Exit ... Stage right ...

I keep pondering how I want to close out this adventure, what wise words I might say to you readers, and those that may follow after me on this trip.  And, surprisingly, nothing comes to mind.  Oh sure, there are some flip quotes I could use, or "inspirational" words, but none of that really seems like the closure that I need to put on this trip.

This morning, I went to my first spin class since I have returned to the States.  I was actually hot, I sweated, I felt good.  Yesterday, I sat in the hot tub at my local gym and felt warm.  The coldness of winter in South Africa is draining away, just like the memories are already becoming faded.

Did I REALLY sit in the dust and dirt of Joyce's front yard, in the informal settlement section of Kalkfontein, and help think through a multi-phase strategy for the Iso'Lezwe Care Givers?  That seems like such a distant memory.

Did I REALLY climb 95% of Lion's Head?

Was I REALLY in Dubai, not once but twice, and was I REALLY on one of the longest available commercial flights in the world?  That being Dubai to San Francisco ...

Did I really eat Snook and Hake?

Was I REALLY so cold at night, in the first few weeks, that I wore just about all of the clothing that I brought with me to bed?

Did I really miss Jim with every ounce of my being, knowing that whatever happens in the future, that I never want to be that far from him or my family again?

Did I REALLY do two interviews on my little Blackberry phone, from South Africa, for a new Director of Finance position that I am finalizing the details on today, and most likely start working at tomorrow?

In looking back through this blog, did I REALLY do all of those assorted posts?

And there is where I think this adventure gets passed along to someone else.  Someone will pick up where I left off and the work will continue.  Someone is going to make sure the NPO paperwork for Iso'Lezwe is registered.  Someone will help Kirstin at LEAP write more proposals.  Someone will help Adisani with the Peace Lovers Football Club.

And while that someone else is doing those things, I will just quietly slip out, behind the curtain, and exit ... stage right ....

Back home again ...

It's been a week now since I returned home.  Many thoughts, feelings, comments are swirling in my head, and I am thinking of the best way to get them all down on paper.

In the meantime, Welcome Home to Myself :)

Running on empty ...

The Gym that is across the street doesn't have spin classes that fit my schedule, so I have been going over almost every day and bringing my ipod and making up my own spin class.  I have some favorites that I play every day, in almost the same order (imagine that!!!! the fact that I like repetition!  anyone surprised at THAT?), but even those songs are getting rather old and tiresome.  Yesterday, I was flipping through the library, looking for something new, wishing I had brought my glasses so I could actually read the titles, when I came across an old playlist.  Clicked through it .... not this one .... not that one ......  Desperado .... yes ... played it twice, heavy hill both times ..... then found it.

Jackson Browne's Running on Empty. Only four songs from the album, but the title is what I wanted, and to hear The Load-Out/Stay.

I feel as if I could stay just a bit longer that I could accomplish sooo much ..... that there is SO much work to be done here. Not that I want to stay, I am pretty excited about seeing everyone on Friday (most especially Jim, who said he would be at the airport waiting for me "with bells on") ....

It's a conundrum, for sure.

The last few days I have felt as if I have zero energy.  Getting out of bed feels like a task, walking to school takes effort, even going to the gym - I have been cutting that short.  Today, Subina and I went to Kalkfontein to say goodbye to the caregivers and to Joyce.  I almost feel asleep in her living room, under those dolphin curtains. It was so warm and stuffy and she was telling a long story, and we had just had a cup of peppermint tea, and somehow my brain seemed to think it would be ok for me to doze off ....  until I came to my senses and thought that might be misinterpreted as bad manners.

Which brings me back to my original thought, which is that I am literally Running on Empty.  There is no fuel in the tank, the well is dry.  Tomorrow, round about 3:00 South African time (which means 3:45 and in a panic), I will put the trip into reverse and head east on the M2 towards Cape Town International Airport.  Beyond the power plant towers that are being demolished next Sunday, I will not be here for that.  Beyond the Coloured township back wall where the goats and cows graze, right next to the on ramp to the M3.  Beyond where the gangs have graffitied their beautiful blue script.  We won't take the Stellensbach Arterial Road, which takes us to Kalkfontein, nor will we take the Langa exit.  We will check our bags and I hope that Customs doesn't notice the baggies filled with spices that I am bringing back for Jim, or the curry leaves which look strangely like some other sorts of leaves.

