Joburg

Greetings from Johannesburg. I'm at my B&B, waiting to be picked up by the safari guide. It'll be a long car drive today and I got up way too early! I'm totally psyched about the trip though. I got into Joburg yesterday at noon, and was picked up along with 2 other people for a half-day tour of the city. We spent some time at the apartheid musuem, and in Soweto - which stands for "south west township". It's probably the largest city in south africa - but it's technically part of Joburg. They call it a "city within a city". When the townships were formed (forced separation of the blacks) they were not allowed to have their own governance. The township now has over 4 million people. About 10% live in nice houses, 80% in "matchbox" houses - not bad but very small, and close together, and about 10% in shacks. We walked a bit around the shacks and met a family - but I most enjoyed the memorial to the children who were killed during the uprisings. The museum really put that into context. Recently, there have been uprisings against the refugees and dozens of people killed in the townships. It's funny because when I heard that I was a bit worried about going there (even though it has calmed down), but it's funny, because dozens of people are killed in any US city over 4 million and it hardly stops people from visiting! On top of that, tourists are a source of income, and are with guides all the time, so they aren't likely targets. Our tour agency took us around in a mercedes - it was kind of odd being there in the nicest car. I felt very conspicuous - doesn't help that I am way too white and well dressed to actuall LIVE there! In Soweto it isn't just the poor, though, we also saw Winni (spelling?) Mandela's house, Mandela's old house, and Desmond Tutu's house (still lives there).

I can't wait to see the big 5!!

Photos from Joburg:

The city - you can see it's just as any other city - has its high rises, even a small amusement park near the Apartheid museum!











Here's what built the city - gold mining. In fact, there are mines under the city and construction is a serious issue. One new building found a mine underneath and ended up stabolizing it and leaving it as a monument!











Here is Soweto - you can see a range of housing types, but not the worst or the best in this pic.











Here is a monument to the children in Soweto who lead the uprising in the 70's against Apartheid. On the left you see the photo of the just-shot child Hector Peterson that brought the worlds attention to the township problems.

Audrey Updates

My dog sitter is a grad student in my department - a very responsible one!! I am so glad to have Audrey staying with someone I can trust, especially while she is still recovering from Lymes. She has a dog, Arthur, that Audrey has quickly become good friends with. I took her over to play a few times, and we took a hike together before I left (the context of the photos here - you can just see the "three sisters" snow-covered volcanic peaks in the background of the one) so they could acclimate, and now things seem to be going great between them! I got a terrific email from her today I thought I would share here:

"Arthur has really figured out swimming in the past week and a half. Audrey pushed him to go our further and then he suddenly realized that he was a good swimmer. Saturday when we were at the river, he was definitely out-swimming her. Given that he is bigger and a bit stronger it's not surprising, but Thursday was the first time I had seen that much confidence out of him in the water, and they kept the same stick the whole time (which is a big deal for Arthur, though I'm sure old hat for Audrey). So on Sat we went and bought them a real water toy, since finding a good stick can be a challenge on the beach there since so many people take their dogs. They didn't lose it. Boy were they exhausted when we got home though. They napped for the rest of the day. She's teaching Arthur how to play frisbee. He's starting to get it more and more, so we'll see how that goes. We also bought them a tug toy because they kept wanting to tug with toys that weren't really going to hold up to tugging. So now they have a tug toy to wander around tugging on."

It warms my heart :) I miss my pookey little girl so much!!! Apparently she still has a bit of a limp - but her energy is obviously back up to normal!! Her spirits were already back up before I left, thank goodness. I would be far more worried if she were still down like she was in early July...

Staying Busy at Work

Monday I went with two of my friends (the new professors near my age) to the LEAP school:

http://www.leapschool.org.za/johngilmour.q

to do outreach. They had prepared demonstrations to teach the Doppler effect and Standing waves. This is a very well funded school for good students, but it was still nice to get out into the community and interact with students. They were seniors, and very welcoming. They even sang for us at the end to thank us for our time. I was able to jump in and participate, and my friends enjoyed seeing my teaching style and having me partake. It was fun! Now one of them wants me to teach a bit in his college course, too - I should be careful what I get into :)

I'm also spending time with my host's masters student - helping him digest the background literature he needs to write his thesis. It's good for me, too, as it forces me to read new stuff, and think carefully about terminology and education theory. He's also very friendly, so it is fun to work with him. Today he also introduced me to a student lunch venu - african food that reminded me very much of Alabama food - black eyed peas and spinach over spicy rice. It was less than 4$ for a big plate. We ate outside where all the students hang out and got to watch a break dancing exhibition that was drawing a crowd. It's very dynamic to be on a college campus :)

In the physics department, there are big politics going on right now regarding the blending of the disadvantaged students who go through the bridging program with those that go through the standard courses. It has been the "talk of the town" and everyone seems to want to bend my ears about it. I have been given the task of interviewing the students to get their perspective. I am glad to help, and the situation is interesting in terms of how to help these students as well as how to have sustainable educational change, but I'll be glad when this is no longer occupying EVERY tea room conversation!!

