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April in the World

Trauma and Telephone Poles

On Tuesday evening, I attended via Zoom my third of six Intro to Wake Up workshops.  Our assignment for this session (there are 20 of us) was to read My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem.  I made it only halfway through since the many exercises make it slower going than a regular book.  The author, a therapist, puts forward the thesis that trauma, which exists both for victims and perpetrators, resides not only in… Read More »Trauma and Telephone Poles

Galloping Goose

I am in Victoria now, on Vancouver Island, staying in a charming 1908 Craftsman bungalow that is like a miniature version of my Berkeley house (back of house and kitchen pictured below).  John and I brought our e-bikes up here with us, pulled behind my old Prius on our fancy Kuat bike rack.  On previous visits, I’d heard about the Galloping Goose trail but I’d never ridden it so I’ve been excited about doing so. Similar to the rail trail in Vernon, they took a… Read More »Galloping Goose

Plants, Not People

It really is something to be in Canada reading about the early volleys of what is likely to be a hair-raising election season with Trump already embarked on a violent, authoritarian strategy with his militia in Portland and now Seattle.  Along with his statement that he isn’t willing to say he’ll accept the results of the November election, it’s not hard to imagine where this might be headed.  In today’s Globe and Mail, which I read every morning in paper form, there is an OpEd… Read More »Plants, Not People

Lakes, Vines, and Wine

Our quarantine is over so we are out and about. However, despite how well BC has been doing around COVID, there was an outbreak of 35 infections in Kelowna (30 miles South of us) due to young folk partying in hotel rooms so it is creeping closer. Yesterday, we took our e-bikes to a winery in Lake Country, just South of Vernon, and then rode about 30 minutes to another, had a tasting, and then rode back to the car and drove down to the… Read More »Lakes, Vines, and Wine

In Quarantine

We’re living in strange times, eh?  Catch that Canadian accent?  When I tried to rent a house in Victoria for us to stay in for the month of August, I got the cold shoulder from several owners because they perceived that I was American by my phone number.  One even found me on Facebook and saw that I live in Berkeley.  Rules here are that only travel within the province is allowed so unless I could prove we were BC residents, folks did not want… Read More »In Quarantine

Heading North

The last time I wrote a blog was back in 2012-2013 when I lived in Africa for 8 months, first in Tanzania and then in Zambia.  While British Columbia is a less exotic location to be writing from, the world as a whole is in much greater turmoil than it was back then.  And the U.S., in particular, is one of the countries struggling the most to contain the COVID19 pandemic and to deal with a range of other underlying problems that the pandemic and… Read More »Heading North

The Last Blog – Zinkwaze South Africa and Kelsey Graduates!

Alas, my African sojourn has come to an end. My last few days on the Dark Continent were spent on the beautiful Kwazulu-Natal coast of South Africa north of Durban in an opulent beach house owned by Anne’s sister-in-law who lives in Capetown. We knocked around there for three days, filling up only a tiny bit of the large residence (“Which living room should we sit in this evening?”) and enjoying sun bathing by the pool and daily forays to the beach. What a journey… Read More »The Last Blog – Zinkwaze South Africa and Kelsey Graduates!

Namibia!

I’ve come to the end of an exciting and varied nine days in this beautiful, sparsely populated country. With only 2.2 million people (to Tanzania’s 45 million), Namibia has the lowest population density of any country in Africa and the second lowest in the world (after Mongolia).  The emptiness and open spaces combined with the variety of natural landscapes is a unique and wonderful combination. In addition, the tourist infrastructure is quite good so there are terrific places to stay. A Rough StartHowever, this chapter… Read More »Namibia!

Victoria Falls and Chobe National Park – Wow!

The first week of my three week southern Africa travel blitz is over. I spent some of it at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and some at Chobe National Park in Botswana. Vic Falls, as people call it, is a hub of activity. The falls themselves are dramatic and beautiful and some of the action revolves around them but there are many activities that have nothing to do with the falls and are simply located there in order to take advantage of the tourist stream. The… Read More »Victoria Falls and Chobe National Park – Wow!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow & Lusaka’s Cool Culture

Tonight is my last night in Lusaka.  Tomorrow, I start three weeks of travel through southern Africa starting with a visit to Victoria Falls, followed by time in northern Botswana and then two weeks traveling with my friend Anne in Namibia, ending at a house owned by Anne’s in-laws on Zinkwazi Beach on KwaZulu-Natal coast north of Durban, S. Africa.  I’m excited! Yesterday was my last day with the negotiations coaches. I was taken aback when I showed up for our final day of training together… Read More »Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow & Lusaka’s Cool Culture