Island / WHS: Cape Floral Kingdom

Blyde River Canyon / Fanie Botha Hike

World Cup

I never posted anything decent during World Cup. Here is a short one to make up for it.

That's my hooligan face. The face painting on the left cheek is of an American Bald Eagle flying with an English Palace Guard in its talons. If I were British I would describe it as cheeky. Incidentally, I got a chance to be an actual soccer hooligan, not my finest moment but I stand by my actions.

Top Five World Cup Moments

1. Winning in the final moments to beat Algeria. It was my Vuvuzela-ing that inspired Landon Donovan to score that goal. He told me so. Afterwards there were Americans and Algerians celebrating in the same areas without a skuffle. The Algerians I talked to were in good humor about everything and nice guys.

2. Traveling on a packed Khumbi to a watch a game in a fan park. Fervent nationalism is ok when it is put towards something innocuous like world sporting events. It was a lot of fun trying to sing songs we all knew (Most everyone was 3 sheets to the wind) which eventually got around to Bingo was his Name-o and other classics. I think all of the other soccer fans thought we had lost our minds.

3. Being in a taxi in downtown Pretoria during their win against France. Every radio and t.v. was tuned to the game and after each goal everything pretty much shut down for a 3 minute period to dance/blow vuvuzela/cheer. It was amazing.

4. Wallet returned to volunteer with everything from Taxi Rank. You could tell that most people were going out of their way to make sure everyone had a good time without problems. One of the more impressive stories was of a volunteer who left behind his wallet on a taxi which is usually a situation where you can kiss that wallet goodbye. But in this instance it was returned to the volunteer intact. The driver took the wallet out in an empty taxi to meet him 15 minutes away. Maybe that last part doesn't sound like much but it is quite remarkable based on normal taxi behavior.

5. Returning to my site and talking with people in the neighboring village. With wide grins, they welcomed me and asked if I was visiting for World Cup. For context it is important to remember that I lived in a village hundreds of kilometers form the nearest stadium and this was after I had already been at site for a year. These guys were a few beers deep but it was a nice change for people's default reaction to strangers to be hospitable and welcoming. World Cup often brought out the best in people.

This is a pretty accurate picture of what it was like being there: blurry!

Parent's Trip

This is another one that I failed to document at all. Here are some highlights featuring moments from: Kimberely / Mountain Zebra and Addo Elephant Parks / The Garden Route / West Coast

The Kimberly mine is the largest hand dug hole in the world. It is a bittersweet accomplishment because of course it was all for shiny gems and was essentially done with slave labor but it is still an amazing feat.

This was at at the Mountain Zebra National Park. I want to say this a Hartebeast so I will. It didn't have much of the Big 5 but the scenery was amazing and we saw many ungulates.

This is an impala which is a common sighting in game parks. Tour guides often say they are the McDonald's of the wild because they are "fast food". They also happen to have a white "M" on their butts. This is undeniable proof of Intelligent Design.

Addo Elephant Park. There was a hide you could sit in and watch elephant at this watering hole. It has be reaffirmed that they don't snort the water up their trunks for a drink. Well, they do but then they squirt it in to their mouths. This is directed at anybody learned in the ways of elephant ear, nose and throat passages, can they just snort it all they way through the trunk if they had to? This is important.

We spotted this elephant walking in the trees and followed it as it came out to the street. It then proceeded to walk right down the car path and walk straight at the tiny car behind us and just about crushed it. The lesson to be learned there is that elephants always have the right of way.

My parents and I went to the most Southern Point of Africa in Cape Agulhas. At that point is the official line separating the Indian and Pacific oceans. I bet it was really hard finding that line.

PENGUINS! They smell terrible but watching them waddle around is amusing.

This is actually from when my sister came to visit and we saw penguins but now is the time to talk about penguins so you must excuse the trip mixing. I have never been closer to stealing a penguin egg than at this moment. College did not prepare me for the decision. Ultimately I decided I wouldn't be able to properly raise a penguin in the desert so I left it be. I know, I made the wrong decision.

The greatest man I know. I will give you one guess what his name is and what his relation to me is.

Southern Right Wales playing. I was able to see a whale breech only once but it was incredible.

Post Office Tree in Mossel Bay. The Portuguese used it to post messages back and forth to each other on voyages. Who says post office history can't be fascinating?

The hike out to see these cave paintings (Pictographs) in Clanwilliam just about killed my parents. For our effort, I discovered that I draw slightly worse than these early human ancestors or relatives. Who says prehistoric human art can't be fascinating?

Augrabies Waterfall during the low season. There were pictures of the falls during floods and it is much more intense. They don't let people in during those times because they would probably die. Who says waterfalls in the Northwest Province of South Africa can't be fascinating? I'll stop that now.

There were hundreds of these brightly colored lizards at the falls. This one would have made a great companion for my pet penguin.

Namibia : Fish River Canyon (WHS: Richterveld- Ais Ai Transfronteir Park- I am just slipping this in here because technically I only went to Namibia side but I am counting that as my visit to the park because it was hard to get out there.) / Sossusvlei

And the Rest of Nambia in:
Lost Blogs Post Volume III: Nambia Part II - Episode 2 Dune King

That big white part in the middle of the picture puts the vlei in Sossusvlei. I am sure its creation is complicated but it was explained to me that the geography and wind make it so the it is a hot windless dead zone. In my experience this was true.

We raced out of the camp as early as we could to sit on the dunes and watch the sunrise. It was a moment to realize how lucky I was to be able to do what I was doing.

My name is Noah. I climbed a dune and I own a puffy blue coat.

We sort of leached onto another tour group and the guide was telling us that the trees in the vlie (salt flat) are 900 years old. Apparently there was also a Playboy photo shoot next to these trees. Yes I also posed next to the trees. I am saving that picture for my collection of pictures where I am standing like a oddball next to trees, I already have quite a few.

WHS: St. Lucia / ImFolozi-Hluluwe

When I was in St. Lucia I met a couple of French people who were going to the nearby game parks and they let me come along. It was especially fun because all their exclamations were as French as T.V. and movies have led me to believe. "Oooh lalalala, Magnifique!"

Road snake. The rarest of all pathway snakes.

Just once I'd like to see a rhino do something violent with that horn. Is that too much to ask?

Cape Buffulo from a distance. Still, it can still be seen that they are massive. Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

If you think this is a giraffe then you are correct.

Would a cowboy look silly or even cooler riding on a zebra? I bet Marlboro has already done extensive research on this very question.

This warthog was right at the gate with many humans milling about (including me) and no one was particularly worried. I feel he is just acclimatizing us all until he springs his trap.

The only lion, or large cat, I have seen in a game park. I slightly got out of the car to take a better picture and the lion stood up and looked straight at me with those yellow eyes (my god he had yellow eyes). I don't know if I have ever been that immediately terrified before.

Baboons are pretty much everyone in South Africa and this was on the way back to St. Lucia. This one makes the cut because it is carrying a bouncing baboon baby boy (I don't know if it is a boy but "girl" ruins the alliteration, it's not bouncing either).

WHS: Drakensurg / Lesotho

I did in fact complete my WHS Quest and the rest of the sites are coming soon: WHS: Cradle of Humankind / WHS: Vredefort Dome/ WHS: Mapungubwe

The Blogothon Continues

2011-09-19T23:58:00.001-07:00

I am off to a pretty bad start with the Blogothon. I have earned being called a "liar" and a"lazy goon" but please don't hurl these insults at me but once a day. I had a series of important Skype calls that enervated my blog focus. Today is it though, you wait and see. If there are any burning questions about Peace Corps, I think now is a pretty good time to ask but other times are good too.

Garden

2011-09-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

The final line of Candide advises that "we must cultivate our garden." Your brain is probably telling you this is a metaphor and the true meaning requires effort on your part. Furthermore, the deep analytical skills required to properly decipher it would require an English degree or Philosophy degree or both. To the contrary, the message is simple- we should all start and maintain gardens (I did not do well in English classes). This was one of the things I was eager to do in South Africa. I had only intended to have a very small plot with a few vegetables and herbs to see if I could successfully keep plants. My last attempt was with a very nice bonsai tree I received for a present and then promptly neglected until it whithered away. It was shameful. With my project here, any fruit and vegetable would be incidental to the practice of tending to a garden. It turned out to be a much larger undertaking than I had planned and will probably be the only sustainable, or at least continued project, from my stay in my village. I am a little troubled to be leaving it behind because a lot of work went into it and I want to continue to see how it grows. I know it is in good hands though and will fair just fine without me.

