landed in Joburg

Stressed and scrambling until the very last minute, we finally made it to the CLT airport (thanks to our wonderful parents) and said our goodbyes. After we checked our luggage and went through security, I realized that I still had my nice camping knife on me. Fortunately, a nice TSA woman let me return to the United desk, whose attendants pulled and re-checked my luggage with the knife… Phew… Only in North Carolina… I sure learned my lesson. Good thing we got that out of the way.

Now, after an 18-hour journey, 2 glasses of wine, a viewing of the movie Amazing Grace, 2 decent airplane meals and a relatively restful evening on the flight, we’re finally in Joburg, South Africa. Heather’s friend Matodi picked us up, and he and his wife are graciously hosting us while we’re here. (Talk about a soft landing after jumping into the abyss of this trip... Thank God for friends.)

Anyway, besides being a little tired and jet-lagged, my first impressions are that this place reminds me so much of the Southern Brazil: the traffic, the street signs, the grassy & rocky slopes of the interior, the cool air, the smells of a clean house with a tiled floor or of petrol exhaust on the streets, the “advertisers” or street peddlers at every intersection, the “gated” houses & communities, the evening soap-operas, and even the door handles… Very interesting.

Our first day was a lazy “recovery” day: waking up late, grocery shopping for the week, emailing at Mutodi’s parents’ place, and then attending this month’s Atlas Film Club, which featured a documentary about South African women in hip-hop, called “Counting Headz.” The evening consisted of a small meal (soup), some wine (including a traditional warm spiced wine), the film viewing, a Q&A with the South-African-born co-director, and then some more wine around a small outdoor fire.

Today, we went to work with Mutodi and viewed a few scenes being filmed of the "soapie" that he stars in... It's funny to watch heads turn as we walk along side him. In fact, his greeting us at the airport made us feel that much more special.

All this is luxury compared to where we're headed next... to Soweto this weekend and then into the bush of Mozambique (outside of Maputo).

geez

i can't believe it's been so long. i've been so distracted... and less interested in blogging lately, i guess. but this worth sharing. we hit a fire water main while auguring holes for a playground in Tucson last Friday, and then this. nearly 3 hours later, the city successfully turned it off. within 3 days, the pipe was fixed, the ground recompacted and graded, and the playground build postponed for 2 weeks.

work has been quite the rollercoaster lately. i've not been traveling as much as i've been served up, challenged and delivered from a couple very difficult projects. i'm on the up swing, though... in fact, after my annual performance review a few weeks ago, i've been able to investigate doing drama therapy and taking a few message therapy classes. more on that later.

in general, though, i haven't been the most balanced. after my ankle injury on 11/22, i was on crutches for 5 weeks, then started doing physical therapy and riding my bike to work again. :) i'm getting back on by feet again, in more ways than one.

here are just a few things i've been up to since last time:

-remotely building a playground in SF's western addition in mid-december (while on crutches, i couldn't lead the build, so i prepared everything for another project manager to lead it for me during build week.)
-home in NC for the week between Christmas and New Years
-physical therapy
-seconding at an athelic field build in phoenix
-leading a playground design day meeting in tucson
-doing site prep (only) for the playground build in tucson (see picture above)
-mad professor at dub mission
-board game nights
-syriana, munich, hong kong,... life and debt (2001), charlie and the chocolate factory (2005), spellbound (2002), the aviator (2004), being julia (2004), kinsey (2004), tarnation (2004), capturing the friedmans (2003), meet the fockers (2004), mad hot ballroom (2005), rize (2005), born into brothels (2004), house of flying daggers (2004), the bourne supremacy (2004), the weather underground (2002), and all of Mos Def’s feature films... :)
-nights up late working (... this job has turned me into a workaholic w/ insomnia)

the sound of music

written by my sister-in-law mardie:

We just had a fabulous time at a Sound of Music Sing-Along at the Castro Theatre in SF. I wore my mom's plaid dress with the pleated skirt, white collar and blue ribbon. Hope wore a white wig with a white boa, to be a Swiss Alp (or maybe a snowflake on an eyelash). Bryan wore a lederhosen (an old sock, suspenders and some ric-rac), and Tony was Robin from Batman and Robin - apparently Robin helped fight the Nazis. Richard wore a brown box tied up with string, and Jen wore my pink rose hat and pink coat, green pants with paper raindrops taped on. Much fun.

Surprisingly the movie really holds up – only a couple of lines seem outdated. Such great songs and it was fun to have the lyrics on the screen so we could sing extra loud.

SF decom & will smith movie

SF decom was fun. it was great to go in costume, to run into good folks, to dance and to explore the pseudo-Playa... oh, i already can't wait until next year's BM. nothing beats the real thing.

so, yesterday, my brother and his wife had some people over for a dinner gathering over-looking the filming of the Will Smith movie at 24th & York. it was cool to see all the hype and to watch everyone get so excited about the entire production. it was also cool to see Will run up and down the street... finally, everyone called it a night, so I decided to head home. on the way, i noticed Will signing autographs while on his way off the set. i walked ahead and then turned to ask him for a hug. he said, "sure thing, girl," and gave me a nice big hug... there's nothing like a nice firm hug from a tall, dark and handsome famous man... that was my first and only brush with fame, and i have to admit, it got me all gitty inside.

dinner and a movie

ate some tasty lettuce wraps, pan fried noddles w/ prawn and curried chicken at Le Cheval (an awesome French-Vietnamese restaurant in Downtown Oakland) last night with Noah. the food was delish, the company tambien... then we met up with two friends to see Million Dollar Baby... i have to say, i enjoyed the film but i expected a little more for some reason. i guess that's hollywood for ya.

Motorcycle Diaries, houseparty and the Bridge School Benefit

last weekend, i went (with a co-worker, her roommate and my brother's fiance) to the Clay Theatres on Fillmore to see Motorcycle Diaries ... what a powerful testimony of how traveling (off the beaten path) can change someone's worldview dramatically. this film is very moving and definitely a must-see, especially for fellow Latin Americanists. noteworthy elements: the beautiful South American landscape (from Argentina to Colombia), the social commentary, the inspirational humanitarianism, the reality, the eye-opening experiences of Ernesto "Che" Guevara and the cast of actors. brilliant.

also, my roomies and I had our first houseparty on Saturday. despite the rain, there was a pretty good turnout. I made margaritas and ended up having one too many. :-( after a successful recovery Sunday afternoon, I joined my brother Tony's friend at the Bridge School Benefit at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA. (it was very random that I went... I had no idea that it was even going on until I got offered the ticket on Sunday at 12:30!) I was able to catch Los Lonely Boys, Sonic Youth, Ben Harper, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tony Bennett, before I had to leave due to cold toes.

that's all for now... I'm procrastinating at work, mostly b/c I don't have a lot on my plate right now. I can't complain. it's a nice break.

fahrenheit

i have never felt QUITE the URGENCY that i feel right now to DO SOMETHING about the political (and selfish) state of our nation. Fahrenheit 9/11 is a must-see for ANYone and everyone who wants to know what actually went on, not just what our biased media filters out for us to see (including the right-wing's critical reviews on this "controversial" film). PLEASE read river's blog for some well-written commentaries about the film. then, let us harness our energy collectively and DO SOMETHING!! (besides VOTE--obviously)