South Africa

Larkin and I were Luke and Leia for Halloween. It was amazing.

thanks to everyone who has sent me mail while i'm here. i really appreciate it.

one more month and i'll be home!

For the last few days, protests have been going on at Wits. Students have been putting up with major tuition and fee increases for too long, and Wits is greatly privatizing the campus, and plans to do so with the residences. A lot of people that go to school now wouldn't be able to return next year.

Tuesday night, I heard from a friend that people were skipping classes on Wednesday to march around campus and protest the drastic financial changes. That night, I heard a lot of noise and a lot of people coming towards my dorm. I watched as hundreds of people began standing outside of my building and singing. I asked someone in the hallway what was going on, although I assumed it had to do with the planned protests. I can't really resist a protest for a good cause, so I joined. Some girls from my dorm filled me in on the whole tuition/fees/privatization situation. We marched in the rain for quite some time around campus. Everyone was singing in Zulu, which I don't speak, so I just clapped and tried to dance along a little. I also ran into the friend that had told me about it earlier.

The next morning I went to where the meeting place was supposed to be, but no one seemed to have shown up. I went to the International Office to check my email, and not long after I heard a lot of noise it the distance. Eventually I found a similar crowd to the one I had marched in the night before. So I became part of the crowd and began walking around campus with them as they sang in Zulu (I clapped again). The group would split up and sort of raid classrooms (some danced on desks, and I think you can assume I wouldn't be up for that) and dance and sing, and occasionally make speeches. Apparently some people were kicking students out of their desks, but I never witnessed this. That morning I never felt unsafe in any way, and never witnessed anything I didn't want to be a part of.

Later, we marched back to Senate House and congregated in the common room. There we sang, danced and clapped for a couple of hours. It was a very cool experience, especially since I haven't spent a great deal of time with a lot of South African students while I've been here (I can explain that in another entry). The leaders of different groups on campus stated the demands for financial change on campus and met with various school officials. Everything I witnessed and felt I was a part of from 9am-2pm that day seemed like peaceful protest. However, upon the announcement that the Vice Chancellor was currently abroad and that they couldn't do anything that day, things began to get more out of control. I was completely exhausted by 2pm, so I left then and went to my 3:15 class. During class I saw a smaller group marching around and singing like before. Later that evening, however, Safi told me that students had become angrier (something about dumping garbage bins) and the police came and began shooting rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. I'm glad I was in my class, but I wouldn't have put myself in that situation anyway.

Yesterday, some protest continued (that I wasn't a part of) and there were more police on campus. Someone told me that one of their friends had a brick thrown through their windshield and another was shot at my rubber bullets. I think two students had been arrested the day before. Police were still on campus today.

Like I said before, I never felt unsafe or would have allowed myself to stay in an unsafe situation had it become one. I'm glad I left while the protests were still peaceful. However, there's no need to worry about me as things seem to be toning down a lot now. I've never had anything like this happen around me, and it's so interesting how things can progress to violence so quickly.

Because we had a long weekend due to Heritage Day, Gul, Larkin, Safi, Rebecca and I went to Durban from the 20-25 of September. We left on a Greyhound bus at 11PM from Joburg on the 20th and arrived in Durban just after 6AM the following day. The hostel we stayed in, Home Backpackers, was so cute. There were a porch and pool out front, and the adorable house was home to an adorable family. After sleeping for a few hours, it felt like a new day. We put on our bathing suits and left for uShaka Marine World, the largest aquarium in the Southern Hemisphere that also has a waterpark, animal shows, and a beach. The aquarium was beautiful, particularly because it was themed as a sunken ship and there were ship parts all over the walls and on the ceiling. Rebecca and Safi got through the aquarium much quicker than Larkin, Gul and I, so they went to the seal show while we continued to explore. An older man who works at the aquarium kept coming up to us and telling us animal facts. Apparently certain fish change sex in their lifetime! And octupus only live for about three years! All of us eventually met at the stadium for the dolphin show, which was of course ridiculous. The trainers talked about saving our seas, and one of the dolphins bopped a plastic jug into a recycling bin. Very silly, despite the postive message. Afterward we rented lockers and went on a few waterslides. It had become chilly rather quickly, so we didn't go on too many. Everyone but Rebecca got a R10 (ten rand, about $1.50) temporary tattoo. I got a giraffe, but it only lasted about two days. Bummer. Because the park was closing soon, we went to a nearby restaurant called Cape Town Fish Market. It was a little fancy, and of course we were in wet seimsuits and towels. We weren't up to doing much else after a long day, so we went back to the hostel and watched a South African soap opera and Big Brother: Africa (which was totally messed up).

