Takze jsem zpet v USA, a dozvidam se kolik lidi cetlo blog nejen tady ale i v CR - nesmirne si toho vazim a jsem rada ze jste mi, i kdyz v tichosti, fandili, nebo doufali ze tam muzete byt se mnou... :) Fotky z Cape Town jsou ve stejnem albumu jako Mozambik takze se jeste zpetne muzete pokochat.
Jeste jednou dekuji za podporu a teste se na nova dobrodruzstvi, pravdepodobne behem pristiho roku...
Ok, so I am back in the States and I am finding out how many people have been reading this blog - Thank you all my silent readers and those who posted comments! Photos from Cape Towm are included in the Mozambique album so feel free to loose yourselves once again, cause it was pretty gorgeous there.
Once again - Thanks and hopefully there will be more adventures sometimes this year.
J.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Mozambique et al.
My dear english speaking friends and readers of this blog ... here we go again in your precious language.
I am in the computer room, the ladies around me are learning to type, then we are supposed to type a resume. My typing is less precise than theirs and they try so hard to learn it. They come here from the informal settlements some of them 5 miles away, they walk, each Saturday to learn something new. I admire them, yet it 's a pain to get up on a Saturday at 7am after a long week of working and running around, but it's for a good reason, so I take a hot shower and take my tea here.
Mozambiquan adventure could have been longer, indeed, however that's all we had to we are grateful for that. Dorothee and I left on Friday afternoon, and what was supposed to be a 2-3 hrs long trip to the coast took about 6 hours. Reasons are few, 1. the highway is really not a highway. Although one can fly 75mph on it one also has to do a lot of passing and waiting to pass which makes the average speed about 50mhp. Border cross to Mozambique was our first adventure (actually my 1.adventure was a detour on N4 through the SA countryside, before I got to Dorothee.). We parked at the border, I expected a line of cars, just like in Europe, however, no, we had to get out of the car and then there was the line - inside the building, actually bunch of lines. A young gentleman automatically gave us papers to fill out and pointed us to the right window for stamp adn then put us in another line for a SA departure stamp. A lots of stamping going on the borders here in Africa... So I mustered up and asked him what is his position and if he works here, he said he works for the MZ side. I did not object and then quietly asked Dor if she thinks we will have to tip him for helping us... he did not wear a uniform or anything...after finishing with all the lines on teh SA side we were asked by him whether we'd like help on the other side, we politely declined and he looked pissed b/c we did not tip him...for a simple reason, we did not have any rands or matecais on us...long revolving story too...
So then 50m further we parked our car again this time on the MZ side, the lines were longer and the whole scene extremely confusing...another gentleman came and wanted to help us, when we did not comply with his commands to come and cut the line he mumbled something that the officer is ready for us now and that we will be late, we said no thank you - did not want to cut the line (the only two white people there) and did not have any $ to pay him, well, we did have $ ...again long story.
So he stormed away and we waited in the line, then someone pointed us to the next one and they told us that we have to return to the previous one... then they took our passports and 45 minutes later they brought them back with two pretty stickers inside. My passport is now full of pretty african visa stickers or stamps. So about 2hrs later we sat in our car again, without having to offend anyone or pay anyone a fee, for what? SO then Maputo was only 2 hrs away, or more like three and we got there on a FRI rush hour, who would have thought. 18:00 and it's the same mess like in Praque or Boston. Bunch of red lights and abundance of cars. At that point I congratulated the rental company for providing us with VW Chico, since there was a lot of them there, not like in SA where BMWs are prevalent. We totally fit in (only while in car). Mind you they speak Protuguese there and I only though about that on our way so I could not prepare any phrases...the only thing i knew was Buon Noit since I watched Love Actually... like three times, and Obregado b/c of the DSS social worker in last year placement.
Well, anyway, the hostels were great, we met a bunch or CZ people there very surreal, and beach was great, once we found it... yes the development of tourism and beach places is only starting here, although I hear it's a official gov. policy.
Ok...got to go, I am actually still in the computer class.
I am in the computer room, the ladies around me are learning to type, then we are supposed to type a resume. My typing is less precise than theirs and they try so hard to learn it. They come here from the informal settlements some of them 5 miles away, they walk, each Saturday to learn something new. I admire them, yet it 's a pain to get up on a Saturday at 7am after a long week of working and running around, but it's for a good reason, so I take a hot shower and take my tea here.
Mozambiquan adventure could have been longer, indeed, however that's all we had to we are grateful for that. Dorothee and I left on Friday afternoon, and what was supposed to be a 2-3 hrs long trip to the coast took about 6 hours. Reasons are few, 1. the highway is really not a highway. Although one can fly 75mph on it one also has to do a lot of passing and waiting to pass which makes the average speed about 50mhp. Border cross to Mozambique was our first adventure (actually my 1.adventure was a detour on N4 through the SA countryside, before I got to Dorothee.). We parked at the border, I expected a line of cars, just like in Europe, however, no, we had to get out of the car and then there was the line - inside the building, actually bunch of lines. A young gentleman automatically gave us papers to fill out and pointed us to the right window for stamp adn then put us in another line for a SA departure stamp. A lots of stamping going on the borders here in Africa... So I mustered up and asked him what is his position and if he works here, he said he works for the MZ side. I did not object and then quietly asked Dor if she thinks we will have to tip him for helping us... he did not wear a uniform or anything...after finishing with all the lines on teh SA side we were asked by him whether we'd like help on the other side, we politely declined and he looked pissed b/c we did not tip him...for a simple reason, we did not have any rands or matecais on us...long revolving story too...
So then 50m further we parked our car again this time on the MZ side, the lines were longer and the whole scene extremely confusing...another gentleman came and wanted to help us, when we did not comply with his commands to come and cut the line he mumbled something that the officer is ready for us now and that we will be late, we said no thank you - did not want to cut the line (the only two white people there) and did not have any $ to pay him, well, we did have $ ...again long story.
So he stormed away and we waited in the line, then someone pointed us to the next one and they told us that we have to return to the previous one... then they took our passports and 45 minutes later they brought them back with two pretty stickers inside. My passport is now full of pretty african visa stickers or stamps. So about 2hrs later we sat in our car again, without having to offend anyone or pay anyone a fee, for what? SO then Maputo was only 2 hrs away, or more like three and we got there on a FRI rush hour, who would have thought. 18:00 and it's the same mess like in Praque or Boston. Bunch of red lights and abundance of cars. At that point I congratulated the rental company for providing us with VW Chico, since there was a lot of them there, not like in SA where BMWs are prevalent. We totally fit in (only while in car). Mind you they speak Protuguese there and I only though about that on our way so I could not prepare any phrases...the only thing i knew was Buon Noit since I watched Love Actually... like three times, and Obregado b/c of the DSS social worker in last year placement.
Well, anyway, the hostels were great, we met a bunch or CZ people there very surreal, and beach was great, once we found it... yes the development of tourism and beach places is only starting here, although I hear it's a official gov. policy.
Ok...got to go, I am actually still in the computer class.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Pripravy na odjezd
... se nekonaji ...
Vsechny ostatni holciny z BC co jsou na praxi se budou loucit s praxi pristi patek, ja jeste az o jeden tyden pozdeji, coz mi da cas navic tu doresit par veci, i kdyz si nekdy pesimisticky myslim, jeslti na tom vubec zalezi. Socialni pracovnici na plny uvazek potrbuji jako sul ale jestli ji v nejblizsi dobe najmou to bych se divila. Prachy se tu cpou do predelavani chodnicku a kaceni stromu misto do deti a rodicu.... bez komentare. Chteji dalsi studentku pristi rok... nevim nevim, asi jim to ve skole rozmluvim, i kdyz v zajmu deti by to asi melo vyjit. Ty lidi co jsou u me v chaticce uz aby vypadli, jsou otravny, porad tam zpivaji a modli se kolem naseho jedinyho stolu, kterej je venku, ja jsem nastesti na skoleni ve meste takze vyapdnu v 6 rano a vratim se podze a pak jsem s detam nebo v kancelari, a pisu seminarky. No uz jen dva tydne, ktere ubehnou jako voda jako ubehla praxe, nebo chcete-li staz a ja budu doma cobydup.
Vsechny ostatni holciny z BC co jsou na praxi se budou loucit s praxi pristi patek, ja jeste az o jeden tyden pozdeji, coz mi da cas navic tu doresit par veci, i kdyz si nekdy pesimisticky myslim, jeslti na tom vubec zalezi. Socialni pracovnici na plny uvazek potrbuji jako sul ale jestli ji v nejblizsi dobe najmou to bych se divila. Prachy se tu cpou do predelavani chodnicku a kaceni stromu misto do deti a rodicu.... bez komentare. Chteji dalsi studentku pristi rok... nevim nevim, asi jim to ve skole rozmluvim, i kdyz v zajmu deti by to asi melo vyjit. Ty lidi co jsou u me v chaticce uz aby vypadli, jsou otravny, porad tam zpivaji a modli se kolem naseho jedinyho stolu, kterej je venku, ja jsem nastesti na skoleni ve meste takze vyapdnu v 6 rano a vratim se podze a pak jsem s detam nebo v kancelari, a pisu seminarky. No uz jen dva tydne, ktere ubehnou jako voda jako ubehla praxe, nebo chcete-li staz a ja budu doma cobydup.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
PRO TEREZKU (a pak pro ostatni priznivce)
Cau Teri,
Zrovna jsem vcera myslela na to jak bych ti napsala dopis, ale jelikoz nemam tvou adresu a nevim jestli se dostanes na email… takze po porade s nasima a babickou ti pisu takhle. Dekuji za predchozi SMS! Jakakoliv SMS z domova potesi. Psala jsi ze mi tvoje mamca poslala balicek, rekni ji ze ji strasne dekuju, jeste nedosel, ale az dojde tak ti dam nejak vedet, a urcite si ho uziju (sama), delit se mi moc nechce :) No ba ne, mozna ze se podelim se spolubydlicimi, jelikoz jak dam jednomu decku bonbon, za 5 minut se zprava roznese a na prahu mi jich bude klepat 42 a neverila bys kolik toho snedi… vetsinou se jim dostane jenom ryze a kurete (hubenyho) a krupicovka po africku – varena ve vode, bez soli a na husto, takze se to da jist rukama, delaji si z toho koulicky a jedi spinavyma rukama, rikaji tomu “Pap” a ja tomu rikam “fujtajbl” (ja si z toho delam krupicovku).…nase mamka by tu jenom chodila a utirala nosy a ruce a pusy, jelikoz jsou vsichni upatlany - neustale. No nic, ze Zuze dekuju. Jestli mi chces zaemailovat svou adresu, nebo ji dej mymu tatkovi a on mi ji napise, poslu ti doopravdickej, africkej, nefalsovanej pohled No na praxi mam jeste 2.5 tydne, utece to jako voda to je mi jasny a pak jen na tyden do Kapskeho Mesta a 2.5. jsem doma. Jsem tam jenom do 6.5. atak doufam ze te uvidim ten weekend v Rakovniku! Doufam ze se mas dobre a ze te soudruzky ve skole nezlobi! Pozdravuj mamcu a Ondraska a tatku.
PA Jana.
Ok, pro Terezku, babicku, nase a vsechny ostatni pruznivce kterym me povidani krati cas v praci i v rodinnem krbu...
Zrovna jsem vcera myslela na to jak bych ti napsala dopis, ale jelikoz nemam tvou adresu a nevim jestli se dostanes na email… takze po porade s nasima a babickou ti pisu takhle. Dekuji za predchozi SMS! Jakakoliv SMS z domova potesi. Psala jsi ze mi tvoje mamca poslala balicek, rekni ji ze ji strasne dekuju, jeste nedosel, ale az dojde tak ti dam nejak vedet, a urcite si ho uziju (sama), delit se mi moc nechce :) No ba ne, mozna ze se podelim se spolubydlicimi, jelikoz jak dam jednomu decku bonbon, za 5 minut se zprava roznese a na prahu mi jich bude klepat 42 a neverila bys kolik toho snedi… vetsinou se jim dostane jenom ryze a kurete (hubenyho) a krupicovka po africku – varena ve vode, bez soli a na husto, takze se to da jist rukama, delaji si z toho koulicky a jedi spinavyma rukama, rikaji tomu “Pap” a ja tomu rikam “fujtajbl” (ja si z toho delam krupicovku).…nase mamka by tu jenom chodila a utirala nosy a ruce a pusy, jelikoz jsou vsichni upatlany - neustale. No nic, ze Zuze dekuju. Jestli mi chces zaemailovat svou adresu, nebo ji dej mymu tatkovi a on mi ji napise, poslu ti doopravdickej, africkej, nefalsovanej pohled No na praxi mam jeste 2.5 tydne, utece to jako voda to je mi jasny a pak jen na tyden do Kapskeho Mesta a 2.5. jsem doma. Jsem tam jenom do 6.5. atak doufam ze te uvidim ten weekend v Rakovniku! Doufam ze se mas dobre a ze te soudruzky ve skole nezlobi! Pozdravuj mamcu a Ondraska a tatku.
PA Jana.
Ok, pro Terezku, babicku, nase a vsechny ostatni pruznivce kterym me povidani krati cas v praci i v rodinnem krbu...
________________________________________________________________
Jsem zpet z vyletu z Mozambiku. Jsem unavena jelikoz mam spolubydlici ktera chrape jako chlap, a protoze jsem se dostavial z vyletu az v jednu rano v pondeli. Cesta tam byla delsi nez jsme predpokladaly (ja a Dorothee) a tak s patecniho koupani nebylo nic, jen vecere a ocean za tmy. V sobotu nam cestsa po “dalnici” na plaz netrvala predpokladane 2 hodiny, ale 3.5 jelikoz to neni dalnice, ale normalni okrska, kde je spousta nakladaku a ne vzdy se da predjizdet. Ale nas dekan I nasi rodice by na nas byli pysni, jelikoz jsme byly opatrne a nikam jsme nechodily, kde by to nebylo bezpecne, podle naseho odhadu… no na plazi to bylo super, co vam mam povidat, asi jsme vzichni na plazi uz byli, jen tahle je u Indickyho oceanu a nebyli na ni zadny otravny rodiny s malymi detmi se slunecniky a parky v rohliku atd., jen asi 1km od nas nejaky deti a rybari, ktery po prilivu odjeli. Chlapec co tam jezdil nakole a vyhlizel turistky se nabidl, ze nam bude hlidat auto, aby nam z nej nikdo nic neukradl, tak jsme mu dali musli tycinku… namely jsme zadny Matecais (Mozambicka mena) $20 bankovka je sice vhodna a potrebna pro parkovani u plaze v Glosteru, ale v MZ se mi to zdalo troche prehnane… proto ta musli tycinka.
SURF: Je kavarna na hlavni tride Avenue de 24 Julho v Maputu, jen tak jsme s Dor vyjely na plaz a chtely jsme kafe a ja ze je to sice asi zbytecny to pripominat jelikoz jsem kavarnu neocekavala (myslela jsem na Starbucks), ale rikam Dorothee at vyhlizi jestli na nejakou nenarazime, a asi za 30 sec. se Dor zacala smat ze asi vydela kavarnu... ok, takze jsem objevily tu nejlepsi kavarnu/cukrarnu na svete, jen abyste to vedeli. Jmenuje se Surf a je vyzdobena ve stylu pozdnich 80 let i kdyz zarizeni je nove. Ale ty velke plakaty s fotkami sortimentu z pekarenskeho prumyslu, ktere se prodavaji na miste jsou rozveseny na zdi jako to mely na rohu v Tylaku pred 20 lety. Meli skvely kafco a taky malicky dorticky s pudinkovym kremem a croissanty a taky kokosky, ktere nam zabalili s sebou na cestu abychom po ceste na plaz mely co nazub (jelikoz nam deti mezitim snedli musli tycinky... ale aspon se nam neztratilo auto, ne?)
V nedeli rano jsme vyjely hledat plaz Macaneta, ktera asi neexistuje, jelikoz jsme ji nenasly...teda ono se tam da dojet jen autem s pohonem na vsechna 4 kola, coz jsme s nasim Chicem zkusily ale samozrejme neuspely... nezapadly jsme, ale otocily jsme se pred zatackou kde uz byl jen pisek (asi metr hluboky, uprostred louky nikde nikdo... pan dekan by na nas nebyl pysny kdybychom tam zapadly...) takze jsme se vratily do Maputa a sly an plaz tam... chlapci tam pri odlivu hrali fotbal a meli i dresy, predstavte si to. Jinak to tam bylo cele relaxujici a pohodove, jako v Zambii, tak nevim asi je to jen JAR kde je to jine, ten rozdil mezi belochy a cernochy a historie aparteidu tu porad jeste strasne prekazi...
Po ceste zpet jsme nejak sjely z dalnice, nevim vubec jak se to mohlo stat, ale najednou silnicka, samy diry a kravy a kozy a anikde nikdo... ale pak jsme se zase asi po 30 minutach nasly na dalnici, fakt jak Alenka v risi Divu. Takze naase dobrodrzstvi skoncilo uspesne, nic se nestalo.... jo a zapomnela jsem dodat ze v Maputu v hostelu v sobotu jsme potkaly bandu Cechu! Byli od Hradce a z Moravy, jeli na 42 denni vylet po asi 3 zemich. Tak to jsem zasla, a oni taky.
Jo a taky nas v nedeli zastavil policajt, nevim vubec proc a reptal neco v portugalstine/anglictine ze jsme prejely do nejakyho pruhu bla bla bla, coz neni pravda, normalne jsem jela za minibusem a prejela jsem do vedlejsi lajny a on tam stal a zastavil nas... no v kazdem pripade, videl dve bily holky s SPZetkou z JARu tak tam to vosolil, prej 1 milion matecai, bylo mi to trochu divny jelokoz jsme zrovna vybraly Mt500 ($14) z bankomatu a sice jsem si to hned nespocitala ale rikam mu ze to nemam, on ze 800 000 (nebo 800) po tom co jsem mu rekla kolik mam, tak mu to ukazuju v penezence a jak mu ty prachy podavam on hmatl do auta jak je videl a zmuchlal je dal si je do kapsy...bez listecku nic. No nechal nas samozrejme jet, pak se asi s chlapama sly za nase prachy vozrat, a my to pak pocitaly, protoze mi to bylo divny a 1 mil. matecais je asi
$41000. Jo nekecam, asi si myslel ze s sebou mame kufrik nebo co..no evidentne to ukazuje na to ze korupce buji a na to co si mysli o belochach... jsme bohaty, normalne s sebou nenosime min nez 41 tisic USD, ne? Tak jsme se zasmaly a pak byly trochu nastvane, ze jsme mu vubec zastavily, (oni totiz nemeli ani auto) no a mame prihodu jako vysitou. Pak vam to prevypravim osobne:)
No takze se zatim mejte a zase mi napiste co je novyho.
