WanderLust

Catching Up...

alexa_lazarus — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:49:00 GMT

Sorry this is very, very late but we have been on the go like crazy, as you will soon see. I hate doing entries like this but I'm going to have to do short summaries of the past couple days, so that I can get up to speed on the current day! Canopy Tours- The whole family went up to Karkloof, which is not exactly the mountains, but its pretty cliffy, so we went on whats called "canopy tours". Basically throughout the whole cliff/mountain area zip-lines have been strung up and platforms built into the trees. You are harnessed in and starting at point A, you zipline all the way through the mountains, over waterfalls, valleys, and the like. Obviously it was really fun, and quite hilarious watching my family make their way through the trees. The sights were beautiful, and, as it turns out a very good way to prepare for what was in store for 2mrw... Skydiving- No that wasn't a spelling mistake. I actually went skydiving. Hows that for daring haha. I'm not gonna lie, I was terrified. I mean jumping out of a plane is jumping out of a plane. Parachute or not. My friend Carlie made a good point though, in the middle of her listening to me voice my fears she said "well its not like you're going to die right?" which made a ton of sense and thereby stopped my fears. So it all went as planned, we arrived, suited up, got into the plane and begin the climb into the skys. At about 11 thousand feet (i think) the door was flung open and with a small amount apprehension out the door I jumped. It was adrenaline like I've never felt before, and it was amazing. I even have a video of it because someone jumped at the same time as me and taped my reaction, which I've got to say is quite funny. Let me know if you want to see the video, and I'll decide if I'm going to embarass myself by showing it to you. Boating, breakfast, etc- This day began early, 6 am. Carlie, my uncle and myself took the boat out on veggies beach and drove up and down the coast lines, looking at the sites. We then ran into a pod of dolphines, which was great fun. A few minutes later I decided that it was time for snorkling, and had a great time looking at all the reefs, fish, etc. The Durban beaches are a marvel in their own right for sure. Mountains- We have spent the last four days in the Drakensburg (dragon) mountains, which are BEAUTIFUL!! I love it up there, its so peaceful, but theres tons to do. Carlie and I went on a long horse ride through the mountains, which was great. It was Carlies first time on a horse and she did very well. There were a few others on the ride with us, and as about four of us were experienced riders we went up to one of the heaths and raced the horses thorugh the mountains, which was great fun. I've been riding since I was five, but I haven't been on a horse in about a year, but it all comes back very fast. There's nothing like galloping thourgh the wilds of the South African mountains with horses hot on your heels, the wind in your face, and a few zebra milling about. The rest of the time in the mountains was spent reading, hiking, jumping on trampolines (don't ask) and at night, star gazing. I am almost sure that you can see every star in the world from the mountains there. Its lovely. Tomorrow we head out for Capetown, and I'm probably going to be away from a computer for a while, but I'm def. gonna try and keep my posts more regular!!

Small Differences

alexa_lazarus — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:20:00 GMT

Today was a laid back day since my aunt and uncle had to go into the office to finish up some work before we head out the rest of the week, so my mother, Carlie and I had the day to do what we like. Yesterday we hit up the mall so today my other aunt (mothers sister) took us to the hospital that she runs to show us around. On our way in we stopped at the gift shop and picked up some candy for the kids in the childrens ward, which incidently I am very glad that we did, its a good way to break the ice. After the tour of the hospital, which is called Crompton, we went and spent some time with the kids. Most people who know me know that kids are not really my thing. Its not that I necissarily hate kids, its just I don't really know how to relate to people who are younger then me. This held true for most of the kids in the ward today, but I must say that they were so cute. A bunch of the kids were about between 3 and 6 and their english was not amazing, so it was funny to watch them babble at me in zulu and point at the candy we brought, which we surrendered to them, much to their delight.

Anyway I'm going on a bit so I'm going to get to the whole point of this post now. Whilst all the kids at the hospital were cute enough to eat, there was one that specifically touched me. He was about 15 years old, alough it was kind of hard to tell. I stumbled upon him largely by accident whilst I was looking for more kids to give candy to. He had a private room and I saw the slight bump of feet displacing a blanket so I stuck my head around the corner to see if someone was there and I saw this very large, dark head, with these huge eyes staring at me poking from beneath the blanket. His skin was pulled taut against his skull making his eyes seem even larger. His chin and cheecks were bony and hollow, but he had a soft, sweet look about his face. I stared at him for a moment and then waved, unsure of what he would do. He looked at me for a second then shyly waved at me, a small smile touching the corners of his lips. I then noticed that his mom was in the room, and she got up to say hello to me. A sweet lady who was obviously very concerned about her son, she allowed to me give him some candy and chat to them for a while. As I was getting up to go I leaned over and patted him on the arm and it gave me quite a turn. Instead of muscle, or even fat it was mearly a bone sheathed in skin. I froze for a second, I felt as though I had found out something that wasn't mine to know, and I wasn't quite sure how to react. In the end I gave the mom a sad smile and walked out of the room. I found my aunt who was checking the meds of some of the other kids and proceeded to girl her about the little boy and what was wrong with him. Turns out he is HIV positive and is trying to recover from TB to boot. Needless to say, whether he beats TB or not, his projected lifespan more then likely does not span beyond 25, 30 at a stretch.