The next morning, we slept in and had a wonderfully delicious breakfast at the hostel. Thoroughly satisfied, we left for the Juma (Grey Street) Mosque, the largest mosque in the Southern Hemisphere. There are a lot of "largest in the Southern Hemisphere" things in Durban if you haven't already noticed. Also, Durban has a very large Indian population. The guide warned us that it wasn't safe for us to be in that area after 1pm, so we went immediately to the Victoria Street Market to do some shopping so we could leave before that time. We then took the People Mover to the City Hall area in the center of the city. The People Mover is a bus system that allows you to get on and off at major locations around the city for R4 an hour (right now, 7 rand equals about 1 US dollar). You go to a bus stop where a security guard calls a bus to stop there. I wish Joburg had one of these systems. Durban not only had much better transportation, but felt much safer to us than Joburg. We had planned on going to some of the museums (after we grabbed some lunch and shopped at an outdoor market), but it started to get warmer so we took another bus to the beach at Suncoast Casino. Because it is a private beach, it's a lot safer than other beaches in Durban, which have become centers for crime/mugging. This was my first real view of the Indian Ocean!! Eventually it got pretty cold and windy, so we took a taxi back to the hostel. After showering and resting, we left for a Zulu Jazz Lounge. It was amazing. There was a guy on the piano who played a Fugees song and Sublime song during his set and a trio of women that also sang solos. Gul, Rebecca and Safi left after dinner to go to a singing competition next door. After a bit of fuss, we eventually got everyone back together and left for the hostel. There we just hung out for awhile and went to bed.

The following day, we woke up early and got a taxi to a used clothing and car boot flea market. We didn't buy much, but I found a cheap lightsaber (like David used to have that he got from DisneyWorld) for my Luke Skywalker Halloween costume (we're dressing as the Star Wars cast). Gul and Rebecca then split off to go to the beach, and Safi, Larkin and I went to the science museum and art gallery near city hall. The science museum was pretty cool. They had mostly stuffed animals, which I kind of disagree with, but it was nice to see them up close. The art gallery was half closed for renovation, but we still got to see a photography exhibit. Gul and Rebecca were still at the beach, so we went to the BAT Centre, an arts and cultural community center by the water. We went to a few shops, and then upstairs to the restaurant for refreshments. Gul and Rebecca eventually met us there. From here we took a cab to a Hare Krishna temple- the largest one in, surprise!, the Southern Hemisphere. It was quite far from the center of the city. We arrived in the middle of the service, took off our shoes, and sat on the floor with everyone else. When the service ended, people bowed on the floor as they left the temple, and we went further inside to get a better look. The decorations were beautiful- bright and colourful. A woman came up to us and began giving us a tour. She also gave us sweet Indian tea, the most delicious tea I've ever had. She invited us to dinner, but some of us felt intrusive, so we went to a nearby Indian restaurant (slash Indian clothing shop) called The Copper Chimney instead. I had curry, which is the spiciest thing I've ever had in my life. I don't think I'd ever had Indian food before. Once again, we hung out at the hostel that night and went to bed.

When we woke up the next morning, we had planned on going to the beach, but it was cold and rainy. So instead, we went to the Botanical Gardens, which were beautiful!!!! People kind of wandered off and did their own thing, but Larkin and I stayed together and had a lot of fun. Rebecca, Larkin and I had a quick bite to eat in the Tea Garden (scones and crumpets). We eventually met in the gift shop and then took a cab to Suncoast, where we had breakfast at Mugg & Bean. We then hopped on the People Mover to the Victoria Street Market again, but most of the shops were closed. Back at Suncoast, we went to two movies in a row becuase we didn't really feel like doing anything else that day. "The Last Legion" was intended to be an EPIC movie and was extremely hilarious because it was so awful. So awful. "Ratatouille," on the other hand, was amazing, and we're still quoting it now. Cape Town Fish Market lured us in once again, and I had Tempura for the first time. Yummy! We kind of had to hurry back to the hostel to get our luggage before heading to the bus station. The family we had stayed with was so wonderful, and they had a little boy about the same age as Zazu. The bus to Durban had been warm and pleasant, but this was not so for the trip back. It was freezing and uncomfortable, and we were much happier when we got back to Wits, even though it was 6 o'clock in the morning.


