Notes from the Road

Hey all:

It`s been a bit, and I should have sent this right went I arrived in Europe, but now I`m sitting down so everyone will have to take what I can give :) I`m currently in Milano (Milan in America), on my way to Copenhagen in the next couple of days. My time in Africa ended more in a fizzle then a bang, but I still found the experience worthwhile. I didn`t personally like the last email as much as the one before (India), so I`m going to revert back to the personal interactions format, although I may lose a bit of the actual trip`s flow in the process. Today`s sections will be: Normal Neil & Colored Clayton, Randy Ruth, Party Pizza, Sauced Stefan, Daddy Domingo, Ms. Mia, Cheery Cy & Christina, Cousin Carla, Amicable Amanda, Quality Qi (took me a little while to figure out any possible q work), Terrible Tsunami, and European Exploration. Thankfully I don`t have as much ground to cover as the last one, so maybe I won`t babble for as long. After writing this email, I`m much happier with the final product. If anyone didn`t like the last email as much, give this one a shot, the return to a people oriented format proved fruitful in my estimation.

 

Normal Neil & Colored Clayton: Friends, Race, Politics, and Religion

 

Being in South Africa turned more and more into what I imagine a flashback to America 50-150 years ago might have been like. The racial tension is thick, although hardly anyone discusses it. People openly use the word `colored,` which still catches me off-guard. I`m only using the word now because Clive`s son, Neil, and his good friend Clayton, self-identify themselves by that word. I guess the term would be mixed or mulatto or something along those lines in America, but Americans would simply call those people black. But Black means something entirely different there, and Neil & Clayton would probably take offense were they to be grouped in that sub-sect. Regardless, I found the whole racial dynamic in South Africa somewhat frightening. Neil lives in a compound here they scan his fingerprint every time he wants to get through the gate. His complex is surrounded by electric fence. If a guest visits, the guard calls him and Neil can open the gate at his discretion from the keypad on his cell phone! Does America have these inventions? I mean, I`m sure they exist somewhere, but still, scary.
Neil and Clayton were wonderful. I stayed 3 nights with them, thoroughly enjoying myself. They took me out on the town and exposed me to life in Johannesburg. Some of the highlights included: drinking wine in a friend`s neighbor`s hot tub (after we had to scale the wall to reach their house) introducing them to Jagerbombs (Red bull & Jagermeister), being introduced to Springbok (I have no idea what goes in that drink), clubbing Jo`burg style, biting the hair of the dog in the morning, and various other activities. I immediately fell in with Neil and felt like old friends. We liked the same music, played the same video-games, and watched some of the same sports. I felt openly accepted and believe he and Clayton are true friends.

One of the most enlightening moments came during a brie (South African barbecue) we had at Neil`s with Clayton and Neil`s cousin. I quickly learned how far America`s international image has fallen when we began discussing the Zimbabwe question (for anyone who doesn`t know, Robert Mugabe is running Zimbabwe steadily into the ground. People are fleeing the country and world opinion is firmly against the Mugabe regime. He has ruled there for quite a while, turning bad over the last ten years. By now, he`s possible schizophrenic and definitely evil. The Economist argues that his regime only exists due to South African support. Last year he became so upset with inflation he banned money, until he realized it propped up his regime and then he quickly reinstated it). I asked Neil`s cousin about why South Africa supports Mugabe. He said that Zimbabweans are welcome to immigrate to South Africa and plan Mugabe`s overthrow, much like Mugabe allowed South African citizens to do during apartheid. Just because they don`t like Mugabe doesn`t mean they can assassinate him. He asked me if he should be allowed to assassinate President Bush because of the level of international Bush hatred. While I didn`t (and still don`t) find his analogy very applicable, it does speak volumes for America`s dismal international image.