I am frustrated with the slow internet, so am staying late tonight to download papers I need and post on the blog, and respond to emails - which has been laregely neglected. It feels like nothing can get done because it takes so long to access resources that are normally at my fingertips... It really depends on the task, though. I shouldn't feel frustrated, because everything has been useful so far.

Tomorrow is my last day of work before heading to Kruger. Then I'll have nearly 3 weeks to work again when I return. They will be busy! There are two people on campus that want my input on their research projects, and this whole interviewing buisness, more with the masters project here, and I am working on a handfull of previously neglected papers for publication.... Glad I'm getting in vacation days on the weekend!!

Kirstenbosch

I spent Sunday afternoon alone exploring the many trails of Kirstenbosch. It is an amazing botanical garden, and I enjoyed every moment of my explorations. I started the day by having lunch at the tea house - a quiche and appletizer (I've already told people they can come visit me for the price of bringing a case of that with them - it's sparkling apple juice with nothing added - very refreshing), followed by a real french hot cocoa with loads of real chocolate melted at the bottom...












Then I walked all the trails, except the ones that actually exit the gardens and head up the mountainside. I went a bit up one but it was amazing how quickly the trail became isolated. Though I am a lot more comfortable here than last time, when alone, it's best to stay where you can see other people... There are still people being robbed on hiking trails :(











I took 160 photos, among them were attempts to capture birds. I had been here last year, but not for as long, and not alone (so free to explore EVERY path...), and my camera battery had gone dead, so I hardly got any pics... I'm so glad I went back!! Here I am including a sampling of some of the Kirstenbosch bird varieties:

Cape Point

On Saturday, my friend took me to Cape Point. I was thrilled that the weather had turned better and the sun was peaking out from the clouds. I had not been all the way to Cape Point, though I had been down the cape quite a ways last year - stopping short of going further due to the weather turning windier and cold. The Cape Point park (cape of good hope) encompasses the entire end of the cape past near where the penguins live that I visited last year. There are loads of overlooks, quiet beaches, and amazing views. The drive there is beautiful, too - no matter which side of the cape you drive down. We went down one side and back up the other. We stopped at a nursery with local plants, and for an afternoon snack at a restaurant nestled away from the coast.











On the Cape we saw Ostriches with their babies, and Baboons with their babies. Some of the baboons were trying hard to beg for food from people, and hanging around the parking lot. They had an attendant constantly shooing them away. I don't like to go near monkeys with their babies - so I was glad! My friend said these were quite tame though, and I didn't need to worry. My Indian friends have told me enough horror stories that I don't want to go too near them! One of them was camped out on someone's car - I'm glad we didn't have to contend with that!!











One amazing thing that happened right off the end of the cape was a rainbow that was moving swiftly toward us, at the leading edge of a small localized rain storm. We stayed and watched the rainbow until it became clear we were about to get wet. No pot of gold for us though - had we stayed and gotten wet the rainbow would have come right on top of us!!

Housing Woes

In my first 6 days here I slept in 4 different beds... I am probably not done bed-hopping as my current place isn't ideal and we're looking into other options. The first 4 days I was here I couldn't stay in the house that was reserved for me, so I stayed in a 3-bedroom apartment in the student dorm complex. The most comfortable looking bed turned out to be in the noisiest room, so I switched bedrooms the 2nd night. The apartment wasn't bad, but it was too far to walk to campus (I had to take a shuttle), and the beds were very uncomfortable (I could feel all the springs), and the place was barren, and didn't have any amenities.











Then after 4 nights I was moved into my private house. It is a cavernous big old house - very drafty and cold. The furniture is more comfortable, but it is also barren. The bathroom and kitchen are far better, and I have laundry on-site and a yard, and it's a nice walk to campus. (It's near the dorm I stayed in last year if you recall the post about the 250 odd stairs between there and my office!) However, if it weren't for the alarm clock, heating unit, and good pillows borrowed from my host it wouldn't be too comfortable!











The 2nd night in my new house the electricity went out - apparently it has to be pre-paid and there was no more left in the account. (I wish they had warned me!) The security system wasn't working anymore, and no heat, and it was scarry, so I crashed at the house of my good friend, who was a terrific host. I think that was my first good night sleep - actually staying in a comfortable house!














I'm now starting to get comfortable in my house. I only wish it were warmer and there was internet. And maybe not quite so cavernous :)

The one thing I'm not used to is having bars on all the windows and a padlocked gate in front of each door. At night when whoever drops me off leaves, I have to padlock myself in. It feels a bit like being imprisoned...