Goodbye, Totsiens

We leave South Africa tomorrow.

I’m in the middle of packing and I just found a pack of peanuts from Turkish Airlines from my flight here.  How can it be that a year and a half has gone by?

How in the world do I do this?  How do I wrap up – summarize – do justice to – say goodbye?

It has been the most extraordinary 14 months of my life. 

I feel like I will never be able to thank people enough:  those here who enriched our experience and those back home who made this epic break-from-real life possible (they who watched our cats and took care of our house and with whom we Skyped each week.)

Right now I am a complete muddle of emotions, memories, hopes, anticipation, happiness and sadness.

Of course I am beyond excited to go home.  To see my family and friends, to give countless hugs and cuddle my cats and get a new job and sleep in my own bed again.

But I am heart-sore (that wonderful term I learned here) at the thought of leaving.  I cannot deny the empty, hollow place I feel in my chest at the thought of getting on that plane tomorrow.  It is the price you pay, I guess, when you find a new place to call home.

This place has taken root.  I have lived a different life here.  I have come to know new parts of myself.  I have learned to love new places, new foods and new people.

What will I do without my rusks and hot cross buns and boerewors and bobotie?  (Clearly lots of culinary experimentation awaits in my Minnesota kitchen.)

What will I do when I long to feel the stillness of the Kgalagadi?

What will I do when I feel like making mince pies with Gill?  Or tasting Anton’s sugar-bean potjiekos?  Or hugging Auntie Angela and playing with baby Micah?

What happens in the freezing cold of a Minnesota December when I long to be in the pool – hot sunshine on me and the 150-pound Rottweiler doing laps?

I will miss Christmas crackers and staying up all night on New Year’s. 

I will miss hearing a minimum of 4 languages (and 4 different kinds of English) every time I go to the mall.

I will miss the proteas and the fynbos and the sea – so much.  The mountains – don’t get me started on the mountains.  I love this country.  From the arid Karoo to the wine lands to the rolling ocean to the mountains soaring everywhere you turn. 

How do you say goodbye?   To the people?  The adventures?

In the time we’ve been here we’ve walked every inch of Cape Town’s Gardens and City Bowl neighborhoods.  We’ve hiked, gone on many a road trip, been on an archeological dig, ziplined, ridden horses through the bush, gone on safari 5 times,  beachcombed, and more importantly – most importantly of all – we’ve spent time with our friends, we’ve celebrated, eaten and laughed with beautiful people whilst here.  We’ve made new family here.  That is the greatest gift of all.

I return to Minnesota with all this in my heart.  With these people, with this beautiful place.  With new words; among my favorites:  liefde, naatjie, potkie, laapie, bokkie, shame, plehzah (pleasure), ag!, dankie, lekker and a few choice swear words that I never learned to spell but which I relish saying with great vehemence.

I return with new poems and new writings that excite me.  I return with a greater appreciation of what is important in life:  love, adventures, family.   I return with a South African family.  I return with a 3^rd home.  First El Salvador, then Minnesota, now Cape Town. 

I want to thank everyone who has read my musings and recipes and adventures.  Deciding to blog during this journey was one of the best decisions I could have made.  It has been wonderful to share all these experiences and tastes and places and people with you.  I will continue to blog.  I still have several trips that we’ve taken to write about and I’ll probably blog about the aforementioned culinary experimentations (and crafts and natural health and beauty and goodness knows what else.)   I’ll write about all the things I’ve learned here and the things that have stayed with me, that will stay with me always.

I am so very, very sad to leave.

But nevertheless, I return, heart-full.  With so much gratitude.    

Bittersweet ... Totsiens Cape Town

I cannot believe it's here.  The last few days of packing have come and gone and soon we'll be off to Mossel Bay, and soon after that, back home to Minnesota.

The goodbye process begins here, in Cape Town.  Nearly a year and a half here and I still feel like I've only just started to get to really know her.  I cannot tell you what a pang I feel to leave this bright, gorgeous, complicated city.

I have walked all over her, have come to love particular corners and buildings.  I marvel at the creativity of her artists and the skills of her chefs and the beauty of her people.  I've woken up many a morning inside a cloud as Table Mountain captures the mist.  I've made friends here.

