hello from one of those most dangerous places on earth,

thought you'd like that opening mom. so i am in johanessburg, which actually is ridiculously dangerous. fortunately we are on the outskirts of town and shouldnt have to venture into some pretty legendary places, but couldve been interesting. i am actually much more endangered by the homosexual concierge at our hostel who paige has told me keeps making lewd comments behind my back.
so the organized part of my trip is done now, and paige and i are catching a bus to durban, which is on the coast, tomorrow morning. i'm pretty happy to get out on my own for abit, and only a few weeks away from coming home for awhile.

the last week has been pretty unexciting compared to the week before that. we drove from the southern tip of zambia through botswana and into south africa. one of the things that has blown me away the most about africa has been the affect globalization has had here. who would expect to find internet everywhere, and brand names, and fast food, etc... but then a few minutes from the nice houses are the mud huts and corrugated tin roofs and the most ridiculous poverty.

botswana was potentially the hottest place ive ever been to, with temperatures typically hitting 45 degrees. botswana is a pretty interesting place in itself. it is one of the countries that has best dealt with corruption since independence in the 1960s. It is the only country in africa that actually lends money to the world bank, since it has actually spent its diamond revenues wisely. however, 47% of its adult populations is infected with AIDS and unbelievably, by the year 2010, its average life expectancy is expected to drop to 27. isn't that fucked? it is so weird reading books about this type of stuff and actually being here, especially since the actual signs of it are so hidden, but you can feel it underlying everything. that is one of the things that has affected me the most about africa. there is so much potential here for improvement, and yet everything is so unbelievably irrational. for example, there aren't many places where you can read a book about the psychotic tendencies of the dictator that ruled malawi for decades, ruining the country, stealing money and ruling it as his own personal fiefdom, then walk into a store to see a portrait the size of a wall with "lest we forget our national hero" over it.

but seriously, i can't recommend coming here enough. there aren't many places in the world that provoke thoughts, emotions and leave such an indelible mark on you as africa. and even with the amazing animals, the ridiculous adrenaline activities and the great parties, the times i will remember the most fondly are going to be learning about african culture, and interacting with the amazing people here. playing soccer on the beach with kids in malawi, having kenyan teenagers perform traditional dances for us beside a fire, learning swahili from tanzanian people, etc... such amazing times. so it's tough heading into the last few weeks here, but i can't wait to get home and see as many people as possible.

so gonna spend the next few weeks backpacking south africa, and then a ridiculous 48 hours of flying home for xmas. fire me some emails yuou bastards....