So I realized by not blogging yesterday, I've already started to forget about stuff that is happening. Our days are so jam-packed that it seems like we've been here forever, and yet I can't believe it's already almost been a week.
Ok - yesterday. It rained. Which meant that my class of 20 4-5 year olds would be forced to stay inside with the other 40 (ish) kids 3 and under. If you've been in my bedroom (hey-o!), the room is very similar in size to that. If you haven't, the room is probably about 14x11. I'm completely guessing with those numbers. All it is to say, the room is small. and 60 kids 5/6 and under make it smaller. And warmer. And louder.
They use a book shelf to divide the room up between under 3 and 3 and above. Ok so you get the gist of what we're dealing with here...
The kids were used to me, so while I wasn't a spectacle they still want to hug and hang on me. None of which I'm complaining about. We worked on counting to 20 and "If you're happy and you know it." They especially loved the shouting of "Hooray!" Now I don't claim to be a good singer. At all. But there I was in my quiet little English straining voice going through all the verses. Even the baby teachers stopped to listen.
Since I was inside, I had enough free time to help feed the babies. (Anybody under 3 is spoonfed.) Keyword: spoon. As in each teacher gets one. And then rinses it in water between kids. Needless to say, I'm used to more hygiene. The kids walk up to you when it's their turn, and you just spoon it in. Finish a bowl. Rinse. And repeat. Hence, you've got quite a number of snotty noses.
So what goes in must come out, and here's another huge difference. The "toilets" at the creche. It's a bench. With four circles cut out. Potty bowls are put in the holes and are periodically emptied out in the one flushing toilet on the property. Boys and girls go side by side. Whatevs. The interesting thing tho is how young they potty train. I would say anyone over one uses the toilet. One reason perhaps being they don't have enough hands to change many diapers, but I get the feeling diapers are a luxury not prevalent in the area I'm in.
I'm slowly but surely grasping kids and teachers names. The lady who works in the kitchen has a name that uses a click (which I haven't mastered yet) so she told me I could call her Eunice. :)
The teacher who likes to hit things/the wall with a stick (Not a child - yet, but she gets close) is Nombongo. (Discipline consists of slapping the tops of their hands or an arm yank.)
I know we're not supposed to have favorites, but there's a sibling set that I really like. A little boy who looks like an old man - I forget how you spell his name but it's pronounced ee-vah, and his sisters Anda and Analiesa. Wait until you see their faces! I haven't taken my camera to placement yet, but I plan on doing so when I take crafts to do, as that gives me a good excuse. (Ghertie's hasn't had very many volunteers, so I don't want to wear out my welcome by bringing a camera too soon.)
Today I took xeroxed coloring book pages for them to color and they loved it. Anything to break up their routine. I got beans to make paper plate tambourine things and noodles and yarn to make necklaces.
The highlight today tho - well a couple of them. One of the kids ASKED to play Duck Duck Goose. (I just taught them that on Tuesday, so I was excited because a- that meant he liked it. b- that meant he connected it with me.) We also played a racing game and at one point the teacher said: now me and you do it. As the kids had run back and forth the other kids were screaming their names, so it was helpful with my learning process. Well when I was running versus Nombongo, the kids were all shouting: Mary! Mary! (They totally wanted me to win. And I totally did. I felt bad, tho because the teacher totally had a limp I hadn't really noticed.)
It didn't rain today and so we spent the day outside in the sun. I really wish it was safe enough to walk through the townships more. Just driving through it to get to our placements is so interesting.
So we haven't had that much free time yet, but we got our first taste yesterday afternoon for a bit. Even tho it was raining, we headed down to the V&A Waterfront. The sky was so gray, my pictures of the ferris wheel look black and white. There's also a craft market, some touristy stuff, a huge mall, and a restaurant called Balducci's, where we landed for dinner. The where is not important as the who we met there.
Vicky. Our spritely waitress. She literally wrote us a book about where to go while we're here. Club-wise (hot guys here, no hot guys here), beach-wise (hot guys here, no hot guys here)...She gave us directions, she gave us rules, she gave us advice ("Be wise...condomize...haha...seriously.") and she gave us her phone number should we get arrested or need a ride or have a question. Above and beyond, this one.
On our way home we passed the One & Only. We girls immediately recognized it from The Bachelor and that's when our cabbie told us that's where Denzel is staying. We've seen two shoots in progress and he's apparently here until May. We're on the hunt.
