Update

Ok, so I never posted about Haiti.

Here's a link to the pix I posted on FB in case you're not on FB.

Let's just say the most valuable thing I learned was the importance of loving fearlessly, unconditionally, and without hesitation or thought of what comes next. Being present in the present and completely open. What an invaluable life lesson.

Which brings me to my latest project. A new blog. It's the same name as my original blog (as my twitter handle is @4thgradenothing). I hope Judy Blume never gets mad and makes me change it. Anywho...the blog focuses on new experiences and gives me an accountable reason to write every day.

Enjoy.

Why Haiti? Why Now...

Remember how The Nanny "had style, she had flair, she was THERE," and that's how she became The Nanny?

Well my story is kind of like that.

Except I had the availability, all my shots, and speak a little French. True story.

My parents took the news well. I guess after "I'm moving to Chicago;" "I'm moving to California;" "I'm moving to Paris;" "I'm going to Ireland for Thanksgiving;" "I'm going to backpack around Thailand and Cambodia for a while;" "I'm going to Kauai for Thanksgiving;" and "I'm quitting my jobs and going to Africa for 5 weeks;" they've reached a point of rolling with the punches when it comes to my announcements. One of my friends put it best (and this was several years ago) when she said, "We just know when you say you're thinking about doing something or want to do something that means you're going to do it."

But I had never really mentioned Haiti before. Sure immediately following the earthquake the breaking news buff in me would have jumped at the chance to jet down there. (And I got nerdy excited to find out I will be staying in the same hotel the 60 Minutes crew did during their month long stay following the quake.) Since then, my interest was only strongly piqued when I had to cover Anthony Bourdain's Haiti episode. He hung out with Sean Penn. They talked about the organization Sean works for, J/P HRO. I looked into that a little bit, but wasn't sure I was a good fit. Then I went to Africa and then I started volunteering around here and didn't give it much thought.

Until for some reason I did...and so I posted on FB and got responses, two of which connected to Global Orphan Project, which I saw as enough of a sign. I sent them a little note, basically saying: I was available for their next trip, I have all of the necessary shots to go and I know French. Which is apparently kinda like Creole. Which is apparently what they speak in Haiti. The lady emailed me back the next day and said "we'd love to have you." The day after that she had purchased me tickets. I would later say to my group leader that I really felt like they were being very trusting of me seeing as how they didn't/still really don't know that much about me. Apparently we all share a similar philosophy in that if you take things as they come, things happen as they should. (Which sounds passive, but in reality you're always taking the next step, until the next step doesn't work and you have to find a different path.)
As luck would have it, when I was exploring the GO network, I spotted one of my fellow Africa volunteers in one of their pictures. Signs, signs, everywhere signs.

So I'm gonna be hot, and sweaty, and might have to take cold showers (hot water is only avail when electricity is). But I'm also going to spend five days playing with kids who thrive on the love of strangers...who enjoy life despite their circumstances. This won't be my first third world country. Not even my first third world country post-disaster. But I'm preparing myself for it to be worse than anything I've ever seen, and better than anything I could imagine.

The (nearly) 5 days spent off the grid? A challenge I'm happy to take on.

So I'm Going to Haiti...And Here's How You Can Help! (for those not on FB)

Well, part of you can...like something you give me to give to the kids can...

Well, if you live in the Los Angeles area...sorry STL peeps...the rest of the group I'm going with is in Kansas City tho, so if folks there wanna pitch in, msg me and I can put you in touch...

Unlike when I went to Africa, we're actually asked to take stuff to the kids in Haiti...

Things like:

peanut butter
CROCS (Can be used...I'm asking about TOMS)
Medical things like Children's Motrin, Bandaids, etc.

Things the whole group can use:

books
coloring books/crayons
soccer balls
bubbles
sidewalk chalk

(you get the idea...nothing for each individual kid, all things for everyone to use)

I'm supposed to bring whatever I've collected *cough* at least 50 pounds in a huge duffel or military sack that I don't mind leaving there so if anyone has one of those that would be even awesome-er.

Since I'm leaving next Weds, I'd like to have everything by Tuesday (10/18). I live in Los Feliz, so if you live or work around here you could drop it off or msg me and we'll figure it out.

I know this is uber short notice so thanks in advance to anyone who can help out. No pressure.

I will also be blogging about this adventure that, even tho seems miniature in duration, I'm sure will have a profound effect on me. The thing is, I've made a promise to my team leader to go off the grid for the time we're in Haiti. I'll journal like crazy so that I can regurgitate here when I get back.

2 things.

A - I just looked up "regurgitate" to make sure I spelled it right and there's apparently a group of "Swedish grindcore assassins" using the word as a name. Awesome.

