tuckergurl

Waiting For Paint To Dry

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Originally uploaded by tuckergurl.

I had this fantasy that now that I have regular internet that I would post all of these photos. It would be lovely. I could show you all of my adventures and it would be like you all were with me. So I tried to upload four to Flickr and it was so so slow. The little circles kept spinning and spinning and spinning. It was maddening!!!

This photo is the only one I have for y'all right now. It is of me on the top of The Cape of Good Hope before the baboons. I looked so innocent then. I know I should turn it the right was but it won't let me. (Oh, David, give me the answer when you read this. And I met someone in Kigali who went to Oberlin with you. This world is waay too small.)

I am now in Kigali, Rwanda after a harrowing journey which included a night spent in Johannesburg and the loss of my luggage. (It was retrieved so fear not.) I do not want to get too much into Rwanda without first wrapping up South Africa.

We finished the house. Well, mainly. It has four walls and a roof. They are going to put in walls and paint it without us. For those wanting specifics on how we built the house, well, it is built with bricks that we put together with cement we make ourselves. We helped with all aspects. My personal favorite was breaking bricks with a hammer. I became quite good at it.

This morning I really missed waking up to build. I felt like any old tourist eating food and taking pictures.

We sight saw, had a going away party, the typical stuff. It is funny how it is all foggy after we finished the house. I thought I had so much to say but that was really the most important part. We finally tried to go out dancing. It was good attempt but the Armchair was a glorified frat bar with some decent drum and bass and The Yellow Rose was filled with old men who did buy us wine. At least we tried!

I finally went downtown and realized that I should've gone sooner! I was so glued to the areas that we went over and over. It started to feel like I lived in Cape Town and I was doing that thing you do when you live somewhere. You know, when you go to the same places over and over thinking you'll go to that other place one day and you never do.

Cape Town is so different from the rest of Africa. I felt it the minute I was there. I am not an expert but I have been asking people who travel all around and the main feeling is that is so Western. The haves and have nots are so severe even more than in places I've been in the States.

One example: There were power outages all over the city the last four days I was there. You would have power in the mornings for a few hours and then you would get it again for a few hours at night. The power companies have no idea what they are going to do which would be really comforting to me if I lived in Cape Town but that's a whole other story.

Anyway, the township we were working in, Massipumulele, would have no power all day until about 4 or so. This made using power tools difficult. We would have to use them for the little time the power worked. In the nicer (aka richer sections), the power truly was off for a couple of hours. You could drive to say Westlake, the swanky neighborhood where the US Embassy was and things would be working fine there. This is a small example of the power of a little cash and living in the right neighborhood but an example nonetheless.

People I've met here in Rwanda make jokes that Cape Town is "Africa light", a nice place for tourists to feel like they are coming to Africa and still have the comforts of home. It is pretty harsh but coming to Rwanda, I can see that and Kigali is a bustling city with a ton of foreigners living here. (There are a ton of NGOs here. A ton. A lot of foreign money is coming to Rwanda. Where were you ten years ago but I digress ...)

But back to the "Africa light" comment. If I did not build this house, my perception of Cape Town would have been really, really skewed. First of all I would think there were hardly any black people here. Secondly, I would think that with Aparteid over, folks were doing real, real well. Those things are obviously only partially true.

The poor here are really, really poor so in a lot of ways, there is nothing "light" about South Africa. Habitat for Humanity is building houses but there is a need for hundreds of thousands more in the townships. People are coming to Cape Town in droves with now money from all over Africa and there is no way to accomodate them. I chatted with the guys who sold me stuff in the markets and most of them were from Congo, Niger, etc. They said South Africa was where all the money was. (They were also marking up their crafts and calling things South African when I knew they were West African. I called them out and they laughed. They said most Americans did not know the difference.)

I am still processing the South African experience. Oh, the lights switched off and on. I think the power is starting to go here so I'll sign off. Kigali has been cool so far. So so different but that's another day.

It's Hot Today

It's has not been that hot here surprisingly.  The sun shines all the time and I am very, very tan but today it is pretty hot.  Just had to mention it.