I asked my host family if I could use a small patch of land. Our notions on what a small patch of land differed. The area that we ended up staking out was about 200 m^2. This was all for the best anyway because the smallest fencing I could buy was 50 m (I was not keen on using barbed wire or acacia branches ).

This was the most labor intensive part of the garden setup. Duties included measuring out the plots, tilling the soil and getting rid of the incredibly embedded grass and weeds and planting the first seeds. Clearing out the grass was the worst because ripping out the leaves and most of the roots is not good enough, you have to really get down there and get the whole root system and then don't make the mistake of leaving it out because it will just start growing again. You must dry it out in a big pile and then burn it for certainty sake. Calling the stuff zombie grass is appropriate. Also, all the work was done with shoddy tools. None of them were large enough for an adult human being and they have all broken and been repaired a couple times. The ensuing blisters made it so that I could have shaken hands with an actual farmer and he/she wouldn't have thought I wear cotton gloves all day and lotion them twice daily. Fooled them because I do!

These are little cucumber and pumpkin plants. That hole on the right belongs to the ant colony living nearby, we drowned them and the hole sunk in. I eventually had to resort to a borax ant trap that worked incredible well. I saw my dark side run amok when the ant massacre began.

Pretty little mealie (corn) plants all in a row. There is something incredible satisfying about plants growing in ordered lines. We have corn pretty well under our (green)thumbs. Just don't tell the rest of the grasses that we need them more than they need us, they might stop being so cooperative and delicious.

I have previously posted many of the other vegetables/fruits that was grown like melons and pumpkin, so I won't waste your time. Here is the remainder of the best looking produce from the first crop of the garden (green beans, cucumbers and watermelons). It is an incredible feeling of accomplishment to nurture something and see it grow successfully. I imagine it is similar to the feeling parents have for their children when they can walk around and have their own thoughts. I suppose the biggest difference is that parents don't eat the children in the end.

I never knew I wanted to eat a sweet potato the size of my own head but now I know that this is what I was put on the Earth to do. Now that my life's mission is complete though I am aimless. Maybe I should just keep eating larger and larger sweet potatoes?

At the end of winter things are looking pretty good. The weeds and ants have been vanquished and the JoJo (green cylinder) at the far end ensures that water will be around for a few days when the water tap gets shut off. Looking onwards, seeds are easy to come by and if there is one thing my village has copious amounts of it is fertilizer (animal poop). The only problem lately has been that the cows try their best to get the water out of the tank and recently broke the tap and water gushed out everywhere. The tank is going to have to be better guarded or at least ask the cows nicely to cut it out.

The neighbors and my host family have taken over every aspect of the upkeep of the garden now. I asked the next volunteer at my site to take some photos occasionally to see how it grows. It seems to me it will be more of an orchard in time (mostly peach trees) but that's fine because it is now theirs and they can do whatever they want with it but I hope that they keep it going.

Peace Corps Blogothon

2011-09-19T02:08:00.000-07:00

I have finished Peace Corps. I am now in Johannesburg waiting for my friend to arrive so we can go adventuring around South Africa. In the meantime I am trying to blog all the blogs I said I would bloggity blog. This is because I want to collect all my thoughts and write them down and be done with it for a while, Peace Corps thoughts that is. Leaving myself only two days won't get me too in depth about the things I want to say but then again I never got too deep anyway. Besides it will be just as in depth or more so than the one to two minute conversation I have with people about it now. Once I start traveling and time starts growing between being a volunteer I know the memories will change. So, it's best to get it out now in some form.

So here goes. I am in a nice environment with thinking and writing music. I have access to water and peanuts which won't make me go into a food nap. It is laundry day so I am wearing my bathing suit which will prevent me from taking extended trips out into public. Finally, I wrote this blog which forces me to write more blogs or else be a liar and look like a lazy goon. Let the blogs flow.

Washing

2011-09-02T04:13:00.000-07:00

I tried my best never to sweat or get crud on myself or clothing for 2 years but it was impossible. Therefore, this green tub saw a lot of action.

Like most people, I used to take baths when I was young. Then it was determined that taking baths was exacerbating my skin problems (eczema (gross)). That's when I learned how to stop worrying and love the shower. Peace Corps gave me a chance to relive those old bathing days except this time around there was less water and I barely fit into the tub. Here are a few tips for those who would like to start taking bucket baths.

Wash your head first. This is pretty self explanatory. You know once you get in there the water loses some of it's cleaning power. Instead it starts to redistributes the dirt evenly across your body. Do what you will but I would prefer that the muck from the rest of my body doesn't settle on my face.
Buy soap meant for washing people. I know some of you are thinking "there is a super cheap soap that claims it can wash dishes, laundry and people", don't fall for it. Hiker and hippies are familiar with Dr. Bronner's which has a myriad of washing purposes and I feel it lives up to it's claims (except for brushing teeth, the stuff took off a layer of my mouth skin) and if you can get that stuff I think that this is acceptable. Furthermore, I agree that really all soap is based on the same mechanism but there are subtle differences that go along way to making a soap more suitable for bathing (or whatever the specific function). So I say splurge and buy separate soaps, variety is the spice of life.
Stop trying to not get water everywhere. I am not saying you should just splash willy-nilly but water is going to get all over your floor. You don't want your bath to be a stressful occasion so accept the spillage and consider it a bonus floor washing with each bath.
Get a brush with an extended handle. Because washing the back is still important. When you think about it your back is like your second front.

Washing myself was not fun or effective but washing my clothes was far worse. This has made me come to a frightening realization, one that won't go away if we ignore it. Consider this: it is accepted among the world's leading scholars that we only have a few years left before the robot uprising. What will we do then? Well as I see it, the human race will be left with only 5 options concerning our garments because surely our washers and dryers will turn on us:

1) Go naked.
Pro: The fashion world loses its voice in political matters.
Con: It will get cold.

2) Put up with unwashed clothing.
Pro: There is a chance that a naturally sweet smelling human will evolve.
Con: We might all die from disease and lack of sexual attraction. Also robots will be able to detect our stink.

3) Get disposable clothing. Think of a giant pack of different colored jumpsuits.
Pro: Jumpsuits were originally created for fighting against robots.
Con: With the machines controlling all recycling plants, we will quickly run out of material to clothe billions of people with comfortable material. Soon we will be using leaves or animal hides (see number 2) and those things are course. The itchiness will be maddening!

4) Engineer a species of extromophile fish that can withstand soapy, hot/cold water environments so we just need to throw our clothes into the fish pond and take out after the allotted time.
Pro: The fish can handle delicates.
Con: The fish eat people.

5) Trade our freedom for the use of washing machines.
Pro: Robots are pretty cool.
Con: There are no cons.

I think we should submit to the robot overlords as long as they let us use their washer/dryer brothers and sisters because hand-washing our clothes is not one of the options. If you have seen the Matrix, you might have noticed how ragged their clothing was. That's from hand-washing. I can confirm this from my own experiences. Besides squeezing through fences, this is the cause of all the holes in my clothing. I have actually had to mend things here so I would not look quite so shabby. During a particularly difficult repair, I was frustrated that I couldn't push a needle through the fabric without painfully jabbing my thumb. I thought to myself "some sort of metal thumb cap would really make this easier" and that's how I re-invented the thimble. That's a good side story. Needless to say, I am looking forward to tomorrow when I will be hand-washing my clothes for the last time.

Walks

2011-08-31T14:23:00.000-07:00

I wore through the soles of my nice shoes within the first year. It turns out duct tape is not a viable material for cobbling.

I walked a lot during service. One of the primary schools I worked in was about 4 km from my house, a 8 km round trip, and I would go there 3 times a week for the first year and every weekday for the remainder of service. Walking into the next village for transport to a larger town or for the post office was 14 km total. I could have bought a bike but I thought this would only be available for a short time before the sand pits and tire-shredding debris (see previous post) would get to the tenderer parts of the bike and then I would have an expensive goat scratching post. Aside from the rainy days when I couldn't negotiate a car ride from one of my principals or when the heat was too unbearable, walking was not a disadvantage, rather I enjoyed this part of my life here.