Pa.
Jsem zpet z vyletu z Mozambiku. Jsem unavena jelikoz mam spolubydlici ktera chrape jako chlap, a protoze jsem se dostavial z vyletu az v jednu rano v pondeli. Cesta tam byla delsi nez jsme predpokladaly (ja a Dorothee) a tak s patecniho koupani nebylo nic, jen vecere a ocean za tmy. V sobotu nam cestsa po “dalnici” na plaz netrvala predpokladane 2 hodiny, ale 3.5 jelikoz to neni dalnice, ale normalni okrska, kde je spousta nakladaku a ne vzdy se da predjizdet. Ale nas dekan I nasi rodice by na nas byli pysni, jelikoz jsme byly opatrne a nikam jsme nechodily, kde by to nebylo bezpecne, podle naseho odhadu… no na plazi to bylo super, co vam mam povidat, asi jsme vzichni na plazi uz byli, jen tahle je u Indickyho oceanu a nebyli na ni zadny otravny rodiny s malymi detmi se slunecniky a parky v rohliku atd., jen asi 1km od nas nejaky deti a rybari, ktery po prilivu odjeli. Chlapec co tam jezdil nakole a vyhlizel turistky se nabidl, ze nam bude hlidat auto, aby nam z nej nikdo nic neukradl, tak jsme mu dali musli tycinku… namely jsme zadny Matecais (Mozambicka mena) $20 bankovka je sice vhodna a potrebna pro parkovani u plaze v Glosteru, ale v MZ se mi to zdalo troche prehnane… proto ta musli tycinka.SURF: Je kavarna na hlavni tride Avenue de 24 Julho v Maputu, jen tak jsme s Dor vyjely na plaz a chtely jsme kafe a ja ze je to sice asi zbytecny to pripominat jelikoz jsem kavarnu neocekavala (myslela jsem na Starbucks), ale rikam Dorothee at vyhlizi jestli na nejakou nenarazime, a asi za 30 sec. se Dor zacala smat ze asi vydela kavarnu... ok, takze jsem objevily tu nejlepsi kavarnu/cukrarnu na svete, jen abyste to vedeli. Jmenuje se Surf a je vyzdobena ve stylu pozdnich 80 let i kdyz zarizeni je nove. Ale ty velke plakaty s fotkami sortimentu z pekarenskeho prumyslu, ktere se prodavaji na miste jsou rozveseny na zdi jako to mely na rohu v Tylaku pred 20 lety. Meli skvely kafco a taky malicky dorticky s pudinkovym kremem a croissanty a taky kokosky, ktere nam zabalili s sebou na cestu abychom po ceste na plaz mely co nazub (jelikoz nam deti mezitim snedli musli tycinky... ale aspon se nam neztratilo auto, ne?)
V nedeli rano jsme vyjely hledat plaz Macaneta, ktera asi neexistuje, jelikoz jsme ji nenasly...teda ono se tam da dojet jen autem s pohonem na vsechna 4 kola, coz jsme s nasim Chicem zkusily ale samozrejme neuspely... nezapadly jsme, ale otocily jsme se pred zatackou kde uz byl jen pisek (asi metr hluboky, uprostred louky nikde nikdo... pan dekan by na nas nebyl pysny kdybychom tam zapadly...) takze jsme se vratily do Maputa a sly an plaz tam... chlapci tam pri odlivu hrali fotbal a meli i dresy, predstavte si to. Jinak to tam bylo cele relaxujici a pohodove, jako v Zambii, tak nevim asi je to jen JAR kde je to jine, ten rozdil mezi belochy a cernochy a historie aparteidu tu porad jeste strasne prekazi...
Po ceste zpet jsme nejak sjely z dalnice, nevim vubec jak se to mohlo stat, ale najednou silnicka, samy diry a kravy a kozy a anikde nikdo... ale pak jsme se zase asi po 30 minutach nasly na dalnici, fakt jak Alenka v risi Divu. Takze naase dobrodrzstvi skoncilo uspesne, nic se nestalo.... jo a zapomnela jsem dodat ze v Maputu v hostelu v sobotu jsme potkaly bandu Cechu! Byli od Hradce a z Moravy, jeli na 42 denni vylet po asi 3 zemich. Tak to jsem zasla, a oni taky.
Jo a taky nas v nedeli zastavil policajt, nevim vubec proc a reptal neco v portugalstine/anglictine ze jsme prejely do nejakyho pruhu bla bla bla, coz neni pravda, normalne jsem jela za minibusem a prejela jsem do vedlejsi lajny a on tam stal a zastavil nas... no v kazdem pripade, videl dve bily holky s SPZetkou z JARu tak tam to vosolil, prej 1 milion matecai, bylo mi to trochu divny jelokoz jsme zrovna vybraly Mt500 ($14) z bankomatu a sice jsem si to hned nespocitala ale rikam mu ze to nemam, on ze 800 000 (nebo 800) po tom co jsem mu rekla kolik mam, tak mu to ukazuju v penezence a jak mu ty prachy podavam on hmatl do auta jak je videl a zmuchlal je dal si je do kapsy...bez listecku nic. No nechal nas samozrejme jet, pak se asi s chlapama sly za nase prachy vozrat, a my to pak pocitaly, protoze mi to bylo divny a 1 mil. matecais je asi
$41000. Jo nekecam, asi si myslel ze s sebou mame kufrik nebo co..no evidentne to ukazuje na to ze korupce buji a na to co si mysli o belochach... jsme bohaty, normalne s sebou nenosime min nez 41 tisic USD, ne? Tak jsme se zasmaly a pak byly trochu nastvane, ze jsme mu vubec zastavily, (oni totiz nemeli ani auto) no a mame prihodu jako vysitou. Pak vam to prevypravim osobne:)
No takze se zatim mejte a zase mi napiste co je novyho.
Pa.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Mozambique
Soo all is confirmed and the girls are going to the beach! I am departing on my way on Friday morning, getting Dorothee aroung noon in White River and then it's only 2 hours to Maputo. I am a little nervous about the broder crossing, as the language of dollars is omnipotent but I don't have that many of them... We'll see, if they ask for lots more than just for a visa. However, all loose ends were tied today, after I was becoming a bit nervous yesterday having no car and no hostel to stay at... but today everyone finally replied to my emails and the car and cell phone! is being delivered on Friday morning to my house (cottage). 
Takze vse je potrvzeno, holky jedou do Mozambiku. V patek rano mi privezou auto pred barak (chaticku) i s telefonem, kolem poledne vyzvednu Dorothee ve White River a pak uz je to jen 2 hodky na plaz. Jsem zvedava na nas prechod hranic do Mozambiku, jelikoz, dolace jsou mocny jazyk a ja jich sebou moc neberu, jen ja vizum, takze doufam ze to pujde hladce a patek odpoledne stravime na plazi pred hostelem, pri zapadu slunce srkajice margaritu. Dnes se konecne vse vyresilo s autem a hostelem takze super, jede se.
Takze vse je potrvzeno, holky jedou do Mozambiku. V patek rano mi privezou auto pred barak (chaticku) i s telefonem, kolem poledne vyzvednu Dorothee ve White River a pak uz je to jen 2 hodky na plaz. Jsem zvedava na nas prechod hranic do Mozambiku, jelikoz, dolace jsou mocny jazyk a ja jich sebou moc neberu, jen ja vizum, takze doufam ze to pujde hladce a patek odpoledne stravime na plazi pred hostelem, pri zapadu slunce srkajice margaritu. Dnes se konecne vse vyresilo s autem a hostelem takze super, jede se.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sunday Sunday...
Takze dnes se nam do domecku nastehovalo 9 novejch lidi, je to skupina mladiku a maldic z Canady, GB, Ameriky a Zelandu a jeden bludny Holandan. Misto 9 rano jak nam bylo receno dorazili v 7(fakt tu neni nic jak vypada nebo jak se domluvi, snad ani kdyz za to zaplatis), takze jsem se rychle osprchla a vydala se je privitat na zaprazi. Pak jsme jim ze zbytku nasich zasob udelaly s Marion kornflaky a jogurt s bananem. Nesla nam totiz elektrika... v noci byla bourka. Takze oni po tom co prileteli ze Zelandu (posun hodin +11 oproti JAR) kde se 3 mesice pratelili museli na kafco cekat asi 2 hodky. No teda vlastne ne protoze Marion sla vedle k Amikum a oni maj v zasobe plynovy varic, no jako na tabore, fakt. Taky se nas 'chytry' koordinator vcera uplne nahodou rozhodl ze nevi co ti chudinkove budou dneska jist... min nez 24 hodin pred jejich prijezdem, coz je typicky, jelikoz je to idiot, kterej uz by v CR nebo USA byl davno vyhozenej z podniku... takze zacal litat kolem a koktat, ze co jim teda uvarime, a ja ze co bych jim mela varit ze je jim jako me a tak si uvari sami, akorat ase musi jit omacka (k tem testovinam), na to mame specialni pani, ktera nam toho vetsinu priveze polovinu... ta by taky v EU neprezila a tak on ji zavolal a kupodivu se ukazala do hodiny se spizama a bratvurstem ze pry budeme grilovat. Kdo bude grolovat, ptam se? ... Samozrejme, ja a Marion, kreten si sel samozrejme rano do kostela a nase evropska pohostinnost se postarala o vse ostatni, var pro 15 lidi... pozvali jsme i Amiky od vedle. Takze ja se ho ptam kde ze mame uhli na gril...a on ze musime vzit drevo, jenze v noci lilo jako z konve a me Marion poverila rozdelanim ohne (zlaty Dece kde to vzycky Smira nebo Podperka zaridili) no tak ja se prodrala ve svych flipflopkach pres hromadu haraburdi, abych se dostala ke drevu, ktery bylo samo sebou prochcany, a pak se snazila rozdelat ohynek, samozrejme mi to kourilo a neslo mi to pokud jsem tam porad neprihazovala siru nebo co jsem to nasla pod drezem za sajrajt... pak mi jeden (a pak druhy) 13 lety chlapec prisli pomoc...nastesti. Pak prisli kluci Amici a bylo o ohen postarano...takze me by v praveku vyhodili ze smecky, protoze je jasny, ze ja se o ohen postarat neumim. Ale nakonec jsme to pomoci ohne, panve a trouby zvladly a nakrmili 15 lidi i ty chlapce ktery mi pomahali s ohnem. No takze braai, neboli grilovani se delo a docela se to vydarilo. Amici a nase nova skupina se seznamili, jsou to vsichno krestani a tak se jim to lehce povida...
So today we had 9 new people move into our cottage. Dorothee, lives at a hospital ward all alone and I am here in our little place with full occupancy +1, with one bathroom. We were doing our best last night after the movie Savages (recommended highly) to clean up the place a little and move Marion into my bedroom since she lived in the one with 6 beds. The kids were supposed to show up at 9am, which ofcourse was not the case, as nothing is what it supposed to be here... so no surprise, they showed up at 7am, came from a three monthlong-getting-to-know-each-other retreat in New Zealand. So they flew 11 against time to find me and Marion, with no electricity, no yoghurt left for mussli, could not even offer them a coffee nothing. So we gave them some scraps of mussli and corflakes with the rest of the milk that we had, and then went to our friends next door to beg for a propane cooker. No Starbucks type of mocca, skinny, no whip super foamed, but the instant is getting better and better, let me tell ya.
Then yesterday, after we have known that these 9 lovely people are coming for weeks and the person in charge could have planned for it, the idea came to him only yesterday that we will not have enough food for them, hence we were going to have a braai, a cookout- understand We - He went to church, we cooked. Luckily it all went fine even after my adventure with setting the wet wood on fire... thank you Abby, Comfort and Brendan for helping me with that, because I already kind of gave up and started up the bratwurst on the pan...the electricity came back on in the mean time. Anyway, we were able to make it, thanks to Marion who coordinated everything and all the new people and some of our friends next door were able to have some good lunch, other than rice and salad...
So today we had 9 new people move into our cottage. Dorothee, lives at a hospital ward all alone and I am here in our little place with full occupancy +1, with one bathroom. We were doing our best last night after the movie Savages (recommended highly) to clean up the place a little and move Marion into my bedroom since she lived in the one with 6 beds. The kids were supposed to show up at 9am, which ofcourse was not the case, as nothing is what it supposed to be here... so no surprise, they showed up at 7am, came from a three monthlong-getting-to-know-each-other retreat in New Zealand. So they flew 11 against time to find me and Marion, with no electricity, no yoghurt left for mussli, could not even offer them a coffee nothing. So we gave them some scraps of mussli and corflakes with the rest of the milk that we had, and then went to our friends next door to beg for a propane cooker. No Starbucks type of mocca, skinny, no whip super foamed, but the instant is getting better and better, let me tell ya.
Then yesterday, after we have known that these 9 lovely people are coming for weeks and the person in charge could have planned for it, the idea came to him only yesterday that we will not have enough food for them, hence we were going to have a braai, a cookout- understand We - He went to church, we cooked. Luckily it all went fine even after my adventure with setting the wet wood on fire... thank you Abby, Comfort and Brendan for helping me with that, because I already kind of gave up and started up the bratwurst on the pan...the electricity came back on in the mean time. Anyway, we were able to make it, thanks to Marion who coordinated everything and all the new people and some of our friends next door were able to have some good lunch, other than rice and salad...
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Victoria Falls
So the Czech post is extremely long, so in order to save time, I will try my best to describe main points and we'll see how long it gets, we can skype and I will tell you all about it. Photos descriptions are bilingual.
Smiracku, yes, you need to read this one as well, it's gonna be different :)
I met Dorothee and Nanette on the airport in a line to pay tickets, they stole our telephone lines in the compound so I could not fax my cr.card info to the South African Airways (and I forgot to do it too), so they were trying to get on my flight and they told them it was full, so I arrived in Lusaka at 6pm, alone, with 10 empty seets in my plane and they arrived at 11PM after Ashley and I already talked and cooked dinner and watched Gangs of New York, so then we were talking some more. 
Oh, and then on Monday they had a snake on the loose in the house... Anf yes, Zambia is a malaria country hence the net. After arriving in Lusaka I finally felt like I am in Africa, the years of development (industrial) is certainly visible there, typical 80's buildings and large scale projects and industry sites...
Oh, and then on Monday they had a snake on the loose in the house... Anf yes, Zambia is a malaria country hence the net. After arriving in Lusaka I finally felt like I am in Africa, the years of development (industrial) is certainly visible there, typical 80's buildings and large scale projects and industry sites...At 5am on Friday we got up and Ashley's nice driver Emanuel took us to the bus terminal to the bus aimed for Livingstone. The ride wouldn't have taken 6 hours if only we weren't driving on local road, sometimes with holes and gravel all over the place, average speed about 50mph. If there was a highway it would have been like 4hrs tops. Well, I have just learned to embrace these things because the negative energy I emanate when I am angry takes too much out of me :)
Anyway, the first day we spent in the lodge, which for a 12$/night was awesome. Ashley knew like 6 people from Lusaka and we also met Philip, our new German friend.
There was a lot of international workers in Lusaka as well as in Livingstone - it makes me want to be one of them, but we'll see. Yes, I did not write this in the CZ post b/c I don't want to freak my parents out. So at night we took a taxi (you have to take a taxi everywhere here) to the falls to see the LUNAR RAINBOW. It was great, except my pictures are not so great, but Nanette has some good ones so we'll just have to wait for her to send them to me. Rainbow at night is like a shooting star, rare and silver and shiny, gorgeous. It is only created around full moon and it was full moon on Friday so we (Ashley) picked a good weekend to go.
So on Saturday we spent the day paddling on the ZAMBEZI and 
touched the Zimbabwe side with our paddles. The water is warm and there are hippos and corcodiles. We jumped in at one point but then had to get back in... that was a little frantic, I guess because of the possibility of crocodiles ( I could not get ovet the inflated side,and Ash and Potato had to sort of pull me in), something Penny and mom would disapprove. We got some sun and sun burn and our guide Potato (there are a lot of people with strange names here) was awesome. Ashley, god bless her, did most of the hard work in the front while I was trying my best to stir the inflatable canoe. But we did pretty good! We met bunch of Swedish education students, doing their internship in Livingstone (talk about a great spot for a placement, why am I in Lanseria?) Their feelings about the education system down here confirmed my frustrations about edu. of my kids here...Then we signed up for a booze cruise, it was Nanette's birthday, but then i think and Dor is sure of that we got on the wrong boat, either that or they market it to people like us as a booze cruise and to parents and families as the sunset cruise... anyway the drinks were free so we did not mind the bad food. I thought about the CLASS summer staff appreciation cruises from Plum Island up the coast or up the Merimack River(thank you Mindy) not even speaking about the Timberline Christmas cruise from the Boston Harber:) Well, then we went to another bar and finished the night off. Philip moved in with us and dragged in one of the futon matress's from the public space in the lodge and slept in our room.
touched the Zimbabwe side with our paddles. The water is warm and there are hippos and corcodiles. We jumped in at one point but then had to get back in... that was a little frantic, I guess because of the possibility of crocodiles ( I could not get ovet the inflated side,and Ash and Potato had to sort of pull me in), something Penny and mom would disapprove. We got some sun and sun burn and our guide Potato (there are a lot of people with strange names here) was awesome. Ashley, god bless her, did most of the hard work in the front while I was trying my best to stir the inflatable canoe. But we did pretty good! We met bunch of Swedish education students, doing their internship in Livingstone (talk about a great spot for a placement, why am I in Lanseria?) Their feelings about the education system down here confirmed my frustrations about edu. of my kids here...Then we signed up for a booze cruise, it was Nanette's birthday, but then i think and Dor is sure of that we got on the wrong boat, either that or they market it to people like us as a booze cruise and to parents and families as the sunset cruise... anyway the drinks were free so we did not mind the bad food. I thought about the CLASS summer staff appreciation cruises from Plum Island up the coast or up the Merimack River(thank you Mindy) not even speaking about the Timberline Christmas cruise from the Boston Harber:) Well, then we went to another bar and finished the night off. Philip moved in with us and dragged in one of the futon matress's from the public space in the lodge and slept in our room. Sunday we finally went to see the falls in the day light, got drenched at the Boiling Pot and met 
some more of Ashley's friends from Lusaka. There was a lot of older couples and Japanese tourists who gave us a smile when they saw us drenched coming towards us, them in their little rain coats, those will never protect them from the drenching spray from the falls.
some more of Ashley's friends from Lusaka. There was a lot of older couples and Japanese tourists who gave us a smile when they saw us drenched coming towards us, them in their little rain coats, those will never protect them from the drenching spray from the falls.Nevertheless it was fun to watch them smilling at us, you got to love to be a center of attention. Our ride back was a bit longer almost 7hrs, they (the public health dept.) stopped us to spray our hands againts supposedly foot and mouth disease, I thought it was some kind of religious Easter thing and we refused to get out of the bus, but then they threatened not to let the full bus go farther so we got out and let them to spray our hands with some chemical and then pour over them some dirty water from a bucket. My protests that we just washed our hands with a soap did not help even a bit. I just looked up the disease and there is one that is Sheep and pigs only and then one that is different which affects children, so I don't know. Well, my hands are fine, no rash or skin peeling so I guess it was fine.
