Tuesday, December 4, 2007

My last post...probably

My last week in Cape Town was, in a word, hectic. Appropriate, considering Capetonians love that word. Spent a week and a half with a car, which was the best choice ever. My new little white Toyota treated me well. Let me tell you right now that car gets the best gas mileage. It’s absurd. I thought there was actually something wrong with the gas meter because it was at over full for the first 2 days. Even when I went on this long overnight, with over 4 hours of freeway driving I only used half a tank. So happy to have a break from the Jammie, though now that I’m home I wonder if I’ll ever ride the Jammie again…

I really enjoyed my last couple of weeks in Cape Town, finals couldn’t have dragged on longer. I was so happy to be done with UCT and the craziness of having to constantly go back to campus to try to pick up papers. Apart from that nonsense, I enjoyed my last days and nights with the great friends I made during my time abroad. We had a memorable final dinner at The Africa CafĂ©. Stellar food.
Leaving Liesbeek was stressful. Akim, my roommate from Zambia, was adorable and insisted on getting pictures of me, him, and Lily together.

On my way home from Cape Town I stopped in Edinburgh, Scotland to visit Miss Andrea Kretchmer and the rest of the Pomona gang. Intense culture shock and serious jetlag could not decrease my excitement to experience Pomona Scotland Style. As the plane landed in EDI I almost thought I was in Seattle. It looked so wet, green and cold. Edinburgh was a cute little city. I got a world tour from Andrea, Kristin, Chanda and Rose, and it was pretty adorable to see that they had all really mastered the place and knew all the trivia. Everything was super expensive; doubling prices is a lot less fun then dividing by 7. Hate it. One of the nights I went to St.Andrews because 2 of my friends from high school go there (for real) and another friend from high school is currently there studying abroad. It was great to see them and their world in St. Andrews. Merit gave me a whirlwind tour that included a really old cemetery. I mean any tour in Europe wouldn’t be complete without a creepy graveyard, right? It wasn’t as good as the one at UCT’s hospital, Groote Schuur, which is overgrown with palms and other plants and every tombstone is crooked. I digress. Scotland was great. It was just so nice to see all of these kids after 5 or so months.

My homecoming at SEA-TAC was one of the highlights of my life. I hadn’t seen my sister since July 10th. I saw shuffle into the baggage claim area with the biggest smile of anticipation on her face. It was adorable. I got a big hug from my mom too out by the car. It’s so nice when people are so excited to see you. Being on the wrong time zone was appropriate because I woke up at 6am in time to beat the crowds on Thanksgiving Day at the grocery store to pick up the odds and ends. There was no one there. It was unreal to walk back into the Metropolitan Market and roam the aisles of unpackaged produce that I did not have weigh and get a sticker for. I love grocery stores where the aisles are actually wide enough so that 2 carts can actually pass each other. Thanksgiving itself was ok. It was just the 4 of us and “uncle” Mason. In all honesty, it was probably better that way because I don’t know how well I would’ve handled a big reunion.

My mom and I started our Italian lessons this past week. I am incredibly rusty, and it really shows because I keep wanting to reply in French. It’s going to be fun. Otherwise the first week home was good. I am surprised how easy it has been to fall back into place and do the same things I always do in Seattle. It’s scary, but also comforting.

I just got home from my weekend trip to Pomona. I have been excited about this trip since August when we made the reservations. Jake picked me up from the airport, and we were so excited to see each other and catch up that we drove all the way to Fairplex. I saw Becky Fogel, Tigist, and RLT within an hour of being there at Kiwiberri (yummy). Rebecca threw a surprise party for me in my room that night, which was amazing. All my old sponsees showed up, plus all my junior and senior friends currently on campus. It reminded me that I have such wonderful friends, and I cannot wait to see the rest of them when they come back from abroad. The rest of the weekend I spent catching up with as many people as possible, and surprising people who I don’t really know on campus. Sunday night Helen and Tig helped me cook some amazing veggie lasagna at Kassahun-Grove, a.k.a. the lovely abode of Tigist and Helen. We had a good crowd and I showed off my Zulu dance moves! It was really wonderful to see everyone. I missed them.

