Postcard from Seychelles

After an "overly urban" visit to Madagascar, I decided I wanted a nice, "beach vacation" next so picked Seychelles - the smallest of the African nations.  Apparently, it's the "tony" resort destination, but I actually enjoyed my trip to Mauritius more.  They are very similar (although, admittedly, the beaches in Seychelles were nicer), and I stayed in very similar 5-star resorts right on the beach for about the same amount of time.  But I probably spent about half as much on the Mauritius trip.

Like Madagascar, Seychelles retains a French influence and most folks speak French - even though it became a British colony in 1810.  Granted, most people speak English, as well, but the default is still French.  Kinda weird.  Uninhabited for most of its existence, the population is now over 90% Creole. The economy is split between plantations and tourism.  Their flag is kinda cool/different. Witness:



According to Wikipedia:  The oblique bands symbolize a dynamic new country moving into the future. The colour blue depicts the sky and the sea that surrounds the Seychelles. Yellow is for the sun which gives light and life, red symbolizes the people and their determination to work for the future in unity and love, while the white band represents social justice and harmony. The green depicts the land and natural environment.

When i arrived in my room, I found this "interesting" note on the desk: We would like to inform you that the Seychelles is a tropical destination with a large variety of animals and insects, and you may encounter animals such as flies, ants, mosquitoes, spiders, yellow hairy caterpillar, stonefish, scorpionfish, lionfish, jelly fish, sea urchin, great barracuda, yellow wasp, honey bee and so forth.  You are asked to refrain from touching insects and other animals as they may cause discomfort. The yellow hairy caterpillar's hairs cause allergic reaction to human mainly itching and rashes when in contact with the caterpillar's hair on the human skin.

I didn't have any native fauna adventures, though.  The whole vacay was pretty chill.  Spent most of my time on the beach or at the pool, with a one day trip into Victoria (the capital - smallest in Africa!), to have lunch and do some souvenir shopping. But that was fun as I took public transport/the bus, and enjoyed an almost hour roller coaster ride along the coast and then across the island - those bus drivers don't play!  The best 5 Rupee I spent!  (The current exchange rate is about 14 rupees to the dollar).

At the end of the day, would I recommend it?  Maybe if you've been tons of other places, but I would still recommend Mauritius over it.

America: The Season Finale

I'm really struggling with this.  Like, borderline, PTSD struggling.  Not sleeping well. Near constant, low grade stomach ache.  Serious, serious, fear of what could happen to my family, my friends.  And amazement that, while some people I read about  seem to feel the same, most people I know - while sharing their own token displays of outrage - are clearly "not getting it" and are ready to move on.  You know, "Blah, blah, blah, we'll just have to fight him in the courts, or work to change the system so this doesn't happen again, blah blah blah."  Are you kidding me?  He needs to be stopped NOW.  He needs to be prevented from taking office.  And don't give me that crap about "will of the people" - he LOST.  More voters chose the other candidate.

It definitely sucks to be a History major. We always bemoan how people don't get the big picture, trot out that famous quote, "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it," etc.  But, seriously, in this current "historical moment," you have to be REALLY dense to not see how badly this will turn out.  For one thing, with the advent of social media, even history neophytes were trotting out the Hitler comparisons, warning people that this is almost exactly how it started in Germany, etc.

When Bush II was installed as President, I knew something bad would happen/that we would be "punished."  While I am not a religious person, I do believe in karma, balance, what goes around comes around, etc., and I ranted and raved to anyone who would listen after the 2000 fiasco that the U.S. would "pay" - that you couldn't do something so outrageous and fucked up and WRONG and not expect to pay some kind of price.  And then, not even 8 months after he was sworn in, the towers fell.  Would 9/11 still have happened had Gore rightfully been the one in office?  We'll never know, of course, but even beyond that, the buffoonish presidency, the devastated economy, we paid plenty for allowing Dubya the keys to the White House.

And now they could go to Trump.  Yes, I say COULD.  I have to hope the disaster can be averted. Because the punishment we endured under Bush will be NOTHING compared to the karmic payback for allowing into office someone so completely unfit, so grotesquely monstrous, etc.  And it's laughable to hear people say, "Well,we'll just fight him every step of the way!"  Please.  Through Congress? Both houses now controlled by the GOP.  Through the courts?  Don't make me laugh.  If you don't stop him now, you sure as hell won't stop him later and you're dangerously naive to think so.

