Free Nelson Mandela!

Wow, that was fast - he's out!

I'm here in Johannesburg (aka Joburg, which is much faster to type) seeing the sites with Crystal before heading off to Madagascar.

Site 1 - Soweto (aka South West Township) 130 square km (so that's 40 or so miles?) it is huge and home to both rich people with brick houses and 2 car garages, and the very poor people with homes made out of tin and plastic.

We also went to the street where Nelson Mandela used to live and where Desmond Tutu still lives. Mandela's house is now a museum, which guides (who seem rather exasperated by the crowds) take you through and tell you the story of his life.

We also saw a memorial to the students who were killed when they protested the use of Afrikaans as the language they were taught in at schoool. Then we went to the church where they used to gather and where they thought they'd be safe. The police came into the church and shot it up. You can still see the bullet holes today. Other students were kidnapped and killed in rather grusome ways. Our guide said that when the parents found out during the Truth & Reconciliation hearings how their children were killed some of them had heart attacks and died.

In the end South Africa becomes a democratic country. I'm not sure I believe the guide when he said blacks and whites all get together just fine now, no problems. Hmm. How quickly people transition.

Site 2 - We stopped at a shop, which was also a museum of man and science. It's where traditional healers go to get all their snake skins, bones, roots, etc. for their healings. The picture is probably going to show up sideways. After I took it, I realized it's a monkey. :(

Today we went to lion park and saw, yes lions. We got to play with the cubs at the end of the tour. Very precious, though a bit mangy. Not nearly as soft as your average housecat. We also got to feed some giraffe while we were there. Crystal was brave enough to feed the ostrich. The giraffes just put out a long, black, saliva cover tounge which they wrap around your hand to get the delicious pellets. Gross yet harmless. The ostrich pecks at your hand and bites anything in the vicinity... pellet, finger, you name it.

Tomorrow we go to Kruger National Park and then we're off to Madagascar. I haven't done much in the way of the documentary so far, but I've got the rest of the trip ahead of me.

This will probably be it for the next few weeks so enjoy and I'll catch up with you soon.

The Last Hurrah

Thursday night I met some friends for the last hurrah before a frantic day of packing, housecleaning and list double checking.

Though we were thwarted from sitting outside by an overwhelming horde of Gap workers, it was a delightful reunion of friends from Parkway Jr. High, UCSB, former Habitat trips, former jobs and former improv shows. All in all a lovely way to continue to procrastinate packing.

Ah, but pack I did... in a hodgepodge of rolling and stuffing and cramming. Good news, everything fits. Bad news, my bags weigh 4 and a half tons and I am going to have to hire all the 16 year olds on Madagascar to help me carry them around. Luckily, I am here in DC for the weekend and have an opportunity to reshuffle. The most important thing is that my carry on (with all the camera equipment, extra batteries and extra tapes) weigh less than 15lbs otherwise, I have to fist fight representatives from South African Airlines. Heavy checked bags can be bought at the rate of $5/lb... but not so with the carry on. I'm working it out.

John and I arrived at Jim's house last night and have spent this morning rummaging around for food, walking around the lake and then, realizing it's far too hot and humid to walk around, have come back to the house to lay around and read magazines.
I think all vacations should start like this.

This morning I sat outside and recorded a video diary entry, then I talked to the director about what to do in Africa. Basically he said, keep focused on the dream. If you send lots of safari footage, that's great, but staying focused on the dream while I'm there will help him tie it all together.

He did give me some feedback about how happy he was with the interview I did on Tuesday with the documentary crew. When they asked about my fear of failing I told them I was more afraid of succeeding because then I don't know what happens next. The director said that was a concept they wanted to introduce but weren't sure how they were going to do so. He said he hoped one of the people he followed came to that conclusion. Now it's done. All that and pictures of lions? Even though the release I signed said I might... how can I possibly get cut out of this movie now? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Okay. I'm off and will not be checking in again until I'm in Africa! Africa baby!

I'd simmer down, but I don't think I can.

Kristian

Ready for My Closeup

I spent yesterday with a microphone down my shirt and a camera in my face. Is this what being famous is like? Maybe not until you add the paparazzi.

The local film crew for the documentary, Dream, spent the afternoon with me filming me going about my business and talking about my dream of hosting a travel show. It's hard to act normal when there's a fuzzy boom mic right above the head of everyone you're talking to.

I met my mom and my friend Missy at the Beach Chalet for lunch. People thought we were famous, and when I opened up my early birthday present - an Elmo Goes on Safari coloring book - someone thought we were having some kind of book promotion.

Next it was an interview at Alamo Square with the famous Victorian houses, the Painted Ladies, behind us. People were there taking pictures (because of the show Full House?) and MUNI buses were roaring up the street. The wind was blowing and there was a reflector being held up for lighting which was a bit blinding. Despite all this... I had to do my best to answer questions and bare my soul.

Afterwards, off to Fisherman's Wharf for some person-on-the-street interviews about what peoples' dreams are and what they're doing to try and achieve them. The crew let me ask the questions, but said, don't ask questions - which I think was supposed to get me to ask only open-ended questions. It made it harder to do than it looks on TV.

Finally off to Northbeach to meet with Una for a real Habitat planning meeting. Karaoke at Bow Bow got nixed as we wouldn't be able to get the rights to the songs. I'm happy happy anyway.

I'm in the last frantic stages of getting ready. And yet, I'm still going to try and hang out at Palomino on Thursday night starting at 5pm, so if you're reading this and you're local... come on by!

Kristian