a little cancer thinking

i have seen so many once-in-a-lifetime sights that i am convinced my photos are going to get erased/deleted accidentally before I get home.

once-in-a-lifetime means more to me than it ever did before.  especially the "lifetime" part and the hopes that some things happen only "once" and other things don't.  I really want to do this 4000-mile road trip with my sisters. 

Every time I have been on a sand dune or looked at a giraffe or watched the sun go down it has d*mned near broke my heart. 

I am so very lucky.

P.S. I have doctors' appointments (four, I think) on the 5th and the 6th of January.

can't upload photos.

have taken some amazing photos. you will have to imagine the savannah after a downpour or a herd of bok and um... something brown with horns... stampeding across a road.  You will have to imagine two rare black rhinos.  And sunsets.  And dunes.  The elephants we passed as we cleared the Botswana border.

there is no photo that can record how sweaty, filthy, and reeking of DEET I am (I opted out of anti-malarial drugs. In fact, I opted out of all my drugs this trip.  Giving my kidneys and liver a break.)

love you all.  thinking of my parents and home a lot as i make my way down dirt roads, as i stay calm when presented with a herd of elephants. 

Dec 13

Spent half the day cruising Etosha in a 4WD. There had been rains so sometimes I crashed through water in the road.  Saw giraffes, zebra, bok, eland, meerkats, lots of birds.

Drove through a downpour. I'm getting good at pitching a tent. I even have my own system for keeping the sand out of it.

We have been braaing nearly every night. Vedge skewers, oryx steaks, pork belly, sausage.
Last night saw 2 (rare) black rhinos at a watering hole. Tonight is less exciting, but still beautiful.

Namibia. day 3? 7? (unedited and written in great haste)

apologies for crappiest blogging of all time.  it's friday, i think. things are going well. we braaied last night. yams mostly.

 sandboarded today (i was not great at this, but i was the first to volunteer to go off the jump -- anything to make the overall experience end sooner.  while sandboarding involves skill, going off the jump basically involves facing down terror, heading straight down the dune at great speed, and hoping for the best.  you know, like chemo.  i was pleased. i landed on my feet and while i fell, i basically did carry on straight ahead and really fast.)

camping is growing on me, literally, i think at times.  we have had hot showers the last two nights which helped.  i shoo-ed away two jackals that came within a few feet of our tents. 

the four women i'm travelling with are really, really lovely.  they are all u of mich law students.  four of us are from nyc.  the fifth person is from minnesota.  two are also jamaican citizens, one of whom is a muslim.  one was born in china and is buddhist.  i think it is all very interesting and wonderful.  we all have our skills, stengths, e.g., mei li is an accounting guru, latoya can pack the truck like nobody's business. latoya and katie are also really good at camping.  zana is good with the food and these dry, understated comments that have me in stitches ("Lions? Lions don't do shee-it.")  me?  i drive on gravel roads really well and provide the room on the credit cards.  there was something else i do, but i don't remember it.  they eat a lot of junk, these young people. and pepper their conversations with cultural references that are after my time (supermario brothers, reading rainbow) or involve television. but they are really, really intelligent and thoughtful. we spend a lot of time laughing and maintaining our list of 'things that could have killed us'.  (that's my contribution; i encourage them to keep lists.)

the other new yorkers have really taken a shine to camping despite being a little freaked by the darkness and the sounds of animals the first night. 

the stars! oh the stars!! more than i have ever seen before in a night sky, and remember, i grew up in rural kansas. 

things i will try to remember to blog about when i return;
* road scam where person pretends to be unconscious in middle of the highway
* driving through desert, listening to music
* overlapping musical tastes
* police checkpoints and offering them sweets
* sand, sand, sand
* climbing a sand dune and watching sun set
* seeing ostriches and bok and jackals

Namibia

A quick post from a gas station to say . . . well, to say that Namibia is beautiful. I am hot and exhausted and it is only the second day.Taking lots of photos. Will try to upload some in an erratic fashion when I can.  As in, when I don't pack my USB cable in the bottom of my backpack and leave it in the car.

Sorry for genericness of this post. I'm fine. Just very hot. Very tired.
I was not born to camp. 

