We've been learning a bit of Xhosa (pronounced kosa with a click at the beginning) in the settlements (thats the language that most of the inhabitants speak in the area we are working in.) It involves clicking noises that none of us have mastered so far, which has given our new friends in the settlements a good laugh. We start our official lessons tomorrow with Buyiswa which will be helpful, since I've mastered the two forms of hello (molo and molwhene) and that is about the extent of it, I can never remember goodbye or thank you.
We've been meeting a lot with Buyiswa who runs a lot of the bed and breakfast for volunteers in the settlement, and she's been very helpful in organising our co researcher effort. The six people she selected for us have been guiding us around the C1 section of the park and helping the other groups to gather their research information. Yesterday, we went out with the Water and Sanitation and Mapping teams and toured their specific areas of interest. Its kind of depressing to tour the water spouts and toilets, often as many as 24 families share one toilet that does not flush. The only flush toilets are reserved for guests of the lodge, and for our use thankfully as well. The shacks are anywhere from 6 feet tall to about 20 feet tall, mostly made of corrogated iron and pieces of trash found in the area and recycled because the area was formerly a garbage dump. Some have yards, some have gardens, a few even have their own outhouses, which consist of a covered hole in the ground that gets moved when it fills up. The whole village is on a set of sand dunes, so the soil is no good for farming, and the wind constantly blows the sand everywhere, as the ocean is just over the dunes and you can see it from most of the shacks.
We toured the inside of a bar at 10 am, the drinking problems here are intense. People start at 7 am and the "shabeen" as they are called was full, and people were already drunk and stumbling. We've been encouraged to shop at the local stores, (which like the bars are also made of the same material as the shacks) and buy items that are sealed such as bottled soda and chips to support the local economy. The community center, youth center and guest house are sandbag buildings and part of the redevelopment effort. Sand bag buildings done by eco beam consist of special beams constructing the house, and instead of insulation the walls are filled with small 6x12 bags of sand which are stacked inside them, before the walls are plastered, which makes them fire proof and much more resistant to the wind. There is a sense of hope here, theres a preschool and a youth centre with computers, and the people we've met have seemed optemistic which is inspiring.
On the social WPI front, we went to dinner at a brewery on the water front which had delicious food, and confused waitresses. Afterward we attempted to go to a famous club known as Tiger Tiger, and after a 100 rand taxi ride, we could not get in (well we could, the guys could not) because of a dress code that requires pants, a collard shirt and shoes. They were wearing flip flops and shorts, and the bouncer turned us down. We went to an Asian bar, Cubana, the Doubliner and a gay club instead, before going to the News Cafe and back to our rooms. Most of these places do have dress codes, but they made exceptions for us, because we didn't know better... silly Americans.
Yesterday we cooked our own dinner and drank wine we'd bought at the local wine/liqour store. Which was nice, because we'd been looking for a licqour store since we got here, because even though drinks are cheap, its still cheaper to buy things to drink at home. Here, things were very cheap. For example, a fifth of smirnoff was 70 rand (a little less than 7 dollars) and I bought a bottle of delicious wine for $1.50 which I shared with Jason. "Good wine" costs around R100 per bottle, and people were joking about how they spent a hundred bucks on a bottle of wine, which is around 10 dollars.
Currently, we're in the Cape Town public city library, only slightly sketchy... and compiling our conatact lists, its kind of nice to have a day off from the settlements, its exhausting to be there and walk around in the sun all day. The library is pretty nice, and we get free wi fi. So I'm happy. Maybe we can get Kauaii Burgers for lunch. Its difficult to talk to people at home, as its only 7 am there, and after one in the afternoon here, and it will be getting worse with daylight savings time this weekend, but we're climbing table mountain and surfing, so its okay.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Cape Town (the first few days)
When we got to Cape Town, we didn't go out the first night, but bought two bottles of wine for three dollars each from the grociery store along with a few other necessary things. It was decent wine too, we drank it while waching Resident Evil which was terrible. The next day (Saturday) we went grociery shopping after a meeting with our advisors and formed a group grociery system. The food is all different though, and because the sugar used is unrefined, everything tastes different, the candy and soda are a lot sweeter, so I can barely drink/eat them.
