Well...

Hello hello. It's hard to believe that I've been in SA for over ten days already, yet at the same time, I'm finally beginning to feel aclimated.

Yesterday, we went to a mosque to visit with Immam Ahmed Casseim [google him, he's quite interesting], a South African with an interesting take on the future of South Africa. He was a political prisoner on Robben Island, and his view of the future of SA was particularly Islamic in nature (in fact, it wasn't wholly unlike the thoughts of the Religious Right in the states). In any case, we went to the friday prayers at the mosque before meeting with him, and I found the service quite meaningful. We've spent a lot of time talking about 'listening to other voices' during our time here; that is, making sure every viewpoint gets represented and heard. This is the first step of peacebuilding, from fundamentalist Immams to Afrikaners, etc.

The 'intensive' nature of the intensive has dwindled. In fact, today is a free day. I'm catching up on a few journal entries and enjoying the beach, as today is our last full day at the villa in Hout Bay. Tomorrow we get on a bus for the 18-hour trip to Umfolozi (or Imfolozi), a game reserve, for an eco-tour/safari. It sounds wild, but I'm sure internet access will be scarce.

So, I'll be back in a week or so, hopefully with some interesting picture to boot. Take good care.