Best off luck on finals and Happy Holidays. I suppose this might be my last post considering I’m done with this chapter of my life. Please let me know if you’re interested in purchasing a Wola Nani product!

Lots of love,

Katy

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Baby we were born to run!

I love driving. I love Africa. Africa + Driving = best life.

This week I rented a car. The freedom of driving has allowed me to:
1. go grocery shopping without having to schlep heavy bags 6 blocks uphill to the jammie stop
2. drive to greenpoint for dinner AND seapoint for dessert
3. further explore neighborhoods that i live near
4. Drive to the beach
5. drive to the Great White Shark capital of the world
6. Drive to Stellenbosch (wine country) and get lost on the way
7. drive to seapoint to get bagels at the only bagel shop in CT
8. Doing what i want when i want
9. NOT HAVING TO TAKE THE JAMMIE

Friday I had an interesting adventure into Khayelitcha and Nyanga. Those are two of the black townships. Nyanga was created during the 1950s as the Apartheid government forcibly removed more and more black people out of the city. Khayelitcha is the "newest" township. It is growing daily. Diana, a former CIEE study abroad student who has since moved back to CT to run this non-profit called Chosa, took us to Philani project in Khayelitcha. These women get paid a commission for whatever they sell. It is part of the "township tour". They make these beautiful bags out of leftover teeshirt scraps from factories. They also do bead and wire work, and make wall hangings, aprons, tablecloths, placemats, etc. It's a wonderful idea, and I hope I can take back that kind of spirit with me when I start my project.

I have less than a week left in Cape Town. I am dreading packing. I am ready to leave. Even though I feel at home here I also feel like I occupy some transient space still. I feel like I wont really relax until I get home. I'm excited to see all my friends in Scotland, but I am going to be very sad to leave South Africa. I feel very connected to this place. It has welcomed me with open arms and it makes me realize I will be homesick for Cape Town once my plane takes off.

Love, Katy

Monday, November 5, 2007

It's never too late...

It has been quite a while since my last post. I am not sure many people are reading this anyway, but for what it’s worth I have been busy doing serious schoolwork. UCT is no joke ya’ll. They trick you into thinking it’s not going to be much work at all because for the majority of the semester you don’t do much at all. Then, all of a sudden, they go crazy and assign you 3 papers and a presentation the week before final exams. Really considerate, don’t you think? At any rate, I finished exam #2 this morning at the crack of dawn and now I have only one to go and it’s not until the 13th. In a way I wish it were sooner. I just want to be done with UCT. I’m sick of doing work.

Ok speaking of doing exams….UCT has some sort of weird tradition of serving professors tea when they are proctoring exams. During my Diversity Studies exam my professor Melissa was sitting at the bottom of this gigantic lecture theater that was way to big for the 40 people in our class. She was sort of holding court down there, and you have to understand that all I’ve heard Melissa talk about during this semester is unequal power relations, centers and margins, and disabling discourses. Suddenly I see one of the black women that works as a cleaning lady is holding a tray with a teapot and cookies coming down the stairs one by one. It was the most bizarre sight. I felt like I was in a parallel universe for some reason just because Melissa is this tall imposing Afrikaner and her comes this small black woman bringing her tea. Colonial flashback perhaps. UCT pretty much has colonialism written all over it.

Last Friday I visited the offices of the second community arts project I am hoping to link up with. It’s called Wola Nani, and they make paper mache bowls out of recycled ads and do some beadwork (mostly AIDS ribbons). I am really excited to work with them. The other place had some really cool recycled rubber jewelry but they would only sell me these huge beaded figures wholesale. I just don’t think college students will buy foot tall beaded people and springbok!

Last week was sort of the end of my program. We had our final dinner at one of the “African” food places downtown on Long St called Nyoni’s Kraal. It was the last week of classes. I had to say goodbye to Quinton, the fearless leader of our program, today! I wanted to cry. Quinton is the best. Next to my dad, my grandfathers, and my uncles, he is probably one of the greatest men ever. I’m going to miss him. We threw a little going away dinner for Q and Felicity at the “Mexican” restaurant last Thursday. They really appreciated it.

