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.