I have been taking pictures and movie clips like mad, but I can't stand to wait on them to upload on this bad internet that costs me money, so unfortunately, you have to wait until I get back to the States.

Spent January 23, 24 and 25 hiking around in the Soutpansberg mountains, which surround Lajuma. Our current task is to find sites, which at this point consist of small weather shelters in the rocks.

The other two archaeology students and I split up and searched different approaches of an area before meeting and deciding where to go next. After seeing several sites previously found, Molly, Alandra and I split up and found six new ones on Wednesday... and I found one! It was so cool. Most of these sites are mini-caves -- literally, just rock overhangings that we know to be sites by potsherds we find.

We hike up to a nearby ridge, which has an awesome view at the top. We've spent the first part of these surveys in some forest-entangled rock formations, looking for likely sites. The last part we spent in the "moonscape," a curious field of big rock formations pockmarked by rain. In the course of looking for sites, I've definitely done some free face climbing.

We had hot weather on these days... I am very sunburnt. :D

The weather varies wildly -- hot and sunny one day, cool and clear the next, rainy for three days and then hot sun again.

So far, a typical day shapes up to be: breakfast, do work for a few hours (finding sites, recording them, whatever else), lunch, break for a few during the hot hours, then back out before dinner and dark. We usually spend the evening playing card games or word games. People also read a whole lot. Today two of the Germans here finished Harry Potter books. Alternately, if the previous day was hard, we just slack off for the morning and get out early in the afternoon.

I'm going to buy a power adapter for my laptop today so that I can use my laptop without borrowing someone else's... you have no idea how good it is to listen to my own music (as opposed to... ahem... random European pop.) :D

I miss my guitar badly.

It's weird, using your time here. In one sense, it is so easy to become bored and think you have nothing to do, but at the same time, the time always passes quickly and easily. I've never been in a situation where both seemed to be true at the same time.

I especially enjoy how easily my body clock attunes itself to the sun. I can easily get up with the sun and I usually go to bed by 10 PM. It gets dark, I start yawning and after a hot day in the sun, it seems only natural to go to bed "so early." It seems unthinkable most other times, but that's how it is here... I like it.

Town day is the exception to the routine. On Mondays, we do shopping and stuff. I was surprised by Makhado... it is very clean, relatively safe and has most things you would expect to find in an American town. I bought a very nice pair of flip-flops for 30 rand, which translates to less than US $5. Apparently, South Africans really like chicken, so there are multiple KFC's and other chicken shops in town. There are lots of pedestrians and when I am being heedless, I still step into the street as cars are coming since I don't expect them in the opposite lane than the United States.

After waiting ten minutes in one check-out line, the power went out all over downtown and I had to leave the merchandise in the store. It seems our power problems at Lajuma are not isolated. Ian was able to fashion a homemade pelton wheel so we have had power for a few days now... which, though nice, is surprisingly expendable if need be.

*********************

South Africa is very much a country in political flux. They established a permament, modern government only seven years ago. There is a native African backlash after apartheid, which to my understanding is a white-controlled attempt to split South Africa into little white and black states. This created tons of problems, obviously, since whites and blacks have been inseparable in South Africa since the first Dutch, German and British settlers. Now, many Dutch-named towns are being renamed to traditional African names (Louis Trichardt becomes Makhado, Pietersburg becomes Polokwane).

The government is also presiding over land disputes -- sometimes local Venda people will lay claim to ancient lands that a white farmer has had for a few generations. Often such disputes are difficult to justly decide, and obviously the issue is extremely emotional on both sides.

*********************

Thursday was Australia Day. It's the Australian equivalent to July 4th... though apparently the event is the day upon which the British invaded Australia. I need to read up on my Australian history -- in any case, we celebrated the day with an outdoor barbecue and a kangaroo-shaped cake. Ahhh, international holidays... so many poor jokes being exchanged.

