Back to Manenberg's

Hi, everyone - sorry I haven't written in a while. I have been positively swamped at work. 8:45am until about 10pm each day, with a couple hours break at random times in between. When I do have a break, I normally take a nap. I have about a one hour break at the moment, so I thought I would say hello to everyone and let you know I am still alive and kickin.

The past few days have been hectic, but there has been some fun involved. I have been back to my old haunt, my home away from home, Manenberg's. I went for a glass of wine with some folks on Tuesday night, and I ended up being pulled aside by one of the managers to do an interview with the Financial Times about why I choose to spend my time at Manenberg's rather than anywhere else. I gave a nice plug for the center, and maybe my name will end up in the paper. It also earned me a couple free drinks with the owners last night!

And last night was awesome. We wrapped up our session at the GSB around 10pm and decided to head out for the evening. The group was headed to Manenberg's, but I knew there was a private function for a large South African corporation, so I thought I couldn't get a large group in to crash the party. I let them go on to see what they could figure out while i finished up some work. I went over to the bar, and my contact let me in the back door. It was quite the swanky affair - open bar, live music, hundreds of people there. (I didn't take photos - I crashed a function with a bunch of Parliament and labor leaders - I figured they wouldn't appreciate me posting their photo on the Internet that I took at their party that I crashed.)

Anyway, the group actually did manage to make their way into the party thanks to my co-worker Melody who worked some magic with one of the owners. Everyone ended up having a great time. I left about 1:30am. Some stayed til 4am. I don't have the stamina to do that anymore. It was a great night though - I never knew party crashing could be so much fun.

Tonight, after the closing celebration for the first retreat, a group of about 20 of us have a reservation at The Green Dolphin at the waterfront. It's an upscale jazz venue, and with it being the Cape Town Jazz Festival, a lot of the musicians migrate to other venues after they perform at the main festival. So, tonight will be a long night, but fun I am sure. Tomorrow I plan on sleeping in a good bit, doing some laundry, and probably doing some shopping.

Saturday evening I have two events - a social with last year's ELP class from 6-8 at the Radisson Hotel, then Melody and I are off to the Jazz festival on Saturday night. I will also get to see my friend Elelwani at the festival, which I am VERY excited for. It is a yearly tradition for me to go "the jazz" with her. This will be our third year to go together!

I shuold hopefully have some good pics to post in the next day or so - just be patient with me. I'm exhausted! After the "relaxing" day of Saturday, it's back to the grind on Sunday with our Reunion Retreat beginning. That goes through Tuesday night, and I leave to come back home on Wednesday! YAY!

That's the long of it, folks. I miss everyone at home SO much, but I will definitely make the most of my time here. Later taters...

Blogger doesn't like international connections

I have been sitting here for a while trying to download pictures, but it just ain't workin. Must be something with the international ip address.
I don't really have too many cool pics yet, but if you want to see them, post a comment with your e-mail address, and I will send you a link to the on-line album.
I wish I had more to say, but I am super sleepy and want to go to bed. Will try and write more later. YAWN.

picture troubles

Hi, everyone - I know you are all expecting super cool awesome Africa pictures, but so far I have very few to show. Ever since I have arrived it has been WORK WORK WORK. We've been dealing with all the crises that come up when planning any big event, and from the home side, I received some bad news about my old apartment. My landlady has sent me a bill for over $2000 in damages from my old place, and I am still reeling from the shock. I haven't decided how exactly to approach that situation yet, but it will definietly involve legal assistance.

SO - I just tried to actually upload a couple pictures here, and for some reason, I am getting an error message. The pics will just have to wait.

I am off to Robben Island tomorrow with our fellowship class. This will be my sixth trip out there, but it is just as moving each time. Robben Island is where Nelson Mandela was held in prison for seventeen years during apartheid. If you don't know about Robben Island, look it up on google. An amazing place. Hopefully I will have some pics to share soon - and the technology here will hopefully allow me to upload them.

