Cincinnati: What have we learned?

I always like to process these experiences by trying to figure out what I have learned from them. With no further ado, here are my lessons from South Africa:

I. Personal Lessons

A. Listen to your body. It probably knows what you should or shouldn't be doing.

B. Push yourself. "If you know your limits, you will never surpass them." You're more likely to accomplish amazing things if you push yourself as far as you can go and beyond.

C. I'm awesome. Oh wait, I knew that one before this trip.

D. There is always another way--when one door closes, another opens.

E. If not, why not? (Also, if so, why so?)

F. Go with the flow. Most of the awesome things in my life have been the consequence of spur-of-the-moment decisions and a willingness to go off the beaten path.

II. Work Lessons

A. Dealing with management is an art. It requires a great amount of patience and social skill, but is essential to success in your career. Practice makes perfect, I hope?

B. That said, you have to ask for what you want. And if it's important enough to you, fight for it. No one is going to hand you success on a silver platter, and you have to find a balance between what your bosses want and what you want.

C. Let your work speak for itself.

III. Travel Lessons

A. The world is not as scary as you think it is (most of the time). Don't let fear or uncertainty stop you from traveling! (Unless that fear is substantiated by something like a civil war in the country you want to visit. Then don't go, stupid.)

B. Travelling is a surefire way to achieve self-growth. That doesn't mean you'll like it, but change is good for you. Challenge yourself.

C. Bad things happen, unfortunately. There is no advice that will keep you from being mugged, overcharged, losing your luggage, getting lost, etc., 100% of the time. Accept it and move on.

D. Common sense and intuition are great ways to avoid 90% of the bad things that happen to people in foreign countries. If you feel like you're in danger or that something isn't right, get out of there. It could be nothing, but you also could have just prevented catastrophe. Nothing is more important than your own well-being--is that something worth gambling with? Here are some other tips in the same vein:

      1. Safety is a state of mind. Always be aware of your surroundings and where you're going.

      2. If you're lost, don't act like it. Walk with purpose--standing around looking confused is a great way to get herded somewhere you don't want to go, where you may be mugged or worse.

      3. Don't be afraid to be rude. People are obsessed with politeness these days, and I'm not saying it's not appropriate most of the time. But if someone is following you, harassing you or pressuring you, tell them to fuck off. Sometimes, you have to be a jerk to get people to leave you alone.

      4. DO NOT EVER get into an unmarked cab. Anywhere. Period.

       5. Try not to carry your passport on you if you can avoid it. Most things are replaceable, but it's a HUGE hassle to get around without a passport in a foreign country.

E. Packing: This list has everything essential for international travel.
    1. Wallet (credit cards, money, ID)
    2. Passport!!!
    3. Phone

Other than that, just throw shit in a bag and it will work out. Trust me.

Well guys, this is the end. With over 2000 views and 50 posts, the past year has been amazing. As far as I know, I'm not going abroad again anytime soon, but if I do, anyone following this blog will know. Thank you for all the amazing support!!! I hope to see you on my next adventure...

Cape Town: You can't come back unless you go away

I woke up this morning to Nina flipping the on lights in our room and saying: "Lynne, get up! We have to be out of here by 12:30 because they booked more people for these rooms!"

This was at 11:00 am.

Apparently, Daddy Long Legs booked the apartments for tonight and didn't tell us that we had a specific checkout time after we lived there for two and a half months. Because I only brought one bag besides my backpack, and it could actually be a carry-on bag if I weighed less, I was OK. I just pack light, and I had already packed most of my stuff. But the next hour and a half was a frenzy of us trying to get ourselves in order before leaving the country. We don't fly out until 11:30 pm.

After our ungracious exit from the apartments, we put our luggage in a room at the main hotel down the road and headed out to while away the next 11 hours before our flight left. Lauren had been wanting to go to the Bo-Kaap, a traditionally Muslim neighborhood, and I knew how to get there, so we headed up that way. We came upon the Wale Rose restaurant, which was having a buffet special, so we headed in for lunch.

We got to sit on the roof, which has a beautiful view of Table Mountain and Lionshead, as well as the colorful houses of Bo-Kaap (something it's famous for). The food was amazing--the buffet included the best mutton (lamb) curry I've ever had and some awesome biryani, which as far as I can tell is rice, lentils sauteed onions with some other stuff.

Anyway, it was just a lovely way to spend part of the day, especially after the rude awakening of the morning. We took our time and ate way too much food. To top it all off, there was a parade through the street the restaurant was on. We still don't know what it was for, but people were dressed in green, white and red as well as really sparkly clothes, and there was a marching band. All in all, a great way to spend the last day here--exploring a new neighborhood and getting awesome food.

I can't believe we're leaving today. I'm excited to go home, especially given the last two weeks, but as the novelist Anatole France said, "All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." 


