TIA - "This Is Africa"

A Thirst for Something More

2010-06-11T12:31:00.000-07:00

FIFA World Cup 2010 has officially arrived in South Africa. For the opening ceremony and the first game Matt, Charlene, Ryan, Leigh and I headed to a Fifa Fan Park in Sandton, a suburb just up the road from where we are staying. The normal 20 minute drive took us nearly 2 hours and following the lead of everyone else we simply got as close as we could, parked the car on the sidewalk and followed the masses to the park. Capacity was listed as 20,000, a number that according to radio reports was hit by noon. Arriving at 2 pm we were clearly among the fans that pushed the number somewhere closer to 30,000. Everywhere around us were Bafana Bafana (the South African soccer team) supporters and with our jerseys, scarves and vuvuzelas we fit right in. A vuvuzela for those of you not in the know is similar to the horn blown to call the horses to the gate at the beginning of a horse race. Now put a horn in the hands of 20,000 people and have them all blow at the same time. Welcome to the Fifa Fan Park and the World Cup in South Africa. My hearing may come back sometime on the flight home.

Despite the noise and chaos, as soon as President Jacob Zuma came to give his speech the park went quite. Although we were only treated to a large video screen rather than being at the stadium in person, the sound system and presence of so many other supporters created an atmosphere that I have rarely seen matched, even at the closest Wisconsin-Michigan football games. The singing of the national anthem brought the crowd even closer together, even though we were only able to sing the last verse as the rest is in Zulu and Afrikaans rather than English. As soon as the game started the most amazing thing happened, everyone sat down on the grass. We found ourselves sitting like an elementary school assembly, although rather than cross-legged each person was expected to keep their knees up so that the person in front could lean against them. While this would be Uncle Mike's personal hell, it was surprisingly comfortable and I quickly found myself reclined upon the fan sitting behind me (although this was less awkward because it was Ryan who has become a good friend of ours during our trip.)

The first half passed without much action, but 10 minutes into the second half a perfect through ball was converted into a goal by the South African attacker. This simple event led to 10 minutes of absolute chaos. From relaxed and reclined we were all soon jumping around, screaming and hugging every person in sight. For a country with such a history of racial divide, the celebration was entirely colorblind and I was reminded again of the remarkable uniting power of sports. While pictures or video may do some justice to the moment, you truly had to be there to really experience what it was like when the ball went into the net.

Unfortunately Mexico scored a tying goal with only 10 minutes to play and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. This in no way hampered the celebratory procession back to the parked cars. After 90 minutes we had 30,000 new friends as we could look around and know that we had all shared a unique experience within the confines of the Fan Park. Everything about the experience met and surpassed our expectations, although coming so close to victory we couldn't help but be left with a thirst for a little something more.

Pictures to follow,

Kiel and Matt

Cotlands

2010-06-09T05:10:00.000-07:00

We've spent the last few days visiting Cotlands, an orpahnage which cares for children impacted by HIV/AIDS. Cotlands in located in the southern part of Joburg where I was warned of the higher crime rates. The streets and buildings looked abandoned and hostile on the way there, but the mood suddenly changed once we pulled up to the gates of Cotlands House and a group of kids ran out to greet us. Kiel and I quickly became human jungle gyms and the kids not hanging on our shoulders took turns trying on our sunglasses.

All the other children were quite excited to see some new faces as well. Some of them even saw me as an easy target to score some extra tea at lunch time. I was put in charge of a tea kettle but wasn't told that the kids with green cups were only supposed to get on drink. Of course the kids picked up on what was going on and were not about to miss an opportunity to get some extra of the highly coveted tea from the new guy.

Other activities we helped out with included feeding peanut butter sandwiches and apple juice to the babies and painting South African flags with the early childhood kids. We also traveled to another school to meet some of the kids that Kiel worked with when he was here in 2008. A good number of them remembered him so they spent some time catching up and snapped a few photos. The guys offered us a tour of the campus and were quite proud of their multiple jungle gyms, basketball court, soccer field, trampoline and swimming pool.

Kiel really wanted me to try the food he ate regularly while he was working at the orphanage so for lunch we walked o the local grocery store and indulged in some meat pies, salt and vinegar puffs and Coke, haha. We haven't been eating that bad the entire time here though. One night we bought ingredients for tacos and made the Brown's a Mexican dinner. Another night I was introduced to the South African braai for which it seems you go and find every piece of meat there is in the house and throw it on the grill. Good stuff.

The world cup opener is just days away, and we can't wait to head to the fan zone and blast our vuvuzelas!

A long day in the sun...

2010-06-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

Howzit followers?

After a nice long weekend in sunny Durban we are back in freezing cold Joburg! The chill in the air that greeted our arrival home at around 530 this evening was downright frigid and as cold as any Minnesota winter night. Well except for the fact that the winter night we are having down here will bring low temps of around 45, but after the warm nights of Durban it does feel quite cold. It is amazing how quickly we can adjust to nice temperatures.

The Comrades experience was something altogether special and unique. We spent the night before the race at a friends place in Pietermaritzburg closer to the start so that we only had to wake up at 3:45 in the morning rather than 2:30. We didn't sleep much the night before, but once the morning came the excitement overrode any effects of the lack of sleep. The sheer number of runners was absolutely amazing and by the start at 5:30 we were packed into our corral with a few thousand other runners all ready to take on the daunting challenge of 56 miles. To give a full mile by mile breakdown of the Comrades would take nearly as long to write as it did to run, and it is far too recent an event for me to want to relive that chaos so instead I will do my best to sum it up in brief.

During the course of a normal marathon, or even a long training run there is usually one or two points at which you feel like you just want to quit and be done. In the Comrades there was about a 20 mile stretch when I had this same feeling. Matt and I came through halfway together but from that point on I had a real battle. I can't even begin to express how incredible Matt's run was on Sunday. He very nearly ran the same time for the second half as the first half which is an incredible feat, but he was also doing it on a bum knee that at least for a large part was giving him substantial pain that he had to battle through. Despite all the difficulties he still came in under 11 hours and achieved a bronze medal which was our stated goal for the race. I unfortunately can't say the same for myself as I had a tough running day and battled in with just 20 minutes to spare at 11 hours and 40 minutes. I still got a medal however and am pretty happy with how things turned out.

