I love Maputo. and really wish I could speak Portuguese.
and it looks like this will be the first college summer where I actually make a substantial amount of money. and it will be the first time that i don't owe my mother thousands of dollars for tuition. beautiful!
i guess maybe i am growing up?
haha.
no, now i just want to save money for the next little bit of time, so that I can come back here, and go elsewhere. i also want to spend my life wandering. I've met so many backpackers here who have gone to so many different places, and it just gives me so much hope that it really is possible to do all these things that maybe seem dangerous. Also, let us all remember that people are people wherever we go. And when you say bom dia or bom tarde, they tend to smile and be friendly.
there aren't hardly any street people in maputo. no one really begging. many sales people, who play checkers and cards when sales are low.
i'm staying at a really cool backpackers called Fatimas.
I left my digital camera in Stellenbosch on accident, so i bought an old school disposable one, i kinda like it though. :)
out of internet time.
much love!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Maputo Nelspruit and Pretoria
In Nelspruit, I left the backpackers and walked alone to the internet cafe, which, because this is South Africa, didn't have internet that day. I walked to Spar, asked directions to another internet cafe, and promptly walked 10 minutes in the wrong direction. I asked a girl on the street where the SuperSpar with the internet cafe was, and she guided me 10 minutes back to where I started. The next day I took a taxi to the Mozambican Embassy where I spent R750 on a visa, which is a lot of money, in retrospect. I just have been so intent on coming to Mozambique. I wanted to see it, I wanted to experience it. And here I am.
We arrived in Maputo around 4:30pm yesterday, which is also about the time secondary school gets out and the sun goes down. There ended up being 6 of us heading to the same place, but we couldn't all fit in the same taxi, so the man said that he would leave us and go get another car. So we waited. and waited. and waited. and then called 45 minutes later, and then the lady from the travel agency next to the bus station called our backpackers, and then the cars finally came. I guess you can tell that we've been in South Africa for a while, because I don't think it really bothered anyone all that much. We just kinda sat on our bags, people watched, read, journeled, flipped through guidebooks, whatever.
My cell doesn't get signal in Maputo, which makes sense I guess, but I was somehow expecting roaming-like charges, still having a signal though... oh well.
plan is to end up in durban by Friday the 30th, no specific plans other than that though.
much love,
christine
We arrived in Maputo around 4:30pm yesterday, which is also about the time secondary school gets out and the sun goes down. There ended up being 6 of us heading to the same place, but we couldn't all fit in the same taxi, so the man said that he would leave us and go get another car. So we waited. and waited. and waited. and then called 45 minutes later, and then the lady from the travel agency next to the bus station called our backpackers, and then the cars finally came. I guess you can tell that we've been in South Africa for a while, because I don't think it really bothered anyone all that much. We just kinda sat on our bags, people watched, read, journeled, flipped through guidebooks, whatever.
My cell doesn't get signal in Maputo, which makes sense I guess, but I was somehow expecting roaming-like charges, still having a signal though... oh well.
plan is to end up in durban by Friday the 30th, no specific plans other than that though.
much love,
christine
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Life without Fear
In South Africa, or at least in Stellenbosch, when you walk down the street people don't meet your eye. When I first got here, I was unnerved by this, but kept trying, our of habit, to smile and meet people's eyes as I passed them. A week or two ago, I realized that I have adapted to this culture without even realizing it. After reading a collection of short stories of women travelling, I was re-energized to make the most of this adventure. I also actually exercised a few days in the same week, which also made my state of mind a little more positive.
I've started looking into the eyes of people again. Or at least trying. They hardly ever look up, and when they do they look through you to find someone else. About 1 in 20 people actually meet my eyes and offer some sort of acknowledgement.
But its okay, because it feels so much better to walk with your head held high than bowed, eyes to the ground ahead of you. Its an unconscious acknowledgment of fear, or a desire to be invisible.
I went for a walk by myself just before dusk. Not very far, just a big loop around the backside of my residential complex. I found a park that I had never seen before. I saw couples walking with their dogs. I saw teenagers trying to get a ball or something out of a tree by throwing more sticks into the tree. I saw a dad walking along the road with two kids. In short, I saw normal people doing normal things.
There's this culture of fear that exists among the white people here. The International Office makes such a big deal out of safety the first week of orientation. Don't ever walk anywhere by yourself, especially at night, especially if you're a girl. If/When someone threatens you with a weapon for your money/cell, don't fight just give it to them. Horror Story after Horror Story. And of course other stories circulate around the international community as well. This one girl heard from her South African friend that her classmate was robbed in the Botanical Garden. Don't ever go there by yourself!
The houses here are ridiculous as well. Tall walls around half of the houses, covered in sharp metal pointy things. Of course the other half of the houses don't really have much of anything for security, just a normal lawn and then a porch and a front door.
