Cape Town has a different pulse than Durban, and I loved it. Right on the ocean, you can see the Mountain from everywhere. As we flew out with the sunset to our backs a week later, I kept thinking, “I've gotta come back” because a week was not long enough!

Spent this past week going to goodbye meals and hanging out with friends who I will never forget. I also got to go visit SABC with a friend who is a reporter there. I remember reading Allister Sparks' (a former editor in chief at the South African Broadcasting Company) book before I left home. His book is about the changes in South African media during and after the governmental change, a reciprocal relationship between shifting media and the move to democracy. Being there recalled all the powerful ways media influences the world, and was a reminder to me of how this country has changed. Nelson Mandela said democracy has made the world smaller and in the process been a great tool for the promotion of democracy. It was wonderful to see SABC in person, as a reminder of how it has changed, how the nation has changed, and just as one more thing I have read about that comes to life in such deeper waves when you are actually standing there.

Off to Cape Town tomorrow morning! We are planning to visit Robben Island, Table Mountain, Cape Point and the winelands, and more! I'm so excited, everyone says Cape Town is the Europe of Africa, it sounds beautiful!

In other news I saw the movie Borat with 9 South African friends, and begged them to not think the states is really like they portray it in the movie. Aye aye aye. You never realize how people take the things they see on TV as fact until South Africans ask you if your life is really like The Bold and The Beautiful or the OC. Haha.

Wednesday I got to baby-sit 30 kids at the school I volunteer at while the staff had a meeting. The kids are wonderful, they want to sing for you, dance for you, play games, and once they know you they run up to you and give you giant hugs. They call me the white mommy. Haha, weirded me out at first but its cute.

Spent an evening out with friends and went to say goodbye to another's parents. It astounds me how hospitable the families of some of my friends here have been. I've been to dinner at their houses and had the privilege of seeing families in distinctly different areas (and cultures). Their families have all been so kind and wonderful, and have enriched my experience here in huge ways. I hope they know how much they mean to me! One family is even making plans to come visit the states! Hooray, it would be such a treat to show them where I live.

Today is a goodbye party with a group of my friends from the Varsity; we're playing soccer and having a feast. Tomorrow a goodbye picnic in the park and tea with a couple of the other girls. I can't believe I'm leaving. Turns out that a couple of my friends from SA will be in Cape Town the same time I will and I get to meet up with them. Precious says she wants to show me the town and Patrick says I've gotta see his grandpa's house. Haha, I love the way things have worked out here, it seems like wherever I go now I run into friends and I love it. As I say, people are so hospitable and kind. Man I'm going to miss it here!

PS. I found this great sign on my friend's street:

We had a dance party in one of the empty rooms in res to celebrate the end of a college career for one of the girls. Those of us celebrating were a Sotho, two Swazi’s, three Zulu’s, a girl from Zimbabwe, and three Americans. What fun, what fun! The girls taught us a song called, “eway-way” (I spell that phonetically, so please don’t hold it against me) and the dance that goes along with it. The meaning discusses the female anatomy, and how for a girl with nothing, that’s all she’s got. The song is indicative of many things, and in some ways surprises me; but music reflects culture and clearly so in this particular song.

My last final is tomorrow, and then I’m working out some things to go traveling (like my ticket home.) Very excited about Cape Town and finishing up around here. Spent the weekend at a friend’s house laughing about the “Caution: Monkey Crossing” sign on his street; and yes folks, it’s a real sign, walking along gorgeous beaches, seeing silly movies, and generally enjoying South Africa. Yay for SA!

I’m going to miss walking up the hill to class and being late because I run into friends and stop to talk. (They tell me I got used to "African time" very quickly, I think that's why.) I’m starting to go all nostalgic, but I really will miss dancing in the sweltering heat in the music room, and the sweet people in the dorms who drop notes under my door to say hello, the girls on my floor who ask how I am everyday and like to watch me cook funny food in the kitchen. I’ll miss the lady at the campus coffee shop who knows what I’m going to order and smiles at “Miss America”, and my favorite cab driver who is more like an uncle. I might even miss the ridiculously loud “duf duf” (house) music in the mini buses, and the monkeys running around. But most of all I’ll miss the great friends I’ve made here. Isn’t that always the hardest thing to leave? It’s so bittersweet; I get to go back to wonderful people and lots of love at home. But I feel like I’m walking away from such good people here too. It will be sad to see this adventure end. It has been a growing journey that God knows I needed to take. I’ve learned my own strength, learned to face my fears, and that doing so is very much worth it. I’ve learned about other cultures and other ways of life, I’ve learned about my own soul in the process. I feel so rich for all of it, my life is richer for the people I’ve met and the relationships I’ve made; for the things I’ve seen and felt. Before I left home, I was in such a good situation; wonderful people, beautiful state, good life. But I wanted more. I wanted to see more, to really understand it. My mom said to me, “I knew you wanted to get away but I didn’t think you’d have to go to the other side of the world!” I guess I did. I needed to see life in bigger terms. Every minute, even the hard ones, have been valuable and well worth overcoming the fear. I am so thankful for it all.