People are actually trying to act like it's just another transition, that the sun still rose and we'll survive, blah blah blah.  Pray tell me, what you're basing that on?  What, exactly, in Trump's history makes you think he is open to being anything other than a childish, hate-filled, petty, narcissistic bully?  Just TRY to imagine what would happen, as an admittedly extreme example, if ISIS or someone manages to kidnap someone from his family and beheads them on live TV?  Think the Middle East won't be scorched into a nuclear wasteland that triggers all sorts of retaliatory shit and a World War III? Hell, they won't even have to kidnap a family member - they just have to make fun of him on TV.

You think that we've withstood worse in a leader?  That's simply not true. By any stretch of the imagination. While Bush was a disaster, at least he had previously governed (so to speak), at least he paid lip service to some of the American ideals, at least he didn't have a history of off the hook bat-shit crazy and offensive remarks.  He didn't mock the disabled.  He didn't suggest people kill his opponent.  Hell, even HE didn't lie as much as Trump does.  He wasn't a sexual predator, who had possibly raped a 13 year old. He didn't wonder why we don't use our nuclear weapons more often.  I could go on and on.

And then there are all those "normal" people who have now crawled out from under their rocks to admit they voted for Trump and are now posting smug, condescending crap about how the "liberals" don't get it, and why don't you try "listening" to Trump's supporters to "understand"?  Are you serious?  I HAVE been listening to them for the past year.  Listening to them say stuff like "Kill the nigger!" And "Jail that cunt!" And yes, I know that's not ALL of his supporters, but the guy encouraged that kind of behavior; he enabled it.  And YOUR vote for him validated it.  And when you try and bullshit me and others by saying, "Well, I voted for him for small government and Christian values, etc." then that only shows how very deluded you are.

Any cursory examination of historical economic trends under Republican vs. Democratic presidencies proves the economy does better under the Democrats.  And you voted for Trump for family/Christian values?  Are you fucking KIDDING me?  He is an admitted sexual predator.  He spews hate, intolerance, etc. like it's nobody's business.  So yeah, I've listened to him, and I've listened to his supporters, and you're full of shit, plain and simple.  At the very least, you are dangerously incapable of any critical thinking whatsoever.

Want a glimpse of American under Trump?  Here's just a FEW of the things that have already happened since the election:

• Scrawled in NC: "Black Lives Don't Matter - and Neither Do Your Votes"
• He's vetting cabinet members who called Hillary a cunt in public
• A Wal-Mart customer yanked the hajib off a young woman and said it's no longer allowed and she should go hang herself with it
• "Kill Obama!" was yelled at a Trump post election rally and on one was phased.
• Black students were attacked and beaten on the way to school while their attackers yelled "Trump won, you niggers!"
• At Texas State University, pro Trump "tar and feather" vigilantes are forming to punish people who promote diversity
• A black girl getting on a bus was told after the election "Shouldn't you be sitting in the back now?"

Yeah, let's listen to the other side. This is just a sampling, and will only get worse.  So spare me your kumbaya and get over it crap.  Spare me your outrageous false equivalency bullshit about how now we know how you felt when Obama won.  

And spare me to all the people opiated by the oligarchy into saying "Well, we'll just have to be vigilant and work hard during the next four years.  Look who's on The Voice Tonight!  Go Raiders!" Fuck that.  Get out in the streets.  Stop this from happening.  I know it's easy for me to say from thousands of miles away, but by god I'd be out there if I were in the states now.  

And I WILL be home around Dec. 22nd and looking to do whatever I can to stop this.  Because, again, as a History major, I know this will end VERY badly if we don't stop it now.  And it won't be any fun to say "I told you" if/when most everyone we know/love is in a camp or dead.  :(

In closing, I'll share this thing making the rounds and which you may have already seen:

If you voted for Donald Trump, MAYBE you aren't a racist or homophobic or anti-woman. But there is a reason people throw that at you, and it has little to do with anything you personally did to them.

It is because your vote empowered those who will attack them.

When you voted for Trump, you validated and empowered the great many who have rallied around him through racial or gendered hate. Your vote gave them the power to erupt into public manifestations of their racial or anti-LGBTQ violence, and we see hundreds of stories from just the last two days. 

