Sunday, August 31, 2008
Lentil Burgers and Conflict
Wednesday night after Core course I went to a lecture by Arjun Appadurai about Housing and Hope, it was pretty interesting. He wasn't really what I expected but I'm glad I went. Thursday I saw a film at Constitutional Hill called "Encounter Point" about the Israeli/Palestine conflict, it was sooo good. Two of the people from the documentary were there and we got to ask questions, they were both amazing speakers so the whole event was really enlightening. On our way out we saw a guy wearing an Obama shirt, he just got back from California. It's fun to see how interested people are in the election. Friday I went back to Moyos cause Claire's friend was visiting from Cape Town on her way to Mozambique for her break. Then we had a mustache party as leftover celebration for Lauren's birthday. It was a lot of fun. Abby made these amazing lentil burgers with avocado, I want to learn how to make them too, they were delicious. Yesterday I went to Rosebank, got my haircut, bought a shirt, got much needed groceries. Breaking Dawn still isn't at the bookstore, I want it so bad! It was nice to be back at Rosebank, back to our normal life. I watched Donnie Darko last night, I hadn't seen it in so long and it was interesting to see things that I hadn't noticed before. Like I didn't realize Maggie Gyllenhall was Jake's sister in the movie as well, and that the book they were reading in english was by Graham Greene. Just small things. Guess that's it for now.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Moya (air) head
Moyo's was a lot of fun last night. We all dressed up and ate tons of delicious food. I had a Seven Vegetable Tagine with rice. Mike got this crazy lamb thing with mashed potatoes that he kept praising, the mashed potatoes were amazing though. Kristen and Claire shared a chicken Tagine. We all had a few bites of Lauren's birthday cake which was like malva pudding but I think it was apricot. There were so many people there because it was Kayla's birthday too (she's another girl in IHRE.) We took up two huge tables and we were there for three hours! When we got back to dorm we watched Mulan for a while but then I was so tired I went to bed before it ended. I'm such an old person nowadays. I go to sleep at 10 and wake up at 7. First day back at work. I met with a guy for an hour because he was kind of hard to understand but basically he's just trying to get asylum for a few years instead of having to renew his temporary permit all the time. I also had to call and inform a woman she wouldn't be receiving a disability grant from the government because the bill hasn't passed yet. She has cancer and can't afford to support herself or buy her medicines or anything. Life seems so hard sometimes, it must be really disheartening to hear bad news over and over again.
Philosophy was interesting yesterday but the teachers are a bit crazy. One of them, who I like more, is Oliva Custer, she taught at Bard last year. The wits professor is kind of like a nervous animal who goes off on tangents. They kept interrupting each other because I don't think they have really prepared. First week back is almost over though. No internship class tomorrow because Ayesha is having eye surgery. This weekend in the Joy of Jazz festival but I'm not sure if we can still get tickets. Hope it's a good one though.
Philosophy was interesting yesterday but the teachers are a bit crazy. One of them, who I like more, is Oliva Custer, she taught at Bard last year. The wits professor is kind of like a nervous animal who goes off on tangents. They kept interrupting each other because I don't think they have really prepared. First week back is almost over though. No internship class tomorrow because Ayesha is having eye surgery. This weekend in the Joy of Jazz festival but I'm not sure if we can still get tickets. Hope it's a good one though.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Spring Break '08 Two
Well break is over, I've already been back a couple of days and I had to write an essay and an exam, ugh. But anyway, break was amaaaaaaaazing!
Friday after work we went to Shabbat at Jaya's house which was really delicious and fun.
Saturday: We drove to the airport and all bought books at Exclusive before getting on our 2hr flight to Zambia. I fell asleep because we didn't get much sleep the night before. When we got to Livingstone we took a taxi to the border and got on a ferry that took us across to Botswana. We got a ride from two SA guys to lodging but it was full so we finally got a family room at the Bonezazi Lodge. We hitchhiked and a truck picked us up, it was safe and fine so that was cool, saved some money on transport. We had Pap and beans for dinner, yum.
Sunday: At 5am we took a cab to the Chobe Safari Lodge and on the way saw a Hyena eating an antelope by the side of the road. Our driver, George, told us he saw two lions crossing the road on the way to pick us up. We went on a morning game drive from the lodge and saw Wild Dogs, which are amazing, elephants across the river in Namibia. In the afternoon after eating at the buffet and grabbing tons of extra bread rolls and apples, we hung around the pool. My friends went swimming while I read. Then at 3pm we got on a sunset boatride which was kind of like a water safari. We saw elephants, giraffes, and tons of hippos (a group of hippos is called a Sedudu). We also saw an African Fishing Eagle, they mate for life and if one dies the other will too. The sunset was beautiful. We got to watch a group of bachelor elephants cross the river in a line as the sun was setting, got some really good pictures. More pap and beans for dinner.