For lovely photos, please visit:

http://knox.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012672&l=69b20&id=62601362

I've started new classes recently, so here's my new schedule:

Monday:
Human Rights: Perspectives from the Disciplines (aka Core) 10:15am-12pm

Tuesday:
Psychosocial Perspectives of Human Rights 8-9:45am
Islamic Law and Human Rights 10:15am-12pm
Internship in Human Rights (class) 4:15-5pm

Wednesday:
Psychosocial 10:15am-12pm
Islamic Law 12:30-1:15pm
Core 3:15-4pm

Thursday:
Internship Class 8-9:45am
Internship 11am-3pm

Friday:
Internship 8:30am-5pm

Believe it or not I'm still alive, and I'm finally taking the time to submit an entry about a tour my friends and I took of Kruger National Park, a giant animal reserve in South Africa, about the size of Isreal or Wales!!

Five of my friends (Julia, Rebecca, Larkin, Gul, and Safi) and I were picked up by the tour company at 5am on the 8th of September for a four-day tour of Kruger. We picked up six other people on the way- a couple from the Netherlands, a couple for the Washington D.C. area, and two women from Australia. After stops for breakfast and lunch, we arrived at God's Window, a gorgeous view in a section of the Blyde River Canyon, the third largest canyon in the world. We also stopped at another part of the canyon, which was also breathtaking. Lastly, we visited Bourke's Luck Potholes- giant potholes that I believe were created by the area's rivers. They were enormous! After more driving, we finally arrived at the place we would be staying that night. It was an educational tribal village that was basically meant for educational and tourist purposes only. It was kind of uncomfortable and touristy, but we enjoyed ourselves for the most part. We were greeted by a dance from unenthusiastic boys (this was one of the uncomfortable parts) and then taken on a tour of the "village". After putting our luggage in the huts, we were presented with yet another dance by the boys of the village (the women sang during this). Following the performance, we were given some of the dance costumes to wear (which I did not like at all because they were made out of animal), participated in the dancing, and were encouraged to show some of our own cultural dancing. I felt silly. These activities were followed by dinner, which was amazing. And we ate with our hands. After dinner we talked around the campfire and stargazed. Larkin, Rebecca, and I had gone to the planetarium at WITS that week, and because Larkin had purchased a star chart, we kind of knew what we were doing. With the help of binoculars, we saw Jupiter and two of its moons, as well as the Southern Cross, Scorpio, and a shooting star.

The next morning we woke up at 5am and left the village early. On the drive to Kruger I saw an ostrich and a large dark animal, but I'm not sure what it was. This made me so excited for the upcoming day! We had a quick breakfast at the campsite and then left for our first drive. The entire group was split into two trucks. In our truck were the six of us and a couple from Finland. Farai, our tour guide, had a number of amusing animal and tourist stories, and he told us a lot about the mating practices and genitalia of various Kruger animals throughout the day. We saw four of the big five (buffalo, leopard, elephant, and rhino) that day. At one point we saw a lot of baboons climb into a large tree to be on the look-out for something, and soon they all began making loud grunting noises, particularly the alpha male. We also saw a leopard resting in a tree, and a white rhino in the distance. We were all very lucky to happen upon a large herd of elephants (and their babies!) bathing in a large pond/watering hole. They were only there for a few minutes and then marched off into the trees behind (like in the Jungle Book!). There was a hippo in the water as well, and vervet monkeys close by. In late afternoon, we drove back to camp and got on a larger truck for the sunset drive. We saw the sunrise and sunset in the same day! We weren't as lucky with the night drive as we had been during the day, but it was nonetheless enjoyable. Once again, we ended the night with a campfire.

The following morning, we arose at 5am once again. After another quick breakfast, we set out for a second full day of game drives. Replacing the Finnish couple were two older men, one German, another Croatian. That day we saw the last of the big five- lions. They were beautiful and lying in the middle of the road to stay warm. There were other cars there, and we were a bit scared at one point because the others didn't seem to think it was a problem when the lions got close to their open-windowed vehicles. Eventually, they just got up and walked away, and everyone followed until they disappeared. The other higlights of the day included seeing a ton of giraffes and hyenas up close. Everyone kept falling asleep when there weren't animals around because it was very warm and windy...windy enough that things kept blowing out of the truck. After the drive, we dipped our feet in the pool for a few minutes at the visitor's center, and then went back to camp for dinner and a campfire.

