Friday, September 10, 2010, 11:31 PM Cape Town Time- My Dorm (LBG)

This morning we got up and checked out. I was actually a little sad to leave Durban. I like it and I definitely could spend more time exploring it. I am happy to get back to Cape Town and my own space though.

After we checked out we took the city bus to the aquarium. It's called uShaka Marine World. It was pretty cool The aquarium was a half water park half aquarium. It's apparently one of the largest in the world. It was pretty decent. We looked around and also checked out the dolphin show. While we were leaving we ran into some people from our study abroad group.

Once we got back from the aquarium we went to eat at an Indian restaurant. The food was really good. One of the servers was talking to me about how his dream was to come and visit America. He knew a lot of random things about Chicago. It was kinda cool.

After that we caught a shuttle from the hotel to the airport. The shuttle took forever and we were almost late to our flight but our flight was delayed a little bit so it worked out perfectly. Airport security is much easier to get through here. It's quite convenient and you don't have to do things like take off your shoes and all of that.

The flight was pretty uneventful. Once we got back to Cape Town and back to the dorms I've basically been chilling all night. Glad to be back.

"this dolphins splashing, getting everybody all wet"

-the lonely island

peace,

nate

Thursday, September 8, 2010, 10:44 PM Durban Time- Bel-Aire Suites

            Today we decided to go back to the market. This time we took a minibus instead of catching a cab in order to save money. Once we got off the minibus we had to walk for a couple of blocks to find our way to the market. It was pretty funny. The girls I was with were both wearing skirts.  While they weren't super short by American standards they were definitely the shortest thing I had seen anybody in Durban wearing. As we were walking literally everybody was turning their heads to look at the girls, men and women alike. Lots of the men stopped and tried to talk to them but they also spoke in Zulu so we didn't understand anything of what they were saying. That was a pretty interesting moment of cultural disconnect. Something the would be wholly appropriate in most American spaces (The skirt were only right above the knee) seemed almost scandalous here.

            Anyway we got back to the market and I bought a few more items. It was really cool because a lot of the people who we had talked to and bought from the day before remembered us and even remembered our names. In a way it felt really homey in that respect. It was cool. After that we really just went back to the hotel and chilled for the night.

            Tonight when I was in the hotel I was thinking about how similar hotels kind of are to each other. When I was in the hotel I kind of forgot that I was in a different country in a way. Just an observation.

"skirts on the ruffle"

-nicki minaj

peace,

nate

 

Wednesday, September 8, 2010, 11:53 PM Durban Time- Bel-Aire Suites

Today we woke up hella early to go to a safari. We ended up not going because we found out that the big 5 animals weren't going to be on it and it also cost more than we initially thought. Instead of hitting the safari we went to the Victoria St. Market. It was a great time. Things there were a lot cheaper than Cape Town and I enjoyed trying to haggle for prices and everything. I ended up buying almost all of the gifts I need for people back home.

The guys we met in one shop were really nice to us and we talked to them for a long time. Mostly all the people in the market were nice, even when we didn't buy from them. One jewelry store that we spent a lot of time in ended up being one of the funnier parts of the trip.

The women in the jewelry store thought I was really good looking so they wanted to take a picture with me. We all took a bunch of pictures and such and traded facebook info with the ladies. It was really flattering but I didn't really know how to take it (I'm quite bad at receiving direct compliments).

After that we headed back to the hotel and chilled for the night. Getting deals is tiresome work.

"excuse me my friend, what is the price?"

-phonte of little brother

peace,

nate

Wednesday, September 8, 2010, 11:53 PM Durban Time- Bel-Aire Suites

Today we woke up hella early to go to a safari. We ended up not going because we found out that the big 5 animals weren't going to be on it and it also cost more than we initially thought. Instead of hitting the safari we went to the Victoria St. Market. It was a great time. Things there were a lot cheaper than Cape Town and I enjoyed trying to haggle for prices and everything. I ended up buying almost all of the gifts I need for people back home.

The guys we met in one shop were really nice to us and we talked to them for a long time. Mostly all the people in the market were nice, even when we didn't buy from them. One jewelry store that we spent a lot of time in ended up being one of the funnier parts of the trip.