Monday: We took a taxi back to the border and ferried across to Zambia. We went to our hostel, Fawlty Towers in Livingstone and explored the area a bit. Then we rested until evening when Lauren and Abby arrived early. We stayed in our own room with bunk beds, it was a bit cramped but lots of fun.
Tuesday: We took a shuttle to Victoria Falls and then crossed the border into Zimbabwe. We spent the day walking around the trails through the Zim side of the falls, it was beautiful. When we got back we ate at this delicious vegetarian place called African Visions. They had really good lentil rolls and apple and carrot cake.
Wednesday: White Water Rafting! The hike down to the water was intense and then we had to jump off a rock into the water and swim to the raft. I realize I kind of suck at swimming these days. We went over 9 rapids, most of them were level 5. Lauren and Claire fell off at the beginning but they were ok. Then on rapid 8 we flipped over and it felt like I swallowed half the river because I couldn't figure out which way to face and float so waves kept hitting me. Luckily a kayak came and picked me up. Somehow I got wacked in the face when we flipped though so I'm a bit bruised between the eyes haha.
After the rafting we went back to Safari Par Excellence base and ate lunch before leaving on a "booze cruise." Some angry old Italian woman swore at us as we got on the boat but besides that we had a pretty good time. Another beautiful African sunset.
Thursday: My friends went to go hiking so I stayed at FT and read all day, it was good to have some down time to myself and such. When they came back we ate pizza from a place called Funky Munky down the road and watched the olympics. We did a lot of that during out trip. I can't believe they are already over and Phelps won all 8 gold!
Friday: Mike and I went bunjee jumping!!! It was awesome and really scary. They just count down from 5 and you can't think, just go. We went tandem and yelled "noodles" as we fell haha (Kung Fu Panda reference anyone? "Noodles, not noodles") After jumping we went back to FT and chilled for the rest of the evening. Some of the girls got mani-pedi and massages.
Saturday: We went back to the place my friends went on Thursday, Angel's Swimming Pool. We crossed the top of the falls upstream and then came to a natural pool in the rocks where we spent the day swimming and eating lunch. There was a tall rock that we jumped off but I didn't jump out far enough so I hit a rock, got a bruised knee but it was fun :)
After we left the pool we saw an amazing view of the falls and took pictures, big rainbow spot. Then we went to the crafts market and I bought people presents. More pizza for dinner and then cake at African Visions after. We stayed at Rite Inn our last night and stayed up late watching TV. We watched Obama/Biden speeches as they declared their partnership. Should be interesting...
Sunday: We drove to the airport and hung out in the airport for a couple of hours, we were early. Had some trouble getting everyone's e-tickets approved but we made it. I slept a bit and read "When a Crocodile Eats the Sun" it's really good. Got back to Joburg, yay homebase! It felt good to be back in my room.
Today is Lauren's birthday so we are all going to dinner at Moyo's tonight. I have Philosophy and HR for the first time today, I hope it's good.
Friday after work we went to Shabbat at Jaya's house which was really delicious and fun.
Saturday: We drove to the airport and all bought books at Exclusive before getting on our 2hr flight to Zambia. I fell asleep because we didn't get much sleep the night before. When we got to Livingstone we took a taxi to the border and got on a ferry that took us across to Botswana. We got a ride from two SA guys to lodging but it was full so we finally got a family room at the Bonezazi Lodge. We hitchhiked and a truck picked us up, it was safe and fine so that was cool, saved some money on transport. We had Pap and beans for dinner, yum.
Sunday: At 5am we took a cab to the Chobe Safari Lodge and on the way saw a Hyena eating an antelope by the side of the road. Our driver, George, told us he saw two lions crossing the road on the way to pick us up. We went on a morning game drive from the lodge and saw Wild Dogs, which are amazing, elephants across the river in Namibia. In the afternoon after eating at the buffet and grabbing tons of extra bread rolls and apples, we hung around the pool. My friends went swimming while I read. Then at 3pm we got on a sunset boatride which was kind of like a water safari. We saw elephants, giraffes, and tons of hippos (a group of hippos is called a Sedudu). We also saw an African Fishing Eagle, they mate for life and if one dies the other will too. The sunset was beautiful. We got to watch a group of bachelor elephants cross the river in a line as the sun was setting, got some really good pictures. More pap and beans for dinner.
Monday: We took a taxi back to the border and ferried across to Zambia. We went to our hostel, Fawlty Towers in Livingstone and explored the area a bit. Then we rested until evening when Lauren and Abby arrived early. We stayed in our own room with bunk beds, it was a bit cramped but lots of fun.