That night, we went out to dinner at the Africa Cafe, which serves traditional African food, tapas style. We ordered fruity alchoholic drinks and had lots of interesting food. Rice with berries, chicken in sauce, tapioca yoghert bread and other such foods. Most of them were really good, especially the desserts. Which, are obviously my favorite anyway. There were really sweet decorations in the restaurant too; the chandeliers made out of recycled things and the wall mural made out of can tops was cool too. There is a lot of recycled things here made into other things, which is a great theme, and ends up with cool decorations.
After dinner, we went home to St. John's and then out to Long Street, which getting there was a project in it self. First we went to the Buena Vista Social Cafe, but then left because it was too small and/or sketchy/smoky, and called several cabs. We tried a few different clubs, but mostly stayed at the Dubliner, because it was classy on top, a piano bar and outside balcony with reasonably priced drinks (~20 rand). And downstairs, you could dance, and it was only slightly sketchy. We stayed out until about one or so, and took a cab home (which costs about 3 american dollars, ridiculously cheap for a 15 min cab ride).
The next morning, we went to the district Six museum, which commemorates a district in Cape Town that was demolished during the Apartheid because it allowed different races to live there in harmony and was a bad example. The man giving us a tour of the museum lived there during that time and told us the story and showed pictures of when the house his family had had for four generations was bulldozed. And now, they are giving the land back to the owners, but much of it was used for a university, and the rest is lying unused and a mess.
We napped, and then took a drive around Cape Point with Debra's aunt and cousin, up signal hill and around to the different beaches. We saw the Indian Ocean, which is supposed to be warmer, and the surfing beach, and breifly drove through a vinyard. The views are amazing. We also saw whales while driving along the edge of the mountains.
Today was our first day working in the settlements. We met the deputy mayor of Cape Town at a reception and then traveled to Monwabisi Park. We toured the Indlovu Center, the Creche (daycare) and other places. It was really inspiring to see the sense of community there and the redevelopment ideas coming from within the community. THings like the fact that if you steal things or cause crime in the community, the street committee will demolish your shack are interesting. But I think that our project will be effective, and we are meeting the co researchers tomorrow. I learned the African handshake as well, which is slightly different from a regular one, and we are setting up Xhosa lessons for the coming weeks so we can communicate more effectively in the settlements. Overall, I'm excited, but exhausted. I really hope that our project can make a real difference though.
That night, we went out to dinner at the Africa Cafe, which serves traditional African food, tapas style. We ordered fruity alchoholic drinks and had lots of interesting food. Rice with berries, chicken in sauce, tapioca yoghert bread and other such foods. Most of them were really good, especially the desserts. Which, are obviously my favorite anyway. There were really sweet decorations in the restaurant too; the chandeliers made out of recycled things and the wall mural made out of can tops was cool too. There is a lot of recycled things here made into other things, which is a great theme, and ends up with cool decorations.
After dinner, we went home to St. John's and then out to Long Street, which getting there was a project in it self. First we went to the Buena Vista Social Cafe, but then left because it was too small and/or sketchy/smoky, and called several cabs. We tried a few different clubs, but mostly stayed at the Dubliner, because it was classy on top, a piano bar and outside balcony with reasonably priced drinks (~20 rand). And downstairs, you could dance, and it was only slightly sketchy. We stayed out until about one or so, and took a cab home (which costs about 3 american dollars, ridiculously cheap for a 15 min cab ride).
The next morning, we went to the district Six museum, which commemorates a district in Cape Town that was demolished during the Apartheid because it allowed different races to live there in harmony and was a bad example. The man giving us a tour of the museum lived there during that time and told us the story and showed pictures of when the house his family had had for four generations was bulldozed. And now, they are giving the land back to the owners, but much of it was used for a university, and the rest is lying unused and a mess.
We napped, and then took a drive around Cape Point with Debra's aunt and cousin, up signal hill and around to the different beaches. We saw the Indian Ocean, which is supposed to be warmer, and the surfing beach, and breifly drove through a vinyard. The views are amazing. We also saw whales while driving along the edge of the mountains.
