grahamstowncentral

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Animal-Heid

Ferrell oxen twitch tails at dogs with matted fur. Still, they coexist. (Haiku) -Ang Buxton

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Runs on Dunkin

Grahamstown's a donut. Black Outside, colored sprinkles with a cream center.

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Water Haiku

1. Caution! Tap water is not for drinking. But these plastic jugs will do. 2. South African Coast

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Not a Hunger Strike

Sometimes, it still hurts knowing I couldn't stop them from killing Biko. (Haiku) -Ang Buxton

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Grahamstownship (A Sonnet)

We huff, legs trudging pavement hills, aghast at houses plastered, pastel splatters pinned to mountains clustered proudly. We run past a bronze coin, gold sun blanket, bathed with wind. Again we sweat when shacks are magnified: it's wheels, this time, that brave rockier roads through dust. Our rolled up windows slyly eyed by people strewn about where brick corrodes. Grass hills, trash trails, dogs dead on their backs secedes a metal cross cemetery, spray painted business signs on tin roofed shacks, razor fences and Cash and Carry's. Clothes hang, add vibrant hues to this brown strip

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song of the day

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Katie, Victoria and I walking in back to the house in our neighborhood in Grahamstown. You can catch a glimpse of the type of gated houses in the background.

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on friday, when you bought hansa pilsener, a beer, you got a chance to pick a raffle card. people said they played twenty times and didnt win at all. i bought two, and won twice. i got a beanie and a lanyard :) this is zach and i at the rat and parrot being especially gay haha

http://bpmmag.co.za/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/hansa_pilsener.jpg

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grocery shopping at the pick n pay on Saturday 

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Angel and I dancing at the Rat and Parrot on Friday night :)

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Grahamstown, USA

Well the title is supposed to be ironic.  This piece is interesting, the description I read says it depicts South Africa as a dumping ground for Western pop culture.

http://apple.copydesk.org/uploads/2011/03/110319SatAmBartSimpson02.jpg

I have to agree-- the radio stations play a lot of american pop music.  Not entirely, but mostly.  And the clubs play most of the same things, though perhaps a few months behind.  Or the one I went to last night anyway. I danced in the glow of black lights on a floor made of tile.  Rick, one of our chaperones and a dance teacher, and I went HARD with the moves.  Before I knew it, I was sweating and smiling like I do at any opportunity to get in my zone and just dance.  

Now, to write in highlight-fashion of the past days:

Thursday: 

-over 24 hours of travel.  18 hours on a plane.  I watched four movies, three shows, and a documentary on Nelson Mandela.  We ate about every four hours.  I was fond of the food, as much as one can be on an airplane.  a slight layover in Decar, and another in Johannesburg. then two hours in a car on a very narrow road with no street lights.  we drive on the left side of the street!

-arriving in Grahamstown for almost midnight Thursday, (our flight was for 5:30pm Eastern Time on Wednesday...), we ate a delicious dinner at Christine's house.  The house I am staying in is wonderful.  It is typically a b&b. I will try to add a picture to this blog soon. It has an automatic gate and a front with intricate landscape, stone statues and a tile floor.  Within the house, our host, Miss Percy, and her husband live.  She has four kids: two boys, two girls, and other house guests.  

-I am rooming in a room with Lindsay from the hockey team in a room with a vanity, many closets with shelves, our own bathroom, and our two beds.  There is a large, curtained window, but we havent been there during the day enough to enjoy the sunlight.

Friday

-We ate breakfast at a place called Cafe Delizzia, where we also at Saturday.  It serves Lavazza, the Italian coffee, and has wifi.  Their menu contains mostly things that I know.   I havent had much trouble finding food to eat...at all.  (They dont refrigerate their eggs though! it is weird.  and they serve hot milk everywhere.)

-We were given a "break" to nap...but of course several of us walked back into town!  There, we went to a place called the Rat and Parrot.  We sat and chatted, playing games to get to know each other.  One friend ordered a drink that came with a lip gloss.  So of COURSE i had to order it to bring one home to Sabrina.  I will order another one to bring one to Maria too, if I get the chance again.

-We got lost on the walk back, but it was fun navigating our way around.  It grew dark very quickly, and there are many hills here.  None of the houses look the same in the neighborhood we live.  They are VERY magnificent, with pastel colored roofs and tall, elaborate gates.  I am shocked by where we are staying, but I know that most of them are b&b's for this thing called Festival that occurs later in june.  This is where the tourists stay when that occurs.  The town is very much a collegetown, South African style.  It is busy with brick sidewalks, and the number of people on the streets reminds me of something similar to Northampton.  But there are more panhandlers and a ratio of races similar to Central, without the Puerto Rican, and instead of spanish, people speak xhosa or africaans.  

-We sat around chatting while dinner was cooked, and afterwards, I impressed the ladies in the kitchen with my eminem impression and beatboxing.  They got a kick out of it.

We've gone to back to the Rat and Parrot two nights in a row.  The people there are unrealistically nice, the men not as creepy, and they are significantly more attractive.  Also, most of the men have the same hair cut as me.  I walked into the bar the first night and it was packed-- it was the last day of classes this past friday at Rhodes College.  I was wearing a hat, but took it off when I realized I wasnt the only one with a skewed mohawk.  

Saturday

-delizzia cafe for brunch

-grocery shopping! a place called Pick and Pay. very busy.  many foods and brands i do not recognize, but some that i did.

-lindsay and I went in the hills of the neighborhood as the sun set.

-dinner at a place called Gino's.  We laughed, drank wine, with antipastos and waited a very long time for our main course, but it was fun in the meantime none the less.  

-back out to rat and parrot, but it was much less poppin.  so we hit up Friar Tuck's, the place with the lights and dance floor.  they both are multi-leveled, with a smoking floor on top, a bar on each floor.  and no cover charge! 

-sat up late on our porch talking with gally and victoria, looking out at the stars and the house lit along the mountain top. 

-slept in, then walked to la gern and rick's house for brunch.  (we got lost though, oops.) and now i am here in the sun, reading the south african newspaper and drinking coffee, thinking of my family and wishing they were here.  

today we start lesson planning, we visit the schools tomorrow, and start teaching on tuesday.

much love to the US!

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i dig them. wondering how much of the pop culture the kids im teaching will know, so im trying to learn as much as i can.  i dont think theyll be as big fans of this as i am, but its good to know, and learning about kwaito i know will be useful, if not interesting for me and my rap endeavors.

so excited.