Aftee arrival back to Lusaka we went to meet Ashley's friend Scott who lives the agent 007 life, in Lusaka, at 27 yo he works for the US embasy, well I don't think he carries a gun but all the perks of a foreign service seem appealing. Except I am not a US citizen.
RANDOM STUFF:
Kwacha - Zambian money. Due to inflation a cup of coffe coasts 7000 kwacha. Bus ride K65000, exhange rate K4000=$1. So yes it is relatively cheaper, but not really. Another thing was that the ATMs in Zambia are set up by some sort of Visa card monopoly system, since Master card was not accepted, so none of us could get any kwacha. So the whole weekend we spent concerning ourselves by who will pay for whom with which currency, because they took euros, dollars and rands as well. Pretty crazy. Then I ended up paying for Ashley to make up for accomodation at her place and Dor got kwacha off of Phillip for euros...go figure. Oh yes, it was Easter so exhange places were closed, should have changed money at the airport, now when I think of it.
Ok, so other than that and a 1000 other little things like the driver with the dead baboon in the trunk (which he tried to give it to us) it was fun trip, no accidents or illnesses, except Ashley's sunburn. The next adventure looks like a beach trip to Mozambique with Dorothee. it's 5 more weeks to go.
Oh, and PS: Ben Harper is holding me together at the many moments of frustration and when I don't want to listen to other people's chatter (sometimes accents are just annoying, I know who am i to say, but whatever)... some of the songs sound better in the Ipod than on the CD. Current favorite - Fight outta you, Lifeline album, the guittar in the left ear makes me want to learn to play it.
Zambie - Viktoriiny vodopady
Vylet do Zambie/Trip to Zambia
Ve ctvrtek se konecne vyjasnilo, po tom co jsme se domluvily s Annatjie na odvozu bylo rano vsechno jinak, jako ostatne vzdycky… nejede se v poledne ale v devet rano nebo tak, jelikoz auto ktere nas melo odvezt neni k mani. Po obede u jeji mamky jsme dorazily na letiste kde Marion nasledovne ukradli telefon, nechala ho na stole v tasce… Dorothee a Nannete jsem nahodne potkala ve fronte u okynka na zaplaceni letenek, kam me po vystani si fronty na check in poslala pani letuska. Holky se snazily dostat na muj let v 15:45 ale pry nebylo misto, takze musely letet az svym puvodnim letem v 19:00, ktery se opozdil az na 20:00 takze k Ashley dorazily az kolem 23:00. Muj let vubec nebyl plny, bylo to sice mini pidi letadlo asi pro 35 lidi ale aspon 9 sedadel bylo volnych, kdyby to nemeli jen tak v sesite ale na pocitaci tak by to poznali rovnou ze to letadlo plny nebylo, ne? Holky klidne mohly jet se mnou ale to uz je ted pasee.
LUSAKA: Hlavni mesto Zambie – konecne jsem v Africe! Typicke africke hl. mesto, se stavbami ze 70. a 80. let, nektere mi pripominaji Rakovnickou knihovnu ale oskivou a spinavou nebo typicke ruske komunisticke stavby, doba “rozvoje” se tu bezpochyby podepsala na mistnim prostredi. Zambie a Lusaka jsou plne zelene a stromu z ruznych koutu sveta (nebo spis podnebi), na rovine, kde se Lusaka rozprostira, neni siroko daleko nic, jen tma a stromy, kdyz jsme priletali videla jsem jen Zambezi a stromy, ani baracek ani policko. Lusaka ma asi 4 Motokovy podobne “mrakodrapy” a jinak jsou to male jednopatrove zdene/betonove budovy. Ashley bydli v casti kde bydli hodne cizincu a humanitarnich pracovniku pro ruzne organizace, jelikoz je mesto tak male zna je skoro vsechny. Kupodivu je tam nalada klidnejsi a chodit ven se v jeji casti muze bez problemu, samozrejme ne vecer. Na rozdil of Johannesburgu kde my bilou holku nikdo nikam nepustil ani za bileho dne. Na autobusovem nadrazi se mi muj dojem ze jsem v Africe potrvrdil jeste jednou, jelikoz to byl mumraj jaky jsem v 6 rano necekala. Autobus byl luxusni, a predem ocekavane dobrodruzstvi se slepicemi a lidmi vycnivajicimi ze dveri a oken autobusu se (nastesti) nekonalo. (Na zpatecni ceste autobus mel dokonce bezpecnostni pasy! Filip mel pravdu. Zato jsme tam byly jediny belosky. Ale co jsme konec koncu v Africe, ze?!) Jedine co dodat k jizde je, ze kdyby to byla opravdova dalnice a ne okrska (misty sotolina) byli bychom v Livingstonu do 4 hodin (max.) ale jsme v Africe, musime to zkratka pochopit a prijmout za sve, jinak nas to bude stvat a zkazime si tim cestu. Takze nabit Ipod, knihu pri ruce, fotak na kline, haslerky a minonky v prirucnim zavazadle, a ne dole pod autobusem v kufru kam jsem je chytre zabalila ja.
V Livingstonu jsme se potkaly s Filipem, nemcem, ktery pracuje pro Clinton Foundation. Ashleyina kamaradka nas prosila jestli bychom ho nevzaly s sebou… tak my ze jo. Byl srandovni, gestikuloval, staral se, rikal nam drahousku ... byl na kluky. Nas hostel byl skvely a vrele bych ho doporucila vsem kdo budou mit cestu na Viktoriiny vodopdy. Taky tam maji sochu, teda spis “bystu” Emila Holuba, fotka je prilozena, hned v centru u knihovny, byl prvni ktery zmapoval vodopany napsal knihy o ruznych kmenech osidlujicich jejich okoli. A ano, Holub byl Cech!
VODOPADY: Jsou skvely a je pravda ze od Zimbabwe je lepsi pohled, ale my tam nesly (z politickych duvodu), prosly jsme kolem “Kotle” kde to strikalo ze vsech stran a my byly prochcane az na kuzi, ale stalo to za to. Mesicni duha byla neuveritelna, stribrna ale barvy duhy byly lehce k rozeznani. Shodou okolnisti jsme se strefily na den kdy byl uplnek a tudiz duha byla pritomna. Vodopady jsou na rece Zambezi, asi 1700m siroke, za minutu protece asi 510milionu kubiku vody a asi 150m vysoke, ale jestli to chcete opravdu presne tak si to vyhledejte, ja si to mozna pamatuju spravne a mozna ne.
NA ZAMBEZI: V sobotu jsme venovali den vode a na aafukovacich traftech (kanoe) jsme se s tymem dalsich cizincu a trech pruvovodcu, jeden z nich se jmenoval Brambora (Potato), pribeh o jeho matce a o tom jak dostal jmeno si asi muzete sami domyslet… Jeli jsme na rece asi 28km, dotkli se i pudy Zimbabwe, prejeli par pereji, meli obidek, opalili si cuminy, videli hrochy a korkodyla, skocili do vody v obleceni a nespadli z vodopadu dolu jelikoz konec cesty byl asi 500m od vodopadu. Misty je reka siroka az 2km a je neuveritelne tepla. S Ashley nam to raftu moc hezky slo, ja ridila a ona makala, ale je dobra cely ty prvni 4 hodiny nez jsme se vystridaly ani nemukla, ale ve predu to boli, au.
RUZNE:
V Zambii se plati menou ktera diky vysoke inflaci pouziva hodne nul… takze kafe za 8000 kwacha, taxik K25000. Prevod na dolary je asi K4000=$1. K500 a K1000 jsou nejmensi bankovky, ktere maji a jsou bezcenne, nalepim si je do denicku jako dekoraci. Dale jsme cely weekend resily kdo a cim bude platit, jelikoz ani me, Nanette ani Dorothee nefungovala bankovni karta, jelikoz mame Master a v Zambii ma snad Visa monopoly nebo co. Mohly jsme s ni platit (nekde) ale nemohly vybrat penize… takze jsme neustale prevadeli na eura, dolary, randy, zpet na kwacha a jelikoz byly velikonoce, wechselstube byly zavrene a spolehat se na bankomaty se nam nevyplatilo…ale pak jsme to nejak vyresily I kdyz nase neustale nadavani na Zambijskou kwachu jako menovou jednotku a pocet nul a nedostatek mensich bankovek v obchodech nas a zpetne Ashley privadelo k silenstvi.
Lusaka je velice klidna a jina nez Johannesburg, je to mile mesto kde sice 5 minut muze znamenat 20 minut jako v Jizni Africe, ale aspon jsou tam vsichni mily a nikdo neni nervozni kvuli casu.
Prevenci proti prenosu ruznych nemoci tam berou velice vazne, v letadle po ceste tam i zpet strikaly pani letusky pouzily sprej proti???(hmyzu?) jelikoz je tam malarie a dalsi tropicke nemoci. Dale nas taky prinutili vystoupit z autobusu a vsem nam postrikali ruce nejakym sajrajtem, ktery pak hned smyli vodou z lavoru, pru proti “foot and mouth”nemoci, (neni tohle ale nemoc domacich zvirat?, musim to vyhledat.) nase protesty, ze jsme si zrovna umyly ruce mydlem, je nijak nebrali a musely jsme je nechat, aby nam postrikali ruce, ostatni, kteri na to uz asi jsou zvykli, se na nas divali jak na blazny, kteri jenom zdrzujou autobus… no nic my si pak rychle vydezinfikovali ruce gelem od Dorothee. Ale holt ochrana verejneho zdravi se musi respektovat…
No a pak uz jen na veceri s kamaradem Ashley v Lusace, kterymu je jako me 27 a pracuje pro americkou ambasadu, docela husty, baracek mu platime my poplatnici US dani a ma to i s bazenem. Taky mu to docela sluslo a s tim jeho autem si asi zije jako agent 007. Dost surrealni. V poradku jsme se vratily a nase vypada ze nase dalsi dobrodruzstvi bude vylet do Mozambiku, jen na plaz, nic divokyho.
Ve ctvrtek se konecne vyjasnilo, po tom co jsme se domluvily s Annatjie na odvozu bylo rano vsechno jinak, jako ostatne vzdycky… nejede se v poledne ale v devet rano nebo tak, jelikoz auto ktere nas melo odvezt neni k mani. Po obede u jeji mamky jsme dorazily na letiste kde Marion nasledovne ukradli telefon, nechala ho na stole v tasce… Dorothee a Nannete jsem nahodne potkala ve fronte u okynka na zaplaceni letenek, kam me po vystani si fronty na check in poslala pani letuska. Holky se snazily dostat na muj let v 15:45 ale pry nebylo misto, takze musely letet az svym puvodnim letem v 19:00, ktery se opozdil az na 20:00 takze k Ashley dorazily az kolem 23:00. Muj let vubec nebyl plny, bylo to sice mini pidi letadlo asi pro 35 lidi ale aspon 9 sedadel bylo volnych, kdyby to nemeli jen tak v sesite ale na pocitaci tak by to poznali rovnou ze to letadlo plny nebylo, ne? Holky klidne mohly jet se mnou ale to uz je ted pasee.
LUSAKA: Hlavni mesto Zambie – konecne jsem v Africe! Typicke africke hl. mesto, se stavbami ze 70. a 80. let, nektere mi pripominaji Rakovnickou knihovnu ale oskivou a spinavou nebo typicke ruske komunisticke stavby, doba “rozvoje” se tu bezpochyby podepsala na mistnim prostredi. Zambie a Lusaka jsou plne zelene a stromu z ruznych koutu sveta (nebo spis podnebi), na rovine, kde se Lusaka rozprostira, neni siroko daleko nic, jen tma a stromy, kdyz jsme priletali videla jsem jen Zambezi a stromy, ani baracek ani policko. Lusaka ma asi 4 Motokovy podobne “mrakodrapy” a jinak jsou to male jednopatrove zdene/betonove budovy. Ashley bydli v casti kde bydli hodne cizincu a humanitarnich pracovniku pro ruzne organizace, jelikoz je mesto tak male zna je skoro vsechny. Kupodivu je tam nalada klidnejsi a chodit ven se v jeji casti muze bez problemu, samozrejme ne vecer. Na rozdil of Johannesburgu kde my bilou holku nikdo nikam nepustil ani za bileho dne. Na autobusovem nadrazi se mi muj dojem ze jsem v Africe potrvrdil jeste jednou, jelikoz to byl mumraj jaky jsem v 6 rano necekala. Autobus byl luxusni, a predem ocekavane dobrodruzstvi se slepicemi a lidmi vycnivajicimi ze dveri a oken autobusu se (nastesti) nekonalo. (Na zpatecni ceste autobus mel dokonce bezpecnostni pasy! Filip mel pravdu. Zato jsme tam byly jediny belosky. Ale co jsme konec koncu v Africe, ze?!) Jedine co dodat k jizde je, ze kdyby to byla opravdova dalnice a ne okrska (misty sotolina) byli bychom v Livingstonu do 4 hodin (max.) ale jsme v Africe, musime to zkratka pochopit a prijmout za sve, jinak nas to bude stvat a zkazime si tim cestu. Takze nabit Ipod, knihu pri ruce, fotak na kline, haslerky a minonky v prirucnim zavazadle, a ne dole pod autobusem v kufru kam jsem je chytre zabalila ja.
V Livingstonu jsme se potkaly s Filipem, nemcem, ktery pracuje pro Clinton Foundation. Ashleyina kamaradka nas prosila jestli bychom ho nevzaly s sebou… tak my ze jo. Byl srandovni, gestikuloval, staral se, rikal nam drahousku ... byl na kluky. Nas hostel byl skvely a vrele bych ho doporucila vsem kdo budou mit cestu na Viktoriiny vodopdy. Taky tam maji sochu, teda spis “bystu” Emila Holuba, fotka je prilozena, hned v centru u knihovny, byl prvni ktery zmapoval vodopany napsal knihy o ruznych kmenech osidlujicich jejich okoli. A ano, Holub byl Cech!VODOPADY: Jsou skvely a je pravda ze od Zimbabwe je lepsi pohled, ale my tam nesly (z politickych duvodu), prosly jsme kolem “Kotle” kde to strikalo ze vsech stran a my byly prochcane az na kuzi, ale stalo to za to. Mesicni duha byla neuveritelna, stribrna ale barvy duhy byly lehce k rozeznani. Shodou okolnisti jsme se strefily na den kdy byl uplnek a tudiz duha byla pritomna. Vodopady jsou na rece Zambezi, asi 1700m siroke, za minutu protece asi 510milionu kubiku vody a asi 150m vysoke, ale jestli to chcete opravdu presne tak si to vyhledejte, ja si to mozna pamatuju spravne a mozna ne.
NA ZAMBEZI: V sobotu jsme venovali den vode a na aafukovacich traftech (kanoe) jsme se s tymem dalsich cizincu a trech pruvovodcu, jeden z nich se jmenoval Brambora (Potato), pribeh o jeho matce a o tom jak dostal jmeno si asi muzete sami domyslet… Jeli jsme na rece asi 28km, dotkli se i pudy Zimbabwe, prejeli par pereji, meli obidek, opalili si cuminy, videli hrochy a korkodyla, skocili do vody v obleceni a nespadli z vodopadu dolu jelikoz konec cesty byl asi 500m od vodopadu. Misty je reka siroka az 2km a je neuveritelne tepla. S Ashley nam to raftu moc hezky slo, ja ridila a ona makala, ale je dobra cely ty prvni 4 hodiny nez jsme se vystridaly ani nemukla, ale ve predu to boli, au.RUZNE:
V Zambii se plati menou ktera diky vysoke inflaci pouziva hodne nul… takze kafe za 8000 kwacha, taxik K25000. Prevod na dolary je asi K4000=$1. K500 a K1000 jsou nejmensi bankovky, ktere maji a jsou bezcenne, nalepim si je do denicku jako dekoraci. Dale jsme cely weekend resily kdo a cim bude platit, jelikoz ani me, Nanette ani Dorothee nefungovala bankovni karta, jelikoz mame Master a v Zambii ma snad Visa monopoly nebo co. Mohly jsme s ni platit (nekde) ale nemohly vybrat penize… takze jsme neustale prevadeli na eura, dolary, randy, zpet na kwacha a jelikoz byly velikonoce, wechselstube byly zavrene a spolehat se na bankomaty se nam nevyplatilo…ale pak jsme to nejak vyresily I kdyz nase neustale nadavani na Zambijskou kwachu jako menovou jednotku a pocet nul a nedostatek mensich bankovek v obchodech nas a zpetne Ashley privadelo k silenstvi.
Lusaka je velice klidna a jina nez Johannesburg, je to mile mesto kde sice 5 minut muze znamenat 20 minut jako v Jizni Africe, ale aspon jsou tam vsichni mily a nikdo neni nervozni kvuli casu.
Prevenci proti prenosu ruznych nemoci tam berou velice vazne, v letadle po ceste tam i zpet strikaly pani letusky pouzily sprej proti???(hmyzu?) jelikoz je tam malarie a dalsi tropicke nemoci. Dale nas taky prinutili vystoupit z autobusu a vsem nam postrikali ruce nejakym sajrajtem, ktery pak hned smyli vodou z lavoru, pru proti “foot and mouth”nemoci, (neni tohle ale nemoc domacich zvirat?, musim to vyhledat.) nase protesty, ze jsme si zrovna umyly ruce mydlem, je nijak nebrali a musely jsme je nechat, aby nam postrikali ruce, ostatni, kteri na to uz asi jsou zvykli, se na nas divali jak na blazny, kteri jenom zdrzujou autobus… no nic my si pak rychle vydezinfikovali ruce gelem od Dorothee. Ale holt ochrana verejneho zdravi se musi respektovat…
No a pak uz jen na veceri s kamaradem Ashley v Lusace, kterymu je jako me 27 a pracuje pro americkou ambasadu, docela husty, baracek mu platime my poplatnici US dani a ma to i s bazenem. Taky mu to docela sluslo a s tim jeho autem si asi zije jako agent 007. Dost surrealni. V poradku jsme se vratily a nase vypada ze nase dalsi dobrodruzstvi bude vylet do Mozambiku, jen na plaz, nic divokyho.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Squatter camps
Hey here are some pictures from the squatter camps, most of our children are from there...
