Namibia

Namibia was amazing! We pulled into Walvis bay a small, industrial port town on the coast. It was such a small town, but it was so weird because they have been doing so much building (for the world cup) so it is pretty developed. I felt like it was a small town in any middle american state! But as soon as you leave Walvis bay you are engulfed by the Namib Desert. I can't even express how beautiful the desert is. Sand dunes go on for miles and miles and fade in and out of this moonlandscape, rock formations that are believed to be the oldest in the world. On my first day there I got a 6 hour tour of the desert and we climb some of the moonlandscapes and some dunes, which are sooo hard to climb cause you never seemingly never get anywhere! We spent most of our nights in the neighboring town, Swakopmund (are you sensing the german colonial influence yet?) We were on the beach and exploring the town a bit. But I am so proud of Jocie, one day we did sand boarding and ATV riding over the dunes. They have some crazy sports here and you can go snowboarding but on sand. Jocie was scarred to sand board, but she did it anyways and then had a great time! I can't say enough about all the locals we met. They were so nice and we willing to help us out with anything. We befriended Nana, a cab driver, who became our personal driver sort of. He would pick us up and then come out to dinner with us and we would buy him drinks and all (when he wasn't driving us). We had an amazing time in Namibia, I just wish we could have gone up North, but that is for our next trip back!

We have landed in Cape Town and we are so excited to see this great city!

Goodbye Brazil!

Where to begin? Jocie and I had some ups and downs in Brazil. For the most part we had very positive experiences, but the first day in Salvdaor was a huge shock for us. Everything prepping us for Salvador suggested that we be very cautious, and of course being in a foreign country, you are always cautious. But, when we got off the boat, we entered Salvador in one of the more rundown parts, so it was a bit of a shock. Everywhere we went it seemed like the locals knew we would be there, and were waiting to almost prey on us. I know a few people were attacked by locals and things were taken, and Jocie’s credit card number was stolen. But looking back on this day, I am still trying to work out why I was so uncomfortable. I have traveled before and have face situations where I was uncomfortable. But It was very unnerving for both of us because we didn’t speak the language and we felt almost lost. I almost felt inadequate, like I couldn’t do anything to help these people and the only thing they wanted from me was a few real in exchange for a necklace. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I am glad it didn’t meet my expectations. I don’t think I ever considered the true poverty that has crippled certain parts of Brazilian society. I think I was just expecting to get to Brazil and go out to clubs, or tour cities similar to the US, and relax. I don’t think I gave Salvador enough time to relax form my shock, and I definitely need to go back and see more.

Following Salvador, I went to Rio and Jocie went to the Amazon. I can’t speak for jocie’s experience, but entering Rio was almost like entering a different world compared to Salvador. Rio is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been in. If you know anything about Rio, you know about its beaches, famously the Copacabana Beach. But Rio is situated in between mountains, the ocean and a bay. The views from the Christ of the Redeemer (one of the new seven wonders of the world) to sugar loaf mountain are absolutely breathtaking. There is amazing food as well. There is the great mix of cultures in Rio so you can get anything from sushi and crepes and to tradition Brazilian shrimp and meat dishes. We also visited a favela in Rio and there is this great social program called mangeuria social, which is providing education and training in the arts and sports for kids. This program gives these kids an escape from the violence and drugs in this favela, and is a mark of the push for social welfare programs that are expanding general access to better jobs in Brazilian society. Brazil is still very much divided by race, with few important government and private positions held by any minorities. There are significant signs of progress in Brazil with increasing social programs and the government’s recognition that it needs to do more to bridge the huge wealth disparities. It will be very interesting to watch what happens in Brazil in the upcoming years as it attempts to launch itself fully into the industrial world.

Salvador tomorrow!

At the equator! I read something really interesting today about a study done through reading journals of students who traveled all throughout Europe. The teacher observed that many of the students observations were superficial and that they didn’t interact much with locals. In fact most of their time traveling was spent running from city to city as they tried to pack as much as they could into their experiences on the weekends,something that seems to be distinctly american. They were rarely just enjoying what they were doing. While the teacher said the students didn’t learn all that much about the cities they were in, they did grow as people. Because the students were always traveling, they were constantly confronted with challenges and problems to solve, where to go, to stay, what to eat, how to get there etc. In trying to solve these issues, the students unknowingly engaged locals and had to figure out how to understand them. The students ultimately became more adaptive and self-confident because they had to “cope with the surprises, the inevitable problems that arise when traveling, and doing without the comforts they were accustomed to at home” (Gmelch). Looking at what I have planned now, it makes me a little sad that so much of what I am doing in these cities is planned. I want to be confronted with these problems, just to see if I can get over them. Israel was my first real experience planning something on my own at the end of my trip. But even then, we didn’t really explore as much as I would have like, and we depended on the soldiers we met to get us around. I want to be pushed and hopefully I will be able to get lost a little, find my way, and cope. I want at the end of this journey to say that I am more flexible, self-confident, and more empathetic.

Can't wait for Salvador and Rio!!

Onward to Brazil!

We are headed to Brazil!! We arrive on Sunday Sept 7th and I can’t wait to see Brazil!! All of our classes in some way or another are devoted to learning something about Brazilian culture. We have been learning about Candomblé - the religion of spirit possession and its origins from Africa. I have been reading a bunch of articles on how Candomblé and even though I find the whole thing bizarre, I can see how it is similar to many western religions and figures those religions pray to. I also picked up a 5th class. Right now I am not sure as to why on earth I would do that because for every class we have TONS of reading. But I really like all of my classes so I can’t complain past the enormous amount of reading we have to do. My 5th class is Anthropology of Tourism, which I think actually is going to help me understand my impact as I enter these countries. Tourist tend to negatively impact the places they go, so maybe this will teach me to be more conscious of how I am viewed and how I treat locals. Also I just find the whole thing interesting, stepping back and analyzing exactly what I am doing. I am on a cruise ship, which is essentially a tourist ship, that is going all over the world, so I think I am really going to like this class. We signed up for some more trips, and I really hope I get this one to China where we go everywhere - the Forbidden city, the Great wall, Tiananmen Square, the Olympic places, temples and then get to interact with university students which I think will be awesome. The weather has been split so far, today was gorgeous, but we have had some storms and the boat has been sooo rocky cause of the hurricanes I guess, I don’t know though. We had to change course a bit to avoid some storm other than Gustav, and then we picked up speed to compensate so that made the rocking even worse. Crossing the Atlantic is going to be interesting is all I can say. We are getting closer to the equator, and yes mom jocie and I are wearing sunscreen, don’t worry! Its day 5 and already I am sick of the food- we have pasta and undistinguishable meats for lunch and dinner so I am basically a vegetarian now out of necessity, but I really can’t complain about anything else! That’s all for now.