I’m heading to Cape Town in a couple of weeks, after exams; very excited to do so. From the moment I got here everyone told me I couldn’t leave South Africa without visiting Cape Town, it should be an incredible getaway!

First of all the last apartheid president here just died, doesn't seem like it made much of an impact on the country. He did work to end apartheid though. I continually learn about this country and its nuts! My friends were telling me about a proposal to end the transportation madness by passing a law that you can only drive with more than one person in a vehicle. Minor glitch, you still have to pick up the other person…hmm have they thought this through? And a proposition to make bike lanes; ok this country has the highest crime rate in the world and bikers ride together because they are targets. My friends, through their laughter at how ludacris the proposal is ask, “who in their right mind would get on a bike and make a mugging target of themselves?” True true, nobody would subscribe to that here, especially with the way the taxi drivers (minibuses actually) drive. Crazy!!

There is no reliable public transport here, and everyone is worrying about 2010 when the world cup is coming to SA. We'll see...

Pastry Crust Ingredients: Filling Ingredients

500g (room temp) and 250g (frozen) butter 1 litre milk
140g cake flour 6 extra large eggs, seperated
3 egg yolks 20 ml maizena
10ml cream of tartar 40 ml cake flour
1can soda water 5 ml vanilla essence (or 1/2 + 1/2 almond extract)
5 ml salt 250 ml (200g) sugar
one large pat butter
pinch salt
Directions:
Sift the flour + salt into mixing bowl
Grate frozen butter into flour mix until it looks like mealiemeal (or corn bread, etc)
Knead for 3 minutes and roll out thinly
Divide butter into 3 equal portions
Spread one portion of the butter onto two thirds of the rolled-out dough
Fold dough, covering all the butter and leave to rest in a fridge for 1/2 an hour
Mix 5 ml of the cream of tartar with the second quantity of butter
Again, roll dough out thinly and spread butter mixture over 2/3 of the dough
Fold and leave to rest for another 1/2 hour
Mix the last quantity of the butter with the rest of the cream of tartar
Roll dough out again and spread the surface of the dough with the butter and cream of tartar mixture. Roll dough up like a swiss roll and cut into 4 equal portions.
Cover each individual portion with plastic wrap and freeze until needed.
The dough is enough for 4 milk tarts

Filling:
Preheat oven to 220ºC
Line two enamel plates with puff pastry.
Boil 750 ml milk
Add maizena, cake flour, salt, and one third of a cup of sugar to the remaining 250 ml milk and mix to a paste
Remove boiled milk from stove and beat paste into milk with a wire whisk until a smooth mixture is formed
Beat egg yolks and 1/3 of a cup of sugar together and add the essences (extracts)
Stir in with warm milk mixture
Beat the egg whites until they start to foam and add 1/3 of a cup sugar and maizena (this prevents the filling from sagging.)
Beat the mixture to a soft peak stage and fold into mixture.
Stir through thoroughly and divide mixture between two lined pie dishes.
Bake at 220ºC for ten minutes
Open and close oven door quickly and bake for another 10 minutes at 200ºC.

eat and enjoy!!

Because of the crime rate here, most of my good friends are not allowed to drive at night (if at all). Many of the girls are never allowed to drive the car on their own, nor will the ever be able to live on their own. Especially for women this place is scary. I really don’t feel in danger, but I worry for the wonderful people I’ve met here. I get to go back to the comfort of knowing I will always have a job in some form, can always make money and live securely, can live on my own without being married. Some students here wait 4 years after getting their degree for a job (and they are the extremely blessed ones who could afford to attend University). This very nice law student asked me when I was going to start my family because I can’t live in my parent’s house forever. He was shocked to find out that in the states that I don’t live at home; other than living at the university that is simply not something that is done here. The degrees of freedom and opportunity I have as a woman are exponentially greater by simple virtue of my American nationality. The very sweet girls I’ve met here are missing out on some of the freedoms and independence I cherish in my own life. I’ve realized how lucky I am. Growing up in a world where being a girl only meant I could wear dresses, I was always told I could be whatever I wanted to be, to do whatever I wanted to do. I never felt hindered by my gender. But it’s a different story here. Different expectations, different rules. Another American friend who cannot cook was told she will be worthless as a wife if she doesn’t learn. Some of the things I’ve learned from the girls on my floor have been simply unbelievable too.

I’ve seen some tough stuff since I’ve been here, it runs deep for South African women. I’ll be honest, I’ve held a friend's hand while she got an HIV test after making a mistake with a guy here. That was a very intense appointment, but thank GOD she’s negative. Its scary, because the same issues that are troublesome at home, are life threatening here. Take the night I learned about cheating: after telling the girls I would never put up with a guy who cheated on me or hit me, they were shocked at my attitude. They couldn’t believe that I would end a relationship just because of that. The girls said guys mess up, its a simple fact of life. As the conversation continued, I realized that I have a kind of cultural confidence in the fact that I don’t deserve treatment like that, and I won’t stand for it. Here, I’ve watched women get worked over time and again. The girls told me a story about their good friend whose boyfriend has been cheating for the past three years. It gets worse, but I’ll leave that all alone, its just the norm for those girls. The point being that women here have different situations in relationships, in jobs, and in life simply based on their gender. I’ve been told stories about women who have been given the choice between performing a sexual favor for a boss, or being denied a job. It’s a simple reality here. The practice of wearing a female condom at night if one has to walk home or go out is not at all far fetched, some of my friends openly do it and support it. If anyone wonders why the HIV/AIDS rate is the highest in the world here, they should look at the gender inequality issues of this country (and KZN in particular).