As our schedule has been so full, I find myself struggling to stay awake until 9 or 10. That's getting better tho, maybe I'm finally getting used to the time flip.
I think we're all caught up. Today our post-placement speaker was a man living with the HIV. His positive outlook on life was inspiring. Somebody asked him if he ever gets mad at God about it, and he was just like, the scripture said there'd be diseases. This is mine. Wow. This is a man who lives in a hut in the backyard of someone else's township home. He's one of an estimated 6-million South Africans living with HIV (hence the condomize advice)...And the way he lit up talking about America. He REALLY wants to go to Chicago. And he was excited that Ashley and I were from LA/Hollywood...He told us that our convo with him energized him as he'd been to the doctor today and was feeling especially tired.
It's just like what Willy said. I'm meeting all these people who have such difficult lives and everyone is so happy. I'm not sure I have any issues that aren't #richpeopleproblems.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Gertie's Creche Day 1
A creche is an unregulated daycare. And today I started working at one. Unregulated meaning there's no mandated education component, although they do work with the kids a little bit.
I'm working with 4 and 5 year olds. As long as it's not raining, we get to be outside which is good, because - as warned - the inside is swarming with about 40 kids 3 and under. In a room smaller than most of your living rooms. Rain is in the forecast, so I'll get to experience mixing the 20 of my kids in with the others. I'm sure that will be a different experience.
I again walked into the room full of excited "white person" squeals. I'm glad to know that tomorrow when I go it won't be such a novelty. The teacher I'm helping has told them to call me Miss Mary instead of White Person. (I told her I didn't mind "White Person" but am not going to stand in the way of life manners.)
The day started with singing (all in one room) as a group. I hope to at least pick up some of the regular songs. It ended with a version of something I recognized. "God is great. God is good. Thank you for the food." And then the kids had porridge.
Afterward we had our group outside and went through the songs that teach the months of the year and the days of the week and the parts of the body. They do an extended version of head, shoulders, knees and toes...but it's clear they know that song as well.
The first thing I started doing that they picked up was the "boogie shush." All I did was combine a little dance move with putting my finger up to my mouth. It made shushing more fun and got them to smile, so that was cool.
The teacher wanted to work on coloring/writing but didn't have enough worksheets. I'm going to take some copies in tomorrow. She told me they don't know how to write their names. I can't fault them tho, because I can't yet say many of them. They say them once for me. I repeat it. They repeat back to me. I say what I think they're saying, they laugh and we move on to the next one. I have one little boy named Hope, so I at least have that one down. I'm hoping our weekly language classes (I'll be taking Xhosa (Kosah)) will help with that.
So anyway, since we couldn't do the coloring, we did puzzles. Many of which didn't have all the pieces. Such a bummer to not be able to help them with resources.
While doing the puzzles, one of the girls took to playing with my hair. I'm gonna bring a brush and clips tomorrow and try and find a time when it won't cause pandemonium.
After puzzles came playtime, and I had already told the teacher I wanted to try Duck, Duck Goose. Luckily one of the boys had played before. I relayed directions to the teacher and she translated. It went really well and was super funny. We all ended up laughing as the kids picked it up and figured out which way to run and when to sit down. Some of the head pats were harder than they should have been. I caught myself several times wanting to say "doucement" ("gentle"/"softly" in French). I have a problem that whenever I go somewhere where I don't speak the language, I feel like my French should work. It doesn't.
The kids then went to the park. I'm not allowed to leave the creche so I switched with a teacher in the 3 year old class. We worked on shapes and colors and unfortunately for them, their teacher wasn't always right...Anything is better than nothing I guess tho.
Next came lunch. As I gave each child (again in my class) their bowl they said "Thank you" in English. It was very sweet, very clear, and they were very happy to be speaking to me in my language. (I was happy too, altho I'm looking forward to knowing at least the basic words/commands in their language.)
We leave our placements after lunch, so it's not really a long day at all. Four hours. I hope to share a little MAB-ness with them and leave them feeling better, maybe knowing more...
(FYI I probably won't go this in-depth each day...will most likely stick with the highlights...) It was really fun to reconnect with the others at lunch and hear about everyone's mornings. The guy in my group ended up teaching a 6th grade class all on his own. His first day. He thought of some great ideas. Much better than I would have on the fly. I think 4 and 5 year olds are about my spur-of-the-moment knowledge building level. No, but really.
So, other things...