After a discussion with my mom, who also wandered into the room accidently, we decided that there must be something we could do to at least make his stay a little more fun. We talked to his mom and found out what types of books etc.. that he likes and we went to our local market and picked up books, paint-by-number sets, pens, funcky socks and a little fleece jacket for him. Tomorrow we plan to go back to the hospital and deliver this loot to him, and hopefully brighten his day a bit. At the end of the day there isn't much that we can do for him, but at this point I hope we can at least make a small difference.

"Another perfect day in Africa"

alexa_lazarus — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:05:00 GMT

Today I had probably the most fun I have had in a long time. The day started early, as usual (I think my uncle has some disease that compels him to wake up at the crack of dawn and get everyone else in the house up as well. blooding annoying, but hey) and we all began to pack the picnic lunch. Our destination for the day was Tala game reserve park. A game reserve is a place, usually a couple hundred miles or so, that is a sort of sanctuary for all the wild animals one expects to find in Africa: rhino, giraffe, zebra, springbok, buffalo, lions, hippos, etc... These places allow people to come and they can "go on safari" and treck through the bush or what have you. But, if you knew my uncle you would know that he likes to do things in style, so instead of walking through the park or riding in the open top convoy vans he hired each of us (6 in total) 4 wheelers and we went on a 3 hour 4wheeling adventure through the under brush looking for animals. It was amzing! We saw almost every kind of animal the park had to offer. At one point I pulled up around a corner and a huge giraffe was standing maybe 5 feet away from me, just staring at us, completly as ease.

Riding around that huge reserve with the African sun beating down on you, the smell of the trees and the grass brushing against your legs as you zoom through the brush really makes you feel alive. Mostly I think that everyone (including myself) is too caught up in stuipd things that, at the end of the day, don't fill your life with meaning, just a hollow feeling and nothing to show for yourself. Today gave me a chance to just connect with myself again and remember whats important, and whats not. The guy who lead our little group was very interseting. He's a full time microlight pilot and gives lessons etc, and then as a second job he works at Tala with the animals and leading people on mini tours. I asked him how he got into this stuff and he said it had been his passion since he was very young. He's lucky in that respect, not many people get to make their passion their career. He said that even though his two jobs may not pay the most amazing salary ever he said he would never trade it for anything. He said that he's seen to many people who save "living" till after they've made their money, only to die young of a heart attack or the like. He decided to live every day as it came, and make the most of it doing what he loves. So I guess I should say that he's not "lucky" by chance, he went out and made his own luck, and to me that is quite inspiring.

After the ride we found a gorgeous pool in the game reserve surrounded by hundreds of trees and tables in a remote part of the park, with great views of the hippos swimming in the river. We set up our lunch and ate and relaxed in the sun just enjoying ourselves...what can I say? It was the perfect day.

On fast cars, casinos, and windy beaches

alexa_lazarus — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:30:00 GMT

Still waking up obscenely early thanks to jet lag, but at least I'm not wasting half my day sleeping anymore, I suppose. Got up, read by the pool for a while (I love how its actually winter here and we're still by the pool. Winters in Africa are sort of like spring everywhere else.) then I got the rest of the family up and we headed out up the coast to Ballito, which is just the name of the area.

It should now be noted that I'm pretty sure my uncle and I got to our first stop, Sibala, in record time. My uncle happens to own a silver porsche boxer, which I have now decided to name "the silver bullet". The state of my hair, which, at the beginning of the ride was lying tamely on my shoulders, and by the end of the ride was in one huge knot on the top of my head, is a testament to how fast it can really go.

As I said before our first stop was Sibala, which is actually a casino-resturant-spa type deal. We just stopped there to have a look around, casinos not really being my thing. It was very nice, everything was beautiful. It was kinda funny though because obviously everything was African themed and the spa buildings we're designed to look like huts and all the workers were in costume- essentially it was Africa without the Africans.It is for all thoes tourists who want to come to Africa, but are hesitant to mix with the locals. Don't you just love our integrated culture.