Last week was also the end of my volunteering projects. I ended SHAWCO a little while ago, but Lawrence House (which is a Catholic run children’s home for refugees) ended this past week. I might try to go next week. I really enjoyed helping Michou with his times tables. I wish I had gotten time to know and help Sympathy more. She is such a sweet girl. She’s 14 now and she’s having a really hard time being away from her family. I don’t even know her story. Though I wasn’t entirely happy with the disjointedness of my volunteer projects, I don’t want to think how hard it would be to leave if I had been going to Lawrence house the whole semester.

I was sad to miss Halloween this year. Fall is probably my favorite time of the year. It doesn’t get much better than crisp weather, fall leaves, Halloween and Thanksgiving. At least I wont miss out on Turkey day. Though I had a final the next day, I didn’t completely miss out on Halloween! One warden’s (RA’s but actual adults) wife is from the U.S. and she made three jack o’lanterns and had fake cobwebs and everything. We went down there with two regular UCT students and when she held out the bowl of candy one said “What do I do?” Love teaching people how to trick or treat.

I went to Cape Aghulus this past weekend with Leah, Laura and Taylor (i.e. the AU girls). We had the quintessential old lady vacation. We drove there in an old Mercedes sedan, maybe even the kind my great-grandmother had. We spent one night at Cape Aghulus backpackers, which was the cutest little converted house with a movie room, a bar, and the cutest, most colourful outdoor breakfast room. (I just spelled coulourful with an ‘ou’ without even thinking about it…scary). We had a leisurely walk along the boardwalk and the beach, followed by a leisurely drink and appetizer hour, and a leisurely dinner. We then walked home and watched a movie, and went to bet at 11. I love being an old lady. It’s my favorite life. In the morning we drove to the most southern point in AFRICA! It’s also where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. How about that? It was fun. I found some great sea shells down there too! It was stellar.

As they would say, “shame man” I am going to miss this place. I am renting a car for a little over a week starting tomorrow and I am very excited. Before I know it I will be packing my suitcases!

See you soon!

Love, Katy

Sunday, October 21, 2007

SPRINGBOKS WIN!

Last night South Africa's rugby team beat England 15 to 6 in an outstanding game in St.Denis. I was at the Springbok pub for the game, and I must say I got pretty into it. I think I will have to buy a jersey now.

Reasons we won:
Better than England
More attractive than England
Smarter than England
Better teeth than England

Let me put it this way...

South African Flag: R50 ($7)
4 Ciders: R46 ($6.50)
Knowing that Africa is making a comeback and throwing history in England's face: Priceless.

Love, Katy

Friday, October 19, 2007

spurned by the jammie

The title of my blog is, after all, "Ode to a Jammie". Well Jammie, now I loathe thee more than ever. Today I schlepped my lovely bag of health food up the equivalent of 6 flights of stairs in 27 degrees (mid-80s) to get to the upper Jammie stop. As I get to the top I see a shuttle that says "Liesbeek Gardens". I think "hallelujah". I'm hot and I'm tired and I have a headache; life couldn't be better. I get on and take a seat..... the bus goes to FORREST HILL. I hate Forrest Hill. Every damn shuttle goes to Forrest Hill and none of them go to my res. EVERYONE gets off at Forrest Hill. Everyone except for me. Apparently the sign on the front of the bus said Liesbeek, but the sign on the side said Forrest Hill. It gets worse. The guy takes me back to lower campus and we pass a Liesbeek shuttle that is leaving. The nice driver asks the other one to stop and let me on, and as I go to hop on he drives away becasue the COPS are behind him trying to get them to move. The Jammie drives away. Then I wait another 15 minutes for a Liesbeek shuttle amongst all the drunk people getting ready for the Springbock rugby finals tomorrow. I know...my life is so hard. It's a love-hate struggle for me and the Jammie. I depend on it, but it's not always good to me...