Fotky ze slamu, nase deti odsud vetsinou pochazeji.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Thinking of you/Myslim na vas
Tento weekend je venovan premysleni a delani ukolu jelikoz prsi uz druhy den a nic jineho se tu nedeje. Na poradi nezalezi.
This weekend I spent by thinking and doing homework since it's been raining for the past two days! In no particular order.
Milenky - nase prochazky/probehy kolem lejku a debaty o praci pri pozdnich martini. Sushi a plum wine!!! Debaty na pavlaci a moje ruzove saticky. A Zakous taky:)
Sexy Jamaican -Your insight and jokes (sometimes corny:)
Our cooking lessons and the sexy Philipina, pulling Edna up on the Hoyer Lift.
Klari, nase vecery pri vinecku, psani testu z biologie lehce priopile a navstevy Baby GAP, kdyz nas vypusti do Mantry, a kdyz mi kazdy utery kolem devaty vecer zvoni telefon, Ah - skoncila skola!
Babi, tve kolace a zaviny, usmevy, smich a povidani! A jak jsi vzdycky doma kdyz prijedu a uvaris mi moje oblibene jidlo, kdykoliv si vzpomenu!
Mami, tati, Papo pejskove - My! Mamca se zlobi ze se ji nepovedly knedle, ale pak je to stejne vynikajici, Papa na to hazi bobek, nebo pracuej na baru a tata je v garazi a kuti. Maxina skrabe na dvere a Barny vyskubava oci sve nove plysove hracce. Pak mame veceri a povidame si o zivote.
Rides to VT and Red Sox couch evenings, farmers' market, North End dinners, morning coffee and you bringing me those little maple covered doghnuts that they stopped making :)
Keljovka a Rosulka -Drby, smich, hospody, hodne caje, paleni sesitu z matematiky, bleskove esemesky, stredni skola (no ta mi vlastne nechybi) :)
This weekend I spent by thinking and doing homework since it's been raining for the past two days! In no particular order.
Milenky - nase prochazky/probehy kolem lejku a debaty o praci pri pozdnich martini. Sushi a plum wine!!! Debaty na pavlaci a moje ruzove saticky. A Zakous taky:)
Sexy Jamaican -Your insight and jokes (sometimes corny:)
Our cooking lessons and the sexy Philipina, pulling Edna up on the Hoyer Lift.
Klari, nase vecery pri vinecku, psani testu z biologie lehce priopile a navstevy Baby GAP, kdyz nas vypusti do Mantry, a kdyz mi kazdy utery kolem devaty vecer zvoni telefon, Ah - skoncila skola!
Babi, tve kolace a zaviny, usmevy, smich a povidani! A jak jsi vzdycky doma kdyz prijedu a uvaris mi moje oblibene jidlo, kdykoliv si vzpomenu!
Mami, tati, Papo pejskove - My! Mamca se zlobi ze se ji nepovedly knedle, ale pak je to stejne vynikajici, Papa na to hazi bobek, nebo pracuej na baru a tata je v garazi a kuti. Maxina skrabe na dvere a Barny vyskubava oci sve nove plysove hracce. Pak mame veceri a povidame si o zivote.Rides to VT and Red Sox couch evenings, farmers' market, North End dinners, morning coffee and you bringing me those little maple covered doghnuts that they stopped making :)
Keljovka a Rosulka -Drby, smich, hospody, hodne caje, paleni sesitu z matematiky, bleskove esemesky, stredni skola (no ta mi vlastne nechybi) :)
Bye Caroline!
Caroline was my roommate for the past 6 weeks. She was a nurse from Northern Ireland whos accent I could not understand at first. I will miss our debates about the HBCT and your mosquito prevention strategies which helped me not to get bitten either!
Hope to see you at Octoberfest in Munchen!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Kruger NP/NP Kruger
Dorothee jsem slibila ze prijedem kolem 17hod. Cesta trva asi 4.5 hod. Zacaly jsme tak, ze jsme se museli vracet protoze jsme zapomnely nechat klice od chaty nasemu koordinatorovi, ale on si za to mohl sam, mel mit svoje. Zpozdeni - 20 minut. Pak jsme sly s Caroline do obchodaku, potrebovaly jsme trochu zasob, bonbony, suseny ovoce, colu pro Marion, na postu (kdybychom se nahodou nevratily): zpozdeni: 1 hodina. Pak jsme odvezly Caroline do jejiho bytu a jely jsme smerem k dalnici ktera mela hned za rohem, nejze nam nikdo nerek ze je to za rohem a my jely rovne, nemely jsme mapu Johannesburgu ale jen Jizni Afriky, ztratily jsme se centru, zpozdeni 45min. Nebojte auto bylo zamceny kdyz jsme projizdely ghettem. Nez jsme se dostali na dalnici na kterou jsme potrebovaly bylo 14hod. Zastavka na kafe se zvrhla v pozdni obed, zpozdeni: 1hod. "Dalnice" se po zaplaceni cla 300kc zmenila na tri proudou silnici ktera vedla mezi krasne zelenymi kopci. K Dorothee na kliniku jsme dorazily po zapadu slunce cemuz jsem se snazila od rana vyhnout. Mely pro nas propravenou veceri a tak to slo. Na severu je vedro a dusno, nespaly jsme. Bylo tam velice utulno a do sprchy mi oknem spadl maly chameleon. Roztomile sebou splouchnul o zem a snazil se vylezt po mokrych dlazdickach. Neuspesne.
Rano jsme vyrazily v 7 a dorazily k brane parku za dve hodky, jeli jsme vic na sever nez jsem myslela. Po dvou hodinach rozhlizeni se po zveri jsme videly zebry a spoustu zpevneho ptactva, sloni zadni.
Zato mraky a priroda krasne. Po trech hodinach pozorovani me zacaly bolet oci a hlava. S auta se vylezat nesmi a pak jsme potkaly nadsene turistu kteri nam rekli ze po asi 2km narazime na zver a ze pak po 2oom se na strome sluni leopard. Tak jsme nadsene vyrazily a po dlouhem hledani jsme objevily leoparda u silnice, prebehl silnicku a vydal se do bushe, po druhem podrobnem zkoumani jsme dosly k zaveru ze to nebyl leopard ale cheetah, mensi odruda... ale taky se v parku nevidi kazdy den... na rozdil od slonu, my to stesti na slony ale v sobotu nemely.
Vecer jsme sly s Marion na vecerni jizdu parkem, videli jsme hyeny, jsou velky jak bernardyn a oci jim svitili ve svetlech nasich reflektoru. PO chvili jizdy jsem si uvedomila ze jsem za tu jizdu nikdy zeplatila... Uuups.
V 5:38 rano jsme potom opet vyrazily, nasli jsme lvi a videli jak lvice vyrazila za stromy, po asi 20 vterinach jsme slysely kvileni kozoroha, chytla ho a meli ho s rodinkou k veceri, teda k snidani. Hotova lvice Elza. Pak jsme videly spoustu zeber, prase bradavicnate, zirafy, pohledly na Mozambik z posedu, jelikoz Kruger NP souseni s Limpopo NP ktery se uz nachazi v Mozambiku.
Sloni porad zadni, nakonec jsme si rekly ze kdo prvni uvidi slony dostane bonbon, tak ja koukala jako diva i kdyz to byly moje bonbony. No nakonec jsem vyhrala ale jen proto ze jsme videly auta u silnice ktera uz pred nami ty slony objevila. Takze nakonec i ti slovi vysli. Skvele. Nemusim vam rikat ze po prvnich trech hodinach nic nevideni, jsem pokladala zadny stin za lva a kazdy vetsi stin na slona... ale pak to stejne nakonec vyslo. Opel Corsa neni to nejlepsi auto na pozorovani dive zvere, pokud mohu doporucit tak neco vetsiho, vys od zeme, jelikoz trava je vysoka a vegetace husta.
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So this past Friday we set out on a trip to Fruger NP. The trip is usually about 4.5 hour drive, just like to VT in a snow storm. We were extremely happy to rent our Open Corsa, since the trips to the outside of our compund are highly random and restricted to the mall and back.
After leaving all excited, we forgot to leave keys from our cottage so we had to go back. Delay: 20 min. Then we had to go the mall, ofcourse, since we were out on our own to buy candy and stuff for the road. I really like sour candy, just an FYI. Specially ahere with all the salads we eat, sugar has been essential.
The mall delayed us a little, and then after dropping off Caroline we kind of got lost in JoBurg since the highway was supposed ot be right there, except Caroline's aunt forgot to say around the corner, after going straigt for about five minutes we knew we were lost. 45 minutes later, I finally found a road on the map that was actually infront of us as well as marked on the map and we got on our way. The feeling that we will have to look for Dorothee's clinic in the dark, in the mountains was creeping upon me. Half way through we stoppen for a coffee, and a milk shake - milkshakes are very popular here in SA. The coffee break turned into an hour delay. Yes, we are definitelly arriving in the dark. After paying 15USD for tolls on the highway the road became a Rt.1 type without the fence. However, with a very beautiful landscape consinsting of green hills rock formations.
Dorothee's directions worked well and although we arrived in the town in the dark we found it. Their place looks much cuter than ours and more focused and well run. The weather is hotter in the north, and we did not sleep. I cute little gecko plopped on the floor of the bathroom just as soon as I was getting out. He was desperately trying to climb the slippery steemed up walls.
7am was our departure time and 9am arrival time at the Orpen gate. Driving on the left side is great, everyone should experience it. We made the mistake of not following the water, actually we did attemt to do that , but it was all dried up. After about 2hrs of seeing one pack of zebras all we saw were birds, ( I thought of Kim a lot on this trip). Then we met these excited tourists who told us about the masses of animals that are awaiting us around the corner, and a leopard chilling on the tree, just past the pickinic place... we headed that direction as fast as the park speed limit on teh dirt road allowed us a whole 20mph.
In the mean time the leopard got off the tree and rested by the road, as she saw up she ran accross and then deep into the forest. After a second look and comparing notes with others we came to a conclusion that it was a leopard after all but a cheetah, also rare sighting though.
Still no elephants though. I was not going to be discouraged because Dorothee kept saying that everytime she comes to the park (past two times) she was a lot of them, although they have just killed some off, I hoped it was not the ones I was supposed to see this weekend.
Marion and I went on a night drive with the rangers and after seeing hyennas (which are BTW as big as a St. Bernard's dog) we almost ran over a male lion resting on teh road in front of us, he just ate so impall since his belly was huge and he could not even breath. It almost looked as if the rangers just put him there so that we see something, since we saw less than I expected. He was like a statue of honor and power, it was great to see him, and he did even mind, as he put his head down and went to sleep.
At 5:38am, after a dream about a lion, we left for the morning search. Sun rises and sun sets as well as clouds here in SA are gorgeous. The light made the grass silver and the shades all looked like animals, so I think I drove the girls a bit crazy because I saw lions and elephants next to every bush.
We came upon a lion family after the people who thought they saw somehting left teh spot. She came out and behind her a baby, and then the daddy. She waited and then started running behind a tree and bushes where we could not see, then we heart what she went to do, breakfast time - the impalla cried a lot before it was over. The lions were not going to go hungry that morning. Amazing, wouldn't want to see it though.
After getting a bit discouraged by the lack of elephants we did actually see a few and from pretty close. After announcing a contest involving candy for an elephant sighting we all looked desperately out of the windows... of course we only saw them because hte cars were stopped at the side of the road. Then we also saw another lioness, but after our night and morning experience that was just another lion, I know, how could we.
The only thing to recommend is to take an SUV with you instead of a tiny Opel Corsa rental :) I know you know how I feel about SUVs but just this one time, I could have used one.
Rano jsme vyrazily v 7 a dorazily k brane parku za dve hodky, jeli jsme vic na sever nez jsem myslela. Po dvou hodinach rozhlizeni se po zveri jsme videly zebry a spoustu zpevneho ptactva, sloni zadni.
Zato mraky a priroda krasne. Po trech hodinach pozorovani me zacaly bolet oci a hlava. S auta se vylezat nesmi a pak jsme potkaly nadsene turistu kteri nam rekli ze po asi 2km narazime na zver a ze pak po 2oom se na strome sluni leopard. Tak jsme nadsene vyrazily a po dlouhem hledani jsme objevily leoparda u silnice, prebehl silnicku a vydal se do bushe, po druhem podrobnem zkoumani jsme dosly k zaveru ze to nebyl leopard ale cheetah, mensi odruda... ale taky se v parku nevidi kazdy den... na rozdil od slonu, my to stesti na slony ale v sobotu nemely.
Vecer jsme sly s Marion na vecerni jizdu parkem, videli jsme hyeny, jsou velky jak bernardyn a oci jim svitili ve svetlech nasich reflektoru. PO chvili jizdy jsem si uvedomila ze jsem za tu jizdu nikdy zeplatila... Uuups.
V 5:38 rano jsme potom opet vyrazily, nasli jsme lvi a videli jak lvice vyrazila za stromy, po asi 20 vterinach jsme slysely kvileni kozoroha, chytla ho a meli ho s rodinkou k veceri, teda k snidani. Hotova lvice Elza. Pak jsme videly spoustu zeber, prase bradavicnate, zirafy, pohledly na Mozambik z posedu, jelikoz Kruger NP souseni s Limpopo NP ktery se uz nachazi v Mozambiku.
Sloni porad zadni, nakonec jsme si rekly ze kdo prvni uvidi slony dostane bonbon, tak ja koukala jako diva i kdyz to byly moje bonbony. No nakonec jsem vyhrala ale jen proto ze jsme videly auta u silnice ktera uz pred nami ty slony objevila. Takze nakonec i ti slovi vysli. Skvele. Nemusim vam rikat ze po prvnich trech hodinach nic nevideni, jsem pokladala zadny stin za lva a kazdy vetsi stin na slona... ale pak to stejne nakonec vyslo. Opel Corsa neni to nejlepsi auto na pozorovani dive zvere, pokud mohu doporucit tak neco vetsiho, vys od zeme, jelikoz trava je vysoka a vegetace husta.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So this past Friday we set out on a trip to Fruger NP. The trip is usually about 4.5 hour drive, just like to VT in a snow storm. We were extremely happy to rent our Open Corsa, since the trips to the outside of our compund are highly random and restricted to the mall and back.
After leaving all excited, we forgot to leave keys from our cottage so we had to go back. Delay: 20 min. Then we had to go the mall, ofcourse, since we were out on our own to buy candy and stuff for the road. I really like sour candy, just an FYI. Specially ahere with all the salads we eat, sugar has been essential.
The mall delayed us a little, and then after dropping off Caroline we kind of got lost in JoBurg since the highway was supposed ot be right there, except Caroline's aunt forgot to say around the corner, after going straigt for about five minutes we knew we were lost. 45 minutes later, I finally found a road on the map that was actually infront of us as well as marked on the map and we got on our way. The feeling that we will have to look for Dorothee's clinic in the dark, in the mountains was creeping upon me. Half way through we stoppen for a coffee, and a milk shake - milkshakes are very popular here in SA. The coffee break turned into an hour delay. Yes, we are definitelly arriving in the dark. After paying 15USD for tolls on the highway the road became a Rt.1 type without the fence. However, with a very beautiful landscape consinsting of green hills rock formations.
Dorothee's directions worked well and although we arrived in the town in the dark we found it. Their place looks much cuter than ours and more focused and well run. The weather is hotter in the north, and we did not sleep. I cute little gecko plopped on the floor of the bathroom just as soon as I was getting out. He was desperately trying to climb the slippery steemed up walls.
7am was our departure time and 9am arrival time at the Orpen gate. Driving on the left side is great, everyone should experience it. We made the mistake of not following the water, actually we did attemt to do that , but it was all dried up. After about 2hrs of seeing one pack of zebras all we saw were birds, ( I thought of Kim a lot on this trip). Then we met these excited tourists who told us about the masses of animals that are awaiting us around the corner, and a leopard chilling on the tree, just past the pickinic place... we headed that direction as fast as the park speed limit on teh dirt road allowed us a whole 20mph.
In the mean time the leopard got off the tree and rested by the road, as she saw up she ran accross and then deep into the forest. After a second look and comparing notes with others we came to a conclusion that it was a leopard after all but a cheetah, also rare sighting though.
Still no elephants though. I was not going to be discouraged because Dorothee kept saying that everytime she comes to the park (past two times) she was a lot of them, although they have just killed some off, I hoped it was not the ones I was supposed to see this weekend.
Marion and I went on a night drive with the rangers and after seeing hyennas (which are BTW as big as a St. Bernard's dog) we almost ran over a male lion resting on teh road in front of us, he just ate so impall since his belly was huge and he could not even breath. It almost looked as if the rangers just put him there so that we see something, since we saw less than I expected. He was like a statue of honor and power, it was great to see him, and he did even mind, as he put his head down and went to sleep.
At 5:38am, after a dream about a lion, we left for the morning search. Sun rises and sun sets as well as clouds here in SA are gorgeous. The light made the grass silver and the shades all looked like animals, so I think I drove the girls a bit crazy because I saw lions and elephants next to every bush.
We came upon a lion family after the people who thought they saw somehting left teh spot. She came out and behind her a baby, and then the daddy. She waited and then started running behind a tree and bushes where we could not see, then we heart what she went to do, breakfast time - the impalla cried a lot before it was over. The lions were not going to go hungry that morning. Amazing, wouldn't want to see it though.
After getting a bit discouraged by the lack of elephants we did actually see a few and from pretty close. After announcing a contest involving candy for an elephant sighting we all looked desperately out of the windows... of course we only saw them because hte cars were stopped at the side of the road. Then we also saw another lioness, but after our night and morning experience that was just another lion, I know, how could we.