Beatings of gay men, high school kids shouting racist slurs at their black and Hispanic classmates, and the assault of Muslim women for wearing an hijab.

These are all happening with startling frequency.

The reason why you are called a racist isn't because you did those things. It is because you decided, in your vote, that those things are okay. You decided this hate was more acceptable than emails. That you were willing to allow these racist attacks so you could get a tax cut. That this was acceptable so you could get a better job a few extra bucks (which is NOT going to happen, BTW). That demanding change in Washington is worth the safety of millions of Americans who don't look like you.

You are being called a racist and homophobic because your vote prioritized your pocketbook over their safety. And they don't mean to say you are the same as those who are doing it. They are saying that you have chosen to silently accept it rather than to do something about it.

"Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men"... The problem you face is that, right now, you are the indifferent. And that is evil in itself.

Postcard from Madagascar

So Madagascar is my 49th country to visit.  And it had the WORST......traffic!  I've been to some REALLY bad traffic countries: China, Mexico, various other African countries, etc.  But the traffic in Madagascar was off the hook insane, and truly has to be experienced to be believed.  Imagine a city with 3.5 million people and ZERO traffic lights.  Leftover French colonial, tiny roads.  And only about 12-15 major thoroughfares snaking through the city.  Way too many people have cars, and then when you throw in the taxis, the sprinters, and the tons of people also pulling carts through the streets, it's just insane.

But here's the rub: as much as I hate traffic, as impatient as I get in it, etc., it was just SO crazy that I could only sit in the car/van/taxi and marvel.  I mean, I definitely got a good glimpse of city/street life.  And the traffic doesn't get better once you get outside of Antananarivo.  During my time there, I went in three different directions outside of the city on various side trips, of 12-20 miles, and the traffic was just nonstop disastrous.  It took us an HOUR AND A HALF to go 12 miles to Lemur's Park just outside the city.

Also went out to Ambohimanga, the former royal palace.  Madagascar has a short "official" monarchial history, but it's fairly interesting, with REALLY long names of kings (e.g., Andrianampoinimerina), lover-killing queens nicknamed "Black Widow", etc.  To learn more, go here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merina_Kingdom

And although I didn't notice this at first, my driver mentioned one day as we sat in traffic.  "The reason the people here all look so sour is because no one has jobs."  But this is bizarre because the unemployment rate is supposed to be less than 2%!  This in comparison to Lesotho's rate of 25%.  So no clue about that.

BUT, I did notice that the people were not very cheerful.  In Lesotho, you will see or hear people laughing in the streets, chatting, etc.  In Madagascar, not so much.  But there was still a decent, lively "vibe" in Antananarivo.  A lot of hustle and bustle.  It was a very weird dichotomy.

Of course Madagascar is famous as the only place where you find lemurs - although, actually, it turns out there is ONE breed living in Comoros (one of the newest PC countries!).  I did the obligatory trip to Lemur's park - a preserve some ways out of town, but I got to see more different types - and much more "up close" at the zoo in Antananarivo.  And before you judge, lemurs apparently thrive in captivity.  I know they did like licking the honey off my fingers!  :)  See pics on my Facebook page.

And I added another animal to my "animals eaten" list.  No, not lemurs.  Zebu!  It's basically a cow, and you've probably seen a pic of one before - but if you haven't, here you go:



Zebu originated in SE Asia, and nowadays there's about 75 breeds, split between Asia and Africa. Fun note from wikipedia about them:  Zebu were imported to Africa over many hundreds of years, and interbred with taurine cattle there. Genetic analysis of African cattle has found higher concentrations of zebu genes all along the east coast of Africa, with especially pure cattle on the island of Madagascar, either implying that the method of dispersal was cattle transported by ship or alternatively, the Zebu may have reached East Africa via the coastal route (Pakistan, Iran, Southern Arabian coast) much earlier and crossed over to Madagascar.

What does it taste like?  Cow.

I have now also been to former African colonies of the British, the German, and the French.  Not surprisingly, Madagascar retains some of their French heritage in the chaos and the multitude of great restaurants.  Of the 8 African countries I've now visited, I ate the best in Madagascar.  BUT, no fast food.  Zero.  Not even the ubiquitous RSA chains or even a local one.  I can't remember the last time I've been to a country that did not have a KFC.  Seriously.