Speaking of international... there are nine students currently at the Barn and six of them speak German very well. They'd roll their eyes at me for ranting on this... and I won't for long, but certainly, English is not the default language here. I'm picking up a little German but mostly I'm getting very good at smiling and nodding even though I don't understand a word of it. To the other students' credit, they are very often good at laboriously keeping a conversation in English for the benefit of the Australian and two Americans.

*********************

On Friday evening, Alandra, Nils and I made an evening hike to the top of Mt. Lajuma. As far as I could tell, it's the highest peak around. We packed lightly and made it to the top for sunset. A little summer haze made for a clear sunset that shrunk with the receding sun. We played with our cameras til after dark and then made dinner.

Alandra is Australian and has spent her share of time in the outdoors... she has a degree in archaeology and spent some time as an outdoor tour guide. Nils is a German, though after a few years in the United States, his English is very good. He is studying termites (and I would argue Harry Potter too -- he's in the last book now). The two of them, and the ensuing banter, make interesting and hilarious hiking partners.

The night was clear and we laid in our sleeping bags looking up at the stars. I must have seen so many at some point in my life, but it hadn't been for a while. And some of these were new stars for me, since many Northern hemisphere constellations never show down here. I did find Orion's Belt, but mostly I focused on objects revealed only from the lack of artificial light.
The Milky Way was clearly visible, as well as two other fuzzes of light that we thought to be other galaxies. I saw half a dozen shooting stars. The wind was constant and cool at the peak, but we found shelter inside a crescent of rock near a fire ring.

I woke an hour before daylight. The Milky Way was gone, wiped up apparently by the growing light in the east. We got up at 5 AM and again pulled out our cameras. Again, the haze confined the first point of sunlight to an obscure spot, but as the sun grew, it stretched gold around the horizon until its arms were on our right and left... without being over-poetical, it really looked like the sun embraced the mountain.

Greetings,

I'm writing from an internet cafe in Makhado. Wow... it has been an amazing trip so far. It is so surreal to be in Africa of all places; it's very much like I expected in some ways, and very different in others.

Flying down was quite an experience... I had two delays (all of which were Indianapolis Airport's fault) which ultimately delayed my arrival in South Africa by 24 hours. At least with my time in London I went sight-seeing... I figured out the subway system pretty quickly and could get where I needed on there.

The buses, however, are a different story. I never understood them so I would randomly hop on a bus and just see where it took me. That was one of my favorite parts of London... just sitting in the top level of those red, double-deck buses, watching these mad mad mad drivers nearly kill themselves repeatedly in tiny little one-way lanes.

I am sorry I do not yet have pictures to show you of South Africa... I'll have to figure if I can bring some next week on a USB drive to put on this computer and upload somehow. Working with my laptop has been hard generally just because we have not had power. The hydroelectric dam here at Lajuma broke before I came and there is some problem in power line that prevents the normal generator power from reaching the Barn (which was once a barn, :D ). So... no power.

The weather is awesome. It's misty, humid, hot. Very summer and I love it. Summer is my favorite season and I'm happy to have summer twice in a row this year. :)

I just now got my baggage. It was delayed in London, so my first few days here were without luggage. The operators of Lajuma kindly provided me with the necessaries so I've been fine. I won't say, though, how long I've been wearing this pair of socks....

Most things are rather cheap to buy. I'm surprised at how many places will take credit cards. There's two KFC's here in town. You can buy almost anything you would at an American supermarket store... on the bus ride down, the movies on the bus screens were Mission Impossible, the Matrix, and this despicable movie I won't credit by naming. They were all American films... Will Smith music videos were on this huge screen at the Johannesburg bus station... only now I begin to see how thorougly American pop culture infiltrates other places.

I was very sobered to think that the music, movies, books, clothes, etc. that Americans create are extremely influential, not just to Americans, but by people all over the world. In fact, I was rather ashamed, talking to a South African student on the bus ride, to hear that she knew of Oprah, though not anything about our currency, our major cities, or even the name of the country ("your country, it is the United States of... what?"). I wasn't quizzing her, but she wanted to talk about it when she learned I was an American student.

So here were people, knowing next to nothing at all about the United States except how it was being presented in the Matrix.