The brie ended on a two hour discussion of religion, something which caught me entirely off-guard. South Africa`s colored community is apparently EXTREMELY religious. These people were all one denomination of Christianity (can`t remember the name) that had originated in Western Europe and had been very popular among Nazi members. Neil`s cousin was surprised to hear I was Jewish, and began asking me bizarre questions. He asked me if Jews ruled the World\America, and if Jews had killed Jesus (I denied both questions, but the table seemed in positive agreement on at least the second issue). I don`t want people to think of the discussion as offensive or off-putting, South Africa`s religious climate cannot be compared to America. Neil`s cousin actually didn`t even consider me Jewish since I didn`t keep kosher and couldn`t remember the last time I`d been to shul (it took me a while to even understand what word he was saying, a fact that must have helped him access my apparant lack of `Jewish` credentials). Religion is very different in Neil & Clayton`s circle. I`m happy they let me into their lives to view a glimpse of colored life in South Africa.

 

Randy Ruth: Peace Corp Life in Lesotho

 

Mia & I traveled down separately to meet Mia`s old high school friend Ruth, who happens to be serving concurrently (sounds a bit like prison) in Peace Corp Lesotho. I enjoyed myself in Lesotho. Seeing another Oak Person was fun, and we compared notes on mutual acquaintances. We cooked good food. I think we cooked as much in 48 hours in Lesotho (twice) as I cooked in a year in Korea. My personal highlight was a national park we visited. Lesotho is a small, mountanious nation, completely surrounded by South Africa. The national park had water flowing down the mountains, and we frolicked in it. The water cascades down the mountian in quick river flows, with small waterfalls and nice underlying pools. We found a natural water-slide they went down an 8-10 foot waterfall, spewing into a nice sized pool beneath. Ruth`s boyfriend Bryan led us there, and we all took part in the entertainment. Peace Corp Lesotho bares many similarities to Mozambique. I was introduced to the chamberpot and the bucket-bath baby pool at Ruth`s house (many PCV quarters don`t have running water, so buckets are brought into the bathroom and you pour the water over yourself in the `shower` with cups). Ruth`s house had some pleasant amenities like: cd player, couch, that`s all I can think of :)

 

Party Pizza: Christmas Mozambican Style

 

Traveling from Lesotho to Beira (where I delayed my flight to finally leave Africa on the 28th) turned out to be quite a process. Mia and I left Ruth`s on the morning of the 22nd, getting into Jo`burg on the morning of the 23rd. We promptly got stuck in the train station until the night train, having to kill maybe 15 hours amongst little fanfare. Finally caught a train to near the Mozambican border, only to discover that the train has been completely OVERBOOKED. We had people sleeping in the aisle and under the seats. I caught about two hours of shut-eye myself. Reached the border on the morning of the 24th, to quickly discover we were re-stuck. I`m not missing African transport (or communications for that matter) one bit. Mia finally begged us a ride from a passing car. I slept in the truck bed while Mia practiced English with the friendly Portuguese drivers in the cab. We reached Maputo (capital of Mozambique) on the afternoon of the 24th, and decided we couldn`t safely reach anything farther north. So I celebrated Christmas Eve in Maputo, over a Feta pizza with Mia. While it certainly wasn`t my tastiest Christmas Eve, I`m happy I stuck around Africa for the holidays. Since it isn`t very safe to stay out after dark in `big` Mozambican cities, Mia and I scurried home after our meal.

 

Sauced Stefan: Mixing Rides With Liquor

 

Our ride to Maputo was only one example of the many parts of our journey we hitched through Mozambique. When telling friends about the hitching in Europe, many people seem concerned. Hitching is THE way to travel in Mozambique. Obviously one has to be careful how and who one hitches with, but we caught many wonderful rides. The only real alternative is packed minibuses, that are only arguably safer (and maybe not even arguably) and erratic, outside of cramped and somewhat expensive. Anyway, after getting back into Vilan Kulish on December 26th, Mia and I ate a nice fish dinner and were on our way towards town to get some drinking water. A truck pulled over and asked if we wanted a lift. We agreed and quickly became acquainted with Stefan and Azel through the window connected the bed with the cab. They were both from a smallish town in Northeastern South Africa, vacationing in Mozambique for the holidays. They were probably in their early twenties, and neither looked as old as us (23). Stefan made this email because of the funny comments he made. Later in the evening, when we were hanging out, he had us guess his profession (I had asked and he wondered if I really wanted to know). Mia was closer then I, but neither of us hit it on the head exactly. He`s a funeral home operator, who adamantly explained to us how he`d never seen a dead body (and apparently never wants to see one). While I found this exchange humerus, my favorite by far was slightly after we`d originally climbed onto the truck bed. When stopped at a gas station, he explained how he and Azel had been out to a beautiful tropical island all day. They`d drank the entire way there, they`re entire time on the island, and the entire trip back. He then explained how, if we saw anything big coming towards them when driving.... I said what, yell? At which he responded, hell we`re way past yelling, JUMP OFF! (I can`t find the quotation marks on this stupid keyboard so everyone will have to use their imagination). The generosity of people towards me continues to inspire awe and admiration.

