Jamie again.
The Magnificent 9 are on the move again. We are entering day 6 of our trip and the second part is now on count down.
We left the Scalabrini Hostel, which was on a slightly sketchy downtown one way road in Cape Town, but where we had two nicely appointed 3 bed hostel rooms that the girls shared and a larger dorm that the boys shared. Each of the rooms had their own bathroom, which for the three per person room were amazing. I shared a room w Kate and Crys, and they were great roommates, esp because they each hit the sack earlier than me and did not get bothered by the fact that I was texting or reading or just had the light on all night long.
Privacy is an interesting thing to negotiate on a 9 person trip. When I first booked the tickets I was a little sad that we would only be on tour for 10 days but now as we fill each day to the max, sleep a little less than needed (me at least), try to find restaurants that will make the majority of us happy, navigate airport security, car rentals, getting ourselves and our luggage in and out of vehicles too small to fit us comfortably, cab rides, tour buses, arrivals and baggage unpacking, departures and baggage packing, shopping in groups of 9 (always go for the meet up time at a certain location because people bargain, gaze and wander and interact at really different pacings!)...well now that we are mid way into the trip, my heart remains tremendously full of all the rich activities we have participated in, and well, to be honest, there is a tax one pays for traveling in a large group.
That said, we are all negotiating our own emotional, physical and other needs fairly well. Hardly any blow ups, no one hates anyone else (as far as I can tell) and generally speaking we are super cooperative. There are many many benefits to traveling in a large group too. Here are some examples.
First off, safety in numbers is huge. We have nearly enough players for a baseball team and when we take to the streets together, which we did often in Cape Town, we are formidable. When we exchange money, we act like a well oiled machine exiting malls and banks. We have eyes on every angle of the person carrying the money. I have usually been that person and I have no interest in being mugged or robbed and because there are so many of us, we are fairly solid.
Walking the streets of Cape Town in a group of maybe 6 last night, I remember thinking well, if anything goes down, Dante is a Muay Thai expert, Eli is small in stature but a bad ass martial artist, I can somewhat hold my own with what I know about boxing and Muay Thai, Talitha is a honey badger straight and plain and Honey badger don't play that, Kate and Crys have de-escalation and negotiation skills that are impressive...the rest were back at the house, but it has made me smile over and over to think about all the collective talents we have on this trip.
Here are some more. Leslie and I and Kate are the three who know how to drive a stick shift and oddly, every single rental car in Cape Town is a stick shift. Therefore, we were the drivers.
Crys is a phenomenal navigator, truly gifted in reading a map and super positive and always ALWAYS willing to help. Crys got us through a few scrapes, including guiding me on the one sticky wicket that stands out about the driving experience, the irritation called Round Abouts. Crys is also really caring and perceptive, always has a compliment to share, is so dang smart that i have rarely ever asked her a question about a word definition or concept that she didn't know, and is creative, in tuned and definitely committed to social justice.
Leslie is a coach by profession and super supportive. I was able to select the "most supportive" people for my car when I finally started driving, and she was one of them. She and I have oddly decided that even though Leslie is younger than me, she should be my "mom," and she is very caring at times. Bought me a special heart cookie today but then gave it away accidentally (lol).
Kevin is a really grounded guy. He takes the time he needs for his homework, he is a strong communicator and an amazingly super positive and grateful guy. Kevin is almost always smiling. He is also strong and fit and so when there is something extra to carry, he volunteers. Kevin alerted us that he can drive a stick once we were in air to Joberg today and so he started the driving journey while I took an hour snooze.
Actually everyone is pretty awesome about sharing the load on this trip. At our last meeting Kevin, Dante, Crys and Eli all took water bottles and tshirts that we shared with Sonke, Kliptown and the African Leadership Academy. I only had to carry a few shirts and water bottles and that meant that not everything was my responsibility. Whenever anyone feels the load is too heavy, we all seem to step up to help carry it literally or figuratively.
Dante is our personal trainer and he has worked us out a few mornings of the trip. He is a very talented trainer and knows lots of ways to stretch us out, warm us up, and leads great little workouts for the team when we want. I can't wait to do Qi Gong w him in Kruger National Park. Additionally, he made sure to buy a converter that he shares, got a phone so that we could have another for use on the team and is always seeming to be on the lookout for when my hands can't handle holding onto my bags, like for example, when we were positioned on the upper deck of the plane from SFO to London where we had to carry our bags up and down a narrow stairway.
Kate is always positive and ready with a re-frame. When something goes wrong or difficult, Kate figures out a way to make it okay. She also doesn't panic and doesn't get annoyed when I do. As long as Kate has a coke nearby when needed, she is one of the most pleasant and easy going people that exist. She also is not lazy and is always willing to jump in and try to solve a problem, figure out directions, identify a new place to stay and negotiate the deal, etc.
Onikah has a sweetness that I don't know how to describe. She is on a world traveling journey and feels to me like she is in her zone. That means that she is at ease with herself and that makes others feel at ease. She is also a pretty direct communicator, is playful and fun. She made us this super fancy breakfast of stuffed tomatoes with eggs, cheese and smoked salmon. Wow.
Eli has been my late night companion and helps me to feel more normal when I am up all hours of the night. He has been so supportive of the fact that I lost my main camera which was my cell phone, and he takes any and all pictures when I ask him to for me. He is also a great masseuse and has gave me a backrub that really helped my back tension yesterday. Eli is also making up for lost time when he was too busy to do enough prep for the trip and so he is volunteering to blog, carry things, organize things, etc. He is also a spider man on a hostel bunk bed and leaps up with such ease that it is entertaining.
Talitha, wow. She is a master barterer, and also an unabashed connector. She talks to people with such ease that wherever we go we make a new friend. Talitha will shake the hands of a vendor, look them in the eye, flirt with them, joke with them, get real with them. It is kinda like watching a major league player go to bat. She has skills and I think negotiated the best deals of any of us on the team at the Green Market Square. I also know that if someone is trying to rip us off we need to put Talitha in the game because she won't let anyone get away w jack. Once we had a situation with a parking attendant who was, well, I'm pretty sure over charging us... and I said, Talitha, can we do something about this? She went up to the guy who was being shady and forcefully asked him to lift up his sunglasses so that she could look him in the eye and he had to look her in the eye when he was lying to her.
And then there was me. Contrary to some people's belief, I did not get paid to organize this trip. I did this trip as a volunteer and I paid for my own trip just like all of the organizers did. What I bring to the trip is the belief that I can make things happen if I really want to... I believe that I can organize a lot of stuff and usually if i put my mind to it, I indeed complete things.
This trip was a dream. And then it was a dreamy trip. The people we have met, the graciousness, the gloriousness, the heaviness, the learning, the heart the resistance and determination and smarts of Africa. Simply amazing. A dream that became real with the hard work of our team. More is to be said but Kate and I, with the help of our hostel keeper Paul, just negotiated a deal to see Kruger with a different tour guide. We get up at 4 am for a 4:45 am departure. Must sleep.
Sending love to all. With gratitude and heart, from Africa. Jamie
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