In the meantime, I hope everyone is well, and YES, I am very homesick. April 4 can't get here soon enough. Will chat more soon......

I made it!

Hi, everyone - just a very quick note to say I made it to Cape Town in one piece. Unfortunately, I contracted one heck of a cold the day I left the US, so the pressure from the flights wasn't so fun to handle. And, I have so much going on here work wise, I can't really take a day off to re-coup. So, I am off to buy some cold meds, grab a slice of pizza and retire to my room for the night to get some rest - hopefully I will feel a bit better tomorrow. (And send Mike your "get better soon" wishes as well - he is sick with the same crap!)

Tomorrow I hope to snap a few photos and get out and wander a bit. If I do, I will post some photo goodness for you. I have yet to get the wireless working in my room, but I assume I will head back this evening and it will miraculously be on. A bit too hopeful, I am sure, but we'll see.

Chat with you all soon.....

Random Things While Waiting

Hi, everyone, and sorry I have been MIA for a few days. As I type this, I am sitting in the Washington Dulles Airport trying to kill off the two hours before my flight leaves for South Africa. Instead of killing brain cells by reading the US Weekly I just bought, I thought I would take a few moments to jot down some thoughts before I begin my 18 hour flight to Cape Town!!!

Carnivore Preservation Trust

Mike and I volunteered at the CPT this past weekend, and it was amazing. The organization is based in Pittsboro, NC, about a 35 minute drive from Durham. They have a large collection of tigers and smaller cats - most of whom are rescues from bad situations. Many people think they want a pet tiger - until it reaches about 300 pounds. A lot of the animals have been in abusive situations - living in garages, basements, declawed, harmed - bad situations. At CPT they try to give them the best life they could possibly have after leaving the poor situations in which they were found. I have a bunch of pics, but due to the rather slow wireless connection I have here in the airport, I can't post any. If you want to see them, just leave a comment and I will send you the link to the webalbum.

Oprah’s Schools in South Africa

If I hear one more person bad mouth Oprah for opening girls schools in South Africa, I am going to scream. “Why isn’t she building these schools in the United States?” Because if she were to build a school in the US for the penultimate purpose of giving young black women a better chance to succeed, all the right wing crazies in the US would claim “reverse discrimination” (which is a false term in itself – discrimination is discrimination – period) and raise all hell. Hundreds of years of colonialism have shown white people have done monumental damage to African people and African-American people. What Oprah is doing is much needed and will help raise an entire new generation of strong, confident African women. Africa’s potential of greatness lies in the amazing beauty of its people, and Oprah’s schools will only help make the young ladies fortunate enough to participate in this program stellar leaders in their communities and the world. I just wanted to voice my opinion on that whole subject.

My trip

I should be boarding my plane here in the next 45 minutes or so. I am scheduled to leave at 5pm from DC - and so far it appears that everything is running on time. I will get into Cape Town about 7:30pm on Wednesday, which is about 1:30pm EST in the US. Once I get in and settled, I will probably post and just say "HI, I MADE IT HERE IN ONE PIECE!"

For the first time, I brought a video camera with me to South Africa. If I can figure out how to get the movies from the camera to the computer, you may get treated to some video footage. I'm not promising that, though. I don't know if I am that technologically advanced. I also brough the ol' digital camera, so you should get some still photos as well - if the camera doesn't crap out on me. It has been a bit tempermental in the past few months.

Ok, folks, time to get all my stuff together and prepare for departure. I will be in touch soon!!!!

march SADness

My little heart is broken. Duke lost to VCU? VCU? What the hell.

I managed to get a half day off work today - well, i am working from home at any rate. I just finished one of the two books I am supposed to finish for class on Monday, but I still have about 300 pages looming in front of me, as well as an 8 page paper to write. But it's break time for a bit.

I will try to post a message before I take off, but if not, I will let you guys know what is going on once I arrive in Cape Town next Wednesday.

