Longest Week...Ever.

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Hi everyone,

I know it's been a while since I've emailed. We just returned from Durban/St. Lucia, where we had little to no phone/email access. So much has happened since I last wrote, so I don't know if I can give everything credit here. I won't try to, so next time I talk to everyone, I'll tell better stories 😊. It seems like weeks since I've been in CT.

Most of the past week we spent in the small rural community of Hlabisa, where we did a short homestay, and on safari in St. Lucia. Most of what I said before about the trip still stands - it was such a strange divide between Hlabisa and going on a safari. It was all so interesting and fun though.

So my homestay "granny" was Gloria Mangele, who lives with her daughter Nomusa and her grandsons. Everyone was really welcoming, and for the most part we talked about South Africa versus America, and my stereotypes versus theirs (most of this was with her two grandsons, who are in secondary school). It's interesting - I always thought i was a bad stereotype, that people viewed America as a land of milk and honey or whatever, but they really did believe everyone was wealthy, and that I always run into famous people when I'm home. But they're very smart boys - I think they understand that, despite the fact that there is poverty in America, their poverty in SA is very different. They live in a little one-bedroom house (roughly the size of mine in DC), with five people. There's electricity but no running water (peeing in a bucket in the middle of night I didn't actually mind, I was just completely scared that I would either miss or knock it all over, which would have been awful). But they were so open to me, letting me stay with them, share their food with them, and treat their home as my own.

OK, so the other part of the Durban/St. Lucia trip was the safari, which was ridiculously fun. We saw impala (deer-like, not the chevy), rhino, monkeys, hippos, crocodiles, buffalo, warthogs, zebras, giraffes, and coolest of all, elephants. At one part our van was sort of hemmed in by elephants in front and in back on the road (and on the side), and we couldn't move (there's some fun up close pictures of this, so zoom needed). I've never been so excited in my life, I still can't believe they were just a few feet from us.

I still can't post pictures, so this really will have to wait til home. Hope everyone is well, miss you all much,

Bernie

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Comments

[Lisa]

So, fine, I'll subscribe now
Oops. Haven't been keeping up with your blog. I was never good with that. I'll refrain from saying the ultra cheesy, obvious, or cliche things that I usually say as it'd be embarassing to express myself in such a way in a post. Take it all in, Bern. You are indeed lucky. And get over the lack of picture postability. :)