South Africa

Last week, I headed down to South Africa to give a paper at a conference on Family in the Ancient World. A great excuse to go traveling, I seized the opportunity, submitted an abstract and was accepted to give a paper. I flew from Frankfurt directly to Johannesburg, a 10 hour flight. I've gotten pretty good at long haul flights but this one was slightly different in that I didn't change time zones. So, no real excuse for jetlag. I just had to make sure I got some sleep on the plane, which of course didn't happen. I use these long plane journeys to catch up on all the trashy movies which have come out.
So I arrived in Jo-burg at about 7:30 in the morning. The conference organizers agreed to pick us up from the airport and drive us to Pretoria since public transport doesn't really exist at the moment (but they are working on it for the 2010 World Cup!). It definitely made me feel better since I've heard some pretty nasty horror stories about safety down in South Africa.
The guest house we were booked into was beautiful. Everyone pretty much had their own cabin type thing and the whole area was pretty open with beautiful trees and 3 pools. We ate our breakfast outside by the pool. I could definitely have gotten use to that lifestyle. The one unfortunate thing about South Africa is that every building is pretty securely walled in, with high walls and either razor wire or electrified fence. No one walks anywhere because it is not safe so you get a little stir crazy.
The conference itself was great. It was part Classics/part Theology and it was very interesting to learn how a different field approaches questions and problems in the same time period. I learned a lot, not only from the differences in methodology but also through talking to people, many of whom were from Africa. It really opened my eyes to the way they view the world and the life that they lead. It also made me really appreciate my life in Canada and in Europe. As one of the conference speakers from Zimbabwe said to me after hearing about Canada "you live in Heaven". Makes me really think about how much we take for granted.
The final day of the conference consisted of a trip to a game reserve (about 2 hours from Pretoria). It was great just to get out of the city and see some more of the African countryside, for good or ill. We drove past the Platinum mines and shanty towns (quite a change from the area we were in Pretoria). I still find it amazing with all the technology and advancements we have made in the 20th and 21st centuries there is still a huge number of people living without water or electricity, and what is especially surprising is that these places are about 45 minutes from some of the richest places in the city. Many of these people work in the city and commute for 2 or 3 hours by bus each day and then come home to nothing. Crime is rampant and I heard stories of people who have almost nothing having their few worldly possessions stolen from their one room aluminum box (basically) while away at work. It really breaks my heart, but in many areas, the poverty is directly related to the government and how corrupt it is. We can't just throw money at these countries as it just goes to help fund the government rather than the people who really need it. I'm not sure what the solution is, but whatever we are doing, it's not working. (Sorry to get on a political rant, as I don't normally do this, but it just made me so hurt, and angry, and confused, all at once)
So, back on track. The game reserve was amazing and we saw all kind of animals, mostly from a distance but it was cool nevertheless. It was almost like being in a zoo but with no fences and the animals can actually come right up to your car (baboons especially like doing this). I almost had a sort of Jurassic Park type moment, but we didn't really see any carnivores (they were all sleeping). We saw a crocodile from far away, lots of Baboons, Giraffes, Zebras, Ampalas, and even a couple rhinos. A great way to end a conference!
I am now back in Germany and have 2 papers to give in the next 3 weeks. No rest for the wicked, but it's my own fault for signing up for all this stuff. I'm getting tons of stuff done and this semester has been really great and very good for me, but I do miss teaching and will hopefully be able to find some kind of teaching post for next year. It's really weird just being paid to sit in an office all day and think. Feels very isolating, which is in part probably also due to the fact that I don't speak the language well so I haven't really met that many people yet. The scary thing is that I've almost been here 2 months which means I am almost half done. Time sure flies.

Prague

As this is possibly my last chance to do some traveling before moving back to North America, I am trying to see as many places as I possibly can in the next three months while also completing all my work. I headed to St Andrews last weekend for the beginning of semester to get some paper work done and sort out loans, etc and instead of flying directly back to my town, I took a slight detour to meet up with my parents in Prague. They are over here in Europe for a month traveling around the Czech republic, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, etc. I flew Ryan Air which is a cheap way to fly in Europe (although not the nicest) and I've never had a problem with them..... until now. I usually fly with just carry-on but because I took my laptop, I was over the weight restriction for carry-on and had to check my bag. Somewhere in between Edinburgh and Prague (via Frankfurt), my camera was stolen out of my bag by the baggage handlers. Needless to say, I'm not very happy, partly because it's my own fault for not moving it to my carry-on when I checked my bag. Oh well. Lessons learned I guess. Now I have to buy a new camera here in Germany and hopefully will be able to understand the instructions and everything. I guess that will help with the learning German program!

Prague itself was a great time. It was nice to explore a city with other people, especially for the evening since I usually travel alone and rarely explore cities at night by myself. We didn't see nearly as much stuff as I usually pack into days when I'm traveling, but that too was nice, since it was much more relaxing than normal and since there wasn't anything I was dying to see, we just sort of explored whenever we felt like it and for as long as we wanted. We went to some of the major sites, like the Palace in New Town, the Jewish quarter in Old Town (and all the cute shops around there), and the citadel which boasts the earliest settlement in the area. The Jewish quarter blew my mind, in part because it was originally planned as a museum of the "extinct" Jewish tradition following their extermination by the Nazis in WWII. However, things did not turn out for them as planned and it is now a sort of memorial to the holocaust but also a beautiful representation of the traditions and cultural practices of the Jewish people. I learned a ton about marriage and burial practices along with all the religious practices. Stuff I've only come across in passing but didn't really know much about. Our last full day we headed up to the citadel and went to the national cemetery which has some of the richest and most famous Czech people buried there, including Dvorak (sans accents). Quite a different experience from the Jewish cemetery the day before.
I really love Eastern Europe and wish I had more time to explore more parts of it, but I guess I have to save that for later. All in all, a good time but by the end, I was starting to get anxious and needed to get back to work. I know, I know, a sad life I lead. So now I have about a week and a half, touring around Germany with my parents and trying to finish this paper, then off to South Africa!!!

The sad thing of course is that with my camera gone, I have no pictures of Prague. My dad took a bunch and has put them on his website, so if you are interested, either email him or send me a message and I will send you the link.