Sorry I haven't posted in awhile but I caught some nasty stomach thing. I am not sure if it was a bug or a food/water situation but it knocked me out for awhile. I am surrounded by the most supportive team ever which is great but, you know me, the guilt factor kicks in for not being able to do anything. I am better today and up, but still feeling weak and not wanting to push myself too hard having not eaten in a few days. I had some CRAZY dreams though, that were all kinds of wierd.
WHAT ELSE
Jeffery got here this last weekend! You don't know what that means. Tanesha leaves in a week to go back home and Jeffery has come to replace her, so they have a week of overlap. We drove into JoBurg on Saturday to pick him up at his hotel. Then we went to someone's house for a lovely picnic, dinner thing. He is a judge pretty hi up in the South African courts and has a room in his house that is floor to ceiling, wall to wall law books, which I found fascinating. We tlaked about the Constitution of SA and its Bill of Rights (Of which there are 35.) I sat down to read their Bill of Rights and was fascinated by how comprehensive they were. It certainly took them awhilw to get the BoR in the first place, but the don't mess around.
Here is the one for Equality:
9. Equality
a. Everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law.
b. Equality includes the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms. To promote the achievement of equality, legislative and other measures designed to protect or advance persons, or categories of persons, disadvantaged by unfair discrimination may be taken.
c. The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.
d. No person may unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds in terms of subsection (3). National legislation must be enacted to prevent or prohibit unfair discrimination.
e. Discrimination on one or more of the grounds listed in subsection (3) is unfair unless it is established that the discrimination is fair.
Pretty much sums it up, I think. Took us a couple of amendments to get there and we're still not all the way there. Of course, their constitution was chartered in 1996, so they had some examples to look at. 1996, pretty crazy isn't it? I feel like I should have some recollection of that in a memory bank somewhere but I got nothing.
After the lovely dinner we went in town to Melrose Place, which is a ritzy area (go figure) and went to a restaurant called Moyo. It was fantastic! The menu is food from all over Africa and it has many many levels. There was an awesome band playing and people were dancing all over the place. I had some bourbon for the first time since being here and Damien, Will and I split a Cuban cigar, the kind the designed especially for Castro. Since we split it, it was $13 each. I mean, how could we not? Still no cigarettes though. :) It was really nice to get away a bit and just play. The weekend before we went to a water park which was also really fun. Piet and Isaac had never been to a water park before and it was beautiful to see their excitement on the rides.
(OH, I have been mispelling Piet's name this whole time. It is not in fact Pete but Piet even though it sounds like Pete but not really only if we are being lazy. The P is like a P with a little bit of a B in it. Then you take two syllables "pee" and "it" and mush them together really quickly so you hit both sounds but it only makes one syllable. I recommened trying this several times)
I keep trying to upload pictures to the blog but the internet connection is so slow that it takes forever. SO I will keep trying, I promise.
WHAT ELSE
Jeffery got here this last weekend! You don't know what that means. Tanesha leaves in a week to go back home and Jeffery has come to replace her, so they have a week of overlap. We drove into JoBurg on Saturday to pick him up at his hotel. Then we went to someone's house for a lovely picnic, dinner thing. He is a judge pretty hi up in the South African courts and has a room in his house that is floor to ceiling, wall to wall law books, which I found fascinating. We tlaked about the Constitution of SA and its Bill of Rights (Of which there are 35.) I sat down to read their Bill of Rights and was fascinated by how comprehensive they were. It certainly took them awhilw to get the BoR in the first place, but the don't mess around.
Here is the one for Equality:
9. Equality
a. Everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law.
b. Equality includes the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms. To promote the achievement of equality, legislative and other measures designed to protect or advance persons, or categories of persons, disadvantaged by unfair discrimination may be taken.
c. The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.
d. No person may unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds in terms of subsection (3). National legislation must be enacted to prevent or prohibit unfair discrimination.
e. Discrimination on one or more of the grounds listed in subsection (3) is unfair unless it is established that the discrimination is fair.
Pretty much sums it up, I think. Took us a couple of amendments to get there and we're still not all the way there. Of course, their constitution was chartered in 1996, so they had some examples to look at. 1996, pretty crazy isn't it? I feel like I should have some recollection of that in a memory bank somewhere but I got nothing.
After the lovely dinner we went in town to Melrose Place, which is a ritzy area (go figure) and went to a restaurant called Moyo. It was fantastic! The menu is food from all over Africa and it has many many levels. There was an awesome band playing and people were dancing all over the place. I had some bourbon for the first time since being here and Damien, Will and I split a Cuban cigar, the kind the designed especially for Castro. Since we split it, it was $13 each. I mean, how could we not? Still no cigarettes though. :) It was really nice to get away a bit and just play. The weekend before we went to a water park which was also really fun. Piet and Isaac had never been to a water park before and it was beautiful to see their excitement on the rides.
(OH, I have been mispelling Piet's name this whole time. It is not in fact Pete but Piet even though it sounds like Pete but not really only if we are being lazy. The P is like a P with a little bit of a B in it. Then you take two syllables "pee" and "it" and mush them together really quickly so you hit both sounds but it only makes one syllable. I recommened trying this several times)
I keep trying to upload pictures to the blog but the internet connection is so slow that it takes forever. SO I will keep trying, I promise.
Hey Kathryn! O a re eng, yo? :) Thanks for the prose and updates... Reading about your thoughts is making me miss all the excitement and bittersweet experiences that come with travel. I am jealous, but if anyone deserves to be doing what you're doing, it's you, friend— It took me a long time to grow up and realize that traveling is a privilege. Yet so many of us first-worlders don't respect this reality. You're not many of us—and I know you're out there making a positive impact on the world. Happy Advent, homie! I'll keep you in my prayers. Keep writing! :) (Orlando)
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