New Years Eve

December 31, 2005 No trip to Cape Town would be complete without a trip to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent 27 years as a prisoner (http://www.robben-island.org.za/ ). You need to reserve tickets for this trip and boats generally run about every ½ hour. It is easier and faster to make your reservation at the Tourist Office downtown. They will give you your reservation number. The boat for Robben Island leaves from the Victoria and Albert Water Park. If you tell a taxi driver where you are going, they will let you off at the closest access area. We called a Rikki. We have to check the e-mail again as EBAB sms’ed us an hour after we left the last time to say they had another booking. We also need to make sure that Balazs bought our yearly transport tickets. When we got to the waterfront, there was a mob of people who were trying to buy tickets for that day, but they were sold out for a week at that point. I was able to go to the head of the line and had to show the credit card I had used to purchase the tickets with. We had an hour before boarding, so we went for breakfast right next door at a pancake house. Disappointingly, they only had one pancake on the menu, which I ordered. It was a thick pancake wrapped around bacon and eggs. It was delicious. Ron had ordered clotted cream and scones. The boat to the island is a typical tour boat. There is no commentary and the ride is 45 minutes long. You are assigned a time to return with your boat’s name on it. They say it is important that you catch the boat for which you are assigned, but we heard on less crowded days, you can ask to catch the next one. When you arrive on the island, they either direct you to a bus or to walk to the prison. Eventually, you will do both, so it does not matter which you start with. We toured the prison first with a guide named Vince who had been a prisoner there for 8 years. All of the guides are former prisoners. The prison cells were 2x2 meters, while the dog cages were 3x3 meters. The walls are all grey, the nutrition was poor and quantity was based on a prisoner’s race. They were given a thin pad to sleep on. There were some older black ladies on the tour who could barely walk. They seemed to be making a pilgrimage to a shrine. They took pictures of everything and were speaking amongst themselves in an African language. People were taking pictures of a cell thinking it was Mandela’s, but after we passed by the guide told us his cell was number 27. They were photographing cell number 5. The bus tour showed all of the current buildings and told of the history of the island. There are a number of people who still live there. There is also an African penguin colony there, where visitors can walk the boardwalk to observe them. It was a hot day and all of them were at the beach. After taking the boat trip back to the waterfront, we walked around with valiant ideas of hanging around there until midnight for the fireworks. We stopped at Mugs and Beans for lunch. I had quesadillas and Ron had a special omelet with spicy meat and potatoes. We went into more shops and then went to see the movie “Lord of War” with Nicholas Cage. It was about gun runners to 3rd World countries. Sad, but most probably accurate in many ways. We left the movie at 7:00 pm, but we were fading and knew we could not make it until midnight. We walked to a gay bar, which was a major disappointment. It was also a restaurant and very busy. There were no special looking men there, though it advertises itself as the place where the beautiful people go to meet. When we called for a taxi, we were told it would be 45 minutes. We walked to KFC for a snack pack for later and then called the taxi again and waited. Many of the roads were blocked off for parades that were not until Jan. 2nd. There was tons of traffic and the driver did not know exactly where he was going, so we did not get back to the house until around 9:00 pm. We had forgotten our coleslaw on the taxi back seat after it fell out of the bag. We were left with our two little chicken breasts. Reading and writing occupied our time until midnight, and then we went out on the street to watch the fireworks from the waterfront. We could see them over the rooftops. They were just okay; nothing spectacular and not worth staying down there for making getting home again a trial. Then we went to bed, not very exciting.

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South African Museum

South African Museum I crawled over to the single bed to sleep. I was too hot and confined feeling to sleep with Ron. I had a lousy night sleeping and woke at 6:00 am to read for an hour. I went back to bed then and slept until 9:00 feeling grumpy. We called a Rikki and went to the Catwalk to read e-mails. Five Rand for a half hour, you can order coffee and snacks, plus upstairs you can smoke. What more could you ask for? The only interesting mail was from Balazs who thinks he had a heart attack. We went to the South African Museum, which had an enlightening exhibit on cave art. There was also a wonderful display of indigenous costumes and rituals. They also have a very interesting exhibit of indigenous plants that were/are used for healing, food, clothing and so on. This museum is the closest to an ethnographic museum in Cape Town. The second and third floors are mostly natural history exhibits with stuffed animals and many geology exhibits. The admission of 10 Rand is worth it just for the first floor alone. The museum store is well worth a look as I found things there that I had not seen anywhere else. Though I only bought a few postcards, there were other things that tempted me. I spent an hour more walking through than Ron did, so he had a relaxing sit in the shade before we ventured elsewhere. The wind had stopped and it was hot. On the way to the museum we had a long walk through the Company Gardens and hopped from shade to shade. Leaving the museum, we weren’t quite so lucky. We bought a CD since Don was going to transfer Ron’s photos from his camera. He had run out of disk space. We walked over to Koof Street to the Lifestyle Center. We bought two of Don’s books and a magnet. We then went to the Spar grocery store for groceries. A stop at Mugs and Beans for a coffee was a relaxing rest. Ron had fresh mango juice- excellent. We called a Rikki from there. We had a new driver for us. We had not seen this one before. Back at the house, Don told us they were going to see Narnia and invited us to join them. He reserved tickets with his credit card and when we arrived at the theater, he only had to swipe his card in a special machine and the tickets were printed. After the movie, they invited us for Ovaltine, a drink I had not had for over 40 years. Either they improved the taste or the company made it taste better, but it was good. They add Horlix to it, a malt mix.

