As I mentioned a while back, one of the hardest parts (if not the hardest part) about living so far away from home is the missing of big events in life… Eva’s birth, Dave’s graduation, my friend Sara’s baby shower, birthdays, anniversaries, parties, new jobs, moving, transitions, etc. There is a lot – some of it I will be able to catch up on… some of it I won’t – like weddings…
My friend Kris is getting married in May. She has known this for about a year, and I have known that I was going to miss it before then. It is a big bummer to miss such a big day and since I came it has been one of my regrets. I kept thinking… maybe I will be able to make it back… maybe I could skip class and go home for a week… (and when it is really hard here…) maybe I could just go home and not miss any of it! However, when my rationality returns to me I realize that I should probably deal with the fact that I may not be able to participate in the lives of my loves ones in person, but I can participate creatively from far away.
In my attempt to do just that I emailed my friend asking her if there was anything I could provide for the wedding from Africa. I was thinking necklaces for her girls, a fun painting or carving, some fabric… stuff that Africa is known for. She was very gracious and accepted my need to participate and requested that I find some ribbon to wrap around the flowers for her bridesmaids. Great idea… except up until that point (and for the entire year I was in Zambia) I couldn’t remember seeing any ribbon anywhere – except that which you would wrap presents with, probably not appropriate for wrapping flowers. Thus, I knew this quest would be a difficult one. To add to the challenge, she also is having a very creative wedding (anyone who knows Kris – or who has seen her amazing films or scrapbooks - knows the extent of her creative endeavors) and although all of the girls are wearing a nice black summery dress, they are each wearing jewelry of different colors – all in beautiful muted shades: lavender, emerald green, taupe, baby blue, etc. To emphasis why this would add to my challenge I have a simple question for all of you: What do you think of when you think “African colors?” Are any of the colors of Kris’s wedding in your conception? Yeah … my thoughts exactly. This still didn’t deter me; however, because when the request was made I was just starting my travels to Port Elizabeth and Durban.
The Quest started in Port Elizabeth. My friend George and I enjoyed the beach and the shops and searched in all of the ones we went into. However, we couldn’t find a thing, and didn’t know if there was a fabric store around. We met a nice Rotary couple at the end of our stay who knew of a fabric shop – but it was all imported ribbon from Europe. Not ideal in my mind – I really wanted to send African Ribbon. I wasn’t discouraged however, because the next stop was Durban. Durban has a large East Indian population – they have beautiful colors that could be similar to those Kris is requesting and it is a much larger city than Grahamstown; thus, I was thinking this was a good place to find some ribbon. When my friends (Drew, Sarah, and Anna) picked me up from the airport they asked me what I wanted to do while I was there. (They were super gracious because they still had class and a lot of work to do). I said there were three top priorities: go to the beach, go to church on Easter, and find ribbon. The first two were already in their plans for the week. They lamented with me the difficulty of the task, but soon jumped on board.
First lead… One of Drew’s roommates is a South African professional dressmaker, Greg – specializing in formal dresses. Upon first meeting him I asked… where can I find ribbon? He mentioned that to find African ribbon would be virtually impossible – all of the stuff he used was from Europe – bummer! However, he said that there were some ribbon manufacturers in Johannesburg. (I wasn’t going there – but there might be some in the shops around Durban.) He gave me a list of shops and my friends promised to take me. Sporadically during my week in Durban, Sarah, Anna, Drew and I looked for ribbon. We looked at an Indian bizarre – found some, but it wasn’t right… We looked at the mall and even tried to find a ribbon store in downtown Durban. No luck… Finally when Sarah and I were shopping for groceries at another mall I asked a lady and she gave me two places to look. As we searched we were lamenting and brain storming how I would be able to get a good match for all of the seven colors and if I should cave and buy European ribbon in Africa – I guess it would be coming from Africa right?!? I then said something to Sarah that changed the course of the quest… “I wish that she had asked for something beaded! It is so African and so beautiful and you can find different colored beads everywhere!” Then it hit me… If I could find some ivory ribbon… perhaps I could get someone to bead the different colors onto the ribbon and I would have African ribbon – even if the ribbon was from Europe – it would still be African-like! With that I went into the last shop I was looking and found some iridescent ribbon made in Joburg. It was great and would probably work because it shimmered as a lot of different colors. I bought it as a back up to my master plan, but I was now determined that I had a better option and I didn’t want to let it go.
