Karate kid in Jaci's backyard.
Until I sat down in my seat on the plane, Africa had only been a dream of mine. 25 is my year of do, remember? Why not make Africa a reality as well? And Europe?
I had reserved window seats on the plane for the entire trip. However, this was put to a stop as I boarded my plane from Minneapolis to Amsterdam where a girl was sitting in seat J. The window seat. My window seat. I didn't know what to say without being rude. Not sure why I was concerned about that, especially since she didn't seem to care. Anyways, before I could even say anything she opened her mouth and said, "It's okay if I sit by the window, right? I have health issues." I smiled and let the lie, "Yeah, that's fine!" slip out of my mouth. Wondering why you would want to be as far away from the flight attendant as possible if you really have health issues? Fair question, right? During the flight Veronica, the seat culprit from Russia, managed to powder her face and file her nails every couple of hours. In my head I was saying to her, "Girlfriend, if you're health issues are oversized pours and bad nail beds - get over it!" I bit my tongue so this would not actually slip out...
On the plane we each had our own personal screen to view movies, tv, play games, etc. They were all newer movies that I hadn't seen yet, but were on my list. Yeah buddy! I don't have to pay to rent them now. (I'm not Dutch, but that thought made me feel it.) I started with Marley and Me. Love, love, loved it! Reminded me of Lady. Our family dog. We had her for about 13 years and she was my favorite :) I laughed out loud and then at the end u-g-l-y cried for about 20 minutes. Chin quivering, flood of tears and I need to blow my nose ugly cry. People must have thought I was bipolar switching moods with such ease. Probably not the best movie to watch by yourself in a sea of strangers. It made me unwillingly vulnerable.
I became restless sitting for so long. When I went to the toilet I did wall sits while waiting in line to shrug off some of the sloth-likeness I was feeling. We finally landed in Amsterdam. Home to tulips, clogs and ancestors of most of my friends from Northwest Iowa. I grabbed a latte the size of shot-glass, wrote in my journal, and managed to spill half the latte on my sweatshirt as I walked around the shops. Found my favorite raspberry/blackberry candy - yay! A special treat for Jaci and I in the bush of Africa.
The flight to Africa was forever long. I slept a lot and would wake up to more food on my tray. They must think we work up quite the appetite sitting for 12 hours? I indulged in every meal though and was pleasantly surprised at the slightly better than school cafeteria quality. Finally we were in Johannesburg! After going through customs and retrieving my luggage I made the mile long walk to the exit to be greeted by Jaci and her friend Jennifer. Yay! We hopped in a car with their friends Jonus and Andrew and were off to the backpackers for the night.
Welcome to Gemini. AKA sketchville. We passed a few sketch guys in the lounge area on our way to the large bedroom where we strategically selected the beds farthest away from the door and closest to each other. Just as we were about to go to bed one of the guys from the lounge came in, laid down on the bed perpendicular to ours, facing us, with eyes open. Ahhhhh! Creep-o! I immediately lost it and began to laugh uncontrollably. Creep-o eventually realized that we knew he was staring at us, shut his eyes and then opened only one. Ha, ha, ha. Less obvious, right? I crawled into bed, tennis shoes on, pursed clutched to my chest, and tucked in the blanket around me. Then he spoke, "Is it okay if I turn out the lights?" Internally I was screaming NOOOOO! Jaci and Jen said nothing. I managed to squeak out, "Sure...?" We woke up that morning to him still staring at us. Needless to say, we won't be going back.
Our beds at Gemini. I went in to take this picture and walked around the corner with my camera out only to find the creeper, from the night before, changing. Who's the creeper now? Ha, ha, ha.
The manager of Gemini took us to the bus/koombie stop where we hopped on the first koombie to Manzini, Swaziland. (A koombie is like a fifteen passenger van with bus seats and at least 20 people.) The scenery outside of Johannesburg gave me flashbacks to the prairie back home in South Dakota. Corn fields, rolling plains, and cattle. Where am I again? Not what I expected to see I guess. As our journey to Swaziland continued the scenery began to look more like what I expected out of Africa. Swaziland itself is beautiful! Mountains galore, red dirt, and green trees and grass. I eventually spotted the typical 'African tree.' A sight for sore eyes :)
We ended our journey for the day in Manzini, Swaziland where we stayed with some of Jaci and Jen's friends who work at a local school. Jaci and I wandered around Manzini and picked up dinner at Nando's, a popular place to eat in South Africa and Swaziland. We brought the food back to the room where we had a picnic on the tile floor and I had my first taste of life without electricity. The dorm usually has electricity, but there was a shortage somewhere in town. Luckily we had candles. There was a talent show by candlelight. Bernard played the guitar and sang, Shane played the flute to a few Irish jigs, and Jaci played the guitar and sang. She's really talented! Jen and I were left with nothing to show. She does yoga and I run. Give us a rug and treadmill or open road and we'll go. Neither one was available so we were left with no talent to show. Later that night we went out for dessert. Jaci and I ordered a fruit and ice cream treat, which turned out to be a half can of fruit cocktail for us both with a cherry pulled out from the syrup and put on top of the ice cream. Not quite what we had in mind.