The only thing to recommend is to take an SUV with you instead of a tiny Opel Corsa rental :) I know you know how I feel about SUVs but just this one time, I could have used one.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Monday again/A zase pondeli
So it happens that I am posting most of the time on Mondays, or it seems like it, and I only remember what happened during the weekend. Except this time I remember last week as well! Perhaps because I did not just sit at a computer writting day cre curriculum, I but I actually did stuff outside . . . yes I was weeding our orchard on Wednesday morning, then it luckily started raining, because I was told, "Oh gloves, noooo sorry." So my hands are actually broken down a bit and I have a blister from pulling those weeds. Luckily I was not alone in the situation and Brendan and I were just loving it all, especially all the prickly ones :) Those had to go onto a special pile, because they are actually poisoneous... and it hurts when they prick you. Then it started raining, one of our daily storms came a bit early so we absolutely could not continue and luckily Willemijn's boyfriend came to get her (they were leaving for Holland the next day) so he took us for lunch to our most favorite Maggie's farm and we had the luxury of taking a ride there, because we usually walk the three mile trip of road, hoping the crazy drivers will not run us over.
Then Willeminj left :( and today we forgot to put beet root on our shopping list, because she was the one who always wrote it down, she loves beet root!
Thursday Penny, my teacher from Boston came to see me. I was patiently expecting her sipping my morning tea (that was before we lost electricity on Friday PM). She spent the day with me and excused herself at 4pm, she had to go to a clinic, she though she may have malaria... but did not tell me the whole day about it and I must have made a hole in her brain by talking the whole time she was here.
Then I went to pull more weeds and did I pretty good job, although I broke the blister I had on my hand and made it worse. But it's better now, don't worry.
During the weekend we did not have electricity and so we begged people to take us out to movies/dinner since we ate salads all the time and it does get to you after a while. So we got a ride to the mall (twice) and saw Atonement and PS: I love you, both pretty good, except the whole thing with getting rides is getting out of hand... a) it's expensive, b) some people here think that God knows what we are doing out there, two days in a row, c) we got locked out on Saturday, we are not sure what happened, but probably communication mistake on each side of the fence. Then the driver on Saturday probably thought we ripped him off, since we bargained for R300 for the ride, he originally wanted R500, yes, we are white, but we are volunteers (student volunteer in my case) but that does not concern him. The fact that we wanted him to come and pick us up at 11pm, after the movie was finished was the last thing he needed to hear from us... and we were actually 15 minutes late, since the movie lasted a bit longer, so what, I though we are on African time...
And then we got our electricity back . . . or somewhere around there...
Ok, takze jsem ted vsechno rekla v AJ a opravdu me nebavi to prepisovat, ale to se mi minule stalo kdyz jsem to nejdriv napsala v CJ takze se nezlobte ze to rikam.
Je zase pondeli a ja se nachazim v pocitacove ucebne a pisu na blog. Nekteri z vas ho jeste nevideli, jak jsem se dozvedela, ale to je jedno, ja vam treba zaemailuju. Mozna.
Nejak si nepamatuju nic jineho nez ty nase weekendy, ovsem tento tyden jsem se polepsila a dokonce si pamatuju i stredu a ctvrtek a patek...jak by taky ne, ve stredu jsme byli v nasem budoucim sadu a pleli. Bylo to skvely, vsechny ty pichavky musely na zvlastni hromadu a tak jsem se s ostatnima modlila (ano uz se mi to i stava, ma to tady na me spatny vliv) aby se ten tmavej mrak priblizil co nejdriv a zacalo bourit, On :) nebo spis fyzikalni zakony tlaku a teploty me modleni vyslysely a kolem 11 zacalo opravdu prset. Skvely! Takze jsme se museli odebrat domu kde jsme netrpelive vyckavaly(Marion, ja, Caroline a Wilemina) az prijede pritel Wileminy, ktery ji mel ten den shodou okolnosti odvest domu... priletel si pro ni z Holandska, jelikoz dal vypoved v praci a jeho kamos co je pilotem u KLM mu zaridil letenku... jen tak pro zajimavost. Takze on i s tim pilotem pak prijeli a vzali nas vsechny na obed, do Maggie's Farm coz je takova mala restaurace u silnice, je tak krasny rybnicek a skvele tam vari, vypada to tam trochu jak ve Vermontu. No pak Wilemina odjela a my zapomnely pripsat repu na nas listek, takze nam ji dnes zapomneli koupit... teda nezapomneli, my zapomnely... vite co myslim.
Pak ve CT prijela Penny, moje souska ucitelka z Bostnu, ktera objizdela studenky v Africe, na Asii a J. Ameriku ji dekan uz prachy nedal, coz uplne chapu, taky bych to jeji cestovani moc nepodporovala, kdybych byla dekanem. No stravila se mnou cely den, ja ji asi vyklovala diru do hlavy protoze jsem nezavrela pusu od te chvile co dorazila v 9:30 rano. Kolem 16:00 se omluvila ze bude muset na kliniku ze si mysli ze ma malarii, priletela totiz ze Zambie a to je region, kde se malarie vyskytuje... takze pak odjela a jeste jsem od ni neslysela tak doufam ze malarii nemela, i kdyz ona to zjistila brzo takze by to snad s pomoci leku nedopadlo tak zle. Dnes mela jet za Dorothee do White River, na severu JAR, kam se chystame s Marion v patek, jelikoz ji jedeme navstivit, jelikoz je na praxi na klinice, ktera je hned u NP Kruger. Takze po velkem vybirani a premysleni zda tam letet nebo jet autobusem, jsme si najali auto a pojedem tedy na vylet a na slony, gepardy a lvy a taky za komary, jelikoz tam na severu je taky oblast, kde se vyskytuje malarie...
No a v patek navecer byla strasna bourka a uhodil nam blesk do transformatoru, ktery se shodou okolnosti nachazi hned za nasi kuchyni a my byli asi dva dny bez elektriky...viz ty salaty a taky voda...dzus nam dosel v patek vecer. Takze jsme prosili kdekoho, aby nas hodil do obchodaku, centra vseho deni tady v Johannesburgu (resp. v okolnich prilehlych oblastech) abychom mohly na capuccino (ano zacala jsem tu pit kafe viz nez normalne) a taky do kina, jelikoz co delat v katolickym tabore po setmeni, bez elektriky...babo rad, tak jsme prisli na kino.
No vyslo nam to ze jsme vyjely v PA i v SO, i kdyz v SO jsme museli platit vic za odvoz, protoze to byl normalni taxik a stejne nas asi nesnasi a asi uz nas nikdy nikam nevezme, jelikoz jsme ho nejen usmlouvaly, ale taky nas musel odvest vecer az po kine ktery koncilo ve 23:15, my mu rekly v jedenact, on tam byl dokonce na cas (v JAR neobvykle), ale my ne jelikoz kino koncilo v 23:15, no a co myslela jsem ze jsme ted na Africkym case, vsichni jsou porad vsude pozde a my se ani jednou nemuzeme opozdit? Ten film za to stal, ale on to moc nepochopil... na jak rikam toho jsme videly poprve a naposledy.
No a jinak nic moc, elektriku nam zase zpravili, a pak nam ji zase v nedeli vecer vypli aby cela zeme usetrila jelikoz nemaji dostatek zasob elektriky... ale to je jiny pribeh.
Foto z narodniho parku Kruger, pristi tyden! Chybite mi!!!
Babi - Vsechno nejlepsi k narozeninam!!! Ja nezapomenu a napisu SMS! Pusinky!
Then Willeminj left :( and today we forgot to put beet root on our shopping list, because she was the one who always wrote it down, she loves beet root!
Thursday Penny, my teacher from Boston came to see me. I was patiently expecting her sipping my morning tea (that was before we lost electricity on Friday PM). She spent the day with me and excused herself at 4pm, she had to go to a clinic, she though she may have malaria... but did not tell me the whole day about it and I must have made a hole in her brain by talking the whole time she was here.
Then I went to pull more weeds and did I pretty good job, although I broke the blister I had on my hand and made it worse. But it's better now, don't worry.
During the weekend we did not have electricity and so we begged people to take us out to movies/dinner since we ate salads all the time and it does get to you after a while. So we got a ride to the mall (twice) and saw Atonement and PS: I love you, both pretty good, except the whole thing with getting rides is getting out of hand... a) it's expensive, b) some people here think that God knows what we are doing out there, two days in a row, c) we got locked out on Saturday, we are not sure what happened, but probably communication mistake on each side of the fence. Then the driver on Saturday probably thought we ripped him off, since we bargained for R300 for the ride, he originally wanted R500, yes, we are white, but we are volunteers (student volunteer in my case) but that does not concern him. The fact that we wanted him to come and pick us up at 11pm, after the movie was finished was the last thing he needed to hear from us... and we were actually 15 minutes late, since the movie lasted a bit longer, so what, I though we are on African time...
And then we got our electricity back . . . or somewhere around there...
Ok, takze jsem ted vsechno rekla v AJ a opravdu me nebavi to prepisovat, ale to se mi minule stalo kdyz jsem to nejdriv napsala v CJ takze se nezlobte ze to rikam.
Je zase pondeli a ja se nachazim v pocitacove ucebne a pisu na blog. Nekteri z vas ho jeste nevideli, jak jsem se dozvedela, ale to je jedno, ja vam treba zaemailuju. Mozna.
Nejak si nepamatuju nic jineho nez ty nase weekendy, ovsem tento tyden jsem se polepsila a dokonce si pamatuju i stredu a ctvrtek a patek...jak by taky ne, ve stredu jsme byli v nasem budoucim sadu a pleli. Bylo to skvely, vsechny ty pichavky musely na zvlastni hromadu a tak jsem se s ostatnima modlila (ano uz se mi to i stava, ma to tady na me spatny vliv) aby se ten tmavej mrak priblizil co nejdriv a zacalo bourit, On :) nebo spis fyzikalni zakony tlaku a teploty me modleni vyslysely a kolem 11 zacalo opravdu prset. Skvely! Takze jsme se museli odebrat domu kde jsme netrpelive vyckavaly(Marion, ja, Caroline a Wilemina) az prijede pritel Wileminy, ktery ji mel ten den shodou okolnosti odvest domu... priletel si pro ni z Holandska, jelikoz dal vypoved v praci a jeho kamos co je pilotem u KLM mu zaridil letenku... jen tak pro zajimavost. Takze on i s tim pilotem pak prijeli a vzali nas vsechny na obed, do Maggie's Farm coz je takova mala restaurace u silnice, je tak krasny rybnicek a skvele tam vari, vypada to tam trochu jak ve Vermontu. No pak Wilemina odjela a my zapomnely pripsat repu na nas listek, takze nam ji dnes zapomneli koupit... teda nezapomneli, my zapomnely... vite co myslim.
Pak ve CT prijela Penny, moje souska ucitelka z Bostnu, ktera objizdela studenky v Africe, na Asii a J. Ameriku ji dekan uz prachy nedal, coz uplne chapu, taky bych to jeji cestovani moc nepodporovala, kdybych byla dekanem. No stravila se mnou cely den, ja ji asi vyklovala diru do hlavy protoze jsem nezavrela pusu od te chvile co dorazila v 9:30 rano. Kolem 16:00 se omluvila ze bude muset na kliniku ze si mysli ze ma malarii, priletela totiz ze Zambie a to je region, kde se malarie vyskytuje... takze pak odjela a jeste jsem od ni neslysela tak doufam ze malarii nemela, i kdyz ona to zjistila brzo takze by to snad s pomoci leku nedopadlo tak zle. Dnes mela jet za Dorothee do White River, na severu JAR, kam se chystame s Marion v patek, jelikoz ji jedeme navstivit, jelikoz je na praxi na klinice, ktera je hned u NP Kruger. Takze po velkem vybirani a premysleni zda tam letet nebo jet autobusem, jsme si najali auto a pojedem tedy na vylet a na slony, gepardy a lvy a taky za komary, jelikoz tam na severu je taky oblast, kde se vyskytuje malarie...
No a v patek navecer byla strasna bourka a uhodil nam blesk do transformatoru, ktery se shodou okolnosti nachazi hned za nasi kuchyni a my byli asi dva dny bez elektriky...viz ty salaty a taky voda...dzus nam dosel v patek vecer. Takze jsme prosili kdekoho, aby nas hodil do obchodaku, centra vseho deni tady v Johannesburgu (resp. v okolnich prilehlych oblastech) abychom mohly na capuccino (ano zacala jsem tu pit kafe viz nez normalne) a taky do kina, jelikoz co delat v katolickym tabore po setmeni, bez elektriky...babo rad, tak jsme prisli na kino.
No vyslo nam to ze jsme vyjely v PA i v SO, i kdyz v SO jsme museli platit vic za odvoz, protoze to byl normalni taxik a stejne nas asi nesnasi a asi uz nas nikdy nikam nevezme, jelikoz jsme ho nejen usmlouvaly, ale taky nas musel odvest vecer az po kine ktery koncilo ve 23:15, my mu rekly v jedenact, on tam byl dokonce na cas (v JAR neobvykle), ale my ne jelikoz kino koncilo v 23:15, no a co myslela jsem ze jsme ted na Africkym case, vsichni jsou porad vsude pozde a my se ani jednou nemuzeme opozdit? Ten film za to stal, ale on to moc nepochopil... na jak rikam toho jsme videly poprve a naposledy.
No a jinak nic moc, elektriku nam zase zpravili, a pak nam ji zase v nedeli vecer vypli aby cela zeme usetrila jelikoz nemaji dostatek zasob elektriky... ale to je jiny pribeh.
Foto z narodniho parku Kruger, pristi tyden! Chybite mi!!!
Babi - Vsechno nejlepsi k narozeninam!!! Ja nezapomenu a napisu SMS! Pusinky!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Vylet na Kloofwater/Hike in Kloofwater
Dnes jsme konecne vyjeli na dlouho ocekavany vylet. Nevedela jsem kam ani jak dlouha bude tura, na coz jsem si uz konec koncu docela zvykla, vsechno je tak trochu prekvapeni a nic neni tak jak se napoprve zda. Tak jsem zabalila dva chleby, tri tatranky, nechala si zmrznout vodu pres noc, a taky naplasti, kdyby neco. Jasny sokolik, Vzdy pripraven! Vyjeli jsme v sedm tak jak jsme se domluvili a asi po hodine jizdy na severozapad, jsme dorazili do tabora, Kloofwater. Je to velikansky pozemek (tentokrat nevim rozlohu, ktery vlastni dve university z Johannesburgu.) Posilaji sem deti na skoleni a propujcujou zarizeni i jinym skupinam. My vyuzili jejich pruvodce Michaela and Sammyho a vysli do terenu.
Zprvu to vypadalo ze pujdeme po travnate nahorni plosine ale asi po 30 min jsme dosli ke kanonu. Bylo to tam dole jako v zacarovanem lese. Sli jsme kolem potoka a prodirali se kolem padlych stromu, a krome sestupu a vystupu to nebylo moc narocne zato pohledy staly zato. Aloe rostly ze skal a taky tam rostly takovy cerveny houbicky, ve tvaru hvezdice ktere mely uprostred vlhke hnede kolecko, vypadaly jedovate, ale krasne. Sdilim je v sekci fotky, jak uz jste si jiste zvykli. Skalam zdar!
Today we set out on the long planned hike. As usualy we did not have exactly the perfect picture about where and for how long we were going so I pack like for a 5-6 hour tour, froze my water and packed some extra granola bars and bandaids. We left as planned at seven and after an hour we came to a camp/training center for two JoBurg universities, which also own the land, I think. We borrowed their tour guids Sammy and Michael. At first it looked like we will hike in like a plato/grasslands but after about 30 min we arrived at this beautiful gorge/canyon, we descended and took a trip along the brook on the bottomof teh canyon. It looked like in an enchanted forest, I was waiting for a fairy to fly around, no fairies, but weird star-like mushrooms with a brown wet middle were abundant. Aloe plants grew in the walls of the rocks. Except the climbing up and down which was pretty hardcore (for a Sunday hike) the walk in the canyon was just plain pleasant. Pics are posted under photos as you may have guessed.
Go climb!
Zprvu to vypadalo ze pujdeme po travnate nahorni plosine ale asi po 30 min jsme dosli ke kanonu. Bylo to tam dole jako v zacarovanem lese. Sli jsme kolem potoka a prodirali se kolem padlych stromu, a krome sestupu a vystupu to nebylo moc narocne zato pohledy staly zato. Aloe rostly ze skal a taky tam rostly takovy cerveny houbicky, ve tvaru hvezdice ktere mely uprostred vlhke hnede kolecko, vypadaly jedovate, ale krasne. Sdilim je v sekci fotky, jak uz jste si jiste zvykli. Skalam zdar!
Today we set out on the long planned hike. As usualy we did not have exactly the perfect picture about where and for how long we were going so I pack like for a 5-6 hour tour, froze my water and packed some extra granola bars and bandaids. We left as planned at seven and after an hour we came to a camp/training center for two JoBurg universities, which also own the land, I think. We borrowed their tour guids Sammy and Michael. At first it looked like we will hike in like a plato/grasslands but after about 30 min we arrived at this beautiful gorge/canyon, we descended and took a trip along the brook on the bottomof teh canyon. It looked like in an enchanted forest, I was waiting for a fairy to fly around, no fairies, but weird star-like mushrooms with a brown wet middle were abundant. Aloe plants grew in the walls of the rocks. Except the climbing up and down which was pretty hardcore (for a Sunday hike) the walk in the canyon was just plain pleasant. Pics are posted under photos as you may have guessed.Go climb!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Gatorade Limon via IV
So after being so cranky in the morning on Monday, maybe you even felt it from the post, I went down with a fever of 102F later that afternoon, and with diarrhea and vomitting, African style later that night. The local clinic staffed by a nurse and a Doc. on the phone gave me Panadol to make the fever go away and told me to come back tomorrow morning in case it does not get better. I must have looked like a nutcase to the doctor on the phone because I was crying (b/c of the fever) and she was thinking, I felt like, if she should assess for a phychological breakdown of some sort. I did explain to her that I cry when I have a high fever, and she did ask me how often does this happen to me (the crying and the fever, relevant question) Only about once in 5 years, I replied.
After a busy night in the bathroom, since the diarrhea and vomitting were often, and often at the same time I became extremely tired and dizzy (dehydrated) and still had fever. My supervisor who is a nurse sent me to the hospital, which I tried to oppose since my bathroom intervals were nowhere near 20 minutes and I really did not want to embarrass myself with sqautting down in the traffic or else...
The nice man at the hospital door offered me a wheelchair as soon as he saw me wabbling in, I do agree I needed it.Please head for the nearest bathroom, I asked him in a quiet voice. The doctor saw me in about 20 min after we entered the hospital, which is unheard of in Boston area hospitals' ERs. No way. A nice nurse asked me to go pee is a cup, from the little I gave her back the doc said I have a UTI infection, which apparently spread into my intestines as well, aren't I lucky. UTI african style. So after three nice nurses who did not bother speaking English around me stuck my hand with a THICK IV needle, never again!, I got hooked on a lemon Gatorade IV for two hours with some more Panadol. My dear roomamtes came back in the purple monster (ly supervisor's Opel) and picked me up later on, still mostly out of it. The ER friendly visit cost about $80(Western style hospital in a southern country with no insurance, since my school SOS travel insurance was not recognized, which is why I had my credit card with me) and the meds they gave me home about 60$ (western price in a southern country, shame on them, Vertex and Co :). I don't want to say a poor country, not to be PC but, SA is not a poor country, I saw the platinum mines! it just seems to have a much greater divide between the very rich and the masses of very poor.