As international runners we had a different color number and many times along the way we were both impressed and appreciative of the vast amount of support from both other runners and the spectators along the course. Our Wisconsin shirts were a hit with the crowds and my shoulders are almost as sore as my legs just from waving to acknowledge everyone who yelled out "Go Wisconsin!" I also had the opportunity to run for around 10 kms with Bart Yasso who is a writer and editor for Runner's World and had a nice chat with him along the way. He probably best summed up the South Africa running culture by noting that noone really was impressed by him having finished more than 100 marathons, and that maybe when you had finished around 9 Comrades you become a respected member of the running community.

The day after the race we went for a swim in the sea with Rob who was discharged from the hospital and then frequented some local establishments to relax after a long hard day in the sun.

Overall the Comrades truly was one of the most amazing things that I have accomplished. It helped me realize just how far a kilometer is (quite a distance when you still have 19 to go and you have already been running for 8 and a half hours), that just because someone is 65 and looks like your grandma doesn't mean she won't outkick you at the finish to get a better time, nothing makes you feel closer to others than suffering through 56 miles of grueling hills in the sun with them and perhaps most of all, even if you are listing 40 degrees starboard and stumbling into the stadium at the finish you can always find the energy to run the last 300 meters!

A great day, great fun, great people and perhaps best of all was the great food we were treated to our last night in Durban. Fresh oysters and mussels out of the sea that morning and a grilled fish that did not last long at all!

Cheers.

Kiel and Matt

Expo and more

2010-05-29T01:32:00.000-07:00

Hey all, this is Matt. Kiel and I plan to alternate blog posts so here we go. It's Saturday morning here in Durban and we have less than 24 hrs to go before the the start of Comrades 2010!

To catch up from last entry.. Viv's daughter Charlene scored us tickets to a new club opening in Jo-berg. We met up with a couple of Char's friends and had a great night drinking Castle lager and sambuka. They taught us some Afrikaans phrases along with some new dance moves. We treated ourselves to some boerie rolls after the bar.. something like a fatty hot dog--very tasty.

Thursday, we took off for Durban with Viv and Jenni. On our way we stopped for lunch at a little fast food place and during our meal Viv recognized Bruce Fordyce, a 9-time Comrade's champion walk in behind us. Viv hopped up and introduced us..this guy is like the Michael Jordan of Comrade's so it was quite the experience. His advice to us was, "It's a long ways." haha

We took a little detour through Pietermeritzburg along the way because Viv wanted to drive us through the course. It was exhausting just driving the 89km. We got into Durban late so we saved the expo until Friday. It was definitely the biggest expo I've ever been to. Kiel and I bought some new jackets and we caught a glimpse of Bruce again, crazy.

We are staying at a family friends place near the coast here in Durban. The house is only about 1/2 mile from the Indian Ocean and we've already had 2 short runs up and down the walking path on the beach. One of our buds staying at the house here, Robbie, was bitten by a spider a couple days ago. He was just in to see the doctor was told that he will need to be hospitalized until Tuesday. So Robbie will have to watch Comrades on the TV from his hospital bed..we are considering wrapping our pinkie fingers up like him in honor..lol

If you want to track us on the run tomorrow, just go to http://www.comrades.com. It will start at 10:30pm US central time but we will still be running when you wake up so you can check us then.
There is link on the front page to enter our numbers:
Kiel-30609
Matt-21988
We are going to stay off our legs the rest of the day today and head up back to Meritzburg this evening.

cya after the race!
-Matt

TIA - REMIX!

2010-05-26T01:26:00.000-07:00

This is more like return to Africa, or back into the breach once more my good friends. This time I am fortunate enough to have Matt with me so that when we can't understand anything people are saying, we can at least still understand each other. Although we will only be down here around 3 weeks, this is still probably the best format for mass communication and picture sharing (this trip I am committed to taking more than just 20 photos.) As most know our primary reason for the trip is to run Comrades, which takes place on Sunday, tomorrow we are heading down to Durban to begin preparations. Hopefully we will have internet access but if not our next post probably won't be for a week thereby rendering this blog relatively useless.

The journey down was a successful one and there were no real problems. Just the normal assortment of some crying kids, Matt being too tall for coach and the dullness of 21 hours on a plane. Arrival was safe and Viv and Jenni met us at the airport with no problems (thanks mainly to Viv misreading our itinerary and also showing up at the airport on Monday morning, so with the practice run they had the pickup down to an artform.)

We spent most of yesterday trying not to fall asleep but also managed our first run on the dark continent (at least for 2 years for me and ever for Matt.) We did find some time to realize just how bad we are at cricket as Callen (Viv's son) was kind enough to demonstrate the correct way as evidenced in the photos.

Today we are going shopping so that I can activate my cell phone down here. There are new laws in place so that you have to register the SIM card with your passport so they can track us down if there are any problems. Also we are apparently going clubbing tonight with Viv's kids and running shoes are not considered dress shoes (who knew?) so we will most likely pick up the cheapest pair of nice enough shoes we can find. Thank goodness for the Rand being weak and the dollar being relatively strong!

Depending on when we leave tomorrow perhaps one more post will be possible before heading to Durban, otherwise hopefully we will find some internet access down there to make a quick update. Hopefully we can alternate the authorship of the blog as well so that our entire trip isn't tinted by my alleged bias for the country of South Africa.

Happy reading and don't miss us too much.

Kiel and Matt

This is America

2008-07-08T11:52:00.001-07:00

I have been home for a couple weeks now and it has been difficult to think of a fitting way to close up the experience and the blog. I had an incredible time in South Africa and had the opportunity to do a lot of things I never thought I would do. I have met some incredible people who I hope will remain lifelong friends, I have seen many things that will stay with me for my entire life and I have been many places I will never forget. What I have done in the past 5 months is something that many people will never have the opportunity to do. I was exposed to a new country, a new culture and many new experiences. I learned more about the real world, real life and myself than I would have ever thought possible. I am very thankful for all the opportunities, the experiences and most of all the people.