Have a good one.....

MARCH MADNESS

So, we are now about 4.5 hours into "March Madness," and my bracket is not looking great so far (okay, but not great). Out of all the games that are completed as of the moment I am writing this blog (4:59pm), I have guessed 3 games correct and 3 games incorrect. Poor Davidson didn't bring it home (it's Mike's alma mater), and I wanted Tech to upset BC. That didn't happen either.

Louisville came out with a win (a new secret favorite of mine - I secretly hope Mike may have to teach there some time so I can live there for a while - I like the city!), and Georgetown pulled through. Right now, Texas A&M (my alma mater) is winning their game, so hopefully my dear ol' Ags will move on to the next round.

It's actually kind of fun to pay attention to all this stuff. This is only my second year to really pay attention to the brackets, so yay for me. North Carolina (the state, not the school) basketball has finally made a place in my heart.

and tonight,

LET'S GO DUKE!

UPDATE: You have to be kidding me. We lost to VCU??? Oh well, there is always next year. And I still have Texas A&M to root for!

The OTHER side of goodbye

Ok, so you saw what I have to say about how I will miss South Africa. Now I will throw you for a loop and say how much I am dreading getting on the plane next week! Yes, I love South Africa and the friends there. I love the country and its people, I love the food, I love the scenery and I love the experiences I have there. But you can take that last sentence and apply it to my home right now.

I love my country. Even with my political views, I love my country. I'm reading a book right now called First They Killed My Father, and it is about a family's experience with the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in the late 1970s. That wasn't so long ago. Reading about what people in other countries have dealt with within the past 30-40 years is absolutely amazing. Of course, I want George Bush out of office ASAP (only 677 days from today, but who's counting?), but I am also excited as to where our country may go in the next 10-20 years. I am excited and optimistic that the US will only get better.

I love the people of my country. I love our servicewomen and men fighting overseas - and I want them to come home soon. Very soon. I love the country folk I grew up with in rural Texas, and I love the liberal left wingers I have spent time with through graduate school. I love all the wonderful friends I am blessed to have and the best family one could ever ask for.

I love the food here. Now in year two plus some months of being vegetarian, I am learning more about food and what is available here. I am greatful for Morningstar Farms, Quorn, and Amy's. I also love the fact that Mike insists I eat a vegetable with every meal. Unfortunately, he does not agree that tater tots count as a vegetable serving. Two nights ago, I even ate lima beans. LIMA BEANS! But they were good. I love that we can get decent Mexican food, great pizza at almost any hour, we have restaurants and grocery stores open 24 hours and that you can buy freshly baked cookies at stands in the mall (you cannot, for the life of you, find a warm cookie in the V&A mall on the waterfront in Cape Town).

I love the scenery. North Carolina is a beautiful place to live. So green and so hilly. I love the Durham skyline and the way Duke Chapel looks lit up at night. I love my backyard with the huge magnolia tree and pines sheltering the rolling hills behind our house. I love seeing Mike cuddled up with Buddy and Scout on the couch when I get home from class. I love seeing Allie cat run down the stairs and rub on my hand when I get home from work. I see a lot of beauty every day.

I love the experiences I have here. I attend lectures on campus with worl renowned speakers talking first hand about their life. I play trivia nearly every Tuesday at the James Joyce Pub with some of the smartest people around (at trivia anyway :p ). I get to take fantastic classes as a top rate university with an 80% tuition cut. I get to enjoy the benefits of several nearby cities, all a 30 minute drive away or less.

And most of all, I am going to get homesick. I will miss Mike. I will miss my kitties, my bed, my car, and all the other things listed above. I know I'm only gone for a little over 2 weeks. But it's hard to say goodbye to home, too. But, it sure will be wonderful to have it all back when I return!!!