Last night we saw a comedian at the University of Cape Town (we can walk to the campus). His name is Siv Ngesi and the show is called DEKAF. It's touted as a "white, black comedy...about blacks who think like whites...told by a black guy..who sounds white." Race is very openly discussed here and this show was hilarious. At one point he asked a question and Ashley responded, giving away that there were Americans in the crowd...(he picked up the accent). He had some fun with that. There were of course a lot of SA-centric jokes, but for the most part we got it.
Also...the bell I mentioned in the last entry (apologies for all the verbal diahhrea)...They ring a bell in the house for meals, or when it's time to leave, or time for a class...we're already like Pavlov's dogs...the bell rings and we come a-runnin...
Well it's time for our language class...I really do wanna spice these entries up with some pix...truth be told I'm surprised at how few I've taken so far. Planning on improving that.
It's still hot and sunny, altho as I mentioned there's supposed to be rain for the rest of the week. We hope it clears up for our winery tour on Saturday. Of course after the first or second winery we probaby won't care.
I'm working with 4 and 5 year olds. As long as it's not raining, we get to be outside which is good, because - as warned - the inside is swarming with about 40 kids 3 and under. In a room smaller than most of your living rooms. Rain is in the forecast, so I'll get to experience mixing the 20 of my kids in with the others. I'm sure that will be a different experience.
I again walked into the room full of excited "white person" squeals. I'm glad to know that tomorrow when I go it won't be such a novelty. The teacher I'm helping has told them to call me Miss Mary instead of White Person. (I told her I didn't mind "White Person" but am not going to stand in the way of life manners.)
The day started with singing (all in one room) as a group. I hope to at least pick up some of the regular songs. It ended with a version of something I recognized. "God is great. God is good. Thank you for the food." And then the kids had porridge.
Afterward we had our group outside and went through the songs that teach the months of the year and the days of the week and the parts of the body. They do an extended version of head, shoulders, knees and toes...but it's clear they know that song as well.
The first thing I started doing that they picked up was the "boogie shush." All I did was combine a little dance move with putting my finger up to my mouth. It made shushing more fun and got them to smile, so that was cool.
The teacher wanted to work on coloring/writing but didn't have enough worksheets. I'm going to take some copies in tomorrow. She told me they don't know how to write their names. I can't fault them tho, because I can't yet say many of them. They say them once for me. I repeat it. They repeat back to me. I say what I think they're saying, they laugh and we move on to the next one. I have one little boy named Hope, so I at least have that one down. I'm hoping our weekly language classes (I'll be taking Xhosa (Kosah)) will help with that.
So anyway, since we couldn't do the coloring, we did puzzles. Many of which didn't have all the pieces. Such a bummer to not be able to help them with resources.
While doing the puzzles, one of the girls took to playing with my hair. I'm gonna bring a brush and clips tomorrow and try and find a time when it won't cause pandemonium.
After puzzles came playtime, and I had already told the teacher I wanted to try Duck, Duck Goose. Luckily one of the boys had played before. I relayed directions to the teacher and she translated. It went really well and was super funny. We all ended up laughing as the kids picked it up and figured out which way to run and when to sit down. Some of the head pats were harder than they should have been. I caught myself several times wanting to say "doucement" ("gentle"/"softly" in French). I have a problem that whenever I go somewhere where I don't speak the language, I feel like my French should work. It doesn't.
The kids then went to the park. I'm not allowed to leave the creche so I switched with a teacher in the 3 year old class. We worked on shapes and colors and unfortunately for them, their teacher wasn't always right...Anything is better than nothing I guess tho.
Next came lunch. As I gave each child (again in my class) their bowl they said "Thank you" in English. It was very sweet, very clear, and they were very happy to be speaking to me in my language. (I was happy too, altho I'm looking forward to knowing at least the basic words/commands in their language.)
We leave our placements after lunch, so it's not really a long day at all. Four hours. I hope to share a little MAB-ness with them and leave them feeling better, maybe knowing more...
(FYI I probably won't go this in-depth each day...will most likely stick with the highlights...) It was really fun to reconnect with the others at lunch and hear about everyone's mornings. The guy in my group ended up teaching a 6th grade class all on his own. His first day. He thought of some great ideas. Much better than I would have on the fly. I think 4 and 5 year olds are about my spur-of-the-moment knowledge building level. No, but really.
So, other things...
Last night we saw a comedian at the University of Cape Town (we can walk to the campus). His name is Siv Ngesi and the show is called DEKAF. It's touted as a "white, black comedy...about blacks who think like whites...told by a black guy..who sounds white." Race is very openly discussed here and this show was hilarious. At one point he asked a question and Ashley responded, giving away that there were Americans in the crowd...(he picked up the accent). He had some fun with that. There were of course a lot of SA-centric jokes, but for the most part we got it.
