Out of my comfort zone

Written Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The reason we're in South Africa is because Elizabeth is involved in a project trying to encourage kids to choose healthier after school activities. So not drugs, sex and alcohol.

Today, we took a tour of several of the schools she's working with, along with the surrounding neighborhoods. I've seen poverty in the U.S., but my god this is on a new level for me.

Khayelitsha area outside Cape Town

We got the opportunity to walk into a few schools and talk to a few teachers. Well, Elizabeth and her co-worker talked. I just stood there hoping not to not get them in trouble. But I paid more attention to the students, all dressed in uniform, anyway. Mostly, it was that there is no cafeteria in any school, so either they bring lunch or they visit local vendors that set up just outside the school gates and sell cheap favorites. Like the lady with an huge pot full of cooked chicken feet. I felt bad for all the complaining I did about cafeteria food growing up.

Throughout our tour we saw thousands of homes in the township of Khayelitsha built out of sheet metal or corrugated metal, many leaning against each other. There are electrical poles spread all over and apparently people climb up them and just attach their own connection to a pole.

Standard house in the township

The subsections in the township were mostly divided by race, with most being black and some being "coloured". To explain, blacks are, well, black. And coloured are people of mixed backgrounds. In the days of apartheid, coloured people ranked below whites but above blacks. And since that was not really that long ago, the echoes can still be felt. God knows the U.S. is far from the ideal in race relations, but it seems SA still has some major issues to deal with. After seeing the place we're staying compared with shacks just a few miles away, it's tough to reconcile.

Stop lights are robots and swim suits are cosi's

Which is short for costume, not that that makes any more sense.

So we're back traveling again, this time in Cape Town, South Africa. It's much harder to do a big trip like this since we've got the kiddo at home now. Luckily we've both got great parents, so Caitlin is getting lots of grandparent time.

This is my second full day here, while Elizabeth has been here for almost 10 days. The flights took over 24 hours total and I got to experience 4 consecutive meals on a plane.

I just spent about 4 hours walking, about half an hour each way to the nearest train station to get into the city and about 3 hours wandering the city and waterfront areas, minus a fish and chips lunch near the ocean. Holy crap I'm tired. I'm used to freezing temps and its in the 80s here.

I need to write something about safety and security that I've noticed here. I have never felt unsafe at all, But there is clearly a high level of crime here. We're staying in a predominantly white and affluent suburb. And I haven't seen one house without a high wall at the very least.

Security fence topped with electric wire

We're staying in a cottage attached to a house and it is surrounded by a fence with electrical wires running along the top. Many fences have barbed wire or sharp points along the top. Many also have signs saying they're protected by ADT Armed Response teams. So yeah, crime is an issue. But we were told it's almost all opportunity crimes. Leave a phone, computer, wallet or whatever in view and its likely to get "pinched". It's not fun being on alert at all times, but it keeps things safe.

I pick up a rental car tomorrow so we can do some site seeing in the area. That includes a road trip to an animal park (lions!) and seeing the Cape of Good Hope. I'll try to update again and upload a few pics when I can. 

Scott

Pictures

Click here for a few pictures from our trip.

The long return

A few thoughts about Alaska and our trip:

• Perhaps I'm the only person fascinated by maps, but I never quite get over how far we go on trips in such a relatively short time. It's around 3,200 miles from Anchorage to State College and we made that in 14 hours or so total. Sure, it was a fairly miserable 14 hours (sitting by fat old grumpy men sucks), but it's a fair trade to see such a beautiful natural area.
• Holy crap, I could never live in Alaska. The weather was pretty great while we were there. Highs in the 60s or 70s, regular rain and lots of day light. But as our boat captain said, they have four seasons there. June, July, August and winter. Considering I hate the cold of central PA, I want nothing to do with regular temps 10 to 20 below zero. As HIGHS. Plus, they get 4 hours or so of daylight, and the sun never goes very high in the sky. How people don't commit suicide, I'll never understand.
• I only saw true darkness once the entire trip. My mother-in-law accidentaly set her alarm to go off at 2:45 am one morning. My first thought, after 'what the hell is going on?' was 'Holy crap, darkness outside. Weird.' With enough curtains and blinds, I thought it was great.
  
