San Rock Paintings

The next morning, after debating on whether or not the rain was going to hold off, we decided to risk it and go on the Bushman Rock Painting tour. Our guide was this 70 year old man, who was in better shape than any of us. He also knew just about anything on animals, insects, and the Drakensburg Mountains. However, before departing, he warned us that he was deathly afraid of thunderstorms and lightening. The weather looked clear though (it was about 80 degrees and sunny), so we decided to venture out anyways. During our hike, we were able to see Baboons, a snake (which I almost stepped on), and three Bohor Reedbuck (they look like Alpacas, except with large horns). It took us about three hours to reach our first cave. Our tour guide told us in great detail about the history of the San Rock Art. The paintings tend to be quite recent and are probably only 200 to 300 years old, but the tradition of them is very interesting. The earliest cave paintings in Southern Africa date from 28,000 years ago. Hearing about this was very interesting for me because of all the courses I’ve taken at MSU about theories on why people did rock art. The most prevalent theory for San rock art in the Drakensburg Mountains on the human figures is that they are dancing with bleeding noses. The people dance around in a circle, taking part in a shamanic ritual, and then go into a state of trance. Whatever is drawn on the walls is what they see in their hallucinations.

We had lunch underneath a rocky ledge where we could see some heavily weathered images on the walls. Just when we were finishing up our lunches, the rain began to fall. The sky suddenly got pitch black, and we heard thunder and lightening in the distance. Then a look of shear panic came across our tour guides face, and I found out he definitely wasn’t kidding when he said he was afraid of storms. All he said was “run!” and he went bolting down the side of the mountain. We were all sprinting to keep up with him, but it was very hard going. We were not on any sort of a trail (he yelled back and told us it was a new shortcut), and there were many big and slippery rock faces that we had to scale down. I personally was scared of stepping on another snake, because there are lots of pythons and black mambas that live in that area. Our guide was way ahead of us at this point, and he was tripping and falling over everything in sight. Once we were finally done scaling down the mountain, we reached a large waterfall and a river, about 10 feet across. Our guide had already crossed the river, and had left us in the dust, so it was up to us to figure it out. By this point, the storm was pretty much right over top of us and there were huge streaks of lightening all around, with monsoon like conditions. We ended up forming a human chain and crossing the icy cold river without taking our tennis shoes off. I would have been much happier crossing via bridge like we had on the way there, but I understood that the storm was pretty bad and we needed to find shelter as soon as possible. In the end, the shortcut only cut off about 2km. It was a fun day, looking back at it. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a storm that bad in my life…. but this is Africa, after all. I never know what I should expect.

Lesotho

Last weekend, four girls from Malherbe and I decided to venture into the Drakensburg Mountains and to the mountainous Kingdom of Lesotho. We left Friday night and traveled via the Underberg Express to the Sani Pass Lodge Backpackers. It’s nestled right in between two mountains in the Southern Drakensburg. We stayed in dorm styled rooms with bunk beds, which were very cozy. We shared a room with a very nice and interesting couple from England (Genna and Elliot). They’ve been saving up money for three years in order to travel around the world. They had already been to Brazil, Ecuador, and Kenya – and their next stop was New Zealand. They still had 10 months left before going back to England. It was very fun talking to them, and they taught us “Dirty Grity” which is a card game a lot like Hearts.

At 8am Saturday morning, our group and two boys from Germany embarked on an adventure to the Kingdom of Lesotho, also known as “The Kingdom in the Sky”. Our mode of transportation was the Land Ranger (“4 x 4 x Far”, to be exact) to climb the “Sani Pass” which is a long windy road going from KwaZulu Natal up to Lesotho. The first stop along the way was to see the remains of a trading post used by the Sotho people and South African’s. We then embarked up the Sani Pass. The drive was amazing – words cannot do it justice. There are waterfalls everywhere you look, rolling vibrant green hills; it’s absolutely breathtaking. We stopped along the way to drink from the “Fountain of Youth” waterfall. Apparently it has the exact right mineral composition for drinking, and Guardia has not yet reached South Africa – so it was safe to drink.

After making about 40 hairpin turns up the mountain, we finally reached the South African passport authority where we got our stamps and continued up the Lesotho border. Once there, we had lunch atop the rugged Maluti Mountains where we got to meet some Herder boys. Most of the boys are sheep herders until they’re about 18 years old, and then go off to work in South Africa. They spend all day roaming about the mountains and sometimes travel on horseback, swaddled in traditional blankets. Talking to the boys was very difficult because they only spoke Sesotho. They thought it was hilarious whenever we laughed though – so when we laughed, so did they. I thought it was awesome that we could interact and connect in that way, despite our language barrier.