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Shirt Shopping Madness

Shirt Shopping Madness The year is winding down and fading into the sunset. It has been 13 days since we left Budapest. It hardly seems that long, which is a good sign that we are enjoying ourselves and our time here. We were going to call a Rikki to go to town and go book shopping for Don and Patricia’s books, but Patricia was going out and offered us a ride to the Gardens Shopping Center. Ron is still hunting for the perfect shirt to wear to his sister’s wedding. He looked in all of the stores in the mall, but could not find what he wanted. Actually, he did find one shirt in one store, but it was all linen and cost $100.00 US. Nope!!! We went to the bookstore and bought a few of Patricia’s books. I wanted to get them then and there, so I was responsible for carrying them in my back pack. We did not get any of Don’s on this trip since they are so much heavier. We walked to the museum “The Slave Lodge” where they had a special exhibit on special people and hands. People from all over the world were chosen based on their humanitarian achievements. There is a video of each person speaking about equality and freedom, and then they have their hands molded. It was powerful, but on the other hand, it took over the museum. The usual slave exhibits were replaced by this special exhibit with the exception of one room and a movie. It was still worthwhile and touching. The entrance fee was only 10 Rand each. We went from one used bookstore to another looking to see if we could find any of Don’s books. We came up empty handed. From the downtown, we walked to the Malay Muslim area where they paint their houses in bright colors. For lunch, we stopped at a little pasta place run by blacks. The sauces were great. We continued to hunt for books, but we were detoured into the Pan African Market with the idea of getting something for Daphnee’s birthday, but we don’t carry a lot of cash. At the top of the second floor, a young woman pleadingly asked us to “step into my shop”, which is literally impossible since it is open space. I did to make her happy and fulfill a social contract, but had no intention of buying a thing. She calmly showed me things that I had no interest in, but asked if it came in other colors just to make her feel like we were both trying. She sweetly said “It does not cost anything to look.” This pulled on my heart strings and I thought of her sitting here day after day with so much competition. What finally caught my eye were the carved ostrich eggs. I looked for one with buffalo on it since I knew Daphnee had a thing for buffalo some years back. She had one. Then I found another with giraffes on it and set that aside for Balazs. Without intending to look further, I spotted a bracelet that Daphnee many like and then one for Tracey, as well as a necklace. We were already collecting more than we had cash for, so I asked if she could take Visa, expecting a negative answer. She was able to through the consortium of merchants, so we had to go to the market office. We followed her to the office as she kept turning back to make sure we were following and not fleeing down the stairs. They would charge her 5% (47 Rand) for the service fee on the credit card, so I told her I would pay it. She was so thrilled with the sale; she thanked us a million times. I asked if I could take her picture and again she was overcome with a happiness expressed through a huge smile and a nod of agreement. The Malay area was interesting when we passed it on the Hop On and Off bus, so we took a walk over there to look at the buildings. The houses are different colors, because they did not have have numbers. They could give directions to their home, by the color of it. We went to the Irish pub for a beer at Ron’s suggestion, while we called a Rikki and waited to go home. Ron fixed leftovers and we watched the end of the Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood on television. The wind was still gusting. A side note: In the supermarket, jam also comes in cans as well as jars. Strange for us to see.

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Don and Patricia

Don and Patricia Today was a kick back day. The winds were still going full force. When the wind is fierce, the cable car does not run up to Table Mountain. It is the same when the clouds cover the mountain and they call it the tablecloth. It was not an uninteresting day nevertheless. We were able to share some time with Don and Patricia, to find that he is Associate Editor of Get Away magazine, each issue a hefty 250 pages and distributed to over 80 countries. Their web site is http://www.getawaytoafrica.com/ . In his past life, he was a Ph.D. Criminologist and published works in that field, having done some groundbreaking work with gangs. When a change in careers presented itself, he moved into the area he relishes: travel. He is not only the Associate Editor, but also a multifaceted, accomplished travel writer. He researches and writes a number of articles for the magazine, as well as books including Blue Ice: Travels in Antarctica and African Journeys and he also is the photographer for many of his articles. Patricia, also an author, has nine children’s books published and three adult novels. She started with children’s books: Thobile’s Dream, Thobile and the Tortoises, Thobile and the Bulbuls, Thobile and the Alien Mountain, Thobile in Tsakana, and Thobile’s Field Guide to the Eastern Cape. Thobile is a young black man of African descent who is living in England and due to a dream (the first book) has decided to visit Africa to discover more of his heritage. She has other titles of poetry for children and written with children. One of her adult novels, Skyline, is going to be made into a motion picture as a joint British/South African venture. Patricia told us she has three more adult novels plotted out before she returns to the children’s genre. Some of the books above are available on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. Search for Don Pinnock or Patricia Pinnock. You may also find other results if you search for Patricia Schonstein Pinnock. As white South Africans, with souls of peace and social justice ingrained in them, they formed a publishing company called African Sun Press. The charge of this company was to publish literature for children based on stories of Black Africans, retelling the values of the people. The profits from this publishing venture are then put back into literacy programs in the schools, where the books were provided. Patricia shared that most public schools in South Africa do not have a library. Most families cannot afford to nor do they think about buying books for pleasure for children, to increase their knowledge of the world around them. We walked the neighborhood in a different direction and checked out a different café. It was a chore since the wind was again horrendous. They have glass walls on two sides of their outdoor patio to block some of the wind, so we sat outside. We heard this crash and one of the industrial plastic garbage bins that the restaurant uses, went flying in the wind, though seemingly half filled with trash. That attested to the power of the wind. Patricia and Don were going to a movie that night and asked if we would like to join them, but it was too lazy a day to venture out again. I had started working on the vocabulary for Ragtime for teaching it next semester by scanning the whole book and listing words. I will then scan it again for characters and make notes of the people. I started reading The Gold Coast. Patricia has also given me seven of her books to look over. I have quite a bit of reading to do.

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Walking Tour

Walking Tour We booked a walking tour today. I like getting up early and showering on the patio. Even if the wind is strong in the morning, it is a real liberating feeling. The air is cool and it is windy yet again today. We called the Rikki taxi to go downtown. This is our first time using it. A Rikki is like an open van. They are licensed to take up to 8 passengers at once, but the most they take is six. The fee is set, so from here to downtown is 10 Rand ($1.56) per person. With a taxi, you are dependent on the meter. There are six Rikkis on the road at the most depending on how many drivers they have any given day. All of the drivers are exceptionally friendly and knowledgeable about the city. Rikki phone number as of 2006 is 021-418-6713 callable from a mobile phone that works in South Africa. While I am on the topic of mobile phones, Vodacom is the largest and most reliable mobile phone company in South Africa. Since I had Vodafone in Hungary, I was able to get a set rate for roaming, so it cost me $1.00 set rate for roaming when I used my mobile there. Having a mobile there for calling taxis and Rikkis is essential. There are tourist phone rentals, but I did not need them, so have not checked out the costs. Our Rikki driver was a young black man that was so polite, it made me humble. He kept calling us sir and when he found we had not been in Cape Town, but a week, he pointed out all of the sights along the way and gave us the history. Our stop was the Tourist information office downtown, which is extensive and very tourist friendly. The staff are exceptional helpful. The Catwalk Internet Café is a ¼ of a block away and has less expensive Internet service, though. We paid for our Footsteps to Freedom Walking Tour here and received our vouchers. The tour was led by a woman named Karen. She was extremely well versed in the history of the city, many of the buildings have a special history of their own, and of the gentrification of the downtown area. There were five of us on the tour. As part of the tour, we went to the District 6 Museum. Every day here, I confront my feelings about the haves and have notes. This museum brings it to life. Relocating a whole community, degrading their lives by elitists, and now trying to make amends is too little too late. The whole tour including the museum was about three hours. Still today, in many restaurants you see whites as patrons and people of color as the workers. It is difficult to find the equity. After the tour, we went back to the café where Tanya works, but she had the day off. Alex was our waiter, nice guy, but not as exuberant as Tanya. Ron has wanted to check out shirts for Marge’s wedding. We looked some places, but he could not find anything he liked. Most of the clothes are American or European styles. I went to Vodacom to see if I could buy a Blackberry phone there and have it work in Hungary. They said it most likely would not. By 3:00, we were ready to head back to our little nest. We called the Rikki, but we had to wait 45 minutes before one was available. When we returned ‘home’ our invoice was waiting with an African magnet that had one of Patricia’s poems on it. There was one like it on the fridge and we were going to ask were we could buy one. As we were taking a nap, a note was slipped under our door. Patricia and Don had invited us to dinner that evening. The invite had a drawing on it showing place settings and eight wine glasses. There were eight of us for dinner. We trekked up to the grocery store to get more money to pay our stay in full and did some shopping for the next day. The afternoon had finally started to heat up, but the wind was still ferocious. At 7:30, we went to our ‘neighbors’. Anne and Trevor were the next to arrive. She is a realtor and he is a Civil Engineer. Both were lovely and had been married quite some time. Anne and Patricia had gone to school together, but had not seen each other in years. The next couple to arrive was Anré and Leslie. He was a math professor at one of the universities. Patricia had prepared chicken, scalloped potatoes, and salad. Since their patio is sheltered, we could eat outside. The conversation flowed as did the wine and at 11:00, we bid farewell.