There is something gained from every place we visit and person we meet, even if it's an unpleasant lesson or realization. And I have actually enjoyed most of my time here--Cape Town is an amazing city, and I can't wait to visit again someday. I've met some wonderful people and learned important lessons. 


This will be my last blog post in South Africa, but stay tuned for one or two more once I get stateside. For closure and all that, you know. 


I'm excited to get home. But I am also sad to leave. 

Cape Town: I'm going off to find myself. If I'm not back before I return, keep me here

So this week sucked.

I have never had this much anxiety. The bright side of all this is that I have been forced to confront the nature of my anxiety. The built-up stress from work, school and living abroad, the death of my beloved grandparents last December and anxiety about my future are probably all big factors.

What I've learned at the Cape Times is that I never want to work at an actual newspaper. This may not seem that shattering to most people, but that's what I went to school thinking I wanted to do, so this is a rude awakening for me. Luckily, journalism is a flexible degree, and paired with my international studies major I am sure I will be able to find something. I think I was also worried that my parents would be disappointed that they sent me to journalism school to study newspaper/online and I don't ever, ever want to work at a newspaper. Ever.

All I want to do is write. Both fiction and non-fiction. A lot of the skills I've learned in journalism school have really helped me towards that ambition and given me other marketable skills I wouldn't have gotten from a degree in English or Creative Writing. I am great at tracking people down; I can write well and think critically about information and where it's coming from. I know how to find a place to start on difficult projects and take constructive criticism on my work. And I have gotten a lot better at writing and learning from the things I read; authors I like and don't like, and the things I like and don't like about them so I can avoid or incorporate those things into my own work. I can also create a marketable product; I know how to define and target a specific audience and make content interesting to them. I can even work with others...if I have to.

Not that I'm trying to write a cover letter for life here. Part of this blog is just hashing out what I've been thinking about this week. But I do know that I can find work somewhere else, and that I will put my college education to good use.

I've also gotten back in touch with my creative writing this week, with many thanks to Vivian for her encouragement. Given that she teaches writing as a tool for healing and coaches people on novels, she's pretty well-qualified to push me on defining my own writing. I did miss it; writing is a lot of work and requires a lot of discipline, but I find it fulfilling.

So I'm feeling hopeful about the future. The anxiety has not subsided yet, but I have confidence that once I get back stateside and get to relax for a few months, it will. My English Bulldog Silvestre, aka the Love of My Life, tends to make me happy no matter what, so I'm excited to get back to him. And my family, I guess.

I'm also planning on going out to Kansas City to visit one Abigail Dennis, which will be great, and will give me a chance to apologize to Rhonda Dennis in person for Skyping her drunk and half-naked. Sorry Rhonda, and I appreciate the hug you sent. Somehow, I feel like this post is not reassuring you of my stability.

Yeah thanks to everyone, especially my parents, who actually got a call from my professor about this and were actually really worried. Sorry about that. I love you.

Finally, sorry for writing my goddamn memoir right here. I just have a lot of feelings, OK? I fly out of Cape Town on Sunday, so this may be my last post in SA...time flies when you're reevaluating your life.

Cape Town: Exhaustion

So this week, I went to work on Sunday and Monday and then got bulldozed by an intense panic attack. I ended up having to take the rest of the week off.

FUCK FUCK FUCK MY BRAIN IS CRYING

People always ask me what sets off these attacks when I have them, and I have no idea. That is part of why anxiety is so difficult to treat; it's different for everyone and often the cause is not immediately apparent. Work has been very stressful, so I think that's a big part of it.

"Flames. Flames on the side of my face...heaving...heaving breaths..."

My father also pointed out that I haven't taken a break in a long time, and I realized that I've been in motion for about the past two years. The longest break I've had in that period was the three weeks between Uganda and my junior year of college. I also only just realized how harrowing Uganda was. I was in danger a lot of the time and was constantly on alert, which you have to be when you're in a place like that. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the most beneficial thing to my nerves and general well-being. I don't regret going there, but I don't think that I've actually recovered from it yet. To those of you who were reading this blog during that period of my life (Uganda), I think you were aware of the stresses I was under way before I was, in terms of the stuff I was dealing with there.

Anyway, I think my body just reached a point of shutting down. Luckily, I leave a week from Sunday and I'm going home for three months, where I will sleep, write and watch bad TV and nothing interesting will happen and it will be great.

This is all I want.

I also went to a meditative center today that was recommended by the lovely Vivian Warby, who is our person here in Cape Town that takes care of us. She also gave me a lift home from the center, which is kind of far away, and it was great spending time with her. I am feeling a lot better after today. Thanks to Vivian, Katherine, Paula, Doug and my roommates for putting up with me and supporting me during this stuff.

Sorry about posting all about me! But I wanted to let you guys know that this is happening, and hey, I've told you guys about all the places I've thrown up on the African continent and made an ass out of myself over the last year. I figured if you were interested in that, you would want to read about this.