Like the doctors were Indian or white and the nurses black, I hate to divide it like that but that is what I see. I don't know if I should want to turn black or should want to stay white, I guess it's an obviously irrelevant dilemma which you would find relevant though, if you were here.
Anyway, I feel much better! I have to go and take my last antibiotic this evening and tomorrow, hike. I hope I took it out for all of us global girls and none of us has to deal with ERs or stomach issues!
Does any of you cry when you get really sick with a fever? Just though I'd ask...
After a busy night in the bathroom, since the diarrhea and vomitting were often, and often at the same time I became extremely tired and dizzy (dehydrated) and still had fever. My supervisor who is a nurse sent me to the hospital, which I tried to oppose since my bathroom intervals were nowhere near 20 minutes and I really did not want to embarrass myself with sqautting down in the traffic or else...
The nice man at the hospital door offered me a wheelchair as soon as he saw me wabbling in, I do agree I needed it.Please head for the nearest bathroom, I asked him in a quiet voice. The doctor saw me in about 20 min after we entered the hospital, which is unheard of in Boston area hospitals' ERs. No way. A nice nurse asked me to go pee is a cup, from the little I gave her back the doc said I have a UTI infection, which apparently spread into my intestines as well, aren't I lucky. UTI african style. So after three nice nurses who did not bother speaking English around me stuck my hand with a THICK IV needle, never again!, I got hooked on a lemon Gatorade IV for two hours with some more Panadol. My dear roomamtes came back in the purple monster (ly supervisor's Opel) and picked me up later on, still mostly out of it. The ER friendly visit cost about $80(Western style hospital in a southern country with no insurance, since my school SOS travel insurance was not recognized, which is why I had my credit card with me) and the meds they gave me home about 60$ (western price in a southern country, shame on them, Vertex and Co :). I don't want to say a poor country, not to be PC but, SA is not a poor country, I saw the platinum mines! it just seems to have a much greater divide between the very rich and the masses of very poor.
Like the doctors were Indian or white and the nurses black, I hate to divide it like that but that is what I see. I don't know if I should want to turn black or should want to stay white, I guess it's an obviously irrelevant dilemma which you would find relevant though, if you were here.
Anyway, I feel much better! I have to go and take my last antibiotic this evening and tomorrow, hike. I hope I took it out for all of us global girls and none of us has to deal with ERs or stomach issues!
Does any of you cry when you get really sick with a fever? Just though I'd ask...
Friday, February 22, 2008
Energy napoj kapackou
Takze po tom co jsem byla v pondeli rano tak nerudna jsem se odpoledne slozila s teplotou u me nevidanou 38.8C kterou mi namerila sestricka na nasi klinice. Volala doktorce ktera se mnou po telefonu probirala me symptomy. CO pry v takovych pripadech normalne delam a proc ze brecim. A ja ze kdyz mam vysokou horecku (coz se stava jednou tak za pet let) tak jsem dost emocionalni a jen pri pomysleni ze jsem nemocna a nemuzu si jit hrat s ostatnimi, tak brecim. Pani doktorka se ptala jak casto se mi to stava, ja ze jednou tak za pet let a ona co v tech pripadech delam, ja ze si jdu lehnout a piju hodne caje a vody a vezmu si Aspirin. Ona tedy souhlasila, rekla sestre aby mi dala Panadol a jestli pry se to nezlepsi do rana tak at prijdu a ze by me pak musela poslat na pohotovost na testy.
No vecer sice mozna trochu opadla teplota pac uz jsem nebrecela, ale zato se dostavily prujem a zvraceni, v nejhorsi kombinaci, a to najednou. Noc nestala za popis, jelikoz na to nechci vzpominat a rano jsem byla, i pres to ze jsem se snazila pit jak to slo, unavena, malatna, boleni neprestalo a me sprinty na zachod take nepolevily. Budeme te muset vzit na pohotovost, rekla mi ma nadrizena ktera je sestra z povolani... ja ze nevim jestli to zvladnu jelikoz je to dvacet minut a me intervalay se pohybuji kolem 8-10 minut. Caroline, ktera me tam mela odvest slibila ze pojede rychle:) Ted se smeju. Jo jeste pred tim mi ma draha pritelkyne z Holandska nabidla zda si nechci dat cipek proti teplote... tak jsem se snazila nesmat jelikoz to bolelo a taky to nebylo vubec vtipny ale nastesti kratce po tom se ukazala Caroline a ze tedy pojedeme.
Vyzbrojena mou mezinarodni kartou pojistence, pasem a kreditkou (jen v pripade ze SOS skolni pojisteni pro mezinarodni studenty by nebylo platne) jsem se vydala na cestu.
Caroline jela jak nejrychleji mohla a stihly jsme to. U brany mi hodny pan nabidl vozicek, bylo na me asi videt ze ho potrebuju a ja mu tichym hlasem se zatatymi pulkami rekla at me vezme na nejblizsi zachod. Nemocnice byla moc hezka, vzali me do te kam chodi bohaty a cizinci. SOS pojisteni nebrali a tak jsem vytahla jiz pripravenou kreditku. To je az po tom co me hodna pani doktorka prohlidla asi po 20 minutach po tom co jsme dorazily, dost rychle na to co jsem zvykla z USA or CR a pak mi tri hodne sestricky ktere nemluvili Aj zapichli kapacku do leve ruky, a zapojily ji do svetle zlute kapaliny ktera vypadala jako Red Bull nebo energy drink pro sportovce - elektrolyty. A taky medicinu - at zije Panadol. Pani doktorka rekla ze mam asi zanet mocoveho mechyre ktery se rozsiril do celeho traviciho systemu, skvely. Takze jsem tri hodky v nemocnici prospala a s bolenim bricha me poslali domu(moc vody najednou). Antibiotika beru presne na cas a Caroline, ktera je take sestricka mi radi co a jak s tema ostanima praskama a co smim a nesmim. Jinak jsem asi trochu zhubla a jsem dost unavena ale po dvou dnech prujmu to je asi normalni. Uz jsem zase v praci a dnes vecer jdem do kina. Tak jsem v pondeli nebyla rano unavena nadarmo. A sprcha to nakonec nespravila. Tak ze pijte hodne vody a myjte si ruce, jako ja.
No vecer sice mozna trochu opadla teplota pac uz jsem nebrecela, ale zato se dostavily prujem a zvraceni, v nejhorsi kombinaci, a to najednou. Noc nestala za popis, jelikoz na to nechci vzpominat a rano jsem byla, i pres to ze jsem se snazila pit jak to slo, unavena, malatna, boleni neprestalo a me sprinty na zachod take nepolevily. Budeme te muset vzit na pohotovost, rekla mi ma nadrizena ktera je sestra z povolani... ja ze nevim jestli to zvladnu jelikoz je to dvacet minut a me intervalay se pohybuji kolem 8-10 minut. Caroline, ktera me tam mela odvest slibila ze pojede rychle:) Ted se smeju. Jo jeste pred tim mi ma draha pritelkyne z Holandska nabidla zda si nechci dat cipek proti teplote... tak jsem se snazila nesmat jelikoz to bolelo a taky to nebylo vubec vtipny ale nastesti kratce po tom se ukazala Caroline a ze tedy pojedeme.
Vyzbrojena mou mezinarodni kartou pojistence, pasem a kreditkou (jen v pripade ze SOS skolni pojisteni pro mezinarodni studenty by nebylo platne) jsem se vydala na cestu.
Caroline jela jak nejrychleji mohla a stihly jsme to. U brany mi hodny pan nabidl vozicek, bylo na me asi videt ze ho potrebuju a ja mu tichym hlasem se zatatymi pulkami rekla at me vezme na nejblizsi zachod. Nemocnice byla moc hezka, vzali me do te kam chodi bohaty a cizinci. SOS pojisteni nebrali a tak jsem vytahla jiz pripravenou kreditku. To je az po tom co me hodna pani doktorka prohlidla asi po 20 minutach po tom co jsme dorazily, dost rychle na to co jsem zvykla z USA or CR a pak mi tri hodne sestricky ktere nemluvili Aj zapichli kapacku do leve ruky, a zapojily ji do svetle zlute kapaliny ktera vypadala jako Red Bull nebo energy drink pro sportovce - elektrolyty. A taky medicinu - at zije Panadol. Pani doktorka rekla ze mam asi zanet mocoveho mechyre ktery se rozsiril do celeho traviciho systemu, skvely. Takze jsem tri hodky v nemocnici prospala a s bolenim bricha me poslali domu(moc vody najednou). Antibiotika beru presne na cas a Caroline, ktera je take sestricka mi radi co a jak s tema ostanima praskama a co smim a nesmim. Jinak jsem asi trochu zhubla a jsem dost unavena ale po dvou dnech prujmu to je asi normalni. Uz jsem zase v praci a dnes vecer jdem do kina. Tak jsem v pondeli nebyla rano unavena nadarmo. A sprcha to nakonec nespravila. Tak ze pijte hodne vody a myjte si ruce, jako ja.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Dnes rano/This morning
Takze po noci plne obraceni a probouzeni se na zachod (jen se mi chtelo asi trikrat curat protoze jsem moc pila) jsem se konecne rozhodla vstat v 7:45 a otocila jsem v koupelne kohoutkem abych opet zjistila ze netece voda. Uz asi po 3. v tomto tydnu... uz to neni dobrodruzstvi ale nerijemna zalezitost, jelikoz koupelna bez vody je to nejhorsi misto v dome...jeste ze tu mame ten kachni rybnicek... nebojte nekoupu se tam, ale na splachovani... fuj, jeste jsem tam dneska nemusela. No takze moje vlasy, ani snad nemluvit a taky jeste nejsem uplne probuzena protoze jsem musela vyjit s domu bez sprchy...ja vim Ashley v Zambii to ma jeste horsi... ale stejne, chci se vykoupat, doma v koupelne a napustit si plnou vanu vody aby na nikoho jinyho nezbyla tepla voda, tak a mate to!
So this morning after a night full of tossing and turning I woke up to no water in the house once again, about the third time this week. It's not an adventure anymore, it's a nuissance. I am now still tired, and with oily hair trying to work... so I am not working, yes I had to tell the whole world about it first. At least the duck pond is here, I miss my parents' tub. The duck pond is for flushing the toilet, which means I take the bucket and go there, try not to step in a duck poo on my way and hope that the one quarter of bucket I am able to carry flushes is all, yes, bathroom without water is a disaster. Cheers to all of you who took a shower this morning, take one more for me, will ya?
So this morning after a night full of tossing and turning I woke up to no water in the house once again, about the third time this week. It's not an adventure anymore, it's a nuissance. I am now still tired, and with oily hair trying to work... so I am not working, yes I had to tell the whole world about it first. At least the duck pond is here, I miss my parents' tub. The duck pond is for flushing the toilet, which means I take the bucket and go there, try not to step in a duck poo on my way and hope that the one quarter of bucket I am able to carry flushes is all, yes, bathroom without water is a disaster. Cheers to all of you who took a shower this morning, take one more for me, will ya?
Sunday, February 17, 2008
So much to do so little time
Happy Valentine's day all! I know it's too late, but anyways.
I am typing and bugs are flying onto my keyboard... some are big, yuck.
So there was a lot that happened last week and it seems that it has been much longer than one weel. I am busy writing curriculum which has to turned in on Friday and my colleague keeps coming up with more and more wonderful ideas on how to make it better. It's been really hot and I don't want to sit inside and type the whole day, but has to be done. I kind of like not to have winter, although I do miss VT. So I only remember teh past three days, not sure why, maybe b/c it has been party after party... FRI- in Soweto, a black township in the south of JoBurg. The place is really picking up and they have a bunch of cute little restaurants... although I saw a rat climbing down the restaurant accross the street from us... Really great food and bathrooms as well! Everywhere. Drinks at a black township restaurant without a black guide... I wanted to turn black...which is how I have been felling from time to time here in SA. Also, this is the place where I think about the color of my skin more than ever, even than in the States. So we jumped out of our minivan, after everyone else jumped out of BMW and Audi's. I really felt like dancing, since the music in the restaurant was great, I though of Sona and Deep Dish:) She would have loved it. I have been thinking of a lot of people this past week, each one of you at a different point, because the situation has reminded me of you. But anyways, we had a few great drinks, so far the mojitos here are fab! And then went back to our van to our driver, who I am sure was stoned, since his eyes were so red... we got home safe with a quick lu stop.
Then we had Marion's b-day party a the boys were breakdancing and our little girls danced like crazy good! We baked 10 huge pizzas for like 50 people and they were all gone in a few hours. We danced all night and slept in late. Instead of going to church we went to lunch to the Cradle restaurant, see photos, and had a superb lunch. Starter: vanila infused pear with gorgonzola salad - delish!, main: organic trout with grilled veggies, absolutely the best I've had ever! Two pieces of trout with mushrooms inside, wraped like a present in a thin grape? leaf. Then we went on a private tour into the reserve, oh, yeah, the restaurant is owned by a rich family whose member is on the board of Refilwe and it's in the middle of a private game reserve, hence I got to see a rhino family from real close, while standing outside the landrover! Don't tell Penny, cause I am sure the insurance does not cover reckless friendliness toward wild animals with babies and being speared onto a rhino's horn after I tripped with my fliplflops in my pretty shirt, while running back to the car which was too far from us.... never mind, ofcourse nothing happened, but the feeling was incredible, we were in their territory outside of the car like 50m from them, much closer than in Pilanesberg.
But anyway, it was great and I wish you all could be there with me!
I am typing and bugs are flying onto my keyboard... some are big, yuck.
So there was a lot that happened last week and it seems that it has been much longer than one weel. I am busy writing curriculum which has to turned in on Friday and my colleague keeps coming up with more and more wonderful ideas on how to make it better. It's been really hot and I don't want to sit inside and type the whole day, but has to be done. I kind of like not to have winter, although I do miss VT. So I only remember teh past three days, not sure why, maybe b/c it has been party after party... FRI- in Soweto, a black township in the south of JoBurg. The place is really picking up and they have a bunch of cute little restaurants... although I saw a rat climbing down the restaurant accross the street from us... Really great food and bathrooms as well! Everywhere. Drinks at a black township restaurant without a black guide... I wanted to turn black...which is how I have been felling from time to time here in SA. Also, this is the place where I think about the color of my skin more than ever, even than in the States. So we jumped out of our minivan, after everyone else jumped out of BMW and Audi's. I really felt like dancing, since the music in the restaurant was great, I though of Sona and Deep Dish:) She would have loved it. I have been thinking of a lot of people this past week, each one of you at a different point, because the situation has reminded me of you. But anyways, we had a few great drinks, so far the mojitos here are fab! And then went back to our van to our driver, who I am sure was stoned, since his eyes were so red... we got home safe with a quick lu stop.
Then we had Marion's b-day party a the boys were breakdancing and our little girls danced like crazy good! We baked 10 huge pizzas for like 50 people and they were all gone in a few hours. We danced all night and slept in late. Instead of going to church we went to lunch to the Cradle restaurant, see photos, and had a superb lunch. Starter: vanila infused pear with gorgonzola salad - delish!, main: organic trout with grilled veggies, absolutely the best I've had ever! Two pieces of trout with mushrooms inside, wraped like a present in a thin grape? leaf. Then we went on a private tour into the reserve, oh, yeah, the restaurant is owned by a rich family whose member is on the board of Refilwe and it's in the middle of a private game reserve, hence I got to see a rhino family from real close, while standing outside the landrover! Don't tell Penny, cause I am sure the insurance does not cover reckless friendliness toward wild animals with babies and being speared onto a rhino's horn after I tripped with my fliplflops in my pretty shirt, while running back to the car which was too far from us.... never mind, ofcourse nothing happened, but the feeling was incredible, we were in their territory outside of the car like 50m from them, much closer than in Pilanesberg.
But anyway, it was great and I wish you all could be there with me!
Tolik se toho musi stihnout a tak malo casu
Takze tento tyden je opet nabily praci a zazitky. Predevsim jsem pilne pracovala na osnovach pro skolku ktere musi byt hotove do patku. S internetem uz to neresim, vetninou ho mame ale ne vsude a tak kdyz je tak je ale navic se neptam protoze oni to vzdycky prijou spravit ale pak to zase nefunguje jinde.
V Patek se Marion vratila z dovoleny v Cape Town a domluvila se s kamaradnou z JoBurgu ze se vsichni sejdeme na veceri, jelikoz mela narozeniny a taky protoze tu mela sestrenku a kamaradku a chtela jim ukazat Soweto... cernoska ctvrt kam jsme jeli na veceri. Nez jsme to nasli byla to ta sama story jako minulej tejden, ten nas ridic vzdycky rekne ze vi kam jede ale pak se to objizdi dokolecka dokola az se nekomu musi zavolat aby nas naved. V Sowetu se to docela vzmaha a tak jsou tam maly, ale skvely restaurace a obchudky a taky dum Nelsona Mandely a Desmonda Tutu v ty samy ctvrti. Po sklence Savignon Blanc a peceneho jehneciho na kari s "krupicovou kasi" (hodne krupice malo vody, zadna sul) jsme se vydali do mallu (obchodaku) kde se zda byt vzdycky zivo, pres den i vecer, jsou tu restaurace, obchody i disko, kam jsme nakonec nezavitali. Ridic nas vyhodil v Sowetu v mallu v restauraci kde byli sami cernoci... je to jejich ctvrt, koneckoncu. No takze nas 6 belosek vyskakalo z minidodavky, kazdej tam BMW a Audi (rikala jsem ze se to tam vzmaha) a dali jsme si par koktejlu, hrali skvele ale tancit se primo tam nedalo a dal uz jsme se neodvazili, i kdyz mi to prislo bezpecny...
No v sobotu vecer jsme pak meli oslavu narozenin, jeste pred tim jsme napekly pizzy pro 50 lidi a konecne ukecali jednoho kluka aby delal DJ. Nakonec privezl vse nadobicko a tancilo se celou noc, prisli i kmotrenky s detma i lidi z okoli co znaj Marion z prace. Vsichni ji tu milujou, (protoze je jedina blondata) a je s ni sranda.
