The Great African Adventure!

Molweni!

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PICTURES!!!!

I am not very punctual with this whole blog thing, am I? I have so much to tell, so I’ll do my best to avoid my typical ranting.

A great deal has happened since my trip to Johannesburg. I turned 21! Not exactly a big deal here, but I will make great use of this milestone in my life upon my return to the USA. Teaching has continued to be a wonderful experience. I adore my students. They are wonderfully respectful and I truly believe that I am learning more from them than they are from me. The kids that I tutor through the volunteer organization SHAWCO are freakin’ hilarious! Their energy is dumbfounding. I am absolutely exhausted after merely two hours with them, but I love them. I made a deal with them…if they behave well for an hour and a half and let me teach them English, then they can teach me Afrikaans for the last half hour. I have learned a lot, primarily…that I’m not good at Afrikaans.

Classes at UCT have been going well, but I am learning way more outside of class than I am in class. I have had a lot of work recently…I am not exactly thrilled about any of the assignments. Although I will miss South Africa very very much, I look forward to Boston College classes…they are far more engaging and challenging. My roommates all agree that the classes here are just blah, despite UCT being the premier university in the entire African Continent.

Despite the lack of engaging classes at UCT, the societies (clubs) that the school offers are brilliant. Upon recommendation from a friend, I joined this society called the Art of Living and began the Art of Living week long course…I am very grateful I heeded my friend’s recommendation. The course was a cleansing process for both body and spirit, and I felt so much healthier by the end of the week. I know it sounds like a cult, but think about Antioch (those of you from Mendham) or Kairos (those of you from BC)…it is just all around a great experience.

I almost walked out of the room within five minutes of starting the course when I was informed that for the duration of the week one cannot consume: garlic, onions, zucchini, eggplant (the Italian in me cried a little), eggs, meat, caffeine, alcohol (the Irish in me cried a little), or any unnatural substances (even Advil). Basically one is restricted to vegan diet. The course was very yoga intensive and involved difference breathing exercises, both of which were very new to me. Like any other retreat like process, it would be misunderstood to describe the activities of the course out of context. Thus, I won’t go into detail on what we did, but rather what I learned.

We discussed…

-How expectations reduce joy.

-The important of being happy now, rather than focusing on happiness in the past or future.

-Opposite values are complementary…we can use the negative in our lives to create positive.

-Don’t try…Do!

-The importance of not seeing intentions behind others mistakes, we all make them.

-Don’t be the “football of others opinions.” Be content with yourself and don’t let others sway you too much.

-Responsibility is power, take responsibility for your actions.

-What you resist… will persist. Face difficulty to head on.

-The present moment is inevitable…embrace it.

-Accept people and situations as they are.

-Don’t pour water on other’s fire.

The Art of Living was an incredible experience and it is offered all over the world, I highly suggest the journey to everyone. It does not offer any answers; and although it is certainly a Spiritual experience, it is a complementary one; it cannot exist alone as a way to live, but together with your beliefs (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, etc) can offer a more fulfilling experience. As a Catholic, I found the course to be introspective and a rather prayerful journey. I am grateful of the insights it provided, and I plan to continue on with many of the practices that I learned during the course.

Anyway…after that experience….my sister Rebecca and her husband Brian came to visit!!!! We kicked the visit off with a weekend in Stellenbosch (wine country). After some misguided directions, a scenic drive in the wrong direction, confusion with Afrikaans street names, and a debate on the difference between diet coke v coke light we finally found our Bed and Breakfast. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at a vineyard called Tokara, and called it an early night to begin a long day of wine tasting.


