Onward and upward

At the Cape Town airport I have a few minutes to reminisce about the past five weeks I spent in Kleinmond. I am wearing a pair of hand-stitched sandals made by Anton, which are lightly brushing against the two canvasses of the paintings done by Dan. I had my last "dish of mussels" at the Shellfish bar, and drank my last Black Label with GeriCasso, the "most famous artist in Kleinmond" (whose painting Afrika Zuid by the way, I really wanted, but couldn't afford - so he's going to try and work a deal with the gallery so I can get it upon my return).

The time there was phenomenal, but most importantly I accomplished what I set out to do - my research project. There is something incredibly exhilarating to stand back and scroll through a piece of work past "Introduction" and then snake your way through dozens of pages of research, analysis, literature and interpretation, and finally end up at "Conclusion". Not unlike a work of art, even after you have signed it, the project can never be truly finished, but completed I guess is something good too. While there is some polishing left to do, I am ecstatic at the reality that I have come to complete this piece of work, and have in fact done so.

For those of you not familiar with what I am doing, I am completing a Masters in African and Development Studies through UCLA. Previously, as an undergraduate at USC I was fascinated by the idea of the young white Afrikaner and how this minority in South Africa views the "new South Africa", with particular reference to the new employment legislation and affirmative action policies, many of which have left Afrikaners disillusioned and angry in the wake of what they view to be "reverse racism." This interest and research culminated in a paper entitled "Cry the Beloved Culture: The Young White Afrikaner in the New South Africa" and followed about fifty off my peers, or "apartheid babies" as I call us, born into the repressive system of apartheid between 1972 and 1982, and effectively not knowing anything else.

As a kind of a follow-up to this project, I chose to focus my MA thesis on almost the exact polar opposite, that of the black female executive in South Africa. Historically located at the intersection of sever discrimination based not only race (since apartheid was not only a racist ideology, but rather involved severe patriarchal and class-discrimination as well), these women lie at the intersection then of discrimination based on race, class and gender.

As a result of the legislation, they are often viewed as only being appointed because they are black, and a woman. As Tony Twine, a Johannesburg economist notes, it sometimes seems as if every organization in South Africa is now looking for a one-legged black female. This topic clearly leaves a lot open for interpretation, and that has certainly been done in the media and research papers. As a fresh approach, my project chose to use the voice of these women themselves to tell their own story of discrimination from a historical point of view, as well as to elude to any changes that may have taken place during the twelve years of democracy in South Africa. In the process I met some of the most powerful black women in South African corporations, entertainment and even the wine making industry. And now, I have written that story. Wish me luck as I present this to my committee. Hopefully I don't need another six weeks to fix it :)

As for now, I am headed to Pretoria for 10 days to see the family and get all my shots, where after I leave for Paris on the 23d for training. I fly to Dubai on the 27th and will be very happily reunited with Chris in Kabul on the 28th (exhausted I am sure, as I have red-eyes all the way!) I still do not have a sense of how long I will be in Kabul, but hopefully long enough to get to know the program and the organization, as my country director is based in Kabul.

Next time I will post some general information on Afghanistan as well as the area that I will be living in. In the meantime, turning yet another page in my busy book...

3 Mar: Cape Town!

[The view from my window, yes, I know, I know]

When I learned they released my shipment from customs, I did not wait around to schedule a delivery, instead I offered to drive to the airport and collect it myself. This was Friday, on Saturday morning I was on a 737 headed south toward Cape Town. Eager to get started on my thesis and to have the opportunity to reminisce and catch up. Here I stay in the most peaceful, gorgeous place of a good friend I met in the gym in Baghdad. A South African former member of the special forces, Marius became like a brother in our house in Baghdad as we shared a braai and bad Baghdad wine on an almost weekly basis. Today I am nestled in his restored home in the town of Kleinmond 1.5 hours up the coast from Cape Town in route to Hermanus. The enclosed porch is where I spend my days, research spread out across the entire dining table I watch the world go by outside my window. The Indian Ocean spread out like a blanket at my feet, a truly inspirational place to complete a research project.

[My workstation]