umm. is this real life?!

so, after all, perhaps i should have stayed at my peaceful hut.
let me set the scene for you:

 

the theme of the night at this gross party hostel is "bikinis and boardshorts."  right up my alley, right?!

so, there are lots of drunk people walking around in little clothing.  also, there is a pool outside, which means that there are drunk people swimming, which i hate.  they are all wearing glow bracelets and glow in the dark face paint, and there is terrible cheesy music playing.  it is about 85 degrees and humid outside, and since i spent the day walking around some pretty gross parts of this city, i feel like i am covered in a later of sweat and a layer of bugs.  it is just past 11 at night, so now people are drunk enough that the girls are becoming annoying and dramatic and crying and shit.  The bathrooms at this place smell like shit and I may get more dirty than clean when I decide to use the shower.  My room is directly next to the bar....which is oh-so-quiet.  And, the keys on the computer have leopard print stickers on them, which makes it really hard to type since I can't see the letters!

 

early in the night, i was sitting outside reading my book and drinking a beer.  this annoying british guy started talking to me.  he came down to this town a few months ago, and has pretty much been bumming around since.  so clearly, we already have nothing in common, and i am just trying not to be totally rude.  he was pretty convinced that he was going to get me to go out later in the night...obviously he doesn't know how stubborn i can be.  he and his cousin were discussing their night, and it seemed to consist of drinking, cocaine, and acid.  maybe some pot stuck in there.  oh, and lots of cigarettes.  awesome.  just what i was hoping to do tonight.  well, either that or to sit around in my sweatpants with some friends and probably go to sleep before midnight.

 

i was happy to have a few drinks and hang out with some friendly people.  unfortunately, i chose the wrong place for that!

so, i decided that i would just be a total lame ass and sit around and read my book.  i have been sitting here for about two hours, reading "Three Cups of Tea."  Many people come up and ask why I am reading..."It is New Years Eve!!!"  Yes, I know.  Just another night of the year as far as I am concerned =)  I can't tell you how many times people have walked by and said, "A book...?" or "Reading?!"  I am sitting there reading, and behind me is a fog machine with people dancing on the bar and screaming.  Don't worry, I did take a small break from reading...that's when I went into the kitchen to make myself a snack of cheese and tomato.  The only other person in there was washing out shot glasses.

 

Surprisingly, I have not met any other Americans on my trip.  Until tonight...

there are a few here.

Three of them are peace corps volunteers, so I had some small hope that they may be friendly enough to invite me out with them, or to engage in a conversation.  Not so! 

 

I am now at the point where it is actually comical.  I am not really uncomfortable anymore...just looking forward to tomorrow.

So, i decided to use the computer to write this update.  but, when i signed on to my email, I saw an email from Chase card services stating that there was a charge that they want to verify.  It was for $160.93.  I was sure that I never bought anything at this cost.  Shit.  So, I push the button to say that this was not made the attempt at a purchase, and a notice came up saying that they would be calling me shortly.  Knowing that I wont be answering my phone, I called them.  I used almost all of the minutes on my phone to make this call, only to realize that it was in fact me!  It was not actually charged.  It was an attempted charge that was declined!  Yesterday, I tried to take out cash at an ATM.  After two tries, I realized that I was accidently using my credit card instead of my ATM card.  OOPS!  So, that was the attempted charge.  Nobody stole my credit card.  I was just dumb yesterday...and again tonight. OY!

 

Well, there you have my New Years update.

I hope that you all have a great night that in no way resembles mine!

 

Love,

Cori

 

 

center of it all

I have moved!  I am now staying at a hostel in the middle of it all.  Evidently the big parties tonight are on Florida Street, which is right where I am.  Should be interesting, since you all know how much I love new years!

I walked all around Durban yesterday.  One thing that I had not known is how big the Indian culture is here.  In some areas, I no longer felt like I was in South Africa!
Some random things that I thought were funny/interesting/noteworthy:
-Sign advertising an attorney.  His last name was Ramdass.  Sign read:  Ramdass Attorney.
-Sign advertising a plumber.  Sign read:  Rock Hard Plumber
-Kids in park playing soccer with an empty liter coke bottle.  Not even phased by the fact that it wasn't a ball.
-I went to go meet some of the other counselors from the camp.  They told me to meet them at "The Workshop," which I looked up (thank goodness for iTouch!) and realized was a mall.  I wandered for a bit and then found a cab.  He didn't know where the place was, so I gave him the address and we found it.  Later, I realized that I think that I told him that it was called "The Warehouse," which is why he had no idea what I was talking about.  Oops.  This reminded me of when I was a kid and I told people that I got my ears pierced in The Cottage (I meant, The Village in NYC!).  I made it there safely, and I was definitely the only white person in a many mile radius.  It was good to see some familar faces, and I think that I am going to meet up with them again today.
-Walked down to the beaches. It was super windy and gray outside.  The kind of day where in SD nobody would be at the beach.  It was SOO crowded.  Couldn't even see the sand sort of crowded.  There were places to go to find missing children, sort of crowded.

