So much done; so little time!

Let me reiterate that Internet access has been VERY limited and the days have been jam-packed with activity and reflections! I am quickly filling up a couple notebooks of journal material though, which should be great to look back on. I guess with the time I have right now, I'll highlight a couple stories that come to mind, as opposed to trying to detail or summarize day-by-day all that we've been doing...

I just came to this Internet cafe after visiting a town that is literally built on a garbage dump. Rubbish and pigs crowd the dirty area, and a milk chocolate river (that is not so sweet, and in fact is toxic and people fear to touch so much as a toe in it!) winds around the bluff below it. For many people, it is hard to believe that such a place exists so near to the 'civilization' of Mthatha (pronounced Umtata), just 5 minutes away. Here in the cafe, it is crowded and noisy, with the sounds of mixed Xhosa (pronounced Khosa) and English swirling around us, in the heat of a 90-100+ degree day (depends on where you're standing or whether there is a slight breeze). This morning we also went to the Nelson Mandela museum, as his residence is nearby this town. Our South African professor, Zama, who is accompanying our group and team of three Whitworth professors, informed us that Mthatha claims approx. 2.3 million inhabitants in the area! Pictures describe the sights so much better... I'm trying to upload some more to my Facebook album (see the link at left) as I write this blog update.

Let's see, another thing that pops up in my mind is having to scale a concrete divider wall and shimmy across the top of a 6 -inch concrete wall in order to get out of a bathroom stall that I got locked in at the University of Fort Hare, in the town of Alice. It was without a doorknob on the inside. No one else was around, so it wasn't like I could call for help, therefore I had no option other than to jump up on the toilet, hoist my body up onto the divider wall, about 2.5 feet from the ceiling, and then jump off... I later snapped a photo of the stall, as a visual testament to the feat which I boast of (in bare feet, to boot!). BTW Mom and Dad, fun fact: when I called you to check in concerning the status of my debit card, I was immediately coming from having this bathroom adventure!

Which reminds me, for the rest of you, my debit card just so happened to be hacked and used in the U.S. to make unauthorized purchases; praise the Lord that I had a still, small voice that urged me to check my account when an Internet café was nearby, and we were able to stop the transactions and cancel my card. Weird things happen while one is away traveling…

Let’s see, I have experienced a series of home stays with host families, most of which only have bathtubs with cold water, so therefore I’m doing what I do best, and procrastinating from showering (even though we have experienced hot and sometimes muggy days, as well as muddy rainy ones, or ones that are filled with dirty children who climb all over us). I’m also having a fun time squishing really fast-crawling spiders in bathrooms, bedrooms, and other places. It’s all pretty fantastic.

The other day, we stayed in a ‘hostel’ (what university dorms are called here), which was cockroach-infested, and I dared not to shower there, even though showering stalls were accessible. That night was an interesting one. University classes have yet to start, and not many students were around other than athletes and student government council members. I shared some good conversation with the son on a Parliament member, some PolySci students, and some Masters Program students.

On another note, I climbed through some awesome caves about a week ago, when I was staying with a family on an ostrich farm. That was a blast! I got up at the break of dawn and went out to feed the ostriches and pigs that morning, after a night of unexpected rains. I even got to drive the farm truck out and about, on the left-hand side of the road and with a left-handed stick!

Oh! Yesterday, I met a tribal chief (also referred to as a king) here in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. We crossed through some pretty bumpy and eroded terrain in order to get there, 45 minutes away from any semblance of paved roads.

We’ve been eating lots of chicken off the braii (South African bbq), probably too much! And I have been eating a lot of potato salad as well. Food here is pretty good and rich, and everyone wants to stuff us full of it! I could go into great detail about it all, but that will have to wait until another time.

Well, there is a line of fellow students who are waiting to get their time, so I suppose that I should get a move on. This is all for now. I can’t wait to update you more when I’m back in the States!