Why I vote the way I do

My earliest memory is from June 1968 - I was almost five years old and was living with my birth parents in the projects in Sacramento, CA  (actually, my birth dad may have been in jail at this time).  My birth mom was excited about having just voted in her first presidential primary--for Bobby Kennedy.  I remember her telling me how his brother had been killed when I was just a baby and everyone was so sad, but that Bobby was going to be even better, you could tell he really cared about people, he would get us out of Vietnam, etc.

And then, of course,he was killed just a few hours later.  My mom cried and cried that night, and I cried, too, just because she was crying.  I remember her telling our neighbor later that she wouldn't even bother voting in November since they just seemed to kill all the "good ones."

Because of this experience, I always felt an affinity for Bobby, and learned as much as I could about him.  My early life in Sacramento was also very impactful for me in terms of race.  Although my birth parents had black friends, many of our neighbors were black, etc., my birth dad would still say ridiculously racist things, and I remember driving around with him and my brothers and my dad pointing out blacks on the street and saying to my youngest brother, "Look, Danny!  See the nigger? Har har har!" As young as I was, I remember being shocked/disgusted.

Our neighbor Mary, a black single mother, was my birth mom's best friend; we played with her kids all the time.  My first "let's play doctor" moment was with her daughter Pam when I was barely 8 years old. Later, when we moved to Oklahoma, I also got to experience busing and saw the protests from white parents at our school.  My classmates all eagerly huddled at the windows anxiously waiting to see what the brouhaha was all about, what kind of monsters would emerge from the buses. When it was simply a bunch of black kids, we were all disappointed.  The world didn't end.  The protests stopped.  Life went on.

Another major early influence on me was my grandmother.  While I joke about her being a saint, and accept that she MAY, in fact, have had some flaws, my strongest memory is of her empathy.  She was a good, loving woman, who actually walked her talk as a Christian and I have many, many memories of her admonishing folks when they judged others, of telling people they needed to put themselves in someone else's shoes and try to see where they're coming from; that you had to give people the benefit of the doubt when they did or said something "bad" because you couldn't know what life experiences they'd had to make them think or act that way, etc.

These early experiences have helped make me who I am today and also still impact my political views, beliefs, and rationale for when I vote.  I still have a lot of Bobby's idealism (tho it's tempered by cynicism because of what happened to him), I recognize the messed up racial issues we have in this country to this day, and I try really hard - no, really, I do! - to see where people are coming from when they say things I don't agree with.

It's this "empathy thing" that now has me so distraught about "political discourse" in this country.  Like many of my "progressive" friends, I've heaped scorn on those rabid right wingers who spew such ridiculous hate and who so clearly, ignorantly, vote against their own interests.  I agree with the memes and posts from like-minded folks who scorn and sneer at these "backwoods, slack-jawed, inbred, racist yokels," - not even bothering to try and understand them because they are SO clearly unreachable, etc.

But then, I experienced some of that sneering, patronizing dismissal myself and it opened my eyes a little. I am a member of a "Progressive" Facebook group started by a friend.  Like others, we've had some quite, er, vigorous debates during this election season - esp. between Sanders and Clinton supporters.  But these debates seemed to devolve the longer they went on, and once it became clear that Sanders would not prevail, and as many of his frustrated supporters turned to third party options, the debate intensified.  And as the recent violent, racial incidents spiked (or at least coverage and/or awareness of them did), THOSE discussions became more heated.

And it seemed like we'd become the folks we sneered at - or at least started adopting their tactics: shouting down dissent, snide name-calling and smug dismissal of those who don't "get it."  It was amazing and appalling to behold.   As I knew I'd engaged in my own share of disdainful dismissal of the "other side," I tried to dial it back.  I tried to get folks to see that the dialogue was not helping "educate" or "turn" people - but only hardening their stance.