Speaking of rugby... TOMORROW = EPIC HISTORY. The Rugby FINALS. England vs. South Africa. Colonizer vs. Former Colony. This is important. I don't know anything about rugby except that it's violent, but I am going to the pub tomorrow and rooting for South Africa to cut England. We need this. This is UBUNTU (unity-- i am you and you are me--it's a complicated concept)! I've been told that last time when they won in 1995, people stormed Main Road and they had to shut it down for the night. I'm going to be there! I'm going to storm Main Road if we win! Oh I cannot wait.

On a more practical note, I had an epiphany this week. There is this wonderful gift shop in the National Gallery. This woman who sells baskets, jewelry, cards, etc all made by community projects all over Southern Africa. Here's my plan: buy from community art projects which directly benefit the artists (often women) who really deserve and need the money and sell them at home and at the 5Cs, and give the proceeds to charities in Africa!!! Bomb plan, right?! I've found my calling. I'll sell at the Scripps craft fair and at the WU maybe? Get ready people!

That's about it. I have a lot of work over the next two weeks. UCT is not joke man. It's hectic, as they would say. I just want to be done and rent a car! I can taste the freedom!

Also, everyone wish my mom a Happy 50th Birthday on Saturday. Her email is dianneloeb@hotmail.com Thanks!

Love, Katy

Sunday, October 14, 2007

sharks!


I have had another successfully fun-filled weekend. Never a dull moment in CT. On Friday I went to the Jewish Museum with my friend Leah. We have been trying for the last month to get there but inevitably there has been a holiday/holyday every single Friday. The museum was a bit kitchy. There was a reconstructed schtetel, along with strange videos of men with Lithuanian accents. It wasn’t as sophisticated as I would have wanted, but they got their point across.

Friday night Leah and I were back at Hiddingh for a play called Women Beware Women. One of the actors—the guy who plays the uncle who is having an affair with his niece—is sitting outside the window from me at Cocoa Wah Wah right now! CT is kind of small sometimes. The acting was great. I encourage you to google the play because it was quite confusing. It definitely has some feminist commentary to it, but I’m not quite sure how to explain.

Saturday I went SHARK CAGE DIVING! It was on my list of things that I didn’t need to do while here in CT, but I then I won two tickets…so I obviously had to. Some sort of gift from the gods I suppose, though it wasn’t as ethereal as I expected. 4 of us went. It was a seriously long journey. We got picked up at 9:30, drove two hours to Hermanus, and didn’t get back until 8pm. It was a beautiful drive. We got to had lunch and a snack served to us, though I could only eat the fruit due to this damn cleanse (more on that later). We saw a lot of sharks, and luckily the water was calm so NO ONE barfed. I did not get in the cage because they were throwing so much chum (fish guts) in the water that I was too grossed out. Plus we had a better view from the boat. It was cool. I don’t really know how to describe it. There was a lot of waiting, but the few moments when the sharks came out for the bait was cool. Check out the pictures on facebook!

This morning I went to NIA. I had almost enough energy to do it all. This cleanse is making me feel great now that I got over the two days of sugar and caffeine withdrawals. I didn’t realize how dependent on those things I was until I stated getting headaches and couldn’t focus without them. The amount of crap we eat sometimes is scary. I’m not saying I’m going to stop drinking coffee, but there are certain things I think I will really try not to eat, like processed sugar. No more candy bars. Goodbye Kit Kats.

I have 2 weeks left of classes. I have 3 papers and a project due within those weeks, and then I have finals. It’s going to be rough! In 5 weeks I leave for Scotland, and I will be home a month from Wednesday. Unbelievable, non?

I hope everyone is well.

Love, Katy

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Yesterday was, as my friend Elena would say, BOMB. I got a stupendous grade on my Diversity Studies paper and the tutor told me that I really got at the issues. AND I bonded with my favorite professor here over Bruce Springsteen. Basically I got a ride home because 1.) it was on his way and 2.) we love Bruce. During the 12 minute ride we discussed Bruce, UCT, teaching (which he doesn't like, bummer) and how NJ is the armpit of America.

Today I am starting the 10 day cleanse I am doing with Leah and Elena. I'm eating only raw fruits, vegetable, nuts and seeds. I already feel out of it. It's going to be good though I think. Cleaning shop so to speak.