it's a bird it's a plane it's super kt

i went sky diving yesterday over the namib desert. i jumped out of a plane. it was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life and luckily for all of you i hired a man to jump out with me and video tape the whole thing!
before we boarded the tiny tiny plane i chickened out for about 10 minutes. i was watching people jump overhead and the free fall seemed far far FAR too long. however i sucked it up, put on the gear, hugged my tandem master and boarded the plane. at about 8000feet the tandem master (what they are called) connected our two harnesses - my life was truly in his hands! at 10, 000 feet the 'door' opened and we shuffled to the entrance. i have never been so scared in my life. every curse word i knew came spewing out of my mouth. i sat on the edge of the plane with my legs tucked underneath. i tilted my head back so it was resting on my master's chest crossed my arms across my chest and we feel out of the plane. the free falling was absolutely exhilarating. we free fell from 10 000 to 5000 feet. it took about 35 seconds but it felt much longer! we were falling at 220km per hour. the wind felt amazing. the view was stunning. i screamed the whole way. i started to fear the parachute would never open but then i heard the master count down 3 2 1 and then it opened. we then feel gently to the earth looking at the desert, sand dunes and mountains. i screamed the whole way for this part too. we did summer-saults in the air,turns and just glided. the landing we smooth. i loved it.
we then camped outside the hanger because we had no where to go!

top 10 things so far

1. dancing naked around the campfire with marisse under the star-filled desert sky

2. seeing a tornado blow past our car

3. seeing lighting strike the ground about 20 feet from our car

4. climbing a sand dune this morning

5. driving our tiny car in the desert surrounded my monster 4x4s

6. finding a shop (called solitaire) in the middle of the desert with filtered coffee

7. swimming in the atlantic ocean when it's warm

8. watching the sun come up over the desert

9. the twinkling stars at night

10. having a park ranger come over to us whilst camping with a huge HUGE rifle. i asked him if it was safe to be here and he reassured me it was.......but why the rifle????

magical christmas

had the best christmas i've had since i was a child. on the 24th we decided to rent a car, drive into the namib (although we are already in it, so we just drove more into it), camp and see what happens. everyone here drives massive 4x4s and we ended up with a tiny 2-door hatchback. no worries. 4 girls who have never been in the desert before, two who have never camped, in a totally inadequate car. bring it on.

i could go on and on about how stunning, marvelous, beautiful, striking, fabulous, energetic, spiritual the desert is but i won't. i have never been anywhere like this before and i feel like if i never travel again i will be completely satisfied. we spent christmas eve around a campfire in the middle of the desert eating canned fish and beans underneath a cloudless, star filled, full moon lite sky. christmas day we drove to to namib-nauklift national park where we drove amongst sand dunes. i cannot even begin to describe the beauty. google it - sousselvei (or close enough) and look at the dunes.

everyone needs to visit this country.

singing my heart out

so i have this new hobby/past time and it makes me feel fantastic. it is legal to drive in the back of pick-up trucks here and in fact, is probably the most common form of transport because you can fit a lot of people in the back. most of my friends have trucks and whenever we go anywhere i usually volunteer to sit out back. last week susan and i were sitting out back, under a clear a sky, on a warm night singing christmas carols at the top of our lungs. it was great. i decided this was the only way i want to travel (when possible). so now anytime i have the chance, i hope in the back of the truck, preferably alone, and sing sing sing as we drive along. i don't have the best voice but i have a loud voice and it doesn't matter as we cruise down the highway. my current songs are: white rabbit (jefferson airplane), any christmas song and singing various sections of moulin rouge. i highly recommend doing this after a shitty day. guaranteed smile.

speaking of things that make me smile, had one of the best dance sessions last night with my girl megan. she was invited to some birthday party that i later crashed at a local club. it wasn't very busy and by 11pm we were the only ones on the dance floor. we rocked on up to the stage and then rocked out all night. jazz moves from when i was 6 came busting out. it was fantastic. mad props from everyone when we left.

and....leaving for johannesburg today and namibia tomorrow. yippeee. desert, camping, sky diving. excellent.

anyone find my laptop???

happy holidays

so it is nearly christmas. this is the longest i've ever gone without seeing snow and i miss it! i leave for namibia this friday and cannot wait. i've never seen a desert before and i expect it'll be
quite an experience. i was originally going alone but have since had 3 friends join me. we have
made no plans; we'll just show up and see where the wind takes us. i am planning on sand-boarding on the sand dunes in the namib desert (i wonder how eco-friendly that is?) and go sky diving. i'll try and update this while i am travelling and let you all know how i'm doing.