This past weekend I had a true American weekend. Family gatherings, delicious food, fireworks, a Twins game and a weekend at the cabin. It doesn't get any better than that. Through the entire weekend however I had a very different appreciation for everything I have. We were sitting around talking about politics and gas prices and how the economy is struggling, meanwhile I knew that back in South Africa some of the people I met were sitting around talking about where their next meal was coming from, or whether or not they would be able to send their children to school next term. My eyes have been opened the what the rest of the world is like, and I can truly say that I am thankful to live in the country I do and have the opportunities that come with being an American.

It's good to be home.

These times they are a changin...

2008-06-05T00:00:00.001-07:00

Winter is quickly setting in to Johannesburg, everyone is walking around in winter jackets, scarves, mittens, hats and everything else you would expect people to be wearing when it's 70 DEGREES OUTSIDE! I wish that I could sit here and tell you that I am being a good Minnesotan and walking around in shorts and a tee-shirt, but unfortunately I have retired the shorts and taken out the collection of sweatshirts and sweaters. I'm not exactly sure whether or not I will be able to survive winter this year...

Things are going pretty well at work. I have transitioned into a new role where I basically am with the children all day. It is a lot different but presents its own challenges and rewards. One downside is I have been constantly ill for about 2 weeks. Small children seem to always have a sniffle and a cough and it has spread quickly to me as well. The kids are gearing up for their 3 week term break from school and seem to be getting crazier by the day.

The violence has settled down for the time being, but the general consensus is that it is just a temporary lull and not a permanent peace. It is frustrating to hear people voice this opinion, but parallels keep being drawn to other African nations in which the situation began as xenophic attacks and progressed onto genocide. I am more optimistic than most, but I don't live here and I can't begin how these things work. The refugees have been moved away from the police stations and into camps set up by the United Nations. In a strange twist, one of these refugee camps is actually just a half mile up the road from where I live and right on my running route. It is a painful reminder everytime I run of what can happen when situations get out of hand.

This does provide me an interesting 5k running route though, I believe I may have the most interesting route in the world. It involves running past the following:
3 shebeens (illegal bars)
6 licensed bars and liquor shops
4 churches (1 is Jehovah's Witness, so that should get me bonus points)
1 high school (suspiciously named Fakkel, and pronounced very much like the slang term f- all)
9 tuck shops (each one selling exactly the same thing)
2 used car dealerships
1 outdoor swimming pool
usually 10-20 drunk guys on the sidewalk
3 auto repair shops
and now: 1 United Nations refugee camp

The bonus is that it is an out and back route and so I actually see each establishment twice. And yes, I now realize that when you can't run with an Ipod or a running partner you have to find other ways to entertain yourself. Mine just happens to be counting stuff I run past.

A big thanks to my family and friends who gave some money to help out with the relief effort. It has been put to good use to help to provide some food and other comforts to the refugees of the terrible violence.

On a more optimistic note, training for Twin Cities marathon for myself, my sister and Hagen began this week, and I have just one simple message for Kelsey: I'm getting wicked quick, so watch out!

I hope I never live there...

2008-05-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

Today was a different day for me here in Joburg. One of the other volunteers and I went to the Jeppe police station to volunteer and help out with the fallout from the continuing xenophobic violence in the Johannesburg area. We really didn't know what to expect, but to say that the scene is a little chaotic would be appropriate. We spent the day helping to sort out the donations coming in and putting together packets of goods to be distributed. There are about 1400 people living in the Jeppe police station right now, and apparently there are just about as many living at a couple other stations in the area as well. I have never seen anything like what I saw today, the people are living in the back yard in a space that is probably about the size of 2 soccer fields. It is like a small town has been erected behind the police station. Clare and I spent some time walking around the living area as well. We were greeted by many of the people and had a great conversation with one man in particular. Although we could have had a conversation with anyone, this guy happened to be wearing a Wisconsin Badgers sweatshirt. Turns out he was a Zimbabwean national struggling to decide whether to go back to Zim, where he had no chance of a job or much of a life, or try to return to where he has been living, although his shack had been burnt down and he was told if he came back he would be killed. Not exactly an easy decision to make. At the end of the day it was a great experience and one that I will not soon forget. It has opened my eyes to the kind of thing that can happen in the world, and I wasn't very impressed with what I saw. I was also recently taught a new word when having a discussion about the violence, the word is ubuntu. The literal translation is "humanness," but the word is more of a philosophy. It is togetherness and peaceful existence and helping out one another. It was pointed out to me that right now South Africans are forgetting their roots, they are forgetting that they are Africans, and that all Africans possess ubuntu. So as the situation continues, I hope that soon the people will come to their senses, remember unbuntu and start to live together.

Just a quick thought...

2008-05-19T01:34:00.000-07:00

I had another fun weekend at Viv and Jenni's and was exposed to netball and rugby for the first time. Netball is essentially basketball but you can't dribble or move without the ball. It's what the girls play here, apparently it is a more lady-like sport than basketball. As far as rugby, I'm not sold on the idea. I heard from multiple people that rugby is just what tough people play rather than football, unfortunately I am going to have to disagree with the logic. After seeing 4 or 5 players hauled off the field on stretchers with broken bones or concussions, I decided that Americans are just smart enough to wear helmets and gear when we are going to play a full contact sport. The being said it was a great day and fun to be exposed to sports different than our own, although I would love to watch a Twins game right about now.

As I sit here in the office this morning listening to the radio, I have come to the conclusion that South Africa is single-handedly responsible for keeping the careers of Celine Dion and Enrique Inglesias alive. I have so far today heard 2 Celine songs and 3 songs by Enrique, I didn't even know that Enrique had 3 songs.....

As far as life goes here, things in Johannesburg are getting a little crazy. There has been a lot of rioting and violence in the townships and it is starting to spread across the city. There have been scores of attacks against foreign nationals from other African countries as the local populations are unhappy with the high crime and unemployment and the foreigners are viewed as much of the reason that both rates are so high. Our area should be okay because there are mainly South African nationals, but either way my heart goes out to those affected by the attacks and hopefully it will quickly come to a peaceful end.