I want to write more on that but I'm going to have to save it for later... hopefully I can type it out on my laptop when we have power.

The place where I am staying, Lajuma, was once a farm, which in the South African sense means it was private property used for something pastoral/agricultural, not necessarily farming. We live near the top of a mountain.. actually the backyard consists of a short grassy area that is abruptly stopped by trees that rises up into a cliff a few hundred feet high.

I have not had a chance to hike around much, but looking for sites will ensure that. Yesterday, I went out with the two other archaeology "students" here... neither of them are students in the strictest sense. One of them is just getting experience, like me, after graduating with her Bachelor's and the other likes to travel around a lot and do assorted projects related to anthropology, zoology, biology.

It's a very international group of people I'm with. There's nine of us... I am one of two Americans. We have an Australian and everyone else is Dutch or German, so Molly (the American) and I do not understand many of the conversations that go on. We're learning a couple of words though, but as you all know, my astounding language abilities enable me to remember these words FOREVER. ;)

So yeah, the three archaeology people went out and we catalogued two known sites. They are both little cave shelters. So many huge rocks fell from the top of the mountain so they are dozens and dozens of little caves in the Soutpansberg mountain range. It is soooo cool to climb into a little mini-cave, where it is so cool and moist from the outside air, and see pottery shards that are very likely untouched since the original inhabitants hundreds of years ago. This is a very remote area, and since there is no gold or anything of extreme monetary value, it is not difficult to find undisturbed sites.

The people who lived here took shelter in any little nook they could find, so we search each one for rock art or potsherds. We fill out a couple forms, map the site with GPS, draw a sketch, etc. It's not incredibly exciting work but I like the area, and I expect to do other things later on.

The other students here have been very hospitable to me. Last night we had an outside barbecue and cooked brats and steaks and rolls over a fire -- they were very accomodating with food since I only had some bread and tuna from my last few minutes in Makhado on Friday. Today... I will buy mmmmmmmorrrrreeee.....

I think next week we will do a weekend trip north to Botswana, a nearby country... I really don't know much about it, except that it's insanely cheap and apparently has very nice accomodations.

I will take lots of pictures soon and hopefully even some silent movie clips on my camera to give you an idea of the place.

Animals! The animals are amazing. I've seen baboons and little samango (sp?) monkeys since getting here. The baboons are big, loud and they sound frighteningly similar to people. Seriously... you are quite sure you heard repeated human yells coming from the forest and it turns out only to be a baboon. The little monkeys take to the trees a lot over the Barn, constantly knocking branches down and making a huge racket at night. Thankfully it doesn't happen often.

I've also seen leopard tracks and tons and tons of birds. Walking around is incredible just because you are constantly hearing a myriad of different bird calls. I'm not a huge birder but I think I see a new one every time I walk out... fast ones, weird ones with huge tails, all kinds.

I've been writing emails like crazy and now I have other work to do before we leave the 'net cafe... I will update again next week. God bless!

Hello all,

I haven't posted in a while, I know. Muchos apologios.

You are very impressed with my Spanish.

I spent a week in Texas, helping pack up the house in Shiloh for our new leasers. We had a nice Christmas with my grandparents, aunt, uncle, their family. I got many wondrous gifts: clothes, Star Bucks gift certificate, even a NEW Santa hat WITH a light-up whirligig on the top.

I spent the next few weeks just chilling, really. Reading a lot, playing some Dungeon Siege. Several days ago, the sun came out and I aired up the bike tires; rode around Kokomo like the good old summer days.

Candace and I just arrived back from the Covenanters' Young Adult winter conference. Nearly 100 students from all over Indiana, Kansas and Pennsylvania came for a weekend of seminars on sex & marriage. It's a topic I've heard lots at LeTourneau, in chapel and elsewhere, but it was good to hear them preached in the context of Song of Songs.

I played tackle football with twenty other guys, and I am so sore it hurts to get up and walk. Good times. I also played guitar with the illustrious Porter, Harrison and Olivetti, all of whom I immensely enjoyed watching and playing with. Always learn more guitar in an hour with those fellows than in a week of my own playing.

