Dont have a camera yet, left it in India but heres a few shots I took on a friends camera.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
so this blogging thing is way harder than I had expected.
South Africa, Johannesburg. Week 3 now I think. Has most definitely been quite the challenge thus far. Its breathtakingly beautiful yet horrendously complex, the people are beyond just friendly; altruistically hospitable even, but then there's the incongruous subtext of racism and just ubiquitous fear that envelops the spirit of what I think can unanimously be referred to as 'Africa'. Its a hard place to reconcile with and yesterday was just one of those days when all it's raw and divergent complexities made themselves so shamelessly (yet in some sense beautifully!)apparent to me.
Just about a week ago two of my friends visited me in joburg. They were traveling from Lesotho and were on their way to Zimbabwe. They had what I love best about travelers - an instantaneous and unquestionable desire to trust whatever and whoever is thrust before you. I recognize it cause I've relied on that sense of trust through many a travel - attempting to put up a superwoman facade though I'm actually shitting bricks inside. There's something frighteningly refreshing about that look. So anyways they came to visit and while I was in class they planned on going out to the market to pick up some tickets for a bus ride to Zimbabwe. I figured its mid afternoon and its fine for them to walk, I mean they'd just pretty amazingly survived a 9 or so hour long 'taxi' ride from lesotho to joburg! ('Taxi' here means a VERY local, often VERY 'dodgy' bus!) We took all the precautionary steps - checked with locals who new about the area, made sure they weren't alone, gave them perfect directions etc. - and since two of my South African friends said it was fine for them to go we took their word for it. Long story short, one of them got socked in the face. hard. Not robbed, or mugged, or attempted robbery, just hit in the face and the man walked off. Obviously they were petrified and called me. Somehow I got a friend to drive me around to find them. That was by far my first most honest encounter with Johannesburg.
Kelly (my friend who drove me) says, in an almost habitual, though not apathetic in ANY way, tone "lock your door, put your cellphone away and hide your bag under your seat. Not many white people ever go to this part of town or Indians for that matter. Its just the way it is, you'll see when we get there." And yes, she was right. More right than I would have wished to acknowledge at the time and for no real reason other than the fact that there were no people of the same colour as me or my friend I felt an almost baseless fear and discomfort settle somewhere in the pit of my stomach. We drove around in circles trying to find my friends, who at this point were so understandably terrified by the sheer vulnerability of their positions that they refused to even step outside. That drive was an eyeopener. A whole other world, a whole other conception of life, color, race, even just body movements contorted together to somehow translate into fear. I've traveled a lot of places and have had all kinds of experiences but this was unique. Not a fear for my life but just a tension that felt so impenetrable. I think it was the undoubted acceptance of the existence of this fear that made it so powerful and frustrating.
We did eventually find them and some tears, a LOT of questions and a HUUGE much needed pizza later they were more or less ok. But Joburg had taken something away from them, and me I suppose. Something from the 'wide eyed trust' was missing. I dont think it was fear or terror, well at least for me, it was disappointment and maybe even a sense of helplessness. Here I am, studying human rights and what not and yet when 2 girls attempt to challenge the color bar, attempt to move out of segregated zones to truly embrace south african so called world cup fever of unity and anti-racism they get socked in the face for being 'out of place', to put it politely!
I guess it got me questioning how something that is so instinctual can ever really change?
On a far less traumatic note, I also did do an absolutely fantastic and of the charts wild random road trip to Swaziland details of which I will probably write at some point. But to say the least I met and got know two amazing South Africans. :)
More travel rants to come... soon. I hope.
South Africa, Johannesburg. Week 3 now I think. Has most definitely been quite the challenge thus far. Its breathtakingly beautiful yet horrendously complex, the people are beyond just friendly; altruistically hospitable even, but then there's the incongruous subtext of racism and just ubiquitous fear that envelops the spirit of what I think can unanimously be referred to as 'Africa'. Its a hard place to reconcile with and yesterday was just one of those days when all it's raw and divergent complexities made themselves so shamelessly (yet in some sense beautifully!)apparent to me.
Just about a week ago two of my friends visited me in joburg. They were traveling from Lesotho and were on their way to Zimbabwe. They had what I love best about travelers - an instantaneous and unquestionable desire to trust whatever and whoever is thrust before you. I recognize it cause I've relied on that sense of trust through many a travel - attempting to put up a superwoman facade though I'm actually shitting bricks inside. There's something frighteningly refreshing about that look. So anyways they came to visit and while I was in class they planned on going out to the market to pick up some tickets for a bus ride to Zimbabwe. I figured its mid afternoon and its fine for them to walk, I mean they'd just pretty amazingly survived a 9 or so hour long 'taxi' ride from lesotho to joburg! ('Taxi' here means a VERY local, often VERY 'dodgy' bus!) We took all the precautionary steps - checked with locals who new about the area, made sure they weren't alone, gave them perfect directions etc. - and since two of my South African friends said it was fine for them to go we took their word for it. Long story short, one of them got socked in the face. hard. Not robbed, or mugged, or attempted robbery, just hit in the face and the man walked off. Obviously they were petrified and called me. Somehow I got a friend to drive me around to find them. That was by far my first most honest encounter with Johannesburg.
Kelly (my friend who drove me) says, in an almost habitual, though not apathetic in ANY way, tone "lock your door, put your cellphone away and hide your bag under your seat. Not many white people ever go to this part of town or Indians for that matter. Its just the way it is, you'll see when we get there." And yes, she was right. More right than I would have wished to acknowledge at the time and for no real reason other than the fact that there were no people of the same colour as me or my friend I felt an almost baseless fear and discomfort settle somewhere in the pit of my stomach. We drove around in circles trying to find my friends, who at this point were so understandably terrified by the sheer vulnerability of their positions that they refused to even step outside. That drive was an eyeopener. A whole other world, a whole other conception of life, color, race, even just body movements contorted together to somehow translate into fear. I've traveled a lot of places and have had all kinds of experiences but this was unique. Not a fear for my life but just a tension that felt so impenetrable. I think it was the undoubted acceptance of the existence of this fear that made it so powerful and frustrating.
We did eventually find them and some tears, a LOT of questions and a HUUGE much needed pizza later they were more or less ok. But Joburg had taken something away from them, and me I suppose. Something from the 'wide eyed trust' was missing. I dont think it was fear or terror, well at least for me, it was disappointment and maybe even a sense of helplessness. Here I am, studying human rights and what not and yet when 2 girls attempt to challenge the color bar, attempt to move out of segregated zones to truly embrace south african so called world cup fever of unity and anti-racism they get socked in the face for being 'out of place', to put it politely!
I guess it got me questioning how something that is so instinctual can ever really change?
On a far less traumatic note, I also did do an absolutely fantastic and of the charts wild random road trip to Swaziland details of which I will probably write at some point. But to say the least I met and got know two amazing South Africans. :)
More travel rants to come... soon. I hope.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Kabadi kabadi kabadi...
Thus begins my first attempt at techxplorative self discovery.. I'm gonna try and write down most of what I see smell and feel as I spend the next 6/7 months in South Africa (Joburg to be precise) but it might end up being stream of consciousness style rants at the world and its justifiable futility.. so bear with me a while - if nothing else the images will be worth it! :)
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