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Boxing Day

December 26, 2005 Another remnant of the British stronghold, they have Boxing Day, though it was funny that of all of the people I had asked, no one knew the significance of it. They were just thankful for another day off from work. Ashanti had a book exchange and so I left one I had read and picked up another that happened to be on my list. Then I found another called Black Water Sound and traded yet another for it. We had a quick breakfast of left over food in the fridge that we did not want to transport with us and then a couple of hours to kill before we were to leave Ashanti. When we did check out, we asked them to call a taxi for us. While we were waiting outside the nice black woman at reception came running out and said that we had overpaid one night and handed us the money. We could not figure out how it had happened, but thanked her nonetheless. When the taxi arrived, he did not know how to get to the place to where we were moving. Thankfully, he did not start the meter until he found it on the map. As we drove into the area, it was surrounded by lovely homes many in an Art Deco fashion. We were greeted by Don Pinnock, our new temporary landlord and then his wife Patricia. Don won me over immediately, by offering to carry our large suitcase in for us. Our little ‘self-catering’ apartment was what they call a granny flat, but Americans usually call a mother-in-law apartment. It was lovely!! With its own entrance from outside, the charm of the apartment was only outdone by the charm of our hosts. Their immediate warmth surrounded us like we were long lost well loved friends coming back for a reunion at last. Suddenly, the distance to downtown no longer held relevance. We had all we could possibly need. The whole apartment is done in an African theme that felt nurturing and cozy at the same time. There is a large bedroom with a double and single bed, a large wardrobe, an arm chair, and a dresser. The kitchen is equipped with a table and bench seating, a small all in one over with a broiler (we do not have a broiler in Hungary), and a two burner stove top. On the counter was a welcoming package of tea bags, cookies, sugar, and fresh milk in the fridge. There is a door from the kitchen to the main house, which can be locked from either side for privacy. The bathroom is large and has a tub and hand-held shower. However, we also had a private patio in the back with an outside shower. From the front yard and the street, there was a perfect close-up view of Table Mountain. Don insisted on giving us a ride around the neighborhood to orient us and we attempted graceful refusals, not wanting to impose. He won! In just a few blocks in one direction was a grocery store with a bank machine, convenient for doing our daily shopping, a laundromat service where you can leave your things to be washed, and a small restaurant called The Sidewalk Café. In the other direction, were a couple of other restaurants filling all of our immediate needs. He then took us up to the trail for hiking up Table Mountain, but advised caution. There is a band of seven men who have been robbing people at knife point in that area. A couple of them have been caught, but it has not deterred the rest. Since we wanted to get some daily supplies, he drove us back to the grocery and we walked back. Before going shopping, we stopped at The Sidewalk Café for breakfast. It was tranquil and relaxing. Our breakfast omelet’s and lattes came to about $6.00 total. Taking advantage of having a broiler, we bought a couple of T-bone steaks, pepper sauce, and some other needs. The rest of the day, we spent reading and writing both out on the patio and at the kitchen table. Don was house-sitting for a neighbor who happened to have a pool. He offered us the use of the pool. It was too cool for me, but Ron tried it out. He said the water was cold. We also heard the helicopters over head. There was another fire on Table Mountain. The wind had started up again and it was near gale force blowing away anything that was not heavily weighted, but there were exceptions to this too. They call this wind the Cape Doctor since it comes through every year and blows out the smog and pollution, cleaning the air. My face was burned on the Cape Point trip and has been peeling ever since. All of the tour guides recommend SPF 40 sunscreen lotion. It is expensive, but readily available. It is summer, but yet we were sleeping with down comforters.

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Christmas 2005

December 25, 2005 People were outside our door again last night. I finally had it and opened the door to tell them we were trying to sleep. One of the issues with having a room by the pool. They were polite and moved on. Ron and I went to mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The reason I went was I had thought there would be some time of “African” experience, but it was just like any other mass. The priest was a man of color, Malay or Indian: very animated. The crèche was carved from a dark wood. Disappointingly, there was no special music or clerical robes to give the feel of being on a different continent. Even the stations of the cross were modern, but absent of people of color, just like the stained glass. After mass we walked back to Ashanti and read until Christmas dinner was ready. We had signed up for their buffet at 100 Rand per person for the all you can eat and three drinks from the bar. We had paid for this and received our tickets when we first arrived, but now that they were needed, I could not find them. They were good enough to give us two more since they had a record of our names. We did get some looks like irresponsible children, but we dealt with it. They said for the first time in years, they had to hold the dinner inside due to the winds. Normally, it is held out by the poolside, but they put it up on the bar for today. The whole room and the meal were very festive with a touch of British. There was the Christmas cracker or popper that the Brits use. You snap it open and there is a plastic hat inside. The buffet included ostrich kebabs, chicken, turkey, ham, three different salads, quiche, and ice cream. As festive as it was after two Amstel beers, I was knocked out. That night, we went downtown to see the Christmas lights lit up. This was the first and only time we dared to venture downtown at night. I was especially nervous having my expensive camera. Fortunately, there were a great number of people strolling the streets, so I felt a little less apprehensive. The lights had many African themes: elephants, monkeys, and other animals. There were also lights of tribal dancers and only one was of Santa Claus. It was strange to see people walking around in short sleeve shirts and those brave enough in shorts. Speaking to many, the Christmas tradition is to have a barbeque or to go to the beach. So many said they would love to have one snow filled Christmas in their life just to experience it. We were going to take a taxi back, but wound up walking so far, we just continued on. The wind was so fierce that it blew me around, which is quite a feat. Some skewed logical made it seem reasonable that if the wind was so bad, the crime would be driven off too. It is difficult to rob someone when they are being blown away from you not of their own accord. The next day, we were to move to an apartment that Ron had found in a four year old tour book that he had bought at the used English book store. The husband and wife who rent it out are both writers, so this was an exciting opportunity. However, when we took a good look at the map, it seemed like it was far out and was going to be an issue for transportation. We were to be there for eleven nights.