• I'd never seen a fjord before. Wanted to in New Zealand, but it was a long detour. So we missed them. And according to our boat captain/guide, there are only a few places in the world where they occur. After seeing them, I gotta say that anybody who enjoys traveling and especially enjoys natural beauty has to search them out. Just striking how these mountains just rise strait up out of the water. And our boat got within 20 feet of some of them.
• I think our ship's captain may have been a little bold, but it was really worth it. I figured we'd stop at least a quarter mile back from the face of the glacier once I saw the ice field in front of it. As he said (paraphrasing) "Smarter, safer captains would probably stop here. But I always find that boring." So off we went. And thank goodness we did. Hearing those boulder-sized chunks of ice break off, then crash into the water was something I'll never forget. I'd guess we were no more than 100 yards from the face, but it was impossible to wrap my head around the scale. We could have been 50 yards, it could have been a several hundred. Nobody volunteered to stand next to it to provide any scale.
• Not to get all preachy, but we had really strange mixed feelings watching the glacial calving. It was awe inspiring to watch and we all kept hoping to see more while we were there. (We did see several small breaks, a few mini-avalanches and one big chunk crack.) But at the same time, we knew why it was happening. Temperatures are higher and many of the glaciers in Alaska are receding at a scary pace. Adding to it, we knew that flying all the way up there, then watching as the back of the boat spit out massive amounts of diesel exhaust the entire 9 hour boat ride wasn't exactly helping matters. In fact, it seemed really bad. So our trip was absolutely amazing and we saw things we never expected. But I couldn't really escape the nagging guilt that I was playing a role in what I saw just by being there. I don't regret going, but I will try to keep in mind that my actions impact the world more than I realize. Hopefully that will be a good lesson going forward.

Going, going, gone...

As promised...










While this was amazing to watch (and I have about 10 more photos of the whole process)... for me, this serves as a visual reminder of why we try to be aware of how our actions affect what's around us.

We've all made it home safe and sound. Time changes always seem to be more difficult when you come back home as compared to when you start your trip. While some of us are having trouble getting to sleep, others went to bed at 9:30. I'll try to sort through the 1,000+ pictures later and post a few more.

Iceburg, straight ahead!

Yesterday we took a 9 hour boat ride to see the Northwestern Glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park. This definitely wasn't a boat ride for those with a weak stomach but we all managed to avoid feeding the fish and enjoyed the scenery and wildlife.

There were multiple glaciers but the biggest was the Northwestern. The boat got really close and as we approached we were going through what looked like a sheet of ice. I didn't want to say the 'T' word but I did have a sudden urge to stand at the bow of the boat with my arms open wide and say 'I'm flying Scott, I'm flying.' It turned out to be chuncks of ice, not a sheet of it. The highlight of the trip by far was watching huge chunks of ice fall from the glacier into the water. I guess this is called calving. I managed to take lots of pictures and we'll post some tomorrow.

For now, we have a long trip back and I'm sure sleeping on the plane won't be a problem.

A day for sights

I may be wrong, but I think we figured out where mapmakers came up with the term "scenic byway." Good lord, the entire drive from Anchorage to Seward was just one panorama after another. Mountains, bays, reflecting lakes, glaciers. Pretty much everything. Two and a half hours of awesome.

The highlight was Exit Glacier in Kennai Fjords National Park. Not that it's a huge glacier (pretty tiny, relatively) but we could get so close. Turns out, the area surrounding glaciers is several degrees cooler than everywhere else nearby. Who knew?

Tomorrow we're spending the day on the water with a 9 hour tour of the fjords. That word never gets old to type. Bummed we only have 2 more days, but it's been great. Now, I need more fresh seafood.

Success

It was sunny! Well, for part of the day yesterday. We actually caught a glimpse of the big mountain. It was just the top, but still impressive. Considering we were at least 60 miles away, it's hard to believe we could see anything. From what we heard, our experience is more normal than getting a clear shot of Denali. I'm just happy we got the glimpse.

After we left the park, we headed back to Anchorage, where we went to look for salmon heading upstream. We did see 4 or 5, but I think it's really early for that kind of thing. Those guys were huge. Maybe half as long as a baseball bat the circumference a little less than a dinner plate.

