On Friday we drove along the coast of False Bay from our B&B in Fish Hoek to Philippi, a very large township in the Cape Flats area.  We saw a mixture of affordable, middle class starter homes close to the beach.  Further inland there is a sea of small, concrete block houses.  Our guide, Raymond, explained that most families in the area have taken in relatives who build shacks like we saw in Masiphumelele in the tiny back yards. 

Laura posted about the Lutheran mission we visited there, iThemba Labantu, where they do everything from serve food to take care of AIDS patients.  It is a great example of practical, person-to-person ministry where everything, large and small, is done with excellence.  This ministry is very deserving of your support.

In the afternoon we had a chance to meet Keith Vermeulen, who is the director of the South African Council of Churches Parliamentary Office.

Notes:

1. Finally had an opportunity to try some local seafood.  The fish and chips is very good here, as you would expect.

2. Kansas City vs. Cape Town:

Some locals say it’s always windy.  Others say the southeaster is unusual for this time of year.  My hat has been blown off my head at least 5 times.  I almost lost it twice.

I need the hat to protect my balding head from the sun.  When they say you need sunscreen here, they aren’t just a kiddin’.

3. Our hosts are Peter and Solveig Kjeseth.  Both are Lutherans originally from Minnesota.  Peter is a retired seminary professor of New Testament who at one time was a colleague of Shannon Jung, the Saint Paul professor leading our trip, at Dubuque University seminary.  How did Peter and Solveig come to spend their retirement in Cape Town?  Part of the answer becomes clear in this excerpt featuring them from the book No Easy Victories: African Liberation and American Activists over a Half Century, 1950-2000.  Better hosts we could never hope for, but I wish their WiFi was better.  😉

4. Yes, water going down a drain rotates counter-clockwise.  Can I get some video demonstrating it?  I think I would need food coloring or something.  Hmmm …

5. On Tuesday, our first day here, I noticed the sun near mid-day was to our north.  In all my 45 years of life, I’ve never seen the sun to my north.

6. I will post separately about the electrical plugs for any of you considering a trip here.  It was challenging as I expected.  Now that I’ve finally figured it out, it’s almost time to leave.  Heh.

7. The drive along the Hout Bay coast road is the most spectacular I’ve seen anywhere in the world, including Maui, California, Cape Cod, and Puerto Rico.  The Cape Town area is simply beautiful.

8. Several days we have enjoyed the hospitality of Raymond, who I mentioned in a previous post.  If you ever come to Cape Town with a group, get on Raymond’s calendar months in advance.  His knowledge of the city is invaluable for a group of first-time visitors.

I didn’t post yesterday because I couldn’t keep my eyes open after we got back from a long day.  Turns out when you combine motion sickness medicine with a long day, short sleep, and delayed jet lag you have an overwhelming need to sleep!  To understand why I needed motion sickness medicine, read Laura’s post.  ;-)  As before, I spent time helping her select, crop, and down-rez pictures instead of working on my own posts.  So look at hers.  My own pics will have to wait.

Yesterday notes:

1. The commuter train was fun.  I met a 25ish guy on the train who asked about my HD video camera.  It became clear quickly that he knew a lot about the subject.  Turns out he works for a local TV station.  Very bright and well educated.  Asked me about the US presidential election: was I for Clinton or Obama?  Thought it was significant that our next president will be either black or a woman.  His question and comment were telling. 

2. Cape Town is WINDY.  I figured it was just a weather system moving through the first couple of days we were here.  When I commented on it to the locals, they said, "You think THIS is windy?  It’s like this all the time.  You haven’t experienced wind until you’ve been here during a storm."

3. Robben Island is a special place, but the tour itself wasn’t wonderful.  Regardless, the forgiveness and healing represented there are quite profound.  Read Laura’s post for details.

4. Our tour guide for the first part of the Robben Island tour told us a bit of his own story.  He has a college degree in electrical engineering but hasn’t been able to find work in that field in South Africa.  When the tour was over I told him I’m an electrical engineer too.  He asked if I could get him a job.  I said, "maybe, if you are willing to come to the US."  He asked for my e-mail address.

5. Had bobotie yesterday for lunch.  The "national dish" of SA.  Comfort food, basically, with a kind of Indian curry twist.  Very tasty, although I kind of regretted my lunch choice when on the rough boat ride to Robben Island (again, see Laura’s post). 

Today notes:

1. SHADE rocks!  See Laura’s post for today for details.

2. Raymond, our driver and tour guide for the day, is an amazing person.  He’s an independent contractor for the US Consulate here.  His job is to host visitors, mostly from the US, who come in for business with the Consulate – USAID, interns, FBI, etc.  He picks them up from the airport, drives them around, tells them about the city, points out landmarks, etc.  He told me about the turning point in his life.  As a youth he was always in trouble, got into drugs, sailed the world on cargo ships, and was a complete mess.  Then he met Jesus in a Pentecostal church and was instantly healed of his addictions and turned his life in a new and productive direction.  He’s now a father and grandfather, not to mention a warm host for visitors from the US.