On Monday morning we were off to the game reserve, Hlane! The huge disadvantage of being white is that we were constantly assumed to be wealthy. We would be a disappointment to all who assumed this. The taxi driver was the first. He wanted us to pay double (400 Rand) what we should have to pay to get to Hlane. Jaci was able to talk him down to 250 Rand, which was still too much but we needed some way to get there.
Once at the game reserve we had some time to kill before the next game hunt. (We didn't actually kill any animals. It's called a hunt because we're hunting to see them. No animal is a guaranteed find.) So, we decided to have breakfast. Our waiter was hilarious. He was like a nervous school boy and at one point he literally leaped from our table, in the middle of our ordering, to the only other table to be served. We ordered some tap water and his response was, "Uh, I wouldn't drink that. It's kinda dirty. Yeah, dirty." Well, thanks for being honest...ha, ha, ha.
Nala. She ages well.
It was finally time for our safari! We loaded into the packed jeep with two other people and were off with our tour guide Johanas, who had the best laugh ever! Our eyes were wide, alert to any possible movement, and then there it was. There she was. Queen of the jungle. A female lion. Beautiful! So powerful and courageous. She walked right along the jeep. Jaci and I were jumping from the front to the back to capture the perfect picture of this incredible creature in motion. Of course, she was not alone. Through the bush we saw a golden mane. Say it ain't so! But it was Aslon himself. Beautiful! He strode out of the bush with ease and with a gate as smooth as butter he went after his female counterpart. We were freaking out like teen girls at a Jonus Brother's concert. Pinching ourselves to make sure it's real.
No frickin' way! An elephant feet away from the jeep!
Next we spotted one of my favorites, an elephant! It was a lone male. Forced out of the herd because of age and strength, or lack thereof. Elephants actually eat the bark and leaves of the trees, which is what this guy was doing. That's 20% of their diet and the other 80% is grass for vegetation. I can't imagine how much an animal of that volume has to consume on a daily basis! I'm sure it would put Michael Phelps' diet to shame.
Is this real? Yes, yes it is.
On our way down the road we saw a flock of vultures perched in the iconic bare, elephant devoured tree. Reminded me of a scene from The Jungle Book. They are freaky looking creatures, yet captivating in the oddest way. As we crossed into another section of the reserve we came across a herd of white rhinoceros. They are incredibly powerful, stout, solid beasts with birds seated on their backs to eat the ticks. I absolutely loved watching each of the animals enjoying themselves in their natural habitat. It breaks my heart a little to see them in a zoo behind bars, not able to freely roam. Maybe that's because I never want to feel caged up or too permanent either.
Johanas, our tour guide.
We never found the zebras or giraffes. I would have loved to see them both, but was grateful for what we were able to see. A sneak peak into the life of wild animals :) Before we left Hlane we did see a hippopotamus submerged in the water-hole. It was ginormous! They are the most dangerous animal so we didn't dare cross the fence for a better view. Even with our orange belts in karate.
Check out those impressive hitchhiking waves. Surely somebody will stop, right?
Once we were back to the main highway we began waving our hands in an unsuccessful attempt to hitch a ride back to Manzini. And then Cindy from Johannesburg pulled to the side to give us a lift. She was our angel for the day! A very bright woman. Highly educated on politics, history and marketing. I felt like an American idiot. The conversation stirred a desire in me to learn more about our political history. Something I've never had a desire to do.
Stranded on the side of the road at night. In Africa. Great, we're probably going to be eaten by a lion or something...
The trip to New Haven from Manzini was an adventure in itself. We barely caught a bus that took us most of the way. We were dropped off about 10-12 miles from New Haven. It was pitch black now. With luggage in hand we found a kind man who let us hop in the back of his pick-up, which we weighed down. He told us it would be very dangerous with the bed of the pick-up practically rubbing against the tires. Yet he drove on, slowly. We felt like we had broken out of fat camp. He was able to take us part of the way and dropped us off four miles from Jaci's home. Four miles uphill. We didn't want to walk so we waited for the next sign of headlights coming up the hill and tried to hitch a ride. Denied. Then we struck gold. A koombie and a truck stopped for us. The truck offered to take us. It was a free ride so we grabbed our luggage, ran and hopped in the bed. Once in New Haven we still had a 20 minute walk down the road less traveled with rolling luggage and barking dogs. But, we made it to Jaci's hut! The electricity was out, but at least we were home :) I need to point out how good God is! He brought us home safely! PTL!
This is Jaci's castle on a hill.
