Shame, guilt, avoidance... Every day the thought of updating my blog comes to mind, it’s the same thing…same, guilt, and ironically avoidance. Such is the life of a student blogger. The more 10:37s that pass, the more I put off “getting up-to-date” with my blog, because with each amazing event I experience (which is almost daily, sometimes up to four or even seven times daily) I feel that to give it proper respect I need time, and time is something that is often not readily available in any large chunks …large enough anyway that I can clear my thoughts, write a few things, and slink down to the refrigerator for a chocolate chunk to rejuvenate my energy. Looking back you can see it has been nearly 1 whole month since I have written. To get the dreaded feelings of shame, guilt, and avoidance off my shoulder, I am going to give you a partial list of some of the things that have occurred in the last month. Although the list may seem long, be keenly aware that behind each bullet is a whole narrative I could tell you, but for sanities sake am keeping it brief (for both mine and YOUR sanity).

During the last month I have... (in no particular order)
• Seen cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, and warthogs in the same game park President Clinton visited when he was in Botswana

• Smiled upon opening the mailbox, receiving two personal letters on the same day, including a cute origami, which I have stuck up on my not-as-bare wall

• Turned in two paper assignments, bringing my coursework completion for both those classes up to 50%

• Started my volunteering post at a children’s home playing with kids age 0-5 dubbing as a mannequin head for one of the kids fascinated with my hair, and transforming my legs into a bus for the kids to travel around South Africa

• Saw a sign proclaiming “The Cradle of Humanity” staring out the bus window on my calm and reflexive journey to Botswana

• Met a macload of people connected in some way to Macalester—alumni, friends’ families, alumni’s families…you name it. It was awesome, but horribly confusing to have to try to explain to people the connections in a way that was clear and did not seem dodgy

o Mandla Mehlomakulu and family, ’98 (See Macalester Today, May 2000 pg 25)- Mandla is one of those classic Macalester grads that make you proud to be a Macalester student. He has a wonderful family (wife Boni, niece Ndu-12, and daughter Lethu-4) and is making a difference in the South African environmental scene.

o Collin Mothupi’s brother and family, ’00- While Collin finds success in Mpls, Lucas does the same in Jo'burg starting his own IT company, with the help of his wife Amina. The whole evening the kids (Maggie aka Pookie-5, Collin aka Nana-2) kept me entertained with their dancing, strumming of the very broken guitar, and searching for Eeyore’s tail on the computer.

o Jerry Darko-Appianti’s family, ’05- After meeting Jerry’s family, it becomes immediately evident that he is indeed part of that family. His little brother Chris looks and sounds VERY much like him, his dad dances (to Bob Marley in the restaurant-perhaps a bit different than Jerry would do it), and his mom smiles that same genuine smile one can find on Jerry. Since they’re Ghanaian, I got to experience the taste of delicious fufu that I never got to try while I was in Ghana. Also, anyone seen pictures of Jerry in nappies?

o Khiza Mazwi’s parents, ’05- I didn’t even know Khiza’s family was in Botz; I was still thinking they were in Zimbabwe, but apparently not. And due to the fact that Gabz is so small (250,000) I coincidentally and luckily found out they were there and got to meet them my last day of the trip. Yes, I also got to see baby pictures and pictures of the other brothers for all you knowing readers out there.

o Katlo Manthe’s parents, ’08- The laugh will give it away immediately that Katlo is the daughter of her mother…no questions. With Katlo’s parents I
got the full Tswana experience, being fed traditionally cooked meat, as well as Botswana beef (my first steak ever), and being taken on a game drive, not to mention getting to see Katlo’s unfinished room in the new house they’re building even before she got to see it! The next time I meet up with them, they’re taking me to the cattle post.
Unforgettable and AMAZING TIMES meeting them all!!!!

• Actually started to see people I know around campus, including having a little “posse” in some classes

• Crossed the Tropic of Capricorn on my way to and fro Mahalapye going to a teacher workshop in Botz

• Pulled an all-nighter in preparation for having to say goodbye to Mona, one of my two awesome flatmates, as she made her way back to Canada

• Slightly modified my daily routine, finding a permanent home in the African Studies Library, complete with information and internet access

• Uploaded some of my pictures on the blog as well as on another site http://yahoo.photos.com/blynk_183. Y’all must check it out at some point. The pictures currently loaded are from the first few months of my time in SA

• Experienced Women’s Day, a South African holiday honoring women’s contributions to the world, something that should be instituted worldwide

• Discovered a Chinese place on campus that sells delicious “smaw chickih noodoh” that I have to resist often or I would eat it every day. Note to reader: the smaw and lawj sizes are actually the same, so to save R4, order the smaw

• Invited my first friends over to the house

• Attended a cultural show in one of the residence halls with some AMAZING Tswana dancers…in skins


• Jumped off and played in a sand dune located oddly in the middle of a mountain in Noordhoek, as well as making a sand angel…gosh I miss Minnesota…and snow (but only a bit)

• Visited Khayelitsha, one of the big predominantly Xhosa townships for the weekend with a friend, dancing in church with her one of the routines from our African dance class. We tore up the place

• Saw the most humongous anthill of my life…bigger than me!

• Went to a driving range where I was laughed at (lovingly) by a 10-year-old as I swung and missed the little golf ball, over and over again

• Flew above the world from Cape Town to Johannesburg, watching the land change and becoming mesmerized by the polka dots on the land

• Heard Apartheid weirdly justified in clips in the Apartheid Museum

• Laughed a great deal as a 4-year-old grinned and sang, “I like to move it, move it. I like to…MOVE IT!”

• Saw unprecedented numbers of Mercedes’s and BMWs driving around, finding their ways to the most extravagant houses, similar to or surpassing the enormity of Summit Avenue houses in St. Paul, MN

• Borrowed an address from an Indian man claiming I was going to Mr. Khareem’s place, P.O. Box 1505, Gabarone, Botswana. (Always remember to get an address for someone before crossing a national border)

• Spent “Spring Break” in Jo’burg and Botswana, having an absolutely wonderful time and meeting huge numbers of stellar folks, adding so much to my life and experiences, all for under US$250- flying from Cape Town to Jo’burg for $190, and bussing from Jo’burg to Gabarone for $15!

• Stayed with awesome Persian families in Gabz, the uncles and aunts and cousins of a University of Cape Town friend and displayed my braiding skills by playing with the girls’ hairs!

• Heard prayers in 5 different languages at a devotional

• Walked through the dry bush of Botswana, which is nearly the whole of the area around Gabz. Gabz is undergoing constant development, but there is a serious shortage of water, with the reservoir at 20% when it should be at 90%. Everyone is praying for rain this season

• Had to run for my first plane ever in order to get back from Jozi to Cape Town

• Continued to meet up with Macalester friends’ UCT friends around campus

• Had a taco lunch with a bunch of Americans so a South African who had never experienced such a delicacy could try them…he liked ’em!

• Got my first blister on the bottom of my big toe from too much African dance

• ENJOYED nearly EVERY MOMENT OF MY TIME HERE!

So there you have it folks…a little about what I’ve been doing and what I’ve been living. For all you Macalester students out there, I hope you’re enjoying being back to school! Make some noise in that joint in honor of me.