speaking of how i'm doing.....still pretty bummed out about my computer. work is impossible now. i have no resources to work with and even if i did, i have no where to do the work. we've visited a few shops but it doesn't look good. i hate admitting that i am so dependant on technology but i really am!

so anyways, have a wonderful holiday. drink lots, eat lots, dance and sing even more.

ho ho ho

bastards

my laptop was stolen yesterday. so was megan's. it was 12pm and we went for a coffee at a busy shopping complex in the safest neighbourhood. the parking lot was full. lots of security guards around. we put the laptops under the front seat, locked the doors and returned 30 minutes to find them gone. i can't even tell you how upset we are. ALL of my photos are gone. ALL of my work and research is gone. nothing was backed up. i have no idea what i'm supposed to do at work now. there isn't a computer for me and everything i've been working on is lost. i don't even want to start over again.

we were furious with the security guards. did they not notice someone breaking the car lock? i hate to be suspicious but wonder if they were in on it. i'm sure there is a lot of money to be made from these breakins. the police came,but i don't have much confidence. as much as i hate it, we made if very clear to the cops that we'd buy back out laptops or pay for info in helping us get them. its a very small country and word has gotten around fast. everyone is putting the word out and hopefully someone will know someone.....

we 've also told the local internet cafe. they thought that perhaps people had been watching us for awhile. we often go to the cafe and use wireless there so they thought it had been planned.
i'm trying not to be angry but i am . it was also my computer for when i go back to school in the fall.

the little things

i've had a tough week. perhaps it's the upcoming holidays or the lack of snow on the ground but i've been feeling tired and unmotivated. but thank god for the little things that put a smile on my face.

i was sitting beside a little boy yesterday on the kombi as i came to work. the driver was playing some upbeat music and i noticed the little boy dancing. i moved over beside him so our legs were touching and began dancing with him. he smiled and we broke out into big, back seat dance moves. the woman in the seat in front of us looked back, smiled, and she too started to dance. and so did the guy beside her. what a fun way to get to work.

Attended the World AIDS Day march on December 1st. Because of the heat (I presume) the march began at 6:30am and unlike the usual Swazi time; it actually began at 6:30! By the end I’d estimate that 1,000 people were marching, chanting and just having a good time.
I’m not sure why but I feel so charged whenever I’m with a big group of people who are trying to create positive social change.

About 1.5 hours into the march I spotted some warriors. They were chanting/singing (?) really loudly and doing this ‘shuffle’. For the rest of the march I stayed behind the warriors mimicking their foot movements and just enjoyed watching them. The contrast of a modern city, modern dress and barefoot warriors is still so thrilling for me. (I have photos but haven’t uploaded them yet).

I learned quite a few things this week about AIDS prevention that I wasn’t fully aware of. In Swaziland and Kenya, male circumcision is being performed as a measure of reducing the risk of transmission. Apparently it can cut the risk by 60%. I was shocked to hear this. Of course the problem is that men are getting circumcised thinking that they can’t get infected so proper education must be enforced – condom AND circumcision (if you are going this route). I met a Canadian journalist covering a story here and he had been to a few procedures. He said it takes a month for the men to heal but that the clinics are still fairly busy. Anyone know if they are promoting this in the ‘west’? Yes, I know, I should do a google search J

Attended the World AIDS Day march on December 1st. Because of the heat (I presume) the march began at 6:30am and unlike the usual Swazi time; it actually began at 6:30! By the end I’d estimate that 1,000 people were marching, chanting and just having a good time.
I’m not sure why but I feel so charged whenever I’m with a big group of people who are trying to create positive social change.

About 1.5 hours into the march I spotted some warriors. They were chanting/singing (?) really loudly and doing this ‘shuffle’. For the rest of the march I stayed behind the warriors mimicking their foot movements and just enjoyed watching them. The contrast of a modern city, modern dress and barefoot warriors is still so thrilling for me. (I have photos but haven’t uploaded them yet).

I learned quite a few things this week about AIDS prevention that I wasn’t fully aware of. In Swaziland and Kenya, male circumcision is being performed as a measure of reducing the risk of transmission. Apparently it can cut the risk by 60%. I was shocked to hear this. Of course the problem is that men are getting circumcised thinking that they can’t get infected so proper education must be enforced – condom AND circumcision (if you are going this route). I met a Canadian journalist covering a story here and he had been to a few procedures. He said it takes a month for the men to heal but that the clinics are still fairly busy. Anyone know if they are promoting this in the ‘west’? Yes, I know, I should do a google search J