We hit 9 vineyards in one day! I learned a great deal about wine, but honestly it all tasted good at the end of the day. Our tour guide was really interesting and taught us all a great deal about wine and wine tasting. The first vineyard we went to was Stark-Condé and it was certainly the best. The owner and wine-maker, José, gave us a personal tour and introduced us to the wine-making process. Not only did he allow us to drink straight from the barrel, but he also allowed me to churn the grapes. In order of best to worst, in my own personal opinion, the Vineyards we visited were: Stark- Condé, Annandale, La’Avenir, Mulderbosch, Thelema, Muratie, Hartenberg, and Neil Ellis. Upon our return to the bed and breakfast, Brian and I crashed by the pool, while Rebecca took a little nap in the room.

Day two was much more relaxed; we only went to 5 vineyeards in Franschoek, the town next to Stellenbosch. However, the dinner that we went to at a place called Rubens may have been the best meal that I have ever had, ever! The last day, we hit 9 vineyards again; yet, this time I had to spit the entire time because I had to write an exam the following day. The vineyards that we visited in order: Le Riche, Kanonkop, Lynx (where we received another wine-making tour), Camberly, Vriesenhof, Grangehurst, and Ken Forrester. The Cabernet Sauvignon at Le Riche was, without a doubt, the best wine that I have ever had. I then, returned to Cape Town, and over the next few days spent time with Rebecca and Brian. However, on Thursday we parted ways and I flew to Durban to begin what I would like to dub: The Great African Adventure.

The Great African Adventure began as any epic journey should: hungover and a half an hour behind schedule. The trip was Tristan (Berkeley), Jane (Wisconsin), and Me. Despite, the sweat of running through airport terminals, we were graced with a good omen…we were bumped to business class, free of charge. It was truly amazing, I have never slept on a plane before business class, there was just so much room. We arrived in Durban, South Africa and immediately checked into the Durban View Lodge, a quaint little hostel with free booz =). We spent the day reading and relaxing on the rooftop, with a beautiful view of Durban and one of the World Cup Stadiums. On Day 2 we rented a car and clumsily navigated through Durban. We found our way to the harbor and downtown Durban, seeing all that there was to see and then head northbound into the Heart of KwaZulu-Natal.: Mtunzini. Although Mtunzini was merely our base-camp, we stayed in Toad Tree Cottage, a quaint little B&B in the middle of a vast sugar cane field. Over the two days that we were there, we strolled through the indigenous plant garden and got lost in the expanse of sugar can, chewing on sugary cane whenever a sweet tooth began to snarl. When the sun fell behind the horizion, we watched shooting stars and constellations from our sugar sanctuary. It was beautiful.

Despite the beautiful sunsets and nights of Mtunzini, there is very little to do there during the day; thus, we went to St. Lucia. You may be asking, “Matty, why ever would you go to St. Lucia?” I would respond, “Well, friend, St. Lucia has the highest population of hippopotamus in the world! We jumped aboard a river Safari and saw crocodiles, beautiful birds, water buffalo, and of course tons and tons of hungry hungry hippos. Fun fact: Hippos are vicious, they are not nice, and they are fast.

After, our day trip to St. Lucia, we said goodbye to both KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa and crossed the border into Swaziland. Our first night we stayed in a place called Nisela along the Lobombo Mountains. in traditional Swazi Beehive Huts. After a night, making shadow puppets and reading by candlelight, we made our way to Mkhaya Game Reserve where we went on a Safari. I stood no more than 4 meters from a mother Rhino and her child. We saw Zebras, Elephants, Antelope, Empala, Warthogs, and all sorts of crazy animals…for pictures, check out the snapfish link at the top of the post. I would say, despite the amazing animals, the most entertaining part of the safari was our guide.

Exhibit A
Me: Which lives longer, the white rhino or the black rhino?
Safari Guide: Which lives longer, the white man or the black man?
Me: Well it depends…
Safari Guide: Wrong, the white man lives longer because he has money.
Me: Hmmmm…

Exhibit B
Safari Guide: Has anyone been in the bush before?
Sarah: I have…
Safari Guide: Forget it, you do not know da bush!