My road trip. 8 - 18 December

Going on a road trip (4000 miles) with four U Mich law students. We leave on Tuesday.  Mei Li and Katie came up with the following assignments.  I am quite chuffed!

Katie - Driving Dame & Co-Camping Colonel - She is responsible for driving and all its attendant responsibilities (knowing speed limits, how to change a tire, etc.) and all the other outdoorsy stuff that people in the Midwest do (setting up camp, etc.)

Jeanne - Driving Diva & Co-Camping Colonel - Same responsibilities as Katie because they are the good ol' folk from the Midwest who know how to do these things like drive manual cars, pitch a tent, and what to do when wild animals attack.

Zana - Food  &  First Aid Pharaoh - in charge of getting water, food, and snacks for the first long haul of our trip as well as making sure that we have first aid essentials.

Latoya - Lieutenant of Leisure & Toiletry - Shall be in charge of figuring out fun activities and reliable purveyors of adventure activities. I only put some estimates in the budget with no real idea of which operators are reliable. She is also in charge of putting together playlists for the road trip so we can burn CDs on Monday. Also, will be responsible for gathering general toiletries that can be shared (e.g. toothpaste, sunscreen, lotion, hand sanitizer). You don't have to buy them, but you can make sure we have what we need and no duplication.

Mei Li - Navigation Nazi and Money Master - I will plot our routes along with my LP since we have the maps at our place, and I will also handle the general money. I think we should all withdraw cash beforehand and contribute to a communal pool that I'll manage for our communal expenses (gas, border entry, etc.). Also, I am the budget baroness so it makes sense for me to assume this role.

Again, these are all suggestions and if you have a particular passion for another duty, then let the group know.

Cheers!
Mei Li

Segment	Distance (mi)	Distance (km)
Cape Town-Keetmanshoop	533	853
Keetmanshoop-Sesriem	323	517
Sesriem-Swakopmund	186	297
Swakopmund-Windhoek	223	356
Windhoek-Etosha (Okaukuejo Gate)	269	430
Etosha (Okaukuejo Gate)-Victoria Falls	831	1330
Victoria Falls-Maun/Okavango	388	620
Maun-Windhoek	503	805
Windhoek-Cape Town	786	1258
Total	4041	6466

Life's a beach. Except the part that's a mountain.

Alice from Rwanda.

 My dear friend Anna (of the wonderful beadwork company) sent around this email yesterday to try to find a scholarship or tuition funds for one of her employees (tuition is an est. 25,000 ZAR, I think; or around $3500). I can 100% vouch for Anna (and have met Alice and Joshua, too!) and Anna can 100% vouch for Alice. If you can help out Alice with  information or fees, feel free to get in touch with Anna (annanomsa at gmail.com).  [This is posted with Alice's permission.]

 * * * * * * * *
ANNA WRITES: I'm writing to ask for any contacts or advice you might have to assist one of my employees in her studies.

As you all know, some of my staff group at my company, Beloved Beadwork, are very qualified professional women from other parts of Africa. Between our group of ten they share 3 degrees, an MA, 2 post graduate diplomas, 4 nursing diplomas, teaching experience, hospital administration experience...the list goes on. Part of Beloved Beadwork's raison d'etre is to provide stop-gap employment for women who, whilst presently living on the margins of the economy, are determined to progress in their careers and overcome barriers to success.

Over the first few years that my Pan-African group have lived here, they have concluded that the only way to be able to practice as professionals again, since the various qualifications and nursing councils will not accept them, is to go back to square one and return to full time study. 

Alice U, one of my most dedicated employees, has just been accepted to study Occupational Therapy at the University of the Western Cape, to begin in January. This is no small achievement for her, since in 1994 at age 14, instead of starting secondary school, she was forced to flee Rwanda and live in a refugee camp until the age of 17. At 17 she returned, persevered and started high school. In 2004 she graduated high school, with a diploma that specialised in Social Work. For political reasons, she and her newly wed husband fled to South Africa in 2006, had their son Joshua, and Alice started working with me in 2007. She now has full refugee status.