What I've learned in the past 2 weeks

2008-05-15T23:54:00.000-07:00

For the past two weeks I have been doing different things here at Cotlands then I did in my previous time. I have been moved almost full time to being an assistant in the educare classroom and helping the older kids in the homework room in the afternoons when they get back from school. In that time I have learned a couple things..

1. I understand why all teachers (except my mom) are so mean, kids really don't listen well.
2. You can't talk to a 2 year old the same way you talk to an adult, no matter how hard I try they don't want to engage in conversations about American politics.
3. Kids are your best friend, until you become a figure of authority, then they will do everything they can to never talk to you.
4. Small children have a lot of snot, and if you spend all day with them it will end up on your clothing.
5. No matter how well a child speaks english, as soon as you ask them to do something they don't understand a word you are saying.
6. If you try to take a nap in the grass, a small child will think it's a good idea to body slam your face.

That being said it has been an interesting experience so far. One thing that is frustrating is that the kids in homework room have gotten so accustomed to always having someone to "help" them with their homework that it has gotten to a point where they don't take ownership. The way the homework room is structured the burden falls on the helpers to make sure the homework gets done and gets done correctly, neglected in this process however is the fact that the purpose of homework room is to teach the kids how to do the work. You don't have to get your homework right, you have to get it right on a test. We aren't doing the kids any favors by essentially giving them the answers, they aren't learning how to do the problems and in the end that is what they need to do to succeed.

It's quickly heading into winter here, so of course everyone is complaining of the cold. I am going to have a tough time come November in Madison. The days are still sunny and 75-80, but the nights and mornings are a bit chilly. I have started sleeping with an electric blanket on the bed to stay warm, although the lows are still only around 50. The other day I found myself in jeans and a sweatshirt, in 80 degree weather. The only real downside to winter is the shorter days, I'm not used to the days getting shorter in May, and therefore I keep thinking that Christmas is coming up. So if anyone feels like sending me a Christmas present anytime soon just let me know and I will give you the address, but don't send anything too nice, it will just get stolen at customs.

Cheers.

Time for an Update

2008-05-05T02:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a month so I suppose an update is in order. I decided it was time for a vacation so for the past 3 weeks I have been meandering around Europe. I started in London staying with the fabulous people from Lawrence University and then moved on to Vienna with MP and Mallory. Mal and I also took a quick side trip to Budapest which was a ton of fun. It was a great trip and a much needed vacation and return to a first world country. If you want more details on the time in Vienna and Budapest just check out Mallory's blog at malinvienna.blogspot.com (shameless plug,) her post was so well done that I just couldn't possibly top it and it would be a crime to try to write something better. As far as London, I will eventually write something about it or put up some pictures, just not right now.

Now I'm back in Joburg and back to work. It feels as though I have never left. Unfortunately my running days are over for at least a month because I managed a stress fracture in my left foot. This takes running Comrades out of the picture which isn't a good thing, but life goes on. To be completely honest I would much rather that everyone who reads my blog had a blog of what is going on in the real world, as I feel isolated from what is going on.

Time to work....

Blog Worthy Pictures!

2008-04-08T05:41:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from Cape Town and also my new favorite picture of me and my new friends in Soweto. I decided to throw in the picture of the fort I built, I think it's blog worthy!

When Africa Time Doesn't Work

2008-04-08T05:14:00.000-07:00

I know I have had a slight delay since my last post, at least longer than usual, but I can assure you it was not from a lack of things to write about, but rather a lack of time to do the writing. Last Friday we had the priveledge of hosting 32 volunteers from Coca-Cola for the day, at least they told us there were going to be 32 volunteers. Unfortunately nothing here is definite, and on Friday morning Coca-Cola only pitched with 17 volunteers. Now you see normally this wouldn't be a huge problem, however on Wednesday they had been kind enough to send us an e-mail to let us know that rather than the 16 volunteers they had originally planned on, we now had to plan for 32 volunteers. This led to an overhaul of the whole day and the addition of a few new projects for the volunteers. In the end we had the opportunity to help out the maximum amount of people possible and also create a wonderful experience for the Coca-Cola volunteers. The CEO even showed up and sure enough it was the first American I have met in Johannesburg. He was a very nice guy and we are optimistic that some of the money in Coke's CSI budget will be heading our way next year.

The volunteers worked on 3 different projects in Soweto. We had the opportunity to plant a food garden at 5 homes of mothers and grannies in our program in order to help them provide for themselves and become less reliant on the food parcels distributed by Cotlands each week. A second group had the opportunity to paint one of the hostel houses and also through the generous donations of the local volunteers we were able to provide the mother will furniture which she was in dire need of. The third and final group helped to erect a new shack for a family and then using the donated materials decorate and furnish it. All of the projects were a great success and the moms and grannies were as happy as could be that we were able to help them out.

The food gardens were great and we did the project in conjunction with the food garden foundation. The only downside to the gardens was the fact that each garden required 10 bags of organic rubbish to be used as compost. Take that 10 bags times the 5 gardens and that leaves the task of coming up with 50 bags of decomposable rubbish. Now this task fell to Cotlands and some how or another, probably because we are the youngest, Marieke and I had the task of spending two afternoons digging through the dumpsters behind the local fruit and veg store to fill black plastic bags with rubbish. I can honestly say that I have never smelled so badly in my entire life, and I hope that I never smell that way again. The things you have to do to get things done....

The day was a great success in the end and I even got interviewed by e TV, which is the national news here, no word on whether or not my piece will make the cut, but either way it was a great experience. In true African style, everything was complete chaos until the last second and everyone showed up late everywhere. At the end of the day though the volunteers had a great time, we had a great learning experience and the moms and grannies were thrilled with all that had been done to help them out.

My favorite part of the day however was while we were sitting around in Soweto waiting for the shack to be erected. There was a group of kids sitting on the sidewalk nearby watching the action. They also had a small rugby ball with them and I had the opportunity to toss the ball around with them for 15 minutes or so. It seems like a small thing but they were the happiest kids I have ever met and after seeing their infectious smiles it was impossible to remain stressed about the rest of the day. It's the little things in life that make all the difference.....