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Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve December 24, 2005 The wine tour is booked for today with Cape Wine Tours at http://www.cape-winetours.com/ . Our tour was supposed to start with a pick up at 8:45, but the guide did not arrive until 9:15. He explained he had to make a delivery to a group of Germans who were too inebriated to cart home the wine they had purchased the day before. Our guide was Robby, one of the owners of the company, which only provides wine tours. There were a total of nine of us for the tour, six of whom were women. Our first stop was in the Stellenbosch region where there are over 127 wineries in this region alone. There are 14 wine regions in South Africa. The most impressive winery was the Simonsig winery. It is the largest family owned and operated winery in South Africa. They gave us a tour of how wine is made and showed off their production units and well as the grounds. We were given lessons in how to look like a ‘wine snob’ by holding the glass at an angle to the point of almost pouring the wine. Look at the color of the bowl and then at the crest. The clearer the crest, the younger the wine. Twirl the glass and sniff the ‘bouquet’, then take a mouthful and swish it in your mouth like you are using mouthwash. Finally, swallow and note the aftertaste. We tasted six wines here, but had the option of tossing what we did not care for into a bucket. We tested six wines with an explanation of each one before hand. The second stop was the Franschoek region. We went to the Goat Wine and Cheese Winery. As you enter, there is a goat yard in the front. The goats have a silo like structure that they are free to climb and rest in a room at the top. We were able to test 2 white wines, then sample the cheeses, then 2 red wines, more cheese, then lastly 2 other wines of our choice. At this winery, we were given a list of the wines we could choose from based on the color of our sticker. We were left to our own devices for making choices, though the wine stewards were there to answer any questions we had. Also, you are on the honor system for sticking to the limit of six samples. The Romano goat cheese was excellent as was the soft cheese rolled in herbs. There were seven cheeses to test and the samples were unlimited. For a lunch break, we stopped at an old Huguenot village. It was a small village with one street of stores, restaurants, and tourist items. We all went to the same restaurant where we were able to order off of the menu and it was included in the tour. Beverages were on our own. My chicken Cajun pasta was excellent. Our meeting point after lunch was a handmade chocolate shop down the street. I bought a few pieces that were good, but not outstanding. Our third and last winery of the day was different than the one advertised. The one we actually went to had a cheetah rescue sanctuary on the grounds. For an additional fee, you could go into the cheetah area and pet them. Robby said that this was the most commercial of all of the wineries, set up to take all of your money the minute you arrived. The tasting bar was small and the number of wines was limited also. We had five choices to make here. Outside, in a carnival like atmosphere, there is an old African woman who will paint your face according to your personality. She is supposedly able to read your personality and then apply white paint. Robby insisted we each do this, so we complied. Since I am not much of a wine drinker, of the 17 wines I had tasted, there were none that I was tempted to buy a full bottle. After returning to the hostel, I ran into the American who wanted to teach abroad. His story thickened. He had a job in France, but did not apply for his Visa in time TWICE, so he was fired before he even started. He has been in South Africa for 6 weeks so far and was supposed to have left for Johannesburg two days ago, but kept missing his bus. Again today, he was going to leave, but once again, missed the bus. Supposedly, he has a degree from UCLA, though I cannot imagine it; he is a real flake. We went to Checkers for dinner food. There are still lots of people here, we thought it would clear out for Christmas, but it looks like many do not do the holiday traditional thing that Americans hold in such high regard. We went to the Labia theater to see The History of Violence with Nicolas Cage. The guy in front of us kept turning around and he looked annoyed that someone had left the door open. Eventually, he called Ron forward and whispered something. I was fuming thinking he was annoyed by us. Later, Ron said that the comment was that OUR fidgeting was ‘off putting’ and to please stop it. We had not moved. I had forgotten to mention, we found our bead animal artist. His new giraffe is gorgeous, but due to having to line up all of the beads for the spots, it is much higher than the others at 900 Rand. We did buy the buffalo. We did get his e-mail so we can try to get him some business. He is from Zimbabwe, but teaches criminals the beadwork as rehab. He is very sweet. E-mail is wirebundu@yahoo.com Gilbert phone – 0721006430