B - I just re-read my blog from Africa. What an awesome experience!

I have come to the realization in the 24 hours of knowing that I'm going to Haiti next week that the reason I'm so excited is because of how close it is. I fell in love with Africa and can't wait to go back, but it's really far away. Haiti is more realistic. It's closer. Added bonus: airfare was less than half of what I paid to go to Cape Town and that's with only 7 days notice.

So in seven sleeps, I'll be lusting in the wander once again. Stay tuned.

There's One in Every Bunch

Hilarious. The only one I had left after that last blog was Agcobile. (Unfortunately Analise (another one of my early faves) never returned to school after the first week and a half.) I super wish Gertie's was close enough for me to randomly drop in and see how things are going.

So back to Agcobile.

Sassypants!! I love when you can look at a child and see how they'll be when they get older. Agcobile is the ringleader for the little girl clique. Shocking I know. Here she is telling someone how to do something her way.

Then she realized I was not only standing there watching her, but I was taking a picture.

So I showed her the picture. And pointed out that she doesn't look cute when she's acting like that. I was of course speaking in English, but I hope she got something out of it. Then the other kids started imitating her thinking I would take pictures of them doing it. I was all, I am trying to teach her a lesson. Haha.

Life is going well. I've contacted and orientated at a couple of local volunteer opportunities. Who knew you didn't have to go all the way to Africa to volunteer? (Have I already used that joke here?) I've purchased a bike. I've still got lots of Oprah to catch up on. I also need to finish unpacking. (Before you freak out, I've done all the laundry...just need to unpack the rest and put the bags away.) Last week was my "rest" week and I'm getting things done this week. You know, before I head to St. Louis next week.

Life is good. Real good. So I think that's probably it for this blog. I mean until I travel again. And as much as I would love to go do the whole 3 months in New Zealand or Australia thing while I've got so much time off...I'm trying to be a little more moneywise (and would rather not go alone).

Bantwana Bam

So downloading my thousands (!) of pictures has become problematic as my start-up disc on my laptop is full and I have apparently become inept at all things computerific, namely anything to do with my external hard drive. (Work in progress...)

All of that to say, the individual pictures I took of my kiddos the day we made the necklaces have successfully been transferred, and since I will not be putting those on facebook, I thought I would introduce them to you here.

I miss them!! We'll start with my Anda. (To be fair, she was the first one done with her necklace, so the first one in my sequence. The kids will not be listed here in order of my level of like for them.) Admittedly, tho, she was one of my favorites from the beginning. I'm so glad I got to help celebrate her birthday. I loved seeing her feel so special.


Next up: Songezo. His was one of the first names-to-faces I learned. He was always one of the first kids to greet me in the morning. Big into hugs and physical contact.

Ok so this is Nombongo. Oft referred to as "the stick teacher" and the one who chases the kids around with her boob as if she was gonna nurse them. :) Turns out she's 34. Virtually the same age as me. What different lives we've had. She has a 9 year old and 1 year old and told me to never have children.

Oh, Likho. A quiet, kind and gentle soul. And adorable to boot.

Phumelele!! Look at that face! This kid had me wrapped around his finger with looks like that! I wish I had video of him dancing. He's got some moves.

One of my favorite pictures from Gertie's is one of Phuma and his little brother Themba. It wasn't lost on me that I loved them so much because they were like a South African version of Hunter and Jett.

Hope. Definitely one of those kids that you look at and know what he'll look like as a man. Hope is one of the oldest in the class and is very smart. You can tell he's kind of past the point of playing around, but does so sometimes to fit in. If we were playing house tho, I think Hope would be the dad. Which - this just dawned on me - there was no fake kitchen or playing of house or anything (like in an American kindergarten)...I didn't realize that until just now.

Siphosethu. Yes I had to refer to my notes to remember how to spell her name. A sweet girl who seems to be on the outside of the main little girl clique, but gets along with everyone. And yes, that's a weave. It won't be the last one you see.

Hlumelo. Tough name to say (and I had two of them!)...This one was a little jokester. Loves to laugh and make YOU laugh. But for the most part, stays out of trouble.

As if on cue...Hlumelo. Strong and silent. This guy flies under the radar. He's a good, sweet kid tho.

And here he is...my 5 year old suitor Ntando...

Zukhanne. Pronounced zoo-kanye. (I loved his name!) He's one of those quiet kids that you love catching having a great time. You know the ones I'm talking about?

Lerato is a part of the little girl clique I mentioned earlier. But she shares a Anda-like sweetness.

