Holiday in the Mountains

My “spring break” (or autumn break here!) took me to a beautiful location in the mountains. The Drakensberg is a mountain range that lies on the eastern side of South Africa and extends for almost 200 kilometers (124 miles) with most peaks well over 3,000 meters (9,843 feet) in height. I am fortunate to live so close to so many beautiful places to explore! I am also finding that the landscape of this country is just as diverse as its people. Read further for a short description of my trip.

Day 1: Not much exciting to report here.  Eighteen hour bus ride from Cape Town to Harrismith.  With only an emergency toilet on board.

Day 2: Tugela Falls hike in the Amphitheatre section of the Drakensberg. Terribly foggy and a bit drizzly, resulting in some slippery conditions for hiking. Tugela Falls is the world’s second highest waterfall, which I shamefully cannot confirm visually due to the fog. Still a beautiful landscape as far as I can see, with some great hiking due to the varied terrain.

Day 3: Tour of Lesotho, a small landlocked country in South Africa that claims the title of the world’s only country that lies entirely above 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) in elevation. We first toured a school, and then embarked on a hike, where we also got rained on. After some treacherous hiking back (think gushing rivers for trails) to our vehicles, we met with a sangoma, or traditional healer.

Day 4: Rest day that consisted of visiting the sauna, hot tub, kitchen, bar, and surrounding areas of the backpackers. All while surrounded by the beautiful Amphitheatre! Rough indeed!

Day 5: Hike around the Ampitheatre, which included Gudu Falls, a short episode of stalking by baboons, many closed trails due to severe weather conditions, and a chat with a fellow hiker from Seattle. The world is a small place! Concluded by the sauna, hot tub, and bar.

Day 6: A day of ups and downs. Leaving the backpackers later than anticipated, meaning less time waiting in town for the bus: up. Sitting in a bar listening to Afrikaans country music for 5 hours: down. Catching a glimpse of some rugby games over beer and warm food: up. Attempted bag theft while waiting at bus stop: down. Long bus ride back to Cape Town and conclusion of holiday: down. Great company on the bus and some sci-fi movies on the way back: up.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip and a much needed break from “real life.” Not that I’ve had to deal with that much since returning to Cape Town considering we have (yes, count them) four public holidays this month!

Unity After Death

Part of my daily routine includes reading the news. As I like to gain various perspectives on what goes on in the world, I also make sure to read a variety of sources to get my “daily dose.” Through this process, however, I have discovered some inconsistencies across the stories I read. (This should not come as a big surprise to most , if not all, of you.) None have been as glaring as the coverage in regards to the death of Mrs. Tsvangirai, wife of Prime Minister Tsvangirai, who is the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change party in Zimbabwe.

News reports in South Africa portrayed the crash as an accident involving the collision of a US aid truck and the Tsvangirai’s vehicle. The truck driver reportedly sideswiped the vehicle, causing it to overturn numerous times. The truck was immediately impounded by Zimbabwean authorities and the driver arrested under charges of culpable homicide. Investigation suggests the driver fell asleep at the wheel.

News reports elsewhere, however, differed. Those from BBC and CNN did not reveal until a later date that the truck was that of USAID. The specific USAID program is said to be jointly funded by the UK and US. Additionally, such articles fail to mention the driver of the truck is facing criminal charges. US sources also state the truck may have hit a rock and that traffic accidents in Zimbabwe are unfortunately very common.

This is a dilemma for me. As tragic as this event is, I realize it may in fact help facilitate the rebuilding of a broken land. At the same time, I wonder in whose favor it is to focus on the positive, as opposed to the cause of the accident itself. Either way, I suppose the best thing I can do at this point is maintain my civic responsibility by informing myself and applying a critical lens.

Here is a small sampling of the news stories addressing the death of Mrs. Tsvangirai.

6 March Zimbabwe PM’s wife dies in crash (BBC)

6 March Tsvangirai’s car hit by US truck – report (South Africa)

7 March Official: Tsvangirai believes fatal crash was deliberate (CNN)

9 March Tsvangirai says crash an accident (BBC)

10 March Truck driver faces charges over death of PM’s wife (Australia)

10 March Zimbabweans bid farewell to Mrs. Tsvangirai (South Africa)

11 March Thousands attend funeral for Zimbabwe prime minister’s wife (CNN)

12 March Zimbabwe’s funeral diplomacy (BBC)

Should Expats Vote?

As of this morning, South Africans who are registered to vote, but are overseas, may now participate in the upcoming 22 April elections. This ruling comes after regulations that limited overseas voting to international sportsmen, government officials, people on temporary holidays, and business trips were declared unconstitutional. To read more, please click the links below.

Expats must act quickly after ruling

IEC ready for overseas voters

Opposition parties rejoice with expats

South African expats vote upheld

In light of the media coverage surrounding the decision of whether citizens located overseas should vote, I began to contemplate this question myself. I participated in the election in November via absentee ballot and am still currently registered with my former place of residence in Oregon. Although I feel very strongly that I should have a voice in national issues, I found myself stumbling through the local issues that often dealt with schools, firefighters, and city maintenance. I also began to wonder what it means to be a citizen of a country I do not reside in as I am currently ruled by a set of laws foreign to me. Is it different if it is a temporary residence as opposed to being an expatriate?