Saying Goodbye

Next week, Tuesday, March 20,to be exact, I will be taking my ninth trip to South Africa. Yes, NINTH. When that trip is over, it will make over 144,000 miles I have traveled back and forth between the US and Africa (8,000 miles to SA, 8000 miles home, 16,000 per trip, multiplied by 9). How crazy is that? I went to SA for the first time in May 2002. To be honest, that trip was miserable for me. I broke down in tears about hour 8 of the eighteen hour plane flight over and was completely unable to sleep on the plane. When I finally got settled into my hotel, I managed to never even leave the hotel premises, except on group field trip excursions. I was in Africa, in a hotel. I was terribly homesick, and I was not all that thrilled. I would share a photo of me from that trip, but there are only about 3 in existence. They are all so terrible, I would never show them :-)

Now we jump forward a year, to March 2003. I head back for my second trip. This time, I swore to myself that I would actually get out and wander around a bit. I did, and I am so glad! I actually don't have any photos to share of that trip because I was still using film at the time. I have never scanned in the photos, so if you want to see those, you have to come visit. On that trip, I took a day tour and went to Cape Point; I took a boat out to Sea Island and saw the seals and the "ring of death" where Great Whites come to feed on the seals in cold weather; I went to Boulders and saw a colony of Jackass penguins, and I went up Table Mountain for the first time and experienced the amazing view of Cape Town from above. I went home from that trip with a love for South Africa fully rooted within me.

I didn't head back again for another year, but in April 2004, I was so ready to be in South Africa. As they say, third time's the charm, and boy was it! As you rea last week, I was 25 at the time and my life and head were in a whirl. I decided to set out and find out who I was. Could I meet people on my own? Could I make friends in a far off place? And honestly, I partied. A lot.

This photo was taken with a group of friends and several members of the Scorpions, South Africa's elite law enforcement agency. i think this photo was taken about 4am. Such a great time.

I did work, too, though! This is a picture of our whole staff (above).

I also spent a lot of time really getting to know our class of Fellows on their reunion trip. I have friends in this class who I still talk to on a very regular basis. Some absolutely amazing people. The next year, 2005, I went to South Africa twice. Once in the spring, once in the fall. Both of these trips were amazing great, too. In 2005, I met Judy, who has become a wonderful friend and mentor to me.


Me and Judy. YAY! And we are at Manenberg's of course - my home away from home. But Judy isn't the only one in the class I have made friends with. After the Reunion retreat for her class of fellows, several of us spent about 2.5 days in Cape Town just wandering around and enjoying the city.

This was on Camp's Bay Beach. From L to R: John, Ashley, Charles, Judy and me. The five of us had an absolutely wonderful couple of days. We had 3 hour breakfasts at this great Belgian pancake place in the waterfront. Nothing like a pancake with fruit and ice cream.

I also managed to hit the Cape Town Jazz Festival (which I will hopefully do again on this trip!)
The guy on the far left is one of the musicians from some band; Elelwani is on my left - she was rather preggers at the time!; me, Puti, Priscilla and a friend of Priscilla's. We had a great time at this absolutely amazing jazz fest.

I could go on for hours and hours showing pictures and telling stories of my adventures in Cape Town. Late night escapades, walks along the beach, trips around the mountain, beers overlooking the Cape, new friend, homesickness, and the like. South Africa changed my life. It changed who I was and what I wanted it to be. It helped me find my "moral compass" and learn that there was a lot out there in the world I knew nothing about. I learned that travel is probably one of the best ways to find out about yourself and about other people.

But here it is, trip number nine. This is possibly my last work-funded trip to South Africa. I know I will go back on my own some day, but this "twice a year guaranteed visit" is coming to an end. Due to changes in our programming, and me scheduled to finish my master's degree within the next year, a lot will change. That means on this trip, I have to say goodbye.

I don't really know where to start. In a way, I would rather just act like the trip is the same as it always is and not get overly emotional about it. But I doubt that will happen. I am debating going on a one day safari. They are expenisve, but for goodness sake, I have been to Africa eight prior times and NEVER been on Safari. I think I should splurge.