Tuesday: We took a shuttle to Victoria Falls and then crossed the border into Zimbabwe. We spent the day walking around the trails through the Zim side of the falls, it was beautiful. When we got back we ate at this delicious vegetarian place called African Visions. They had really good lentil rolls and apple and carrot cake.
Wednesday: White Water Rafting! The hike down to the water was intense and then we had to jump off a rock into the water and swim to the raft. I realize I kind of suck at swimming these days. We went over 9 rapids, most of them were level 5. Lauren and Claire fell off at the beginning but they were ok. Then on rapid 8 we flipped over and it felt like I swallowed half the river because I couldn't figure out which way to face and float so waves kept hitting me. Luckily a kayak came and picked me up. Somehow I got wacked in the face when we flipped though so I'm a bit bruised between the eyes haha.
After the rafting we went back to Safari Par Excellence base and ate lunch before leaving on a "booze cruise." Some angry old Italian woman swore at us as we got on the boat but besides that we had a pretty good time. Another beautiful African sunset.
Thursday: My friends went to go hiking so I stayed at FT and read all day, it was good to have some down time to myself and such. When they came back we ate pizza from a place called Funky Munky down the road and watched the olympics. We did a lot of that during out trip. I can't believe they are already over and Phelps won all 8 gold!
Friday: Mike and I went bunjee jumping!!! It was awesome and really scary. They just count down from 5 and you can't think, just go. We went tandem and yelled "noodles" as we fell haha (Kung Fu Panda reference anyone? "Noodles, not noodles") After jumping we went back to FT and chilled for the rest of the evening. Some of the girls got mani-pedi and massages.
Saturday: We went back to the place my friends went on Thursday, Angel's Swimming Pool. We crossed the top of the falls upstream and then came to a natural pool in the rocks where we spent the day swimming and eating lunch. There was a tall rock that we jumped off but I didn't jump out far enough so I hit a rock, got a bruised knee but it was fun :)
After we left the pool we saw an amazing view of the falls and took pictures, big rainbow spot. Then we went to the crafts market and I bought people presents. More pizza for dinner and then cake at African Visions after. We stayed at Rite Inn our last night and stayed up late watching TV. We watched Obama/Biden speeches as they declared their partnership. Should be interesting...
Sunday: We drove to the airport and hung out in the airport for a couple of hours, we were early. Had some trouble getting everyone's e-tickets approved but we made it. I slept a bit and read "When a Crocodile Eats the Sun" it's really good. Got back to Joburg, yay homebase! It felt good to be back in my room.
Today is Lauren's birthday so we are all going to dinner at Moyo's tonight. I have Philosophy and HR for the first time today, I hope it's good.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Lemon Poppyseed
Thursday afternoon and I'm the only one in the office. Not even Maggie is here, fun stuff. Luckily it's pretty slow otherwise I would probably be going crazy. Talked to Dan last night, he's back from Canada yay! Tonight I have to write my African Literature essay and tomorrow I have work and then Shabbat. Saturday morning we leave for Zambia, I can't believe Spring Break is basically here! It hasn't hit me yet. When I get back life is going to be pretty hectic though because I have an essay due Monday and my Islamic Law exam to write in 24hrs. I'm going to switch my days at LHR though and Kristen might come work on the days I don't because she's unhappy with JET. I want a muffin...
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Frank McCourt
Oh yeah! I bought Angela's Ashes yesterday at the used bookstore in Braamfontein center. It's interesting so far, sad, good, I like the way it's written.
Block 3 Ending
People suck so much sometimes. It's ridiculous how they can make terrible decisions and then you get stuck with a lot of the backlash when you haven't even done anything!!!
Today was my last Islamic Law class, it went well. Tomorrow is my African Literature exam, I have the questions so I will prepare for what I want to write tonight. I have no idea how I'm going to get everything done but I know it will happen. It sucks that I have my Islam exam the first day back but oh well, can't do anything about it now.
I need sleep, badly. And I need to not be confused. I'm going to go eat soup.
Today was my last Islamic Law class, it went well. Tomorrow is my African Literature exam, I have the questions so I will prepare for what I want to write tonight. I have no idea how I'm going to get everything done but I know it will happen. It sucks that I have my Islam exam the first day back but oh well, can't do anything about it now.
I need sleep, badly. And I need to not be confused. I'm going to go eat soup.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Crunch Time
The Indian party was a lot of fun on Saturday. We came back to res and ate cake and lay in a big puppy pile :P My Islam essay deadline was extended so I am quite relieved, gives me a bit more time to think it all out. I can't believe this is the last week of Block 3. And this coming Saturday I am going to be on a plane to Zambia! I got my Yellow Fever and Typhoid shots this weekend too. Muhammed took us to a travel clinic in Rosebank. The place was really nice and the Dr. was likable (is that a word?) So I just gotta get through this week and then things will go a bit more smoothly, hopefully...
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