Johannesburg

January 11, 2010

Our plane touched down at O.R. Tambo Airport at 07:20 in the morning. Joe and I were exhausted because unlike the first leg of our trip we could not really sleep when we boarded. After deplaning we had a longish walk to passport control. The world cup was still being advertised and I assume the latest in South African pop was playing over the loud speakers. The mood seemed upbeat so going through customs was not an issue and we passed through without any hassles despite the long lines.

My aunt was waiting for us on the other side and we greeted her with smiles and hugs. Off we went to her house to get situated and rested. When we arrived we met my uncle’s high school roommate that had come with his family all the way from Vermont! However after about an hour of chatting we couldn’t take it anymore and took a rest. It must have been about 09:00 hrs when we hit the bed and about 16:00 hrs – 4 pm – when we awoke! For the rest of the night we chatted with everyone while we ate fresh homemade pizza that my uncle’s friends made. What a lovely second homecoming!

January 13 - 16, 2010

A few weeks ago I received an email from the Chair of my advisory committee stating that she was going to be in Johannesburg. We met up with her two times while we were here. Once for a light lunch and coffee and another time for a proper lunch at a place called Moyos. I brought my little cousin because I figured it would be a nice experience. Moyos is a sort of upscale chain restaurant with an African theme. My advisor described it as a place where they perform Africanness. They serve indigenous meats that are considered exotic to Western visitors – like ostrich and springbuck – and North African cuisine – such as couscous along with other African samples.

We entered the area to the uproarious beats of drums filling the dining room. After a few minutes they settled down and we were able to hear one another, browse through the copper covered menus, and order from the fuchsia feather headdress wearing waitress. We all had lovely conversation and were able to take in all the sights and sounds the establishment. Cowry shells were embedded in the walls, medieval styled heavy brass doors, and multi-colored walls with feathers in the bathroom. While we ate some light jazz was played by that Sunday’s act. When they took their break four women in brightly colored dresses with equally brightly colored head-wraps went from table to table singing different South African songs.

We spent about 2 hours with at lunch before we had to rush off to drop my advisor and cousin to their respective residents before rushing to Market Theater inside the city. Luckily it was Sunday so traffic was not too bad and we happened to make it just in time. We met my aunt there to see Songs of Migration featuring Hugh Masekela, Gloria Bosman, and Sibongile Khumalo. It was an amazing show primarily documenting the movement of rural black South Africans from their homelands into Johannesburg or eGoli to make their fortune. In order to represent the rainbow nation they even included a Yiddish song and two Afrikaans songs. For some reason they also included about five abridged versions of “Ancient African American Spirituals”.

The singers all had amazingly powerful voices that worked together in a harmony that evoked powerful images of loss, hope, shattered dreams, listlessness, and heartbreak. Masekela who just turned 70 was as lively as ever - bending low and hitting high notes throughout the show. After the show we just happened to be having coffee and juice at the café in the theatre when I spotted Thumbeza Hlope fromthe performance – and from the popular musical Sarafina – at the bar. A few minutes later we saw Hugh. Joe stood up and urged us to follow him because he was going to get a picture. We all got a picture with him to our delight and even got a group hug! After leaving we dropped my aunt off to church and ended the day with a visit to my cousin. It was a lovely day filled with adventure and we were all very grateful.

January 17^th, 2010

Mondays are usually quite hectic in Johannesburg with everyone rushing to work and school for the new week. Mondays are even more hectic when the power goes out in most of the city. Before we left the house it came on and off about three times. We accompanied my aunt to the airport to catch her flight to East London. We headed to the nearby mall afterwards to take care of some business and then returned to the house.

At about 15:00hrs (3pm) we got back to the house switched out the cars – because the power had gone out we couldn’t open the garage door to get our car out and ended up driving my aunt’s BMW. From there we drove to see my cousin to find out about her wedding and then attended the Trevor Noah show at Urban Brew Studios.

To see some of Trevor Noah's comedy and find out more about who he is please visit the following website: http://www.trevornoah.co.za

Trevor Noah is a young Johannesburg comedian who has become extremely famous in the past year or so. We were able to watch the second to last taping of the show and even go to meet him. We also met Elvis Blue who was last year’s Idols – the South African version of American Idols – winner. Although we didn’t seem to do very much in the day it went quickly and seemed to be full. We head South in a few days time and then the real work begins.

Back to Africa

January 9^th, 2010.

The day finally came for Joe and I to begin our travels to South Africa. We had two tickets on Egypt Air leaving from JFK international airport in New York City. We got dropped off by my uncle and said a final good-bye to home. The flight was just about 10 hours long to Cairo non-stop. We played some scrabble before boarding the plane and waited over an hour to get into the sky. They fed us a choice of chicken, fish, or beef and after eating we fell asleep.