Our tour guide then took us to a woman’s hut for some homemade bread and Sotho Beer (which is very thick and porridge-like....). It’s brewed by many women as an additional source of income. A white flag is hung outside the house when beer or bread is for sale. The woman and her 7 children were all very welcoming, and we spent some time in her home chatting (she spoke English fairly well).

Our last stop of the day was at the Sani Pass Chalet. It is the highest pub in all of Africa. By 4pm, we were on the Sani Pass again, on our way back to the hostel. Once again, I sat in the very back of the Land Ranger with Kelly and Martin (the German exchange student…very strange coincidence, I know) to get “The African Massage” of bouncing up and down with every rock we hit. We tried playing “Dirty Girty” again that night, except the power kept on going off because of the horrible thunderstorm. So, we just ended up going to bed really early.

Thursday February 19th 2009

One of the most popular things to do in SA is to have Braiis. They are like barbeques, except a lot more extensive. After class today, my friend Muziwandile invited me to a braii with some of his friends from the art department. It was a just short walk away by the ceramics building on campus. We had a huge feast which consisted of: grilled corn on the cob, chicken, hamburger, biscuits (which are actually called “cookies” here, and vise versa), apples, veggies, a salad with sliced tomatoes, avocado, grapes, mango, and our main dish: Pumpkin. The pumpkin was cooked in the ceramics kiln at the University. They emptied out the inside of the pumpkin and filled it with spinach, various nuts, mushrooms, cheese, spinach, and corn. Then they covered the entire pumpkin with clay and put it in the kiln until the clay was burnt. We then took it out and smashed the clay open to reveal a cooked squash. It was absolutely delicious! A few people from the ceramics department were there too that Muziwandile introduced me to, including a visiting professor from Chicago. He’s here for three works to show and talk about his artwork. He said he wants to stop in the art dept. and see some of my paintings. I’m actually quite nervous about that, and I hope he just forgets!! :-)

After the braii, I went to Muziwandile’s studio to see some of his art. Currently, he’s working on these very large ceramic instruments. They’re shaped like bulbs, and on the side is a small hole, about fist size. Coming out of the top are twisted long pipes coiling around each other. You hold the ceramic piece under your arm, like a football, and hit the fist sized hole with the palm of your hand, in rhythm. It creates this really low, but beautiful noise – especially when you have more than one going at once. Muziwandile, another one of his friends, and I sat around the studio and played for awhile. Muziwandile goes to Johannesburg every other weekend to sell his instruments there. He told me that they have a lot of significance to his family’s culture and background – and he uses the instruments as a way to tell stories. Carved in the side are different animals and people that tell about his family’s past. Doing this is not only a way to earn money, but to also keep his family’s culture and history alive.
Today was a great day overall, and I’m happy to be actually making friends besides the MSU group (even though I love them dearly : )

Herrow!

Here’s my mailing address, in case anyone was wondering :)

University of KwaZulu Natal
Malherbe Residence (Room A212)
Private Bag X O1
Scottsville
3209
South Africa

I heard mail takes about 6 weeks to get here, and I’m not sure how much it costs. Just thought I’d let you all know though :O)

Saturday, February 14th 2009

The first time I visited Durban – I absolutely loved it. This time around, however, was a different story. It was a gorgeous day out, so me and four of the other girls from MSU decided to venture out to the Durban beach for the day. Our mode of transport was the Khombi. Khombi’s are South Africa’s form of public transportation. They aren’t owned by any company – basically whoever wants to operate one, can. Most of the vans are painted some funky color, or have odd slogans across them. My two favorites slogans of the day were: “Making Love Slowly” and “We promise to get you to your destination alive” painted boldly across the sliding doors. It was a very confusing ride, and took us nearly 3 hours to get there (Durban is only 45 minutes away). We did have a tremendous amount of help along the way though. It’s a very heartwarming feeling when so many people go out of their way just to help you out. Every person we’d ask for directions didn’t just tell us where to go, but they actually walked with us to our destination. One guy walked with us about half a mile before turning around.

We had intended on going to “North Beach”, but somehow ended up at “South Beach”. No big deal, right? Wrong. Apparently, as a result from the apartheid, the beaches have split up into an “all black” beach and the other an “all white” beach. We ended up at the “all black” beach. As we were lying there, I couldn’t help but feel like some sort of spectacle. People would just stop and stare at us. We even had some people taking pictures of us. I felt horribly uncomfortable, but decided to stick it out anyways.