It was good to see faces from Covfamikoi, the Reformed Presbyterian summer family conference. To all of you at CYA, it was a pleasure and I regret not being able to spend more time with you.

So 48 hours from now, God willing, I'll just have come to the Atlantic towards London. I explained this little trip a few posts back, but now, for pictures, because that's all you wanted anyway.


So here's my flight on a world map. Dad just sent me an email from a couple he knows in London, who had recommendations for my layover. I'll be there for 9 hours, so I thought why not go see stuff. I'm thinking British Museum (a little bit!) and Trafalgar Square.


I'll fly into Johannesburg, and bus up into the mountains in the north of the country. Again, my famed squiggly mouse tracing capabilities pictured above. Click for a closer look.

I'll be with the organization represented here on the InTeRwEb. Click on the Research page to see my mansion, affectionately known as The Barn, because, well, it is one. Two days ago, they asked me to bring them a pelton wheel. Apparently, the students living in the Barn get their electricity from a small hydroelectric dam in a nearby waterfall. Last week, a key wheel disintegrated and they need me to bring one from the States. Hopefully this one lasts longer.

I'll be doing survey and site preservation work, partially in the western Soutpansberg mountains (rugged and dry), partly in the Limpopo valley (wetter, mosquitoes) with perhaps some weekend trips to nearby parks or previously excavated sites.

I will have access to email once a week; I would very much welcome mail to

and that first I looking letter is actually a J.

- You Are The Outlaw

"Sure, I'll do it. My
way."


Just because you do not conform to the same laws
and rules as everyone else does not mean that
you are a bad guy. You travel your own path,
separate from those around you, with your own
reasons for doing what you do. Because of this
and your own nature, it goes without saying
that you are generally misunderstood. That does
not matter much, though, as people love you for
being who you are. You are pretty well set in
your ways and have no real intention of
changing. This can come across as a flicker of
arrogance if your not careful. You do what is
right for you, and God help anyone who stands
in your way.


Which Classic Story Role Do You Play?
brought to you by Quizilla

It's Friday night, and I'm better for knowing more about SURINAME. My pal Evan says his blog tells him that he lives there, so we looked it up on the CIA factbook. I, for one, didn't know there was a city named Longview, in a state called Texas, in a country called ESTONIA.

Amy and Ben are watching Troy. Ben and I watched The Island last night. Good show. Ewan McGregor is the man, beyond being the venerable and slightly pony-tailed Obi-Wan Kenobi.

We're still in Texas. We had our Christmas celebration this morning, since tomorrow will have much packing and visiting with friends. Then we drive to Indiana. I have a link for the current weather on the side bar... should be rather frozen and snowy.

My one hope is that a fresh clean snow falls so I can enjoy more than the dirty snow that's a few weeks old.

Apparently, Antarctica has no natural vegetation, to speak of. That seems rather obvious, until you start wondering what DO all those animals live from. Mosses and rock-growing lichens of varying colors apparently.

Antarctica also has the same number of radio stations as Suriname. That fact should substantially better your wellbeing, though I won't trouble you with the exact number.

Yesterday I bought a plane ticket to Johannesburg.

Currently, the game plan is to fly out of Indianapolis, fly transatlantic to Heathrow a la Chicago, spend several hours seeing London in an all day layover, then fly direct to South Africa. Then bus to Makhado and four weeks of varied archaeological work. Should amount to just under three solid days of travel.

The preparation and packing has gone on all week, so I will enjoy Indiana as essentially closing the door on major packing and just chilling for 3 weeks. I cancelled my beloved Rhapsody account and cell phone service. And for when I return in the fall... check this. I will very likely go The Way of The Penguin this fall. Rhapsody's new web-based service means I can get to it online in Linux. Yessssss. Makes me happy.

And now for a picture.

School's over, finals are over, and people are gone from school back to their homes for a couple of weeks. I have so much junk... I hope never to carry half of it around again.