In no time we arrived in Cairo just before 13:00 or 1 pm. Because we had a 12 hour layover in Cairo we decided to take a quick tour of the city. Conveniently Egypt Air is affiliated with a tour company – Karnak – that specializes in just such things. So I handed over all our documentation to the Egypt Air officials in order to go on the tour. At first when going to the Karnak office it seemed like there would be four people going on the tour of the pyramids and the sphinx – myself, Joe, and two young ladies who were flying from Tel Aviv. Then another couple headed to Kuala Lampur popped up. It didn’t seem like a bad deal the more people the cheaper the tour. However, the more people the bigger the delay. Long story short the tour ended up being 12 people and to get all the documentation ready took two hours.

Patiently, we all watched the officials walk back and forth at least 10-15 times with our tickets and passports. Finally, at quarter to 3 everything was ready. Unfortunately, we were told the pyramids and Sphinx close at 3 so instead of a tour there we would see the Nile, a famous bazaar in Cairo, and some museum. The good news was that we would still get to see the pyramids, just from a distance.

So off we all went. All twelve of us followed the official through customs and into an air conditioned Karnak van. After waiting around for about 15 minutes we were off into the hectic Cairo traffic. The van swerved, stopped short, sped up and slowed down while we gasped and prayed not to get hit. Traffic was horrendous. In any case we made a quick stop at the side of the highway to pick up our tour guide who instantly began spouting information about Cairo and the city of Giza. Soon after we made it to our first stop – The Nile! How exciting. Again the driver stopped the van on the side of the highway allowing all twelve of us to hop out and take pictures.

When we were done watching the ferry man take people across the river and water flow we jumped back in the van and sped off into the traffic to see the pyramids. We drove about 10 more minutes before the pyramids made their first appearance amidst the contemporary Giza high rises, satellite dishes, laundry, and traffic. For a third time we stopped on the side of the highway to take pictures. “I hope we get closer!” was my comment to Joe. Indeed we did. After turning off on a smaller road next to a canal filled with trash fed by the Nile and the millions of residents we got right outside the pyramid gates.

Tourists were all around, busses and busses of them. Young and old men led and rode camels for visitors’ pleasures. Stores abounded with all sorts of Egyptian wares. We all took pictures. Suddenly our tour guide led us into a building which happened to be a KFC/Pizza hut! We were all baffled to say the least. Anyway, we walked up a few flights of stairs to the roof of the franchise and then gathered around to take our photos in front of the pyramids. All the while I wondered why we needed to stop on the side of the highway and why we were viewing the pyramids from a Pizza hut.

After about 10-15 minutes of pictures we descended back into the street and were loaded back into the van. The tour guide then told us that we were going to go to a papyrus museum and a perfume shop to learn about these two ancient Egyptian industries. The one lady headed to Kuala Lampur asked about the bazaar to which the guide responded “Oh no, no we cannot go there it is too crowded now!” I can only imagine the look of disappointment in her face -at least the second one that day – it was probably the same look Joe had when he found out that the closest we’d get to the pyramids was atop a cheesy American franchise! I guess we’ll have to return to get the true experience.

Off we went to the museum and shop which ended up being just tourist traps to get us to spend our money. None of us did except for one Pakistani woman who purchased some kohl for some outrageously expensive price. I promise you the perfume salesman cursed us as we left but we thankfully piled into the van. Finally, hungry and exhausted we were driven to our hotel – the nice thing about Egypt Air is that if you have an extra long layover you can take advantage of their FREE hotel service where they will put you up and feed you. So after what seemed to be a forever ride back near the airport through rush hour traffic we arrived at the hotel. Most of us had late night flights so we only got to enjoy the rooms for two hours but in that time we ate a much needed buffet meal and got showers.

Come 21:00 hours – 9pm – Joe and I checked out of the hotel, then hopped on another bus to the -airport which was actually walking distance but due to security and the highway systems could not do so. Finally we arrived back at the airport went to the customer service counter, picked up our passports, boarding passes, and luggage tags and were quickly shuffled through customs and security. An hour and a half we got on our plane for about seven more hours straight down the continent – next stop Johannesburg!

Good-Bye Tuscarora

Nu:Yah arrived and so did a bunch of people for their Oo-wedah - special sweets for children which traditionally were ginger bread men - it is derived from the Tuscarora word for doll. There's a lot more that can be said but for the sake of brevity I will leave it at that. We awoke to Joe's aunt doing her usual sweet making thing. This time she made Italian cookies and with every knock on the door people got to pick a cookie and move to the next house. Not too many people came partly due to the rain, so we were able to make some waffles for ourselves and have a fairly quiet breakfast before going to the Feast.