I'm going to miss so many things.  Company Gardens and Gatsby sandwiches and hearing 5 different languages on any given day and Long Street and even our tiny little apartment. 

I'm trying to not be too dramatic about it all.  Trying to remind myself that I will come back, see my friends again, see the city.  But I don't think I'll ever live here again.  Never be a Capetonian again.  And try as I might to see silver linings, there is an inherent sadness at leaving a place you have loved so well.

Of course you never know.  Maybe fate will bring me back here one day.  Till that maybe-when, I just have to say, Cape Town, I love you.  Cape Town, I thank you.  Cape Town, I'll miss you very much.  Totsiens, beloved Cape Town.

PS:  I'll continue blogging from Mossel Bay, specifically, I have to document our last safari, this time to the Kgalagadi and Namibia.  So lots of pictures of that ... and of course I'll have final thoughts before we leave South Africa all together.

Conversions

So this is a tale of feeling a little (lot) lost in a new place.

First, I must say, we Americans are at such a disadvantage when we travel.  I feel like such a provincial idiot!

Hey, what's it going to be like today?

17 degrees.

Seriously?!  17 degr... oh, oh, you mean Celsius ... so what's that, like, 30, 40?  Oh, it's 62?  Oh, well ... I'll just take this hat and scarf off then ...

I don't understand why we in America refuse to join the rest of the world and use the -- I think anyone will admit, much more logical -- metric system.

You should have seen me during my first supermarket trip!

How many ounces in a gram?

Pounds in a Kilo?

Calories in a Kilojoule?

Milliliters in a cup?

In a quart?

And OK, so there's 6.5 Rand or 7 Rand to a Dollar, so that means I'm paying how much per ounce -- I mean -- gram -- I mean Kilo -- I mean -- what?

My two best friends here:

And then to cook:

350F is 176 Celsius,

1 Tablespoon is 15 grams ...

I could go on and on ... It's just all part of adjusting to a new place I guess, but it is quite overwhelming at first:

Gallons into liters,

Miles into Kilometers,

Inches into Centimeters,

Commas instead of Periods ...

Oh and driving on the left, not the right!  Oy vey!  And it's not just the streets -- it's the escalators and foot traffic on the sidewalks -- they tend to mirror traffic ... the number of humiliating near-collisions I've had!

And then there are there's all the South African dialect and slang!  They've got the best slang here ... but I only know a few so far:

"Oke" instead of "Guy"

"Robot" instead of "Traffic Light"

"Lekker" instead of "good/cool/nice"

"Just now" which might mean "Right now" or "Never gonna happen, but if I say that you're gonna start yelling because you are an uptight American so I'll just say 'just now'."

And my absolute favorite (or I guess I should I write "favourite," since they use British spelling here): "Pleasure" instead of "You're Welcome" -- this is how people respond at shops ("shops" instead of "stores") when you say "thank you."  They say it in this really lovely South African accent and it sounds like "Pleh-zha" and sounds very charming to my American ears.

Anyhoo, I think it's a good sign that I'm starting to think in grams, Rands and milliliters ... but the Fahrenheit-Celsius thing ... that's the tough one.  When I hear "18 degrees today" I immediately reach for my coat ... I guess it must be a Minnesota thing!

Little Bits of Home

Continuing on yesterday's theme here are a few things I brought from Minnesota to make this place feel like home.  All these things are tiny, fit in the crevices of my 2 suitcases, & make this really OURS.  Because yes, we are the kind of people who appreciate things like ...

A teeny plastic pirate, of course!

A little dish my mother-in-law got for me in Provence where I keep jewelry, spare change, etc.

 

This devilish rubber ducky watches us sternly as we work at the desk ...

A couple of my favorite fridge magnets, that caricature one was made by yours truly, plus one of my favorite pictures from our wedding and a watercolor rendition of our three cats at home (it started as a joke, but then I kinda loved it), again, made by yours truly.

A Bon Voyage card from my cousin and his little art students.

And of course, Lord and Master of it all as he guards our home from on-high (a.k.a the top of the TV), Mr. Red Plastic Buddha. 

