The Grahamstown Art Festival is enchanting. The wind whips up my hair and throws it enthusiastically into my face, coaxing the dust into the air to hug us firmly with a thin coating.
I have worked here for a few days with the merchants - gypseys following their trade, mostly - and know all of their stalls rather well. One man has the most amazing honey-fudge; I had to man his stall while he ran to fetch his ID, dealing with questions about prices and quality I had no idea of the answer to. Another lady made me wait half an hour while she searched her bags and phoned her bank, while still another demanded knowledge I didn't have in an extremely Germanic manner. There is no end to the unusual people to be met at a festival.
I arranged this job for the money, naturally. But to my surprise, I have had an extraordinary time. My bosses are witty, tall and encouraging - being unusually tall myself, height has always endeared itself to me. The women I work with are enthusiastic and vibrant, possessing that black African vibe I colud never hope to achieve. And the merchants themselves are so good and kind. Faith in humanity has been restored.
I have gone to four good performances at the festival - a one man show which got a little crazy, but showed astonishing skill; Three Little Pigs, which I have no words for except see it, if remotely possible; Salt, a play about schitzophrenia with really astonishing acting and beautifully executed choreography; and a comedy which had me snorting with laughter in a very unladylike manner, stomach doubling over... those are the best times, when you can laugh so hard that tears leak from your eyes and crawl down your face.
Travelling while working the odd job is not a glamourous version of the 'living the dream' travel lifestyle we all picture. Instead, we imagine washing dishes in some scummy french kitchen, surrounded by incomprehensible angry people. But in my mind, working while traveling is not only a necessity, it's a blessing. It intergrates you into the local population. It expands your understanding and improves your communication skills. Plus, it earns you some money to keep on travelling; keep on seeing more of the world.