Ndinga. The first time I did the whole "what color is this person's shirt?" lesson, I forgot to use Ndinga's name. After calling each of the other kid's up - by name - I felt really guilty about it. So I made it a point the next day to say hello to him - by name - first thing. For me it was my whole respect thing I have with kids as little people. I thought it important to learn their names to say to them "I respect you enough to look at you in the face and address you by your name." It doesn't matter if you're 3 or 30. (Granted, sometimes I can be really horrible with names, but still...I like it as a personal policy.)

Sweet sweet Liyema. Also part of the girl group, but for the most part stays out of the chatty spats.

Without further ado, my first love. Iva. Wow did I love this kid the first minute I laid eyes on him. It broke my heart that I couldn't always give him the red bowl he asked for. He would look at me as if to say, don't you like me at all??? If only he knew how much I wanted to snatch him up. What you can't see in this picture is that he's not the tallest little boy, which gives him an adorable George-Jefferson-type quality.

Ahhh! Isn't he just the cutest?? Blogger is acting up, so I'm gonna have to continue this in a separate post...(perhaps not even the people at Blogger/Gmail/Google can handle these kids' faces!!)

A Bit of News Before I Go

So we're about to check out of the Granddaddy. We've shopped the markets one last time. The Airstream was as delightful as I knew it would be. There was even a guy playing guitar outside last night. He was very Andrew-Bird like. Perfection.

I can't believe today has finally come. The past 5 weeks have flown by. Last night as I was reminiscing about all I've done, I could acknowledge that the winery trip seemed like a lifetime ago...and that even Kruger seemed to be a distant memory. Every day is so new and so full of opportunity and options and that's what I'm taking with me.

Which brings me to this tidbit: when I get back to the states, I'll be unemployed. Like completely. Before I left I had joked about taking the summer off. Doing whatever I wanted, when I wanted. It sounded slightly irresponsible and uber delightful. After being here, I confirmed I wasn't doing things that made me happy anymore. I figured (correctly) that Eyeboogie would make other arrangements, and made the choice to not return to Let's Make a a Deal either.

We'll see what I come up with, but I'm not nervous. I'm excited to figure out what I want to be doing and where I want to be doing it. It sucks I won't be eligible for unemployment, but I've got some savings and I'm not above temp work or a Starbucks gig if that's what it takes.

I'm super stoked to have a summer of beaches and popsicles and bike rides and sewing and reading and writing and sightseeing and whatever else I decide I want to do. Not many other 33 year olds get a summer of freedom.

As far as going home. I'm excited to see my peeps. And for sushi. And pad thai. And my bed. And remembering what driving around is like. And what I hope is several episodes of 16 & Pregnant waiting on my dvr. :)

Thanks for reading. Picture posts to come.

Under African Skies

I know...I know...but internet in countries other than South Africa seem to be spotty so I decided to combine all of my safari adventures into one big blog.

Ok so when last I left we were headed to Kruger...after like an 8 hour drive from JoBurg we landed at the Kwa Madwala Reserve. Our room here was nothing short of a fantasy suite from The Bachelor. It was shaped like a big rock and super remotely located down the side of this hill. The only shower was one on the back deck. (It didn't matter because nobody could see you but maybe the animals.)

The first night we went out for a drive and saw a hippo just walking around. As well as a bush buck, a water buck and a couple of giraffes. Reality set in. The next morning we got up and went for a nature walk where the only thing we saw was a group of impalas running in the distance.

I have to be honest, I was expecting opening scene of Lion King stuff. I wanted to see a baby lion held triumphantly in the air as other animals stampeded toward the celebration and then bowed down as the music played. (Read as: my hopes were set high.)

Well it turns out Kruger (our next stop) is the size of Wales, and isn't one for disappointing. Did I see the scene of my dreams? Not quite. But have I seen a lot of awesome stuff? For sure. We've also learned some interesting things.

Like how an impala's teeth become loose during mating so they can "scratch" each other's backs. Then they tighten back up.

We also went to an elephant rescue and played a game with an elephant wherein I was one of three people to take my shoe off and walk away from it. The elephant (who had been turned around when I put it in the shoe line-up) picked up my shoe and came and gave it back to me. Turns out their sense of smell is 40 times better than that of a dog.

We did a lot of driving that day, but were rewarded with sightings of crocodiles, hippos, giraffes, elephants, more impala, wildebeast, buffaloes, owls and rhinos. Phew! We got to our campsite after dark. There was a group of dad-age Italians in our group and they, taking us for city girl damsels in distress, put our tent up for us. In reality, it was the type of tent both Katie and I have set up before, but it was a nice gesture and we appreciated it.

Our tour guides (Zinzo and Thabang) were cool and in addition to the Italians we had a couple of Spanish friends and then an American girl currently living in London.