I am leaving South Africa today.  I am sad to leave Cape Town but ready for the next adventure.  It is sad to leave the group really.  We finished the house and had a dedication ceremony for the owner, Zanele.  She is such a sweet and amazing woman.  Her whole family is so kind and serene.  I'll miss building their house and eating their lunches.  We made them flower boxes and a framed picture of all of us who built the house.  One day I will post pictures but uploading pictures takes time and time is money which I am low on right now.

Oh, an update.  My passport was returned.  My cash was gone but who cares.  I told on the rude woman at the hostel who tried to act like it was my fault for someone breaking into my room and stealing from me.  It felt good and her boss was horrified.  He did not even know my bag was stolen.

I feel like I should be more sad because I am leaving so many great people but I am not.  All of the friends I made at Habitat I will keep in touch with.  I feel confident about that. 

My time at the internet cafe is wrapping up so I'll go.  I'll post when I arrive in Rwanda.

Attacked By Baboons And Other Adventures

Yes, you read that right.  We went to the Southern most tip of Africa, The Cape of Good Hope.  It is quite a hike and really beautiful.  The most beautiful place I have even been I think.  We were all zenned out on the view and went back to our car.  There are baboons all over the park.  They are cute initially.  The park closes at 7pm but the rangers leave at 6pm.  Baboons are the smartest animals man.  They knew exactly when the rangers were gone because they started getting really aggressive.

Anyway, you are not supposed to feed the baboons.  I was eating an apple many, many feet away from them and one started running towards me.  I threw the apple core at him because I knew that was what he wants.  Then I ran into our van.  A babboons tried to follow me in but I locked the door.  Chad, one of our Habitat group leaders, ran in and we all drove away to tell the other van that baboons were running wild.  Turns out that the baboons had jumped into the window of their van and they ran out.  The baboons literally tore their van up going through the van looking for food.  We waited around for an hour while they did this.  There was no phone or anything to call for an emergency so we waited.  People kept trying to distract the baboons but with no success.  Eventually, Alan, our other leader, was able to grab a moment when the baboons was out  of the van and drove away.

It was scary at first but we could not stop laughing.  Just another insane day here.

Oh, and my purse was stolen with my money (which thankfully was not much since I had not made it to a bank) and my passport.  Now I have to go to the Embassy and deal with it.  It is more annoying than anything especially because they took it from my hostel room when I was sleeping.  Honestly I wish it happened when I was building in the township.  Then at least some poor family would get the money.  Knowing this fucking hostel, some lame Danish drug addict ran off with it and it trying to buy drugs from the township. 

Janet, another woman in our group, had a good amount of money stolen from an ATM.  She said something that really got me thinking.  It is a hard thing to be robbed when you wake up every morning here to do something good.  We are buiding a house for a poor family.  It's not like we're lying on the beach eating bon bons and we need some lesson on materialism. 

I have to mention that right now at the internet cafe they are showing a marathon of Jennifer Lopez videos on MTV.  Right now they are planning the worst song of hers, "Baby I Love You".

Anyway, I for some reason can not get too bad an attitude about anything here.  Building this house is so incredible.  Yesterday we starting putting up the walls.  We layed the bricks and put the windows in.  I am on the House Dedication committee so we have to think of a good gift to give to Zanele, the home owner, and her family.  Zanele is so sweet and so excited about her new home.  She keeps calling her sister telling her that a bunch of Americans are here building her a house.  This makes the Canadians very unhappy.

On the personal front, I have been thinking a lot about my family, aunt and uncles that I had not spoken to for a while.  I was feeling like I was missing my family so I emailed my Uncle Charles who I had not spoken to since my brother died.  It was a long email telling him how I was feeling and how I was feeling unsupported by them, how I felt that since my Mom died.  (They are all on my Mom's side of the family.)  He replied and said a lot of nice things.  That they all missed me a worried about me and that I have always been the person that needs a lot of space.  I need so much space that sometime people do not know the best way to be there for me.  He said he wanted to see me when he got back that he would even come to New York so we could talk it all out.  He also told me to send a postcard to my Aunt Charlotte since she worries.  It was a big breakthrough for me. 

