Wow, so it's been two months since I've posted! Sorry about that.
I uploaded the pictures from Cape Town here. Be forewarned that they're not all labeled or in order, and I think there are doubles in there, though I tried to get those out. Also, Flickr is telling me that since I don't have a free account, only the most recent 200 pictures are showing now, so I may move them to a different site. I'll keep you posted. I actually uploaded them a while ago, but I made them private because I wanted to write a blog to go with them. Well here's the very short version: Cape Town was awesome. It's a lot like any other big city in the world. I kept thinking of San Francisco the whole time we were there. We saw Robben Island, Boulder's Beach/Simon's Town (Simon, you have a whole town! And there are penguins in it!), Table Mountain, the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, the Bo-Kaap neighborhood...I think those were all the big things we saw. I'm pretty sure I'm more of a big city-type girl. Big cities just have so many more kinds of people and things to do, you're never bored. I wish we could have stayed longer. Things were expensive there, though...i guess that's a con of big cities.
Tonight four other girls and i are going through Botswana to Victoria Falls. We don't have everything planned out yet, but we'll probably be in Kosane by Sunday night, hopefully. We're taking buses and coombies and trains...so basically lots of sitting time. Luckily yesterday I checked out this used book place in the mall...four used books for under 13 USD! What a bargain. Anyway, yay Botswana! There are lots of nature reserves there, so I'm hoping to at least see some elephants and carnivores. All I've seen so far are zebra, kudu, giraffe, one warthog, and a whole bunch of other ungulates. And of course geckos. Lots of geckos. Our plan is to travel to Kosane, which is very close to the Botswana/Zambia/Zimbabwe border, stay there for a night, then take a day trip into Zimbabwe just to see the falls, then come back to Kosane and hang around Botswana, maybe see the Okavango Delta, Chobe National Park, the Kalahari Desert (where Meerkat Manor is filmed!)...we have lots of options. Wish me luck in Zim.
Some of you may be worried about the reported anti-foreigner violence that's currently happening in South Africa. (http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/05/21/sa.troops/index.html) I haven't witnessed any in Pietermaritzburg, although I heard rumors that someone was assaulted here, and that it's happening in Durban, about an hour away. So far it's largely against people from other African countries who are living here, mostly Zimbabweans and people from Mozambique, not against foreign tourists. So don't fret about me.
That's the excitement over here. Other than that, it's been a lot of studying and hanging out with friends. My lectures ended yesterday, and my first final isn't until June 4. I went through a period of being really stressed out, mostly about school, so this trip will be good for me. As for after finals, I'm still not really sure what I'm doing, but at least I know that I'll have a place to live. For a while I thought I wouldn't be allowed to stay in the dorms over the long break. I can, but I'd pay more for it. I want to travel, obviously, but so far I don't have anyone to go with(most people are going back home soon after finals), so I may just try to find a project to do around here.
Thats the haps in Southern Africa! Love and miss you all!
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8 comments:
Sounds like you and all the other ungulates are having a blast! I'm excited that you are getting to travel around to all those cool places. Right now I'm reading a book called The Weather Makers all about global warming and how it is shrinking environments all over the world. Some of the places and critters you are seeing may not exist by the time your kids are old enough to travel abroad. So take lots of pictures! (Thanks Debbie Downer!)
Anyway, things here are great. The weather is very strange - last weekend it was over 100 degrees and this weekend it is cold and raining. Pasadena even flooded. But we are excited to be going up to Fresno this weekend, and then up to Brentwood to Matt Melloni's wedding. (That's Janet's oldest - our second cousin.) (I think he's the one who jumped off the roof and broke both his legs.) Molly is very excited to see grandma and grandpa. By the way, she still talks about her Aunt Eva all the time and always mentions you when she is listing off the people she loves, so don't worry she hasn't forgotten.
This weekend is Blair and my Anniversary! We'll be married six years, can you believe it? We are going Sunday night to stay at the bed and breakfast in Visalia where I stayed when we got married. Should be fun.
This weekend the new Indiana Jones movie opens. It's supposed to be good, surprisingly - I don't know how they got those many action set pieces in a retirement home but I guess that's Spielberg's genius for you.
We miss you! I'm going to go look at the pictures now. Have fun on your trip!
Love,
DC
BTW did you hear the California Supreme Court through out the anti-gay marriage ban? Gay couples will be able to get married in California starting June 16. I might get to perform some gay weddings!
This means, however, that we have to work like hell to defeat a proposal on the November Ballot that would ban gay marriage in the State Constitution. Booooooo. Will you be back in time to vote? Can you get your absentee ballot sent overseas?
Looks like you are doing just fine. :) I hope you have a good time on your trip! Seeing the falls sounds amazing!
That fog-scape is freakin' sweet. So are those neato penguins. I like them better than the emperor ones. Those penguins know which is the better place to hang out most of their lives, don't they. Heh heh.
More posts!
ahem where is our update? hehehe anyways you know i miss you...almost a couple of weeks and crunch time to finish school here :(
hope you are doing fine, miss eva
Damian- Happy (belated) anniversary! Congratulations on six years! That's great about the gay marriage bill. I think I will be able to get an absentee ballot sent here, I just need to make sure that I'll have the same address in November. I actually saw the new Indiana Jones last week! It was okay, kind of hokey though, but good entertainment.
HI eva,
It's great to learn about your adventures. I especially liked your stories about your trips to the big cities and to the falls and stuff, and about your dissections. Very hands on educational stuff! Wonderful experiences.
I was wondering if I might use some portions of your blog to report on your activities in the FOH newsletter?
Lloyd
Hi Eva,
I enjoyed learning about your trips and about the dissections... wow! What great adventures and educational activities you are experiencing!
I was hoping I could use portions of your blog to make an article for the FOH newsletter. Is that OK?
I'm glad you're getting to travel and see so much!
Lloyd
hi lloyd! that's fine if you want to use portions of my blog, but i would prefer to read what you're going to publish first. i apologize that you don't have more to work with, since i don't update as much as i should.
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