Also...the bell I mentioned in the last entry (apologies for all the verbal diahhrea)...They ring a bell in the house for meals, or when it's time to leave, or time for a class...we're already like Pavlov's dogs...the bell rings and we come a-runnin...
Well it's time for our language class...I really do wanna spice these entries up with some pix...truth be told I'm surprised at how few I've taken so far. Planning on improving that.
It's still hot and sunny, altho as I mentioned there's supposed to be rain for the rest of the week. We hope it clears up for our winery tour on Saturday. Of course after the first or second winery we probaby won't care.
Monday, March 28, 2011
The Haves and The Have Nots
Alright, so maybe I should have brought my laptop, as photo uploads may be tricky. Believe me, they'll be awesome once you see them. Bear with me until you do.
So the last two days have been full of orientation. Orientation to the program, to the town, to the culture, etc. Yesterday started with a program orientation, followed by a traditional braai (barbecue). Auntie Linda (picture an ethnic sweeter version of the little lady in Poltergeist) takes into account everyone's culinary needs so there are vegetarian options and gluten-free fare for those of us in the group with special diets.
The house itself is an old Victorian. Ashley and I are in a room to ourselves as it's not very crowded right now. (Our room would usually sleep four.) The house staff makes up our beds and fixes our meals. Both things I could get used to. The food so far has been good. They mix in little cultural things. Lots of fresh food. Lots of balanced meals. All good news on that front. So far. :)
So after our morning of orientation we walked to the next town over to explore the stores...where we found - of all things - baby cologne. You know, because babies stink so bad. It comes in two scents: Splash and Joy. Neither of which compare to the natural smell of a clean baby's head. :)
There are also fun flavors of chips like Roast Beef. I heart foreign grocery stores.
Next we ventured out to the pretty parts of town. The town centre (where a film was being shot), Signal Hill (part of the Table Mountain chain), and Camps Bay. Camps Bay is the where Ashley and I - and Katie when she gets here - will hunker down for some R&R. It came highly recommended and from what I saw yesterday, it will not disappoint.
Driving over the hill as we crested the top the view literally took our breath away. Seriously, you could hear a collective gasp in our van. You feel like you can literally see the curve of the earth. I've been a lot of places and seen lots of gorgeous things. That view - one of the best.
We came home in time for dinner and then tried our hardest to stay awake. My goal was 9p and I barely made it.
Today we went into the townships. I don't want to call them the "have nots" but compared to what we saw yesterday, I guess that's what I'm referring to. The history and the culture of this area is very recent. Like 1994 recent. Like I was in high school when they were still segregated recent. I will be working in the Langa township, the first black township. We visited a hostel apartment where 14 families live. 14. They share one bathroom. One. bathroom.
Humbling.
I've been obsessed with the wrapping of babies in towels and I met a woman today who demonstrated the art. Twice. Using a towel. Like a bath towel. Who needs a Moby? I love how the baby naturally wrapped his legs around his mama so to speed up the process. Cute picture to come.
We also got to visit a couple of schools. Where the kids loved us. As I mentioned on facebook, we walked into the first one to the kids chanting. We asked what they were saying and our escort (Mama Ivy) told us they were saying "my white person." The tears welled up quickly and unexpectedly. But didn't fall. They loved posing for pictures and then seeing the finished product. They also stick up their thumbs and then like to "high five" your thumb.
Tomorrow I will start my placement. It's a one room school with about 50-60 kids under the age of 6. They've prepped me for feeling overwhelmed. After interacting with the kids today I'm excited. I know I'll fall in love with them.
We're going to a comedy club tonight. We finally get free time Wednesday afternoon, so we're planning to head to the city centre and waterfront. This weekend will find us at the wineries (natch!) and then church with Mama Ivy on Sunday in one of the townships.
Everyone keeps telling us how fast three weeks will go. Most of the people are here for at least six weeks or more. I'm glad I have the travel portion of my trip to look forward to.
Apparently Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds are both filming in town, so I'm crossing my fingers for sightings.
They just rang the bell for dinner, so I gotta go.
So the last two days have been full of orientation. Orientation to the program, to the town, to the culture, etc. Yesterday started with a program orientation, followed by a traditional braai (barbecue). Auntie Linda (picture an ethnic sweeter version of the little lady in Poltergeist) takes into account everyone's culinary needs so there are vegetarian options and gluten-free fare for those of us in the group with special diets.
