Tuesday, May 22

Lost in Translations

First off let me just say that I have an amazing sense of direction. Time and again I have found my way around the trickiest places here in Africa, without the luxury of a map, street signs, or anything else. I must have a GPS somewhere in my brain.

One highlight that I wanted to mention about this trip has been the people that I've met. The blog is mostly events and things but most of the fun is just meeting interesting people. Hanging out at hostels for the last week or so has been neat because we have met people from all over the world. Sitting around a camp fire or a pool table, listening to dozens of accents get thrown around. There is really no need to introduce yourself. It seems irrelevant to mention your name because you'll only know these people for a day or two. Just dive into conversation about whatever. Where you going? Where you been? Some people are funny, some are smart, some are strange, some are rude. It's like one night stands, only no sex.

At the last hostel we stayed at in P.E., it was like a little party of strangers. No one knew the person next to them very well but you wouldn't know it. We just hang out all day the last day talking about things as if we were all great friends. A british old guy that threw books into the fire, had everyone cracking up. partly because he had the heaviest British accent, partly because he was 40 and partly because he was just a funny guy. A couple swiss girls, a bunch of dutchmen, and a handful of P.E. ers and it was a little party. Several accents and perspectives. Hosteling is great fun!

We are in Durban now. The city is large and hectic. People are everywhere and you can't walk without rubbing shoulders with the person next to you. It is a dirty city but I enjoyed walking around it all day. Nathan and I ate a sausage from a street vendor which was probably the least sanitary thing I've done so far on this trip. But it was not bad and cost less than 2 dollars.

Hanging out here for the night with some Germans that seem pretty cool. Then it's off to Drakensburg (dragon mountains)!!!

1 comment:

Finan9 said...

dragon mountain sounds awesome. reminds me of this great flick, the lord of the rings. i think youd really love it as you've mentioned once or twice in your blog posts how much youve enjoyed walking around in africa. by the way, youll be happy to know that they're advertising pan's labyrinth as "a fantasy for adults in the spirit of the lord of the rings." Sold me. spurs are gonna roll past the jazz i think. unfortunately. duncan, tp and ginobili have been awesome. saw your boy kobe at the premiere of pirates 3 with his little girl. not in real life, saw him in some photos. get back here soon man. place is not the same without you. grayson sits up til 4 in the morning playing sad songs, ted keeps giggling hysterically, neither of them can lay off the bottle and sheila keeps talking about matthew mcConahey in a white shirt, all sweaty (like in a time to kill).

kisses,

Patrick