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Day Trippers Tour

Day Trippers Tour December 23, 2005 We had a tour today with Day Trippers (http://www.daytrippers.co.za/) so we had to start out early. They were coming for us at 8:15 am. Louise was our tour guide, but arrived late. However, there were only three of us on the tour, so Louise was able to give us lots of flexibility. Normally, they only take a limit of up to 9 people in a comfortable van. She offered to stop wherever we wanted to so that we could take pictures. We covered so much territory; the names are all a blur now. We went to beaches we had not been to before, coves, and bays. Our first scheduled stop was seal island, but this was an additional side trip for 35 Rand for the boat ride, so none of the three of us wanted to do it. This would have been 45 minutes, so we made up the time for Louise being late. After having a coffee, we moved on. We went around a bay and a cliff with boulder holders. Louise told us a story about five guys who were drunk and went over the cliff in a Mercedes. They came out unscathed, so Mercedes decided to use this for a commercial. The next stop was Simon Town. There was reputedly a great dane who hopped the train in Cape Town and rode to Simon Town where there was a naval base. He would run around the base and then hop the train back to Cape Town. When there were complaints, the navy made him an official navy dog, so he could ride for free and without complaints. He was given a military burial on the navy base when he died. Someone verified this story was true and there is a book about it. Boulder Bay was the next stop to see the Jackass penguins. They were initially named this since they have a bray that sounds just like a donkey. Later they found that there is another breed that makes the same sound, so these were renamed “African” penguins. They used to be allowed free range throughout the area, but as it became more populated, the dogs and people were killing them. There are still penguin crossing signs on the streets. Now they are barricaded and are on the endangered species list. There is a large boardwalk viewing area where people can walk to see them. They are not intimidated by humans. It was strange to see penguins in a sandy, hot climate, but they have adapted to it. The viewing area is called Foxy Beach. On our way to Cape Point, we drive by Buffalo’s Bay. We had the option of doing a bike ride to our picnic spot. I started to attempt it, but the bikes had those narrow pointy seats. The first bike had a seat that was too high and Louise did not have the tool to adjust it. The second bike’s seat was cutting into my personal space and was smaller than my hand. By the time I had gotten to the picnic area, I would have been a soprano, so I bowed out and rode in the van with Louise. We went to the beach where she set up the picnic in the back of the van. There are Chacoma baboons in the area and they are a protected species, the only protected species of baboons in South Africa. It is unlawful to harm them in any way, but they will come up to people and steal whatever they can get their hands on. Besides fruits, nuts, roots, and insects, this species is known to eat sandhoppers and shellfish. At first, I thought it was a joke, so I took off down to the beach. The sand had an array of seashells unlike any beach I had been to in recent memory. It was possible to stand in one spot and pick up at least 20 shells. If I had known, I would have brought a bag with me, but I used my jacket pocket. It is nylon and easily washable. I added some great new varieties to my collection. However, once when looking up, I witnessed a couple of baboons stealing things from someone’s blanket while they were in the water. The tour guides keep a sling shot and charcoal briquettes to intimidate them, but it is only a short term solution. We were waiting for Ron and the other woman to complete their bike journey. It should have taken about 35 minutes. The woman returned, but after 50 minutes, Ron had not. When an hour passed, Louise started getting nervous and took the van to go look for him. She did not return for 20 minutes, but she had Ron in tow. He had missed the turn off, which was difficult to recognize and had continued on down the road. When he was rescued, we had lunch of lunch meats, cheeses, lettuce, tomato, macaroni salad, dips, and cookies. The next stop was Cape Point, the most southern point on the continent on the western side. There is a more southerly point on the eastern part of the continent. At the top of a high cliff is an old lighthouse that is no longer used. The hike up is approximately 40 minutes long if you are a good uphill walker. It is steep at parts, but there is a paved walkway. The other option is to take a funicular, but Ron decided we should walk. Not being an outdoorsy person, I was not overly enthused with this option, but I have to admit that the view was spectacular. It would have been missed or gravely shortened in the funicular. Louise met us at the bottom, suggesting we should hike out to Point of Cape of Good Hope, which would be another 45 minutes. She would meet us at the bottom with the van. From where she pointed, it looked like a boardwalk along the mountain. Okay, this is very doable and off we went. Again, the views of the water were never done justice with a camera. It was amazing how many colors water can be side by side. After 15 minutes of walking, the boardwalk stopped. For the rest of the way, it was climbing over rocks, gravel, and more rocks. In some areas there were steps cut into the rocks, but other places you were on your own. It took the three of us over an hour and a half to reach the summit where we could look down and see the car park. All long the way, we spotted geckos in various stages of shedding their skins. At the summit is where we saw the animals that look like guinea pigs, but they are called Rock hyrax. Strangely, their closest relative is the elephant. Go figure. Their gestation period is 248 days and pre-evolution, they had tusks. Their endocrine system is identical to the elephant. From the summit, it looked like a sheer drop down to the car park. I thought I would spend the rest of my life there, since I am petrified of heights and though I am a Capricorn, I am not a rock climber. I stood there for a good ten minutes weighing my options: die of humiliation if I refuse to go down or die of falling off of a sheer cliff. What to do? What to do? Something to my right caught my eye and then I realized that there were ‘steps’ and I use the word euphemistically, going down the side. It was more like the illusion of steps going down a winding path, but was enough to give my courage a stronghold for descending. Mentally, I kissed the car park pavement once there. My heart was beating faster than a whirling dervish on speed. The tour was fantastic and highly recommended. The day was done and we had asked Louise to drop us off at the Company Gardens so we could try to find Gilbert. We had missed him again by 15 minutes and went back to the hostel disappointed yet again. We knew he was only here for a limited number of days. We took our trek off to Checkers to shop for dinner. I had to get my fill of pumpkin, sweet potatoes, mangos, and papaya.

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Hop On Hop Off

December 22, 2005 We were awakened at 2:45 am with a group of people sitting outside our room drinking, smoking pot, arguing, and laughing. One was identifiable as a Brit through their comments, one an American, one woman from Israel, and the other woman was unidentified. They carried on until 4:30 am. So much for the rule about no noise after midnight. Ron got up and switched the lights on and off, thinking they would take a hint, but they did not seem to notice or care. The funniest comment was when the Brit said to the American “You are boring. I bet you are boring in every country you go to.” The American denied the claim and stated he was only boring here. Then he asked if anyone has ever cycled around the world? The hostility was mounting, so that by 4:3o, the American threw in the towel and went to bed. We were able to get back to sleep, but the alarm went off at 8:00, so we did not have any temptation to waste the day. After our Checkers supermarket breakfast, we readied ourselves. I have not shaven since we left home. In Paris, I could not find an outlet in the bathroom and here, the adapter I brought does not fit. This also is a problem for recharging my phone, and my batteries for the camera. The weather forecast was cold and chance of rain, but we walked downtown ready to hop on and off of the Red Line bus. An all day ticket was only 180 Rand for both of us and was good until 5:45 pm. We decided to do a complete circuit to see the sights and then the second time around, we could decide where we wanted to stay longer. One stop was the cable car station at the base of Table Mountain. The view of the “Bowl” the city below was fantastic, though a bit overcast. It was freezing up there and clouds were starting to cover the mountain, so the cable car was not running. Other stops were some of the beaches, which are pristine, but the water stays cold throughout the year. Recently, they have had a number of white shark warnings, so where you swim is closely guarded. For us, it was definitely too cold for swimming and the surfers are wearing skins all year long. It gave me goose bumps just watching people in their swim suits. Our first stop off of the bus was the Catwalk Internet Café. Our bus ticket included coupons and one of them was for a free hour of Internet service each. The Catwalk has 85 computers linked to high speed Internet and is the cheapest place around at 10 Rand an hour without a coupon. It is open 24 hours a day as well as a little café that also serves snacks. If you are a smoker, the upstairs is set aside for smokers. You can drink your coffee, smoke, and surf the Internet all at once. We walked around the block and down the street to yet another Red bus stop and picked up the bus again. We had a different guide on this bus; the guide is live and in English only. We went back up to Table Mountain cable car station and it was even colder than before. Our second stop off was at the beach where we had lunch at Theo’s Restaurant, another coupon from the bus ticket. Our coupon was for 20 Rand off of a bill totaling 50 Rand. I had the most wonderful steak fillet covered with blue cheese sauce and chunks of blue cheese with small baked potatoes. Ron had King Klip fish, which he had never had before and really enjoyed it. We each had a beer, but the bill with the 20% tip that I added came to 121 Rand or about $20.00. Food is so much cheaper here than in Budapest for eating out and for grocery shopping. After lunch, we walked along the beach front to the Red bus stop. We took the bus to the waterfront, which is a huge complex of boat docks, a large mall, dozens of restaurants, a slew of stores independent of the mall, two cinema complexes, and the Two Oceans Aquarium. There are also separate African craft stores with some interesting things, but we did not buy anything on that trip. We learned on the bus, amongst other things that the population of the country is 40 million with 4.5 million living in Cape Town and the suburbs. The country is so large, you can fit in Germany, France, and still have room left over for part of Spain. The bus had finished for the day, so we were on our own for a way back to the hostel. We started to walk, but realized it was too far. We wanted to get back to the Company Gardens to find Gilbert the beaded animal head maker. We broke down and took a taxi with Eric, the black driver from the Eastern Cape. When we reached the Company Gardens, we missed Gilbert by 10 minutes. We learned this from the two guys who were selling drinks across from where Gilbert’s stand was. We asked them to be sure to tell him that we returned and would yet again return tomorrow after our tour. They said they would. From there it was an easy walk to Ashanti where we rested for 15 minutes before trekking off to Checkers for groceries. Ron decided to make the sausage that we had our first day in the downtown restaurant with sweet potatoes, onions, and tomatoes. I was out speaking with an American who wanted to teach abroad. There were a bunch of people sitting in the kitchen talking very loudly. One woman who I think was the Israeli was extraordinarily loud and animated. It was 9:00, so it was not too late for noise. However, this young German guy comes out of his room and walks to the kitchen and closed the kitchen door without saying a word to anyone. The woman took great offense to this and the Swiss guy in the kitchen started cursing and went to open the door again. The German returned from his room and repeated his actions. This time the Swiss guy got furious and confronted him. The German said that some people come there to sleep and the noise was bothering him. The Swiss guy said that he was an employee of Ashanti and if he did not like it, he could leave right then and there. I am not sure what the management would have thought about that comment, but I found it obnoxious.

