Monday, November 28, 2005
NEW ADVENTURES ON THE WAY
Out of Zambia but not out of Africa. Act 2 takes place in the seedy streets of Kinshasa. The Congo is my new home for the next year. Time will only tell what sort of adventures will come out of my mediocre ability to speak French combined with my awful sense of judgement.
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
How to write and count like a black man/ white man
Zenzele is one of the more interesting people here taking the course. He’s a South African born Zulu and perhaps one of the most frank speaking people I ever met. Whereas most people think twice about saying something my boy Zen just says that s**t.
Tonight we were all having dinner at a restaurant and Zen was telling me about race relation in South Africa. He then began telling me about how black people count using their hands differently than white people do, so I asked him to explain. Apparently, black people count starting with their pinky finger and white people begin with either their thumb or index finger. I doubted his theory so we tested it on our multiracial dinner group. Funny enough, he was right! But when I asked about people who are light skinned or mixed race it messed up his whole theory, he said he only deals in black and white stereotypes.
Next he claimed to be able to tell if something handwritten was done by a white person or a black person, something about the curves of the R's and J's. Again we set out to test his theory and it worked! But again he was unable to account for mixed people; in my opinion a good stereotype should cover everyone.
In addition to his thoughts on racial stereotypes he ranted on the reasons why he would never let his wife be a plumber; and that, my friends, is why I dedicate this post to my boy Zen, for whom the words “politically correct” = tyranny.
Tonight we were all having dinner at a restaurant and Zen was telling me about race relation in South Africa. He then began telling me about how black people count using their hands differently than white people do, so I asked him to explain. Apparently, black people count starting with their pinky finger and white people begin with either their thumb or index finger. I doubted his theory so we tested it on our multiracial dinner group. Funny enough, he was right! But when I asked about people who are light skinned or mixed race it messed up his whole theory, he said he only deals in black and white stereotypes.
Next he claimed to be able to tell if something handwritten was done by a white person or a black person, something about the curves of the R's and J's. Again we set out to test his theory and it worked! But again he was unable to account for mixed people; in my opinion a good stereotype should cover everyone.
In addition to his thoughts on racial stereotypes he ranted on the reasons why he would never let his wife be a plumber; and that, my friends, is why I dedicate this post to my boy Zen, for whom the words “politically correct” = tyranny.
Sunday, November 07, 2004
Still on the road
I was woken up at 4:30am because we had reached the boarder with South Africa. But with 6 buses ahead of us in the immigration line we weren’t back on the road again until 8am. The first thing I noticed in South Africa was the quality of the roads (4 lanes and the smooth as anything). Needless to say the smooth road and boring landscape meant only one thing,… sleep! I woke up just outside of Jo’Burg.
Total travelling time: 24hours
Time spent at boarders: 5hours
Time spent sleeping: 22hours (I slept at boarder posts too)
Time spent watching driver hoping he won’t pass on yet another hill: TOO DAMN LONG!! (after a while I just stopped watching, it wasn’t good for my stress level)
We were picked up at the bus station and taken to the conference centre, where we met the other people who are taking the course and it seems like an interesting group, should be interesting.
Total travelling time: 24hours
Time spent at boarders: 5hours
Time spent sleeping: 22hours (I slept at boarder posts too)
Time spent watching driver hoping he won’t pass on yet another hill: TOO DAMN LONG!! (after a while I just stopped watching, it wasn’t good for my stress level)
We were picked up at the bus station and taken to the conference centre, where we met the other people who are taking the course and it seems like an interesting group, should be interesting.
Saturday, November 06, 2004
On the road
We left for Johannesburg, South Africa, for my orientation course on Kicking AIDS Out at 12pm and we arrive in Jo’Burg at 12pm tomorrow. The beginning of the ride was okay, until we got into the mountainous region of southern Zambia. The bus was going about 100km/h in winding roads and every now and again, when I would look out the window, I could see the remains of burnt out cars and buses at the bottom of the valley. Maybe it’s just me, … but that should have more of an effect than a speed limit sign, but not to our bus driver!
To be honest, the party didn’t really get started until we got stuck behind the explosives truck. Now, most times I have no problem driving behind a hazardous truck, but in these mountains staring at the “DANGER EXPLOSIVES” sign made all of us in the bus backseat drivers. Like, when the driver tried to pass a truck on a blind corner half the bus told him off, calling him a “jackass” in Chinyanja (a local language). We were stuck behind that truck for 45 minutes and arrived at the Zimbabwe boarder around 3pm. We stopped in Harare (the Zim Capital) around 8pm for a bite to eat. The conductor told us we had 30 minutes and he wasn’t joking! He began to leave without one of the passengers and people had to yell at him to get him to stop and wait (now that’s gangster).