 

Daddy Domingo: The `Real` Mozambique

 

One of my favorite experience in Mozambique stemmed from a pretty boring\bad day. We spent all of December 27th traveling to Beira, where I was supposed to fly out of the next day. After being extremely lucky in hitching, everything dried up all day (after a very friendly initial ride). We had to take chapas (public mini-bus taxis) all day, which I`ve previously complained about. To top the whole thing off, we caught our last chapa (the third) into Beira in the late afternoon. As also previously mentioned, one doesn`t really want to explore bigger Mozambican cities after dark. We were cutting our travel close time-wise, but didn`t really have other options. Mia didn`t have any contacts in Beira, so were going to have to find somewhere to sleep like a hotel or hostel or whatever was available. Our last chapa completely stunk. The conductor (money taker who rides in the back) was pushy and we stopped every 10 minutes. Mia and I kept our bags on our laps, so the journey was turning somewhat excruciatingly hot and cramped for us. Then our mini-bus beeped twice and suddenly stopped; we`d run out of gas! Unbelievable. After an hour of sitting on the side of the road, the conductor still hadn`t returned. The hazy dusk had promptly turned to pitch-black night, and we were becoming `concerned` over sleeping accommodations. The driver finally told all 20 odd people that he`d front bus tickets for us to travel the last 30ish minutes into town. We all climbed into the back of a truck and were off. After maybe 15 minutes, the truck stopped and a bunch of people climbed off. Mia asked a random family if we could stay with them, and after some initial confusion, we had a place to stay. I cannot thank Mia enough for imposing herself on these people, b\c I have no idea what we would have done otherwise. Just like that, Domingo entered our lives.

 

Domingo and his wife both looked younger then us, similar to Stefan and Azel; the similarities stopped there. He`s a black Mozambican carpenter, who was 7 CHILDREN! We walked maybe thirty minutes till we finally reached his small house. They began moving all the sleeping mats outside, I think b\c they assumed we`d sleep in they`re house while they slept outside! Mia quickly assured them that we would sleep outside, although she didn`t know the word for tent in Portuguese and had to use `mobile house.` :) Although we hadn`t eaten, both Mia and I collapsed on a sleeping mat while Domingo`s wife began cooking. An hour later, around 9 pm, Domingo woke us up to eat dinner. According to Mozambican culture, we had to eat since we were `guests` (although we`d essentially invited ourselves to their house). They gave us tons of rice and bits of chicken. Domingo sat on a stool while everyone else ate on ground mats (I felt like one of the children, kind of nice and accepting). We got water and cups but I had to pass on the water; I`d made it that far, didn`t want the water to catch up with me the day before I left Africa! In the morning, Mia insisted they take money for being so kind to us. I really enjoyed Domingo and his family. We both took pictures of everyone. Mia jotted down their address. She took a picture of Domingo and his wife, because they probably don`t have any photos of themselves. Mia`s used to that experience, but I was really glad for the exposure.