It was much more than a means than getting from here to there. First of all and most evident is that it provided copious amounts of exercise and even agility training when, with my headphones on, I would have to dodge donkey carts/cars coming around the bend . Anything I wanted or needed to do outside my house bumped me from sedentary to highly active. Second, it filled a social function by being a sort of South African promenade, it was an opportunity for me to see and be seen. Furthermore, this was also the time when I felt most competent in Setswana because I have mastered all the varieties of basic greetings. My integration level went from foreign doofus to village elder (except when I was caught talking or singing to myself, those times made me look insane). Finally and what came as the biggest help was the ease and clarity with which I could organize my thoughts and reflect when I walked. I recently read an article about walking that I quite liked and it quoted an author (Solnit) who makes an observation that is true, in my case anyhow:

“I know these things have their uses, and use them—a truck, a computer, a modem—myself, but I fear their false urgency, their call to speed…I like walking because it is slow and I suspect that the mind, like the feet, works at about three miles an hour. If this is so, then modern life is moving faster than the speed of thought, or thoughtfulness.”

I think having the time to myself and having the blood flowing greases the mechanisms of my brain and gets the little gray cells in order. Sometimes I'd take a stroll when I didn't even need to go anywhere in particular. It was just an aimless wander that boosted me from rigidly reptilian-brained to a theta-waved, frontal-lobed, thinking machine. This in turn would help me adjust my mood and I am sure the fresh air and sunlight never hurt.

I hope I will be able to walk wherever I go for the rest of my life but it was the peaceful and scenic walks that I took here that might be difficult to match.

Pointy Things

2011-08-31T00:46:00.000-07:00

Acacia Branch or Camel Thorn/Giraffe Thorn branch or as it was known during training "death bush"

South Africa is the land of security fencing. This is true of the urban areas where just about every property is outlined with a wall covered in razors, barbed wire, spikes and high voltage wiring (for good measure) but barbed wire is also the go-to property demarcation for the rural areas as well. Beyond cattle, horses and donkeys, the barbed wire does not really keep anything out, everything else easily slips between the wires. It's more of an irritating obstacle that poses a slight nuisance rather than an impregnable barrier. It's an eyesore and fencing is available that would also keep out chickens, goats, sheep, dogs and people. I've seen enough barbed wire.

Nearly every family in my area also makes use of acacia tree branches as fencing because of the long sharp needles. It is not a good choice for larger scale operations because of the time and resource required but it can get the job done. My issue is that I can't seem to avoid stepping on them. Even when I am not walking around my host family's compound barefoot, I still track them into my house and then eventually my soles will find them. I used to have the soft, supple foot of a patrician infant but now you could grind diamonds with my feet. Bonuses to foot durability aside, acacia are interesting looking trees but I prefer the ones that aren't so hostile.

Host Family

2011-08-31T00:45:00.001-07:00

This was the 10th and best picture I had taken over two days and I couldn't allow myself to make my host family sit through another one. This was early in the morning before school started. You can tell because my younger host brother was trying his hardest to keep his eyes open.

I was lucky to have been placed with an excellent host family. I have heard stories from other volunteers of just how unpleasant an experience it could have been and I am thankful for just how open and kind my family was. All of the most important points of what I was looking for and expecting were met. They included me and never made me feel like I wasn't supposed to be there, which I have gotten from other people even in my own village. My private space and time were respected just as much as I respected theirs. And above all, they are all good people.

Sure, I was disturbed by the youngest kids sitting outside my door and counting to 5 in Setswana repeatedly or screaming goat (pudi!) non-stop even when there was no goat in sight but it was also nice to hear kids playing and laughing almost everyday. And I wasn't always open to hearing the pounding of Tswana medicinal concoctions and burning of strange smelling incense next door but I learned more about their culture this way. All of the things that upset me were only trivial and fleeting. There were also plenty of little things that would brighten my day like saving me a few magwina (fried bread) when they were made and knocking on my door on my darkest, most hermetical days to make sure I wasn't dead.

The host family (in South Africa anyway) can really make or break a volunteer's service. A lot of the experience rides on it and I don't know if I would have stayed the entire way with another family. I wish mine all the best things in the world.

Food

2011-08-28T04:51:00.000-07:00

Just when I couldn't be any more peculiar, I go and make a line-up of my Morvite selection. There just wasn't enough light in my room for a picture and a picture was mandatory.

I have mixed feeling about the food situation, I am happy to eventually be going home to all the delicious meals I have been missing for the past two years but there are aspects of my current diet that I will miss. I eat very healthily and the times when I don't it is usually my own fault. Getting food was an inconvenience so when I would make trips, I loaded up with food that would last me as long as possible and be as cheap as possible. This was out of laziness and in an effort to avoid traveling but also as a way to save as much for vacation time. So my diet was restricted to fruit and vegetables, rice, beans, eggs, and Morvite for a majority of meals.

Out of the food I eat now I will miss Morvite the most. If you don't know what it is I must inform you. It is a sorghum based meal replacement with vitamins, minerals etc. added to it. It is basically a daily vitamin crushed up into a carb paste with added flavors to make it more palatable (Best - Banana, Strawberry; OK - Vanilla, Pineapple, Original; Hot Garbage - Honey). I wouldn't say it is delicious nor is it repulsive. It is merely fuel and a cheap fuel at that. I enjoy having the options to just add water to a bowl, stir and consume and have most of my nutritional needs met. I savor a good meal and my taste buds are not deformed. I simply appreciate the availability of options. Is it sad that a grown man will miss a nutrient glop? I'll let myself answer my own question with another question: Am I really a grown man? And to that I say yes, I think I am. I digress, maybe I don't have anything to worry about because I don't really know the state of quick and cheap meal replacements in the United States. Maybe there is something better than Morvite and everything will be ok. If it isn't on the other hand, I might just have to talk to the Morvite people about a wider distribution or go to the lab and create the perfect food for my own mad purposes.

Aside from Morvite, food isn't that much different in the United States, there are just less options, at least out where I am. As a bonus, things seem to be cheaper, I do not recall the prices of food in the United States because I never really had to hang on to my scrimpings the way I do here. Fruit and vegetables are cheap, especially when in season. I remember one particular shopping excursion where pineapples where on sale for 3R each. That's less that $0.50 per pineapple! I bought a lot of pineapples that day. When orange season comes around you can buy a large sack for 10R. Eggs are consistently fairly cheap, I buy them in carrying cases of 48 eggs which is usually ~1R per egg meaning about $0.15 per egg. If I was really trying to stretch my money I could go about 1 month on 200R (~$28) and still be pretty healthy and happy. I have done it for less and once because I didn't get my stipend and ran out of some of my better food. Those were some cranky and irritable times and I only had myself to blame. Take it from me, food is important to be able to function properly.

Additionally I am for all intents and purposes (intensive porpoises if you want to be exact) a vegetarian (ova-lacto-vegetarian). This is only because meat is expensive and I don't want to deal with meat juices where it is difficult to uphold more hygienic cooking practices, in other words I would have to wash all my things much more I think and I am anti-washing more things here. I would buy meat (KFC is truly finger licken' good, way better here) on the days I go shopping as a treat to myself since shopping days usually puts me into a dark place. Then I will go without it for long periods of time. I don't feel particularly healthier and if I am it could just as easily be attributed to eating more fruits and vegetables. I don't think I will continue being a vegetarian but I do like the idea of valuing meat as an occasional specialty item rather than something for every meal.