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Cape Town Whereabouts

December 21, 2005 Even on vacation I cannot sleep, I was up by 7:45, though the bed was comfortable enough. The youthful hostelers are up and preparing their breakfasts already or reading by the pool. It is surprising; you would think these young people would be sleeping in. It has already amazed me at how much cooking these young people do here. I wonder if they do as much at home or at school. We spent most of the morning, or actually all of the morning planning much of our time here. We booked a tour for Dec. 23, 24th, and 27th. Nothing is happening on the 25th or 26th, they celebrate Boxing Day. We may take in a movie if Ron has his way. We went upstairs to the bar area for a latte. It is nicely decorated in an African theme also. The whole place is very tastefully decorated. They do make a decent latte and it is not expensive either. Twice the size of what you would get in Budapest. We headed downtown looking for the Pan African Market at the suggestion of the travel agent here at the hostel. We found a place we thought was it, but it was not. They did have a lovely elephant mask that I would have loved to have, but transporting it home on Wizz would be an issue. We went to many shops and street markets. It is such a temptation to see all of these books stores with books in English, so many are used bookstores also. Then there is transport issue again. At the street fairs, everyone greets us with the same greeting, “Hello, I make you a good price.” They all seem desperate to sell. There do not seem to be many tourists around yet. After an hour, it was either sensory overload or something else, the stalls all starting looking alike, though the masks are very different and each has its own story to tell. We stopped a restaurant for a snack and sat down outside. We were waited on by a charming waitress named Tanya. She was very lively and friendly. Tanya told us that due to the crime, all of the businesses within a block pool their resources and hire private security guards to patrol the area. Still the center city is closed down after 6:00 pm. The hostel people told us to take a taxi to and from downtown if we go out at night, other wise it is too dangerous to walk. We did find a mask we liked in the real Pan African market and negotiated it down to 350 Rand from 700. The salesmen were two brothers from Cameroon, thought the mask is from Swaziland, a separate country in eastern South Africa. When we walked through the park where Parliament, the president’s house, we met this young man who moved here from Zimbabwe, named Gilbert (wirebundu@yahoo.com). He does bead work on wire to look like animal trophy heads. We would have bought one immediately, but we did not have enough cash on us. We told him we would return and we are sure he thought it was the usual tourist line. For bead work, they were very dramatic and beautifully crafted. For dinner, we went to Checkers grocery store, bought a cheese bread, cut up pumpkin, a roasted chicken, and butter. By the time we returned to Ashanti, the kitchen was buzzing with activity, so we had to wait until much later, not eating until 9:00 pm. We used the time to read and write and then went to bed at 11:30. Tomorrow’s plan is to take the Hop on Hop off bus for the day.

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We Arrived

December 20, 2005 We arrived in Johannesburg at 7:10 am, ten minutes ahead of schedule. For such a large plane, we still had to disembark onto a bus to be transported to the terminal. There were only three passport control booths for “All Passports”, but there were seven others for “African Nationals”. The process of getting through Customs took over an hour and after having a tiring night, I was not in any mood for this. After we made it through, we had to collect our luggage and recheck it in to follow us on to Cape Town. A porter in an “official” orange uniform insisted on helping us with the luggage, though we did have a hand cart. He would not take “no” for an answer, though I told him we did not have any Rand yet. When we could not tip him, he suggested we venture over to the bank machine and get money while he escorted us over. I don’t think so, not with all of the advice we received about safety here. The signs do state that if the port assists you, you should give them a tip of 5 Rand (less than $1.00) minimum. There is nothing there about coercion. We promised him we would return and would look out for him. We did not include the day or lifetime that we would return, so it was not a complete lie. We walked over to the Domestic terminal and asked six different people how to get to the Diners Club lounge, each time getting a different set of instructions that led to no where. We knew it was supposed to be on the 4th floor, but all of the elevators only went as high as the 3rd. Finally, we asked at security and they pointed upward. It was on the upper level after going through security. I had forgotten my card at home or rather left it there for safety. I did have my account number with me and they were kind enough to let me in without it. By now it was 8:40 am and our connecting flight was not until 2:30 pm. The lounge was lovely in a tasteful African motif. There was a separate room for smokers with a heavy duty exhaust system, so when you entered, you still would not realize you were in a smoker’s room. Diners Club shares the facility with the airline lounges, therefore, there were all of the refreshments you would expect both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. In addition, there were sandwiches, cookies, muffins, coffee and tea as well as a variety of chips. It was eye opening for us to see chicken, beef, and billabong flavored potato chips as well as tomato flavored corn chips. The lounge attracts a lot of families. They have a shower room you can reserve for free. There are 2 computers with high speed Internet services and Wifi connections. We ate drank and napped the hours away. At 2:10 pm they started boarding our flight and 20 minutes later, we were leaving the gate for the runway. I wished I had my camera in my lap and not in the overhead. The scenery below was breathtaking patchworks of red and I would have loved to shoot some of it. The overhead was too congested to sort through it to retrieve the camera. As we approached Cape Town, the mountains were magnificent with the patchwork changing to greens. While waiting for our luggage, we heard our names being announced. Our ride to the hostel was waiting for us. Ron had forgotten his vest on the plane; we were sure it was lost for good. He stopped at Lost and Found before we left and it had been deposited there already. The trip to Ashanti Hostel was 40 minutes. We traveled with a German woman, Maria, who had been here since November and was unwillingly leaving the next day. She was staying at a different place than us.

Ashanti is a large hostel http://www.ashanti.co.za/ in Cape Town that had great reviews in some of the budget online travel boards. We decided to risk it though our ages are well beyond the average backpacker. Actually, I feel like a degenerate entering these places with luggage, but they did not seem to notice. Our room was right by the pool, which seemed like a great idea when I booked it. We had a sink in our room, but the showers and toilets are communal. They do have another house with ensuite rooms. To save money, we chose to share. The kitchen is huge and fully stocked with anything one could need to create a dinner from scratch.This picture is a view from the bar on the second floor.