Said bye to friends. Andrew, Pebble and I had one last fling during Andrew's final night here... we went down to the Glaske pond, into the drainage pipe and explored way back up into the pipes. There was some really cool spray paint graffitti down there... freshman initiation next year... oh yeah.

We kept poking our heads up in the man holes at the storm drains, peering through them at the street to find out where we were. We worked our way up between Solheim and Glaske, then followed the loop east, exiting through a man hole between Glaske and the Student Services building. I was surprised just how clean they were, and not many creepy things except for some spider webs.

One... last... paper... must... keep... typing...

(american foreign policy take home final... sigh)

I want a banana. The inner monkey is crying out... for bananas.

Today, Andrew Spencer and I decided that each of us has an inner monkey, which occasionally demands things of us, most often bananas. Freud came up with all that psycho-babble about id, ego and superego, but actually, we know the id to be the inner monkey. Nevermind that Freud came first.

God always is, but we are reminded of it in special ways every so often.

Happiness, I think, is vagrant, but nothing can strip us of our HOPE.

Think about hope, it's a good word.

You'll doubtless get an earful of this from other blogs, but I'm the first, so hah. Geoff, Bubbles, Spork, Fjord, Courtney, Michaela, Andrew and myself went to Dallas for a day trip. We walked all over the Galleria (which for those not Dallas-savvy, is a huge ritzy mall).

It was cool just to be there, surrounded by noise and movement, which for me at least are welcome changes from my dorm room. There was a truly impressive Christmas tree in the middle of a small skating rink.

I bought a new pair of shoes. They're EXACTLY the same as Spork's, just different size, so if you see him, be sure to compliment him on his fine shoes.

We went to Bolt's apartment and he cooked a stupendous breakfast meal. What can't he do? Autonomously fly, I guess. Anyway, it was good to just talk to him and see him in his natural habitat, which is something he would say of birds.

And then, like the fine people we are, Miki, Spork, Bubbles and I ditched the others to go ice skating. We had wanted to see the new Narnia movie with them, but upon seeing this cool and cheap ice rink in a mall, we couldn't pass it up.

So much fun! My last and only experience with skating had been a miserable, crowded, tiny rink where I fell down repeatedly and got all wet. This time, I just stepped out and found it much much more similar to roller blading than I had thought. I only fell twice, and once was intentional.

I certainly prefer it to roller blading now. Something to keep in mind for all those frozen lakes I pass everday.

So yeah, finals week is coming up and it was nice to chill. I also played acousticafe last night. Went well. Kinda sad to think I won't see the campus and a lot of these people for eight months or so. But yeah, it's nearly 2:30 in the morning and we mustn't get sentimental!

So, a joke to BRIGHTEN your day.

Where does a turtle get his gas?

At the SHELL station.

If you are not laughing uncontrollably right now, then you can credit your incredulity to a clique of gaga-brained Venezuelan girls.

AND it's really hard to think of the right word to say at 2:30 in the morning, so I'll stop trying. Goodnight to you!

Merry Christmas

So today I was playing guitar, and I hit record again. This time, two singing songs I like.

The first is an Iron & Wine song. Not sure *exactly* what the words mean in some places, but it's a gorgeous gorgeous bit of poetry. I shortened it somewhat from the original 10-minute version.

And then, Soul Meets Body, by good ol' death cab. I expanded the song with an instrumental intro.

I've decided to store recordings over on the sidebar, which I might use for other purposes, someday.

As always, the recording is terrible because I can't get the time to drag tons of equipment down to a soundproof room and record it properly. 'Nuf excuses; hope you like it.

Had to take this for American Foreign Policy. Grrr. ::shakes fist::

You are a Social Liberal (60% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (61% permissive) You are best described as a: Centrist Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

YESSSS! Ladies and gentlemen, we have officially crossed over the ten page mark on my intellectual history paper. This is news of extraordinary proportions; it's all downhill from here!

Ahem, yes, I know, big deal, small paper but when something is this annoying and slow, even the little milestones are great.