The women in the jewelry store thought I was really good looking so they wanted to take a picture with me. We all took a bunch of pictures and such and traded facebook info with the ladies. It was really flattering but I didn't really know how to take it (I'm quite bad at receiving direct compliments).

After that we headed back to the hotel and chilled for the night. Getting deals is tiresome work.

"excuse me my friend, what is the price?"

-phonte of little brother

peace,

nate

Wednesday, September 8, 2010, 12:02 AM Durban Time- Bel-Aire Suites

            Okay, the complimentary breakfast at our hotel is off the CHAIN. That's not really relevant to anything but I just had to put it out there. After we ate we took a minibus into Downtown. The minibuses in Durban were a lot more laidback than the ones in Cape Town. They didn't try to jam as many people in and the guys weren't as aggressive trying to get people to ride. They were also cheaper (3 Rand, less than 50 cents).

            Once we got into town I noticed something that I had kind of noticed before at the airport. Everybody in Durban has a good tooth or gold teeth. A ton of people have them. It kind of reminds me of being in a city in North Florida or something. It's interesting. There was also a lot more signs and all that in the native language (Zulu) than in Cape Town or even Jo'burg. In some ways it felt like I was more "in Africa" because there were a lot more black people out on the streets and the language thing but in some ways it felt "not African" because the street reminded me of Times Square or State Street in Chicago and there was a lot of Indian people. It's kind of funny how that works. But downtown was cool. Looked around a lot of places, didn't buy anything, but I did get my haircut.

Another thing that I noticed here, especially at the barbershop is that people speak to you first in Zulu. This has happened to me before in Cape Town but usually as soon as I talk back and they hear my accent or hear me speaking in English they switch to English. In Durban I've kind of had to straight say to people that I only speak English to get them to use it. It seems like they're less used to dealing with tourists, or at least black tourists.

            That night we had dinner and went to a bar with a few students from our study abroad program that were also vacationing in Durban. It was a fun time and the food was great. Lamb is my new favorite meat. I've been eating it all the time. At the dinner they had more African dancing and such. It was cool. Kind of similar to some of the stuff they did at the place in Jo'burg.

"hey zulu"

-method man and redman

peace,

nate

 

Tuesday, September 6, 2010, 12:07 AM Durban Time- Bel-Aire Suites

Had to wake up hella early to get to the airport for a 6 AM flight. At the airport I picked up a pocket edition of The 48 Laws of Power. I've wanted to read that book for a while so I figure it'll give me something to thumb through when I'm not doing work.

In Durban the weather was pretty nice. Not too hot but very comfortable. We took a shuttle from the airport to our hotel. The airport was really far out from the city. Almost as soon as we landed I noticed the Indian influence. There were a lot fewer white people and almost no coloured people but a lot of Indians and blacks.

The hotel is super nice. They're doing some construction but even still. In our room we have a huge window that's overlooking the Indian Ocean. After I got settled in I called back to Cape Town to make sure all my stuff got turned in.

Eventually we walked down the beach in search of food. The beach looked pretty cool and we happened upon a casino and food court really close to where we were staying. We ate at an Indian place in the food court. The curry was really good.

Later on we walked to a grocery store and got some snacks for the room. On the way back from there we noticed some people on the side of the beach who were selling souvenirs. The stuff they had was a lot more reasonably priced than anywhere in Cape Town. I'll probably be stocking up here. Indeed.

"hotel, motel, holiday inn…"

-big bank hank of sugarhill gang

peace,

nate

 

Sunday, September 5, 2010, 10:37 PM Cape Town Time- My Dorm (LBG)

Today I basically spent the entire day working on my paper. I worked
mostly at Cocoa Wah Wah and then tried to go up to campus to turn it
in. The building where I had to turn it in was locked though so I
asked my roommate to turn it in for me in the morning.
Other than that I packed and got ready. Durban tomorrow. Should be a good week.
"keep it movin, yea yea to the k-i-m"
-q-tip of a tribe called quest
peace,
nate