The house itself is an old Victorian. Ashley and I are in a room to ourselves as it's not very crowded right now. (Our room would usually sleep four.) The house staff makes up our beds and fixes our meals. Both things I could get used to. The food so far has been good. They mix in little cultural things. Lots of fresh food. Lots of balanced meals. All good news on that front. So far. :)
So after our morning of orientation we walked to the next town over to explore the stores...where we found - of all things - baby cologne. You know, because babies stink so bad. It comes in two scents: Splash and Joy. Neither of which compare to the natural smell of a clean baby's head. :)
There are also fun flavors of chips like Roast Beef. I heart foreign grocery stores.
Next we ventured out to the pretty parts of town. The town centre (where a film was being shot), Signal Hill (part of the Table Mountain chain), and Camps Bay. Camps Bay is the where Ashley and I - and Katie when she gets here - will hunker down for some R&R. It came highly recommended and from what I saw yesterday, it will not disappoint.
Driving over the hill as we crested the top the view literally took our breath away. Seriously, you could hear a collective gasp in our van. You feel like you can literally see the curve of the earth. I've been a lot of places and seen lots of gorgeous things. That view - one of the best.
We came home in time for dinner and then tried our hardest to stay awake. My goal was 9p and I barely made it.
Today we went into the townships. I don't want to call them the "have nots" but compared to what we saw yesterday, I guess that's what I'm referring to. The history and the culture of this area is very recent. Like 1994 recent. Like I was in high school when they were still segregated recent. I will be working in the Langa township, the first black township. We visited a hostel apartment where 14 families live. 14. They share one bathroom. One. bathroom.
Humbling.
I've been obsessed with the wrapping of babies in towels and I met a woman today who demonstrated the art. Twice. Using a towel. Like a bath towel. Who needs a Moby? I love how the baby naturally wrapped his legs around his mama so to speed up the process. Cute picture to come.
We also got to visit a couple of schools. Where the kids loved us. As I mentioned on facebook, we walked into the first one to the kids chanting. We asked what they were saying and our escort (Mama Ivy) told us they were saying "my white person." The tears welled up quickly and unexpectedly. But didn't fall. They loved posing for pictures and then seeing the finished product. They also stick up their thumbs and then like to "high five" your thumb.
Tomorrow I will start my placement. It's a one room school with about 50-60 kids under the age of 6. They've prepped me for feeling overwhelmed. After interacting with the kids today I'm excited. I know I'll fall in love with them.
We're going to a comedy club tonight. We finally get free time Wednesday afternoon, so we're planning to head to the city centre and waterfront. This weekend will find us at the wineries (natch!) and then church with Mama Ivy on Sunday in one of the townships.
Everyone keeps telling us how fast three weeks will go. Most of the people are here for at least six weeks or more. I'm glad I have the travel portion of my trip to look forward to.
Apparently Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds are both filming in town, so I'm crossing my fingers for sightings.
They just rang the bell for dinner, so I gotta go.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
News from the Aisle Seat
First flight: Virgin from LAX to Dulles.
Excellent crew. The flight attendants were awesome, and if you're a fb friend you've heard part of my pilot story.
For some reason he was standing in the aisle in the back of the plane helping people put their bags in the overhead compartments and just shooting the sh*t.
The flight attendants got a kick out of it. Then we had a convo about stuff and his kids and my trip and then it was time for him to fly the plane.
He did a stand-up intro to everyone and it was a good time (even if there were a few bumps along the way despite his promise to me that it would be a smooth ride.)
Cut to Ashley and I standing in line to board our next plane at Dulles. In a different terminal from the one we arrived. We look over and up walks Mr. Handsome carrying my water bottle. He's all "I could tell it was new and I knew where to find you." I was all...I love Virgin Airlines!!
Next up: South African Airways, the lady at the gate gave us both hassle about our bags not being carry-ons, even tho they were and we had the previous flight. She made us check them and we decided if we're gonna have to roll with things we might as well start now.
And here comes the best thing I learned from our marathon time in the air. Always order a special meal. We ordered vegetarian. We always got our meal about 10 minutes before everyone else. Which meant we got to the bathroom before everyone else. Win. Win.
That's all for now. I'm going to go get settled in my room. They split Ashley and I up and my roommate doesn't get here for a couple of hours, so I'm gonna hang some clothes up and take a shower.
