As some of you are aware I went on leave to South Africa for 14 days. Every 5 weeks Earth-Touch will fly us out. To keep us sane I suppose. Anyway, I wasn’t in South Africa for more than a day when our rental car was broken into and my computer bag stolen. In it, my lap top, personal hand written journal, and reading glasses. Needless to say I was devastated, every picture I had taken since my arrival in Africa was on that computer as well as the last pics I had of my father and some poems I had finally sat down to write having not done so in more than 10 years (though because of this time lapse I am sure they weren’t that good ;-) On my list of things to do in South Africa was to buy a hard drive to back up my photo’s and all the rest..... as murphy would have it I suppose. Since then I have had very little motivation to write. My personal journal was the real kick in the ass bought in Florence Italy in 2001, it was 7 years of hand writing, leading up to and including every raw thought, feeling and emotion I had about my father and dealing with his death.
As it turns out this is common. Every single person I spoke to has been impacted by the crime in South Africa in some way or another. It was so unusual to see and hear such complacency, shoulders shrugged as it is just a way of life here, “it’s Africa”. And frankly having a lap top stolen out of a vehicle was nothing compared to the severity and brutalness of most of the crimes committed. Evidently I was lucky.
It wasn’t until I got an email from my Aunt Sharon, my fathers sister, and encouragement from my Aunt Risa and Uncle Dan and Donna, to keep writing. They reminded me of the reason why I have chosen to come here on this adventure. The new found “simple life” and to “let it go” and to move on past it and continue to live my wonderful experiences here in beautiful Africa and live in the now, to quote Aunt Sharon “While the past is always with us and shapes our responses to the now, it should be a quiet comfort, with today's encounters in the forefront”. They all reminded me that our memories live on forever in our minds and our hearts.
I also want to thank Mandi for her offer to send her old Mac, so sweet! and Donna and my Uncle Dan for offering to send lap tops that they were not using to me! I unleashed the well known “Penny pit bull” on the establishment where we were parked in security parking less than 100 meters from the door and the guards where they claim to have the safest parking. This would be Gateway mall in Durban. They are putting it through their insurance and we hope to have it all covered soon. Fingers crossed.
Where the title of my entry “beautiful ugly” comes from is this: There is so much positivity and hope in South Africa's people, such beauty and kindness in all the people I met, success and prosperity seemed everywhere, so much to smile about in it’s esthetic beauty. It’s a land so culturally diverse, with such histories and for the last one and a half decades with the energy of re-birth and discovering a new identity. With that there seems to be this attitude that yes crime is out of control, but it is something that people can adapt to, by protecting themselves in gated communities. Everything has a wall and an electric fence, houses, shops, everything. We were at Graham’s friends house in Johannesburg, he had stepped out to run an errand. Shortly after he left I thought it would be nice to go for a walk, stood up took two steps and realized I couldn’t get out. I needed the remote to open the gate, which I didn’t have and the entire house was surrounded by a high security wall. And come to think of it even if I did want to go for a walk it probably wouldn’t be safe to do so. This sort of living for me feels claustrophobic, for the south africans this is just a way of life. You simply do what you can to protect yourself.
Johannesburg is a strange conurbation of opulent suburbs, corporate headquarters, six lane highways and large shopping malls set alongside some of the countries starkest urban poverty. Perhaps the perennial crime problem is the inevitable consequence of it’s palpable polarities. Stat: South Africa has the highest murder rate in all of the world. Johannesburg was another city. I took no pictures and left only footprints.
I feel I must mention the new president of South Africa Mr. Jacob Zuma. And again the link between esthetics (beauty) and political ethics (Ugly). Where majority rules in a democratic society, in this case it is not necessarily a good thing nor does it mean that it will empower the right person. I can’t pretend to know a lot about south african politics nor will I claim that our system is any better, I mean didn’t our government get shut down because we all couldn’t play nice at one point? and I won’t even mention Bush. But this man, Mr. Zuma who has a 4th grade education, was accused of raping a friends daughter who knowingly has Aids. When asked by the people if he was afraid of getting Aids, his answer was “no I had a shower afterwards” implying showering will wash the Aids away. This is the message he is sending to a country ridden with the disease and a simple cure at his fingertips to educate his people on the disease and how to prevent it. Showering isn’t it. He was also accused of corruption in all sorts of other ways, foremost being with the “scorpions” south africans version of the FBI so to speak. The guys who are supposed to be fighting all this hellacious crime. Even though all evidence pointed brightly to his guilt, somehow, someway it all got thrown out and he will never be tried in court for these crimes. The majority voted him president and the majority ruled.
The experience of my stolen goods having somewhat set the tone for the rest of my time in South Africa, as much as I tried not to let it, it made for a different trip than I had expected. In hindsight, I might say that I wasn’t yet ready to leave the bush. I hadn’t been here that long and out of the rush of town/city life long enough to really appreciate being back in the so called comforts of urban living.
Anyway, I rant. In my time in South Africa I did experience the beauty, just as I now know the grim of it’s land.
First stop was to the Earth-Touch office, which having left the office environment for the great outdoor life it felt odd to be back in a blouse and heels to sit in a boardroom. The office is in Durban, a beautiful coastal town. Going from the dryness in the delta to the humidity in Durban was a shocking contrast as my skin soaked up the moisture in the air. It seemed like a lovely town, but we were only there for a day for the meeting at the office. I plan to go back.
Second stop: Kenton. Graham and I went to his cousins wedding in a town called Kenton, along the eastern coast. The wedding took place along the Kariega river, which I immediately felt at home standing next to. Aside from the salt water, this location strongly resembled Muskoka. It was a beautiful day for a wedding and we danced the night away. Alcohol induced style of course.
Third stop: Grahamstown. Grahams mother lives here so we stopped in to visit for a few days. A beautiful historical town. The Eastern Cape is simply beautiful, and very similar to Ireland. Not what I expected at all. The drive from Kenton to Grahamstown was breathtakingly beautiful. Rolling hills of green. Again, having little motivation to write I as well had little motivation to take pics. Rather I wanted to take it all in with memory.
Forth Stop: Cape Town. A beautiful coastal town. Very similar to Vancouver, better yet, Vancouver Island. Though the weather while we were there was more like Vancouver, rainy and windy and cold surrounded by stunning mountains, table mountain in the backdrop. Because of this I didn’t see much of the coast. We did a drive out to Simons town to see the Jackass penguins, called so because they make a sound like a donkey, though I didn’t get to witness this said sound and being as cute as they are I think a rather unfair name. The storm that rolled in while we were there was quite huge, and the paper described it as “gail force winds” making for some massive waves. I always like being next to the ocean, or water specifically. Regardless of the weather I find it calming. I would love to come back in the summer and see the sun on the sand and me in the ocean.
We walked the streets and the local market, saw some art galleries and really just chilled out. A couple of nights with Grahams friends and family on the town. It was a relaxing trip.
On my next leave I plan on seeing more of the “Africa”. Victoria Falls perhaps or more of Botswana. At the end of July I hope to take a 4 day weekend and head to Makgadikgadi (ma-kudi-kudi) salt pans. South east of Moremi, about a 4 hour drive.
Extract the raw beauty as you do, challenging yourself everyday to take another step forward - because you can. You will be showered with miracles because you dare yourself, you reach out and stretch, go out on a limb, raise the bar, throw down the gauntlet, face your fears, and grow into more than you ever knew you could be. I am so proud of you Penny. Everyone is, everywhere. Feel that all-consuming love?
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