This week it's back to the regular work week with far less excitement. Sometimes a rest is a good thing I suppose.

Cheers,

Kiel

"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself."
-William Faulkner

Mrs. Butterworth doesn't live in Butterworth

2008-03-31T01:07:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile, but I been off on a road trip around basically the entire country. I was fortunate enough to accompany the Brown family on a great journey. We started a week and a half ago in Jozi, and from here drove the 15 hours down to Cape Town. After a week in Cape Town it was back in the car for the 14 hour drive to East London for a weekend and then another 10 hours back to Jozi yesterday. I suppose I could just use that to sum up the trip, but I guess that wouldn't be a very good job of relaying what we did along the way. Also, we drove through Butterworth on the way from East London to Jozi, and I was assured that I wouldn't find syrup there and Mrs. Butterworth had left town a long time ago.

Cape Town was the real purpose of our trip. On Saturday, after 15 hours in the car and a brief relaxing day on Friday, Viv and I ran the Two Oceans marathon. Now what they forget to mention in the name is that it isn't a marathon, no that would be too easy. Two Oceans is in fact an ultramarathon. It was a solid 56 km (34 mile) run including brutal climbs up Chapman's Peak and Constantia Nek. If I have learned anything running with these crazies down here it's that if a South African gives the climb a name, it's going to be a tough time. Chappies wasn't too bad because it was only at the 30 km (18/19 mile) mark, however Constantia is just so perfectly placed to start right after the marathon mark. Still, the worst part of the run is the huge banner they have at the top of Constantia, it would give you the illusion that you have an easy go for the last 6 kms. Instead you just continue to climb all the way to the finish. That being said we had a great run and I finished in 6 hours and 12 minutes. Still my greatest accomplishment was the fact that later that afternoon I went out for another 4 km run with Tarryn.

After we got the fun stuff out of the way, we had a great relaxing week in Cape Town. It was the first time in my life that I spent Easter relaxing on the beach and swimming in the ocean. Looking at the pictures from Mike, I can see that I wasn't missing out on any wonderful weather in Minnesota. In Cape Town we stayed with Brian, a family friend of Viv and Jenni. He lived just outside of town and it was awesome to spend time on his balcony overlooking the ocean and Chapman's peak, although after the run I was less interesting in looking at Chapmans. The weather cooperated as well and we even slept on the balcony one night under the stars. It was without a doubt the least productive and most relaxing week I have had in a long time. The most stressful thing I had to do the entire time was decide whether I wanted tea or coffee in the mornings. Viv's oldest two daughters, Leigh Ann and Tarryn were also in Cape Town with us. They are 20 and 19 respectively and it was nice to have the opportunity to spend time with some other people my own age. We all had a great time together and Tarryn has decided she is going to come back to the States in November for her summer break. I didn't have the heart to tell her what the weather will be like in Minnesota in November-January.

After a great time in Cape Town we took off early Thursday morning for the drive to East London. It was a long day in the car, but we stopped at enough places for a swim to break up the drive and not have too bad a time of it. Also given that Tarryn, Leigh and I went out to Long Street on Wednesday night, it was nice for us to have a sleep in the car as well. In East London we stayed with Jenni's brother and his family. It was a small house and it was quite comical to fit all 10 of us in. I got to sleep in a tent for the first time in a while. It was a great time though. We even fit in a trip to the casino. It was my first experience with roulette and it was interesting. It is nice though because the minimum bet was only 5 rand and to play around 50 cents a turn makes you not feel so bad when you start losing. Saturday night we had Jenni's brother's 50th birthday party. They rented out a dance hall at a sportman's club and it was a great time. We all had a blast dancing, even though the DJ thought it would be a good idea to play terrible Afrikans music for about 45 minutes straight. He slightly redeemed himself later, although he never played a single Sinatra song and for that I will never forgive him. Sunday morning it was back in the car for the drive home. It wasn't too bad and after all that sleeping in the car I think I am the most rested I have been in years.

All in all it was a great road trip and a fun way to meet a bunch of cool new people and see some new places. I came away from the trip with an offer of a place to stay in Cape Town, an invitation to visit Tarryn and Leigh at school down by Port Elizabeth, a girl to pick me up on Friday night to show me a night out on the town in Jozi and a guarantee that the next time I go to Cape Town, it will be in an airplane.

Spring in Minnesota

2008-03-24T13:30:00.001-07:00

Hello Africa! Mike sent me a couple of pictures I am sure you will appreciate. He was able to capture the first day of spring in Minnesota and he also wanted to share a plate of home cooking!

Glad to hear you have finally tapped into your inner dancer... now we can go to concert together ;)

ABBA, Queen, Bara and a Braai

2008-03-18T02:46:00.000-07:00

My apologies for the delay between postings, a lot of fun and interesting things have been going on. First off, last week Jenni and Viv were kind enough to invite my flatmates and I out to Barnyard Theatre to see the show, Dancing Queen. It was essentially a tribute concert to ABBA and Queen. It also happened to be amazing, the performers were all very gifted and the show was extremely well done. It was so inspiring in fact that the next day we went to the mall and bought the best of Queen cd and had a dance party in my flat that night. I was compelled to channel my inner performer and do my best Freddy Mercury impression. My only hope is that the photos never make it to see the light of day, although thanks to facebook I'm sure that someday soon the pictures will be available. Overall we had a great night at the show and had a lot of fun with the Brown family as well.