The international office also told us to not to ride the train, and if we did, to be sure that we did it in big groups, first class, without being too obviously touristy.
And to only walk on the Green Route at night. not cut through campus, walk all the way around, on a well-lit path, where security guards patrol.
...
and I understand the need to make wise decisions. and I understand that the IO is responsible for us while we are in a foreign country. I just wonder if there was a better way to encourage smart decisions and awareness than outright FearMongering. You know? Kinda like when you're younger, and you're not supposed to talk to strangers, or accept candy from strangers, or talk to things bigger than your plate. Once you're older, you learn to discern which strangers are nice, which aren't. You learn that its okay to make small talk in a grocery line, or when someone is asking for directions. You even learn how to be the stranger that approaches someone else when you need help. You don't have to be afraid of people walking down your street. You can say, hi, good afternoon. It doesn't mean that they are going to kidnap you or feed you poisoned candy. You learn how to ascertain what situations are safe, and how to maneuver around situations that are less safe.
Its like that here, or I think it should be. People who are from small towns or safe cities should learn how to be smart and stay safe, but without needing to be worried all the time. At some point in time, we have to realize that people, no matter their socio-economic position or skin color, are indeed still people.
The scariest part of here is how racialized the socio-economic positions are. It makes it so that international students become automatically scared when they see someone darker skinned. Its freaking apartheid perpetuated. There's no room for subtler judgments based on clothing, or time of day, or location, or who the other person is with. There's no room for the Other to be human, doing normal human everyday activities. Everyone who is black or coloured or darker than white, if we can't differentiate between the apartheid-era labels that are still in use today. We don't go to the grocery store when the Other is shopping. Its just too crowded and dirty, and i hate it when people stare at me. We don't sit by the other on the train. We make sure to find other stellenbosch students, or tourists, or well-dressed people to sit next to, so that we can be sure not to have contact with the Other.
Its hard too, because I realize that having an American accent makes me a target. I feel like whiteness makes me a target. The clothes that I wear, the jacket that I bought ridiculously cheap when a department store was closing down. But just because I feel like a target doesn't mean that anyone is hunting. The majority of people here, just as anywhere else, aren't bad people, don't steal things from random strangers walking down the street.
I don't walk around with a lot of money. I have the cheapest cell phone I could buy, and I still don't walk around at night, except when I'm coming back from the library on my bike. And I'm not denying that crime does happen. Theft does happen. I just wonder how much other Good stuff I missed out on, how many people I didn't meet, because I was walking with my head bowed, or staying inside my fortress of a dorm.
(The other part of it, is that of the strangers I have met, I haven't met any that didn't turn out to be really nice people. Not everyone is my new best friend, but when I'm friendly and outgoing, the people I meet are so so friendly and conversational. no matter their skin color. no matter their class. no matter what their jobs are, or where I meet them)
So for these last few weeks, I'm trying really hard to live without those fears. Because I rode third-class to Cape Town by myself this weekend. And you know who I met? A master's student from Zimbabwe who is studying math. A freaking Math major with a British accent. Really nice guy. black. around 23. let's be realistic here people. We're on the African continent. We came to have new experiences and meet new people. We didn't come to hang out and party with other Europeans and Americans. International Office, there's gotta be another way. Its somehow gotta be okay for races to mix. You've gotta get past 1994 eventually. There've gotta be everyday normal ways for international students to experience everyday normal people in a non-structured, non-savior, non-touring-through-township sorts of ways.
I've started looking into the eyes of people again. Or at least trying. They hardly ever look up, and when they do they look through you to find someone else. About 1 in 20 people actually meet my eyes and offer some sort of acknowledgement.
But its okay, because it feels so much better to walk with your head held high than bowed, eyes to the ground ahead of you. Its an unconscious acknowledgment of fear, or a desire to be invisible.
I went for a walk by myself just before dusk. Not very far, just a big loop around the backside of my residential complex. I found a park that I had never seen before. I saw couples walking with their dogs. I saw teenagers trying to get a ball or something out of a tree by throwing more sticks into the tree. I saw a dad walking along the road with two kids. In short, I saw normal people doing normal things.
There's this culture of fear that exists among the white people here. The International Office makes such a big deal out of safety the first week of orientation. Don't ever walk anywhere by yourself, especially at night, especially if you're a girl. If/When someone threatens you with a weapon for your money/cell, don't fight just give it to them. Horror Story after Horror Story. And of course other stories circulate around the international community as well. This one girl heard from her South African friend that her classmate was robbed in the Botanical Garden. Don't ever go there by yourself!
The houses here are ridiculous as well. Tall walls around half of the houses, covered in sharp metal pointy things. Of course the other half of the houses don't really have much of anything for security, just a normal lawn and then a porch and a front door.