About 3 long blocks away is a grocery store called Checkers. Going there usually in the early evening became our daily routine. We bought groceries and cooked rather than eat out too many times. The food is much less expensive than in Budapest and there are many fruits and vegetables we do not have access to making it a treat to shop and cook. We did go to a pizza restaurant tonight just due to tiredness from the travel. I had a large pizza with spareribs and Ron has a sun dried tomato with different cheeses. We each had a large beer. The total bill was about $12.00. The hostel warned us not to walk in certain areas at night. If we wanted to venture to the clubs at night, we were advised to take a taxi there and back again. We are not club people, so it did not affect us, but we did keep the warning in mind. Ashanti has a bar on the second floor with a great open patio. The view of Table Mountain is magnificent. Today was cooler than I had expected, needing a light jacket due to a heavy breeze coming through. Hopefully, it will start warming up as the days go by. The rule at the hostel is that the noise stops at midnight. It seems it did tonight, but we were so exhausted from travel, we could has slept through it anyway.

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Leave for South Africa

December 19, 2005 We have our flight from Charles De Gaulle airport at 7:30 pm. We will have to take the RER from town. Christian said it was not a problem leaving our things with him, so we went to St. Eustache Church, which was interesting, but I did not take pictures of it. Ron did though. It was raining and cold, the kind of cold that permeates your bones and then it is difficult to warm up again. From the church, we went to an underground mall and found the RER station closest to Christian’s flat. He had recommended we buy our tickets ahead of time to avoid any lines when we needed to leave. We followed this suggestion. The RER tickets were 10 Euros each and if you take the direct train, it is 45 minutes travel time. We were inspected three times by ticket inspectors while in Paris. This seemed surprising since they have large gates you must go through to get to the actual transportation. There were numerous times I held the thought of summer in South Africa to get me through the chill of Paris. Regardless how lovely Paris is, cold is cold and it is difficult to appreciate things when you are shivering all of the time and fearing getting sick before your trip actually starts for real. I had called South African Airlines a few days before leaving Budapest to reconfirm our tickets and reservations. They agent who was a man, very pleasantly stated that it was never necessary to reconfirm paper tickets with them. Part of the trepidation was the fact that they were frequent flyer tickets through Delta Airlines and I did not want any last minute screw ups. We arrived at the airport 3 hours prior to our flight and feeling noble about being the early birds until we found about 150 people in line ahead of us. I have to say that SAA is very efficient. We were checked in with boarding passes in hand within 30 minutes. In De Gaulle, the only places you can smoke are outside in the elements or in the Hippo Bar and Restaurant in the basement. De Gaulle is going through major reconstruction, so many parts of it in the International terminal look vacated. We bellied up to the bar for a beer and a smoke. We had an 11 hour flight of being smoke free ahead of us. Since we were not eating, they would not seat us at a table. Boarding started to the minute that was on our boarding pass and we took off the minute we were scheduled. The plane layout was 2-3-2. It was not one a Boeing, but I forgot to note what type it was. It was nearly full though. We had the two seats on the right side, window and aisle. The problem was that our overhead lights did not work in the entire section and neither did the headsets for the video monitors. An eleven hour flight without some distraction is a long flight. There were about 20 rows of seats that had this problem, but the crew tried rebooting the computer unsuccessfully and could only offer an apology. When they offered drinks, they announced that we should ask for all that we wanted then as there would not be any further liquor service after dinner was served. Dinner was beef stroganoff and surprisingly delicious. The crew was efficient and fast, but not friendly. They were not unfriendly, but very businesslike. They did their job and then disappeared. They did not resurface at all until breakfast was served two hours before landing. The crew reminded me of the Stepford wives, very robotic and there seemed to be an endless supply of them. They did not even do a follow-up with water, which has always been our experience with long haul flights in the past. Ron asked for crème liquor that is supposed to be customary to South Africa, after dinner was over. He received it, but received a negative look also. The air turbulence was the worst that I had ever experienced in all of my years of flying. It was comparable to a ride at an amusement park and for the first time ever, I was getting a bit white knuckled. The ups and downs and side to side motions lasted for over two hours without a break. It felt like the plane was having epileptic seizures. At other times in the flight, it was bad, but not as much as those two hours. Not being able to read or watch the movie made is worse; there were no distractions at all. I started coming to terms with dying on a plane, but on an intellectual level only. Just as I was really getting into it, we were ready to land. I had just hoped it was on the run-way and the correct one at that.

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A Cold Day in Paris

December 18, 2005 Orsi had wanted us to contact her again today, so we decided to explore yet again some of the places we had ventured to yesterday. We agreed to gather later that evening. On our own, we wandered back to La Defense to explore the buildings and the Christmas market that was in the open mall area. The Christmas market was disappointing as most of the things were day to day items and not crafts or special Christmas items. There was nothing worth buying and transporting to South Africa and back again. I have taken few pictures. Ron has been very active with his new camera, so I want him to have the excitement of recording the events for the first time. I will hold back on the number of pictures that I take, so he can have the pleasure of the discovery. For dinner, we went to a Thai restaurant near to Christian’s. It was a small restaurant that was empty when we entered and full when we left. The portions were small, but the quality was excellent. By this time it was 9:00 pm and I had tried calling Orsi to see if it was too late to stop by, but I could not reach her on her mobile. She had mentioned that she was having problems with it. We chanced an unannounced meeting and they were as gracious as the night before. The four of us sat around and talked, but Orsi had French class the next morning, so we left by 11:00 pm.

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A Day with Orsi

December 17, 2005 Today, we are meeting with one of my former students from Hungary, Orsi. She has married a Frenchman and is living in Paris for the time being. They are both dear people and we are looking forward to seeing them again. She is to meet us at 10:30 am, but we were up early and had been out walking for over an hour by the appointed meeting time. She was as happy to see us as we were to see her. She showed us around the city with the sophistication of a true Parisian. It was surprising how well she knew her way around. Although the day was sunny, it was still freezing cold since we did not bring heavy winter clothes. Since we are continuing to the summer of South Africa, we did not want to be weighted down. We covered the city until 5:30, when we were ready to collapse into a nap coma. There was one lunch stop for crepes and another for a coffee, but the rest of the time was spent walking. She did take us to areas that we had never been before. The modern buildings at La Defense are stunning in their visual differences from the rest of Paris. After leaving Orsi, we went for a nap to rest up for the dinner invitation at her and Florin’s home that night. We had a light dinner of escargot, cheeses, and meats. She had a lovely selection of desserts and considering that Florin has not found work yet, we had some concerns about the cost of the dinner in our honor. Their friends Frederick and Christian were invited also. They were delightful young men and the evening sped by. At 11:30 we headed out the door with Orsi asking that we get together yet again the next day.