On the last day of our trip, I woke up a little late (5:30am), but luckily I had slept in my clothes so that I wouldn't have to worry about getting ready in the morning. We had to wake up early for the bush walk. This was optional, and it was meant for seeing the smaller parts of Kruger. It was nice to get out of the vehicle and walk around, instead of being stuck in a truck all day. There were two guides with guns, and one was always ahead when we stopped, acting as a look-out. We had to walk single file, and if we had to get the attention of the group, we had to snap or tap our leg. We saw lion and rhino footprints. The guide informed us that the lion was currently running away from us. We also saw running herds of impala (which I had been hoping for the entire trip), a running giraffe and baby (they appeared as though they were running in slow motion), and LOTS of animal dung (hyena dung is white because they eat the bones!). After the guides pretended that we were lost, we drove back to the campsite, packed up, and left. It was a very long drive back to Joburg. Even though we had only spent a few day with the tour guides and others, it was difficult to say goodbye to them.

For photos, here are the links:

http://knox.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012391&l=a6492&id=62601362

http://knox.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012392&l=0f477&id=62601362


LOVE YOU ALL!!

I'll get a real entry up soon, but in the meantime, here are some more photos for you to enjoy. Here's the link:

http://knox.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012157&l=67d42&id=62601362

Monday:
Politics and Human Rights 9-9:45am
Human Rights: Perspectives from the Disciplines (aka Core) 10:15am-12pm
Human Rights and the Media: 2:15-5pm

Tuesday:
Politics 10:15am-12pm
Internship in Human Rights (class) 4:15-5pm

Wednesday:
Media 9-9:45am
Politics 12:30-1:15pm
Core 3:15-4pm

Thursday:
Internship Class 8-9:45am
Internship 11am-3pm

Friday:
Internship 8:30am-5pm

Larkin, from Bard College in New York.




Nate, from Bard College.




Gul, who goes to Bard, but is from Turkey, and her boyfriend Anthonie who goes to Wits.




Safi, who goes to Bard, but is from Jamaica.



Rebecca, who goes to Vassar College.




Benjamin, from Wits.

Here's my mobile number in case you want to call me in South Africa. The number below includes the country code and everything...

011 27 827191023

Sorry for the lack of entries everyone. I'm still working on getting my computer connected to the internet, and there hasn't really been much time to go to the computer labs. When I have more time this week I'll write a super long entry.

If you'd like to send me anything (HINT), please send it to the following address. Anything larger than a letter or some papers should be sent via a delivery service, preferably DHL or Fed-Ex.

Sarah Lund
c/o Ayesha Kajee
WITS International Office
Private Bag 3
WITS
Johannesburg, South Africa
2050

so...
i think i got maybe two hours of sleep last night.  left for the airport sometime after four in the morning.  everything went fine.  no problems until i got to detroit.  after sitting on the airplane for quite some time, the pilot told us that there was something wrong with the brakes, so we would need to get off the plane, and they would update us in half an hour.  somewhere between thrity and forty minutes later, we were allowed to board again.  finally we left for new york.  once again, after what seemed like forever, the pilot informed us that we were getting low on fuel and would have to stop at the airport in syracuse.  what's more, albany was experiencing some bad weather and their radar was out.  after a little wait in syracuse, we arrived at the albany airport in about thirty minutes.  so, my flight was originally supposed to arrive at 11:50am, but it got to albany at 2:15pm.  luckily, i found the bard person by baggage claim right away.  even luckier, my bags came within ten minutes.  i was extremely worried that i wouldn't make it to bard on time for the first orientation meeting, but i've learned today that the drivers here are absolutely mad.  we pulled up to bard at quarter to four.  lucky!

the meetings were really hard to get through 'cause i was, and am still, so exhausted.  they said a lot of things that are very helpful, but i probably won't remember...

so far, the other people are wonderful, but i don't really know them that well.  i'm going to say that today doesn't count for anything because i'm sleep deprived.

we went to dinner at a strange building on campus that looks like a carnival tent, and the decorations inside match this theme as well.  i think it's some kid's thing during the day, and a restaurant/venue at night.  not completely sure.  the food was okay.  i didn't have enough energy to finish eating everything, though, so i'm still a little hungry.

tomorrow will be better after i sleep.