Even though it was slightly awkward being there, it’s still a great feeling to break the barriers of apartheid, and do stuff not following the norm. For example, in our dorm, we MSU students are the only white people living there (the residences are split up according to race). I feel like we’re doing something good, and making a positive difference – even if it is very small.

All the girls went in the water except for me and Kelly. We were laying there in the sun, when this guy sits down next to us. He was extremely friendly, and chatting about what a beautiful day it was. Just at that moment though, I happened to turn my head and notice two men rooting through Amanda’s purse. When they saw I noticed them, they booked it and went running down the beach. So that guy just being friendly so his friends could try to steal our stuff. I hate when this sort of thing happens. It makes you really lose faith in the good of people. It’s hard to get angry about it though. When you think about all these people had to go through – the abuse and discrimination by white men, it’s no wonder people turn to crime. I guess it just makes me sad, is all.

After that incident, we got pizza and ice cream, and returned to PMB. There’s definitely a reason why Pietermaritzburg is called the “Sleepy Hollow” of South Africa. Compared to the hustle and bustle of Durban, it’s like living in Traverse City again.

Wednesday, February 11th 2009

Classes this morning were pretty uneventful. The night was a lot of fun though. Apparently, “Trolly Races” are a big deal here. You get shopping carts, cover them in paper, put some random person in them, and have races around a track field – trying not to kill the person in the cart. To make things more interesting, people were drinking “Yakka” which is an illegal drink in the US. I definitely did not try any, but everyone who did the Trolly Races had some (this is a school sponsored event, btw). That made it very amusing to watch, however.

After the races were done, and our team won (“Team America: Obama’s Mama”), we headed to “The Stagecoach” to meet up with our friends Pulami and Sipho. Everything went fine there – but the walk home was a different story.

It was about 1am, when we were crossing the road to Malherbe. Suddenly, a guy came whizzing down the road on his bike. As he approached the intersection, a car happened to be coming from the opposite direction, and the two of them collided. All I remember is hearing a loud crashing sound, and seeing the guy on the bike roll up over the hood and then onto the pavement, and then the guy in the car speeding off. Before we could run over and see if the guy on the bike was okay, the car that had hit him went speeding into reverse back towards the guy. The man in the car (with a bottle of whiskey in hand) jumped out, grabbed the guy in the road, threw him in his car, and sped off again. I wanted to call the cops, but Sipho said they wouldn’t do anything about it. Right now though, I’m just praying that the guy on the bike was able to get help. I think I might call the hospital tomorrow, but I really don’t know what else I can do.

Monday, February 9th 2009

First day of classes. I got up at 6:00am to shower, and had to wait in line for 30minutes for it to finally free up. There’s only one shower on our floor, so I guess I’ll have to get up even earlier tomorrow. It doesn’t help either that the shower only has two settings – boiling hot, and freezing cold with no in between.

I’m taking 4 classes this semester (16 credits). They include a Painting and Printmaking Course, 2 art history courses (one on gender and the other on architecture), and a Service Learning / teaching class.

The only one I’m worried about it my Painting / Printmaking course. We meet twice per week: Thursday for 5 hours, and Friday for 9.5 hours (yes, that’s right… 7:30am till 5pm…. with only one 30min break). My prof is sorta crazy too. She calls us her “little chickens” and has a very strong Zulu accent that makes her impossible to understand. Also, all our projects are “pass / fail” on whether or not she likes it – so no matter how many hours or how much effort you put into a piece – it ultimately comes down to whether or not SHE thinks it looks good.

My art history classes are both very interesting – the only problem I have is that they’re on NO set schedule. One week we may meet Mondays and Thursdays at 7am – and then the next week we may not meet at all. During the beginning of each class, we have votes on what times we should meet for the following week. So my hopes of getting on some sort of set schedule are out the window. BUT, this is Africa after all – what did I expect?

Saturday, February 7th 2009

We got up extremely early today to begin our adventure to the Thukela Falls. It is located in the Amphitheatre and is the second tallest waterfall in the WORLD!

The hike was absolutely stunning. Everything is so rich, green and fresh here. The only problem was the fog. At times we could barely see our hands in front of our faces. I didn’t mind it too much after a while though. It’s actually really peaceful in the clouds. And quiet too. It’s like being in a cave – its eerie silent, so all your scenes are dramatically heightened.

To get up the waterfall, we had to climb straight up this very rocky cliff. Before we began, our guide told us that many people had died climbing it, and he almost did last year as well. He was climbing up, and the person in front of him accidentally kicked a boulder out of place, sending it flying down the mountain. Luckily, he dunked just in time to miss it hitting his head. So that story made me slightly terrified.