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Paris Here We Come

December 16, 2005 School was finished yesterday and we had one of my classes over for my annual Christmas Pizza, and American Christmas movie night. They were a great group and it seems that they all had a good time. Today, however, is our big day for travel. First we leave Budapest on Wizz Air for Paris. We landed at Beavais 2 hours after we took off. Where is Beavais? It is not Paris, but a suburb airport. Delayed by having a cup of coffee on our arrival, we missed the bus to Paris. Tickets for the bus are 16 Euros each. It was freezing cold outside and the bus does not have a sheltered stand to wait, poor planning. We were told the next bus would be at 6:00 pm a whole forty-five minutes from the time we asked, but it did not show for yet an additional fifty minutes at 6:50 pm. It only appears when there is a flight coming in and the last flight was delayed, thus the bus is delayed also. It is a direct bus to an open parking lot in downtown Paris. From here, we took the metro to the B and B where we were staying. Our host Christian Petitjean was waiting for us. His flat accommodates two people and he charges 47.50 Euros a night for both of us including a French breakfast (petitjean75@wanadoo.fr). I tried smsing him a few times to tell him we were running late, but he never responded to them. He has a nice flat, but only the one bedroom in the 2nd Arr.. When he lets it out, he sleeps in the living room. There are two water closets or specifically one has the toilet only, while the other has the tub and sink. He is on the 6th floor with a lift in a very convenient location. Christian’s English is perfect since he is an English professor at one of the universities, but is retiring at the end of the spring term. It was late and we had not had dinner, so we ventured around the neighborhood. There were literally dozens of restaurants for any cuisine one could desire, but the prices were shockingly high. We did come across a Lebanese restaurant that looked appealing and was reasonable. The food was excellent and the cost was modest. The bed and bedroom were well suited for our need for sleep and quite comfortable. Breakfast was coffee and toast with an amazing assortment of jams and jellies, many of which he orders from Corsica.

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Ron's Christmas Note

Dear Family and Friends, There’s a thin blanket of snow in Budapest, the Christmas Markets are bustling, tree lined boulevards glitter and glow each night… and we are prepping for our Great Holiday Escape! On Dec. 16th we fly to Paris to spend a few days there. Now that’ll be hard to take, right… bundling up to explore the City of Lights at Christmas. Joyeaux Noel! Then the 15 hour South African Air journey. “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” No, no, no, sport fans… not Detroit, Detroit and Chicago! Except for the tigers and maybe the bears, we will be celebrating the, ahem, Summer Holidays with King Leo and other wonderful beings in South Africa! Fortunate us, we’ll bask under colorfully lit Christmas Palm Trees in Capetown, on the Cape of Good Hope, in the rolling hills of their wine country, and in the jungle, the mighty jungle. We first stay at Ashanti Hostel; we’ll join the backpacking crowd for Christmas dinner, which features ostrich! I’ll be on the lookout for an authentically African Midnight Mass celebration. On Boxing Day we are guests in the back flat of two writers, she a children’s book author and he a travel writer. The final week, we’ll welcome the New Year with Kruger Park jungle companions. [While way down South until January 13, we’ll be checking e-mail; ron@ebab.com or drryanjames@gmail.com are the best couriers. We hope to hear from some of you.] All is well here. My classes have ended; Ryan’s soon will. Our B & B is going strong… we just said goodbye to Manfred of Germany who spent a week here. He was an amazing guest… 70 years old and he was out and about every day by 9 AM until 10 PM! We’ve now had guests from all over Europe, Venezuela, Canada, Australia and the US of A. It’s been a great experience. We are already getting bookings for May and June ’06. Speaking of bookings, my Christmas gift is a ticket to Colorado next June. I also hope to spend some time in Iowa. I’m working on the timing… around June 19 to July 6, I hope. Runaway thoughts: Our Christmas cactus is blooming… how fine to have a living, blossoming being in the midst of winter chill. I feel warmer when I am wearing my University of Iowa Hawkeye sweatshirt. The movie “A Christmas Story” never gets old… did you know there are tons of blogs that dissect all the trivia of this 25 year old classic? A joke worth recycling??? What if there’d been Three Wise Women?? They would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and brought practical gifts! A little beauty, warmth and laughter are needed in our troubled world, but everyday we see so many sorrowful sights… be they the street people in our towns or the people of Darfur or Baghdad, or North Korea or the West Bank. Robert Ellsberg once wrote: Dorothy Day was a great believer in “the sacrament of the present moment.” In each situation, in each encounter, in each task before us, she believed there is a path to God. We do not need to be in a monastery or a chapel. We need not become different people first. We can start today, this moment, where we are, to add to the balance of love in the world, to add to the balance of peace. My wish is that we may be signs of love, reconciliation, and peace… and learn that differences are gifts to be celebrated… in each present moment. Bekes karacsonyt es boldog uj evet.. Ron and Ryan "Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect."

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Immigration Office Appointment

We had our appointment this morning. We met our worker from Inter-Relocation and the Immigration Attorney at the office. Our appointments were for 8:30 this morning, yet we still had to take a number when we went in. Go figure. What was the reason for the appointment then? We had some last minute papers to sign, one being an authorization for the attorney to act on our behalf. He went with Ron, but Zsofia went with me as we were called at the same time. They are very professional workers having all of the paperwork completed and handing it to the officer as the officer checks it off of their list. Then the problem arose. The Visas in our current passports were for only the last two years. We needed three years to apply for this Residency Permit. The attorney and I kept counting the years, then it dawned on us that the first Visa was in our old passports. I offered to run home to get them, but they said we had 3o days to produce them. They also wanted copies of our bank statements from the States to show that we had sufficient income. I guess if we were Hungarian, being paid peanuts would be acceptable, but being foreigners, we had to have more money. The whole appointment only took about 30 minutes, but my heart was racing. We are going to be leaving the country soon and need to get this completed before we go. By law, they are supposed to make a decision within 6 months, but the attorney said they do not always follow the law. The agency can check the status of the application after 90 days have passed. Zsofia is going to come by early next week and pick up our old passports and bank statements. It is going to be tough holding my breath for 90 days, but hey, what does not kill you makes you stronger.

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Ok just picture this

Ok, just picture this... a grown man ripping his hair out and screaming at the top of his lungs, tonsils showing if he still had them and you would have me. For the last 3 months we have been gathering documents to apply for our 5 year Residency Permit. This will allow us to avoid the yearly renewals we have been subject to until now. We have had to have an FBI criminal clearance, complete physical exams including HIV, TB, and would you believe Leprosy? We needed to log all of our travels outside of the country for the last three years and cannot have been outside of the country for more than 90 days a year. We have had to have all of our degrees, birth certificates, and in my case, name change translated into Hungarian and then signed off by the Official Translation Office. In addition, we have had to collect about 20 different documents from our places of work, about buying our apartment, our business, and other assorted things. We have our appointments with Immigration on Monday at 8:30 am. I am feeling like a cat on a hot tin roof. The application takes a minimum of 8 months to process. It has to go through the Hungarian version of the FBI as well. Last night I dreamt that our applications were approved, but by the time they did it, the law had changed and we needed to take a test in Hungarian. What a nightmare that was. Hungarian has 44 letters in the alphabet, just one of the first obstacles to learning it more than the pre-kindergarten version we have.

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