I somewhat fear my upcoming change because the routine I have become comfortable with will be turned on its head. I am afraid my willpower has been eroded to non existent. Any snack food or candy that was sent to me from friends and family from home was consumed that day (this includes 5 lbs bags of peanut m&ms), not because I wanted to but because I had to and I could not stop myself. I mean there is an entire aisle dedicated to delicious cereals in the United States, how am I supposed to not eat all of those all the time, how are you all able to resist it right now!? Think of your favorite meal. You can go out and get it if you wanted to, either by buying the ingredients and preparing it yourself or actually having it made for you. That's a remarkable thing and I am ready for it but I will need to rebuild my self-restraint. Moreover, for the most part I eat healthily because my circumstances force me into it. It is just the case that rice and beans and fruit and vegetables are cheap and plentiful. If candy and cheese were cheap and plentiful, I suppose I would have a perpetual blood cheese content (BCC) of 0.1 and have gotten diabetes by now. And because I have a limited and boring diet most of the time a new and tasty meal is all I need to have a good day. I think I will miss being pleased quite so easily. I suppose it is not impossible to have every meal be a good meal and be appreciative but I think one of the greatest human abilities is the capacity to get used to anything. This has its positive qualities as a lot of my Peace Corps experience has been an exercise in becoming accustomed to a different way of life (more difficult) but it can obviously have its drawbacks as well. So while I am looking forward to all the choices and easy, tasty food I am going to get when I am back home, I think that eventually I will become oblivious to how good I have it and stop being quite so healthy. Perhaps it will be a futile mission but I will try.

Water

2011-08-28T04:42:00.000-07:00

The novelty of pumping wore off after the first session. I am suspicious of anyone that says they enjoy pumping water and you should be too.

Living from bucket to bucket is not ideal. My water supply is normally replenished from the tap about 50m away from my house but when the water was off, I needed to go at least twice that distance to the manual pump. While hauling the fresh water to my house and waste water out of my house has probably made me stronger, I would rather have plumbing with running water and lift weights. Since I choose the lifestyle of a lazy person, I learned to use very little water with laundry days being a dreadful exception but I think it was a portion of my personal energy and thought that could have been better spent elsewhere, and likewise for everyone else that has to live this way. Like most of the things about my life here, I have certainly learned a lesson from it but I am ready to completely ditch the method that has taught me the lesson for the easier and more convenient way and try to be more mindful in the future.

I understand that water is a precious resource but I also believe that it is a precious resource because energy is a precious resource. As things are, we have vastly more water on this planet to fulfill it's billions of people, personal swimming pools and desert golf courses (and also dessert golf courses), the limiting factor is our ability to use it. It is possible to desalinize ocean water and transport it to wherever it would be needed but this would take an enormous amount of energy. So much that it seems impossible our given technology and means but I don't always think this will be the case. The population of my village right now would not be able sustain itself without the municipal water tower which pumps up water from the ever-depleting water table. I think this is the case for the rest of the world as well; technology has provided the ability for people to live where the natural water supply simply would not normally allow it. Relying on the fresh water in the water cycle won't cut it as stresses on the water supply continue to be ramped up. It's a big idea and one that might not be realized until I am gone but I think it is something to be hopeful about. Until then, I will remember that at one time I was able to drink, cook, wash myself and dishes on a two buckets of water per day and that I can get by with less, but that doesn't mean I want to.

Sunsets

2011-08-27T02:15:00.000-07:00

The sun, or at least it's effects, is different here in both good and bad ways. There is at least one part of the day that is worth stopping for and usually it's the sunset. I will miss it.

Here are just a few of the reviews of this sunset from people that I made up:

"If I had to use thumbs to rate this sunset, I would rate this sunset with 1 billion thumbs up! "

"It was a tour-de-force, this baby would win all the Oscars, Emmies, Grammies, Tonies, MVPs, Congressional Medals of Honor, and Pulitzers if enough people would vote for it!"

"IT WAS SUN-SATIONAL!"

"It had me white-knuckled and on the edge of my seat. I had a heart attack because of the tension. Really, I almost died"

"It was full of all the things I like and had none of the things I don't like."

"I was just Staring at the Sun and now I am Walking on Sunshine. It's not a Waterloo Sunset but unlike Elton John, I do want the sun to go down on me if it means seeing another one of these!"

"This sunset was alright if you ask me."

"A treat for the whole family. Not the graphic parts though."

"It had the 3-S's: scintillating, spellbinding, and most importantly sinister."

"If there is one sunset you should see this summer it's this one. You would be an absolute fool to miss it. What is wrong with you, do you hate beautiful things? I get it. Fine, be jerk then!"

Longdrop

2011-08-26T01:18:00.001-07:00

If it was not apparent from the post title or the picture, this is about outhouses. I like to make jokes so expect poop humor.

When I fist arrived at site I had been fairly accustomed to outhouses. I used them along the AT and was reacquainted during training. It was a relief when I found out the toilet I would be using for the next two years was fairly close to my house and in good condition. I didn't realize how good I had it because about halfway through my service, the toilet reached maximum capacity and everything turned to shit (HA!).

My new toilet was considerably farther away in the neighboring field. The added distance completely disrupted my timing of when I should start making the trip outside. I have since learned to minimize my commute time by heading in a straight line through the barbed wire fence rather than go around it. My fence crossing skills have now become sufficient but if you had told me that someday I would damage clothing, suffer cuts and scrapes, and tread across a minefield of cow pies to get to the toilet, I would have called you a madman or madwomen or madpeople. Additionally this new toilet was just not very good. It is not ergonomic which besides being a place to get rid of and in this case store human waste, is of supreme importance. My legs don't quite reach the floor and I am probably the tallest person in the whole village perhaps the whole district so I don't understand why it was made so far from the ground. More frustrating though is the lack of overlap between the hole in the concrete and the hole in the toilet seat. I won't go into detail exactly why this is uncomfortable and unsanitary but hopefully my saying it is uncomfortable and unsanitary will clue you in.

I visited a waste processing plant in college and while it was probably the most vile and overwhelmingly malodorous place I have ever been, I sincerely resepect and marvel at it's function and efficiency, especially now. There is very little I appreciate about the lack of flush toilets. I do not enjoy the smell of a high volume outhouse on a hot day. I do not enjoy the journey outside on a cold rainy night to take care of imminent bodily evacuation. On a good visit, there will be nothing more dangerous than a goat or lizard hiding behind walls, which still manages to startle me almost every time (not a good time to be startled), but on almost all occasions expect to be assaulted by flies or other insects which call the pits below home. Sure there are such things as composting toilets but I assure you that these are not composting toilets. I have thought about it and the only real positive of the experience here is that it is almost never occupied when I need to use it. It is only a toilet, not a sink/shower/bath which means people do their business and get out. There is no dillydallying. This is a pretty pathetic silver lining though and can be easily be matched by having more than one bathroom. Good riddance to the longdrop I say, bring on the water closets!

Night Sky

2011-08-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

Nabbed from Wikipedia. My camera can't handle this sort of thing, at least I don't even know if it can.

The electricity going out last night prompted me to step outside and appreciate the night sky. I am no where near knowledgeable enough about constellations and celestial bodies to notice a large difference between the Southern and Northern hemispheres but I have made a point to locate and analyze the Southern Cross (Crux). I did not see how that particular constellation makes finding South any easier. In fact I was only really able to find it by knowing which way South was first and then looking up and to the right. Perhaps it was brighter in the sky earlier in human history and made it obvious but I didn't quite grasp it's importance.

The bigger difference is the lack of any light pollution. The splendor of outer space can only properly be seen in total darkness, from the ground level anyway. This is something a rural village in the middle of nowhere can offer. At the same time, the utility of a full moon is really evident when you've tried to stumble your way to the outhouse during a new moon. It is easy to forget that we are living on a pale blue dot when our influence over our planet overpowers the light from the rest of the universe. I will certainly miss being able to go right outside my door and place things in perspective.

Baby Harness

2011-08-02T10:36:00.000-07:00

This was probably one of the last times this baby was carried around like this. Normally, babies are strapped in with their legs tucked in and not, as in this picture, completely vertical.

This is the preferred method for baby transportation for the majority of Tswana women. Additionally, I think it is a way of getting children accustomed to being in tight, hot spaces so that taxi rides later on in life are manageable. I am not sure of the mechanics of how they are able to fold that towel so it supports the weight of a baby. All I can say is that it works and to a high enough degree to entrusts a baby's safety to it.