Namaste y'all!  And as they say, be it ever so humble, or cheesy, or plastic-pirate-filled, there's no place like home.

FAQ, part II

Sooo, while Aaron is busy with his bones, what the heck will I be doing?

Well, first and foremost is writing. 

Those of you who know me know that I'm a poet and playwright.  I've worked with kids in schools, taught, published, performed, done fellowships, etc, etc.  But up till now, I've had to do all this while also working a full time job and while also juggling any number of side projects, volunteering, etc.

 Me with some of my fellow Palabristas, a collective of Latino poets in Minnesota.

So in essence, this time will be a sabbatical for me.  It will be the perfect opportunity to get down numerous ideas I have had for a long time, as well as a time to refuel, recharge, and see what new ideas pop up.

I have had this book for years, "A Poetics of Resistance:  Women Writing in El Salvador, South Africa, and the United States" by Mary K. DeShazer. It is one of the very few books I brought with me.  I mean, could there be a more perfect book for me right now?  I think it's going to come in very handy as reference and inspiration.

Actually this blog is a good first step, as consistency has never been a strong suit of mine as a writer.  Although my creative writing is ... very different from my writing on this blog, which is just whatever random ramlings pop into my head.  My poems, plays, etc. are ... well, they're dark.  That's just what seems to come out.  Pretty intense stuff, generally.

I'm excited about what I'll create here, I mean, there'll be no shortage of intense topics to explore.  South Africa actually reminds me a lot of El Salvador:  A country still healing from a long history of violence and repression.  A country plagued by the legacy of colonialism: racism, poverty, privilege and terrible inequity.

Inside this unassuming little secondhand shop, I found even more inspiration!  They had a great selection of South African literature, poetry & drama.  I got 4 books:  "Oral Poetry from Africa:  An Anthology," compiled by Jack Mapanje and Landeg White;  a book of poetry, "Emergency Poems" (great title, no?) by Keith Gottschalk; and two plays, "Boesman and Lena" by Athol Fugard and "Exile" by  Archie Crail.

So, yeah, the writing is goal #1 for me.

Then there are my other goals.  For example, I want to revel in my love of food and cooking.  I specifically want to cook more Salvadoran food -- which I love, but for some reason don't ever seem to cook at home in MN.  I want to discover South African favorites and make messes and finally tackle baking my own bread!

A Salvadoran cookbook I brought with me -- we've already made 2 recipes from it.  Very good too!

I want to take good care of myself.  The previous 3 years have been hard ones -- two deaths in my immediate family, lots of work, no vacations, and lots of other stressors ... So I want to take advantage of this incredible opportunity I have before me and rest and exercise and maybe even do things I've always wanted to take up more seriously:  flamenco?  yoga?  karate?

Plus, I'd also really like to volunteer while I'm here.  There are so many great organizations I'm discovering ... I think it will be an important way to connect and contribute to the communities around me.

So there you go, that's the answer to "what the heck will you be doing?"  All this, of course, while exploring South Africa and meeting its amazing people ...

Oh, and PS, lest you think I fully don't appreciate this opportunity, please know that all this didn't come easily -- as the three jobs I was juggling last year will attest to!

FAQs

So, when people hear that my husband and I have moved to South Africa, they invariably ask 2 questions, in this order:

Why are you guys going over there? 

and

So, what are YOU going to do?

Today, I'll tackle the first and answer the second soon.

As much as I wish I could say that moving to South Africa was a capricious whim brought on by wanderlust and not knowing what to do with our buckets of money, the real reason we are here is because of this dude:

Aaron, testing out his new microscope shortly before leaving Minnesota.

My hubby is an archeologist.  He is working on his PhD at the University of Minnesota, and in order to finish, he needs to collect data for his dissertation. 

Aaron's focus is early human diet -- how what we ate impacted not just our biology and evolution, but also who we were -- the beginnings of culture, etc.  South Africa is a very important place for that kind analysis, and Aaron has been here 3 times already, working at archeological sites at Pinnacle Point near Mossel Bay, SA. 

