un-perused complicated things

Day one:

so while on the plane i watched a horrible movie called sideways + well it wasn't horrible but its gotten nominated for every oscar in the book + it was just difficult to see that something that was so aesthitically, and conceptually-trivial was so decorated and recognized after watching Hotel Rwanda + which i thought was maybe the most important movie of the last year almost completely overlooked as a movie and a message + the best actor / actress nominations are great and well deserved but... u know what im saying

i was sitting next to this pudgy white guy on the plane from ammsterdamm (sp?) who had on wranglers and flannel (on the way to - tropical cape town) so i concluded that he had to be from texas + i asked him and he was + "riiight up dere- jus norf uh austin yesssir" was whaat he said + he was going to work on an oil rig off the western cape shore + i kept thinkin why they would sent this guy half way across the world to drill oil off the shore of a country who has so many unemployed people + global I zation

landed in cape town + swankiest airport ive ever been in + architecture is immaculate + the bauhaus influence is strong + lotta glass + whole lotta quadralinear design + no black people + on the flight + on any other arriving flights + starting to think "are we in africa?" + the lack of melanin has been irkin me + but ive been trying to not be irked cause the vexation is coming from this whole expectations thing + and i have tried so hard to be void of..expectations + but i was feeling like an un-willing soldier in a coup + first 3 black people i saw + very un important and maybe shallow to note i think + but for some reason they were at the front of my brain + customs agent + baggage hadler girls on break who gave me a thumbs up which i returned with great intensity and fervor (i think they liked my jacket) + and our driver.

driving from the airport was an experience + by now it wasn't sinking in that i was in South Africa + but i sunk real fast when we drove past all the shanty towns + it was a freakishly clear night ( i find it amazing that i can see orion) and the wind is crispy + and there was no one on the road but us + i do this thing in my mind where i always compare parallel experiences + so i was comparing driving from the airport in capetown to driving from DFW in dallas down 635 when u pass all those ridiculous looking subdivisions and gated "communities" + huge brand new shopping centers (all of which have the same 9 stores, lowes, best buy, target, ross etc.) + this drive seems antithical (if that isn't a word lets make it one) there are miles and miles of shacks that create this monet like abstraction when seen at 75mph + then there are coloured townships + which are kinda like our projects (southern ones not hi rise jump offs) and then all of a sudden everything looks like coral gables + and there are palm trees + and bed and breakfasts + and gated mansions nestled between mountains and beaches + the contrast is so similar to boston walking from the projects in roxbury 6 blocks away to the newly gentrified south end. but much worse cause the beach, and palm trees and mountains are all included in this semi universal image of earthly paradise + so the contrast is that much more harsh + but really kinda unfacinating + because on some level we've all seen it + it kinda harder to ignore here +


Day two:

the sun wakes me up at 6 ( iwent to bed @ 3) + lookin out my window and i see the top of table mountain outside of my window + the wind is pushing cumulous clouds over the top of the mountain + its called the "table cloth" and its indescribable so i won't begin to put u on to how it looks or feels + one thing i hate are touristy pictures + postcard shots + but now i entirely understand why people have them + because its impossible to not want to in some way permenatly capture the power of what u see sometimes + later that day we went up to table mountain + and like i said before all churches should be on mountains no exceptions + u can't be up there and at least not feel like ur presence there wasn't designed in some way + plus u get this feeling of overwheming humlity + cause ur confronted with ur smallness when u see how vast and sweeping just one city is + i waited for the sun to set took a few pictures + i'm starting to feel like they planned all this well cause if u had any doubts about coming to capetown when u were on that mountain + they shoulda gotten erased real quick +

THA CLUB + is different here + guys dance + and girls dance + just not togeather as much + its jus ppl dancing + at least thats how i felt the first night i went + the second time + it was alot of americans + there was a mini assimilationish moment when evey body made it kinda more of an american thing + i was angry cause they didn't play any south african music + they play everything we got which i don't like. + tha freakin west

Had an interesting conversation with what amerians would consider to be an indian woman today + she said she was black + and she was phenotypically northern indian looking + she was talkin bout how her race changes based on context + she said when she goes to places with alot of white people there + her and her friend will be like "wow - we are the only flavor in here " which apparently means we are the only black ppl here + but if they are somewhere more diverse but with no indians + they would say we are the only indians here + but oddly enuff she would be considered coloured by most other south africans + convoluted

+ this young south african student asked me if i was from america and then when i said yea he was like "OHHHH what up my NIGGUH!" + so yes, this nigguh-nucca-nigga-nikka-situation has to stop + ima spearhead that movement + the exportaiton of culture seems to be vigilantly selective + in that i haven't heard anyone refer to a postive part of black american culture + so some body gotta pay more attention to what we represent + newness

I keep seeing africans that look exactly like friends of mine + i almost walked up to a girl today and was like + WHAT ARE U DOING IN SOUTH AFRICA ALEISHA! + and then i came to my senses. but its crazy enuff to make u think of how far displaced can we actually be (biologically) +

+ i moved into my dorm and it is not so hot + mainly cause my windows don't open and they are fogged over like those penintentary jump offs + and some how the action on my guitar is messed up now so ican't play it + that is no good + my roomates also have not moved in so im anxious to see who i will be living with + The dorm complex is on LOCK DOWN + its entirely enclosed by real hi gates and security posts are everywhere + apparently i look suspicious cause they are always askin me where live and stuff hoping ill stumble + we are going to the wine lands in an hour and i just found out that im going to zim babwe and mozambique next month so keep urself updated.

in tha meantime

be easy