On Friday I had the opportunity to visit Baragwanath hospital. It is the public hospital in Soweto and also happens to be the biggest hospital in the Southern Hemisphere. It was a different experience being at the hospital. Some of our counselors who work there were kind enough to take me on a tour of some of the wards. Each ward is a separate building and there is a system of outdoor sidewalks that connects all of the different wards. When people are moved from ward to ward it is out in the open along these sidewalks where everyone can see them. To say that I saw things I never would have expected to see is an understatement. The smell of the wards is also something I will never forget. It was a combination of every type of human waste imaginable and decay. I can't imagine that people can go to Bara and come out alive. Also the inmates are taken to Bara for their health care. It is very surprising to look up and see a man in an orange jumpsuit walking around with his hands and feet shackled in chains. The number of people at the hospital was incredible, just in the pediatric unit where I was they told me they booked around 50-100 patients on an average day. Apparently in the maternity ward, around 500 babies are delivered every single day. Many international medical students do an internship at Bara for the simple reason that if you can survive Bara, you can survive anywhere. Most surprising to me is the fact that when you are at the hospital, you are responsible for you our basic care. You must bring your own linens and arrange for a friend or family to bring food for you. Also the theft is so bad that if you don't eat your food right away, someone will steal it. The same goes for the linens, they advise against leaving your bed unnattended as the likelihood that you linens dissapear is high. All in all it was a different experience and given the opportunity I'm not sure I would go back again.

Friday evening my flatmates and I went out to Viv's for the weekend. They were hosting the Chartwell neighborhood Easter egg hunt and Braai. The weather wasn't very good and the turnout was low because of it, but we had a great time none the less. I was tasked with planning our supper for the braai and in true Minnesotan fashion decided that Jucy Lucy's would be the only way to go. It was a ton of fun to teach both my flatmates and the Brown's a new twist on a cheeseburger and in the end I have to admit that the girls made more of the burgers than I did, but we all had a good time either way. Running with Viv was a bit easier this weekend and I had to haul him out of bed on Sunday morning as the weather was in his opinion not good enough to go running in. We did a quick 8k anyways and it was freezing and raining, I have never run so fast in my entire life.

The weekend was a great success and I was able to follow it up with a day in Soweto on Monday. We have an outreach program in Soweto and I spent the morning at the house in Soweto hanging out with the Grannies who come in for support groups and also to work on income generation projects. The afternoon we had the opportunity to visit a school where we are looking at sending one of our children. The school was in the heart of Soweto and Marieke and I got more than a few strange looks. During our visit at the school the principal was extremely nervous and kept saying we needed to make an appointment, however when he found out we were only looking to send one of our kids there he loosened up. He then explained himself, saying that he thought we were there to make a donation because whenever white people visit that is the reason. Apparently he didn't know that college kids volunteering abroad don't really have much money to spare. After the school we had the chance to accompany Macie on a few home visits in the community. Again we got more than a few strange looks, but everyone we met was extremely nice. It was somewhat shocking to see the shacks that the people were living in. With the 4 of us and the 2 people who lived there, the shack was literally full and all standing space was used up. Although it is weird to see how some people live, all the people we met were happy and smiling. For me that made it seem like not such a bad situation. Perhaps it is only the fact that our culture places so much emphasis on material items that it seems weird to see people so happy with literally nothing. Either way it was a fun afternoon and an experience that I will not soon forget.

Also, a happy st. patrick's day to all. We spent ours at the finest irish bar in all of Africa, although there was a serious lack of true Irish music. Oh well what can you do.

The nicest refreshment stop I've ever been to...

2008-03-12T05:56:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Jozi after a short 5 day trip down to Cape Town. Cape Town is without a doubt one of the most beautiful places on earth. The views are stunning, table mountain is beautiful and the beaches are amazing! I got a little sunburnt, but what can you do? I visited a fellow Minnesotan who I met on the plane ride down to RSA, but she wasn't enjoying her time here as much as I am. We spent a lot of time checking out the sights and also going to Long St. In true tourist fashion, I ended up spending my nights at the Irish Pub. Although I must say it was the best Irish pub I have been to outside of Ireland itself. Plus my roommate here in Jozi is dating one of the bartenders which makes it an even better situation. Cape Town was an interesting place. It is a much more Western city than Jo-burg and geared almost solely towards tourism. For the first time since I arrived I met some other Americans, including a group of students from UW studying abroad. It was interesting in talking to them to hear that they haven't actually met or hung out with anyone besides other Americans studying abroad. We met a ton of cool people everywhere we went and if anyone runs into Leah from Denmark, just let her know she should give me a call.

The trip was relaxing, but it is nice to be back. I have been spending some afternoons in the homework room helping out the kids with their work. It is fun, but at times a frustrating and shocking. Most of the 8 and 9 year olds can't read at all and pretty much all the kids are well behind where they should be in school. I feel that they need more one on one attention in order to develop their skills better, but the environment doesn't lend those opportunities. If anyone has any ideas on things I can do to help them out or any tips or strategies on teaching someone how to read, please pass them on as I would love to do anything I can to help the kids out.

The flat is really quieting down as a couple of the girls are out of town right now, but that doesn't mean we don't have fun. Last night for the first time since I was, oh I don't know, 9 years old, I built a fort in the living room using our couches and anything else I could get my hands on. Louise and I then got into the kids toys and decided to dress up in whatever costumes we could find. We were only a couple people short of restaging the battle for the Alamo, only if Santa Ana had been a pirate....

Yes my life has gotten to the point where I need to build a fort in the living room at 8pm to avoid falling asleep. Whatever you have to do to have fun I guess. I have some pictures of the fort, but I don't know if it is blog worthy or not.

As far as the Cape Town pictures, they are mainly of the awesome scenery, but the one of me and the guys in the bar is my new Argentinian friends. They were a rugby team traveling in South Africa and playing matches. It cost me my white collared shirt, but I am now the proud owner of an Argentinian rugby jersey that I am wearing in the picture.

Also mad props to Bobby, I only hope one day I am cool enough to do back to back traineeships on opposite ends of the world....

This is Cape Town

2008-03-11T06:44:00.000-07:00

These okes are crazy!

2008-03-03T06:12:00.000-08:00

Another weekend gone, more days of fun had and another marathon completed. I'm having a great time, but even by my standards the distance these okes run down here is insane! On the plus side I did make a few new friends during the run and even taught a few South Africans the Minnesota rouser. No offense to Varsity, but it's not a very moving song when sung alone while running. On top of that for the first time in my life during a marathon I personally received a loud applause and chorus of cheers, of course it had nothing to do with the fact that I was winning. Instead it had to do with the fact that at the 38km mark of the marathon I took a pause at the side of the road to chug a beer held out by one of the few spectators. Apparently that isn't the right thing to do in a marathon, although for me it worked great and I think I might be on to something.....