As we zoomed up the coast to the resturant we were having lunch in, el pescatore, I couldnt help but marvel at the country side. On my left was the Indian Ocean, which was about a 100 different shades of blue with the waves crashing on the golden shore. To my right were fields of green with sugar cane swaying in the breeze and a river winding amongst the hills. And I'm not even making this up! It was beautiful. The beauty of the natural land made the degredation of the city even sadder, because it is obvious that South Africa is a beautiful land, but with such a high poverty rate most people are more concerned with where they're getting their next meal from as opposed to where they throw their trash.

The resturante was nice, it was on the top floor of a building that was on the beach front, and we sat on the balcony over looking the water. It was a little windy, but the view was worth it.

I brought with me this trip my manual film camera, and a ton of black and white film so that I can take pictures and then develop them in the dark room and print the images using an enlarger. I had an idea to create a mini book with the picture of a person, most likely a head shot, and then just their name and age underneath. The pictures hopefully will speak for themselves. But the people pictured in the book arn't going to be any old people, well actually, technically they will be. What I'm trying to say is I'm not aiming to photograph models here, I want real people, exactly how they are, but the people I photograph have to catch my eye. Something about them has to speak to me, to make me want to photograph them. Who knew my first subject would be a random waitress at the resturant. I saw her as she walked by our table, she looked youngish, with very fine features. I still don't know why she was someone who I needed to put in the book, but she was. So after our meal I got up and tracked her down and polietly asked her if she would mind if I took her picture. She was a bit taken aback, but she agreed. Her name is Agnes and she is 18 years old, she looks about 29.

After lunch Carlie and I played on a bunch of the large rocks that dot the shore and they've created a ton of natural tide pools, which always have lots of interesting stuff to look at.

The rest of the day was spent back at home, reading, writing, listening to music and washing the porsche. Apparently we have to wash it every time we take it out. Obsessive much? I think so...

Money, shopping, heart attacks, and air shows.

alexa_lazarus — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 06:40:00 GMT

Waking up the first morning was...a great feeling. Going outside for the first time in 7 years everything felt right. It felt familiar. The smell triggered some deep seated sense of comfort, the sounds filled my ears and I couldnt help but smile. The sun was shinning, the birds were sqwaking and I was home. What more could a girl need?

Well money for one. So a trip to the bank was in order. I forgot how ridiculous banks here are. Bloody sensors and special doors and crap that generally makes going out difficult, but hey, they say its for our saftey. After taht I took a drive past my old home, the trees that my father and I planted on the verge outside the gate are now huge. Instead of being the small sapplings I remember they were now huge trees arching into a wide canopy. So...life goes on.

Durban looked much the same as I remember it, and for that I am very grateful. I did not sugar coat it in my mind, I preserved the integrity of my memories and perhaps that's why I havn't felt dissapointed. I didn't build it up in my mind and make it into a city of gold. I knew it would be dry, dirty, at time smelly, crowded, and generally just crazy. And it was, but whilst it's all that, it still manages to be charming. The people are poor, sometimes broken and largely not in the best of conditions, but somehow they still manage to be beautiful. On the early morning walk me, Carlie, my uncle, and some of the indian neighbors took to the beach to see the sunrise we were greeted by all that we passed, and we laughed, waved and shared a few jokes with locals who were milling about. Sometimes the peaople can be intimidating, you just have to learn to break the ice, thankfully I started practicing my zulu again!

Later in the day the two aunts, mom, carlie and I went out to the beach front to go shopping to buy some traditional looking presents for various people on our lists. Whilst this was fun it was simultaneously infuriating, saddening and draining. Every women wants to sell you something, and you may think you could say no to anyone, but believe me, when shes virtually pleading with you dressed in tattered clothing and clutching a baby to her chest how do you say no? Thats the sad part. The infuriating part is that there are about ten other women exactly like her sitting near to you who make the same plea. Before you realize it you wallet is empty (HOW CAN YOU SAY NO?) and you virtually hate yourself for having money, which is the maddening part, because is it really your fauly? No, of course it isn't. There will always be the haves and the have nots. It just really sucks when you realize how little the have nots actually have.

The rest of the afternoon was spent cooking for the braai (barbaque south african style) which was fun, until my aunts mother had a mild heart attack, which is obviously kind of a downer. The matter was also slightly complicated by the fact the my uncle had made me a rather potent spin (vodka mix drink) and I couldn't easily stand up straight. However, all good things come to an end, and eventually my absurd drunkeness wore off, and it seems as though my aunts mom will be fine, even though she is staying the night at the hospital.