The international office also told us to not to ride the train, and if we did, to be sure that we did it in big groups, first class, without being too obviously touristy.
And to only walk on the Green Route at night. not cut through campus, walk all the way around, on a well-lit path, where security guards patrol.
...
and I understand the need to make wise decisions. and I understand that the IO is responsible for us while we are in a foreign country. I just wonder if there was a better way to encourage smart decisions and awareness than outright FearMongering. You know? Kinda like when you're younger, and you're not supposed to talk to strangers, or accept candy from strangers, or talk to things bigger than your plate. Once you're older, you learn to discern which strangers are nice, which aren't. You learn that its okay to make small talk in a grocery line, or when someone is asking for directions. You even learn how to be the stranger that approaches someone else when you need help. You don't have to be afraid of people walking down your street. You can say, hi, good afternoon. It doesn't mean that they are going to kidnap you or feed you poisoned candy. You learn how to ascertain what situations are safe, and how to maneuver around situations that are less safe.
Its like that here, or I think it should be. People who are from small towns or safe cities should learn how to be smart and stay safe, but without needing to be worried all the time. At some point in time, we have to realize that people, no matter their socio-economic position or skin color, are indeed still people.
The scariest part of here is how racialized the socio-economic positions are. It makes it so that international students become automatically scared when they see someone darker skinned. Its freaking apartheid perpetuated. There's no room for subtler judgments based on clothing, or time of day, or location, or who the other person is with. There's no room for the Other to be human, doing normal human everyday activities. Everyone who is black or coloured or darker than white, if we can't differentiate between the apartheid-era labels that are still in use today. We don't go to the grocery store when the Other is shopping. Its just too crowded and dirty, and i hate it when people stare at me. We don't sit by the other on the train. We make sure to find other stellenbosch students, or tourists, or well-dressed people to sit next to, so that we can be sure not to have contact with the Other.
Its hard too, because I realize that having an American accent makes me a target. I feel like whiteness makes me a target. The clothes that I wear, the jacket that I bought ridiculously cheap when a department store was closing down. But just because I feel like a target doesn't mean that anyone is hunting. The majority of people here, just as anywhere else, aren't bad people, don't steal things from random strangers walking down the street.
I don't walk around with a lot of money. I have the cheapest cell phone I could buy, and I still don't walk around at night, except when I'm coming back from the library on my bike. And I'm not denying that crime does happen. Theft does happen. I just wonder how much other Good stuff I missed out on, how many people I didn't meet, because I was walking with my head bowed, or staying inside my fortress of a dorm.
(The other part of it, is that of the strangers I have met, I haven't met any that didn't turn out to be really nice people. Not everyone is my new best friend, but when I'm friendly and outgoing, the people I meet are so so friendly and conversational. no matter their skin color. no matter their class. no matter what their jobs are, or where I meet them)
So for these last few weeks, I'm trying really hard to live without those fears. Because I rode third-class to Cape Town by myself this weekend. And you know who I met? A master's student from Zimbabwe who is studying math. A freaking Math major with a British accent. Really nice guy. black. around 23. let's be realistic here people. We're on the African continent. We came to have new experiences and meet new people. We didn't come to hang out and party with other Europeans and Americans. International Office, there's gotta be another way. Its somehow gotta be okay for races to mix. You've gotta get past 1994 eventually. There've gotta be everyday normal ways for international students to experience everyday normal people in a non-structured, non-savior, non-touring-through-township sorts of ways.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Lessons for Grade 7s
Lesson 0: We will respect one another.
Lesson 1: We do not hit each other to express our feelings. It is never okay to hit someone.
Lesson 2: We do not talk when the teacher is talking
Lesson 3: We ask before we borrow someone's rubber (eraser)
Lesson 4: We do not use other peoples money. We do not gamble during afterschool program
Lesson 5: We are at After School Program for two reasons: to have fun and to be safe. We do not ruin other people's fun. We do not hurt other people or ruin their safe place.
Lesson 6: We use other people's real names. It is not okay to say "the fat one" "the black one" "the dark one" "the skinny one". We all have names. I am Christine. You are Olwethu. You are Kwanele. You will not insult other people by calling them elephants, ugly, skinny, fat, in English or in Xhosa. You will use their real name.
We just got to Lesson 6 today. Lesson 1 has been a recurring theme. Two more sessions and then I'm gonna go back to my world, as the boy in the very front of this picture very pointedly told me today.
Lesson 1: We do not hit each other to express our feelings. It is never okay to hit someone.