We went early to get the first seating with Grams and got to catch up and say Good-bye to some friends and family. There were 10 seats per table with about 10 tables. Each table had a bowl of venison, mashed squash, and baked beans, butter, salt, pepper, and grape drink. When everyone entered the dining area most people picked up their pie. There was apple, lemon meringue, and pumpkin to pick from. Since we had to wait to get served and many of us were very hungry some of us began eating our pie first. Luckily it didn't ruin our appetites.

After a few minutes of waiting the servers - who were all volunteers from the community and those who had won scholarships through the nation - came around with the plates of food. There were three compartments on each plate filled with mashed potatoes, string beans, and a slab of ham. Because neither Joe nor I eat pork we just had potatoes and then filled our plates with the food from the bowls. A little while later the servers came around offering a bit of rabbit pie. It was my first time tasting it and my first reaction was "Hey this tastes like turkey!" Apparently there was not enough rabbit to feed everyone so the cooks mixed meat. In any case it was all tasty and by the time we left we were stuffed.

A few days later we headed south to catch our flight even further south for the next leg of our trip. We already miss everyone and even the snow. I guess we'll just have to enjoy it next year!

Happy NU'YA

Towards the end of the old year the Tuscarora start preparing for the Nu'Ya's feast which coincides with the first day of the New Year. So old men and young men go hunt for the feast and whoever brings in less game has to clean ALL the game! YUCK. Young men consist of those who don't have children and old men have children. From what I have heard young men usually lose. Also sometimes the different age groups play tricks on one another. One trick I heard about was the old men telling the young men the wrong date of the hunt so that there would be less competition!

After the hunt everyone that is participating has to have their game brought in to the old gym where it is counted, the losers are determined and then the cleaning commences. We got to experience some of the count. All together there were 4 deer and countless rabbits. All is used for the feast. On New Year's eve people are still preparing. So Joe and I went to the old gym for a few hours. While I peeled potatoes Joe butchered some rabbit meat. Then we both took our turns pounding the Indian corn that would become cornbread - boiled not baked!

Come Nu Ya's feast we were eager to taste the fruit of our labor and um um was it good!

Christmas

About a month before Christmas one of Joe's aunts decided to make Christmas a bit more crafty and we all picked names out of a bowl. The person's name who we picked had to be given a present from us that was hand made!

Joe and I started pretty early and wondered about the other people's progress. It was hard though to decide what to make. I ended up purchasing an empty cigar box and then painted it with things that had something to do with what my person studied in school. Since he is into anatomy and things of that nature I found images of the human body - the skeletal system, musculature, and the anatomy of the hands and feet - then painted them on each side of the box. Joe made a scrap book for his secret santee, and I helped the other little man of the family make Joe's present on Xmas eve. He finished right on time!



Come Christmas eve afternoon we had our gifts under the tree and went to help Joe's cousin prepare for her annual Christmas eve open house. She had about 5 - 6 types of desserts - muddy buddies, peppermint and orange fudge, no bake chocolate peanut cookies, pumpkin pie, snickerdoodles, etc. - soft tacos, moose chili, meat balls, stuffed shells, veggie platters, etc. There was even a giant cookie man that we got to decorate. We spent about 4 hours total there, helping, eating, and then digesting on the couch.


At about 7 pm we decided to take a drive and look at the lights around the neighborhoods of Lewiston and Youngstown which are not far from the reservation. Then we went to Fatima Shrine to have one more look at the lights. For more information on the shrine please visit here: http://www.fatimashrine.com/

After taking some photos we returned home and exchanged gifts. I was so happy that my person smiled and actually seemed to like the gift. Everyone did a wonderful job and seemed genuinely happy. The next morning store bought gifts were exchanged then Joe, his grandma, and I went to another relative's house to have lunch. We enjoyed our time and visited some more of his relatives in the Falls then called it a day to watch movies on the computer.

Snow has come and gone and then stayed. Thanksgiving has come and gone and stayed (on the hips) and Christmas is right around the corner. Joe and I have been visiting everyone we can before we head overseas. In the meantime we've been eating, listening, and sharing. So I would like to share some stuff of my own.

Throughout the summer I would hear the familiar voices of NPR hosts and jingles on the reservation. A few people would blast the station on Sundays and the sounds of blues would emanate from large and small speakers situated outside and inside the people's homes. Joe never liked NPR so when I would tell him that I think so and so is listening to NPR he would scoff and blow it off. But I sustained my resilience and pressed on, tuning the car radio to the station when ever we would have to drive somewhere.