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and having my first African haircut. This was a big step for me as the same barber has cut my hair every time since I was about 4 years old. Although I wanted him to fly down and cut it, I just couldn't justify a $1500 hair cut, I'm not John Edwards. Instead Jenni, Callen and I went to Germiston for a haircut from Marie, who has been cutting the family's hair for about 20 years. She is a little Portuguese woman and I didn't understand a single word she was saying, basically I just nodded in agreement (not a good idea while someone is cutting your hair) and let the questions be deferred to Jenni. I ended up as normal looking as I have ever been so I would say it was a success.

Today was a fun day at work as I got to spend the afternoon helping the kids out with their homework. Right now however is time to go home, therefore I will gracefully end this post now and I will do another either tomorrow or Wednesday morning before I fly down to Cape Town.

Cheers.

Can anyone help me out?

2008-02-27T06:01:00.000-08:00

Just a quick rant here, but if anyone could please go ahead and do the following for me:
1. Make it so I can watch current episodes of Scrubs, or for that matter any episode of Scrubs
2. Bring me a Chipotle burrito
3. Bring me any Mexican food at all
4. Say now and mean now, not sometime in the next 2 hours
5. Send me a car that drives on the right side of the road
6. Make it so that I can go ice fishing this weekend
7. Make the shabeen next door turn their music down

That is all

I neep a nap....

2008-02-25T06:14:00.000-08:00

Oh what a week it has been. I am back into the swing of things at work and back into my routine schedule. Thanks a bunch to Kathy for putting up the safari pictures, I will get some pictures of the kids or my flatmates sometime soon as well so you can have an idea of the people I am hanging out with. Last week I made some new friends as I ventured outside the gate in the evening to play a pick-up game of cricket with some of the guys in the neighborhood. I can know say I have a small group of friends in the neighborhood as I go and hang out with them almost every night. They are a ton of fun and in reality not any different than me, besides growing up in a different place and a different situation. They did get a kick out of my attempts to bowl (the cricket equivalent of pitching a baseball) but after a little bit I seemed to get the hang of it and I was nearly able to be a little bit competitive, but not really. We have also played some soccer as well and despite my attempts they have assured me that we won't be playing American football anytime soon, which is a shame because it might be the only game I have a chance at.

The flat is starting to clear out now, all 5 Australians have gone home, leaving only six of use between the two flats. Claire and Louise are on Safari for the next 2 weeks and Marieke's parents are here and she is gone for the next 3. It's only Rachel, Annalies and myself for the next little bit, but I am heading down to Cape Town next week to check out a little bit more of the country and maybe get a chance to go to the ocean. I am getting used to living with all the girls, but I must admit it drives me a little crazy sometimes and I have to go either play basketball with the kids or go hang out with the guys across the street.

This weekend I retreated to my weekend estate, which is actually just Viv's house in Chartwell. He lives on 8 acres with a river running through the back yard, which after a week in Turffontein is a nice retreat. The Brown family has been absolutely amazing. It is like having a family here as I have my own bedroom and complete freedom to do whatever I want. I have also inherited 2 younger siblings, Callen and Charlene. Viv's two oldest daughters are at University so I haven't met them yet, but I get to head down to Cape Town in a few weeks for Two Oceans ultramarathon and a large family gathering in Port Elizabeth and the whole family will be there for both events. My flatmates are somewhat jealous of the situation, but Viv and his wife Jenny told me that their doors are always open and anyone who wants to go stay with them for a weekend is always welcome, so if anyone wants to come visit I have a place for you to stay! Yesterday Viv and I ran a half marathon in Randburg. I was thinking that a half marathon couldn't be that bad, but he forgot to mention that the first 14 kms are spent running straight up the side of a hill. They say it is so steep that if you step on a speedbump you are going backwards. At least this race I finished and got a sweet medal to prove it.

On Saturday Jenny and I went to watch Callen play a cricket match. Cricket is truly an all day event and a gentleman's game. The match started at 8 am and didn't end until around 4 in the afternoon. We got to sit in the pavilion where tea and sandwiches were provided for all the parents and spectators. Then when I thought it couldn't get any better, the players took their mid-match lunch break and the kitchen staff pulled out the Braii and grilled up a bunch of food for all of us spectators. This was followed by more tea and cake. Oh yeah, and there was a cricket match too. It wasn't too bad to watch, but to be honest it was like watching baseball only slower.

That's about all that is new in my life, but I have some random thoughts that have hit me since I have been here that I am going to jot down:

1. South Africa might be one of the great experiments in human nature right now, it has gone from a minority group ruling the country and perpetuating inhumane acts upon the majority group it was ruling over, to a now majority run country with a huge decision to make. Do they act on revenge and carry out similar deeds to the minority group they now have control over, or do they remember the pain and suffering it caused them and take the high road?

2. Jacob Zuma, the man who is to be the next president of the country is a blatant criminal. He has been accused of rape, fraud, corruption and a litany of other charges. How can someone like this run a country successfully? He has already been acquitted of the rape charges with the defense that the girl invited him to her room, however his fraud and corruption trial is coming sometime soon. The attitude from many of the people I have talked to is that he will find a way to get out of these charges as well, despite the fact that he is obviously guilty.

3. When reading the paper there was an article that government fraud is up 186% here, in a country where officials at nearly every level openly take bribes how can fraud continue to increase so much?

4. South African's refer to guys as "okes," is this simply the shortened version of the British "blokes" or is there some other explanation for this expression?

5. In a country where it costs $5 for a nice dinner at a nice restaurant, $2 for any type of drink you want at a nice bar and $0.50 for any large bag of chips, why does a Garmin which cost me $150 at home cost almost $400 here?

That's all for now, and if anyone has an answer to any of my questions that would be greatly appreciated.

Time for Cricket!

My New Digs...

2008-02-25T05:01:00.001-08:00

Here Kitty Kitty

2008-02-25T04:53:00.001-08:00

Okay.... Now this IS Africa!

