I'm not dead (yet)!

April 12, 2008

Hellooo all! Or should I say 'molo'? I think I shouldn't. And let's not even talk about the 'sound quality of my clicks for Xhosa.

First of all, my thanks to all the wonderful, caring inquiring minds asking how things are going for me this side of the hemisphere. My apologies for dropping of the face of the earth and not responding, leaving some to wonder if I'm alive (sorry Mom, Dad). Hopefully this clears up any worries.

I've been really busy and internet has been spotty. Cape Town is beautiful and fun and since starting my internship at the Cape Times on Monday, I've been able to carve out more of a schedule for myself and, put simply, slow the f*** down. Running around with the group of NU journalism kids was fun, but hectic (BTW 'hectic'is a popular word used here and is often said by itself; think of it as a replacement for 'crazy'). It completely blows my mind that I've only been here for two weeks. I feel like I've been here for an eternity, but not in a bad way.

A brief and selective run-down of my life so far:

I arrived in Joburg, SA March 29. Prof. Doug Foster's partner Chengeyati met us at the airport and whisked us away to our lovely B&B in Melville. He left just enough time to buy cell phones (my number btw is 076 558 0510 and if you're calling from overseas you need 011 27 first) before taking us to dinner where we chilled with the editor of the City Press and NELSON MANDELA'S GRANDSONS!!! That's right. I just name-dropped. I spoke with K, one of the grandsons, for the majority of the dinner about his independent film career and music. Nice guy, nice skinny jeans. After dinner, Chengeyati invited us over to his house for wine. What began as an innocent get-together exploded into a full-fledged party as some of my peers got black-out drunk and two of my peers (both of which are living with me here in Cape Town) made out with people of prominent backgrounds. Andrea, my roommate, hit it off with K and feminist, peace-loving Ashley made out with Charles Taylor's son. You know the one. Former president of Liberia and prominent warlord (the Dad, that is). Oh life's little ironies. The following morning's re-cap of events was quite entertaining to say the least, especially in light of the fact Ashley didn't know exactly just who she had made out with and had skittered away when he had asked if she had "made sex" before.

Sunday we met up with Chengeyati for an informal tour of Soweto, the largest township in SA. We went to a museum and then to a restaurant in the township where the people-watching was just great. The restaurant can be best described as a place where foreigners come to get a 'taste' of a township and successful township residents come to flaunt their wealth. After that was a quick tour of a house Mandela stayed in for a bit after his release from prison (complete with a WWE champion wrestling belt given to him as a gift from some dude). Chengeyati then took us to a shebeen, an informal bar usually run out of homes where alcohol is sold without a license. Shebeen's are typically run by women who are referred to as 'Shebeen Queens,' according to Chengeyati. At the shebeen I broke away from the rest of the group to go and introduce myself to two locals and had a wonderful chat with them. A second visit to Soweto is definitely a must. That evening, I called my friend Teekay to meet for the first time in our life! After two years of e-mails and other correspondence because he helped me in my SA journalism class, it was amazing and slightly surreal to meet him in person! He was as great a guy in person as I had imagined and we talked late into the night. Eventually some other journalism students from the group joined up and we all had a merry time chatting and commenting on alcoholic drink names like sweet pussy and mermaid orgasm. I ended up getting a blue neglige which was quite tasty.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday were full of meetings with important people and organizations and were educational and inspiring I'm sure. Wednesday evening we left for Cape Town where Andrea, Ashley, Blanca and I will remain for the next two and a half months.

Thursday April 3, we hit the ground running and went to meet with a member of the prominent AIDS activist grassroots organization Treatment Action Campaign (TAC). They were in the middle of a protest in front of Parliament, though, so our group was swept up in a sea of singing, dancing activists. It was exhilarating, beautiful and everything in-between.

::PAUSE:: Have to go finish work on a piece on xenophobia for the Cape Times. To be continued...