Sunday should be interesting, I hear we're going up the coast, but you'll hear about it...

26 hours, 5 airports, 3 countries and 2 continents later...

alexa_lazarus — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 06:16:00 GMT

And so the trip begins... As I write this I am sitting on a bar stool in the kitchen of the small cottage on my uncles property that I am sharing with my friend Carlie, who accompanied me and my mom on this trip. Today was our secong full day in South Africa and so far its been very fun. Since I'm a few days behind on my posts, I'll back track a little and start from the airport...

A largely uneventful flight from Charlotte to D.C., except for the fact that I shared the flight with my friend Anna who I ran into at the airport and then realized we were both going to D.C. Whilst she was headed to Rawanda (yikes) Carlie,my mom and I were off to South Africa via the city of Dakar, wich is in Senegal, a west African country.

The flight from Washington to Joburg (with a stop in Dakar) was a wopping 17 1/2 hours, and yes, it was hell. Naturally the flight was late, which as all travlers know is a great way to start a long trip. The flight was cramped, the seats felt like something akin to concrete, screaming babies were present and the food was...well...gross. I avoided all meats with a passion, I swear the smell of it is enough to turn ones stomach.

Dakar was kind of cool, although parts of the city looked like it had been bombed and abondoned (but i don't think either of thoes assesments are correct). It was also pretty dirty, so all in all, a typical African city I suppose.

Arriving in Joburg was nice, although it was at night, so I didnt get the best view of the city. Because the plane was late we ended up missing our connecting flight to Durban, but we were lucky enough to get on the last flight out at 9pm.

And so a short hour long ride later the three of us arrived home! Well, home for me and my mom. It was about 10:30pm when we finally got in the car etc, so the drive back didnt afford me the views I would have liked but eveything did look beautiful in the dark all lit up. Seeing the family was nice, they are as I remember them, and so, funnily enough is everything else. I have managed to amaze myself and my family with my detailed memories of almost everything about Durban. I remember how to get everywhere and which stores etc are where and a multitude of stuff. I was trying to figure out how my memories, which are sometimes 10+ years old are so fresh in my mind when at times I can barley remember grade 9. I think its because as a child I was always unfailingly happy. When you're young you don't know any better, you think: "why shouldn't I be happy?" good question. It seems as you get older you come up with more answers to the question. Anyhow I think because the happiest times of my life were spent in south africa I subconciously fixed all of the memories in my head, I don't want to forget thoes.

Jet lags a bitch, as usual. Hopefully it won't take to long to kick it. I will write more about the past two days in a new entry soon. For now, bed.

Day before we leave

alexa_lazarus — Wed, 8 Jul 2009 04:31:00 GMT

Well, the origional plan was one big suitcase and a small one...naturally I have ended up with 2 huge suitcases and an over the shoulder carry on. Getting all this shit in the car in Durban is going to be painful. But besides the standard suitcase drama that seems to be a requisite part of intercontenential flights, my excitment is mounting! I'm ready to be out of Charlotte, and back home in South Africa. It's going to be a very eye opening trip I'm sure, and it will probably leave me with a new appreciation for the life that I lead in America.On this trip my good friend Carlie will be coming with me, and I'm very excited to show her South Africa!

Mostly I feel excited about ths trip, but there is a small part of me that isn't quite looking forward to this trip. Maybe its because its a long trip- 4 1/2 weeks, and i'm going to miss my friends a lot, or maybe its because a small part of me is a little scared, because South Africa is not the safest place for a small, young white girl. Maybe its because I'm going to be around my family, which is more then a little dysnfunctional. However, all thoes things will hopefully not be an issue, I just hope that with all the traveling that we're doing within the country that nothing bad happens!

The next entry you will see will be from South Africa, and much more exicting than the pre-trip posts :)

Getting ready to fly out!

alexa_lazarus — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:56:00 GMT

Well its been a long couple of months since I've traveled anywhere (*sob* i miss greece) farther then uptown Charlotte...but 9 more days till I fly out of North Carolina for Durban, South Africa! Its been...oh..5 years since I've last been home and I'm quite excited!

I cannot wait for the sounds, the smells, the seething hum that is humanity moving all around you. Since I'm going to be staying with family we have lots of things planned, and I'm going all over the country. This should be a great trip, and one of my very good friends is going to be accompanying me, so hopefully I can show her my home and do it justice.

Packing is... a pain in the ass as usual, but in a way its fun! I can feel the excitment building :)

Will keep updating as time goes on!