And then, before I know it, I will be in Dubai again, and then, I will be .....

home.

Lunchtime at LEAP

I happened to be out in the yard today at mid day, when the school lunch break is.

Jonah was teaching a group of boys how to skateboard ....


"Hop on it like this .... "

Your turn .....

Same thing tomorrow ....  all of these budding young skateboard artists ...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the lunch yard ...



Sammy (who is in charge of the Learning Center and the tutors), Mona, Steven, Jamie, and ..... someone I don't know his name.

I am not sure of this young chap's name either (one would think after two months  I would know) is trying one of my Sugar Snap Peas.  At the Woolworth's food store (which is about as close to Whole Foods as you can get here, they sell Sugar Snap Peas in the "large, economy" size, which means it is about 8 ounces, or for me, single-serving.  I have been passing them around to all of the kids when I am out and about.  This student ate half and said it tasted like grass, and that if you have to eat anything green, it should be cooked until soft, not eaten straight from the ground.

Sarah was also out on the yard, chatting it up with some girls ..

Josh, Jamie, and Jen - looking decidedly perplexed over something a student is doing .....


That is a root beer bottle in Josh's hand, by the way.

Adisani (on the right) sharing his root beer with a student.  Note the sweatshirt he is wearing - it makes me happy to see him wearing this - Grant out grew it a couple of years ago and I brought it over.

There's a nice group shot - Jamie, the back of Subina's head, Mona, Jen, Josh, Frances - all with students sprinkled in.


About that time, everyone headed off for afternoon classes.

I {{{{{heart}}}} my phone

My Blackberry, that is.

Meanwhile ........  this is my South Africa cell phone.  Subina calls it a calculator.  I can't see the face, I can't hear the ring, and when it vibrates, it just sort of, well, tinkles.

Many things I will miss about South Africa, but it won't be this.

What I will miss ...

With two days remaining in this trip, the Fellows have been talking amongst ourselves as to what we will all miss, once we return to the states.  Over the last few days, I have been thinking about this post, and here are my conclusions;

>  I am going to miss my fingernails, the ones that have grown long enough to click on this keyboard.  At home, because I garden so much, I don't have fingernails of any length and it has been nice to have pretty nails.

>  I am going to miss the "Maranga" birds that are outside my bedroom all day.  I call them this because a) I don't know what kind of birds they really are and b) because they sing this song:  Da-da-dada-da DA!!  Da-da-dada-da- DA!!  All day long.

>  I am NOT going to miss the Shamrock socks I have been wearing for two months.  If'n you recall, there was a problem with the socks I brought here (some of them were not mine) giving me a pretty limited supply of socks.  I have been rotating through three pairs, allowing for two days out with laundry, meaning these socks have been well loved and well worn and now I am done with them.  Let it be said that I certainly could have gone out and bought new socks, but I was determined to make do on this trip with what I brought.

>  I am going to miss all of my new friends. Kirstin from LEAP, Sammy from the Learning Center at school, Joyce from Kalkfontein, Lenize and Rebecca from here at the lodge - the list goes on and on.  The guards who used to joke about me when I scampered across the parking lot in my workout gear (short bike shorts, tank top, my Disneyland sweatshirt - nobody wears that type of clothing here!) and now say hi and smile.

>  Speaking of the gym, I am going to happily leave behind 10 pounds that I lost somewhere here. 

>  I am going to miss the music of the children at the school and wish that I had been able to upload any one of my numerous videos.

This list could go on for days and days as I continue to think up things. 

Type, erase, type, erase.  Everything I say seems to sappy or shallow or not quite right, so I will just leave it that I will miss South Africa.

Women's Day - August 9, 2010

August 9 is a legal holiday here in South Africa.  The story goes that in 1954, 20,000 women marched to Pretoria with a petition that they wanted to become law.  From that day, Women's Day has developed.

Now, I really should go and research the details, as all of that is rather sketchy, but the Internet being what it is here, well ...... you can look it up if you like.  The real point is that today, all of us Fellows got to LEAP early (8:30) and boarded the bus which took us to Langa. 

Today is a real legal holiday, as in everything is closed, and there are celebrations everywhere.  The one we participated in was at the South African Methodist Church, here in Langa.  Do you remember me talking about Langa?  This was one of the first Black Townships developed after Apartheid was inacted.