After our safari we stayed at a backpackers lodge in Milwane, where we watched a beautiful sunset, hung out with an ostrich, ate a traditional Swazi dinner around a bonfire, and went for a midnight swim. The following day we spent kicking around Milwane on trails and then went to Manzini, the biggest city in Swaziland. After our day in Manzini, we woke up early and walked to the KFC parking lot (KFC is everywhere here!) and hitched a ride to the next country of our excursion: Mozambique.

Our ride to Mozambique was certainly interesting. Crammed in a Chapa Bus, I found myself in the front seat with a drunk by the name of Paenias. Paenias, rather self-conscious about his English, become much more bold as the ride carried forward. After he drank his 6th mini-bottle of Gin, I finally remarked “rough day?” He found this very funny, and reached into his bag to give me a bottle of Amarula. We ended up getting rather tipsy together on our 6 hour ride to Mozambique.

Mozambique was like no place I have ever seen before. Tormented by the Portuguese colonial occupation, the country found itself dissolving into factions, with communism demonstrating favor. With the withdrawal of the Portuguese, Mozambique found itself in a traumatic civil war, which last until only 14 years ago. Although Capitalism won out, there is a still great deal of communist sentiment as streets are named Mao Tse Tsong Ave, Che Guevara Blvc. etc However, despite the end of the war, there are still clear indications of battle everywhere. One can still find bullet holes, blown out buildings, and wreckage everywhere. The country is an economic travesty-I have never seen such abject poverty.

We arrived in Maputo, and immediately made our way to Manica to meet Tristan’s friend Anna who is in the Peace Corps. We stayed a night in Anna’s village and learned a great deal about what she does in the Peace Corps. We met some of the people of her village and together we made a delicious dinner. As nighttime fell, we covered ourselves in Mosquito nets, took our Malaria pills, and fell asleep surrounded by baking soda so as to keep away the cockroaches!

The next day we stuck out our thumbs and hitched a ride back to Maputo in a flatbed. We walked all around downtown Maputo and had wonderful conversation with people. Although, Mozambique is a Portuguese speaking country, I found myself able to communicate with people quite well through my broken Spanish and their broken English. I was having so much fun; I could not stop speaking with people. We went to the Maputo market and I bought fruit from people even though I wasn’t hungry, just so I could speak with them. We stayed at a hostel by the name of Fatima’s and stayed up wicked late talking to backpackers from all around the world.

The next day we woke up bright and early, once again, to hitch a ride to Tofu. After taking a Xee Xee in Xai-Xai (Pee pee in the town of Xai-Xai ), we hitched another ride to Tofu. Finally, after 9 hours on the road, we finally made it. Tofu is basically paradise. I slept on a hammock between palm trees, went swimming and surfing in the crystal blue and warm Indian Ocean, and took long walks picking up shells on the beach instead of an Easter Egg Hunt. I went swimming with Sharks and Manta Rays. I woke up every morning for the sunrise and watched the sunset over the palm trees. I met some truly amazing people as well! A craftsman by the name of Nando showed me his shop and how he carves his pieces from large blocks of wood.

The entire trip was unbelievable; it is so difficult to put into words the amazing experiences and conversations that I encountered during my travels. I met some truly amazing people and saw an incredibly different world.

Since, I have returned to Cape Town I have been absolutely bombarded with work, but during my little free time I hit poetry slams and enjoyed SHAWCO and teaching at St. Joe’s.

There is so much more to tell, but this entry is exceptionally long and so I will bid you adieu here. Please keep me posted on all your lives, I miss you all much and I look forward to hearing what is new!


As I said last time, you can email me at McCluskM@bc.edu and for those of you that have blackberries my pin is 31C15C39, BBM me! Also my address is in case you want to send a letter:

22 Lovers Walk
Rondebosch 7700
South Africa

Also if you have a Skype account, skype me at Matthew S. McCluskey, or you can skype my South African cell at +27 82 311 8566!!

Feel free to send me your love!! More to come…

Lots of love,
Matty

South African Word of the Day: Howzit?—What up?