Today, we drive down to Seward. We'll stop to look around, then our last big adventure is tomorrow. A 9 hour boat tour around the Kenai Fjords, in search of wildlife and glaciers. Should be fun.

Sled dogs on gravel

Ah, weather. No control and nobody cares. It sounds like whining, and it is, but man do clouds suck. We were 30 miles from the tallest peak in North America and couldn't see a thing. Awesome. But we still got to see wolf puppies, a bear pooping and a demonstration on sled dogs. They did a short practice lap on gravel, then we got to pet them. Oh friendly doggies, you're always so cute.

We also saw the posted sunset and sunrise times for tonight and tomorrow. Sunset: 12:45 a.m. Sunrise at 3:45. I guess those clouds hanging around have a use. I don't need the sun coming in at 4 in the freaking morning.

We'll be attempting to load a few photos shortly. Hopefully they work. The size of this area is disconcerting. Just Denali National Park is the size of Massachusetts. We were there on an 8 hour bus ride and probably saw a tiny percentage of things. I'd want to go back, but don't really have the experience and equipment for backpacking.

The Grizzly Burger

I shall now be forever immortalized via photo on the wall of Rose's Cafe in Healy, Alaska. I tamed the mighty Grizzly Burger, a one pound burger topped with a fried egg, ham, two slices of cheese and tomato. Plus a side of fries. Honestly, it wasn't even hard. That part scares me.

We really didn't do or see much in our first day here. Drove 3-4 hours up from Anchorage to Denali, but it was covered in clouds the whole way and irregular rain. The highlight was the female moose at the salt lick in the back yard of our B&B.

Tomorrow, we've got a 7 a.m. bus ride into Denali National Park. Hopefully, the rain, clouds and wildlife stop disappointing us. I want to see the big mountain. What's the point of Alaska without mountains? Not even the cheesy Sarah Palin T-shirts could salve that pain.

No shoes...

We've arrived in Alaska! I think it would take more than a week for my body to adjust to all the daylight here. Even when we went to bed, the sun was shining as if it was 6am.

We brought a GPS this time to avoid those driver/navigator conflicts. I've determined that the GPS only adds one more 'person' to argue with.

We're heading up to Denali today after a night in Anchorage. Apparently it's a custom to remove your shoes upon entering a home. I thought that was only the Japanese. Maybe it's because we're so close to Asia...

Off again...

We really do try to keep our economy on the road to recovery, one travel experience after another. Save so we can retire before 70? Or for any future offspring to attend college? Those are problems for Future Scott and Future Elizabeth to worry about. We’re spending that housing tax rebate (if it ever freaking gets here, MR. IRS jerks) on a week of sun and...snow.




Tomorrow we board a plane for a week in the great white north. Next time, we’re going somewhere warm. Last year, we hit southern hemisphere winter, this year we go to the land of near-permanent snow.


However, we are both very excited. And to make things more interesting, we’re taking the mother-in-law! Yes, a week vacationing with my lovely wife and her mom. Because sometimes things just aren’t difficult enough, so you gotta add a challenge or two. Given the way we travel, I’m guessing the MIL will be in for the bigger challenge. Prepare for a week without much downtime, Char. Hope you don’t mind an 8 hour school bus ride!


I’ll try to update this as much as possible. The point of this blog isn’t to brag, just leave me with a record of our trips and hopefully other people don’t mind reading. A semi-public diary, basically. Yep, I’m a 12-year-old girl at heart

Alaska-bound

So our next big trip is to Alaska. I know what you're thinking... 'didn't they just go to New Zealand last year?' And yes, we did. Somehow I've talked Scott into another trip, although not quite as far.



Our plan is to fly into Anchorage and hit Denali and the Kenai Peninsula. It will be a lot to do in a week but I think it's manageable. We'll keep you posted!

Infringing in New Zealand

We had an additional charge from the rental car company dated after we left NZ. We contacted the company and apparently we were caught speeding... I guess over there they don't have to stop you to give you a ticket.

