Day 1

Arrived safely in Cape Town at about 4:30pm local time.

I lost all of Sunday and most of Monday to the airplanes. It wasn’t too bad though; started out nasty but improved as I settle into it. None of my planes were terribly full so we all had plenty of room to stretch and move and breath, some people even got two or more seats to lay out on. That was nice.

I was sat next to a girl from California who was going to see her extended family in South Africa for the first time. She was very pleasant to sit next to, and fortunately we were also both on the small size so until another seat came free we didn’t get in each other’s way much.

The food and drink were good, by my standards. Of course I’ve always had a thing for airline food. Also, Karen (the Californian) didn’t want her meals, so she let me have them. They gave us dinner on Sunday, and a breakfast and lunch on Monday, plus plenty of snacks and things in between. I had my share of Ginger Ale (which I first met and fell in love with over the Atlantic as a child), and plenty of water as the cabin air was very dry. I also had a red wine with one of my meals (which was a bit too dry, but went down well with the rest), several cups of tea towards the end, and a Bailey’s on the rocks just before landing which served its purpose well.
So the earliest parts of my flight were the worst; I was especially upset when I found that the USO at JFK was in another terminal, and to get to it I’d have to go through security again twice both ways. Not worth it. [Edit from the future: this is not true actually - the truth is there was and is No USA at JFK any longer. Very upsetting, and permanently biased me against this airport.]

Anyway, I'm here now. And photos!


My first glimpse of Africa was of Dakar, Senegal at about 5am.
Me on the airplane. Nearly landing time! (I look more exhausted than excited.)

Precious first glimpses of South Africa...



Interesting heart-shaped folds on this piece of land...

First glimpses of Cape Town...

And Table Mountain in the distance (look beyond the wing).

The buses ready to take us to the terminal proper.

This is Dane, I met him on the plane, he lives in... somewhere. Nice guy though.

And the blonde looking the other way is Karen (from California)


Edit: There were a LOT of people here when I landed, just masses and masses of them in the airport while I was trying to emerge into the receiving area and find AJ. They all seemed to be related too, or being received by the same family. It turns out that this is the end of the period set aside for this year's Hajj, the great pilgrimage all Muslim's who are able must undertake, and I was swept up in the chaotic energy of it!

Anywho, after all that my reception was relatively uneventful.

Me sitting in AJ's car... (SOOOO tired!)

Here comes jolly Andrew-John walking back from inside the petrol station!

Oh noes! We're driving on the wrong side of the road!!!


So we made it back to the Bethke household, and in a flurry of activity I learned about the numerous locks and securities on everything, got my things unpacked and sorted, had a delicious meal, and promptly passed out.

Honestly...

I just realized I have mere hours before I'm going to be on that plane.

I have to admit, I'm so scared and excited and anxious (and TIRED) I don't know what's going on. I hope I have everything!

Zero Hour

In a way this has nothing whatsoever to do with my trip to S.A. Yet this day was pretty much caused by all that, so I'm going to tell you about it. Forgive me for waxing a little prosaic here.

I had a long night last night, and it's a long story, but suffice to say it made getting up as early as 8am somewhat difficult. Neverthless, I was ready to be picked up at 9:30 to go see my campus chaplain Nate get ordained as a Deacon.

Got back to my dorms around 1pm and hooked up with my friend Heather because we had a major shopping trip planned. I was in serious need of certain items and she had volunteered to advise me as only a woman can.

Our first stop was to the haircut place, where I got the mop I'd been growing for three months lopped off. I am now fresh and sexy as God intended me to be. We then went for delicious vegetarian food, at which point we realized Heather couldn't drive anymore until she got her glasses, so she handed me the keys and we came back to SMU. We also picked up another friend Josh (a male perspective was also needed.)

And off we went to the mall, fighting crazy Saturday Christmas traffic. Just as we get to the parking lots... I notice a strange noise that may or may not be emitting from the car. Shortly after this we know for sure, as there is also smoke billowing from the hood and the engine temperature has rocketed. We had to pull over, much to the chagrin of EVERYONE, and discovered a coolant leak. The fire department was called.

Luckily things were not too dire. We managed to cool the engine enough to get it safely to put some more coolant in it and get it to an auto shop down on Ross/Greenville. This is where the fun begins, because now the three of us are somewhat stranded...

So! With a boundless spirit of adventure we make our way down[up] Greenville (which alternates between interesting areas of shopping and restaurants, beautiful houses, and really scary neighborhoods) on foot. We stopped once at a Starbucks to rest, but otherwise we pretty much went straight from the autoshop to SMU, which is a good solid three miles...

After which we promptly got into Josh's car and headed BACK to the mall... several hours later than intended. Basically we didn't arrive until after 7pm (verses the 3pm start time).

Almost IMMEDIATELY, and I mean the second we found a parking space, Josh got a flat tire. It was incredible. We left it, and just went to take care of our business.

Now, understand, none of us are particularly "shopaholic". In fact, Josh and I usually can't stand it. But I needed some really decent dress clothes (despite being on a $200 budget). We ended up scouring Macy's, and let me tell you this is some hard bloody work, especially finding clothes that actually fit my tiny frame.

Most of the people we talked to were very unhelpful; in fact that "expert" of the department told me I wasn't going to find anything and basically to forget it. Fortunately a fantastic guy named Arden came to the rescue, and an hour and a half later I came away with a wonderful Calvin Klein suit, two shirts, and an all-purpose tie, all for under my budget.