We made it to the falls, but it was still too foggy to see all the way down. It’s probably best I couldn’t though – it’s a 1000 meter drop, straight down.

The climb down was very difficult. A few yards away from the waterfall, we ran into a cliff, and the only way to descend was to climb these ratchety old ladders hanging from the side. The first one was about 65 feet and the next was over 100 feet. A couple people were too scared to do it, so they had to be harnessed and lowered down. The only problems I encountered going down was the rocks jetting out, making it impossible to get good footing, and the wind moving the ladder.

It was a really fun trip overall – but I’m happy to be back in my cozy dorm room again. Classes start tomorrow, and I’m really anxious to get on some sort of a schedule again.

Friday, February 6th 2009

We got up early today to begin our Drakensburg Mountain adventure. The Baz Bus picked us up, and we then embarked on our 2 hour drive to The Ampatheatre Hostel. On our way there, I saw a few antelope and TONS of cows. They’d just be grazing along the side of the road, and we’d have to swerve not to hit them.

The hostel is located on the outskirts of the Drakensburgs, and it was absolutely beautiful there. Right after we arrived, we went over the “Drakensburg National Park” area for some hiking. I met a guy named “Fabio” from Brazil, who hung out with a lot during our stay there. The park consisted of a various trails leading to a couple of gorgeous waterfalls. We took off our shoes and rolled up our pant legs and splashed around in the water. Then we tried to travel to the “Cannibal Caves” and see San Paintings but they required a permit to enter, which made me very sad. I’ve done a lot of research on them and I really wanted to go. During the Zulu wars, refugees escaped in the mountains and lived in the caves. Food was so scarce then, that they were forced to eat passing travelers or even their own children. They lived there for about 20 years, but eventually became such a threat that they were hunted and killed by the Zulu’s. I thought it was interesting at least…

Thursday February 5th 2009

We woke up at 6am to begin the hectic day of registration. It consisted of waiting in painfully long lines, arguing with Deans, and getting different stamps of approval. It made me really realize how easy we have it at MSU. Everything there is done electronically – and if we can’t take a class, the computer simply tells us so. Here, we first had to wait in a line for about two hours just to receive a piece of paper with our name on it. Then we had to talk with each of our professors about why we wanted to take the class, and get their stamps of approval. THEN we had to wait in another ridiculously long line to get our “financial approval stamp”, THEN another line to talk to a counselor about classes overlapping, THEN another line to get a stamp from the Dean, THEN wait in another line for our photo IDs, THEN another line to register for our emails and passwords, THEN another line for “computer orientation” to be taught how to use a computer (ummmm…). The whole process took up the entire day, and really tested my patience. I know I’ll have much more respect for MSU’s online registration process when I return though.

Monday February 2nd 2009

Today was part 1 of UKZN’s registration process. It was only for international students, so it was interesting to meet everyone and hear their reasons for travel. I met one kid from Plattsburgh, New York – which was a very strange. Most of the international students were from Zimbabwe. They’re here because their country is in such turmoil, and everything has gone out of business. They cannot find food, shelter or water. All grocery stores are closed and the Universities are shut down. I knew about situation in Zimbabwe, but I had no idea it was that bad. To come to South Africa, they had to leave behind their families, friends, home, etc. I don’t know if it was the same for others – but I felt very bad telling everyone my reasons for traveling to South Africa. After their stories of being refugees and leaving their families behind, it was very hard for me to say my reason for travel was because, “I’ve always wanted to come here”. It made me really reexamine my lifestyle and choices.

We also had a meeting today with our independent studies professor. He explained to us that we’d have 3 internships. One is working with a Christian Organization, another is working with AIDS orphans, and another with the government on distributing info on the AIDS crisis. This should be a good experience, and I’m really looking foreword to it.

Saturday January 31st 2009

Once again, Cindy picked us up bright and early to take us to “1000 Hills” It’s a beautiful outlook about an hour away with rolling hills, valleys and streams. Afterwards, we went to a “Crocodile Farm and Zulu Village” which was pretty much just a huge tourist attraction. We ate crocodile meat for lunch and returned to Pburg.

We met up with our friend, Sipho, from the dorm who invited us to his township to meet his sister. To get there we took a “Khombi” - they’re large vans that local South Africans ride, and they play VERY loud “house music” (a lot like techno). The routes aren’t planned out, so you pretty much have to jump on one and pray that the driver will be nice enough to drop you off where you want to go. After transferring through many different Khombi’s, and having no idea where I was, we finally arrived at Township 18 and walked to Siphos sister’s house. Their home was very beautifully decorated with wooden carvings of Animals, and his sister was extremely welcoming. On our way back we stopped at Township 18’s local “clubhouse” to have a braii. A lot of people were giving us weird looks, and Sipho later told us that we were the first white people in the history of Township 18 to visit, and that’s why people acted taken aback and a little weirded out that we were there. It was definitely a great cultural expierence, and also nice to get away from the city for awhile.