 

Ms. Mia: Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

 

What can I say about Mia, she`s great. Visiting her was a wonderful excuse to return to Africa. She enabled me to travel in a place where travel otherwise would have been extraordinarily difficult (if even really possible, b\c it was difficult enough even with her around). I played many roles throughout the trip in relation to Mia: brother, boyfriend, husband, villain, protector, but in the end I was never more or less then a friend. We definitely had our differences. I do feel she`s changed quite a bit between pre-PC and now. Mozambique has brought something of an edge to her personality. Maybe she`s just become less patient due to the crap she has to deal with on an everyday level. I felt more tension with her then any of the boys I traveled with in SE Asia, but I also feel our friendship has deepened due to the extended time we spent together. Living with someone for six weeks can really clarify things. I know Peace Corp is a great cause, and give her and all the other PCVs tons of respect for taking on such a difficult task. Many people have asked me if I`m interested in it after my last email, and I want to put down a firm no. As amazing as the work is, I don`t have a real desire to spend 27 months of my life in that manner. I`ve become accustomed to certain creature comforts like running water (even if it`s not quite drinkable) and flushing toilets. Safety is another concern I don`t like being overly concerned about. But for people who are willing to take that plunge, they have access to more of an immersion experience then anything I`ve ever done. Mia`s fluent in Portuguese where I still struggle to put a sentence together in Korean. To tell the truth, I`m not sure if Africa is the place for me. I`ve been pining more and more for Asia recently. It`s simply a lifestyle\life-path choice for me. When all is said and done though, I really can`t thank Mia and her family enough for enabling me to join their family circle.

 

Cheery Cy & Christina: A European Couple

 

After sitting around various airports for hours, I finally boarded the plane from Jo`burg to Zurich. By simple happenstance I climbed onto the plane first and found my seat was in the emergency row (a welcomed discovery b\c of the extra leg-room). As people piled on, a man walked up to me and started looking around. He then asked what language I spoke, and explained how he and his wife had been separated. He wondered if I would mind moving across the aisle so they could sit in the two seats together. I gladly complied, and so met Cy and Christina (his name is actually longer then Cy, but I suck so bad at pronouncing things that he shortened it to Cy for me). Cy and Christina were returning to Switzerland after their two month honeymoon in South Africa. I hit it off with them immediately, and kept up a friendly banter throughout parts of the flight. He`s French and she`s Belarusan. They met when she`d been waiting tables and had run over him when flying down a staircase (a story that rivals my parents famous pink bike\pink car meeting). He`s an engineer that had lived in Chicago (I knew we`d get along when he told me Chicago was one of his favorite cities). In the vein of extremely friendly people that I`ve met everywhere, this couple instantly started looking after me. I received some funny looks from the ground crew when I de-boarded in Zurich with shorts on when there was snow on the ground! :) They waited for my bag and we all went through immigration together (where the bastards don`t even stamp your passport anymore! I wanted the European stamps...). Then they helped me take the train to central station with them. Once again, my faith in general humanity shined through. We all took the same train and I got off after a bit, after at least changing from sandals into my New Balance shoes.

 

Cousin Carla: From New Friend To Old Friend

 

I arrived in Europe with no real plan of attack. After regrouping at the train station, which took me a while to find, I decided to arrange my contacts. At the top of my list was Carla, my God-parents daughter who is working in Rome. I grabbed some Internet (very welcome after the awful African access) and quickly found her number. Thankfully, I didn`t wake her up when I called around 8ish. She sounded super excited to hear from me, and immediately agreed to meet me at the Rome train station. I threw myself on the train people to figure out how to use my previously purchased Euro-rail pass and to reach Rome. The process was easier then expected b\c the train assistant spoke excellent English (something many Europeans surprisingly don`t seem to do). I didn`t struggle with the trains much, outside of almost not departing Switzerland when the ticket checker explained I was in the wrong car! I`ve found the trains pretty confusing, but haven`t gotten lost yet :)

Two of Carla`s University of Iowa friends, Diane and Sara, were visiting. We all toured Rome together for a few days, which I found very enjoyable. They initiated me into their personal sorority (only had to answer a long questionnaire, which I managed a 75% pass ratio). We saw tons of things, most notably the Colosseum, St. Peter`s Cathedral and the Jewish Ghetto (all the visitors are Jewish and Carla is Jewish by association). I stayed at a very central hostel that enabled me to move between the multiple groups of friends I had in Rome.

