Blogs from Africa - page 2695

On Monday, after our Constitutional Law exam, Maura, Yasmin, Eric, Katie and I decided to go to Kirstenbosch Gardens, one of the largest botanical gardens in the world. It was a beautiful day outside, so I’m really glad we decided to spend it outdoors. I think the best part of the whole afternoon was when I successfully argued to get us the student discount for admission. They said we needed to have student IDs from a South African school, but all we had was our UF IDs. Soooo I used my fantastic lawyer skills, demonstrated our participation in the Cape Town program with the aid of evidentiary items like our course syllabi, and generally badgered the poor man asking to speak to his supervisor until we were given the discount. I considered it a great ... read more

Something isn't right...I'm in bed...which bed...Virginia...no....theres a spring poking in my back...smells damp...whattha..ohh....right...Africa. Morning?...no. night. why the hell am I awake?...its quiet...damn thats uncomfortable...what is?...stomach...no..."lower left quadrant"..wait....awwwww MO-THER-FU.....where my headlamp...not here...WOW..no time...wheres the toilet paper? on the fridge!...where?...too dark..HERE!!...no thats deodorant..there!! on the floor!! Get it...got it...no shoes..who cares...outside!!! COLD! I'm awake at this point..never has my mind been more focused on the "goal" at hand. I take a sharp left out of my room and spot the bathroom door slightly right-diagonal across the couryard from me. I try walking..doubled over clutching my stomach...I force myself to stand more upright and walk a little faster...halting brisk walk quickly making the transition ... read more

On tuesday the 10th we left Mole national park on the only bus available which happens to be at 4am. As we waited we were again met by a posse of grunting warthogs. Each stop we made villagers would pile on with overflowing baskets. The 5 hour trip was overcrowded and bumpy. I had a very tired woman asleep on my shoulder, occasionally snoring. When we reached Tamale we went in search of our favourite street food -fried cows milk. It sounds awful but it tastes like a mixture of feta and haloumi. When we got there the stalls which usually line the street were gone and there were policemen patrolling the strip. Apparently a new law is being enforced to which does not allow any stalls without a permit. This is sad because its a ... read more

Chris Anderson (Mr. Big Boss Man of the Anderson Association) arrived here on Saturday the 7th, around 6pm. Within twelve hours (i.e. at 6am) Chris, Faustin, Gad, Fidel, Madine, Irene (the mother of a youth who came last year, who also arrived on Saturday) and I were preparing like crazy for a trip to the boonies. Another hour or two, and we're off. We headed to Gishanda, the first village I visisted and wrote about (though I may have been mistaken as to its name...I will check the entry and edit any errors later). We took massive amounts of materials; books, videos, posters calendars cards key-chains and other gifts from Nepal (where Chris currently lives), candies, etc. etc. etc. plus stuff for eating and sleeping at the house in Muhazi on Sunday night (we took all ... read more

We drove from Eshowe to the Battlefields area, stopping first at The Battle of Blood River. This was the site of a famous battle between the Voortrekkers and the Zulus. The museum suggested the Voortrekkers "miraculous" victory over all the Zulus that bombarded them was intrepreted by some Afrikaans people to be a sign of their destiny to rule South Africa. Hmmm...Well, we had fun playing on the bronze monument of the "laager", a defence formation of cattle wagons (not the amber nectar!) that was key in protecting the small group of Voortrekkers from all the impi which descended upon them. (Please note we are not historians so if our story is a load of rubbish, don't blame us!). Talana Museum In the afternoon we drove on to Dundee and visited the Talana Museum. This was ... read more