south africa.

Saturday May 3rd, 2008
So we’ve been in South Africa for four whole days and they have been packed. We have been diving right in to the culture of tourism here, along with others from all around the globe. Our trip has been fun, even informative and educational but a bit sterile, isolated and safe. We keep ending up surrounded by rich white people, and I am becoming discontented. I hope to further connect with the people of South Africa. South Africans are all smiles; they radiate warmth and sincerity. I long to know them as we speed past townships where the majority of the population lives in poverty. As far as the eye can see are rows and rows of shacks characterized by children playing in the dirt, graffiti, garbage, clotheslines. This is the Africa I want to see: dirty, poor, real. But we just drive on in our air-conditioned bus, overstuffed from our breakfast from the Western diner, ‘Wimpy’s’, goofing off as we head to the next tourist hot spot. It would be a disappointment if my only interactions with black South Africans were when I bought a postcard at the Waterfront of ordered a ‘Coke Light’ at a street side café.
Despite my cynical ramblings, I would like to clarify that I am having a great time, and enjoying the company and presence of my group, especially ‘Team Martial Status’ consisting of Austin Salzewedel, Anna Moreshead, and Mary Saunders. For further illumination here are some profile shots of them in all of their glory here in South Africa (Austin’s picture is from our layover in Germany).




We laugh, we joke, we seek adventure everywhere we go. We are usually the last ones back to wherever we need to be, and blame our tardiness on African time. We plea “TIA” to our instructors: This Is Africa.
The scenery is breathtaking. We are on the coast and witnessed the supposed point where the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean meet. Everything and everyone is beautiful here. There is so much color and vividness that pictures could never capture. Every time I look to the ocean or the mountains or into the faces of the people here, a bit of me never wants to leave.