Thursday January 29th 2008

It’s only my third full day in Pietermaritzburg, but it feels like I’ve been here for weeks. I think it’s probably because we have so much jam packed into our days. This morning, Cindy picked us up for an adventure to Durban. The drive was absolutely breathtaking. Although it was rainy and hard to see out my window, I could still make out the gorgeous mountains, cliffs, and waterfalls. South Africa is a truly beautiful country and I definitely want to do some hiking in the next few weeks.

After about an hour of driving, very slippery roads, and crazy drivers, we finally arrived in Durban. One thing that made me very happy is that they don’t chop down trees where the roads are. We’ll be driving along, and there will be a random tree in the center of the road that we’ll quickly have to maneuver around. So while trying to drive up and down incredibly steep hills, we also had to swerve to avoid random trees in the road. The roots have also started growing under the pavement, which pushes the road up and makes the drive very bumpy.

Our first stop was Westville campus in Durban. The campus consists of two large hills. Atop each hill is a campus: Westville and Edgewood. During the apartheid, all the white students were housed and taught on one hill, and all the Indian students were on the other hill. (The black students were at the Pietermaritzburg campus). They were housed on different hillsides so that the races couldn’t interact with each other. However, since the apartheid ended, any student, no matter their nationality, can attend any campus. It still appears to be very segregated – but hopefully it will change with more time.

Cindy then took us to an “authentic” African market, and I bought a tapestry for my mom. I was even able to barter down the price, which I was very excited about. I was only able to talk him down R20 (which is like $2), but I still felt very accomplished.

We then visited the Indian Ocean. It wasn’t the scenery that amazed me, but rather the diversity in the people. There was an equal mix of black people, white people and Indians all together. During the apartheid, it was a “whites only” beach – but now it’s definitely very mixed, which is wonderful to see.

After playing in the water, we drove back to PMB, and our group decided to go to the club for the night. Everyone I talked to was really friendly and outgoing, minus one kinda creepy guy. He first asked me why I was at a black bar. He told me that there were certain bars for black people, and certain bars for white people. The bar we were at was black, and he said I’d be much better going to an all white bar – because I’d for sure have a better time there. I told him I was happy where I was at, and that skin color should make no difference. It’s just weird getting use to being the minority here. This guy was the only bad apple I’ve met on my whole trip here though, and hopefully it will stay that way.

Tuesday January 27th 2009

This morning, we all got up around 8am. I did not sleep the whole night. I think it was a mixture of nerves and jet lag. I was still a lot happier than I was last night - I still can’t believe I’m in Africa! YAY!

The plane flight to Johannesburg to Pietermaritzburg was BEAUTIFUL. We never passed above cloud level, so we were able to see the mountains very clearly. The landscape was spotted with houses, located very far away from the city. Even though the apartheid ended over 10 years ago, there’s still a lot of evidence from it. Thousands of people were forced by the government to leave their houses in the city, and got dumped off in the middle of nowhere. The communities formed are fully sustainable now, but it’s hard to imagine how difficult it must have been for these people go be dropped off without electricity, good farming land, etc.

The landing was extremely bumpy, so I was very happy once we were on the ground. We then took a Khombi to the campus. It is SO beautiful here. The green-ness and tropical feeling reminds me of Florida. I also have a great view of the Drakensburg Mountains out my dorm room window.

Two of the mentors from Malherbe (my dorm) invited us to that nights “Welcome Week” event. It was at the football field where people were playing sports and having braiis (barbeques… they’re very popular here). Everyone was really friendly and outgoing, and asked lots of questions about where we were from. My favorite is people saying, “you have the president who looks like me!” Everyone I’ve met so far has a different handshake… I’m not quite picking up on it either and I feel a little out of the loop.

Monday, January 26th 2009

Day 1 in South Africa! The plane flight was pretty uneventful – over 20 hours of sitting stationary and watching movie after movie. I do not recommend “Matchstick Men” to anybody; it’s possibly the worst movie I’ve seen in my life.

We arrived in Johannesburg at 11:00pm. A shuttle took us to our hotel, which was about 15 minutes away. I must say, the drive there was not the best first impression of Africa. The air smelled like rotten eggs, we passed lots of shady looking characters, and I just felt sorta unsafe. I guess it’s all what I expected though. I’m hoping tomorrow will be better.