Today was our first day working in the settlements. We met the deputy mayor of Cape Town at a reception and then traveled to Monwabisi Park. We toured the Indlovu Center, the Creche (daycare) and other places. It was really inspiring to see the sense of community there and the redevelopment ideas coming from within the community. THings like the fact that if you steal things or cause crime in the community, the street committee will demolish your shack are interesting. But I think that our project will be effective, and we are meeting the co researchers tomorrow. I learned the African handshake as well, which is slightly different from a regular one, and we are setting up Xhosa lessons for the coming weeks so we can communicate more effectively in the settlements. Overall, I'm excited, but exhausted. I really hope that our project can make a real difference though.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Johannesburg
We flew out of JFK airport on Monday, I got there a lot earlier than necessary, so early that I had to wait a few hours to check in, but it ended up being fine. My excessive luggage all checked, and I met up with Laura and Debra, and we flew out at 5ish. Unfortunately the plane tv's didn't work on the first half of the flight (before Dakar) but the dinner was good, and they served us wine and we got real silverware, as opposed to plasticware. I couldn't sleep much on the flight, but luckily after our stopover where they disinfect the plane and fix things, they repaired the tv's and we could watch movies for the remaining 8 hours of flight. When we landed in Johannesburg, it was about 5 the next day, and Debra's aunt picked us up and took us back to their house for a barbecue.
The neighhborhoods in Joburg are a lot different from the ones at home. To get to their house, you have to drive through two security gates, and all the houses are walled in and have electric fences and 8 foot walls around their yards because the crime is so great. Which is kind of scary. Theres also a lot of poverty which is apparant from the shacks on the sides of the roads and people wandering down the side of the highway. And of course, the signs are all in km and other metric forms of measurement.
The first night there, we met lots of Debra's family, who were all nice, and that was fun. We went shopping at a mall the next day, and a flea market, and I got lots of souveniers, stuff for the roommates and the family mostly so far. And I bought my dress for formal at a designer store at the mall for young South African clothing designer labels, for 380 rand (about 38 dollars) and its gorgeous, which is exciting. So thats pretty sweet. The next night we went out to dinner with her aunt and uncle and cousin and ate some delicious food.
We went out after to a bar called the Keg with Debra's cousin Douglas, and made lots of friends, and had our first South African adventures. The next day we woke up late, and went to the Lion and Rhino park, which was exciting. We got to pet a cheetah, and see rhino's and lots of zebras and ostriches. Afterward we went to her grandparents house for dinner and ate lamb and other foods I hadn't really tried before. The food is kind of getting to me, but we flew to Cape Town this afternoon, after a slight flight delay, and everyone else on IQP just arrived. Pictures to come when I download them onto my computer.
The neighhborhoods in Joburg are a lot different from the ones at home. To get to their house, you have to drive through two security gates, and all the houses are walled in and have electric fences and 8 foot walls around their yards because the crime is so great. Which is kind of scary. Theres also a lot of poverty which is apparant from the shacks on the sides of the roads and people wandering down the side of the highway. And of course, the signs are all in km and other metric forms of measurement.
The first night there, we met lots of Debra's family, who were all nice, and that was fun. We went shopping at a mall the next day, and a flea market, and I got lots of souveniers, stuff for the roommates and the family mostly so far. And I bought my dress for formal at a designer store at the mall for young South African clothing designer labels, for 380 rand (about 38 dollars) and its gorgeous, which is exciting. So thats pretty sweet. The next night we went out to dinner with her aunt and uncle and cousin and ate some delicious food.
We went out after to a bar called the Keg with Debra's cousin Douglas, and made lots of friends, and had our first South African adventures. The next day we woke up late, and went to the Lion and Rhino park, which was exciting. We got to pet a cheetah, and see rhino's and lots of zebras and ostriches. Afterward we went to her grandparents house for dinner and ate lamb and other foods I hadn't really tried before. The food is kind of getting to me, but we flew to Cape Town this afternoon, after a slight flight delay, and everyone else on IQP just arrived. Pictures to come when I download them onto my computer.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Test Entry/Leaving Tomorrow
So, I'm leaving tomorrow for the biggest adventure (so far) of my life. And this is a test entry to keep track of it, so that hopefully I'll write, and people can keep up with what I'm doing if they want to. Because I don't know how many emails I'll be able to send, etc. So right now, this is the best bet. I've been to WalMart too many times, and bought too many things that I hope I don't need, but if I don't have them I know I will. I guess I've been waiting/working for this for so long, I just want it to happen, and I'm not sure how much I'm going to be able to sleep tonight.
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