I might be happy to be leaving this aspect of Tswana culture behind if I had to regularly carry around babies but I simply am not required nor have I had the desire to carry around any babies and if I did I might want to use some other device anyway. I might also be happy to say farewell to the practice if I were a baby because it looks damned uncomfortable despite the benefit of not having to walk anywhere. In the end, my opinion is swayed from indifferent to somewhat sad to not seeing this regularly because occasionally it provides a little chuckle.

Internet: Not Really a Series of Tubes

2011-08-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

This month is going to be dedicated to wrapping up my Peace Corps life. Sadly, I have underused this blog even though I found it useful in processing and voicing my experiences. With that in mind I will be blogging much more frequently as a way to keep me busy and to try to bring closure.

Ryan has been doing a couple of posts of things he will not be missing about South Africa here and here. I am inspired to do the same even though I suspect many of our opinions will be similar. I plan on also alternating the list with those parts of South Africa that I will miss so it doesn't seem like I hated ever aspect of life here. It should be a healthy exercise and a decent way to reflect on my past two years.

First up on the list of things I am glad to be leaving behind: the Internet. What I mean by that is the quality and quantity of the Internet I can get at my site. Initially I had planned to talk about something completely different but after failing to upload one picture for about 2 hours I figured I might as well rant about the sorry state of things while the irritation is still fresh. My preface is that having any sort of Internet access has been a great deal of help for bleasure (i.e. business and pleasure). Furthermore, I am only describing what it is like in my corner of South Africa, larger towns or cities will have better options I am sure. I am aware that things could have been worse for me but that doesn't mean I have to be entirely satisfied. I am almost completely sure that I don't have to be satisfied with anything ever because I am an American and that's what makes us great. And now onto the complaining!

Complaint number one is that it is expensive. Here is a quick price break down from Vodacom which is the best telecom company for my area:

Data (mb)	Price (Rand)	Price (USD)*	mb/Rand	mb/USD
8	9.25	1.37	0.86	5.85
30	28	4.14	1.07	7.25
110	88	13.00	1.25	8.46
175	119	17.58	1.47	9.95
300	139	20.54	2.16	14.61
600	189	27.93	3.17	21.48
1200	289	42.71	4.15	28.10
2300	389	57.48	5.91	40.01
3000	520	76.84	5.77	39.04
5000	989	146.15	5.06	34.21
10000	1989	293.92	5.03	34.02
20000	3899	576.16	5.13	34.71

I would like to point out that I made a table of information...in my free time...for a personal blog. Sometimes I really surprise myself but really this is a very efficient way to get across the point.
*Exchange Rate

For comparison I did some extremely light research into how much I would pay for the cheapest broadband service in my hometown. Using this website I searched for only Internet packages and from a quick glance it seems like a standard price is between 20$-30$ per month for 12mbps(d)/2mbps(u). It used to be the case that these prices were for an uncapped Internet connection which would have made the comparison between the Internet prices even more ludicrous. Now however, most Internet service providers have a data cap, meaning if you go over that amount of data you will pay more money. For Comcast, which offers their services for 20$-30$, the data cap is set at 250 gb per month. Using these figures (250 gb per month and 30$ per month), I would be getting 8333 mb/USD. This is two orders of magnitude larger than the most economical option provided by Vodacom (2300 mb for 57.48$) 40.01 mb/USD. I would also be getting two orders of magnitude more data in the US deal (250 gb vs. 2.3 gb).

The second complaint is that the service moves at a snail's pace. The way I get my Internet service is by tethering my phone to my computer and unfortunately the cell towers in rural South Africa have not gotten around to being upgraded to the fastest wireless broadband. The fastest I am able to get at my site is ~25 kbps (kb per second). Again for comparison, the cheap broadband service I mentioned above in the US offers 12 mbps. Assuming you are able to consistently get a quarter of that speed (3 mbps) that is still 2 orders of magnitude faster than what I can get here in my village.

Lastly, the expensive and slow service I get is unreliable. The speed and the ability to use the service at all varies from hour-to-hour, day-to-day. Which brings me to the reason why I started writing this in the first place. I tried to upload a 1 mb picture repeatedly but failed because the connection would drop out. This means that I ended up wasting couple of expensive mb's restarting the process and ultimately getting nothing out of it.

I think this is unfortunate not only because it affects me negatively but also because I know it's potential and want to see its use in the rural village I live in and others like mine. It is hard enough to get people to use a computer and describe to them the benefits of the Internet without also adding on these barriers. I really believe that bringing a fast, cheap and stable Internet service to a place like this would do incredible things. Some of the immediate benefits would be that people would be able to keep their anti-virus programs up to date and functioning properly. This alone would save many hours of work and frustration. Second, it would sidestep the problem of having a lack of certain resources in remote locations. Not only would reference material be available but also lessons on just about any topic you would ever want to know more about can be viewed at any time from some of the best teachers in the world for free! I really don't have to tell you why the Internet is a good thing though do I?

For all I know Vodacom and other telecoms are upgrading the local cell towers right now, although I doubt it. Without any hard proof, I believe that they would only gain more customers and more profits by offering a decent Internet service to more and more people. This next month will be my last of having to deal with it and I am happy about that but I wish that it comes to the people that will be living here for the foreseeable future and the sooner the better. Having more of a South African presence on Youtube can only add to both Youtube's and South Africa's excellence.

Learn Setswana

2011-06-16T06:56:00.000-07:00

I finished the first half of digitizing a small portion of the Setswana-English Dictionary. It has been a while since I first started because it has been a small side project but it has gotten a lot more attention recently. I figured it would be nice for the incoming volunteers. I had thought that I would only need to do one half (Setswana-English) and through computer magic be able to have the other (English-Setswana) but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I have access to a scanner and a pretty good OCR program so about 80% of the English words came out correctly. Beyond that, I am only working with a pocket Dictionary, which by the way lives up to its claims, it indeed fits into my pocket. So this was not an unbelievably difficult task. The Setswana words, on the other hand, were much more garbled so I still had to double check each entry. Reading a dictionary turns out to be not as fun as you might think and a translation dictionary even less so. With that in mind, I started to make a list of the words that entertained me through the drudgery. It can also be viewed as the essential vocab list for Setswana; consider these the only words you'll ever need to know.

Hilarious double meanings
Surely a lot of hilarious situations in the history of Setswana speaking people arouse out of misunderstandings from these words. That might not be true at all but it is funny for me to imagine situations where they did.

dihuba (sehuba) (n), chests; thoraxes; phlegm; donations; breasts.
dinoka (noka) (n), hips; rivers.
dinoko (noko) (n), porcupines; syllables; knuckles; inches.
dipeo (peo) (n), seeds; coronations.
direthe (serethe) (n), butter; heels.
dithunya (sethunya) (n), rifles; flowers; blooms.
ditlhogo (setlhogo) (n), headings; cruelties./ditlhogo (tlhogo) (n), heads; principals.
ditsebe (tsebe) (n), pages; ears.
kgabo (dikgabo) (n), flame; monkey; ape.
lebaka (mabaka) (n), bakery; cause; reason; fact. (it bothers me that bakery gets top billing for this word. Don't get me wrong, I love baked goods but can't facts,reasons and causes have their own word?)
lebese (n), latex; milk.
lebete (mabete) (n), spleen; anthrax.
leboa (maboa) (n), north; mushroom.
lentswe (mantswe) (n), mountain; voice; rock; stone.
leso (maso) (n), death; spoon.
madimo (ledimo) (n), cannibals; gales; storms; hurricanes.
molao (melao) (n), act; decree; law; statute; commandment; rule; bed.
namane (dinamane) (n), calf; interest (finance).
serethe (direthe) (n), butter; heel.
toro (ditoro) (n), dream; pricklypear.