The real fun begins tomorrow!
Excellent crew. The flight attendants were awesome, and if you're a fb friend you've heard part of my pilot story.
For some reason he was standing in the aisle in the back of the plane helping people put their bags in the overhead compartments and just shooting the sh*t.
The flight attendants got a kick out of it. Then we had a convo about stuff and his kids and my trip and then it was time for him to fly the plane.
He did a stand-up intro to everyone and it was a good time (even if there were a few bumps along the way despite his promise to me that it would be a smooth ride.)
Cut to Ashley and I standing in line to board our next plane at Dulles. In a different terminal from the one we arrived. We look over and up walks Mr. Handsome carrying my water bottle. He's all "I could tell it was new and I knew where to find you." I was all...I love Virgin Airlines!!
Next up: South African Airways, the lady at the gate gave us both hassle about our bags not being carry-ons, even tho they were and we had the previous flight. She made us check them and we decided if we're gonna have to roll with things we might as well start now.
And here comes the best thing I learned from our marathon time in the air. Always order a special meal. We ordered vegetarian. We always got our meal about 10 minutes before everyone else. Which meant we got to the bathroom before everyone else. Win. Win.
That's all for now. I'm going to go get settled in my room. They split Ashley and I up and my roommate doesn't get here for a couple of hours, so I'm gonna hang some clothes up and take a shower.
The real fun begins tomorrow!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Look Who's Packing
The challenge? Fit all this (minus the chair and the blankets) into one lil backpack:
If you're keeping track, that's:
1 towel
2 pairs of jeans
1 pair of orange pants
1 hikey capri/long short combo pant
1 short
2 button-down shirts
2 l/s shirts
4 s/s shirts
3 tank tops
swimsuit and cover-up
1 pair of pjs
1 cardigan
1 windbreaker
2 bras
12 pairs of underwear
10 pairs of socks
a pair of Toms, a pair of flats, a pair of flip flops
a duffel for things I buy along the way
My plane outfit of t-shirt, pullover, sweats and sneakers was left out...
Enter, the space bags:
I probably could have squeezed more air out but I got tired...perhaps I'll go back to it with new energy...perhaps not. I mean, it zipped up!
I'm really committed to only carrying on. My other bag will be a decently sized camera bag.
I recently had a really great convo with the security guard at work. Willy is from Cameroon, Africa, went to school in Luxembourg and is now creating a new life for himself in America. He's very excited about my travels. He said if I take away anything from this trip it is to see how happy everyone is, even when they have nothing. That is, the heart of the African people. I can't wait.
One of my favorite google images of the place I'll be spending the next several weeks:
Now for a little bit of admin:
For privacy and safety reasons I am not going to allow public access to this blog. I hope to post pictures and mentions of places I am and I just want to be careful. If you'd like to continue reading, just shoot me an email, message on Facebook, or comment here and let me know.
If you're keeping track, that's:
1 towel
2 pairs of jeans
1 pair of orange pants
1 hikey capri/long short combo pant
1 short
2 button-down shirts
2 l/s shirts
4 s/s shirts
3 tank tops
swimsuit and cover-up
1 pair of pjs
1 cardigan
1 windbreaker
2 bras
12 pairs of underwear
10 pairs of socks
a pair of Toms, a pair of flats, a pair of flip flops
a duffel for things I buy along the way
My plane outfit of t-shirt, pullover, sweats and sneakers was left out...
Enter, the space bags:
I probably could have squeezed more air out but I got tired...perhaps I'll go back to it with new energy...perhaps not. I mean, it zipped up!
I'm really committed to only carrying on. My other bag will be a decently sized camera bag.
I recently had a really great convo with the security guard at work. Willy is from Cameroon, Africa, went to school in Luxembourg and is now creating a new life for himself in America. He's very excited about my travels. He said if I take away anything from this trip it is to see how happy everyone is, even when they have nothing. That is, the heart of the African people. I can't wait.
One of my favorite google images of the place I'll be spending the next several weeks:
Now for a little bit of admin:
For privacy and safety reasons I am not going to allow public access to this blog. I hope to post pictures and mentions of places I am and I just want to be careful. If you'd like to continue reading, just shoot me an email, message on Facebook, or comment here and let me know.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Why I Travel
Because Mark Twain told me to.
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain
Because waking up is living.
“Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” – Frank Herbert
Because I want the whole story.
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain
Because waking up is living.
“Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” – Frank Herbert
Because I want the whole story.
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine
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