I woke up at an unspeakable hour this morning... looking at the time I'm updating it is still unspeakable.

I went with my uncle (to be known as Uncle D), Granny and Daddy to the air port to see him off, I'm staying in the Rainbow Nation for a few more days and staying with my other uncle (Uncle P) and his family, both are Daddies little brothers (is it still all right to call 50+ year old men "little"?)

In any event, yesterday being the last day of Daddy's holiday I got kind of weepy and annoying, I hope I didn't make things more difficult for him seeing as today is my birthday (yes, yes, many happy returns) I didn't want him to feel guilty.
Uncle P is taking out for a drive today to places called Kalks Bay (very pretty beach place), maybe Cape Point (where the two oceans meet) and it being the first clear day since I've arrived (remember I spoke of the mist and not being able to see a hundred meters ahead? It stayed that way from Friday until yesterday afternoon) I'll most likely be going up Table Mountain, which is my clearest memory of SA from when I was nine years old.

Will try and update again before I get home, but I make no promises.

Traveling is hard!
But fun when you're being taken care of by dear Papa.

Arrived, finally, at half-past eight (local time) in Cape Town. My memories of the place are very vague and everyone seems so much shorter and older.
Seeing as the last time I was here I was nine, this makes sense.

I slept like a rock. I don't think I moved the whole night.

Nobody can believe how big I am and some of the people keep referring to me with my older sister's name, Leigh. I suppose their sharpest memories of Leigh are of her with short hair, like I now have.

Today we went to wine country near Cape Town called Franchhoek (pronounced Fraan-tzuk... don't ask me how, I do not know how Afrikaans is built) and went around the very sweet and picturesque town. It was founded by the Huguenots (French Protestants who escaped France in the 17th century after the Nantes edict proclaiming France a Catholic Kingdom) who built the whole wine industry in the valleys in the area of the Western Cape which include Franchhoek, Paarl, Stellenbosch and another one which I can't remember, because there weren't any road signs to that one.
We decided to go because of the weather. The fog and most is blinding, you can barely see 100 meters ahead of you. We're hoping it won't get worse, but you can never know. It is weird going from the beginning of summer into what amounts to the middle of winter for me, even if they only started with winter now.
I'm chilly.

Daddy and I called Mummy while we were there and it appears that two people she and Daddy knew from their History live there, we only found one and Daddy said it was amazing how much time passed.

We went wine tasting too, which was fun, it's something I'd been wanting to do since I saw the movie "Sideways" but it was more the idiosyncratic characters than the setting in Napa Valley California that made it such a great movie.

We have since returned to our home base and will soon be going to sup with my Granny (who I saw last night) and the uncles, aunts and cousins I hadn't seen in years.

A day of honey, a day of onions (euphemism for tears, of course).

I went to the fireworks and watched Machina play for 45 minutes.
It was fun.
I had a great time listening to the music and seeing the fireworks with my family and singing along with the hundreds (maybe thousands) of my towns people to the songs which have become a part of the soundtrack of our lives.
Kind of like U2.

Elsewhere there are "alternative" ceremonies in which Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs are participating together talking about what this day means to each.
There are also ceremonies commemorating a calamity. Period.

Last year I went to a demo about a homophobic musician.
This year I'm going to South Africa and actually missing the brouhaha that will now doubt erupt while I'm gone at least by the 15th of May.

In any event, no matter what you are celebrating, commemorating or just having a weekly Wednesday night (or morning and day depending on the time zones) make it a good one and make it count.

יום עצמאות שמח!

Happy Yom Azmaut!

זיכרו את הנכבה!

Remember the Nakba!

morin for the WIN!!!

Two tests down, five to go.
Yes, I'm groaning in despair, but all will be well, I have plenty of time to study for them all in fact. The two exams I had this week went really well (at least I'm feeling confidant) and I'm having a really fun time just vegging on the campus grounds after the exams with my peeps.

But I have something to look forward to, not only the end of exams, but also the fact that I'm going to South Africa for the first time since I was nine years old.
GD that's a long time, I mean I've seen my extended family since, but certainly not as much as in the first decade of life.
My Granny is turning 90 (tfu-tfu-tfu and spins around three times while knocking on wood) and Daddy (her son) and Mummy thought it would be a good idea for me to represent the Israeli contingent of her very far flung family.
Not only would it be excellent to see Granny (who I haven't seen in two years), it will be really great to get back in touch with my cousins with whom I'm not so close, seeing as the last time I saw them was at least five years ago if not more.

It's more than a month away and I'll not be in Israel for my B-Day (I'm only a few days after Granny), but I'll be sure to mention it at the time, if I have access to Internet, which shouldn't be a problem... maybe I'll take Frida with me.

Another good thing about being away on the specific dates is that I'll be missing weeks between Independance Day and the Nakba Commemoration Day, which are sure to be, um, quite charged.
60 years may not seem like a long time compared with countries with triple digits, but you know, thing are intense...

Anyway, that's what I had to say - more tests, going over-seas, intense national atmosphere and hopefully by the time I come back and am 23 things will be back to "normal", though I doubt it.

I knew Daddy had an uncle who fought and died during the WWII, but I didn't know he had died at El-Alamein and is buried at the War Cemetery there.

My next visiting place (after visiting the Family in the US) is definitely Egypt, if we don't go to war with them first, of course.

My great uncle Private Norman Selwyn Barron.

As most of you know, my family immigrated from South Africa to Israel in the early 80's.
I never lived there, but I remember visiting before and after Apartheid was abolished, to the eyes of the nine year old girl I couldn't see much difference, since black people were still acting as servants to white people.
But now it is thirteen years since the end of those terrible decades and things are not much better, the backlash is intense and people, of both colours and those with means obviously, are uprooting and making new lives elsewhere.
One of these people is Ann Paton (widow of Alan Paton, author of "Cry, The Beloved Country").

( Why I'm fleeing South Africa by Anne Paton )

In addition, the genocide in Darfur must be stopped.

( I talk about the Holocaust )
After we rested a bit, since as I said it was quite overwhelming, we went to the gift shop and bought a few books, Daddy bought Ellie Wiesel's "Night" and I bought K. Tzetnick's "The Doll House".
Afterwards we went to have lunch in Abu Ghosh, I love the Hummus and Pita in Abu Ghosh, in my opinion it's the best in Israel, better than Yaffo or Haifa. After we were full we drove home, I slept in the car.
It was a very good day, a great way to spend some quality time with adults and not be cooped up with Mummy, Leigh and the kiddies everyday. This is especially good because Jade is coming with Shvo and Libby for ten days on Sunday, so I'll be spending a very long time with most under six year olds for company.
I also gave in my resume to Shira who is going to try and get me a job at the local DVD rental store.

Ah, life.