Heritage Day 2005

i know, i know... i tell everyone that i'm keeping a blog, like its something im going to be really good about keeping up with, and now i have let you all down. i apologize. truly, i do. i promise- it will be better from here on out.

things have been settling in quite nicely i have to say. it's weird, adjusting to the fact that your entire life is in a new place. well, not entire- the ppl i love are, of course, not here. but i think that makes it even more interesting- and really a challenge to actually grow. because you have to realize that you are not going to be fulfilled by other ppl, and it has actually begun to force to me to rely on myself, and my Faith, and really to strengthen those aspects of myself, which is actually quite an amazing and fulfilling thing.

and the house is great. i really love my housemates, and everyone they bring around as well. and of course, per usual, the surrounding community of international and local students, activists, artists and young professionals continues to be one full of friendly people looking for a good time, good people and interesting conversation. so.. Obs (and Cape Town, more generally) has, thus far, been treating me well. we have spent a few days at the beach... and driving through the countryside here really makes you realize just how beautiful this place is. and i spent 2 days last week at a Restorative Justice conference out by the shore on the Atlantic side. it was really very interesting- so many key people there, and really not very hard to make connections with people and begin building bridges. i officially start work tomorrow and i am filled with a combination of excitement and anxiety. i just hope that i am really able to get out of it all that i am hoping for. and that i learn alot. the avenue of work is so rich and complex, and i just hope that, even with my limited experience and knowledge, i am really called up to play a key role in as much of it as possible.

and the Baha'i community! luckily i have really been able to connect with the Baha'is, which is so great. i met a few while i was here last time, and reconnected with them, really putting me in touch with the youth as well as the larger Baha'i community. so... that has been really wonderful. makes such a difference to spend time with like-spirited people.

but south africa certainly continues to be a place of many crazy paradoxes and complexities. i had about a 2 hour conversation this evening with andrew and justin about the way this country is going... the fact that politics remain so highly racialized... the fact that Zuma could be the next president (he was recently tried for rape and illegal arms deals)...the fact that it seems that idolization of the ANC is turning SA into a de facto one-party country, etc. And the fact that, as a white person, he feels very much marginalied from many of the political movements... i.e. fighting against evictions from the townships, protests at parliament against privatization of water. so, the case remains that nothing is simple in south africa. but, then again, its that way everywhere. of course, as the idealistic outsider, i was attempting to pose an alternate solution, or just a bit of hope... that the young people really be catalysts for change, and not become so disillusioned with the way things are now that they all take advantage of their dual citizenship (a lot of people have dual citizenship with the UK and South Africa, thus making immigration to any European country incredibly easy) and instead stay here and really chart the path for a new South Africa that is actually a socially, economically and politically just country. ahhh... the life of the activist. but truly, the key is to remain at the same time both a realist and an idealist. otherwise, you give up.

ok, well, sorry to leave on a relatively downward note, but... if it helps, i continue to remain an idealist. and for that i have to say, i really do thank the Baha'i Faith. without it, i'd be moving to Mars or something at this point.

24 hours in the Motherland

well, i am back in cape town for nearly 24 hours now. i have to say, i am certainly seeing a side of the city i didn't quite get to experience last time- white, liberal, south african university students. it's quite the scene. nice though, relatively familiar which makes the fact that i am half-way across the world (or nearly) seem a little less daunting. the house is also equipped with all sorts of amenities that make living life much simpler (washing machine, internet, cable tv, phone, etc.) but it is still cape town, make no mistake. this evening i took a walk along the promenade at sea point. it was sunset and lion's head was just peaking out from behind the tall apartment buildings that line the street in that part of the city. it was crazy to be back there... remembering my first time there, at the winchester hotel with jan and all his silly afrikaner friends drinking white wine and champagne and toasting the orange-red-purple sunset. then it was off to long street for dinner. we went to caravan cafe, closer to lower long, where patrick, a young man who moved here from Congo to study mechanical engineering, serves moroccan/congolese food and has only mixed berry coals for his hookahs. i ate bbq fish, whole, with cous cous and roasted vegetables, and some parsley-filled stew which is apparently all the rage in Congo. we were accompanied by a couple from Paris, talkative, friendly and politically aware. there is nothing better than chatting, really. it's one of the huge differences i find here... people are so open to talk and just be friendly. you forget what that's like actually, being away from it for so long. but it's truly the case.
so, i am settling in i suppose. i spent the day today unpacking, organizing myself and figuring out what it is i have to do. buy trashcan. hooks for the wall. hand towel. food. pay andrew the rent money. real shit to do. crazy. my room looks at least slightly lived in now though- photos on the wall and clothes in their proper places. i did some rearranging, which i think makes quite the difference, and the faces of my loved one are plastered all over. and of course, i miss them all.
but no turning back now; the adventure has begun.