The van is going to leave me so I should go.  More soon ...

Writing As Fast As I Can

I am at an internet cafe around the corner from the hostel I am staying at in South Africa.  They could kick me out at anytime since they are letting me stay later than they usually stay open.  Things are great here.  I do not have any time for a long meaningful entry.  All I'll say right now is that I am on day two of building a house in a township.  It is so cool to work build a home for someone.  I really feel like I am contributing something.  And though I am tried as hell, it is great.   

I have been writing in my journal a lot and have really been thinking somethings through.  There is a hot nightlife here but I have been a bit too tired to take advantage of it.  I am starting to get used to the schedule now though so that is the next phase.  I honestly can not believe that I am only doing this part of the trip for two and a half weeks.

South Africa is a really complicated country.  I know that is the oversimplification of the century but it is true.  Things are kind of weird between blacks and white.  Cape Town is really cool and cosmopolitan but it is pretty clear that it is the exception to the rule in this country.  I do feel like people are a lot more upfront about the issues that exist between black and white there.  Moreso than in the States but again, they are only celebrating 10 years of democracy.  How strange is that!

That's all I got for now.

Oh, it feels just like home is many ways.  The main one being that Mariah Carey's We Belong Together is on the radio everywhere!!! 

Leaving On A Jet Plane

It's 2:30 in the morning and my cab comes in an hour. Insane!!! Of course I left many details to the last moment but considering the fact that I fly for 24 hours (literally) sleep should not be in short supply.

I will let y'all know when I land in lovely Cape Town, South Africa and thanks for all the good wishes. Many have asked me what I want from this trip and I am not sure. A change of scenery. Time to regroup. My LP suggested that I wanted to really live again like I used to. I laughed because I love to hear him being all new agey. He might have point though.

So, later ... More to come ...

Help Wanted!

Ever have those days (or weeks) where you need a personal assistant. I used to think celebrities were lame for needing someone to drop off their dry cleaning or make their doctor's appointments. Now, I see the logic in it. I mean, I could employ someone full time. They could be the one who has to go to the Fed Ex facility in East Guam (or rather Canarsie) not once but twice even though they were home when they made their supposed attempt to drop a package off at my house. Or they can be the one who has to remind my doctor to call my pharmacist with my malaria prescription. Or they can make the last batch of DVDs I need made to send to my final round of festivals.

Oh where oh where is my cute personal assistant who tells me that it is all going to be ok. Who makes me coffee and tells me I am brilliant. Where is he? I imagine him as a cute, fresh out of college young guy who loves film and is down to hang in the hood with me eating beef patties, drinking yellow tail and coffee in my chilly kitchen.

You know what. I think I just want a boyfriend. Yeah, that's probably it. I don't think I would want him to be fresh out of college though. I might change that part.

A Funny Email

This morning I got an email from "Angelina Jolie Voight". Gee, do you think it's really her? Do you? And do you think she really wants me to buy computer software? Do you? Come on spammers, get it right. She dropped Voight long ago. She hates that guy.

Get Mortified

My fifteen minutes of fame, if you are keeping track, got knocked down to twelve the day I was thanked on This American Life. I'm telling you more people heard about that then watched anything I ever worked on. Or at least, I got more phone calls/emails about that. That's kind of odd actually. Do that many people listen to it?

Now it's down to eleven and a half.

Mortified was on the cover of the free newspaper out here Metro. For those who do not know, Mortified ... and this is directly from the website ... "stars everyday adults sharing aloud their most embarrassing, pathetic and private teenage diary entries, poems, love letters, lyrics and locker notes... in front of total strangers." Many people have called me about this and tell me how cool I am for having done it. Yeah!

My friend, Giulia, who lost her 15 minutes years ago, produces the show. She recruited me and I have to say I felt pretty cool being a part of it. I read about my high school crush ... rather my obsession ... Derrick. I plan on doing it again sometime soon.

For now, you should check out the Valentine's Day shows in NY, San Fran & LA and if you wanna, you can be in it too. I'm no performer. Just a girl with many embarrasing stories to tell.