Why were these important enough to put into a small pocket dictionary?
This is a small dictionary. You would think that only the most essential words and phrases would make the cut. Somehow these words ended up passing muster.

bohibidu jo bo mokgona (n), scarlet.
bolwetse jwa borotamadi (n), red water.
difaelepotlana (faelepotlana) (n), dummy files.
dillopo (llopo) (n), barrels (of rifles). (I was imagining a barrel full of rifles and got really confused. I am thinking they are talking about rifle barrels which is still quite specific.
dinyatsi (nyatsi) (n), paramours.
dira boipiletso (v), lodge appeal.
ditsetsekwane: ka ditsetsekwane (adv), on tiptoes.
ipabalelotseleng (n), road safety.
kgeleswakeledi (dikgeleswakeledi) (n), lachrymal gland.
megokonyane (mogokonyane) (n), army worms.
puseletso ya ditshwanelo tsa lenyalo (n), restitution of conjugal rights.
tlhabano ya boitshemo (n), sham fight.
tsirimanya (ditsirimanya) (n), jingle
tsirimana (v), jingle

What is this?
Combing through the dictionary made me realize how many words I know in English. I think it is safe to say that I am mostly to almost entirely fluent but I suppose there are some large gaps in knowledge. I had to look up some of these words and for many I am still unclear. Anybody have any ideas?

dipheretlho (pheretlho) (n), affrays.
diphogo-tsa-morago (phogo-ya- morago) (n), occiputs.
diporaemasetofo (poraemasetofo) (n), primus stoves
dipowana (powana) (n), bullocks.
disepale (sepale) (n), sepals.
ditampana (tampana) (n), tampans.
dithupa (thupa) (n), floating ribs.
ega (v), harrow. ege (diege) (n), harrow.
feite (difeite) (n), whitlow.
karakule (dikarakule) (n), karakul.
kgothego (dikgothego) (n), denudation.
khiba (dikhiba) (n), pinafore.
khotolengwe (dikhotolengwe) (n), monocotyledon,
khotopedi (dikhotopedi) (n), dicotyledon.
lebelo (mabelo) (n), dewlap.
ledi sekasabele (n), gladiolus.
ledibogo (madibogo) (n), ford.
lengope (mangope) (n), donga.
lerumo (marumo) (n), assegai
Lesetedi (Masetedi) (n), Griqua.
mmamasiloanoka (bommamasiloanoka) (n), hamerkop.
mmorogo (meborogo) (n), morgen.
mmotu (mebotu) (n), bee-bread.

Miscellaneous

Badumedi (Modumedi) (n), Christians.
badumedi (modumedi) (n), believers. (dumelang)
It's interesting to me that one religion has carved out for themselves the entire classification of believers. Nice job Christians.

Dimo (n), cannibal (mythological figure).
The first time I heard about this was in the dictionary.

dinako (nako) (n), times; tides.
Time and tide wait for no man

ditwantshi (twantshi) (n). antibodies.
ditwatsi (twatsi) (n), germs
enta (v), vaccinate; inoculate; graft.
For many scientific words you would really just use a Setswana pronunciation of an English word but not in these cases. These words have a novel word and I wonder why that is.

fensetere (difensetere) (n), window.
I remember this word from early on because the word defenestration means to throw someone out a window.

kase (dikase) (n), cheese.
I think it is a good policy to know the word for "cheese" in as many languages as possible. It can only be helpful

kidikidi (dikidikidi) (n), vertebra.
Go ahead, say that word out loud. Wasn't that a blast!?

kitlano ya meno (n), tetanus.
Unfortunately I don't know what kitlano means exactly but the literaly translation suggests something is wrong with the teeth. Perhaps it is clenching or clamping the teeth since lockjaw is one of the symptoms of tetanus.

kurukurega (v), detribalize.
I would be intrigued who would be considered detribalized and whether that is a bad thing.

latswa ka leleme (v), flatter,
The literal Setswana is "to lick with the tongue". That is one way to put the concept.

lefela (mafela) (n), zero.
Having a concept for zero is a big deal.

magogoša (rel), hoarse.
The "g" in Setswana is pronounced as if you were hocking something up in the back of your throat. There is probably a better and more scholarly way to describe this but I am sticking with my approach. With that in mind consider how great is is to describe having a sore throat while you have a sore throat in Setswana.

šašanyega (v), fizz.
It hurts my brain when onomatopoeia words are not universal.

Blogger Catastrophe

2011-05-14T07:44:00.003-07:00

That was weird. For some reason Blogger deleted the posts I made a few days ago, along with many others I am sure, and only just recently have the drafts been available to republish. Unfortunately, the drafts Blogger had were a few revisions previous and not the final version I had become happy with. Sure Google has provided me with a slew of powerful, time-saving applications for free that have changed my life for the better and potentially the world but now they were going to make me do more work than I had intended to do for a couple of blog posts. I know what you are thinking, "that's grounds for a frivolous lawsuit" and I was close to going that route but then I realized there is a chance that the posts may be saved somewhere in someone's RSS feed reader. Surely enough, my sister had some copies saved in her Google Reader account. Just like how science is used to correct and update science, Google has come in to save the day for Google's terrible error. Nice one Google, you're all right!

WHS Quest: uKhahlamba Drakensberg with bonus Lesotho Action

2011-05-13T06:28:00.000-07:00

After the half marathon in Sabie, a group of us headed out to KZN to hike the Drakensburg. This was a hike I had been wanting to do for some time and I was finally able to get out there and better yet I was going with a group whose company I would enjoy. It ended up being an amazing hike but there were a few sore spots sprinkled in along the way.

Before the pictures of Drakensberg and Lesotho it is worthwhile to detail how we managed to get to the trail head. There were 7 of us which is a kind of magic number for inconvenience. It is too few to buy out an entire taxi without spending twice the normal amount but too many to easily fit in a taxi with all of our gear. Choosing thriftiness over comfort, we made it about a third of the way to our ultimate destination by noon. Most of our driving was still ahead of us and we got stuck waiting for a taxi that was not filling up. We paid our fair, piled our gear, circled around and tried to psychically persuade every traveler to get into our taxi so we could get going (at least I did). Fearing we would not make it all the way on time, we started pursuing other options. A few of us started to seek out someone we could pay to take us all the way to where we wanted to go. It was a long shot but if it worked out, it would save us the trouble of a few more taxi ranks. After some searching, we found a willing driver and negotiated until we finally settled on an equitable price. There was still the matter of talking to the taxi rank.

You see, we already paid the fair to take us to the next taxi rank along the route. An honest and forthright business would be unhappy about refunding customers who decided not to partake in whatever service they were offering but would ultimately refund any money. Since we were dealing with a taxi rank, which takes most of its cues from the mafia, we anticipated problems in getting our money back. We decided to use deceit rather than honesty but I am convinced either way would have yielded similar results. A few tried telling the taxi rank office that some members of our party were feeling sick so we decided to stay in town and therefore no longer need a taxi. The taxi rank refused to give back any money. I suppose we had the option of just leaving our money and getting the hell out of there but like I said we are cheap and it would have justified the taxi's bullying techniques by giving them a cool 630R payday (we have principles to uphold). So we stood our ground and an actual argument ensued. I was not part of the team involved in this process and for good reason. I can be a stubborn and spiteful person and this was one of those situations where it was coming out. I was advocating calling the police, this would have taken hours and probably would have accomplished very little but if it had the slightest chance of interrupting and ruining their day, I was for it. I was willing to camp outside the rank and go into monumental debt by paying each customer twice as much as the fair of the taxi to stay home or walk. I was considering petitioning all of the gas stations in the area to go on a trade embargo with all taxis directly involved and kill their fuel supply. I wanted to start an uprising and squeeze the taxi rank out of existence! Thankfully, it was not up to me to handle this particular situation. It was left to more cheery and hopeful individuals who did not get us kicked out of the rank.

So the argument went back and forth. The taxi rank constitution was quoted to us which was also conveniently never offered for our own perusal. Thinly veiled racism was thrown at us which stung but didn't dissuade anybody. What really sunk us was that a man who had spotted us making a deal for our private taxi tattled. The man who we made a deal with was called to the rank and he had a short chat with the taxi rank officials where he probably had an offer made to him that he couldn't refuse. To no one's surprise, our private taxi was canceled and it was recommended we just work through the taxi rank. Now we were truly cornered and the taxi rank knew it. We had no choice but to go through the entire negotiation process again but this time for more money to go a shorter distance. Eventually after a large amount of grief we finally got on our way. We certainly could have handled the situation better. Maybe we brought it all upon ourselves by not going straight to the taxi rank in the first place but I am not sure we would have gotten a better deal. Perhaps we should have waited to pay the office until we were actually about to go but we only decided that we needed other plans until much later. The biggest lesson learned from the whole experience is that everyone should own cars.