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

So we've moved into a condo and with a condo comes the homeowner's association. Lucky for us, we moved in just in time for the annual HOA meeting. Since we had no cable or internet, we opted to attend the meeting. Only about 20% of the condos were represented and we got to hear the president get on his soapbox about the owner's who don't care about the association and what's going on in their neighborhood. A hour and a half later, we understood why they didn't show. I think we spent 20 minutes listening to our new neighbor talk about the proper mixture of sand and rock to make concrete sidewalks that won't degrade with winter salt thrown on them. They also spent another 30 minutes on whether to number the parking spaces or not and whose dog is shitting in what yard. I'm not joking.

We simply wanted to bring up the fact that we were unable to get a loan due to the HOA insurance. The president said he'd heard from a few realtors about that and then proceeded to discuss how some programs require more building insurance than others but those are basically programs for people who can't put 50% down. What? If I could've put 50% down then I wouldn't be living here!

Needless to say, we will not be in attendance at the next annual meeting. Last night was an hour and a half of my life that I'll never get back.

Oh... and I think this place always smells like the back end of a cow. Nothing better than sitting on the deck eating dinner and smelling cows. I don't belong in the country.

The 30 year commitment

Closing. Finally.

After signing/initializing over 50 pages of repeated crap and financial non-sense today, I was just ready to leave. I may have officially given away a kidney at one point. Hopefully I don't wake up in a bathtub full of ice.

So less than a week after returning from a huge trip and two days after closing, we move into the new condo Saturday. Thankfully my parents are coming out to help. That should be a fun day or so. And as a major bonus, my Mom is bringing out strawberry shortcake. I think that may make all of this worth it.

The sleep of the innocent

Well, it's about 24 hours before we may close on our condo, but it's still not a sure thing. I'm all for procrastination, but not in this type of situation. We already had one loan fall through over $10 worth of home insurance the day before, so I'm a bit nervous.

The bonus is, I'm so freaking tired from jet lag (no sleep at all last night) that I haven't really thought about it. I had to go back to work today, so I just focused on that and reading the internet. Two weeks of work backed up? Meh, that'll keep. Actually, because I have an awesome boss and great co-workers, I didn't have that much to catch up on and I was able to go into work at 7 a.m. and leave at 3. My boss doesn't much care, as long as the work gets done and I keep my hours accurate.

So I'll just spend tonight worrying about the mortgage coming through. I'm guessing that's what the sellers are doing to. I feel a little bad for them, but not much. After all, we're getting screwed in this too. This new loan includes PMI, so we'll be paying more each month. Think anybody will pay me to blog or write?

Now I just gotta stay awake until a normal bed time to try and get back to East Coast US time. Damn New Zealand and your seeing into the future. Tell me what will happen tomorrow!

More Pictures

You can use the link below for some additional pictures.


Pictures

Back home again...

but not Indiana. We're back in lovely little State College. After we each slept for about 12 hours last night (a new record for me, I think), we drove back to our apartment. A mere 9 hours, thanks to construction.

Now, we have to see if anybody will let us purchase a house in 36 hours. It's still up in the air. No big deal. And if it falls through again, we get to search for a short-term apartment since we'll be homeless as of June 30. We're hoping for a little luck on the house front for once. But after the best possible luck during our big trip, we may have earned a little bad luck. I hope not, since we've had spades of bad luck on this house thing, but we'll see.

Now I have to go back to work tomorrow. Reality is setting back in and I really don't like it. I need to score a job as a travel writer. Anybody hiring?

Exhaustion

I knew what to expect from the return trip, but man I'm still just out of whack. It's 10:30 am on Saturday in Indiana, but it still feels like I'm on NZ time. That would 2:30 am Sunday. And I've had two consecutive red eye flights. I got about 4 total hours of sleep on those two flights. Ready for that eight hour drive home tomorrow.

But we didn't exactly rest on our 11 hour layover in Los Angeles yesterday. We took the LA Metro train (yep, LA has public transportation. Who knew?) down to Hollywood and walked around for a bit. Saw the Walk of Fame, the Kodak Theatre (home of the Oscars) and Gaurmans Chinese Theatre. Mostly though, it was a chance to look at freaks and weirdos. They were every where. I almost got in a fight with a crazy man at Virgin Megastore when my bag rubbed against his bag. He informed me I needed to be more careful, that he was from Morocco, that he had a problem with me and that all of his friends do heroin. Thanks man, good to know! I walked away laughing. No idea how else to handle it.