first southern african days

it's morning here. tuesday, i keep reminding myself, but the name of the day of the week doesn't really stick. i say it, and moments later, i have to think hard to remember again. is it sunday or saturday? those also don't really seem to 'apply' to the mode i'm on.

okay. so some of you are working right now. or, you're sleeping, i think, but will soon wake up to tuesday morning. i've been here in southern africa for 5-6 days now. arrived in namibia's capital city, windhoek, where kerri met me inside the airport - while i stood in line to get my entry stamp. outside on the road we put our packs on our backs, walked out into the afternoon sun -- i literally saw only the airport and car rental tents - not another building in sight. we walked on the left side of the road, stuck out our hands, and thus started our journey to-and-through botswana by hitch-hike, or 'hiking' as it's referred to here (it's common mode of travel in the region; we only have one more day of it, so worry not for my safety). that first afternoon, we got a lift from one africaaner (white people whose ancestors settled on the continent generations ago), caught a lift from Ishmael, then another from another couple, and arrived at the grocery of the home of another peace corps volunteer...

in the morning we sat in a 16-wheel bus with Andre, a man from Durbin, South Africa. he's from the Zulu tribe, was making the trip from northern namibia down to johannesburg... he played us traditional zulu music and, upon hearing about my brother's musical background, pulled out his favorite south african jazz... but mostly, for the 3 or 4 hours in his truck, we watched the road, talked a little about life, and what occupies his mind while he's on the road. while we drove between the namibian and botswanan border, he pointed out a group of army-green tents - refugees from DRC - living between two countries. i asked him what they were waiting for - were they waiting to enter namibia, to enter botswana? another place? andre said - they're waiting for peace to come to their home, and then they'll be going back.

mostly, what i've felt is how easy it is to be here compared to my recent travels to mongolia and china. i walk with my camera around my neck, kerri sticks her hand out to catch a lift with any passerby -and off we go, for another conversation, another entry into another tribe... i meet the dichotomy of being invited to feel safe, hop in any car, with the mental awareness (though w few visual indicators) that there's much more below the surface. visually, i'm in a place of peace. it's just the stories, that i hear bit by bit, that speak to a harder life.

we spent yesterday and the day before on the river. our guide, KT, 'pulled' us along in a mokorro. we were about 500 yards from an elephant. a praying mantis landed on my foot, a lime-green frog on my thigh. we were pulled along the reeds, in a flat, so flat, plain covered by water. with a long stick, he pulled his way 12 km to our camp spot. in the evening, we walked out to see wildbeast; in the morning, on a 4 hour walk, we saw first a herd of zebras - in the red of the african early morning sun - and then later as we walked, spotted a family of giraffe, zebra hanging out among em. they looked at us, ate, at each other, walked a bit, ate, looked around again.

today we're taking a plane ride over the delta. tomorrow we're headed up to kasane - and chobe national park.. on saturday (in however many days) we'll be in a village in namibia, spending time in a school - talking about gender equality, as part of an AIDS prevention training.

on sunday night, when our guide, KT, lit our fire (in about 20 seconds - dry wood and elephant dung), kerri and he exchanged stories about witch doctors - what they do, curses they've cast, people they've saved...

it's nice being w kerri. i'm so accustomed to being on 'high-alert' when i travel - because 1) mongolians warned me to be and 2) because my gut instincts don't apply when i'm not in my home - so i go on a higher mode of awareness just to assure my safety. but kerri has lived in the region for almost 3 years -so she knows what's safe, what's a risk... and putting our hand out and getting into the car w 2 botswanan men and a woman or a south african truck driver (sorry mom and dad) is only the start of another conversation, laughter, and exchange.

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We all seek education because it grants us two gifts: access and realization. Just like a map, education’s first power is its ability to expose people to possibility; its second is its ability to enable people to arrive at their goals.