After that whole debacle, the rest of the journey was a breeze. We hopped another taxi and then got a ride the final distance from the owners of the backpacker we were staying in. I slept well that night. The next morning we got our first glimpse of the mountains we would be hiking and everything was right with the world. Here are the photos from the hike.

It should be apparent now that I like signs. They are helpful to tourists such as myself. For my money, there is no better way to indicate certain information, like the name of an area.

The intrepid travelers set out into the wilderness. We got a bit of a late start after we bought our maps and figured out where we were on the maps and where we were going and what all those squiggly lines meant. We then had a few pre-hike beers. The clerks at the reception office did not look like they were placing a lot of confidence in our abilities. They were probably preparing their statements for when the news broke that 7 Americans died minutes after leaving the parking lot.

Up and up and up. The first day was hard, allow me to explain why. The elevation change for the first day was a little more than 1000m. This was the start of the hike meaning our packs were fully loaded. Also, two days prior most people ran a half marathon, one guy ran the entire ultra-marathon, and some walked and ate a lot of candy. So there was some fatigue and candy withdrawal.

That's a pretty cliff isn't it? How about a long story about the hike up to the point where we could see this cliff? There was a serious problem during our first day. As was mentioned, we started late and the hike was difficult. Naturally, people started to spread out according to hiking pace. The plan was to get to the top and camp there since the trail seemed easy enough to follow and it would make the next day easier. The problem started when those in front only made it to the top around dusk and those in the back were only beginning to make the ascent of the steepest part of the trail. The most fit of the group went down to check on the ones behind but they insisted on going ahead, they were fine but justed needed more time. Camp was setup at the top of the pass and dinner was prepared. Occasionally we would look down to see how far along they were by their headlamps. It was about 8 o'clock meaning it was fully dark, it had been rainy and windy for the past couple hours, the temperature dropped about 10 C, and a thick fog rolled in. The last time they were spotted it seemed they were about 30 minutes from the top. In hindsight, people should have gone down at this point to meet them and make sure they got up safely. Instead we waited and they still had not arrived and their headlamps could no longer be spotted. Emergency mode set in and everyone at the top started to panic and assume the worst (one or both injured/dead). Without cell phone reception to call, people went down and did a few sweeps to find our friends but we didn't hear or see them. A search party in the dark would only get someone else hurt so we decided to wait until morning to search again. At daybreak, one last sweep was made before we would have to get help from the park and luckily they were found coming out from behind the rock they slept behind. They had gotten disorientated and wisely decided to find a safe shelter for the night back down the mountain. I had thought for sure that this would be the end of the hike. Surprising, the two who spent the night exposed were undeterred and were actually quite chipper about finishing. In my opinion, this earns even more rugged survivalist points for the two than the night out in the elements does. This was the most dire hiking situation I have ever experienced and thankfully everyone was uninjured in the end.

After finding our comrades and deciding to finish the hike, it was agreed we would take a rest day or in hiker parlance a "zero day" (i.e. zero miles/kilometers hiked). During our zero day I did a little exploring. Our campsite is way down there in the middle. It was beautiful alright but the geography being what it was, we were in a wind tunnel all night. It is orders of magnitude less fun than it sounds.

Flowers gone wild! Notice how much I talk about flowers these days? All you flower lovers should be satisfied by now.

Lesotho has a pretty great natural defense that at one time might have been a huge strategic advantage. Lesotho is however, completely landlocked by South Africa. South Africa drinks Lesotho's milkshake, it drinks it right up! Is it still acceptable to say that?

I did not get any good pictures of the Basotho shepherds. These guys (only guys) were all over the place and were for the most part nice and kept to themselves but a few were incredibly irritating and rude which really put me off meeting any more shepherds. The sheep tended not to be a problem other than funking the valley up with their wet wool smell. I took this picture because this sheep looks like a total badass.

We did not follow a trail once we had made it into Lesotho. We followed the escarpment for large sections but at times it took some honest to goodness map reading. A couple of the fellas handled most of the orienteering and they did a bang up job. I would have gotten us to the end eventually but also would have gotten us lost about 15 times and with fewer people than we started with.

The swings in temperature during this hike were formidable. The evenings and mornings were quite chilly. That first dose of sunlight in the morning was wholeheartedly appreciated. I made the mistake of bringing my light summer sleeping bag which was not quite up to snuff. I used the double zipper feature where you can walk around while still wearing the sleeping bag. I looked the fool but I needed the warmth.

The hiking spread; walking speed, leg length and stamina, thins everyone out. Plus, everyone gets tired of looking at each others stupid faces all day.

It took us 5 days to finish, I might be wrong here because I don't actually remember, it's easy to lose track us such things when hiking. We entered at Giant's Castle and made it to Sani Pass to go back into South Africa. I snapped this in a hurry because I was ready to sit down indoors.

This caption contains nerd references, if you are not into that sort of thing, just move along. I got into big trouble in little Lesotho for taking this picture without asking the owners permission but he wasn't there and I needed to take a picture with this hat. He backed down after I blasted off some lightning bolts.

Being the highest pub in Africa and the only pub for probably a 20 km radius, the owners felt comfortable charging whatever the hell they wanted for everything. Ubuntu was not factored in when they decided on prices for their delicious warm rum drinks with little slices of lemon.

This was taken before the journey down Sani pass. We got into trouble again because we didn't go to the border control office as soon as we got there. The guy was just being a blow hard because he probably doesn't get too many chances to assert his authority. Fresh from our hike, we were not to be messed with, but in this instance it was better to just say we were very sorry and move on back to South Africa.

Long Overdue Thanks

2011-05-11T06:36:00.000-07:00

KLM was a success. The fund raiser made more money than it did in the previous year. As far as I know, this has been the trend since the program started. I think in part this has to do with the growing number of Peace Corps volunteers in the country but that's not important. What is important is that the ability for the organization to provide quality education grows. Thank you to all those who donated on my behalf or on anyone's behalf, you have done a good thing.

The race was much like it was last year. The picture I took of the beginning of the race is almost identical to the one I took the year before. The weather was uncooperative. It rained buckets for the ride up the mountain (and for those crazy enough to attempt the ultra marathon). It was then overcast and foggy for most of the day. Also like last year, I decided to walk. I really took my time this year and stopped at each station where water was given to the runners. These stations provide much more than water though. Most of the stuff is probably ignored by the actual runners because eating it would give cramps rather than stamina. I was not in any danger of running so I ate all that was available which included: gummy bears, candy bars, fingerling potatoes with delicious garlic mayo dip, biltong (South African beef jerky) and in one instance beer. Near the end, I wasn't even hungry or thirsty but I still grabbed handfuls of everything I could because it was offered. It was a very leisurely half marathon, so leisurely that the group I was with didn't complete the course in the allotted time and the finish line attendants refused to give us medals. I think one lady in particular really enjoyed withholding any form of congratulations, she seems to have been the wrong choice for that particular job. My feelings were not harmed in any way.

After the race there was a delicious meal along with awards for various fund raising goals. It was an excellent time and a great way to meet the volunteers that have come in after our group. The whole event was pulled off without a hitch and the Murphy's (main organizers) should be proud of their work. I am pretty sure it was the best Longtom event there ever was or ever will be so I am not too sad that this was my last one but in years to come I hope groups try to reach the level of Longtom 2011.

Cape Town Assortment

2011-05-04T00:54:00.000-07:00

These are parts of Cape Town which I found interesting and I thought I'd throw them together into one post. It's really just a bunch of random pictures of the place. After this post I will be done talking about Cape Town for a while. I reserve the right to resume my praise at any point so don't think I'm done forever.

Cape fur seals sunning their blob-like selves. I don't think these seals have seen Planet Earth because a great white could have exploded out of the water and annihilated them at any point. They need to be much more vigilant, not one of them is on lookout.

The four peace prize Nobel laureates of South Africa (Albert Lutuli, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela and Frederik de Klerk). Is the dignity of the statues undermined by the giant red coke man celebrating in the background or is the hilarity of the giant red coke man restricted by the serious guys in the foreground? This is probably one of those questions that humankind will never be able to answer.