His dissertation will focus on (and it's about to get really nerdy here folks) the remains of small prey (less than 20 kg) from Middle Stone Age sites (280,000 to 40,000 years ago) in South Africa.  The bones have already been collected and are housed in the Iziko National Museum (and because of national heritage laws, can't leave the country.)  Aaron is working there, analyzing (and curating -- a huge task) thousands of tiny bones under the microscope to determine whether human beings (vs. other animals, etc.) accumulated the bones.  What it boils down to is the complexity of our diet and how that reflects human adaptation to environment, etc.

It's really fascinating stuff, I can't really do it justice, but it gets down to those basic questions of who we are, and how we got to be this way.

Sometimes when I tell people that I'm a poet and my husband is an archeologist, they'll say something like, "what a weird/unique/strange/unusual/unexpected pairing."  And what I tell people is that we are both very curious people, and to quote one of my own poems (how irritating can I get?), "He looks for meaning among shards, bones./ Me? Between stanzas and refrains."

In any case, I'm terribly proud of the dude for his diligence and patience and I'm very grateful that his work has brought us to South Africa for this once-in-a-lifetime trip.

Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, near Camps Bay, near Cape Town ...

First Days in Cape Town

Before we start, a warning: I'm going to run out of creative adjectives.

During my first few days in Cape Town, I have found it to be: STUNNINGLY beautiful, confusing, complex, charming, difficult, exciting and really fascinating.

 

Buitensingel Street, on my way to go grocery shopping, Table Mountain in the background.

The beauty of the place hits you immediately. Table Mountain and Signal Hill serve as a backdrop for the city and it sits right on the Atlantic Ocean. The City Centre (where we are living) is filled with colonial-type architecture, old mosques, tons of museums, and we live right in front of a gorgeous park called Company Gardens, which was founded in 1652 by the Dutch East India Company.

Overlooking Downtown and the Bay from up on Table Mountain.

More of Cape Town from Table Mountain.

 Table Mountain from up close (at the very top is a sky gondola that you can take to the very top.)

Company Gardens, right outside our apartment building with Table Mountain in the background. The building is a museum, I think.

 Company Gardens is filled with beautiful gates & architecture.

These little guys are all over the Gardens.  It is a type of Ibis, not sure which.

Cape Town reminds me of several places:  Vancouver (the mountains, all the little shops), New Orleans (the buildings, the iron railings everywhere, the very active nightlife), New York City (the hustle and bustle of downtown with its Central Terminal and street vendors), San Salvador (the palm trees, the architecture, the friendliness of its people, and sadly, the tremendous disparity between the haves and the have-nots.)

A very New Orleans feel ...

Too bad it was such a cloudy day, because the colors of the buildings are really vibrant.

Lots of charming little side streets ...

A small, old mosque surrounded by modern buildings.

The Italian Consulate, right around the corner from our apartment.

But despite reminding me of other places, it is its own, very unique place and has a feel all its own. The mix between cultures is particularly interesting: Dutch & Afrikaans, mixed with English, mixed with many different Black cultures (of course South African, but also immigrants from other African nations), Indian, Muslim, etc. I feel very at home -- oddly, I look a lot like many of the people who call themselves "Cape Colourdes" (it feels so wrong to use the term "coloured", but that is how people identify themselves here -- Black, White and Coloured) they are a mix of all these different cultures mixing for hundreds of years. But it is very strange to be in a place where there is very little Latin American or Spanish influence, I feel like I'm a bit of a cultural island. I guess I'll have to try and see if there are some Latino people around -- I'd at least like to practice my Spanish!

More of Long Street ...

A popular backpacker's spot on Long Street.

So anyhoo, those are some first observations. I guess right now what I feel most is curiosity, to keep exploring and discovering new places, meeting more people and learning more about Cape Town's history.

The Runaways

Look at these sassy buggers!  Abandoning me like that ...

But, hey, they're here!

They went missing for 2 days and I'm sure had some excellent adventures, but thankfully, they decided to answer my desperate pleas.  In the meantime, I want them to know that life went on because I listened to my momma (she of much international travel experience) and packed a few extra changes of clothes in my carry-ons, so it's not like I was missing them THAT much.

