A new approach.

"Saubona" Andrews calls out the the zebras in the field. it means "be well/hello" in zulu; his native tongue. i think i could write up a whole blog just about Andrews, he is one of the most open people i have ever met and although it can be difficult to understand him sometimes his wisdom and stories are always amazing. Watching andrews in the bush is like observing the animals, he fits into the decor, not making a sound as he walks, predicting behavior, smelling a carcass, navigating with the sun, the best is his animal noises; he can imitate the call of any animal out here. I watch him in awe and makes me reflect on the human race, Aware of the noise people make, the chaos we let invade our lives, the greed that overwhelms us. When i'm out with andrews, i try to not take any pictures, imitating what he does: still as stone, quiet, i strive to shut my body off and concentrate every sense i have to learn and understand. It is a kind of meditation and also an art.

It is sometimes quite frustrating to be around people who simply do not feel the same way as me about the environment. This peace of mind and the relations i am developing with people here does make me fear my return back home and how i will re adapt myself to civilization... some great news from a friend i received this week made me realize that people "like me" aren't only to be found deep in the South African bushveld. These people are close to home, harder to find since we are obliged to follow some of society restrictions but they are there, and the more i continue to be true to myself and enjoy the things i love they will come closer and closer.

Now would any one like to know what animal was walking by as i practiced this "meditation" ? Din't think so, well i'll tell you anyways, elephants. i know always ellies, but not just an elephant, 60 of them. 60 beautiful beasts, a large bull in musth trying to mate one of the females, 2 youngsters playing but also practicing for later on, a young baby barely taller than the natal red top grass... Elephants have very similar attributes to humans, not only in terms of developpement but also their social hierachy. It was absolutely fascinating to watch them for an hour as they drank at a water hole. Elephants also communicate through rumbles which travel miles from one herd to another, very similar to the way that whales communicate. Thinking of how elephants related brings me to speak about languages and communication...

I love to talk, i enjoy words and playing around with speech. Here instead of trying to find a more interesting way of putting my simple sentence i have to break it down so that i can be universally understood. (i'm not saying that my english is so eloquent, we all now it can be as basic as basic can be haha..) but having to adapt my vocabulary makes speaking less fun, but acting a whole new game. Andrews spent an hour trying to teach me zulu, within his "lesson" he told me about a mine in SA where the workers came from all over Africa and they couldn't understand themselves. The government then created a language combining the shangaan, swahili, africaans and more into one that would be used whilst working within the mine. Thought the people had already come to some sort of understanding of one another because they did speak the appointed zulu language in the mines but outside of work went to speaking a whole new slang that they had created. Being with the people here I have learned to act out what I mean, use examples from what we have experienced together to convey my sentences. I've also started guessing what things mean in swedish, german and welsh... this is the fun part, it's all about the body language and the eyes. Actually it's exactly like observing the animals... This new way of picking meanings within the people here brought me to suggest we play charades one night around the fire. It was a hit. Hilarious. I loved it and now sometimes when no one can understand what someone is saying we just act it out. One of the more shy girls came to thank me afterwards to taking this initiative, it made me happy that people appreciated it and also it made me thankful for my ability to create a certain atmosphere within a group.

I know this blog entry is not like the other ones, but as this experience is becoming more and more of a routine it's harder to simply state day by day what I have done. It goes to show how much i've integrated myself with this work, i going further into relationships and experiencing more than just an awesome lion/cheetah/rhino/ele sighting. IT's becoming much, much more to me. I'm coming home soon guys, and i'm looking forward to sharing this experience with everyone. thanks for thinking of me and commenting on this blog, it means a lot to me. :)