To be honest, the party didn’t really get started until we got stuck behind the explosives truck. Now, most times I have no problem driving behind a hazardous truck, but in these mountains staring at the “DANGER EXPLOSIVES” sign made all of us in the bus backseat drivers. Like, when the driver tried to pass a truck on a blind corner half the bus told him off, calling him a “jackass” in Chinyanja (a local language). We were stuck behind that truck for 45 minutes and arrived at the Zimbabwe boarder around 3pm. We stopped in Harare (the Zim Capital) around 8pm for a bite to eat. The conductor told us we had 30 minutes and he wasn’t joking! He began to leave without one of the passengers and people had to yell at him to get him to stop and wait (now that’s gangster).
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Johannesburg bound
I bought my bus ticket today and I amazed at how cheap land transport is in Southern Africa. My ticket on this 24 hour bus only cost me $40US one way (and that’s on a luxury coach!). Back in Canada I can barely get out of town for $40 let alone cross three countries.
I would imagine there are probably very good reasons why it’s so cheap (poverty withstanding), but I don’t think I really want to know what they are.
Gettin’ on the bus
Mambo
I would imagine there are probably very good reasons why it’s so cheap (poverty withstanding), but I don’t think I really want to know what they are.
Gettin’ on the bus
Mambo
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Travel plans
As I have already mentioned Dukes and I are travelling to South Africa on Saturday for a workshop on HIV/AIDS. There is no money in this whole "volunteer" thing so we’ll be taking the economical option of a cramped 24 hour bus ride from Lusaka to Johannesburg. The course is for one week so, because of accumulated overtime (yes Dad I actually do work), Dukes and I decided to take a week off and take the scenic route home through Swaziland and Mozambique (also by bus of course). We have a fellow Commonwealth Games Canada intern in Swaziland so it will be nice to visit her and check out Swaziland’s Chinese food restaurant scene. Then we'll go to Mozambique to check out Maputo and spend a couple of days on a beach before bussing it north back to Zambia.
The Lonely planet guide says transportation in Northern Mozambique isn’t great ("slow" and "infrequent" were the keywords used) but how bad can it really be?
Famous last words
Mambo
The Lonely planet guide says transportation in Northern Mozambique isn’t great ("slow" and "infrequent" were the keywords used) but how bad can it really be?
Famous last words
Mambo
Monday, November 01, 2004
Bed Netting
After typing the title to this post I realize it could be easily misinterpreted, but for lack of a better title, and because I like to be risqué, I’ll just stick with it.
Ok, as some of you might know Malaria is a serious problem in Sub-Saharan Africa but taking preventative medication is mainly for foreigners so most people opt for the cheaper option of sleeping under bed nettings (to keep away mosquitoes, the main transmitters of the disease). I bought one before I left Canada, but didn’t have to put it up at my host family’s house cause they already had one (although it wasn’t treated and had holes in it so I kept getting bitten at night anyways; but that is another story). So, last night was supposed to be the big unveiling of my new mosquito netting. Well, first we put up Dukes’ netting, and there was a hole in the ceiling already so it was pretty simple. But, then I moved on to my room and looked up at the ceiling only to realize there is no hole. I tried to put a screw in the ceiling but that thing is made of straight up concrete!
So, my options were to: a.) sleep with no netting or; b.) use it as a bed sheet by covering myself with it. Well, option b) sucks so I went with the first one. Let me tell you a nicely folded mosquito netting makes a great makeshift pillow.
Doused in insect repellent and sleeping like a baby.
Mambo
Ok, as some of you might know Malaria is a serious problem in Sub-Saharan Africa but taking preventative medication is mainly for foreigners so most people opt for the cheaper option of sleeping under bed nettings (to keep away mosquitoes, the main transmitters of the disease). I bought one before I left Canada, but didn’t have to put it up at my host family’s house cause they already had one (although it wasn’t treated and had holes in it so I kept getting bitten at night anyways; but that is another story). So, last night was supposed to be the big unveiling of my new mosquito netting. Well, first we put up Dukes’ netting, and there was a hole in the ceiling already so it was pretty simple. But, then I moved on to my room and looked up at the ceiling only to realize there is no hole. I tried to put a screw in the ceiling but that thing is made of straight up concrete!
So, my options were to: a.) sleep with no netting or; b.) use it as a bed sheet by covering myself with it. Well, option b) sucks so I went with the first one. Let me tell you a nicely folded mosquito netting makes a great makeshift pillow.
Doused in insect repellent and sleeping like a baby.
Mambo
