The Sigh Heard Round the World (or at least at Home)

One Road into Soweto

Squatter Shacks in Soweto

Inscription at Memorial from 1955 Freedom Charter drafted by African National Congress

Harbor Bridge

Sydney Opera House

I heard a sigh of relief from my family and from Ben when they heard that I was leaving Africa and headed for Australia. I had a wonderful time during my first month, but I know that my family is happy for me to be headed for the first world.

To recap my last few days...I managed to catch my flight out of Mauritius before the cyclone hit - apparently it was somewhat slow-moving and was still 400+ km offshore. Although Mauritius wouldn't have been such a bad place to be stuck, it was pretty expensive - and my hotel bill at check out made me re-assess my activities over the last few days. Fortunately, a slight error had been made in the room rate for the one night I had had to pay for (about a Euro300 error!), but regardless - Mauritius still was rough on my budget. I received some great news when I arrived at the airport; apparently, my wait-listing for the Sydney flight on Jan 31st had come through.

I arrived back in Johannesburg and felt much more confident about getting to my hotel after my first trip to the city with Tiffany and John prior to Mauritius. I also met a beautiful Brazilian couple while waiting for the airport shuttle - Tais and Fred. They were wrapping up their vacation in Africa and were headed home to Sao Paulo the next morning, but were so nice to invite me to join them for dinner at the hotel. I enjoyed our meal and hope to have an opportunity to see them again when I reach South America.

The next morning, I took a tour of Soweto, which is the largest township in South Africa. Soweto was started in the 1930s and was the location of the student riots in 1976. Over 3 million people live in Soweto, including, at one time, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu (2 Nobel Peace Price winners who actually lived on the same street). The tour included a drive through downtown Johannesburg, a drive around outskirts and portions of Soweto, a stop at a memorial, a visit to Nelson Mandela's prior home, and a stop at a museum commemorating the student riots.

To admit my ignorance, I didn't know about the student riots from 1976, so the tour was a very educational and somber day for me. After years of reducing the funding for the schools in Soweto - while at the same time increasing funding and opportunities for the white children in Johannesburg - the government attempted to enforce that all students in Soweto must be instructed in both English AND Afrikaans, which is a mix of the Dutch and local languages and was developed by the white minority in the years following colonization. Although neither of these languages were native to many of the students, they had accepted the change to English but refused to make the change to yet another unknown dialect. Pictures of protest signs posted in the museum read "it's not the language, but the system," implying that the riots and outrage were the culmination of years of frustration and racial tension. Videos and placards noted that the students - many of whom were middle and high school age - had intended the walk in June 1976 to be a peaceful march, ending with speaches and a call for petition-signing. Unfortunately, the walk turned violent (discrepancies on the signs imply that both the police and the students were responsible), erupting into days and weeks of unrest in Soweto and Johannesburg. It was sobering to watch the videos of police attack crowds of young children and to read how the children had effectively intitiated the uprising that their parents should have been fighting for them. I know that I'm most likely ommitting several crucial facts and details, but I did want to try and convey a bit of what I learned last Thursday. If you ever have an opportunity to try the Soweto tour, I highly encourage it.

I didn't spend much time in Joburg, as I had heard about how unsafe it was to be there. I was extremely nervous about even flying into the city, but the airport was modern and seemed fine for travelers. I had also opted to stay out at the airport hotel and only at the last minute decided to take the tour to Soweto. I felt fairly safe during my short time there, but it is clear from the high walls, barbed wire, and security systems outside of every home that crime is rampant. The city is growing and appears (from the look of downtown) to be fairly cosmopolitan, although I've heard that there isn't that much to actually "see" within the city centre. The big discussion while I was there related to the massive electricity blackouts, which lasted at least a couple of hours daily, and how the city would cope with these challenges given that South Africa will be hosting the World Cup in 2010. No one seems to have any solutions to the problems yet, and I think it will be interesting to see how the country addresses both the safety and electricity concerns over the next two years.