I was mostly worried that some of my items would mysteriously disappear (as has happened to Aaron when he's traveled to South Africa and had lost bags) -- but I can happily report that all arrived safe and sound!

I feel like I should name them -- like Doña Quijota and Sancha Panza.  Or Bonnie and Clydette.  Perhaps it'll be Miss Cheeky and the Banjo.  Any suggestions?

PS - Happy May Day!  I'm sad I'm missing Minneapolis's awesome May Day Parade!  I'll miss the dudes with fairy wings riding three-story high bikes and the mangos on a stick!

24 hours left on the plane, 24 hours left! Take a Dramamine, swallow it down, 23 hours left on the plane ...

So, yeah.  By the time I landed it really did feel like I had had 99 bottles of beer -- or well, at least 4.  I spent a combined total of about 24 hours on planes to get to Cape Town. Plus another -- what 7 -- in airports?  Yeaaah ....

But first, I had to say goodbye to my parents ... so hard!  I mean, I think you can see it on my face, right?

Then I had a 4 hour delay in Minneapolis.  Two of which were spent in the plane, on the tarmac.  Not the airline's fault -- it was due to bad weather in Chicago.  Still, I hates delays, precious.

So whilst I waited, I started making a little pouch for my camera.  I had some extra yarn laying around the house and I thought a little crafting would help pass the time...

 

Unfortunately, thanks to the 4 hours of waiting, I was done with it before the plane even took off:

 
But cute, no?  Crafters unite!  (PS, for crocheters out there, it's done in half double crochet to make it nice and cushy.)

Anyhoo, we get to O'Hare and then it is a literal dash to our plane.  I was the second to the last person they let on the plane before they shut the doors!  Oh, and thanks to O'Hare security I had to dump out my 40oz. bottle of water which I had been hoping would sustain me for the next 10 hrs. (I believe I am part camel in my never-quenched thirst.)  So there I am, sweating most unlady-like and already waterless. Boo.  But hey, at least I was on the flight!  One of the flight attendants told me there were another 40 people who didn't make the flight!

As much as I'm sorry for those poor 40 people stranded at 11 o'clock at night in O'Hare instead of on their way to Istanbul, the fact that there were so many empty seats meant that I got to lay down and at least attempt to get some decent sleep.  There was also a lot of I'm-about-to-barf-in-this-bag type turbulence, so Lorenita popped herself a Dramamine, made a nest with all the Turkish Air pillows and blankets (Boo on US airlines for getting rid of them by the way), put on the lovely Turkish Air eye mask and socks and fell asleep.  For like an hour, and then up and then asleep and then up and then asleep. 

Eventually, it was kind of morning, and after a yummy breakfast (dudes, seriously, Turkish Air was kinda great) we landed.

I had over 5 hours there, so I got intimately acquainted with the Istanbul Airport.  Oh, and hey, note to the Instanbul Airport commission:  PLEASE INSTALL WATER FOUNTAINS.  I spent over $20 on water, I kid you not.  But such was my need.  On the plus side, their food is a little better than your average airplane food -- I had a lovely salad with grilled hellim cheese.  (I decided to forgo the "fajitas" on the menu.)

And later I had, "cake with fruits, including grapes" ... and more water of course:

 
Other notes:  It seemed every kind of person from every corner of the earth was in the Istanbul airport.  And their duty free area was amazing ... especially the jewelry section!  Hey, don't judge, when else was I gonna be in Istanbul, I ask you?  And these people know their jewelry!

After wandering aimlessly for hours, I can't tell you how happy I was to see this:

And then it was a crazy melee of a line, and then I totally smuggled my now full 40oz. water bottle (I was NOT about to dump out $20 worth of water) on to the plane.

And sweet succotash, this flight was really empty too!  I switched seats after take off, and look, I had a whole row to myself!!!  Lorenita was happy!

 Then another 10 hours, then a stop in Johannesburg, an hour on the ground ... and then finally, FINALLY, Cape Town! 

Where -- of course -- I was the last person left by the baggage claim, eyes raised futilely to the heavens ... long after all reasonable hope ... yup ... my 2 Suitcases went AWOL!