Durban Hilton

... on the bus joined in with the shouting (not too good for the hangovers) and then the police came over and told the bus driver to drive us all to the police station.<br><br>We were outside for about 2 hours until someone had the presence of mind to check the woman's shopping bags. Quelle surprise - the purse was in there and we left. The woman was not with us though... I suspect she may be spending a little time in ...

Here I am again with some pictures for you. I will be going to Umlazi on Wednesday to stay and will meet my Zulu friends. I cant wait to see my friend Precious who I met when she was 13 and now she is 18. Having a very good time, although the weather is very weird, really hot for days, then it goes cold.<br>

... European settlement expanded during the 1820s as the Boers (original Dutch, Flemish, German and French settlers) and the British 1820 Settlers claimed land in the north and east of the country. Conflicts arose among ...

... liked. We walked for a good 2 hours or so aimlessly. It was fun, although once we got to a gas station we talked to the clerk who directed us where exactly the beach is. The worker was an Indian South African. Apparently Durban is home to the biggest collection of Indians outside of India. The worker did not fail to make several racial comments on the route on how to get to the beach and about the blacks who might target us. We finally made it to the beach ...

... as the economy here is quite varied- either you are doing very well, or very poorly, and it seems as though many of the native people here fall into the latter category. It was a great experience to see the countryside along the way, and we had a great time going out with friends and family in Durban. I'll show you our safari trip in the next entry!

... The people seemed amazed to see a white person. The children would hide and then slowly come out to catch a glimpse of me. I've also been to several jazz concerts now at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Jazz Centre. I went to a marimba concert at the university after one of the jazz concerts. Interestingly, most of the music was composed by Americans. It was the first time that four marimbas were played together in ...

... and a shopping mall. Here are some pictures of the area. The young man playing the guitar was in John's salsa band at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, which I found out after I got home on Sunday. On Saturday late afternoon, John and Melanie invited a family from their children's school to come over for tea and cake - another big South African tradition. On Sunday morning, I went to a Manning Road Methodist Church just ...

Det ar inte latt att fa nya vaner da det har aventyret. Antagligen har folk i min alder hunnit rota sig, har ocksa ofta gifta sig, och har fullt uppmed jobb och familj. /mina snner hittills arm BoB-Jill (taxen), Derrick och Laura (och deras hundtant Star), de tva tyska studentskorna som bor i samma hus, och mitt alskade TV-team. Ingen arbetskamrat har tagit ett steg extra for en kollega fran andra sidan jorden. Lite besviken ar jag allt. Tur att Jonas kommer om en vecka!

... gone, technically, for thirteen years. But racist attitudes can't be switched off, like a light. I, who was racist to the point that I laughed at racist jokes as a boy, still find myself thinking occasional racist thoughts. How often must the average South African think these thoughts, given that thirteen years ago it was almost their duty to think them every day? All these thoughts swirled around my head as I walked around downtown Durban. I only saw two whites during the rest ...

Back to good old regular life again: Occasionally a break from travel is required. Zen a friendly black man from Zimbabwe offered that opportunity. We had met on the bus en rout to Durban. Being my typical mess of a self, I sat flipping through my lonely planet figuring out "what next?". Zen sat close by and I consistently bothered him with questions; "where will the bus stop here on my map?" And "Where would be a safe place for me to stay here in Durban?" After about ...