I watched as people maliciously attacked that older Sanders supporter "ranting" at the convention as being "crazy" and "off her meds," rather than trying to empathize that she could feel such pain and rage over what is happening in our country.  I watched SOME rabid Sanders supporters claim Hillary is no better than Trump, and then watched SOME rabid Clinton supporters assert you were "stupid" or "privileged" if you voted third party.  A friend who made a good point that simply sharing memes and "sympathetic" stories was intellectually lazy - and then the very next day he shared a piece slamming Susan Sarandon for her comments against Hillary.  His friends immediately piled on and just SAVAGED Sarandon, calling her a bitch, a c*nt, "officially" an asshole, a "stupid box of hair," unhinged, and asserting "I never liked her or her saggy tits."  These are the Clinton supporters who "can't understand" the Hillary "hate" - who cry "misogyny!" when anyone says anything negative about her, who say we need to save the country from Drumpf.  Fair enough, but we're saving it for YOU people?  Um....

THEN, Clinton supporters tried to dismiss or explain away the caught red-handed corruption of the DNC that favored her during the primaries.  Some suggested that the DNC didn't even need to be neutral, others claimed it was okay for big donors to get perks/access.  Things they would have slammed the GOP for doing/allowing.  And, STILL they could not understand the rage and frustration over our crony capitalism.  STILL, they sneered at folks voting Green - falsely claiming they're all privileged white folks, - or spreading false propaganda that they are "anti-Science" and don't make any effort at the local level (untrue).  I'm not saying Jill stein is a perfect candidate by ANY stretch of the imagination, but it's astonishing to me to see Hillary supporters savage her so - and in ways they decry the folks who savage Hillary!

Yes, folks are engaging in hyperbole when they say Clinton is no better than Trump, but they also have very valid concerns about her policies and her history.  Yes, people are right to point out that while the system we have may be messed up you still should do what you can to avoid a "Trumpocalypse." But haranguing, dismissing, hectoring, name-calling, judgement, etc. is NOT the way to "change hearts and minds."

I'm still cynical enough to think we can't live up to Rodney King's "Can't we all just get along" plea, but I like to think I still have enough of my grandma in me to say, "Can't we at least try to understand where someone is coming from, feel their pain, and more thoughtfully respond to them in a way that doesn't use name-calling, smug dismissal, and the like?"  Pretty please??  :)

One of the most amazing sights I've ever beheld!

A few weeks ago I talked about the "real" Africa.  Although I've really only spent a little time in many of the countries I've been to so far here on the continent, here's my two cents on each and how "real Africa" they are:

Egypt: I think Egypt is one of those countries that "transcends" place - obviously partly due to their long history, uniqueness throughout much of it, amazing culture, etc. If Africa is the birthplace of humanity, Egypt is definitely the fulcrum.  

Mauritius: I think islands, too, should get a pass in terms of "continent affiliation."  :)  And while it definitely had some bits of "African feel," it also seems much more Indian on the whole and has other common "islandy" characteristics.  

Lesotho: Lesotho definitely has the crazy drivers, colonial past, Africa time, etc., but it is also unique in being "the roof of Africa" and has a climate like no other country on the continent in regards to having a "real" winter throughout most of the country with really cold temps, significant snow throughout two-thirds of the country, etc.  

South Africa: On the one hand, I want to say RSA probably personifies the "real" Africa today as Africa SHOULD be viewed: incredibly diverse, surprising, has the Big Five, horrible drivers, colonial history with appalling oppression, etc., but many folks still don't consider it "real" Africa because in so many ways it is very modern and Cape Town alone just screams "not Africa."  :)

Namibia: Namibia was interesting to me because it was a German colony.  It has weird demographics in terms of size/population, a very strange geographical shape, a vast/fascinating desert, and an interesting history.  It's "real" Africa in the sense, like RSA, that you could see it totally being African but also being surprised.

Botswana: This one ranks up there to me for "real" Africa.  They've made a lot of progress since independence, they have the Big Five, and it still has the mix of seeming dangerous (because of animals AND people), but still safe/interesting enough to travel to for people leery of the continent.

Zimbabwe: I can see why this place gets so many mentions for "real" Africa.  They've got the big five, there's still visible leftover colonial stuff, they have some modernity and diversity, etc.  The people were friendly here for sure.

Zambia: To be fair, I was really only right on the border of Zimbabwe here so can't really say.

Ethiopia:  This is another interesting place to try and peg.  Again, alas, I didn't get to spend much time here before my medical emergency, but Addis Ababa is called "the capital of Africa," they do have that distinction of resisting colonial oppression, etc.