Second lead… I traveled back to Port Elizabeth and stayed with a beautiful Rotary couple – Trevor and Denise Long. I had decided that I would stay and go to the Rotary meeting there and also to an amazing play the next evening. During casual conversation I updated them on my quest and they got on board as well. Later the next day, Denise took me to a shop called Mama’s and we found all sorts of ribbons and beads! I bought all that I needed and some extra, not knowing exactly how this would work and deciding that if I combined some colors perhaps it would get closer to the color needed. It was fun and I was excited. Greg had told me some techniques for sewing beads onto fabric/ribbon while I was still in Durban. I tried that night when I got home. It didn’t look right, but I wasn’t too sad, I had another lead – my favorite craft shop in Grahamstown…
Third lead… Upon returning home from my traveling I attempted to adjust being back. That was the week Eva was born so I was full of emotion (see previous post) and a little down that I couldn’t be closer to home. I distracted myself by doing as much homework as possible and trekking on with my quest for beaded ribbon. First stop: Kisma Crafts. Tracy is a lady there who does all sorts of bead work and beautiful crafts. We became friends when I kept coming back in asking.. “ how do you do that? And that – what is that made out of? “ She sold me some patterns (I now how to make beaded hearts) and continues to chat with me about crafts and pretty things. In need of some support I brought the ribbon and beads to her. At first she despaired a little…mentioning how difficult it would be to get the beads to not droop and to get them in the right patterns on the ribbon so that they could be put on the flowers without overlapping the ribbon onto the beaded part. However, then she looked up and we both say the answer: wire hanging in a spool over her head. She sold it to make the beaded hearts, angels, etc that she sold patterns before. We realized if we could simply put the beads onto the wire, then they could actually be put over the ribbon and didn’t even need to be sewn on! It was such an amazing discovery and we both smiled with the smugness of knowing that we had solved the most challenging aspect of the quest. However, the journey was far from over.
After I had gotten all of the beaded work done, I packaged it all up as well as I can and went to the post office. On my way I met another friend, Sylvia – a Xhosa woman who I had also requested help from. She asked me about my endeavors and I showed her. She sits outside the University and sells her beadwork to students and passersby. She offered to teach me as well someday and I plan on taking her up on the offer. Some of the bead work has a cultural connected, so I am interested in learning more about it! Out of courtesy for her and her interest I bought a little Aids awareness pin and added it to the package (Kris is socially conscious – she would appreciate the small token. Anyway, it was part of the process). When I got to the post office I asked the safest way to send a package. They responded DHL, but that it would cost more than 100$USD. I opted for the alternative, a world ground service that was little more in my price range. Off they went. This was almost four weeks ago…. I was a bit worried that they wouldn’t arrive, but Kris emailed and said they were there!!! Yippie… Quest finished… quest successful..
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Seeing Elephants and Chasing Monkeys!
Seeing Elephants and Chasing Monkeys!
A couple weekends ago the Sunset Rotary Club in Grahamstown took me and the other three scholars - Eben, Haley, and Rosa (seen above) - to Addo Elephant Park. It was fun to be out of the University and in nature camping for a whole weekend. It was also fun to remember that I am in Africa – not just staying at a University attempting to intake large amounts of knowledge in massive chunks. For three days all I had to do was intake large amounts of scenery and it was beautiful!
We were warned before our arrival that we may only see a couple of elephants. Even though there are 450 elephants in the park, the park is big and they have a lot of room to roam – a good thing for sure. The warning proved to be futile however, because our very first night camping next to the game park we say 4 elephants at the watering hole. It was fun to breathe deep and enjoy the awesomeness of being so close (about 50 yards away separated by a very large fence). I am glad that we enjoyed that moment because it only got better. The next day we drove into the park and started our first of many wart hog sightings. These creatures (Pumbas as you might recall from the lion king – a name that rightfully so means warthog in Swahili) are very cute in an odd sort of way and squeak like pigs. They get down on their knees when they are eating and they run with their tales straight up in the air. We searched for some Meer cats so see if there were any Timons around, but couldn’t find any. We also saw Ostriches at the beginning of our trek and kudu – which I ate later at the restaurant and I heard is very healthy for you! It wasn’t too long, however,
until we saw the elephants again – once again drinking from a watering hole in all of their majesty. We were content with the morning, but drove on since it was still early… then we came upon the jackpot – two full grown elephants standing in the road ahead of us. They moved to the side and we were able to drive next to them. In fact we got so close that I was able to make eye contact with one. But when it’s ears started to wave we decided that it was time to drive away (Ear waving is one of the early signs of aggression). We drove only to be stopped by a car that told us that there were TONS of elephants ahead at a watering hole down the road. The driver wasn’t lying either, we counted close to 40 elephants in one place with some babies as well! Later during the drive we stopped at a look out and were able to see the elephants while we were on foot – separated from each other by a nice big wooden fence. It is amazing to see how huge they are! We stood underneath a stuffed head of an elephant that had died in the park and there was enough room for a 6 foot person under there.