3. Cape Town is a beautiful city.  I’ll post some pictures soon.  I promise.

4. The contrast between the upscale areas of downtown Cape Town and the townships gives one pause.  It may take me some time before I can explain what I mean by that.

Instead of blogging myself this evening I helped Laura prepare a pictorial post of our trip to Masiphumelele today.  Check it out.

No time tonight for me to add much except the following quick notes:

1. Although it’s a shantytown, Masiphumelele is 1st world in a number of ways.  Most/all of the homes and businesses have electricity and running water.  I saw shops selling cell phones and cell service.  One of the homes we visited had a land-line telephone, two computers, and a TV.  Some of them also had cars and makeshift garages.

2. Masiphumelele is only a 10 minute drive from the seaside town of Fish Hoek where we’re staying.  Today in Fish Hoek we saw a real estate office where I took note that the price of a home up on the mountainside overlooking False Bay is upwards of $1 million.  The Cape Town area is a very strange place: 1st world and 2nd world (if there is such a thing) within 10 minutes of each other.

3. Masiphumelele has 20,000+ people living in a very small "neighborhood".  That density makes the place charmingly vibrant.  It’s teeming with activity of every sort.  The people we met were happy and hopeful.

4. HIV/AIDS is an unbelievably-horrible problem in Masiphumelele.  More on that later.

Tomorrow we take the commuter train to downtown Cape Town and on to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.  Our host described it as a holy shrine to the end of apartheid and the people who brought it about.  I expect this will be one of the most profound experiences of the trip.

It’s 12:30 am here.  I’m going to bed!

 

Downtown Johannesburg.

False Bay just seconds before landing in Cape Town.

In my continuing series about interoperability and openness in social networking systems and sites, I direct your attention to

Robert Scoble – Can we get a first step in social networking portability?

Dave Winer – Bebo running Facebook apps

Aaron Linne – On the Data Portability Initiative

Joe Suh – Social Network Platform Wars

I write this from 33,000 feet above the central Atlantic Ocean, bound for Johannesburg and then on to Cape Town, South Africa.  While there we will be meeting a number of ministry leaders, visiting AIDS clinics and orphanages, learning about South African history and apartheid, visiting Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, taking pictures of penguins, etc. 

Before we left Kansas City this afternoon, Shannon Jung, the Saint Paul professor who is leading our trip, asked each of us in the group to share our expectations for the trip.  I said I’m open to the experience – whatever comes will be just what God has in mind.  I hope to be able to post several times during the trip to keep all of you updated.  I appreciate your prayers for myself and all of those on the trip:

Lia Mcintosh
Morgan Whitaker
Andrew Smith
Carmen Williams
Sue Barham
Kyle Butler
Laura Guy
Tina Harris
Dixie & Robert Junk
Michael Dunlap
Dr. Shannon Jung

Does this look from the outside like a place where you’re likely to get great barbecue? 

Turns out the food is fantastic.  Oklahoma Joe’s in Kansas City is in a gas station/ convenience store.  (And yes, that’s Travis pretending to pump gas.)  

The staff person in the restaurant we asked to take this picture cut our heads off, making our post-dinner full bellies even more prominent than they otherwise would have been!  My only regret is that Mark White missed the fun due to a sudden bout of the queasies.  Alfred would have loved it too.

This morning was our Arena implementation kick-off meeting where we invited all Resurrection staff to a demo by Ben Lane, our designated Arena trainer.  After lunch we began training for the IT Department to get an in-depth understanding of how it’s all put together and how it works.

l to r: Leo Johns, Ian Beyer, Chuck Russell, Jeremy Grabrian, Ben Lane of Shelby, Travis Morgan, and Linda Ronsick (just the top of her head)

If you read Robert Scoble’s blog you know about his problems with Facebook today.  He ran a script on Plaxo to import his Facebook friends.  Facebook’s system detected the script and blocked his account on the basis that it violated the Facebook terms of service.  When he explained what happened they reinstated his account and asked him not to run such scripts in the future. 

Bottom line: Facebook locks up user data.  Not only do they not provide an API, they get really testy about outside software that reads the data.  With this attitude, I have serious doubts about whether Facebook can have a central role in our Internet Campus.

I’m in Tucson for a family gathering to ring in the new year.  (High today in Kansas City – 22 F.  High today in Tucson – 65 F.  Yeah, we made the right decision.)

Yesterday we made the short trip down I-19 to the Mexican border to experience the culture of Nogales.  Just inside the border we were welcomed with this sign:

One of the first things I noticed – the Mexicans have different standards of esthetics and safety in their electrical wiring.

We had lunch at an upscale restaurant called LaRoca, complete with strolling musicians.

l to r: niece, Hannah; nephew, Ian; son, Rob; daughter, Beth

Before returning the USA, we took a couple of pictures of the border wall itself. This wall is the dividing line between nations, languages, cultures, currency, economies, and much more.

USA-Mexico border at Nogales taken from the Mexican side

 

Cars waiting in line to get into USA