Since I've been on the continent, these have been the big "Africa moments"/memories that stand out for me:

• 129 trucks!  When I was visiting Vic Falls, and at the "four countries" border area (Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, and Botswana), I transferred from my Zimbabwe side driver to the Botswana side driver.  After a fun/scary moment right after taking off when an elephant trumpeted at us, flared his ears, and charged the vehicle, I noticed we were driving past an inordinate number of semis/trucks parked along the road.  The driver explained that one of the ferries was down that crosses between Zimbabwe and Zambia and that many trucks would have to wait a long time  I asked why there wasn't a bridge and he said that they were only just now building one as it has taken them this long for the countries involved to get over their colonial pasts and rivalries to build one!  A lot of the semis were double-trailers, so just try to imagine how long 129 of them stretched (I went back and forth across/around this area multiple times in a few days so had ample time to count them!)
• I've had two moments in Africa where my jaw was literally hanging open I was so amazed at what I was seeing.  Once in the helicopter flying over Vic Falls in Zimbabwe/Zambia, and once when a hippo waddled across the road right in front of our open air jeep on safari in Botswana.  Both times I cursed myself for being so busy gawping I didn't get the good picture.  But then that's what a blog/journal is for - to help you remember moments like these!  :)
• While staying at my tent/safari camp in Botswana, I was 2+ full days with no internet/e-mail access.  Have had many times when I've gone a full day, but this had to be the first with just over 2 full days in a long, long time.  And guess what?  The world didn't end!  
• Don't know the exact number, but I've added at least a half dozen or so animals to my "animals I have eaten" list--plus worms! Off the top of my head, I can remember boar, antelope, zebra, water buffalo, and kudu--but none of them have made me go, "Oooh, yum!  I wish I could get this back in the states!"  :)
• Although it wasn't jaw-dropping, I had two other moments with hippos that were certainly memorable.  One was seeing the mating pair in Zambia and the other was the one that came roaring out of the water right by our boat in Zimbabwe - even the tour guide was a little thrown by the latter and reminded us that hippos are not  cute, docile creatures, but territorial killers that are responsible for more human fatalities than any other large animal (they kill nearly 3,000 people annually in Africa). Other fun facts about hippos: they can run over 20 mph - or faster than many humans - but they can't jump; they kill crocodiles; their closest living relative is the whale - and they eat like one, consuming over 100 lbs. of vegetation per day.
• My last, and most recent, most vivid, most unpleasant "Africa experience" is from my trip to Ethiopia.  In Addis Ababa, I was a semi-victim of a popular scam wherein someone will spit on you as you walk by "in accident."  They are immediately apologetic, quickly whip out convenient tissue and a water bottle to help clean you off, apologizing profusely ("Sorry, baba!  Sorry!") and then while you're distracted by the gross out, pick your pocket or purse.  I was roaming around when this happened to me - 4 dudes sitting in a car at the curb, and just as I was walking by, I saw the guy in front lean out and spew a mouthful of mushy meal or something ALL over me - all down my arm, all over my shirt, my shorts, etc.  I was SO grossed out I was in shock as he pawed at me with tissue, giving me the "Sorry, baba!  Sorry, baba!" routine, while his friend offered a bottle of water from the backseat. But I say "semi-victim" coz, as an experienced traveler, I know to not carry a wallet, not keep money in my back pocket, etc.  So I just got the gross out aspect.  And it was. Very, VERY gross.  I gotta say, though, I can see it being effective.  Sigh.

Before I leave the continent, I still plan/hope to see Madagascar, Tanzania (Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar!), and Senegal - plus hope to get down to Cape Town one more time before i leave!

Reflections on Africa, Part I: The "Real" Africa

So my friend David says I'm not living in the "real" Africa because of Lesotho's "Mediterranean climate" (not so true) and it's comparative lack of creepy crawlies (perhaps more true).  But it got me thinking of what folks consider to be the "real" Africa?  I did some googling and read some interesting debates on the question online.

Even among seasoned African travelers, the first assertion is that the real Africa is sub-Saharan Africa--and Peace Corps seems to agree with this.  Peace Corps has three regions for volunteers: AFR, EMA, and IAP - or Africa, Europe/Mediterranean/Asia, and Inter-America and the Pacific.  But the "Africa" region is only the sub-Saharan African countries.  Morocco, Tunisia, etc. are in EMA.