Then we needed to get our blood sugar back up at the food court before making an attempt on the world of dress shoes. Let me sum it up for you: four stores, and I still don't have any. I figure they have bloody shoe shops in Africa, right?

After all this we still had to get out and change the tire, which took awhile (especially since I'm an idiot and didn't put the handbrake on all the way...).

Basically this whole day should have destroyed us all, but somehow, I don't know if it's because of our friendship or what, but we actually managed to enjoy ourselves and come out on top.

Except they both need expensive fixes on their cars now. I feel awful about that.

Also, I've somehow got to survive for a month in Africa on about $400... At least $100 of which is already reserved for "touristy" things. I honestly thing that a vast amount of time is going to be spent working on scholarships and other paperwork... Kind of silly, don't you think?

It was traumatic, I can tell you, but the experience... we did some serious bonding, I can tell you.

Christmas Rituals

I was asked to think about what the effect of missing Christmas with my family would be long before this trip was official, especially since the friend I'm going to visit made it very clear that Christmas is an extremely important time in his family - not only because he and his father work intimately with the church, but also from a cultural context, the rituals observed at this time are extremely intrinsic to their lives, and especially important to the family unit.

I have particular feelings about what Christmas means to me and my family, and I think they're quite different from what you'd expect. However I'm not asked to go into those right now; what I'm supposed to ask myself is basically what am I going to miss? Waking up and opening presents with my family? Probably not so much.

However, eating orange cinnamon rolls for breakfast before the ritual of opening presents? That's something important to me that I think I might miss. So I'm thinking I may have to learn to make some from scratch. Yikes.

Also, I realized last night, Christmas crackers are special to me. I'm trying to figure out if they're part of South African Christmas tradition or not. It seems they would be, (or that me imposing a colonial perception on the country?)

I just don't know, and it's going to be exciting to find out. (For the record, a quick google search reveals little of use, since it focuses on more tribal-oriented customs and interpretations of European practices.

*shrug* We'll see. I'll be paying close attention, you can be sure. Can't wait to find out what Christmas in the summer season is like.
For the record, I'm simultaneously studying for my Cultural Anthropology final, which explains why stuff like this is on the brain.

Weather

I can't believe in a few days I'm going to be under an African sun, wearing shorts, thinking about the beach, and complaining about the heat.

Here in Dallas the weather has done its typical Texas turnover. Sunny and bright and warm one morning, gray and lovely and mild the next, and tonight... bitterly cold with the kind of wicked wind that sneaks up behind you, rips the breath from your lungs through your nose, and slaps you in the face with it.

A quick check of Google weather tells me it's 38/3 degrees in Texas, and a balmy 68/20-ish in the Western Cape.

I'm torn between packing up my clothes and putting my winter stuff in with them, or hanging on to a scarf and sweater and gloves because I'll be coming BACK to winter, but wasting a bit of packing space.

Tourism Plans

Friends who've spoken to me in person most recently will understand the following reference...

"Plan A... hmm... *scrap* Okay, Plan B - Tourism!"

I've got a couple of specific sites in mind that I want to visit, besides simply planning to wander the city and depend on my hosts to "show me the sites". Here are just some of them, with prices, hours, and links to sites with more information:


Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
Cost: R32/a (R20/students) $2-$3
The Garden is open 365 days a year from 08:00 - 19:00 (September -March) and from 08:00 - 18:00 (April - August).
http://www.sanbi.org/frames/kirstfram.htm


Two Oceans Aquarium – R82/a (R65/s)
R82 (R65/s) $6/-$8
Open every day of the year from 09h30 until 18h00.
http://www.aquarium.co.za/visitorInfo/default.php


Cape Medical Museum Dr. James Barry Exhibit
suggested donation R30 ($3)
Tues-Fri 0900-1600
http://www.museums.org.za/cmm/


MCQP Costume Party!
R250 (R450 VIP) $24-$44
Dec. 20...
http://www.mcqp.co.za/


"We have some lovely things planned for your stay, including a couple of day trips to the towns just outside of Cape Town. We'll also go up Table Mountain [down to the beach on less windy days] and visit the hot spots in the city. I'm sure you'll have a great time." -from an email

Mustn't forget shopping (for souvenirs), wine tasting (S.A. is famous for its vineyards), clubbing and the nightlife, and exploiting the mystery of the sacred braai...!

Clothing suggestion

Got this in an email on Saturday:

Fifthly, about clothing…It's going to be nice and warm while you're here. Shorts and t-shirts will probably be fine most of the time. It stays warm at night, so it's probably best to bring a pair of sleeping shorts and a light t-shirt to sleep in. You may want to bring a couple of changes of smart clothing for special occasions. Almost every home and church in SA doesn't have aircon, so be preparedJ Spare a thought for all of us who have to ware several layers of robbing in church on Sunday mornings! Although the temperatures don't rise to the extremes of Texas here, there is no respite from it in the home, so it does appear to be relentlessly hot. It takes some getting used to, but you'll be fine. Also be prepared for the wind. The "South-easter", as it is affectionately known, blows almost every day. You'll probably find that if the wind isn't blowing in the morning, we'll jump into the car and go to the beach and enjoy it while it lasts.

Well that's helpful! Heavy boots it is!