(From April 22)
Wow—three entire days without a blog post! I have so much
to catch you up on, but I’m also exhausted. So, this post may be more the bare
facts with less elaboration than usual.
WEDNESDAY: A day I’d really been looking forward to. Our
entire day of classes and site visits would revolve around public art, which
had been one of my favorite units in Sao Paulo. I jumped out of bed, excited
for the lecture and eventual drive to Woodstock, an adorable hippie/bourgeois area
right outside the city center (and also site of the Old Biscuit Mill!).
Unfortunately, the lecturer was less than stellar; she was one of those people
that seemed to make edgy statements meant to make her seem intellectual that
instead left me questioning her ability to actually engage in a sensible
thought process. For example, she told us that “human beings are not always
rational. Sometimes, they act in accordance to their wants and needs.” Such a
comment leaves me wondering what exactly she thinks “rational” means if not
acting to further one’s wants and needs.
But okay. Whatever. I can handle a screwy lecture (I’ve
had enough of them on this trip to have cultivated a resistance, that’s for
sure), and I was still looking forward to our walking tour on the art of
Woodstock. We started with a highly intriguing discussion with a business owner
in the area. He is about 180 degrees opposite from our normal speakers on IHP;
he was pro-business, pro-capitalism, and pro-“pull yourself up by your
bootstraps.” While I think I would have been absolutely wooed by his argument
pre-IHP, I found myself mustering up criticism and remaining as critical of him
as I have been of our past speakers. It’s incredible to me that I’ve gained
this new honed ability to critically analyze everything I see, and hear, and
experience, but it scares me a lot. I’m
going home to my favorite place in the entire world in nine short days, and I’m
terrified that my new way of seeing the world will leave me unsatisfied with
home. But maybe such dissatisfaction will give me the passion and drive necessary
to fix and change and improve the places around me. I don’t know—I’m
conflicted, and anxious, and there are many too many thoughts whirling in my
head.
Back to Woodstock.
Our walk about was okay, and I enjoyed seeing some of the
art, but I wasn’t nearly as inspired as I had been in Sao Mateus, Brazil. We
ended the afternoon at a Mexican restaurant with stale chips and sour guac, and
all I wanted was to be back at Antonio’s in Anaheim, California. We began to
wander the cafes of Woodstock on the hunt for functioning WiFi, and we were
consistently left disappointed. I seriously could not connect to enough WiFi to
upload my blog, and I attempted for about an hour and a half. I was left
disgusted with my inability to connect to the world and to home—I still don’t
understand how businesses and a country can function when they cannot even
reliably contact and interface with one another and within itself.
I got back home so frustrated that I begged my mother to
call me for just a few minutes on the (very expensive) international minutes package.
“A few minutes” turned into a half hour, but I asked her to consider it an
early birthday present to me. I got to talk to my entire fam, which was
absolutely lovely and restored a bit of my sanity.
I finished my paper draft over the course of about an
hour and a half, and I felt way less stressed after completing my final
assignment of the semester. Woah.
THURSDAY: An extremely long day with the sweetest of
endings. The entire class period of about eight hours was spent listening to
eight-minute presentations by every single member of the class on his or her
paper topic. While I opted to speak for very little time and keep it vague, as
I didn’t want anybody to give feedback that would force me to actually change
or edit my paper, others spoke overtime, and our day dragged on a bit. By the
time I actually got back home, it was 4:30 PM, and I only had an hour to nap
before what would turn out to be one of the coolest experiences of my life.
Sally, Geneva, Nina, and I booked reservations for this
incredible underground restaurant called Spasie. Every Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday, about twenty people sit for a fixed-course menu by an up-and-coming
South African chef. These chefs rotate every single week, so you’re never
actually sure of who is going to cook your food and what you’ll eat. We were
excited for the adventure, but we never could have guessed just how delectable
this would be!
We got lost in our attempts to find the restaurant, until
our Uber driver called out to a random security guard in the street, who
directed us to an unbelievably indescript building with only an [S] symbol to indicate
that it was Spasie. We were ushered down a dim hallway lit only by very
romantic and mystical candles until entering into a stunning warehouse-turned
restaurant with wood paneling, whimsical decorations, and more candles lighting
the room. We sat down at our seats and read the amazing five-course menu with wine pairings. We enjoyed a smoked
salmon appetizer, a roasted butternut and basil pesto soup, fish, roasted lamb,
and brownie dessert with coffee ice cream—as well as five glasses of wine each,
half a Moscow Mule, and a surprise Tequila Sunrise (brought out after a lovely
rendition of Happy Birthday arranged by Sally and Geneva). I was literally
scraping my plate after every single dish, and the wine loosened our tongues
and inspired peals of laughter and increasingly chancy dares. At one point, we
changed the music from Michael Buble to Rihanna’s “Work” and were immediately
chastised by our waiters when we began to dance to the displeasure of many. The
dancing was the displeasure, not the chastisement, for clarification. Over all,
though, this was the best culinary experience of my entire life. And it cost
only… Drumroll, please… SIXTY US DOLLARS. Unbelievable!!!
The wine and cocktails hit me hard though, and I
distinctly remember lying in bed after getting home and being in awe at the
ability of the window to spin with such velocity.
FRIDAY: I woke up this morning still slightly under the
influence, but it faded quickly as I walked outside into the chilly air. It’s
the ideal weather to cuddle at home under some blankets, and I was quite
tempted to stay in my warm little enclave, but today was the day of the last
lecture with one of my favorite leaders on our program, so I dragged myself out
of bed. Kate, our lecturer today, gave an outstanding talk on Health in South
Africa, which I found important in understanding not only this country but also
my own. Wow, this program rocks sometimes.
We had a super short day today, and we finished with
class by 11 AM. After a quick drop of my belongings and a bath (and one short
episode of Sex in the City with SalGal), I headed into Observatory (a nearby
WiFi-enabled neighborhood) with Sally and Geneva. We enjoyed connectivity for a
few hours before heading back to Langa.
I dropped into bed for a twenty-minute nap before heading
over to Alyssa’s house for a Passover meal. I felt myself slipping into the
comfort of Israeli Shabbat, and the traditions and Hebrew songs made me yearn
for the Morris household. They truly became my family!!! And I like to consider
myself an honorary Jew at times. Maddy, one of the awesome people on my program
and a fellow blogger, said something really touching at our dinner: this is her
favorite holiday, she remarked, and though it’s hard to be away from home on
this day, she feels as though we’ve become like family, and she truly
appreciated our presence.
OKAY MADDY, I’M NOT CRYING OR ANYTHING.
It was really sweet, though, and it made me realize that
these people really are like family. They drive me crazy, they make me roll my
eyes, we disagree often—but they’re loyal, and funny, and adventurous; they
make me smile and laugh and think; they dry my tears and validate my concerns
and ideas; they are home in a far-away country. I will really miss these people….
But maybe only after a few months away from them!
I spent a few hours at Michael and Takudzwa’s house after
the dinner, catching up on gossip and discussing this week’s lectures before I
headed home. Dorothy and I had some good bonding—I can talk to her about
anything!—and I’m about to catch some z’s before my birthday weekend!!! Wee!!!
Getting close to the end… Wow.
Love,
Aubrey
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