Some said the real Africa has to have "The Big Five" - i.e., lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo, and leopard. But that's silly as there are only 11 African countries that have all five (BTW, there are 54 or 55 countries in Africa, depending on what's recognized).

Some of the most commonly mentioned countries that aren't the "real" Africa include Morocco, South Africa, and Egypt.  The one that got the most mentions as the "most real" during my admittedly unscientific meanderings online was Zimbabwe,   At the end of the day, we know most Americans consider the "real" Africa to be a hot, dirty place with lots of disease, poverty, and wild animals and that's about as true as saying the same thing about the U.S. if you'd only been to the Appalachian and/or Ozarks area.  At the end of the day, Africa is just as diverse--if not more so--than Europe and North America, and probably MORE diverse than, say, South America.

I have now been to nine African countries (Egypt, Lesotho, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Ethiopia) and if I had to pick some "commonalities" that would allow you to describe the "real" Africa, they would include:

• "Africa time" - this is similar to what I experienced in Hawai'i and basically means everything happens slowly.  People don't rush.  I always thought I was a "regular" speed walker, and maybe even a bit of a slow walker, but they take it to a whole other level in Lesotho and elsewhere here on the continent.  I often find myself thinking, "Jesus! You have to make a serious effort to walk that slowly! Get out of my way!"  You will often hear Westerners and even some locals emphasize when they want a meeting to start on time, and not on "Africa time" - which would be a vague approximation of the listed starting time.
• Things change constantly.  Often, rules and regulations don't really exist and day to day you can have wildly different experiences at border crossings, government agencies, local businesses, etc.  This drives some of the volunteers nuts, and would probably be more bothersome to me if I hadn't also had this experience in Kazakhstan.
• The driving is bat shit crazy.  While vehicle fatality rates are also bad in Asia, I am blown away by the utter disregard they have here on the continent for rules of the road, stopping at lights, passing recklessly, and constantly,driving at INSANE speeds  no matter where.  You would be hard pressed to find someone here who doesn't know someone who was killed in an automobile accident (including the previous King of Lesotho) - or at least seriously injured.  And yet, even though they all know this, it doesn't matter.  It's actually one of THE things I honestly hate here and judge them on.
• A history of colonial oppression.  As I recently mentioned on Facebook, Ethiopia is unique in Africa as the one country on the continent to defeat a colonial power militarily and not be subjugated at some point (Lesotho didn't get free of the British until 1967--four years after I was born).  While this certainly explains a lot of the "challenges" many African countries experience today, I also saw a sad/funny note in a Comedy Central book that said something along the lines of "Africa's problems today can be blamed on two things: white people and black people. After suffering centuries of oppression at the hands of countries who had bigger guns, newly empowered black leaders took a look around and said, 'Hey, *I* can do that, too! :(

Next week, I'll share some thoughts on the African countries I've been to--including which seem the "most" African--and share my high and low points since living on the continent.

Postcard From Lesotho V

So a couple weeks ago I "thought in Rand" for the first time.  Reminded me of when I was in China and saw something online, for $20 US, but I thought, "Hmmm, 20 quai - that's not too bad!"  This was the reverse, as it was something I thought would be much cheaper, something online for $40 US, and I thought, "40 Rand?!? That's ridiculous!"

It turns out, on the whole, the Basotho are wicked cheaters - and HYPER competitive.  At our recent retreat, we had a night where we play a game for the three teams the local staff have been split up into.  Last year it was a version of Jeopardy - this year, a version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?  I picked the latter coz last year's game just led to too much cheating.  Seriously, they are shameless.  But even with Millionaire, a situation came up where I had to "referee" a disagreement over one of the questions and, man, it just devolved into this insane shouting match--granted, not TOO, too mean/angry/violent, but still amazing enough that us three U.S. Direct Hires just say there agog for awhile as they all yelled at each other.  I finally had to step up and basically YELL them into quiet and warned them if they didn't stop arguing, and just accept the judges' ruling, they'd ALL lose points.  THAT shut them up.  This starts at an early age, too - I've talked to PCVs who said it's amazing to them to see how their kids AND teachers/principals cheat during games (even the principal cheating his kids!), and how hyper-competitive they are.

