Now, THAT'S a hike!

As mentioned in our last blog, we drove seven hours to Pretoria, the capital city, for Chris to conduct interviews for his research. We found out our little Atos isn’t super great with gasoline savings. Or, gas is simply exorbitant. Add to this the toll costs for driving on the highways and we paid a fair amount of money in total for this little road trip. But it was worth it! At least, for Chris… I have little to contribute about Pretoria as Chris had the car (and unfortunately the guest house we stayed in was not within walking distance of anything), he was super busy, my job was super slow, and so I watched television and got fat eating out of boredom. I will say, the “Super Nanny” is an extraordinary show that every parent should be required to watch. Oh, I also got fat due to eating horrendous dinners, such as a garlic-dipped (or so it tasted) pepperoni pizza and a “salad” with one piece of iceberg lettuce coupled with chicken, tomatoes, and cucumbers (sounds just fine) SMOTHERED in dressing. Chris, on the other hand, will have much more to add, as the trip was extremely successful and exhausting for him. He also made better food choices at restaurants so his meals were better – he recommends the mealie pap with gravy as a side dish, for example.

Take it away, Chris! Thank you, Jodifina. I won’t get into the details, but as Jodi says, our visit to Pretoria was very fruitful for me. I had a bunch of interviews with lawyers, government officials and some academics. A number of things were clarified for me about my project, and I’m very excited to proceed. In a nutshell, one of the main cases I am examining is apparently infinitely more messy and complex than I anticipated, and this is good news for an anthropologist looking to write a dissertation. I have to say, I have interviewed the friendliest people in all of South Africa, apparently. People were willing to meet with me in shopping malls, feed me delicious sandwiches and samosas, come searching for me on the street when I couldn’t find their office, etc. I ended up living pretty large while poor Jodi was forced to coach potato it up at the guest house.

After Pretoria, we headed to the Drakensberg Mountains. We got off to a late start due to Chris finishing up his interviews, so we arrived in Winterton after dark. Doesn’t a town called “Winterton” sound charming?! Perhaps we are spoiled with our Colorado ski towns, but this place was not what we expected. We started to wonder when we were driving in pitch darkness along the road to town and saw very few cars or people. We were also anticipating seeing a glow from town lights on the horizon, but we saw no such indications of civilization. In fact, the night felt even blacker when we arrived, and there were no signs that we were anywhere near mountains. The streets were completely desolate, save for a few cars parked in front of our lodging for the night—a beat up, Wild West saloon-looking joint called the Bridge Hotel. It really was straight out of a Western film—the hotel tripled as the town’s bar and restaurant, but the restaurant was empty (although the hotel manager was dining alone at a table in the corner) and only a few locals occupied the bar. Miscellaneous pets wandered around the place, which gave it all a warmer feeling. We checked into our hotel room, which was a bit seedy for $70 a night (the cheapest we could find in the area), ate another fatty dinner, and went to bed. However, we woke up, chose a hike called “Monk’s Cowl,” and found ourselves in unqualified beauty and yes, mountain charm. The drive to this hike was filled with rolling green hills and mountains, lush landscapes, cornfields, Afrikaner farm houses, and colorful flowers. The hike was breathtaking with deep creeks and large waterfalls. We both really enjoyed being in nature; and yet again, we both had to stop to fathom our fortune: we are living in Africa!

On a random aside, I (Jodi) am learning to drive a manual transmission! Surprisingly, I am not so bad considering I only remember one practice session for a half hour in the past that went severely wrong. It is quite a chore to figure out the clutch and gas distribution, in addition to trying not to hit the windshield wipers instead of the blinker (since the sides are switched). Chris and I also have to laugh because there are ALWAYS people popping out of places along the sidewalks who end up watching and smiling right as I stall the car. It does seem they are cheering me on, however. But, don’t these people have somewhere to go?! Why are they always standing around outside when I am learning to drive???

One more thing of interest… I (Chris) visited the university campus (where I have my affiliation) on Monday and apparently walked all the way across campus, Mr. Magoo-style, without noticing that a major student protest was under way. I arrived at the library to find it closed and asked the many security guards what was up with that. They basically said “look buddy, we’re not opening until the strikers have dispersed.” This is a bit exaggerated, but it was as if at that moment, I finally turned around and saw dozens of riot police and paddy wagons in the parking lot. I just wasn’t accustomed to this sort of thing on a campus. I am told though that these protests take place every year, which explains why everyone not involved in the marching seems so blasé about it. The university officials are strangely nonchalant, too. One would think that the university would shut down, especially since there has been some violence. Their strategy is more of a wait and see sort of thing, however. Non-protesting students were roaming about today and no one seemed sure if classes were going to meet or not. So, why the protests? They are demanding more financial aid, more student housing, a working campus clinic, and the dismissal of some of the university’s leadership. From what I understand, all of these things are reasonable demands, but they aren’t protesting peacefully and some bystanders have been hurt. They are also turning over every garbage receptacle in sight, meaning the poor janitorial staff (who are even poorer than most of the students) has to clean up a huge mess every single day.