No a dnes jsme meli puvodne mely jit na grilovani k nasemu sefovi ale Ruth to nejak domluvila abychom sli na obed do Cradle Restaurant, ktery je asi 10 min od nas a patri jedny bohaty rodine, jejichz maminka (stara babca) je u Refilwe jedna z ridici rady. Je to na 40 000 akrech, nevimprepocet a je to soukroma rezervace s restauraci. Dost nobl ale i tak na US pomery to stalo pakatel, plus nam to domluvila a jeli jsme se s panem Blackem podivat na zviratka. Fotky jsou v albumu. Jinak porad sama prace. Pak jsme prijeli domu, Ruth dnes odjizdela a ja se jeste ucila s Abbym na jeho zitrejsi test z Aj.
V Patek se Marion vratila z dovoleny v Cape Town a domluvila se s kamaradnou z JoBurgu ze se vsichni sejdeme na veceri, jelikoz mela narozeniny a taky protoze tu mela sestrenku a kamaradku a chtela jim ukazat Soweto... cernoska ctvrt kam jsme jeli na veceri. Nez jsme to nasli byla to ta sama story jako minulej tejden, ten nas ridic vzdycky rekne ze vi kam jede ale pak se to objizdi dokolecka dokola az se nekomu musi zavolat aby nas naved. V Sowetu se to docela vzmaha a tak jsou tam maly, ale skvely restaurace a obchudky a taky dum Nelsona Mandely a Desmonda Tutu v ty samy ctvrti. Po sklence Savignon Blanc a peceneho jehneciho na kari s "krupicovou kasi" (hodne krupice malo vody, zadna sul) jsme se vydali do mallu (obchodaku) kde se zda byt vzdycky zivo, pres den i vecer, jsou tu restaurace, obchody i disko, kam jsme nakonec nezavitali. Ridic nas vyhodil v Sowetu v mallu v restauraci kde byli sami cernoci... je to jejich ctvrt, koneckoncu. No takze nas 6 belosek vyskakalo z minidodavky, kazdej tam BMW a Audi (rikala jsem ze se to tam vzmaha) a dali jsme si par koktejlu, hrali skvele ale tancit se primo tam nedalo a dal uz jsme se neodvazili, i kdyz mi to prislo bezpecny...
No v sobotu vecer jsme pak meli oslavu narozenin, jeste pred tim jsme napekly pizzy pro 50 lidi a konecne ukecali jednoho kluka aby delal DJ. Nakonec privezl vse nadobicko a tancilo se celou noc, prisli i kmotrenky s detma i lidi z okoli co znaj Marion z prace. Vsichni ji tu milujou, (protoze je jedina blondata) a je s ni sranda.
No a dnes jsme meli puvodne mely jit na grilovani k nasemu sefovi ale Ruth to nejak domluvila abychom sli na obed do Cradle Restaurant, ktery je asi 10 min od nas a patri jedny bohaty rodine, jejichz maminka (stara babca) je u Refilwe jedna z ridici rady. Je to na 40 000 akrech, nevimprepocet a je to soukroma rezervace s restauraci. Dost nobl ale i tak na US pomery to stalo pakatel, plus nam to domluvila a jeli jsme se s panem Blackem podivat na zviratka. Fotky jsou v albumu. Jinak porad sama prace. Pak jsme prijeli domu, Ruth dnes odjizdela a ja se jeste ucila s Abbym na jeho zitrejsi test z Aj.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
It all happened last week
I am having a bit of a hard time not to constantly think about what to write in my blog (there is so much happening all the time), who to email and who not to forget... since the days here are really busy and since the internet only comes on after 6pm... don't ask me why... that seems to be the newest fix.
I am busy finishing up the day care curriculum and policy manual and preparing for Victoria Falls trip in March (Easter weekend). I just found out about this three days ago and I am super-excited. I just went on a day trip to a national park Pilanesberg in the North Western province and spent a whole day looking for and finding zebras, elephants, giraffes, lions - yes! lions, impalas and blue wilobee? (not sure of the spelling), also hippos and rhinoes (from distance). We were supposed to only go for lunch with my roommate and supervisor and once we sat in the car Annatjie(supervisor) said so I think it would be great to go here... later she said that she thought of that idea just that morning while in church... it's useful afterall to attend, huh?! So I felt like Alice in Wonderland, since we got really lucky and saw a lot of animals which I only saw in the ZOO a long time ago. So this whole trip just reminded me even more how much I love to travel, even just for one day!
Then I couldn't believe what I had for lunch . . . crepes - palacinky, exactly the same ones I make for breakfast. Unbelievable. Well the lunch choice was crepes or a sausage dog, but ok, I think I now like the hot Italian sausages we always have in VT, the kind of sausage they have here ... well let's just leave it with the three dots. The place was not touristy at all and it's so large that were only met a few cars. So I will try to post photos ASAP.
I hope all of you are doing well! Email me if you can and let me know what's up back home.
Orlease tell the ladies HI and *o*o!!! I miss you! Thanks for your email, Edna is going to love the animal photos.
I am busy finishing up the day care curriculum and policy manual and preparing for Victoria Falls trip in March (Easter weekend). I just found out about this three days ago and I am super-excited. I just went on a day trip to a national park Pilanesberg in the North Western province and spent a whole day looking for and finding zebras, elephants, giraffes, lions - yes! lions, impalas and blue wilobee? (not sure of the spelling), also hippos and rhinoes (from distance). We were supposed to only go for lunch with my roommate and supervisor and once we sat in the car Annatjie(supervisor) said so I think it would be great to go here... later she said that she thought of that idea just that morning while in church... it's useful afterall to attend, huh?! So I felt like Alice in Wonderland, since we got really lucky and saw a lot of animals which I only saw in the ZOO a long time ago. So this whole trip just reminded me even more how much I love to travel, even just for one day!
Then I couldn't believe what I had for lunch . . . crepes - palacinky, exactly the same ones I make for breakfast. Unbelievable. Well the lunch choice was crepes or a sausage dog, but ok, I think I now like the hot Italian sausages we always have in VT, the kind of sausage they have here ... well let's just leave it with the three dots. The place was not touristy at all and it's so large that were only met a few cars. So I will try to post photos ASAP.
I hope all of you are doing well! Email me if you can and let me know what's up back home.
Orlease tell the ladies HI and *o*o!!! I miss you! Thanks for your email, Edna is going to love the animal photos.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Past week/Minuly tyden
Minuly tyden utekl jako voda a ja jsem pokrocila ve sve praci v Refilwe. Z moji kolegyni Sanett jsme zacali svizne pracovat na osnovach pro nasi skolku jez budou potom slouzit jako trening pro nove i stavajici ucitelky. Cim dal tim vic mi dochazi ze vzdelavaci system tady v Jizni Africe je strasne opozdenej, ucitele se zdaji jako ignoranti kteri tahaji deti za usi a prehaneji to s ukolama. Material ktery maji vysvetlovat oni vysvetluju ja, ktera zadnou aprobaci nemam, zvlast ne na matiku. Tak si pak vzpomenu na pani ucitelku Konakovou a pana ucitele Skucka, kteri me cela ta leta doucovali matiku a vzdechnu si v tichem podekovani, jelikoz ja prosla a jeste si toho i spoustu pamatuju. Ale ty boje. Jenze, ja prosla protoze me mama s tatou honili a babicka to vecne domlouvala s panem uc. Skuckem. Nikdy nezapomenu na jeho chlupate prsty:) (nic ve zlym pane Skucek:) Nase deti v Refilwe jsou na to jeste relativne dobre protoze jim s tema ukolama ma kdo pomahat (ja a ostatni dobrovolnici a maminky-kmotry). JEnze to jde tezko protoze decka se maji ucit Afrikaans za pouziti Aj, coz je jak kdybych se ja musela ucit Finstinu za pouziti toho mala Spanelstiny co umim. Takze to se vzdycky nejak prekousne... dalsi silenost je to ze deti jeste neumi poradne ani odecitat trojmistna cisla, a uz se uci nasobky 1-12! ano az do nasobku 12. To jim taky moc nejde tak na tom pracujeme. Dalsi vec je ta ze tu nemame moc pomucek na vyrobu modelu, kazda trida ma za ukol, zatim kazdy tyden, vyrobit model, napriklad tento tyden mame (rikam my protoze to budu delat ja vic nez oni) vyrobit model aparatu ktery meri tlak anebo rychlost. Ano pratele, nevim jak vy ale ja se toho bojim uz predem, mam nuzky, lepenku, rulicky od toaletaku a barevny papir. Nevim jakym zpusobem vynaleznem nejaky novy merak na tlak vzduchu, nebo jak vyrobime nejaky co uz existuje. Babo rad, nebo spis Premku vyhrab neco v receptari. No ale dost stiznosti. Je mi jich jenom lito protoze ten celej system je proste nedostacujici a oni na tom budou tratit, a pritom jim to docela pali.
Dalso udalosti minuleho tydne:
1) Byli jsme na veceri, ale az potom co jsme se ztratili v JoBurgu a museli jsme chudaka ridice navigovat po mistech kam jsme ani jedna pred tim jeste nikdy nepachla. jo, a dali jsme si vino. Uz jsem to asi zminovala ale nesmi se tu pit.
2) Mela jsem prvni kurs pocitacu. Seslo se 16 zacek, maminek od nas i pani z okolnich slamu. Pristi sobotu uz do toho prastime plnou parou.
3) V sobotu jsme se spotili jak psi pri badmintonu, jen abychom pozdeji zjistili ze nam bagr rozkopl privod vody do celeho tabora, takze uz 2.5 dny nemame vodu. Cimz jsem dosla k poznani ze nemit vody je horsi nez nemit elektriku :)
4) Narodilo se nam tele. Den narozeni: streda v 18:30, divaci byli vsichni pritomni, fotky pak dam do noveho albumu, barva: hneda, chodit zacal az druhy den, a mama si pochutnala na placente, mam to nafoceny tak se teste.
5) Prodali 4 kozy, koupili 12 selat. Dve utekla a tak jsme je honili az jsme je dohonili.
6) Dostala jsem skvelej email od Paji o pilotech! Smala jsem se az jsem skoro brecela.
7) V nedeli jsme meli jet s Annatjie (vyslov:Aneky) na obed, v aute nam dala vybrat jestli do mesta nebo do bushe, my ze do bushe. Vyklubal se z toho vylet do Narodniho Parku Pilanesberg, kde jsme k memu prekvapeni videli snad uplne vsechny zvirata co maji v Troji. Zirafa stala asi 2m ode me pochutnavala si na keriku, ziraf bylo dohromady asi 12, na ruznych mistech, dale 6 lvu, 3 Prasata bradavicnata, asi 8 zeber, 20 impalas (jako kozoroh), 4 hrochy(jeden z blizka), 4 nosorozce (vsechny z dalky), buvoli, 1 lisku, cerveny a zluty ptacky u jezera, atd. Fotky poslu.
8) Asi 6 stipnuti komarem
9) Oloupali se mi ramena
10) Pizza party s nasimi menonitskymi prateli od vedle, teda jenom s klukama, jejich holky sly do kina.
Tak toto neni ani tak vsechno jako si musim dojit pro vodu na umyti abych si konecne aspon poradne umyla ruce, a samozrejme za usima.
English version tomorrow, sorry, it's getting late.
Dalso udalosti minuleho tydne:
1) Byli jsme na veceri, ale az potom co jsme se ztratili v JoBurgu a museli jsme chudaka ridice navigovat po mistech kam jsme ani jedna pred tim jeste nikdy nepachla. jo, a dali jsme si vino. Uz jsem to asi zminovala ale nesmi se tu pit.
2) Mela jsem prvni kurs pocitacu. Seslo se 16 zacek, maminek od nas i pani z okolnich slamu. Pristi sobotu uz do toho prastime plnou parou.
3) V sobotu jsme se spotili jak psi pri badmintonu, jen abychom pozdeji zjistili ze nam bagr rozkopl privod vody do celeho tabora, takze uz 2.5 dny nemame vodu. Cimz jsem dosla k poznani ze nemit vody je horsi nez nemit elektriku :)
4) Narodilo se nam tele. Den narozeni: streda v 18:30, divaci byli vsichni pritomni, fotky pak dam do noveho albumu, barva: hneda, chodit zacal az druhy den, a mama si pochutnala na placente, mam to nafoceny tak se teste.
5) Prodali 4 kozy, koupili 12 selat. Dve utekla a tak jsme je honili az jsme je dohonili.
6) Dostala jsem skvelej email od Paji o pilotech! Smala jsem se az jsem skoro brecela.
7) V nedeli jsme meli jet s Annatjie (vyslov:Aneky) na obed, v aute nam dala vybrat jestli do mesta nebo do bushe, my ze do bushe. Vyklubal se z toho vylet do Narodniho Parku Pilanesberg, kde jsme k memu prekvapeni videli snad uplne vsechny zvirata co maji v Troji. Zirafa stala asi 2m ode me pochutnavala si na keriku, ziraf bylo dohromady asi 12, na ruznych mistech, dale 6 lvu, 3 Prasata bradavicnata, asi 8 zeber, 20 impalas (jako kozoroh), 4 hrochy(jeden z blizka), 4 nosorozce (vsechny z dalky), buvoli, 1 lisku, cerveny a zluty ptacky u jezera, atd. Fotky poslu.
8) Asi 6 stipnuti komarem
9) Oloupali se mi ramena
10) Pizza party s nasimi menonitskymi prateli od vedle, teda jenom s klukama, jejich holky sly do kina.
Tak toto neni ani tak vsechno jako si musim dojit pro vodu na umyti abych si konecne aspon poradne umyla ruce, a samozrejme za usima.
English version tomorrow, sorry, it's getting late.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Adresa a jine povidani/Address and more stories
Today I have been helping Wilemine perform the assessments at the kindergarten. We assess with a tool from Priceline, which is apparently approved by the government here in SA. The first day I just wanted to redo this lengthy and tedious tool, I though about the cultural appropriateness of some of the questions. Like chose 5 fruits on this sheet – the children attending the Refilwe kindergarten are from the local informal settlements or so called squatter camps, rarely they probably see cherries or strawberries on their table. At the end of the day after barely finishing one child’s assessment I thouhgt again about the tool’s appropriateness and my initial need to redo it… it’s not a bad tool afterall. It is not tedious but comprehensive the question about cultural appropriateness is maybe fair, however, we work with children living in extreme conditions. It’s more the need to train the ‘teachers’ who are volunteers in the community. Child development, first aid, teaching methods, and curriculum ideas are most welcome here. After a while I found out they actually have really solid materials for the curriculum and teachers are using it, however, the ratio in the classroom 1:10 for toddlers under three years of age (more like 1:15)and horendous (in the US terms) 1:25 over four years of age. So I ask the children to point to the left and they cannot follow the direction. I ask them to repeat the five sentence story about a dog and a cat and they have no clue. We do use a translator, one of the teachers since the children’s English is very limited. So the children can answer in Zulu or Tswana or Xhosa or another tribal language, however, pulling the teacher out of the classrooms makes the ratio even more crowded. The children are clearly smart but the potential is not being used up to their best potential, which makes me sad. Today the usual teacher who interprets for us was not available so the head master agreed to help us. At first she was frowning a little so my colleague who has been doing the assessments for the past three weeks asked what is wrong, and she ignored her. I am not sure how my colleague introduced this whole project to her, but since I have started last week the teachers were a little on the cool side to her. After a while the head master came outside and I told her who I was (I only met her briefly before that) I told her that the children seem to be doing really well and there were really only one or two were clearly behind with their skills. I told her that my project will be preparing a policy manual for the pre school and that I would love to have her input on the way they accept children and the whole administrative part, (because I only have about three weeks to do this) and because I want all the involved parties to be part of the whole policy manual. She seemed pleased and talked to me after for a long while asking me about some children who is concerned about, I suggested early intervention type of service, only we will have to figure out who will do it on a continuous basis, for children who show lack in their development. She told me that they had been going into the children's homes to do a home visit, monthly, in the beginning, about two years ago, when she only had 25 children at the creche(nursery school). She said they still do home visits but have to do it on the weekends because they have no time during the week. She promised to take me with her one weekend. It is hard to think about seeing these children go home, because I know here at Refilwe they are protected and sheltered, just like I am, from the poverty and crime which happens outside the gates of our green and vibrant compound. Everyone here takes their job as a mission, it’s not a job it’s a calling, I admire them all for being to dedicated to the children here.
Also, I found out that one of our little girls is HIV+, which is soooo sad. Plus, shouldn't this be confidential? But in our setting it seems that the God-parents should know the status of their children since they give them medications.
So far I have been taking everything in, and after reading blog postings from some of our other global students, I really find myself very sheltered. In Johannesburg and here at Refilwe as well. In Johannesburg I was told not to go anywhere alone, my guesthouse owner drove me everywhere and if it was too far, he drove me half way, waited with me for the next person to pick me up. Here at Refilwe, the compound is in a rural environment, so there is only a little store here behind the gates where we should only go in two’s, best at least one man. But a 20 minutes drive will take to a very western-type mall with all the amenities. I have not gone to the squatter camps yet, since that will be my assignment for my second half of my stay, and the compound here feels like a summer camp. I sleep on a bunk bed and share a room with two other girls, total in out cottage is 6 at this time.
Also, we started with 5 ducklings and today we have 2 only... the rats are eating it, welcome to the cruel world.
Dnes jsme open pracovali na posudcich pro petilete deti v nasi skolce. Nektere deti sem dochazi z prilehlych “vesnic”, slamu, kde neni tekouci voda ani kanalizace. Nejdriv mi ten posudek prisel hrozne podrobny a nepotrebny, a pro mistni deti nektere casti nepouzitelne, jelikoz jak ma nekdo poznat jahodu, nebo tresen, kdyz ji nikdy nejedl. Nejdriv jsem chtela nektere casti uplne predelat, ale nakonec jsme jen vybarvili nektere obrazky, aby se dali lepe rozeznat. Uz po par otazkach jsem poznala ze deti jsou velice chytre, ale nikdo je nic moc neuci, v peti letech nepoznaji levou a pravou ruku, tvary ani barvy. Maji problem pracovat podle instrukci a nektere jsou viditelne opozdene ve vyvoji. Nektere taky vypadaji ze jim jsou 3 a ne 5, coz je velice smutne. Taky je hrozne je videt odchazet domu a predstavit si kam jdou. Maji krasne oblecky (nektere) a boticky ktere jim padnou, nebo spis jim vetsinou nepadnou a pak si uvedomim kam jdou, maji vubec svoji postylku, budou mit veceri, neuhodi je nekdo nez pujdou spat, bude jejich maminka opila?