On the 31st, I boarded my flight to Sydney and prepared to leave Africa after a month of adventures. Although I had almost two weeks in South Africa and Tanzania, as well as five days in Mauritius, I feel like I only scratched the surface of seeing Africa. I wish I had been able to travel a couple more weeks in South Africa, spend more time in game parks in Tanzania, and visit Namibia and Bostwana. Many friends had described Africa as a very captivating place, and I must agree. I will certainly be back.

I was very excited about making a return trip to Australia and seeing some friends upon arrival. I first visited Sydney in July 2004 with my family, and we spent a wonderful week of sight-seeing then - climbing the Harbor Bridge, hearing the symphony in the opera house, taking a ferry to Manley, visiting kangaroos and koalas, and driving along the coast to Bondi Beach. Fortunately, since I had seen many of the big sites on that trip, I was looking forward to just hanging out and enjoying a short break from the past month of traveling and sight-seeing.

On Friday, our family friends Ashley and Shelley Casey picked me up at the airport. Ashley and Shelley are the daughters of my mom's college friend Tami Casey, who moved to Australia after finishing school at Purdue to teach in the 1970s and has been here every since. Tami and her husband Paul live very close to Sydney and have two wonderful daughters who are around my age. Although Tami was still traveling back from her family visit in the US when I arrived (home via Rome and Singapore), Shelley and Ashley were gracious enough to pick me up at the airport and host me over the weekend, even though my plans changed at the very last minute to be in town.

On Friday night, Shelley invited me to join her and her friends at the Outdoor Cinema. The cinema is very similar to our Movies in the Park in Chicago, except that here, the screen comes up out of the Sydney harbor, and seating is available that looks back at the city skyline, the Opera House, and the Harbor Bridge. The outing, complete with very fun company, champagne, and food, was an amazing way to start my visit back to Australia.

On Saturday, Shelley was attending a bachelorette party - called a "hen's party" here in Australia - and had asked the bride-to-be if I could attend as well. The bachelorette was so gracious to include me in her fun day, which started at 10:30 a.m. at a local art studio, followed by lunch and drinks at a water-front restaurant, more food and drinks at the Harbor View Hotel (which was literally right next to the Harbor Bridge), and dancing in The Rocks area of Sydney. It was a great evening with Shelley and her wonderful friends, and I am so grateful that they let me tag along with them for the day. Best wishes to Naida on her upcoming wedding - I hope it will be a perfect day full of much love and fun.

Shelley and her boyfriend Adrian were so hospitable to let me crash at their apartment all weekend. Although Shelley and I weren't home much on Saturday, I made great use of their couch and internet access on Sunday. It rained ALL DAY, although I must admit I was thankful for a day to rest, given that I've been traveling and sight-seeing almost every day since I left home. My only excursion on Sunday was a trip to the local grocery, and we finished the evening with a tasty stir-fry dinner (prepared by Shelley) and a viewing of the premier of "So You Think You Can Dance - Australia."

Yesterday, despite the rain, I managed to work in a run (for the first time since I left home!) and then met Ashley downtown. Unfortunately, our meeting time happened to coincide with a downpour, and we ended up running through the streets to the Museum of Contemporary Art. We stopped first for a bite to eat and wandered through the gallery where Ashley used to work, and then spent some time at the Museum - a perfect outing for a rainy day. I spent the rest of the day walking through the Queen Victoria Building, stopping in shops - and just trying to stay dry. Last night, Shelley cooked another amazing dinner (homeade lasagna), and I saw Paul and Tami, who had arrived only yesterday morning from Singapore. I can't say thank you enough to the entire Casey family for their warm hospitality, and a special thanks again to Shelley and Adrian for putting me up for so long. It's been a great few days here in Sydney, despite the rain!

Today I am flying up to Brisbane to meet up with my friends that I met on the Garden Route. I am hoping to stay in Brisbane until Thursday, and then I am going to continue up the east coast to Hervey Bay and Frasier Island. Shelley and her friends have other friends who live and work in Hervey Bay, and Danielle has arranged for me to spend two days on Frasier Island. I'm just hoping for good weather over the next few days and no rain!