[Illegal] Alien

It has been a long while since I've written at all, but that is what happens when you get sucked into the void of "real" life. I guess if you consider "real" to mean a scheduled routine that only varies slightly week to week. Not that it is bad for everyone, I just felt happier and more myself while I was travelling (go figure, who wouldn't feel refreshed doing exactly what you want, when you want to with no one to really answer to and no job lurking over your head to return to!).

Chioma is the little girl that Tisha, my cousin Tucker's teacher, is adopting from here in South Africa. She is adorable, and clearly I can't help myself from tickling the shit out of her!

I think if it weren't for my family here I would be gone. No, I know that. I've started an unpaid internship at an organization called Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (http://www.fairtourismsa.org.za/) that has helped to fill the void of endless hours spent lounging by the pool, and the work has definitely helped remind me there are still people in this country that care about how their actions affect others and the environment and have hope for a better future for South Africa.

I've also been trying to help out with a few other organizations that my aunt has done work with in order to try to keep good spirits. Both groups focus on providing educational and leadership opportunities to disadvantaged South African students (http://www.themadbunch.org.za/; http://www.thedouglasfoundation.org/). Plus I get to bond with my aunty over some of the work--Sweet!

Yes, I was scared of the baby lions at the Lion Park. The little one named Isis was being fussy that day and decided to stretch, growl and turn her back towards me and face the corner in an act of defiance.

This work is in contrast to some of the other "colorful" characters (to put it lightly) that I have encountered here who have expressed disdain for anyone who is different from them, and I don't just mean the old white Afrikaaners! It is confusing and frustrating to be in an environment where you are constantly confronted with race and class politics. Sure you have to navigate your way through society carefully in the US, but it is not nearly as aggressive as here. It just makes me think back to the anti-racist work some of my friends were involved in back in the states and how critical they could be--what would they make of the situation here? It would take a lifetime to try to unravel and understand South African and why the folks in the cities here can be so nasty towards one another.

On a perhaps less philosophical note, I am officially an illegal alien and have been since September 24th of last month. Funny to say that publicly on the Internet--should I worry about being arrested?

The Lion Park also had an area where you can feed the giraffes. Their tongues are long, black, rough and nasty...

Actually, it is all the result of some egregious inconsistencies in the Department of Home Affairs, responsible for immigration/visas, etc., here in South Africa. I have turned in all the unnecessary documents required of me--including an x-ray of my chest, medical exam, R3000 ($300USD) deposit, a receipt saying that I sent for a background check from the FBI, and copies from all my bank accounts--and should be okay by next week. The official advice from the supervisor of Temporary Residence Permits was to "not get caught" by immigration officials. Yikes!

That all being said, my plan is to stay in South Africa through the New Year doing odd work to try to earn some extra money and complete a couple of volunteer jobs and my internship. I definitely don't have the money to continue to travel right now and still make it home...

...As you can tell from the classic disgusted look on my face!

I have taken a few trips, though. I tried to hit Swaziland for a nice weekend with my aunt and to renew my South African tourist visa, only to be told that they no longer issue three month visas at that border and the most he could give me was one week in order to report to the Department of Home Affairs. Oops!

Swaziland was great, though! Lots of rocky hills and green mountains. We only stayed one night at a B&B that overlooked a valley with a river and small dam. Very peaceful and beautiful. It was fun with just the two of us bumping around.


I also hit Durban to see the Currie Cup semi-final match and for some beach-time. The game was incredible, not because of the actual action (I get the basic premise that meatball shaped men with short, tight shorts wrestle around after the ball and try to score like American football), but because of our ability to still climb down the steepest set of stadium stairs every despite the amazing amount of beer imbibed. It was an incredible feat that included several pints of watery beer that tastes like Bud, some pre-game boerworst, and an Australian guy that haggled my girl friend about US politics. Simply amazing!

The star of the show at the Lion Park. Seeing so many lions lazing around was not quite as impressive as on National Geographic--they were fed meat off the back of a truck, which kind of seems to defeat the purpose of existence for such a predator.

The beach was not too shabby as well, and I came back BROWN. Well, more of a red-brown. Our last two nights north of Durban staying at a B&B near the beach were certainly interesting (I met a whole slew of "colorful" folks!), but I'll save the stories for some other time!

I've definitely been partying it up here as well--am still in the process of making the Pretoria circuit of bars and clubs. Not so good for the liver.

I'll try to post more about the small side trips I've been doing lately, as they are still interesting and exotic stories.