Lesson 2: We do not talk when the teacher is talking
Lesson 3: We ask before we borrow someone's rubber (eraser)
Lesson 4: We do not use other peoples money. We do not gamble during afterschool program
Lesson 5: We are at After School Program for two reasons: to have fun and to be safe. We do not ruin other people's fun. We do not hurt other people or ruin their safe place.
Lesson 6: We use other people's real names. It is not okay to say "the fat one" "the black one" "the dark one" "the skinny one". We all have names. I am Christine. You are Olwethu. You are Kwanele. You will not insult other people by calling them elephants, ugly, skinny, fat, in English or in Xhosa. You will use their real name.
We just got to Lesson 6 today. Lesson 1 has been a recurring theme. Two more sessions and then I'm gonna go back to my world, as the boy in the very front of this picture very pointedly told me today.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Dear South Africa,
I want you to take responsibility for your poverty. I want to hold you responsible for your incomprehensible levels of rape, HIV, and abuse. I am disenchanted and angry. I'm mad that you have so much money, that your tourist attractions are so well kept, that you are so beautiful, and yet you move so slowly to make change for the least of your citizens. I'm mad that your politicians are just as corrupt as those in the united states. I'm mad that for all your idealism in your revolution, for all your promises of a new dispensation, your leaders are human after all. I'm frustrated that your citizens remind me of the people on the north side of town, your churches remind me of New Harvest.
Dear America,
how can you expect the rest of the world to develop when your Native people live on destitute reservations or promote the poverty of others through casinos? That's an unfair generalization, but its an important point to make. The situation of white/black/hispanic/asian in America is a whole nother ball game than that of black/white in South Africa. Dear America, please look at how divided your society is, and work for equality and an end to poverty inside your borders. Dear America, please look at your trade policies and how you regulate the human rights ethics of your corporations. Dear America, please control the CIA and Homeland Security. Please be more humane. Dear America, please give California more money for education and water for farmers, you get so much of our taxes. we're the seventh biggest economy of the world, and yet we have so many hungry families right now. Dear American churches, love your neighbors, love one another, remember the poverty of your cities as you pray for the poverty across the world. Ministering to people across the world is just as hard and frustrating as the little rude buggers who you don't want your kids to be friends with.
Dear South Africa,
I love you. You're beautiful and full of hope. You have so many smiling children and shacks that have starred in many idealistic YouTube fundraising efforts and many church recruitment videos. I could fit here. I could serve here. I could give more and more of my time. I could develop curriculum and support an afterschool program. I do have something to offer here. I do have skills, love, and prayers. I've wanted to come here for so long, and here I am South Africa. here I am. I love it here. I just have the same depressed moments, the same money stresses, and the same inability to keep my normal life on schedule. It makes me want to go home and start over again. I'm sure I'll miss you so much when I'm home again, but I think I'm being called home now.
Dear America,
I can't believe I love you enough to call you home.
Dear California,
I do believe I love you enough to call you my state.
Dear Fresno,
I love you always and forever. I miss you and I'll see you soon. Keep trying to get better! I'll be home to support your economy soon! no chains, just family businesses like Bertos and Paradise Cafe.
Dear America,
how can you expect the rest of the world to develop when your Native people live on destitute reservations or promote the poverty of others through casinos? That's an unfair generalization, but its an important point to make. The situation of white/black/hispanic/asian in America is a whole nother ball game than that of black/white in South Africa. Dear America, please look at how divided your society is, and work for equality and an end to poverty inside your borders. Dear America, please look at your trade policies and how you regulate the human rights ethics of your corporations. Dear America, please control the CIA and Homeland Security. Please be more humane. Dear America, please give California more money for education and water for farmers, you get so much of our taxes. we're the seventh biggest economy of the world, and yet we have so many hungry families right now. Dear American churches, love your neighbors, love one another, remember the poverty of your cities as you pray for the poverty across the world. Ministering to people across the world is just as hard and frustrating as the little rude buggers who you don't want your kids to be friends with.
Dear South Africa,
I love you. You're beautiful and full of hope. You have so many smiling children and shacks that have starred in many idealistic YouTube fundraising efforts and many church recruitment videos. I could fit here. I could serve here. I could give more and more of my time. I could develop curriculum and support an afterschool program. I do have something to offer here. I do have skills, love, and prayers. I've wanted to come here for so long, and here I am South Africa. here I am. I love it here. I just have the same depressed moments, the same money stresses, and the same inability to keep my normal life on schedule. It makes me want to go home and start over again. I'm sure I'll miss you so much when I'm home again, but I think I'm being called home now.
Dear America,
I can't believe I love you enough to call you home.
Dear California,
I do believe I love you enough to call you my state.
Dear Fresno,
I love you always and forever. I miss you and I'll see you soon. Keep trying to get better! I'll be home to support your economy soon! no chains, just family businesses like Bertos and Paradise Cafe.
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