Finally over this past week we heard something on last week's Sunday blues show on NPR. The dj played a band that should have been familiar to us having lived a few years in Indiana and calling that state "home". What we heard was Rev. Payton's Big Damn Band from Nashville! It was so ironic because we fell in love with the sound and found out that they're playing in Bloomington, IN at the Bluebird this New Years Eve! What's so ironic about this is that last year we had nothing to do when we were in Btown last New Year and now we were so close and yet so far.

If anyone is interested in some great bluesy-hill billy type music that'll make you stomp your feet check out the Bluebird on New Years eve! If you're not around there then just check out their music:

www.bigdamnband.com

Merry Christmas "Plasma for Christmas"!

Holiday season

Preparation for the big trip: While we have been on the rez. I have of course been preparing for the trip to South Africa. There is so much to do before leaving, getting documentation ready and copies to the necessary authorities, buying airline tickets, getting physicals, contacting the University of KwaZulu-Natal to get an affiliation, etc.

While we prepare for the big trip we participate in various activities and help people get ready for Turkey day. For instance last night we went to Joe’s little cousin’s first wrestling meet and when we returned to his aunt’s house on the reservation we found out she was going to embark on a baking mission the following morning. I offered my help which she gladly accepted. Joe had an eye exam scheduled for 11:30 am so we arrived at around 10:30am. Actually he slowed down enough to let me jump out the car then zipped off to go visiting. I traded in my coat and hood for an apron and began to smooth out little pieces of dough which would become rolls. I soon found that working with the whole wheat dough was much easier than the white dough; perhaps it is just my bias towards wheat bread. When I was done with that task I was given the chore to take the rolls out the oven, place them on cooling racks, then bag them, while the master baker prepared the dough for the papooses, a long Danish like pastry with fruit and sweet cheese filling.

One thing I learned from the experience was that many people on the rez have their own enterprises and skills and that people will patronize their neighbors if they make pies, rolls, breads, and even full meals. We were able to get 14 dozen white rolls, 8 dozen wheat rolls, and roughly 17 papooses made. My feet were so tired, as was my entire self. Participating in these activities not only allows someone like me to learn a bit about baking, and do a friend a favor, it also allows me to get to know more people. At the end of the day Joe and I got to take home a dozen wheat rolls and a blueberry/raspberry papoose, which we happily ate for dinner in conjunction with a rice dish made by Joe’s uncle in the Falls.

Thanksgiving is a good time for Joe to catch people at home and reconnect with those he might not have seen for awhile. Going to aunties and uncles’ houses finds all the family there so cousins you won’t see outside because of the cold can be found for conversation. Tomorrow is the big turkey day and we will have four or five homes to visit. I just hope we can make it home after having been exposed to soo much good food.

Food: We have had moose burgers, moose chili, elk steak, “Indian corn” soup with goat and venison, fry bread or scones, black berry pie, sassafras tea – which thins the blood and if you drink too much really makes you cold. We also have had plenty of fresh veggies from gardens. Potatoes, yellow and green squash, carrots, onions, beets, tomatoes, lettuce, fresh strawberry puree, etc. From some of this that was gifted to us I made lasagna and tons of muffins, mostly zucchini because there were sooo many of them. A lot of times we eat Subway if we’re on the go. It’s cheap, fast, economical, and reasonably healthy.

One of the things we got to do during the summer was to visit at people’s gardens. Many people on the reservation plant corn, beans, and squash. These are called the three sisters and they are the Indians’ gift to the world. Though many people have gardens off the reservation there is a special way to plant these three gifts. Bean plants were placed next to corn so that they could use the tall corn stalks to creep up as beans do. Squash and pumpkin were also planted near the two other sisters because them being creepers on the ground with their large leaves they protect the roots and bottom parts of the stalks of the other two plants from insects. Not only that but the interaction between each one of the plants benefited the viability of the soil and enabled each plant’s yield to be more abundant and more nutritious than had they been planted alone!

For more information please read here:

http://www.unce.unr.edu/news/article.asp?ID=1291

In the meantime Joe is doing his interviews and finding out some great information. Everyone has been very receptive to his research and open their homes. Many times people share what they have in their cupboards, fridges, and gardens. Sometimes I get to sit in on Joe's meetings so I too am learning a lot of stories and histories about the land and about life in general. We are both very thankful for the opportunity to meet such amazing people and are so grateful to each person for sharing with us.

Nya:weh

Also to read more about the Tuscarora and who they are especially regarding their interaction with the environment and sustaining a distinct cultural identity please check out their newsletter.

http://tuscaroraenvironment.com/default.aspx