getting oriented

I'm currently typing this post with a sunburn on my arms and a swollen finger. Both incidents are blessings. Why? The burn is from the glorious summer sun & beach weather and the swollen finger is a burst blood vessel from drumming too hard on the djembe with South Africans. The drumming "injury" probably isn't something I should be bragging about, but I can't help it. It made me feel so legit. And anyone who knows me knows that African drumming was one of my main reasons for coming here. That, and the fact that I'm practically an honorary African because of those "dreads" I had for 2 weeks... ;)

Yesterday was... tense. The morning was filled with lectures from various speakers to give us "freshies" some advice/rules. It was going all fine and well until an officer of the local police stepped up to scare the living daylights out of us. When he started his presentation with "there are many people in this city that wake up with one thing on their mind: to commit crime!", I knew it was going to be a doosey. I had already heard a million warnings about the crime in South Africa, and I never longed to hear the specific stories of UCT students being mugged. My imagination already works pretty well, Mr. Officer. It probably didn't help that I had lil Schleiff sitting next to me about to shake her leg off her body during the speech. Sister gets nervous walking on OBU campus, where a crime hasn't occurred since the tail was so dubiously stolen from the golden tiger, so being told "don't ever resist a mugging, give up your money or eeeeeeelse...." was probably not as constructive as it was intended. Such warnings only made every female in the room decide to never breathe outdoor air again. Safety in numbers, my friends, safety in numbers. And relax, don-don, though the talk was intense, I am now fully versed on what to do and what not to do. Man oh man, we're certainly not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

The next lecture was one where I had to do everything in my power to keep from pulling out my camera and recording the entire thing for Keldon Henley. I think the entire faculty and staff at OBU would have had to scoop their jaws off the floor if they were present for that talk. The most intense AIDS presentation on the face of the planet. Suddenly the awkward STD talk during Ouachita's freshman orientation seems like a bowl of ice cream.

.....and then came the African drumming workshop! Sweet relief! I knew it was going to be a delight when the S.B.M. with dreads handed me a giant drum because he knew I could handle it (oooor because all the smaller ones had already been given out to all the other females..) :) We drummed, we danced, we conquered. By the end of it all I was sweating like a swine & had a cheesy smile worthy of a Tiger Tunes show. Forget classes, I'm taking my new skill of breaking beats to the streets. Prepare your heart, Cape Town.

miss you/love you

-les

PS I took that photo, it's not off a website or from a magazine! Such astounding beauty still feels surreal.