2008-02-25T04:17:00.001-08:00

This is Minnesota

2008-02-20T07:38:00.003-08:00

Hi, I am posting some pictures for Kiel and since I don't have any of Africa yet, I thought it might be helpful to post a couple of pictures from his final, fun days in Minnesota at an ice fishing outing. This is much like a safari, but with drinking and um... no animals. Kathy

SAFARI!

2008-02-18T05:07:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the long delay. We returned on Friday night from a weeklong safari at Kruger Park near the South Africa and Mozambique. In our time we saw pretty much every animal imaginable. We saw about 9 different prides of lions, 5 cheetahs sunning on the road, and even some rhinos. On Valentines Day in the park we were fortunate enough to get charged by an elephant and in the true spirit of the day we got to see some baboons mating. The internet connection down here is really slow, so its difficult to put pictures on the blog, but hopefully with the help of my aunt I will be able to get some up here pretty soon. It was a really incredible week and the places we stayed were amazing. I can no longer claim to be even a partial vegetarian as I am pretty sure I have consumed my body weight in meat each of the last 7 days. Without meat I don't think that one could survive down here. Our safari guide was about as typical as one would expect, but in the best way possible. He was a ton of fun to hang out with and I've never felt safer in my life. There is nothing like sharing a tent with a guy who sleeps with his knife next to his pillow and is ready to act at the drop of a needle. He also happened to have a tattoo of Africa over his heart which only helped to solidify his safari guide persona.

Upon returning to JHB on Friday night I was looking forward to a weekend of rest, only to be informed by my running buddy Viv that we were running a marathon on Sunday. So yesterday, at 6000 feet elevation, on a hilly course with no training for the past 3 weeks I embarked upon my first African marathon. I gave it my best shot, and in the end I ended up winning the 32 KM race, the only problem was everyone else ran the 42k race or the 21k race. From now on I am going to invent my own races so that I always win. It was still fun, although I am having a tough time walking today. Somethings don't matter where in the world you are, its hard as hell to run 42k on hills. Oh well at least I have a full weeks rest until next sunday's 21km race, which Viv has assured me will make me think that this weekends race was flat.

Being back to work is fun as well though, I am thouroughly enjoying my time here and right now I am looking at the possibility of staying until at least July if not early August. The kids are a ton of fun, right now we are starting a new project making memory books for all of them. They are all orphans and without help they don't really know what their history is. I am excited to work on the project and I think I get to work on Sifiso's book, which will be a lot of fun as he is one of my favorites here. He loves to take my camera and take pictures, so hopefully I can put some of them up on here soon as well.

Thats all for now, even in Africa you have to do actual work some of the time.

Cheers for now.

2008-02-06T04:52:00.000-08:00

I am finally starting to feel adjusted. The work here is sometimes interesting and sometimes a little bit dull. I am working mainly in the finance department here at the sanctuary, but I divide my afternoons between international fundraising and spending some time with the kids, which is a lot of fun. Last weekend we went to the Aussie Footie match, and I'm sure it would have been an interesting game. I ended up spending more time keeping the kids entertained than watching the match, but it was loads of fun all the same. After the match we went out with the refs and for a short while a few of the players. It was nice to have a weekend in Pretoria, as the contrast between that area and where we live is huge.

I went for my first run the other day, despite some worries from the other volunteers that it wouldn't be safe. It was a lot of fun, although I realized quickly that life at 6,000 feet is a little bit different than the sea level sanctuary of Minnesota. About half a mile into the run I was doubled over with my lungs on fire, gasping for air. It was still nice to get out and get some exercise. I don't mind the living situation although a couple of the girls who have been here longer have said it gets old after awhile, not being able to go anywhere.

The biggest disspointment of all was the discovery that for some reason my laptop doesn't want to charge and therefore we are unable to watch any of the DVDs I have with me. On the plus side I am finally getting caught up on Passions and Days of Our Lives. I have to constantly remind my roommates that Americans don't actually narrate their own lives or make use of dramatic pauses in daily life.

The kids are a ton of fun, and we play basketball pretty much every night. The highlight of my trip so far was when the kids were filling out a questionaire and Sifiso listed me as his favorite athlete. I think it has more to do with the fact that I am one of the few guys who comes through the flat and that all the kids seem to think that America is exactly like High School Musical. They were devastated when they found out that not only did I not know the dance moves, I have never even seen the movie. Thats okay because I was told they will teach me all the dance moves before I go home, finally I will be able to be a productive member of our musical based society.

I'm working on getting some pictures up on the blog, but to be honest the internet is really slow and I'm not a patient person.

So this is Africa...

2008-02-02T00:31:00.000-08:00

I finally arrived Wednesday afternoon after a miserable time flying, but what can you do. The flat where I live is a five minute walk to work, however it is not in a good neighborhood. This is the first time in my life I have lived in a walled house with barbed wire, but what can you do. We are not allowed to leave the complex after dark, and that combined with no internet and only 2 tv channels leads to early nights. This is not all bad as waking up at 6am has never been easier. There are 2 flats for the volunteers and currently it is myself and 10 women, it makes for an interesting living situation but they are a lot of fun. I am the only American here and for the first time in my life I am better at basketball than everyone else. 10 children aged 7-14 live downstairs so we spend much of our free time hanging out with them.

The first adjustment was to "Africa time." If someone says they will see you in 15 minutes, it means at least the following day at the earliest. There is simply no pressure to finish anything quickly. It is kind of nice and a huge change from what I am used to. On my second night we went up to Pretoria to spend the evening at a cocktail party at the Australian High Commissioner's residence. It was massive and a far cry from where we live. Also attending the party were two professional football teams from the Australian Football League. In Australia it is the most popular game, so it was the equivalent of hanging out with a couple of NFL teams for an evening. This afternoon we are heading into Pretoria to watch an exhibition match and then going out for a night on the town with the teams afterwards. I have been assured by the girls who have been here awhile already that this is not a common occurance and that it in fact will be the only time we do something like this.

That is all for now, I should get off the computer before the power goes out, which is pretty much a daily occurance here. Oh well what can you do? TIA