As we drove back from our excitement we saw a tortoise lumbering slowly across the street and a number of birds – called butcher birds – because they hang the bugs and small reptiles that they catch out on display to attract other insects and also for the males to show off their providing skills.
When we got back to the camp we were greeted by a Rotary member that told us we had had visitors in our tent while we were gone. I had brilliantly left our food in our tent and the monkey had opened the zipper (it is really hilarious they can do that!) went into our tent – opened everyone’ backpack until she finally found the bananas in my backpack. She then took the bananas out of the skin and ran away with a fist (and mouth) full of banana. We thought it was hilarious! The only regret we have is that we didn’t get to see the shenanigan – only got to see the evidence thereof. I guess we are lucky that they didn’t steal anything valuable – they are known to like shiny things!
A couple weekends ago the Sunset Rotary Club in Grahamstown took me and the other three scholars - Eben, Haley, and Rosa (seen above) - to Addo Elephant Park. It was fun to be out of the University and in nature camping for a whole weekend. It was also fun to remember that I am in Africa – not just staying at a University attempting to intake large amounts of knowledge in massive chunks. For three days all I had to do was intake large amounts of scenery and it was beautiful!
We were warned before our arrival that we may only see a couple of elephants. Even though there are 450 elephants in the park, the park is big and they have a lot of room to roam – a good thing for sure. The warning proved to be futile however, because our very first night camping next to the game park we say 4 elephants at the watering hole. It was fun to breathe deep and enjoy the awesomeness of being so close (about 50 yards away separated by a very large fence). I am glad that we enjoyed that moment because it only got better. The next day we drove into the park and started our first of many wart hog sightings. These creatures (Pumbas as you might recall from the lion king – a name that rightfully so means warthog in Swahili) are very cute in an odd sort of way and squeak like pigs. They get down on their knees when they are eating and they run with their tales straight up in the air. We searched for some Meer cats so see if there were any Timons around, but couldn’t find any. We also saw Ostriches at the beginning of our trek and kudu – which I ate later at the restaurant and I heard is very healthy for you! It wasn’t too long, however,
until we saw the elephants again – once again drinking from a watering hole in all of their majesty. We were content with the morning, but drove on since it was still early… then we came upon the jackpot – two full grown elephants standing in the road ahead of us. They moved to the side and we were able to drive next to them. In fact we got so close that I was able to make eye contact with one. But when it’s ears started to wave we decided that it was time to drive away (Ear waving is one of the early signs of aggression). We drove only to be stopped by a car that told us that there were TONS of elephants ahead at a watering hole down the road. The driver wasn’t lying either, we counted close to 40 elephants in one place with some babies as well! Later during the drive we stopped at a look out and were able to see the elephants while we were on foot – separated from each other by a nice big wooden fence. It is amazing to see how huge they are! We stood underneath a stuffed head of an elephant that had died in the park and there was enough room for a 6 foot person under there.
As we drove back from our excitement we saw a tortoise lumbering slowly across the street and a number of birds – called butcher birds – because they hang the bugs and small reptiles that they catch out on display to attract other insects and also for the males to show off their providing skills.
When we got back to the camp we were greeted by a Rotary member that told us we had had visitors in our tent while we were gone. I had brilliantly left our food in our tent and the monkey had opened the zipper (it is really hilarious they can do that!) went into our tent – opened everyone’ backpack until she finally found the bananas in my backpack. She then took the bananas out of the skin and ran away with a fist (and mouth) full of banana. We thought it was hilarious! The only regret we have is that we didn’t get to see the shenanigan – only got to see the evidence thereof. I guess we are lucky that they didn’t steal anything valuable – they are known to like shiny things!
That evening we saw some jackals far away at the watering hole and the next day we saw a herd of buffalo there as well. All in all I would say it was a very successful viewing weekend
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Back at School...