 

Amicable Amanda:  lemoncello, Pizza, Wine = New Years

 

My other group of friends in Rome centered around Amanda, Mia`s sister that I`d traveled with for a few weeks in southern Africa. Amanda works in London but happened to be traveling through Italy around the same time as I arrived. We met up multiple times in Rome, and I quickly fell in with her group of four friends there (Gulshin, Peter, Virginia, Alessandro). We went out for the festivities on New Years Eve. After a glut of pizza (best priced meal I`ve probably had in Europe, a few beers, multiple appetizers, and tons of pizza for 7 euros a piece!) we began drinking. I hadn`t been able to let loose since traveling in SE Asia, and really enjoyed a night out on the town. We visited multiple bars, where everyone stands at the bar and takes shots. I was introduced to Italian lemoncello (which I don`t believe is significantly better then what is available in the States) and various other drinks. We celebrated New Years in a square where music had been planned and then canceled due to the tsunami. Instead of music, we watched silent movies while live ballet dancers flew around the screen and classical music played in the background. I can truly say that New Years was unique, and I enjoyed myself (outside of being freezing cold; I jumped in circles throughout the night).

Amanda and Gulshin arrived in Italy before me, and had already rented a car and visited some southern sites. I joined the two of them for exploring a little north of Rome. We visited Siene (difficult to navigate but still a beautiful old city), Florence (big, old, good), Bologna (particularly nice, good colors) and Verona (small, intimate, only ok). They are absolutely addicted to shopping, but luckily I managed to opt out of almost all of it. We hit the low point of the trip when we were towed in Florence :( The high point had to be when I insisted on seeing the David the morning we were leaving Florence. They reluctantly agreed to wake up early with me, and we arrived at the museum before 8 (opens its doors at 8:15). We rushed into the museum, but couldn`t find the statue. Finally, after asking multiple attendants, we stood in front of two David statues sculpted by Donatello. We were in the wrong museum! HA After recovering from my error, we laughed all the way to the `right` David. :) I`m looking forward to catching up with Amanda & Gulshin when I eventually get to London.

 

Quality Qi: It`s Simple Logic My Dear Watson

 

Visiting with my various groups of friends in Rome led me to some later evenings at the hostel. When getting back around 1:30 on the 30th of December, I expected most people in my six person room to be asleep. Surprise surprise when I opened the front door to find this friendly girl texting on her cell phone. She started a conversation and feel into a good talk. Qi`s (pronounced chi) is currently on a Watson fellowship to study the use and abuse of antibiotics around the world. She`s from Shang-hi and just graduated from Grinell. We flew through topics quickly and I realized we had much in common, from a love of liberal arts to a mutual respect for history (even if she chickened out and took the bio-chem route). We met up again late on New Years Eve, and toured Rome all day on the 1st. I`m about to meet her in Copenhagen, where she`s presently studying that societies stance towards antibiotics. But best of all, she might be able to travel in China with me, which would be absolutely amazing b\c of my complete lack of language skills. Sometimes nice things can simply hit you on the head; I guess it`s important to just recognize opportunities when they present themselves.

 

Terrible Tsunami: What Can I Say?

 

Many people expressed worry over my location when the tsunami hit. I wanted to allay any fears, as I was safely in southern Africa. That said, I`m mortified as much as the next person with this horrid natural disaster. I can`t help but wondering if some of the amazing people I recently met (most notably my father like figure Ali in Colombo, Sri Lanka) survived this awful event unscathed. Strangely enough, my travel provides somewhat of a news bubble, so I`ve read hardly anything about the waves. While I`m currently unable to do much at my present location, I`m planning on providing some type of assistance when I reach America. If Ali`s family needs anything, I hope I can provide at least some minimal help. My heart and tears go out to all the people effected by this disaster.

 

European Exploration: Travel Continues

 

Europe has been good to me so far. Everything is absurdly expensive. I still haven`t readjust to the cold climates. But I`m looking forward to traveling to Denmark, France, Ireland, and England. I`m still planning on reaching Chicago on March 1st. My parents and I both separately had the thought of planning a big birthday party for me, seeing as I haven`t been home for my birthday in maybe six years. So everyone, please take this as your first invitation to my twenty-fourth birthday party on (or possibly around) March 31. I can`t wait to share more stories and hear about everything I`ve missed in the last almost two years abroad! I always love getting replies. Sorry if I don`t reply immediately, but please know that I read everything that comes into my in-box.

 

Hope everyone had a happy holiday season,

Ben

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