Growing up in a place and time and family where I was cherished as a female, I had learned about women’s rights movements of the past. But I had never experienced what they were fighting against. I’ve told my dad that sometimes being in this developing nation feels like stepping 40 or 50 years (or more) into the past, and women’s issues in South Africa are one of the reasons why.

Yet, it is beautiful the way this “rainbow nation” is trying to progress on the subject. Even my varsity has a Millenium Women campaign. UKZN (University of KwaZulu-Natal) was formerly the University of Natal. During apartheid the university was split into segregated campuses (one for Indians, one for whites, etc) the campus I now attend (Howard College campus) was the best academically, and ironically was the campus for white men. The University became color heterogeneous even before it began accepting women. The fact that so many women attend here is a testament to the way South Africa has changed. Those “Millenium Women” of my generation are the first to reap the benefits of the freedom fight and will be those that bring about greater changes in South Africa and the whole world. What beautiful and wonderful women they are! With just over a month left here in SA, its going to be hard to leave the fantastic friends I’ve made, of all races, religions, and genders!

It was boiling today in dance class though, whew! But I re-learned the word “inqolo” (I can almost do the click that goes in that word...), Zulu for “shake your backside”! We were learning the fish dance and jumping around for about an hour; we were all dripping by the end of class. And, my classmates taught me how to do this one handed noise- making thing. I’m still getting there. Ha ha…but they are all so much fun, and of everything I’ve done here, being in that class has been consistently such a “jal”! (Oh, that’s Afrikaans for “party”) Honestly, being here I've found a few things to be universal: smiles, laughing, music, and dance. No matter where I am, dancing makes me happy, and no matter who you are, if you dance with people, they are much more likely to take you in as one of their own. Maybe a white one -- but one of their own. It’s kinda funny to be the token white girl in the dance ensemble, but I can't say I'm not loving it! People are still shocked to see, “the white girl’s got rhythm!” but my classmates are always saying, “yeah, you bet she can dance!” They rock! Here’s my tip for anyone studying abroad that is lonely, or homesick, or in need of a pick-me-up: GET OUT THERE AND DANCE!

The festival comes from what is said to be the darkest night on earth when the rightful god/king Ram could return to India to rule. The people light up their houses and the sky to show the way for God to come into their homes. It’s a beautiful festival rich in tradition. I’ve still got the “gadual” on my eyes (black soot from vegetable fat that the family puts in the bottom of their eyes to ward off the ‘evil eye’). I wore the red and black sari the family had made for me for my birthday, and had tons of fun!

As much as I get confused sometimes by South African slang and cultures, its amazing to see the way some cultures here are also confused by each other, yet are trying to understand. Watching the Afrikaner couple speak with a Zulu mom and son, and speak and my friend’s Indian family was quite the cultural event. Honestly, there will probably be few instances in my life where I can watch such diversity in one room -- people so different yet having the same nationality. It’s heart-warming to see such goodness and interest in people and their cultures, and I will carry that memory with me for a very long time. The irony is that when the family tried to teach me Hindi phrases, it was Thabo the four-year-old Zulu who corrected my pronunciation. Ha-ha, I love it!

Sunday, I went to the nursery school behind my residence to volunteer with their upcoming play. I met the principal a while back who said they really needed a stage manager. Voila, a few days later I’ve got a script in my hand to direct “Luthuli Safaris” (the school is called Albert Luthuli) and each age group has a different animal they represent. The youngest are the monkeys, then hippos, elephants, lions, peacocks and zebras. They dance the most adorable dances! The play is on Wednesday for family and friends. It’s a fundraiser for the school and I’ll be there directing the kids. They’re so cute!!

We also spent suppertime at a restaurant on the harbor watching the ships come in and out. It was wonderful to sit and chat about South African politics (though that subject can be a bit scary sometimes), hearing stories from a former South African police officer, and getting confused by words I don’t understand. The way that Californians know basic words in Spanish is the same way people from KZN (KwaZulu-Natal) know words of Zulu and Afrikaans. I’m learning but it’s a bit over my head at times. Though thanks to this weekend, I know a dirty word in Afrikaans, a couple phrases in Hindi, and a game or two in Zulu. I also learned that the helicopters you see on from the shore are escorting the boats out, who knew?! The captain climbs up a small ladder to the chopper and signs the final paperwork before the boat leaves South African waters. Cool, huh? All in all an AMAZING weekend! Pictures coming soon!