My studies…
Obviously life has been busy if it has taken me this long to write an update. It has been a bit of an adjustment being back at school since the Easter break. It was a bit of a premature break because it happened a third of the way through our studies instead of half way through, so this term will be a long one and I am feeling it already! Just to give all of those who are interested a background on my studies I thought that I would tell you a bit about my classes. I am enrolled in a Masters Program here in International Studies. It is part of the politics department so many of my classes are in international relations. I only have three classes that are required and in order to expedite my studies I decided to take all three this semesterJ That was a good idea for quickness, but perhaps not a good idea for saneness. Each of my classes meets once a week, and for each I have a lot of reading and writing. I am fairly good at the former and miserable at the latter! I think I am getting better, but we’ll have to see if my marks improve to tellJ
On Tuesday I have my International Relations Theory Class. The highlight of this class has come in the past few weeks as we have been able to talk about how international politics influenced by transnational corporations (i.e. large NGOs like Amnesty International and campaigns like the STOP THE TRAFFIK campaign) effect world politics. I gave a presentation on this topic a couple of weeks ago focusing on the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and its effectiveness in swaying governmental position on humanitarian issues. It was fun – especially since I was able to meet Jody Williams (the long time head of the ICBL and the co-winner of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize with ICBL) – thanks Peace Jam!!!
On Wednesday I have an International Relations during the Cold War Class. It is also interesting and in honor of my nuclear engineer husband to be – I did my first presentation on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Movements of the Early Cold War. One thing I would encourage everyone to look up is the Atoms for Peace Speech made by Eisenhower in 1953... it is pretty interesting.
On Thursday, I have a class called Freedom and Domination. I can sum this class up by stating that I feel like I am being dominated by political philosophy, Gramsci, ideology and hegemony. The consolation prize for the pain that this class puts me through is twofold: 1. Making it through and having a new found respect for anyone who can do philosophy (I do believe that it is an art in which I am inept)… 2. Having a new vocabulary to take about social issues (ideology, hegemony). I did find a new good way of explaining this class and my struggles - I decided that to me philosophy is like trying to find Waldo when you’re colorblind.
On the rest of my days of week I read, write and attempted to take breaks whenever I can… in summary being in school is not as easy as I remembered it.
The highlight of my time is spent on my thesis with my very helpful thesis advisor. This is good since it take up the entirety of my time come the fall. My topic: The NGO response to child soldiers in Subsaharan Africa. I am excited to see how much of it I can get done in the fall months before I come back home in six months!!!
Obviously life has been busy if it has taken me this long to write an update. It has been a bit of an adjustment being back at school since the Easter break. It was a bit of a premature break because it happened a third of the way through our studies instead of half way through, so this term will be a long one and I am feeling it already! Just to give all of those who are interested a background on my studies I thought that I would tell you a bit about my classes. I am enrolled in a Masters Program here in International Studies. It is part of the politics department so many of my classes are in international relations. I only have three classes that are required and in order to expedite my studies I decided to take all three this semesterJ That was a good idea for quickness, but perhaps not a good idea for saneness. Each of my classes meets once a week, and for each I have a lot of reading and writing. I am fairly good at the former and miserable at the latter! I think I am getting better, but we’ll have to see if my marks improve to tellJ
On Tuesday I have my International Relations Theory Class. The highlight of this class has come in the past few weeks as we have been able to talk about how international politics influenced by transnational corporations (i.e. large NGOs like Amnesty International and campaigns like the STOP THE TRAFFIK campaign) effect world politics. I gave a presentation on this topic a couple of weeks ago focusing on the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and its effectiveness in swaying governmental position on humanitarian issues. It was fun – especially since I was able to meet Jody Williams (the long time head of the ICBL and the co-winner of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize with ICBL) – thanks Peace Jam!!!
On Wednesday I have an International Relations during the Cold War Class. It is also interesting and in honor of my nuclear engineer husband to be – I did my first presentation on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Movements of the Early Cold War. One thing I would encourage everyone to look up is the Atoms for Peace Speech made by Eisenhower in 1953... it is pretty interesting.
On Thursday, I have a class called Freedom and Domination. I can sum this class up by stating that I feel like I am being dominated by political philosophy, Gramsci, ideology and hegemony. The consolation prize for the pain that this class puts me through is twofold: 1. Making it through and having a new found respect for anyone who can do philosophy (I do believe that it is an art in which I am inept)… 2. Having a new vocabulary to take about social issues (ideology, hegemony). I did find a new good way of explaining this class and my struggles - I decided that to me philosophy is like trying to find Waldo when you’re colorblind.
On the rest of my days of week I read, write and attempted to take breaks whenever I can… in summary being in school is not as easy as I remembered it.
The highlight of my time is spent on my thesis with my very helpful thesis advisor. This is good since it take up the entirety of my time come the fall. My topic: The NGO response to child soldiers in Subsaharan Africa. I am excited to see how much of it I can get done in the fall months before I come back home in six months!!!
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