Our second day in Kruger meant a 6a-3p game drive. Driving around looking for animals is very similar to driving around trying to get a baby to sleep and then once the baby is asleep you keep driving around so that he or she gets a full nap. I say that because you take all the turn offs, and you just keep driving. And driving.

This day started off at high speed tho because our driver had heard lions so we sped toward where the roars were coming from. We weren't the only ones who got lucky that morning. We saw three lionesses and one male. Eventually the male picked the one whose turn it was going to be and as she lay in the street he totally mounted her...right in front of us. We had hoped to see a lion eat a zebra but this was so much better. But apparently not for her as she was not a happy camper. We asked the guide about it (as the entire act lasted 5 seconds)...He told us something about a lion having a barbed penis and how it hurt the female. We have yet to google this but it seemed believable.

By lunch we had seen everything but a leopard. Turns out we didn't see anything new the rest of the day. And after a while, an elephant turns into another elephant, the newness wears off and you're ready to be back at the camp. That night we fell asleep to what we knew by then were the roars of hunting lions.

We kept being told how lucky we were to have seen more impala and guinea fowl than we could count, white and black rhinos, wild dogs, zebras, and kudu, in addition to everything I've already mentioned.

Sunday morning we got up and once again our Italian pops took care of the tent situation. On our way out of Kruger we caught sight of the most elusive of the big 5...the leopard. He was running but I got a blurry pic. We took the panoramic view home. I should have bought stock in Dramamine.

Next stop: Livingstone, Zambia where 5k kwacha equals one dollar. Price tags look crazy. It's a better taste of "Africa." Markets get exhausting. Everyone wants you to got their shop. See things. Touch things. Buy things.

Tuesday we decided to head to Botswana. We took a cruise on the Chobe River. We saw lots of hippo families and elephant families. Basically exactly what we had wished for. Playing and drinking and babies! Lots of animal babies!

Chobe offered different scenery than Kruger landscape-wise, so that was nice. After the cruise we went for another game drive. Chobe is known for its huge elephant population. We saw hundreds. Getting up close and personal with some. We had a standoff in the road at one point. Luckily he decided to let us pass him but it was definitely a reminder of whose turf we were on.

We watched a dung beetle hard at work and an elephant herd playing by the water. A calf rolled in the dirt, having just as much fun as a human child would. And I'm talking within 10 feet of where we were sitting in the truck. We saw two giraffes gracefully gallop across the sandy road...(which looked more like running in slow motion). And then we saw two baboons getting it on in the road.

I feel like The Beatles must have gone on a safari before writing "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" because it seems to be a popular place. They got that whole "Nobody will be watching part" wrong tho.

The last thing we saw before heading into our camp was a pride of lionesses with their cubs. We watched as they stalked a lone impala. We tried to warn the impala, and tell it to run away, but it froze for a while. Eventually it seemed to get far enough away.

We went to our camp where the only thing separating us from the wild animals we'd just seen were lanterns. Needless to say, there were no night-time potty breaks. In that case the "toilet" was a plastic seat set atop a hole in the ground next to a shovel. Rustic!

The only animal sound we heard that night was a hippo. You know, only the animal that kills more humans than any other of the big 5.

We came back to Livingstone the next day and chilled out. Then today we headed to Victoria Falls. We fit 18 people in a minivan for the 10k ride. That's nothing for Africa.

We got to the falls (still on Zambia side) and checked them out from various spots. As we had heard from other travelers, water was very high. Too high for rafting. We walked to the top and then hiked down to the "boiling pot." From there we watched as people bungeed (sp?) off the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Came back up and did a little more photo taking before coming across a group of baboons. Big baboons. Males in search of mates baboons. They blocked our path and looked very menacing.

We had joined up with a mother/daughter who were staying at our same place. The daughter went first and just as she passed, one of the larger ones gave chase. (None of us had food, but they didn't know that.) We of course freaked out. (not a smart move) So he turned around and acted like he was going to charge. So there we all were, stuck in our various locations on the path. Me holding on to the girl's mom as if she were my own. (not good in crisis, remember?)

Then along came a man behind us. Like a knight in shining armour. He bellowed and stomped and (in the monkey world) claimed us as his. As we walked away with no further problems, the guy told me what we should have done. "You're bigger," he said. "Stand your ground. Don't cower or he'll see you as weak." Easy for him to say, I already pictured myself mauled by a baboon. Hard to not back up when you've got that image in your head.

All's well that ends well. We decided not to cross over to the Zim side as the view wouldn't be any different since it's so full. Zambia has really been a chill place for us. The backpackers we chose is an oasis of loveliness. And only $25 a night.

I got my first three bug bites of the entire trip tonight at dinner. Not a bad track record. We head back to Cape Town tomorrow night. It's airstream time. Which also means last night in Africa time.

I don't want to process that right now.