Back to the Ocean

Hello all! I almost didn't have a computer today so you're all lucky for this post! I have a few things to tell you about since the last time I wrote in Mthatha. We did our homestays while in Mthatha. I must say, that was quite an interesting experience. My friend Kelly and I stayed with an older couple for the two nights. They were both very nice but very soft spoken. We were told that the man was a doctor by the woman who set up the homestays, but that was it. When we got to their house (which had EVERYTHING---a workout room, a hottub inside, a huge TV, etc.) they gave us our bath towels, told us where the tea and coffee were, and said they would see us in the morning. Kelly and I were scared to ask about using any of their awesome stuff so we just sat in her room and chatted until we were tired enough to go to bed. We were expecting to spend the night talking with our host parents!

Anyway, the next morning, we woke up bright and early for our day on Nelson Mandela. At the host house, we had a nice breakfast and finally were able to chat with our host dad. We found out that he is an OBGYN and owns his own practice. After breakfast, we headed to the Nelson Mandela Museum. From there, we all squeezed into a 23 seater bus to drive to Nelson Mandela's birthplace. I must say, this was one of the most interesting things we have done---mostly because we were able to meet Nelson Mandela's grandson. Before I say anything else, I have to tell you that he was certainly not a reflection of Mandela's views on human rights. He spent much of the time telling us about the Xhosa tradition and how women are not allowed to leave the community/lots of other things about the limitations on women's lives. When we first arrived to this place, we went into a small rondavel to talk about the tradition--and the first thing this guy said was that women were not allowed to sit on the ledge seat provided. They (we) had to sit on the mats on the floors. He then proceeded to talk about the tradition making very blatent remarks about the roles of women in the society. He said that he was to provide everything the woman ever needed. She never had to work. At this point, I just couldn't keep my mouth shut! I replied with, "Don't they get bored?!" So yes...I basically talked back to Nelson Mandela's grandson, but this guy was a joke! He was supposed to be talking to us about the importance of Mandela and he spent his time degrading the African women. Ah well. It's a cultural thing and it's sometimes useless to have an argument with the men here but it really upsets me that some of these people think this way when they've come so far with racial issues.

Other than that, we had a pretty laid back day. When we arrived back to our homestay house, we had dinner with our host dad. The host mom (who we found out is an anethesiologist) was doing an operation, so we only had three. They didn't cook anyway, their workers made us dinner. We did have a nice conversation with the host dad about politics. He wanted to know about the American system and we wanted to know about the whole issue with Zimbabwe/South Africa. It's very interesting and messy, so let me know if you want to talk about it! I don't have enough space to write about this sort of stuff in here! We also learned that both of our host parents went to medical school with the great Black Consciousness Movement leader Steve Biko.

The next morning, we headed to Hogsback Mountain. I'm not exactly sure why we stayed here, but it was nice! Right in the middle of the mountains. In the afternoon, on the way here, we had a Steve Biko day. We went to the house that he group up in and was banned to after he had led resistance movements and had lunch. We also visited his gravesite. Study up on this guy. He's sort of second generation leader, but he was just an awesome leader. When we arrived at Hogsback we had a quick/not so great meal, and I ended up going to bed early! After so much going and going, sometimes it's nice to just get a good night's rest. I did, however, wake up early to take a stroll up the mountain. I got a few great pictures of the sunrise. The scenery in this country is absolutely beautiful. Everywhere we have been, there are either mountains or ocean!

Now we are in Port Elizabeth, which is sort of a weird town. We're right on the Indian Ocean, but for some reason, this town seems to lack culture. I'm not exactly sure what it is---perhaps so many English/Afrikaaners? It's a bit of a shock! Tomorrow we're off to Tsitsikamma National Park where I will be (Mom, don't read this part) bungee jumping and canopy walking! I'm excited for this adventerous day! After that, we're headed to Cape Town and then back home next Saturday! I'll keep you all posted on everything that happens.

Mthatha!

Hello all! We've arrived in Mthatha and a friend and I randomly stumbled across an internet cafe---yay! We're also finally back to civilization after a long week in Kokstad. All of us in the group joked about forming a Real World-Kokstad, where everyone just goes crazy due to the lack of civilization! That would certainly be interesting airtime!

Anyway, not much going on here. We're just on a lunch break after a 2ish hour drive. The drive was beautiful. Unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures, but we went right through the Drakensbergs the whole time. One of the funniest things about the drives here is the livestock right in the middle of the road! Yesterday while a group of us went for a quick trip to the grocery store, we were stopped by about 50 cows just walking in the middle of the road! Also, while on my run yesterday, I passed by a sheep farm and every single sheep looked at me as I ran by. Silly animals :-).

Yesterday we had yet another braai, but this one was prepared by our bed and breakfast hosts. They are awesome cooks and it was certainly the best braai yet. I was actually not too excited about the braai beforehand because they have not been that great the last few times, but this one was excellent. Great chicken, some really good potato bake stuff, couscous salad...carrot cake...the food was amazing! Other than that, we had a very laid back day. I did about 3.5 miles, came back in and took a bath, and then laid by the fire with a few friends from the trip. I am making some really great friends here, which I'm really excited about because they all go to State! We even have one with a possible wedding in the near future!

That's all for now. I'm assuming I'll be able to access internet again soon, so keep checking! I can't wait to show you all my photos!