I bought a long sleeve shirt yesterday, cause i have nothing warm with me.  They forgot to take off the security tag, so i am going to walk back down there now to get it taken off...

Happy New Year!!!

To the other extreme

I just took a cab into the city and noticed that I was right near
the place where I am being picked up on Saturday morning. I have to
be ready at 6:30am. So, I decided to stop in and see if they have a
bed available, since it makes more sense to stay there rather than cab
there at the crack of dawn. They were able to get me a bed in a 10
person dorm for two nights. The place is the typical party hostel,
with bar and loud music at all hours. Not especially clean either,
but definitely more social and more central and with internet! So, it
should be an interesting (perhaps annoying) and memorable new years
after all!

Maybe not the best choice....

Oops. Maybe I should have stayed in the city. I reserved a bed at
this surfers place away from the city, thinking that mellow and safe
was the way to go. The problem is that I am now staying in this hut
near the beach, but the weather sucks and I am far from everything and
the only way to get anywhere is with a taxi. I have a feeling that I
am going to have the quietest, earliest to bed new years eve...ever!
At least I have a bunch of lizards,frogs,and mosquitos to keep me
company! (don't worry, I am in a malaria free area)

Maybe not the best choice....

Oops. Maybe I should have stayed in the city. I reserved a bed at
this surfers place away from the city, thinking that mellow and safe
was the way to go. The problem is that I am now staying in this hut
near the beach, but the weather sucks and I am far from everything and
the only way to get anywhere is with a taxi. I have a feeling that I
am going to have the quietest, earliest to bed new years eve...ever!
At least I have a bunch of lizards,frogs,and mosquitos to keep me
company! (don't worry, I am in a malaria free area)

Landing: take two

The past few days have been truly invredible. Hard to put into
words. I have a hundred or so photos, but they don't do justice. I
feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to join Jodi on this
safari.

We arrived at the airport on Saturday morning and realized that we
were in for quite a luxurious trip. Far from the hostels and camp,
that's for sure. We were the only two people on our flight!! A 12
passenger plane...just the two pilots and the two of us! It was a
beautiful (and slightly nauseating) one hour flight to the Madikwe
Game Reserve area. It was a bit nerve wracking when we hit turbulence
and i watched the pilot tighten his seat belt! He then looked back at
me with a smile and a thumbs up. Excellent. Much better. As we were
landing I tapped Jodi on the shoulder, as I was sure that we were
about to die. We were definitely overshooting the runway. As we got
close to the ground, we suddenly shot up again! The pilot looked back
and let us know that there were zebras on the runway. Hah! This was a
great introduction to the trip. Zebras on the runway. REALLY?! (a
definite "is this real life" moment)

We were picked up by a great guy named Stuart who would be our guide
for our time there. To get to the lodge, we drove back down the
runway (read: dirt strip) where we did in fact see the zebras that had
been in the way, as well as a few giraffes. Amazing. The lodge was
incredible, aside from the millions of ants that found there way into
all of my stuff.

We woke at 5am each day and went on a drive for a few hours and then
went on another in the evenings. Elephants, giraffes, wildebests,
impalas, wild dogs, lions, rhinos, hippos, buffalos, kudu, so many
beautiful birds...

Though it was SO beautiful and such a unique and amazing experience, I
am ready to go back to hostels and traveling the coast for my last two
weeks here. Off to Durban in a few hours! Jodi heads back to the
states this evening, so it is just me again. But, I may meet up with
some of the counselors from camp later this week, and many people have
given me advice of places to go/things to see on my trip down the coast.

I should have internet access almost every day for the rest of my
trip, so feel free to email and I will do my best to respond.

Love!!

Back in jo'burg...until the morning!

Just a quick update....
Flew back from Bloemfontein this afternoon...had a nice, relaxing,
mellow few days on the farm. If I don't run around soon I might go
crazy, but otherwise, all is well! It was great to see an old camp
friend again (Laurens) and meet his family. They were extremely
welcoming and kind. They weren't sure what to do with a vegetarian,
but somehow still managed to feed me more than enough, including lots
of puss(otherwise known as custard). I went to my first braai (BBQ),
where we were high on a hill when the wind picked up and we thought
that we were going to start a forest fire. It was one of the many
"only in Africa" moments. The farm was beautiful and HUGE...had some
interesting conversations about the country and it's history and the
range of problems that exist here today. I really enjoy hearing the
viewpoints of so many different people, an these were the first
Afrikaners that I had spoken with since arriving.

At the airport, I met up with my friend Jodi who I met at the camp.
We checked into a hotel (yup! No hostel for me tonight!) and then
another friend from camp came and picked us up. We went and hung at
her friends house for a bit, though there was a small exodus upon our
arrival. Just another awkward moment to add to the list! It turned
out that they had been hanging out since this morning and it was
getting late.

Jodi and I leave for safari tomorrow morning. I have no idea whether
or not I will have internet there, but I will be back in the airport
for a few hours on Tuesday, so I will update again then.

I hope that you all had a nice Xmas...or, for my non Xmas celebrating
family, I hope that you all had some nice family time this week.
Hopefully I will be there the next time you are all together.

Have a great weekend!!
Love, cori