What are your thoughts? Should citizens who are overseas be allowed to vote? Why or why not, and in what cases?

Always Have A Plan B

For anyone who is used to things going to plan (or strongly dislikes it when things don’t go according to plan!), my biggest piece of advice when traveling is to always have a Plan B. I had one of those days a couple of weeks ago that functioned to remind me of this very important point. Here is a brief breakdown of my adventures on the doomed day of Monday, 9 February, when I traveled to a local university for a workshop.

06h30 Rise to the sound of my alarm clock.
07h00 Leave my flat in Sea Point to take a mini-bus taxi to town.
07h30 Arrive in town and purchase a train ticket to campus.
07h40 Arrive at the correct platform and board the train.
07h45 The woman across from me asks me if the train is going to Bellville. I respond that I believe it is.
07h50 Someone else next to me asks where the train is going. They seem to think this train must be going to Khayelitsha.
07h51 I begin to wonder if I am on the right train, or if I perhaps know better than the South Africans around me where we are going. Chuckle at the possibility that it is the latter.
07h55 A train arrives in the next platform and people discuss the possibility of that being the right train.
07h56 Half of the people in my carriage run as if avoiding a tsunami to the next platform as the train pulls away. This includes the woman that asked me if the train is going to Bellville.
07h57 My blood pressure rises and I wonder if this is the beginning of another story of getting lost in Cape Town.
08h00 The Bellville woman returns and gives me a defeated shrug as we silently agree to hope this is the correct train.
08h07 We pull away late from the station as I hold my breath to see what station we arrive at next.
08h10 Correct station. Blood pressure and heart rate return to normal.
08h40 Arrive at campus station and walk towards main building for workshop. [Please note that, in spite of a bit of confusion, everything has gone to plan up until this point in my day.]
09h10 Arrive at the building of my workshop only 10 minutes late. Quietly throw a party as I successfully got myself from Point A to Point B in a new part of town within the somewhat acceptable South African late window of 30 minutes.
09h11 Approach the door of the room where the workshop is supposed to be to discover many people sitting outside. Happy feeling disappears as I wonder if we were all conned into transferring money for a non-existent workshop.
09h12 A fellow workshop participants informs me the instructor left to find keys for the room. Worry of con job slowly dissipates.
09h13 Play on my cell phone.
09h20 Play on my cell phone.
09h30 Instructor arrives without keys. Worried feeling comes back.
09h35 Campus representative arrives with keys. We enter the room.
09h40 Instructors seats us and we go through the introductions process and turn on our computers.
09h50 Instructor tells us to install a program for the workshop. Program does not install. Troubleshooting process begins.
09h51 Play on my cell phone.
10h00 Instructor informs us we must change rooms at 13h00 due to the room being double booked. And by the way, 13 participants must sort out having 6 computers in this new room.
10h01 Troubleshooting process continues. Exchange worried looks with my workshop neighbors as we wonder about the competence of the instructor.
10h02 Play on my cell phone.
10h50 It is determined that we must have administrator privileges to complete the installation. [Did it really take almost an hour to figure that out?] Computers restarted, admin log-in used, and program installed. Success.
10h55 Internet no longer working. Second case of the chuckles today.
10h56 Play on my cell phone.
11h05 Begin to get antsy as I realize I haven’t had any coffee yet. Wonder if I read the workshop description correctly about the free coffee, tea, and biscuits.
11h06 Confirm with my neighbor that we should have coffee. She is also antsy as she shares she needs to take a smoke break. And what good is it in the morning without coffee?
11h07 Miss Seattle coffee.
11h10 Instructor proposes ending the workshop at 13h00 in light of the room situation. Democratic discussion ensues among workshop participants to determine plan of action.
11h15 Participants agree – end workshop early today, but arrive an hour earlier tomorrow at fit in extra hours missed.
11h16 Realize I will need to get up even earlier tomorrow to catch the train to campus on time. Mild grunt escapes my throat.
11h18 Debate taking same train to avoid troubleshooting time in new workshop room. Yes.
11h20 Workshop carries on.
13h00 No one arrives yet for next class in the room.
13h10 Still no one. Antsiness returns when I start realizing I am now running off of no coffee and no lunch.
13h15 Get a small chuckle (#3) as the instructor prompts us to title a test webpage “About Our Bushes.” One for bushes, one for trees, and one for grasses. Nature stuff – get your mind out of the gutter.
13h20 We are dismissed for the day. I bow my head in acknowledgment to my neighbors as we wonder what the next day of the workshop has in store for us.

And so goes the adventures that each day has in store for us in this journey known as life. Sure, I could’ve thrown a fit as things didn’t go according to plan, but… in those sorts of situations, you must just go with the flow and be okay with a Plan B. And play on your cell phone.

Globalization of Music

So I’m sitting at this little coffee shop/sushi place/alternative grocery store in the Newlands neighborhood of Cape Town enjoying a hazelnut mocha with friends when a delightful jazz song comes on. I start bobbing my head to the beat and humming the tune when I realize that this song I am listening to is none other than that of Pink Martini, a Portland band with a decent number of followers in the Oregon alternative music scene. I stopped mid-conversation as it dawned on me that a small Portland band is playing in this even smaller cafe at the bottom of the African continent. We are truly in an age of globalization!