I think I will take a few long walks down the beach. I will go up Table Mountain one more time. I would love to make it out to Cape Point again, but I don't know if I will have the time. So many things to say goodbye too. It hasn't even hit me yet that I am leaving next week, so it really hasn't hit me that this whole "goodbye" thing is for real too. The people, the places. There may be some tears this trip.

Table Mountain dominating the Cape Town skyline

NOTE: Thanks to all of you who left your comments about the quarter life crisis. I have been thinking about what everyone has said, as well as reprocessed what I said myself. And you know, we may have these problems, but what better problems are there to have? It is almost as if we have too many options in life - we can do anything. We can do ANYTHING. If you twist that into a positive light, maybe we can make it more inspirational and less overwhelming. You can't do it all, but you sure can try a lot of things - we are all lucky to have that opportunity!!!!!

The Quarter Life Crisis

25. Quarter life. Seems like everything should be on its way in life - everything should be good. One is young, full of energy, and they have the world in front of them. BULL SHIT. Welcome, quarter life crisis.

The age of 25 sucks. For nearly everyone I know. When I was 25, the year was 2003. I got married that year. By the time of our first anniversary, I was so up in the air about life, my ex has now told me it was at our one year anniversary dinner when he gave up on our marriage because I was so twisted up about figuring out my existence. I freaked out in that year. Who am I? What the hell am I doing with my life? How did I get here? Is this where I will be forever? Will I really be able to have it all? The questions were endless.

Since I hang out with a lot of folks in grad school, I have several people around me who just turned 25, just turned 26, or are just about to turn 25. Let me tell you - they have all just either exited a period of whirling confusion, have just entered one, or have no idea that within the next month (when the big 2-5 hits) that they will probably get a load of crap dropped on them that will require them to question their very existence.

I have been talking to all of these folks individually and never piecing this together. And today, at lunch with a good friend who just turned 26 (she is now in the clear - YES!), she completed the puzzle for me. "Twenty-five BLOWS."

I have guy friends questioning the motives of women, girl friends questioning the motives of men, guys and girls questioning their path in life. Should a relationship continue or end? Should I go to school for more education or get a job? Can I be who I really want to be? Is this all life has to offer? Why does it feel like everyone is moving ahead, and I can't figure out what the hell I want to do?And I know - we all ask ourselves these questions at various stages of life. But at this turning point age of 25, it almost seems like this is the first time that ALL the big questions start to hit you at once.

At that age, most of us have friends who are married AND single, have kids AND don't have kids, have jobs AND don't have jobs, are in school AND decided to drop out/not go. And then here we are - what group do i fall into? This all seems to be very amplified in graduate school where you have close circles of friends - so it seems like there is always a measuring stick around. "Am I where I should be at at this point in my life? That guy has already published 10 times! AND he has Tim Russert's home number in his cell. I don't even know the number to the local Pizza Hut!" Okay, so maybe not THAT bad, but you get the drift.

So here I am now, at 28. Life seems relaxed. As everyone around me tends to be in a total whirl, I actually feel grounded (thank you!!!!). But I also feel it is a necessary phase we all have to go through. You learn to take control of your own life. To make your own decisions. And it really helps if you fall off the pedestal you've been sitting on for so long. Realizing that one can make mistakes - and what they say is true - you really DO learn from them.

There will be tears, there will be frustrations, there will be many beers drank. But, man, when you come out from it, it is great. You know yourself better. And it's not necessarily that you finally know what you want. But you have a better idea. And you know more of what you don't want either - and you realize knowing that is just as important.

So to all my 25 year old friends - I salute you. This year may suck for you. But at your birthday next year, take a deep breath. You made it through. Trust me - 30 ain't looking so bad from where I stand!