Of course, the electricity was not working so we lit some candles. It was a lot colder than I thought it would be. Jaci's brothers came over once the electricity was working. They love music. Especially Jordan Sparks. If she only knew how popular she was in Swaziland. They play her music everywhere. It's comical to be riding public transportation in Africa and hear Snoop Dog, Jordan Sparks, Rihanna, Chris Brown, and other American favorites on the radio. Ha, ha, ha.
We ended our nights in New Haven with Hot Chocolate and a theatre presentation by laptop. One night we may have eaten a whole tub of popcorn, a box of carmel corn, and a bag of chocolates...minus the turkish delights - barf!
I love this picture of Jaci carrying back the water!
During the day Jaci introduced me to a lot of the people that she works with in her community. We went to the HIV/AIDS clinic she volunteers at, the umpaghatzi (where they have town meetings), the bible school, and road tripped throughout Swaziland. Jaci's family adopted me and gave me the Swazi name Tanzile Sibanze. Sinbanze is their sir name. One morning we were going to try and go to another game reserve to see the animals we missed on Monday. It was a three hour koombie ride to Matata only to find out that the reserve had closed that weekend. The guys at the bus stop kept trying to tell us that while Jaci was calling the reserve. We would walk away, and they would send the one man dressed in traditional attire to talk to us. Like we're going to listen to him just because he's in traditional attire? It was funny. Since we were in town we hit up the local coffee shop to gorge ourselves with mochas, a waffle topped with ice cream, omelets, and toast. We were also able to use an actual flushing toilet. It was the cleanest bathroom in Swaziland and we were able to use it for the low price of 2 rand! After breakfast and a pit-stop we caught the 11:00 koombie back to New Haven. Six hours for breakfast. Ha, ha, ha :)
Playing a game with the women at the umpaghatzi.
On the koombie, one of the guys was asking how he can marry an American woman. In Swaziland they buy women with cattle. 17 to be exact. We told him it's probably not worth it. An American woman costs 5,000 cattle per year and she can say no if you ask her to marry you. I don't speak or understand Si-Swati, but I know that was the talk of the koombie. We would hear them banter and say 5,000 frequently. Jaci and I silently chuckled. It was too funny to ever tell them the truth.
I was drilled when leaving the Bible School. As we were leaving one of the guys started asking really deep, personal questions. What do you want to do with your life in the next five years? When do you want to get married? Are you getting too old? Wow! Too far buddy. These were just a few of the more personal questions asked. I didn't know how to respond. I'm not even sure what I'm doing tomorrow. Jaci said he did the same thing to her when they first met too. I unsuccessfully tried to change the subject.
Some of Jaci's family. How cute are they?
We took a couple small hikes around Jaci's hut. One to the garden with the kids. I tried to eat sugar cane. It was like chewing on green bark. Not a fan. We went to fetch water and the neighbor gave us some of her clean water on our way to the river. We also hiked to the rocky cliffs behind Jaci's hut. It was beautiful. That's where we ended up doing an extensive karate kid photo shoot. At night we would see who could jump up and touch the ceiling, do a running back-flip off the wall, or who had the best soccer skills. There was never a dull moment.
The male warriors doing a chant.
On my last day we went to a cultural village by Mbabane, the capitol of Swaziland. The group danced and sang. It was really cool. I love the African songs and the beating of the drums. It's so beautiful and refreshing. On our tour of the village our guide had us role-play. I ended up being the second wife to the guy from Brazil. I had to kneel down to talk to him. I also was scolded before the tour even began for talking. It's like a flashback to elementary. I've never been the silent kid in the room. The guide had us put on some of the traditional clothing and made Jaci the photographer while he posed in the pictures. So weird.
Eating beans and corn-maze at the cultural village.
Jaci and I by the creek at the village where Jaci was told by a man that he was going to guteka her. (Ask me what it means if you're curious.) I pretended to be Scottish, which completely backfired since a woman in the group had just been to Scotland. Thankfully she didn't ask questions about my 'homeland.' Anyways, I told the guy he would have to get past her soon to be Scottish husband first. Jaci has a prearranged marriage. Guteka if you dare, but I wouldn't!
It was extremely difficult to leave the next morning. Jaci took me to the koombie. We had to just walk away from each other before the tears started. I squeezed into the back-seat. All four of us crammed in with scrunched shoulders and sweat running down my back and front. Let the journey back to Johannesburg begin! Only four and a half hours of this. The driver dropped me off at the airport so I didn't have to worry about taking an overpriced taxi from the bus station.
Africa was incredible. It was an enlightening trip to say the least. I cannot wait to go back. My heart was broken and my eyes were opened to a new world. Thoughts of what I can do to help keep racing through my mind. How do we stop the habits of an entire country and continent? How can we teach self-worth and respect? How do we show them how to truly love? How did they show me how to truly love? What are their greatest needs? What can I live without? Why am I so blessed? What if the roles were reversed? God taught me so much in one week and continues to challenge me with what I saw and learned. There are so many questions I'm wrestling with. My desire to go back deepens every day I'm away.
This is just an appetizer of what I tasted and experienced in Africa.