The celebration was to honor women in the Langa community that have given back to the community.  Mama from the soup kitchen was honored, as were a number of other women.  I am a bit vague as to who was honored and why, as the entire celebration was spoken in Xhosa. 

Just about the only thing that was said in English was by the moderator, who said "When you sing, you need to stand up" and from that time on, every time the LEAP Choir started to sing, all of us Fellows stood up.


Here's the LEAP 1 and LEAP 2 choirs (remember, there are two different schools at the same site - one serves the township of Langa and one serves the township of Guguletu.)

As always, the voice of these kids was beautiful.  I wish I had the technology to capture that for you to hear.

The seating order in the church was of some pre-determined status.  When I originally sat down, in one of the center middle pews, I was asked to get up and move to one of the other areas because the "elders" sat where I was sitting.  I got up and moved to one of the side pews, and slowly, ever so slowly, the middle seats filled up with the older women.  here you can see five of them, all in their hat bandanas.

Lunch was part of the ceremony. I didn't eat because my stomach was bothered by something or other that I had eaten recently, but enough people at to generate this stack of dishes.  I probably don't need to say that the water outside here was cold water only, and the fact that they had a tap, here in the church yard, was a luxury.

(That is Subina, Josh, and Sarah in the back row.  I don't know the name of the LEAP student.)

The day was pleasant, and company was good, the cause honorable.

The Old Biscuit Mill Market

Has it been eight weeks already?  Can it be that this is the last weekend that we have here?  I have SOOO much that I still want to do and see, but it is clear on my Outlook calendar that the days are short.

Saturday mornings, all of the Educators work at the LEAP School doing Saturday school.  This is a day that kids from the local communities, plus LEAP school students, can come to the school for extra tutoring and classes.  The line outside the school forms early, well before the 9:00 first bell.

After the teachers got done with their half day of work, some of us women folk decided to go to the Biscuit Mill Market, located .... ummmm .... to the south of us.  The map continues to evade me, but at least I knew what direction we were going in.  The area we were in would be called a poor white community, but has recently been "gentry-fied", or so said the LEAP teacher that offered to drive all of us.

The Old Biscuit Mill complex has a number of regular permanent businesses, plus a weekend Farmers' Market sort of thing.

I have no idea as to the origins of the Mill, I can only assume that biscuits, or maybe even Rusks, were made here.

Inside one of the buildings is the Farmers' Market ...  and for a Saturday afternoon, it wa PACKED!!

Interestingly enough, this Market was not like the markets in Aixe or even in Barcelona, nor even Novato.  There was only one stand that had any sort of fresh veggies.  Everything else was prepared hot foods, olives, cheese, or pastries of some sort.

I hadn't eaten lunch yet (because all of the Fellows leave this week, food at the Beulah is getting scarce, a cheddar cheese/bacon/egg/cream quice sounded really tasty.

The one I bought for R12 ($1.50US) was the top in the back.

Oh, MY!!  That was good.

What I REALLY wanted, though, was the Milk Tart.  Some hussie .... I mean woman .... bought the last one, right in front of me!  She even took cuts in line, then had the audacity to buy the last one!  I LOVE Milk Tarts, after having my first one a couple of weeks ago after having visited Parliment.

To make myself feel better, I also bought (for dinner) a serving of Paella.  This describes it better than I ever could .....

And here are the guys cooking it ....



I have had Paella in Barcolena, and then Jim has made it for us as well, and I have to say, this was pretty darned good.

I still had a couple of gifts to purchase before I head home later this week, including something for Kitty the Dog.  I thought this African Giraffe Baby would be perfect for her ..

Are you used to seeing Table Mountain in the background of ALL of my photos??

Science brought to Life

After having had so many days of bright, clear, winter weather, Wednesday dawned gray and foggy.  This wasn't a deterrent to Josh's science class though.  I found Josh and his class out in the side yard of the LEAP School, getting some real life lessons in measuring distance over time.


Here is Josh explaining to his class how the test is going to go.  As he later explained to me, the five groups needed to time themselves hopping for five meters, then running, then skipping.

The idea is to visually learn how to calculate distance over time.

Here's the first group of the kids, hopping away ...

Next up - skippers ...  oh, wait ... more hopper.






When I asked him about the exercise later, Josh said he was tired of teaching in the classroom and wanted to get the kids up and moving and have a change of pace.