What do you think? How was the year YOU were 25? I know that several of the folks facing their current crises read this lil bitty blog, and I know they would love to hear they aren't alone. Or, I guess you can gloat if your 25th year of life was the best ever. I let people post anonymously on this blog, so feel free to leave your comments. We would all like to see them!

JONNY LANG

I am so pumped. Tonight is the Jonny Lang concert at the Carolina Theatre. I have loved his music ever since I bought "Lie to Me" many many years ago. Every time he has played at the Carolina, I have either been traveling or, well, traveling. But this year, the stars have aligned. And I get to see him for FREE cause I am volunteering to work the show. I am so excited! Maybe I will get to meet him, maybe not. We'll see tomorrow!!!

A video game for ME!

This past weekend, Mike and I made a trip to Best Buy. Mike's old wireless router was on its last leg, so we decided to upgrade the connectivity in the house. But when we go to Best Buy, we don't get what we need until right before we leave.

If you know Mike, you know he likes his video games. Not overly so, but he loves some of the old classics you can now play on your PC, and I know they serve as an escape from academia. He has suggested in the past that I, too, try a game for myself.

You see, i've tried this in the past. The Sims. Roller Coaster Tycoon. I played them for about a week, if even that, and I never touched them again. As fun as it sounds or looks, I lose interest and waste the $30 on the game.

Well, this weekend, we browsed the PC game section - just to see if something popped out at me. Mike brought over a box and said, "How about this one?" It was a game I had actually picked up several times before. It was a horror, graphic adventure game called Scratches.


It has been hard for me to find a game I will actually shell out the money to play. I won't play anything where I have to shoot people, animals, aliens, whatever. I'm not shooting anything. I don't want to play any complex racing game where you have to destroy thousands of dollars of property or pick up hookers to advance levels. I just want to think. To move around, have some fun, and think about things. Pen (or keyboard) over the sword, if you will.

Scratches looked like it fit the bill. I bought it, brought it home, and once I laid out the ground rules (don't tell me what to do, don't tell me all the answers, don't say "here, let me do it"), Mike and I were ready to go. I knew Mike would give me full reign on the game, I just wanted to make sure ;-)

Oh my gosh. It is FUN. It is way creepy, pretty challenging, and it is exactly the type of game for me. It has suspense, a great storyline and no shooting. Yeah! I must admit, the graphics, the sounds and the story get me a bit creeped out at times. In fact, I am writing this blog entry rather than playing the game because Mike is out to dinner with a group of prospective grad students. It's 10pm, and I am afraid I will get too creeped out playing by myself. ha! I'll wait for my sweetie to get home. He may not tell me what to do in the game, but he gives great clues and ideas. And he keeps the monsters away.

Kitty Progress

Friends?

In case any of you are concerned, which I am guessing many of you are, I thought I would give you an update on the introduction of all the kitties in the Brady-Newman household. I am happy to report that all three have been out with each other from about 6pm-11pm for the past two or three nights. There is still a fair amount of growling, some hissing, and some chasing, but we are making progress.

A typical evening scene.

We are at the point now where all the cats have decided that they don't want to be cooped up in their bedrooms anymore. We used to be able to shake the food container and have Buddy and Scout run to their room. Now, they will be nowhere to be found. Allie has taken to hiding under the bed in Buddy and Scout's room - to get a surprise attack, I believe.

At 3:30am two nights ago, Mike and I got a big surprise when we heard hissing and screaming on the stairs. Both of us jumped out of bed to find Scout had busted out of the room (we normally let Allie roam at night), and the two had an altercation on the stairway. We got them separated, but we all went back to bed a bit shaken.

As you can see, Buddy is in neither of the photos posted here. That is because Scout is progressing much better with Allie than Buddy is. When Buddy even SEES Allie, he starts hissing, fluffs out, etc. They have been unable to have any real succesful contact with each other. I think that with the two of them, we will just have to hope they will respect each other's space at some point. Scout and Allie may actually be friends. I think Buddy will be the scorned "other cat." But Mike and I still love 'em all anyway!