Dalsi vec jsou ucitele, kteri tu uci, jsou to dobrovolnici z mistnich vesnic, tedy opet, pochazeji s mist odkud pochazi vetsina deti. Par deti dochazi do skolky z nasi organizace, bydli v Refilwe u svych kmotricku, tak rikame rodicum, kteri maji opatrovnictvi, a bydli tu u nas v barackach pod nami. Takze ti ucitele nemaji pedagogickou fakultu ani stredni skolu. Pomery ve tride deti vuci ucitelum jsou 10:1 pro trilete a maldsi a 25:1 pro 4 lete a starsi. Toto je dano ministerstvem zdravotnictvi. Takze deti umi strasne hezky sedet a zabyvat se sami sebou a krome par kratkych pisnicek, ktere opakuji dokolecka dokola neumi nic moc navic. Povedet pohadku, skakat pres svihadlo nebo treba modelovat je pro ne pokazde nove kdyz to po nich chceme v nasem testu. Pak jsem si myslela ze by tedy bylo dobre, aby ucitele sli na skoleni o detskem vyvoji, pedagogickych metodach nebo podobnych vychovatelskych predmetech, jenze pak jsem nasla skvelou pomucku, primo v kanceraci reditelky, kerou uz nekdo prede mnou vymyslel – svete div se. Ale pak se zase vratime zpet k tem pomerum 25:1. Dite ktere neni moc prubojne nebo treba min nadane se ztrati raz dva. Dnes jsme s kolegyni prisli rano do skolky a nase ucitelka, ktera vetsinou preklada, dnes nemohla a tak jsme pozadali reditelku, ktera se nejdriv zdala nastvana a nechtela odpovedet na nase otazky… po chvili jsem k ni prisla a znovu se predstavila, nejsem si jista jak se moje kolegyne do sve role uvedla a nevim jestli mela moc casu na to, aby stravila s detmi moc casu nez je zacala testovat, viditelne pani reditelka nebyla rada ze byla mimo obraz a rekla ze by rada vedela jak si deti stoji… pak jsem ji rekla ze deti jsou vetsinou v pohode, jen asi dva jsou viditelne pozadu. Pak jsem ji rekla ktere a ona s ulevou odhalila fakt ze ti dva a jeste dva dalsi prisli k nam do skolky az v posledni dobe a tim padem to neni jejich chyba ze toho moc neumi… coz je pochopitelne, nechteji abychom sli a podali zpravu o tom ze se deti nic nenaucili… coz je podobna a jeste delsi stat nez tato, jelikoz to vsude na svete zalezi na ucitelich. Na konci dne jsme si skvele popovidali o tom jak zacala skolku a jak musela mesicne navstevovat domovy vsech deti aby si popovidala s rodici, mnozi z nichz jsou alkoholici, chudi, a vsichni bez vyjimky ziji v tech vyse zminenych vesnickach bez vody a elektriny. Rikala mi taky ze tam ted musi chodit o weekendu protoze pres tyden nema cas. Tak jsem ji poprosila jestli by me nevzala s sebou. (Mami, tak souhlasila,neni to skvele?) Taky chce abych ji pomohla zaridit spec. ped. Pro nektere deti ktere jsou viditelne pozadu, nebo se vic venovala detem, ktere maji problemovou rodinu…tedy vic problemovou nez ostatni. Problem je pojem relativni, ze. :) Vsichni jsou tu strasne oddani sve praci coz je obdivuhodne. Dnes jsem zjistila ze jedna nase strasne roztomila holcicka je HIV+, nevim jestli by to nemelo byt lekarske tajemstvi, ale ti kmotri to asi vedet musi.
Taky jsme zacali s peti kacatkama a vcera uz byly jen 2, pry je v noci zerou krysy, kruty co?
ADRESA/Address
Prosim posilejte balicky dle sveho uvazeni, susenky!, filmy na DVD, Fixy, nafukovaci mice, kosicky na badminton, voskovky, tempery, vodovky, mice na fotbal, pravitka 2-3, a tak podobne. At to nestoji majlant, ju?!
Please feel free to send packages including, crackers, Republic of Tea (any flavor), TAZO Chai Spiced Tea (the dark yellow box) from Starbucks, DVD, inflatable beach balls, crayons, water colors, rulers, soccer balls.
If you’d like to sponsor a child or an extra teacher for our pre school – let me know I will set it up!
Pokud byste radi sponsorovali dite nebo dalsi ucitelku pro nasi skolku dejte mi vedet, zaridime!
DEKUJI!!! THANK YOU!!!
I love you and miss you all! Mam vas moc rada a chybite mi!
Oh, I almost forgot? Skoro jsem zapomnela:
Send it all here please/Posilejte balicky na tuto adresu:
Relifwe
Jana Touzimska
PO BOX 1020
Lanseria 1748
Johannesburg, South Africa
Also, I found out that one of our little girls is HIV+, which is soooo sad. Plus, shouldn't this be confidential? But in our setting it seems that the God-parents should know the status of their children since they give them medications.
So far I have been taking everything in, and after reading blog postings from some of our other global students, I really find myself very sheltered. In Johannesburg and here at Refilwe as well. In Johannesburg I was told not to go anywhere alone, my guesthouse owner drove me everywhere and if it was too far, he drove me half way, waited with me for the next person to pick me up. Here at Refilwe, the compound is in a rural environment, so there is only a little store here behind the gates where we should only go in two’s, best at least one man. But a 20 minutes drive will take to a very western-type mall with all the amenities. I have not gone to the squatter camps yet, since that will be my assignment for my second half of my stay, and the compound here feels like a summer camp. I sleep on a bunk bed and share a room with two other girls, total in out cottage is 6 at this time.
Also, we started with 5 ducklings and today we have 2 only... the rats are eating it, welcome to the cruel world.
Dnes jsme open pracovali na posudcich pro petilete deti v nasi skolce. Nektere deti sem dochazi z prilehlych “vesnic”, slamu, kde neni tekouci voda ani kanalizace. Nejdriv mi ten posudek prisel hrozne podrobny a nepotrebny, a pro mistni deti nektere casti nepouzitelne, jelikoz jak ma nekdo poznat jahodu, nebo tresen, kdyz ji nikdy nejedl. Nejdriv jsem chtela nektere casti uplne predelat, ale nakonec jsme jen vybarvili nektere obrazky, aby se dali lepe rozeznat. Uz po par otazkach jsem poznala ze deti jsou velice chytre, ale nikdo je nic moc neuci, v peti letech nepoznaji levou a pravou ruku, tvary ani barvy. Maji problem pracovat podle instrukci a nektere jsou viditelne opozdene ve vyvoji. Nektere taky vypadaji ze jim jsou 3 a ne 5, coz je velice smutne. Taky je hrozne je videt odchazet domu a predstavit si kam jdou. Maji krasne oblecky (nektere) a boticky ktere jim padnou, nebo spis jim vetsinou nepadnou a pak si uvedomim kam jdou, maji vubec svoji postylku, budou mit veceri, neuhodi je nekdo nez pujdou spat, bude jejich maminka opila?
Dalsi vec jsou ucitele, kteri tu uci, jsou to dobrovolnici z mistnich vesnic, tedy opet, pochazeji s mist odkud pochazi vetsina deti. Par deti dochazi do skolky z nasi organizace, bydli v Refilwe u svych kmotricku, tak rikame rodicum, kteri maji opatrovnictvi, a bydli tu u nas v barackach pod nami. Takze ti ucitele nemaji pedagogickou fakultu ani stredni skolu. Pomery ve tride deti vuci ucitelum jsou 10:1 pro trilete a maldsi a 25:1 pro 4 lete a starsi. Toto je dano ministerstvem zdravotnictvi. Takze deti umi strasne hezky sedet a zabyvat se sami sebou a krome par kratkych pisnicek, ktere opakuji dokolecka dokola neumi nic moc navic. Povedet pohadku, skakat pres svihadlo nebo treba modelovat je pro ne pokazde nove kdyz to po nich chceme v nasem testu. Pak jsem si myslela ze by tedy bylo dobre, aby ucitele sli na skoleni o detskem vyvoji, pedagogickych metodach nebo podobnych vychovatelskych predmetech, jenze pak jsem nasla skvelou pomucku, primo v kanceraci reditelky, kerou uz nekdo prede mnou vymyslel – svete div se. Ale pak se zase vratime zpet k tem pomerum 25:1. Dite ktere neni moc prubojne nebo treba min nadane se ztrati raz dva. Dnes jsme s kolegyni prisli rano do skolky a nase ucitelka, ktera vetsinou preklada, dnes nemohla a tak jsme pozadali reditelku, ktera se nejdriv zdala nastvana a nechtela odpovedet na nase otazky… po chvili jsem k ni prisla a znovu se predstavila, nejsem si jista jak se moje kolegyne do sve role uvedla a nevim jestli mela moc casu na to, aby stravila s detmi moc casu nez je zacala testovat, viditelne pani reditelka nebyla rada ze byla mimo obraz a rekla ze by rada vedela jak si deti stoji… pak jsem ji rekla ze deti jsou vetsinou v pohode, jen asi dva jsou viditelne pozadu. Pak jsem ji rekla ktere a ona s ulevou odhalila fakt ze ti dva a jeste dva dalsi prisli k nam do skolky az v posledni dobe a tim padem to neni jejich chyba ze toho moc neumi… coz je pochopitelne, nechteji abychom sli a podali zpravu o tom ze se deti nic nenaucili… coz je podobna a jeste delsi stat nez tato, jelikoz to vsude na svete zalezi na ucitelich. Na konci dne jsme si skvele popovidali o tom jak zacala skolku a jak musela mesicne navstevovat domovy vsech deti aby si popovidala s rodici, mnozi z nichz jsou alkoholici, chudi, a vsichni bez vyjimky ziji v tech vyse zminenych vesnickach bez vody a elektriny. Rikala mi taky ze tam ted musi chodit o weekendu protoze pres tyden nema cas. Tak jsem ji poprosila jestli by me nevzala s sebou. (Mami, tak souhlasila,neni to skvele?) Taky chce abych ji pomohla zaridit spec. ped. Pro nektere deti ktere jsou viditelne pozadu, nebo se vic venovala detem, ktere maji problemovou rodinu…tedy vic problemovou nez ostatni. Problem je pojem relativni, ze. :) Vsichni jsou tu strasne oddani sve praci coz je obdivuhodne. Dnes jsem zjistila ze jedna nase strasne roztomila holcicka je HIV+, nevim jestli by to nemelo byt lekarske tajemstvi, ale ti kmotri to asi vedet musi.
Taky jsme zacali s peti kacatkama a vcera uz byly jen 2, pry je v noci zerou krysy, kruty co?
ADRESA/Address
Prosim posilejte balicky dle sveho uvazeni, susenky!, filmy na DVD, Fixy, nafukovaci mice, kosicky na badminton, voskovky, tempery, vodovky, mice na fotbal, pravitka 2-3, a tak podobne. At to nestoji majlant, ju?!
Please feel free to send packages including, crackers, Republic of Tea (any flavor), TAZO Chai Spiced Tea (the dark yellow box) from Starbucks, DVD, inflatable beach balls, crayons, water colors, rulers, soccer balls.
If you’d like to sponsor a child or an extra teacher for our pre school – let me know I will set it up!
Pokud byste radi sponsorovali dite nebo dalsi ucitelku pro nasi skolku dejte mi vedet, zaridime!
DEKUJI!!! THANK YOU!!!
I love you and miss you all! Mam vas moc rada a chybite mi!
Oh, I almost forgot? Skoro jsem zapomnela:
Send it all here please/Posilejte balicky na tuto adresu:
Relifwe
Jana Touzimska
PO BOX 1020
Lanseria 1748
Johannesburg, South Africa
Saturday, February 2, 2008
at the mall/v obchodaku
So this morning we took one of the American kids for lunch, it was his 21st birthday. Now we are at an internet cafe at the Fourways Mall, they have ALDO shoes here!!! I am heading there right after this. Then my new Irish friend ruth and I are going to get a latte and go buy some food for the house. My German and Dutch friends left for the weekend. This mornign we were woken up by a choir singing in front of our window. I did want to get up and go look but I just could not get up. Yesterday I cooked dinner at our two burner stove/toaster oven. Sweet rice pudding and stewed peaches. It was really good, all we missed was some good wine. There is no alcohol policy at the camp. The mosquitoes are not too busy with biting me, except yesterday there was a huge green flying monster, like a grasshopper type a thing, in our bedroom, exceptionally noisy, so I was the brave one to sweet it out... We'll hang out at the mall for the next few hour and then i have to go back and take the laundry in, I had to try three washing machines before one of them started up this morning ... then the power went out... then we fixed it and so my laundry is done, let's see if it's still hanging there when I get home... they say sometimes it gets lost.
Dnes dopoledne jsme vzali jednoho malyho Amika na obed, mel tenhle tyden narozeniny. Jsem s Ruth mou novou Irskou kamaradnou v internetovem cafe v nakupnim stredisku. Az to tu dokoncime tak pujdem na kafco a pak asi nakupovat... jidlo a samozrejme boty, je tu totiz Aldo, muj oblibeny obchod s obuvi. Dnes rano nas vzbudil zpev choru pred nasim oknem, strasne jsem si jechtela vyfotit ale proste jsem nedokazala vstat. Dnes v noci me komar stipnul jen jednou, uspech, oproti 2-3 stipnuti/noc. Vcera vecer jsem delala ryzovy nakym po africku, jelikoz mame jen sporak se dvema horakama, jeden hrnec, jednu panvicku a jeden pekacek... ta trouba je navic kombinovana s toustovaci troubou... i kdyz myslim ze jsme v ni pekly i kure...no divocina jak ma byt, jeste ze si nemusime rozdelavat ohen. Jedine co jsme postradali bylo vinecko... je tu v tabore zakaz alkoholu! Vecera vecer nam do pokoje vletela nejaka cikada, zelena jak brcal a ja ji musela vymest, no kdyz to neni pavouk tak to neva. Dneska rano nez jsme jeli, jsem prala! Musela jsem to pradlo vyzkouset ve trech prackach nez jsem narazila na jednu ktera fungovala. Pak jeste k tomu na chvili vypli elektriku... pak jsem to pradlo asi po pul hodine povesila za barak na snuru a tak doufam ze tam jeste bude az prijdem zpatky, nekdy se tu pry ztraci veci, haha.
Dnes dopoledne jsme vzali jednoho malyho Amika na obed, mel tenhle tyden narozeniny. Jsem s Ruth mou novou Irskou kamaradnou v internetovem cafe v nakupnim stredisku. Az to tu dokoncime tak pujdem na kafco a pak asi nakupovat... jidlo a samozrejme boty, je tu totiz Aldo, muj oblibeny obchod s obuvi. Dnes rano nas vzbudil zpev choru pred nasim oknem, strasne jsem si jechtela vyfotit ale proste jsem nedokazala vstat. Dnes v noci me komar stipnul jen jednou, uspech, oproti 2-3 stipnuti/noc. Vcera vecer jsem delala ryzovy nakym po africku, jelikoz mame jen sporak se dvema horakama, jeden hrnec, jednu panvicku a jeden pekacek... ta trouba je navic kombinovana s toustovaci troubou... i kdyz myslim ze jsme v ni pekly i kure...no divocina jak ma byt, jeste ze si nemusime rozdelavat ohen. Jedine co jsme postradali bylo vinecko... je tu v tabore zakaz alkoholu! Vecera vecer nam do pokoje vletela nejaka cikada, zelena jak brcal a ja ji musela vymest, no kdyz to neni pavouk tak to neva. Dneska rano nez jsme jeli, jsem prala! Musela jsem to pradlo vyzkouset ve trech prackach nez jsem narazila na jednu ktera fungovala. Pak jeste k tomu na chvili vypli elektriku... pak jsem to pradlo asi po pul hodine povesila za barak na snuru a tak doufam ze tam jeste bude az prijdem zpatky, nekdy se tu pry ztraci veci, haha.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
O Koupelne/about the bathroom
Tak jsem zrovna napsala strasne dlouhou stat o nasi koupelne a je navzdy ztracena na www. A nevim jestli se mi to chce psat znovu... proste nase koupelna vypada strasne spinave ale je to proto ze zednici asi nevedeli co delaji kdyz delali dlazdice a tak nevycistili ten pisek co se jim lepi dlazdice dohromady a ty mezery mezi tim jsou asi tak 1.5 cm siroky a dneska tam byl strasne velikej cvrcek, lezel na zadech a nemohl se prevratit, tak jsem ho dala kocicce na hrani.
So I just posted a long story about the bathroom but now it is lost in the www. Basically the guys who did the tile job were probably just trying it out for the first time since the spaces are like an inch wide and they never cleaned off the grout off the tiles when they were putting it all together. So you could clean like crazy and ... oh this morning I found a huge bug there, on his back, so I gave it to the kitty to play with... she enjoyed it very much.
So I just posted a long story about the bathroom but now it is lost in the www. Basically the guys who did the tile job were probably just trying it out for the first time since the spaces are like an inch wide and they never cleaned off the grout off the tiles when they were putting it all together. So you could clean like crazy and ... oh this morning I found a huge bug there, on his back, so I gave it to the kitty to play with... she enjoyed it very much.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
the church/v kostele
Ok, so the church experience was interesting, don"t have a another word for it. It was more like an concert of a christian band, which was kind of moving, but then the preacher, but how to say it...very basic, scaring people type thing, 1st. lesson in bible study. well I tried it. It was a church for the upper middle class so mostly white people.
Takze v kostele zpivala skupina Spirit nebo co, normalni koncert akorat zpivali krestansky pisne. Pak ten knez, ani nevim jestli to byl opravdovej knez bleptal neco o tom, abychom se bali boha a o Adamovi a Eve a tak jsem si radsi vzpomnela na Darwina a myslela si svoje. Bylo to jak prvni lekce z Bible. No nic, aspon jsem to zkusila. Ti maly Amici to ale berou vazne, dokonce si delali poznamky o tom co tim basnik chtel rici ... no comment, to je jejich vec.
Takze v kostele zpivala skupina Spirit nebo co, normalni koncert akorat zpivali krestansky pisne. Pak ten knez, ani nevim jestli to byl opravdovej knez bleptal neco o tom, abychom se bali boha a o Adamovi a Eve a tak jsem si radsi vzpomnela na Darwina a myslela si svoje. Bylo to jak prvni lekce z Bible. No nic, aspon jsem to zkusila. Ti maly Amici to ale berou vazne, dokonce si delali poznamky o tom co tim basnik chtel rici ... no comment, to je jejich vec.
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