Looks like this was just the ticket.

NPO paperwork - Complete

The weekend was fun, the safari was fun, but it really is time to get back to why I am here, and that is to get things done in South Africa Non-Profit Land.

If you think back to my task list, one of the big items I wanted to accomplish was to get the NPO (Non-Profit Organization) paperwork done and filed for Iso'Lezwe Caregivers.  If'n you recall, there was some confusion as to whether or not the paperwork had been submitted last year, and umm  .... maybe, but yet, on the Department of Social Responsibility website there was no NPO number, so ummmmm .... vagueness ....

Well, I cut to the chase and said let's just do it.  I gathered Pumla (my spellchecker keeps wanting to correct it to "Puma") and Zaneze, and we hand wrote the forms.

Then, I had the same problem with the constitution.  Whose computer is the original on?  Sammy??  Heidi??  Yuma??  Cut all of that.  Last week, I spent two hours and sat and just retyped the thing.  Changed quite a few typos, fixed the numbering in Word, made the indents look correct, and added in the missing items that were needed from the Checklist in the NPO form paperwork.

Finally .... on Monday .....


Look what she is doing .....

Signing the Iso'Lezwe Aids Awareness/Caregivers Group NPO application paperwork.  Pumla is the Director.

Zaneze is the Secretary, and had her turn in front of the camera, signing as well ....

After the big Signing of the Paperwork, we took a walk through Kalkfontein.  Pumla and Zaneze wanted to show me the home where the HIV/Aids Support Group meetings take place, plus I hadn't yet been to the "top of the hill" where one can see the entire township.

The skinny dog that lives next door to Joyce ....

This little doggie wouldn't look at me ....

If you walk out of Joyce's front yard and turn to the left, this is the view ....

Unemployment for adult males in this township is at about 75%, which would stand to reason as this photo was taken at 1:30 in the afternoon on a Monday.

The neighborhood water spigot.  Homes here do not have water inside of the homes, one must walk down the street to the spigot.

 The top of the hill near the bathrooms.  And as it happens, the garbage dump ...

The top of the hill, overlooking the township. 











I will be back out here on Thursday, meeting with Joyce, finishing up the paperwork.

Safari - Part 3

Let's see .... where did we leave off?

Does everyone understand that I have to break some of these big posts into many smaller ones, or I can't upload them, or it takes hours and hours??

After the elephants and our "cool and refreshing beverage break", we drove over the hills and through the dells, and into the Lion's Enclosure.  The lions aren't in a cage, but they are in a large, multi-acre fenced area, so that they don't eat the other residents.  Getting into the enclosure was like something out of Jurassic Park, what with the electric fences and security gates.

Our Ranger Guide, said that the lions get fed on Sundays and Thursdays.  Because this was Sunday morning, he thought it would be ok and we would not get eaten.

HAHAHA!!!!

In this enclosure are two adult male lions and seven female cats.


Nothing like getting a little sun on a warm Sunday morning ....

Yawn .... time to find a different warm rock .....

There are five lionesses in this photo ....

Here he is - hiding behind the big stick in the foreground .... as I was shooting off photos today, and how elusive some of these animals can be, how you can't see their faces, how a tail will be just across what you want to photograph, it really is almost funny.








I had to wait for this, and wait, and wait, and keep taking photos so the driver wouldn't leave .... then I took so many photos that my batteries went dead, which was the EXACT moment I have the perfect shot, but he did look back again ....

I guess if I wanted to I could photoshop out the barbed wire, but the wire represents my experience here in South Africa.  Everything and everyone is limited by miles of barbed wire.

Looking back at the roaming area of the lions ..

Look at how beautiful that terrain is, like someone took a big hand and just smeared the colors in the hills.

Is it time for the giraffes?

This is a female, very shy ..

more .....  Those are .... ummmm .... I should look up the exact name, but I think they are Eldon's?? 


Much like the White Rhinos and the Elephants, these friends are all out for a Sunday stroll.

The giraffe stopped to munch ...

Closeup.....

And what is a photo album without some flowers. These little flowers were all over the place, but you had to look really carefully to see them ..

Finally, the last of the Big Five - the leopard.  These cats were kept in an enclosure on the other side of the road from the main reserve because of fear of poachers.

It was a lot to take in in one day, and at some point I would like to see big herds of animals, but this, in itself, was the most amazing experience.