We are so so excited that Alice has been accepted to study Occupational Therapy. She is a kind, hard working, intelligent person who I'm sure will excel in the field. She will continue to support herself through beadwork whilst studying, but the fees are too high for her to meet alone. So if you know of any bursaries [scholarships] that will consider applications from non-South Africans, or know anyone who might know, I'd really appreciate any information you have.

Thanks so much for your time,

Anna

annanomsa at gmail.com
Anna Richerby
Beloved Beadwork
076 142 9157

FIFA or "Where has my life been all my life?"

FIFA draw for the World Cup was today.  First, Radesh came over. We hung out for an hour or so and then picked up Anna. Then, we went to Long Street where we ran into Femi who is a friend of Jess's and Danga's.  We went to Neighbourhood bar.  While there, I learned that neither Jess nor Danga could make it to us because they were limiting access to/traffic on Long Street, which was a huge bummer.  So after the draw, I decided to call it a good night and head home.  Before I went through the security checkpoint, though, I heard from Jess.  We met up, went back to Neighbourhood and were joined by Mandla (Jess's boyfriend) and Keenan (my guitar teacher).  The four of us then carried down Long.  Mandla and Jess carried on and Keenan waited with me as I waited to be joined by Lieve and Loredana.  Keenan left to take M & J home.  Lieve, Loredana and I went to Loredana's new flat, lit sparklers (best street purchase I've made to date), and swam/skinny-dipped under the moon and the stars.

This was not the night I had planned for myself but it was the night that unfolded.  And a wonderful, life-affirming night it was.

A different kind of lump.

Packed up most of my UCT/GHJRU office today.  Man, that was hard.
Hope to see some of my friends tonight for the FIFA draw festivities.
Somewhere this morning I got a lump in my throat and it is not going away.

How am I going to say good-bye to this place? to these people? I didn't think anything could hurt worse than some of the good-byes I have had to say.  I think it is because I know that... that I can't assume the people in my life are going to live forever, that things will always be the way you left them.

Cape Town life, I am going to miss you so much. I know I'm coming back, but still...

Why I don't talk about race much on this blog.

You know why I don't talk about race much on this blog?  Because this country is so completely f*cked where race and race relations are concerned that I have decided to turn a blind eye to all this crap in my own dealings with people, and simply do my own thing, i.e., assume that everyone is more than who they appear to be at a given point in time, and be straightforward and respectful until the person does something which suggests they don't deserve it.

It has worked well for me so far. 

"Greeeeeeen acres..."

A few times a week, someone will say the equivalent of "You can tell you are from New York City/Kansas because . . . "

Yesterday, I was assigned shared responsibility (along with Katie, another midwesterner) for camping, driving and automative repairs, and wild animal protection part of our 11-day road trip because we are "good ol' folk from the Midwest" (which basically translates to:  We know how to drive a standard transmission and keep our sh*t together when in a tight spot).  Given that I have camped exactly twice in the last 25 years and didn't really learn how to drive a standard transmission in a car until the 1980s and and I haven't owned a car in 20 years and my wild animal experience is limited to baboons and that bear I stumbled upon in Colorado (a situation I handled by shouting for my little sister who upon hearing me -- she was taking a shower in the cabin -- thought to herself, "What the hell is Jeanne yelling about? If she wants to talk to me she should come over here..." and finished her shower), I hope I do not disappoint.  Another friend (the object of a longstanding crush) described me as "possess[ing] bucketloads of that quintessential middle-American quality, rugged individualism".  Nothing communicates "delicate flower of beauty and sensitivity" like the words "bucketloads" and "rugged." 

At the same time, people often say "You are so New York" or "You can tell you're from New York City" at least as often as I hear the midwest attribution.  It is harder to pin the NYC camp down, but I think they are referring to my temper, the pace at which I walk, and my tendency towards stating things bluntly.

What I find interesting -- and as my family will attest -- is that I have always been rude and impatient.  Long before I had even any thought of NYC (which I think is in 1979 or 1980 when my older sister went there and brought back bagels). 

My point is:  I am probably who I am more because of my Kansas roots than my NYC trunk. I am grateful for these roots because if I had grown up anywhere else, I might have been neurotic.  But I am from the rural Midwest.  And my people do not do neurotic.