Speaking of cultural things, I keep thinking/hoping I will get used to the ridiculous, incessant honking of the 4+1 taxis, but I can't.  It's just so STUPID.  And annoying.  I have done a quick calculation, and know I have heard this honking thousands and THOUSANDS of times now, and only ONCE - one single, effing time - did I see it "pay off" wherein someone otherwise didn't see/were aware a taxi was coming by and thus flagged them down.  Otherwise, it's clear when people want/need one and they come up to them or put their hand out.  Yes, it's competitive, yes, I know they're trying to make a living, but OMG is it annoying to hear it INCESSANTLY around town - and they're doing it for 6 rand!  At the current exchange rate, that equals 40 CENTS.  Sigh.

In PCV news, it turns out many of them are still amazingly stupid.  In December, we had to administratively separate (ad sep) two of them for leaving the country/traveling w/o permission.  This is PC Rules 101.  We have to know where all PCVs are at all times for security purposes, and if they leave the country, on vacation or whatever, we have to alert the PC post in that country who assumes responsibility for said PCV while they're traveling.  South Africa - esp. Durban - is a big temptation because it's so close.  And, apparently, many PCVs feel that the twenty-four days vacation they get per year isn't enough (these folks are in for a rude awakening when they get jobs in the states with 10 days vacation - if they're lucky) so they sneak out of the country for "off the books" vacay.

When the two were ad-sep'd in December, we thought it would be a "wake up call" for the rest and things would calm down - that group had now lost 9 of their cohort by this point.  But NOOO, not even three weeks after hearing about these other 2, three more PCVs from that same group decided to skip off to Durban for almost two weeks - even though they had reported to us they would be on a shorter trip within Lesotho.  So this week we're saying goodbye to them.  Even worse, while I had suspicions about some of these folks, one of them was SO clever she posted a lengthy blog entry about the trip, naming names, confirming dates, posting pictures, etc.  ("Haha, look at this, here's (PCV name) throwing up in Durban!"  I mean honestly!  Now they're all weepy and upset about being kicked out and I'm like, "WTF?"

Luckily, there's still rock stars.  I spent some time chatting with one guy last week who is never down here/in the office coz he's always in his site, integrated in his community, doing his job, etc.  I'd seen him in passing once or twice and was struck by his demeanor - he always has this sort of "doe in the headlights" look and you feel like if you said "Boo!" to him suddenly he'd bolt into the forest.  But, as I say, he's tearing it up at his site, is well-respected and loved by his fellow PCVs, and after chatting him up last week, I see why.  An awesome, awesome young man that helps balance out the lame ones.

So last week was my first ever time to meet and shake hands with a King (well, if you don't count the kings of proms or leather pageants).  His Royal Majesty, King David Mohato Bereng Seeiso Letsie III, is the owner of the new compound that Peace Corps Lesotho will be moving into in June.  So I went to the palace last week to formally sign the lease.  King Letsie is a pretty unassuming guy on the whole - as well he might be considering the monarch has very limited, mostly ceremonial power these days.  He confessed he never uses the name David (although his son's name also starts with David), and I shared that the last King of Hawai'i was also named David.  Then we made small talk about my time in China, each of us initialed every one of the 29 pages of the lease (two copies), signed, snapped a picture, and that was my brush with royalty.  Oooooooh!

What I wanted to ask him is why he thinks the Basotho are all such batshit crazy drivers - honestly, besides the stupid 4+1 honking, that's the thing that drives me the craziest here: that they are so willfully and ridiculously, stupidly reckless in their driving.  Not just driving at outrageous speeds wherever, but they're gross disregard of red lights, their willful ignoring of pedestrians (seriously, some of them SPEED UP when they see a pedestrian crossing the street!).  It makes it hard to even feel sympathy for the high number of people that are killed in traffic fatalities.  But it wouldn't be right to ask HRM that because his own DAD was killed in a car accident.  That's right, the previous King of Lesotho was killed in a car accident.  And STILL they drive recklessly and stupidly fast. Amazing.

Combine that with the fact that in 2016 they still think it's okay to pee wherever they want means it will be a long, LONG time - in fact, probably never - that Lesotho will "escape" Third World status.  Yeah, there's the corruption thing and the violence, but honestly, when you all drive like 6-year-olds, and can't be bothered to wait/walk 100 yards away to a mall with a public toilet, you're doomed to ghetto-hood.