One of the only clear pictures I snapped of Table Mountain. Also, a nice scene of the waterfront. Fortunately, there is a real table in the picture so the table-ness of the mountain can really be judged. In my opinion, they nailed it.

The back/side of table mountain from Camp's Bay beach. Really nice beach but the water was frigid so I only dipped half a big toe. I would bet the surfer's love it down there without any of the pesky swimmers to look out for.

The main drag of Simon's Town which is on the other side of the Cape Peninsula from Cape Town. If you consider the entire Cape Peninsula to be a miniature representation of the United States, then Cape Town is like a NorCal beach city and Simon's Town is like a quaint New England coastal town. That is what I see in my mind anyway because I have not been to either of those places in the United States.

WHS Quest: Cape Floral Region

2011-05-04T00:52:00.000-07:00

People ask me all the time, "why don't you write more about flowers". I am kidding of course because no one has ever asked anyone that question. Nevertheless, this post is about exactly that subject. The next World Heritage Site on the list was the Cape Floristic Region. This was a tough one to visit because it is not really one small place but a very large area which features a giant classification of things (Cape Floral Kingdom). This means that there is not a sign to easily verify my witnessing the Cape Floral Region/Kingdom which I am sure most of you are pretty upset about. The following picture is the only thing I know for certain is a member of the Cape Floral Kingdom. That there is a King Protea which is pretty massive as far as flowers go. It is so very massive and intimidating that it is the name of the South African National Cricket team. But enough cricket, back to the botany!

I should tell you some pretty interesting facts to get you up to speed on why this is considered World Heritage material. Well, Wikipedia can give you interesting facts about just the fynbos which is a part of the entire Cape Floral Kingdom:

Of the world's six floral kingdoms, this is the smallest and richest per area unit. Contrast it in size with the Holarctic kingdom, which incorporates the whole of the northern hemisphere apart from the tropical regions. The diversity of fynbos plants is extremely high, with over 9000 species of plants occurring in the area, around 6200 of which are endemic, i.e. they do not grow anywhere else in the world. This level of variety is comparable to tropical rainforests or large islands and is unique in a relatively dry continental area. Of the Ericas, 600 occur in the fynbos kingdom, while only 26 are found in the rest of the world. This is in an area of 46,000 km² - by comparison, the Netherlands, with an area of 33,000 km², has 1400 species, none of them endemic. Table Mountain in Cape Town supports 2200 species, more than the entire United Kingdom. Thus, although the Fynbos comprises only 6% of the area of southern Africa, it has half the species on the subcontinent – and in fact has almost 1 in 5 of all plant species in Africa.

This picture is a good representation of the fynbos (Afrikans - fine bush). The point is that from afar, it is very underwhelming and it all seems like scrub brush. But in reality, when you get a closer look, a lot of it still is pretty unimpressive but sometimes there are some really cool looking things to look at so drink it in.

I am sorry that I don't know what most of any of these plants are and cannot even say if these are unique to the Cape Floral Kingdom or not. My plant knowledge is pretty sparse and this post has made me realize that I quickly run out of things to say about them. That shouldn't stop any of you though, I encourage you all to go look at some interesting plants and then learn about them. Then if you want you can make a blog post about it and show me how you are supposed to talk about floral kingdoms.

I wouldn't say that the Cape Floral Kingdom is the most interesting part of South Africa but it makes the top 20 I'd say. In any case, it was a pleasure to stop and smell the fynbos for a while.

Cape Hope of Good Point

2011-05-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

About halfway through the vacation, we rented a car which made it much easier for us to do some traveling outside of Cape Town. Our mission for the day was to go to the end of the Cape Peninsula and inspect. The area is a National Park and is well kept and even offers a 2-3 day trail that basically goes around the whole peninsula. There wasn't time for the hike but we managed to see many of the popular spots.

Authentic Cape Point sign. Note that this is not the southernmost point of Africa. That is located on Cape Agulhas but Cape Point has historical significance so it is still has bragging rights as far as Capes go.

The lighthouse at Cape Point. It has been continually failing the Flying Dutchman for centuries and in doing so dooming generations of sailors. I bet this is a cautionary tale in lighthouse keeper school but a shred of respect needs to be given for its consistency.

The Dias Cross. I lifted this straight from Wikipedia:

The Portuguese government erected two navigational beacons, Dias Cross and Da Gama Cross, to commemorate Vasco da Gama and Bartolomeu Dias as explorers who as mentioned were the first explorers to reach the cape. When lined up, the crosses point to Whittle Rock (34°14.8′S 18°33.6′E / 34.2467°S 18.56°E / -34.2467; 18.56), a large, permanently submerged shipping hazard in False Bay. Two other beacons in Simonstown provide the intersection.

My buried treasure sense is tingling furiously so there is almost certainly buried treasure at Whittle Rock. I am going to go back and find it Goonies style.

Sister heading back to NYC. It's funny because she can't actually walk back because there is an ocean separating Africa from North America. I think there are also other reasons why she can't walk back but it's mostly because of the ocean.

There is a lighthouse keep far off on that little sliver of land. The path out there was closed for some reason but from this distance it looks like a lonely, miserable and treacherous place to live but who knows, there might be a pinball machine inside.

The ostriches were not alarmed by the car sneaking up on them. That whole head in the sand thing is grade-A baloney. It's true that they are silly looking animals though. I think we all need to agree on shifting some of the mockery off the platypus and put it on the ostrich.

Cape of Good Hope which is very close to Cape Point. As the sign says, the area has the distinction of being the "most south-westerly part of the African continent". I think things are starting to get out of control handing out awards like that. Reel it in, direction awards.

We played the game where we were being Portuguese explorers who just landed ashore. I think in general the best way to do that is to have a stern look on your face because exploring is important business and scurvy hurts.

We went hiking to the beach. It was an overcast and blustery day which for some reason seemed appropriate to explore the area. I think the place originally being called the "Cape of Storms" has something to do with this. Sidenote: The name was changed to "Cape of Good Hope" because the other name was too depressing and scary-- now that is some clever re-branding.

*Bonus Turtle Picture* Almost flattened him driving out but was able to stop in time. It was also important that I inspect it as well and take several pictures because I like turtles.

Biking Under the Influence

2011-05-03T03:23:00.000-07:00

An hour subway ride away from Cape Town is Stellenbosch, one of the most famous regions for wine in South Africa. We did a bike tour through the area appropriately called "Bikes n' Wine". It was a nice little excursion that included just the right amount of riding (~10Km) and drinking (2 wineries and 1 brandy distillery). The day was a total success; there was plenty of delicious wine, the guide was knowledgeable and friendly, and the weather was perfectly comfortable.

The area was not spectacular but offered a pleasant atmosphere. We decided on the easiest tour which turned out to be an excellent idea because we had been pretty active up to this point (see Lion's Head and Table Mountain Hikes). It was much nicer to focus on the wining than the biking anyhow.

It was imperative that I took a serious picture on this little wooden suspension bridge. I think you all understand why. Also the guide recommended we take pictures of us biking so it didn't seem like we were getting sweaty from drinking wine. I'm not biking but that is definitely a bicycle helmet in my hand there so that counts.

I have now forgotten almost every thing about this mountain chain. I do remember that the outline of the ridge sort of looks like a man (Simon van der Stel?) lying down on his back. To the left is his head and then he's got a pot belly and then feet...it was a lot clearer when I was there.

My favorite part of the ride took us right next to a vineyard. I was a little surprised because this was South Africa, the land of security fences, and there was nothing stopping me from hording all the grapes I could manage. Grape thieving must not be a very lucrative criminal enterprise.

So much fuss over these little guys. The grapes were very sweet which means they were close to harvest time. Soon enough those sugars will be transformed into alcohol by fermentation. I could be a winemaker!

The first and best tasting at Spier. The winery was enormous and offered around 12 varietals. I don't remember what this wine was but my favorite was the Pinotage which is a South African specialty.

One of the wineries had a cheetah sanctuary which was a pleasant surprise. The urge to rub the cheetah's tummy was pretty strong at this point. I resisted because I know that's how cheetahs' draw in most of their prey.

We couldn't help but let our blue blood ancestry come out while brandy tasting. It was a sumptuous way to end the tour.