My Name Is

My name is Ambition. My name is VR6. My name is Thamisanq. My name is American. My name is Poseidon. My name is White Guy. My name is Mi Casa. My name is Varun.

I have become friends with the Zulu people. I have sung Zulu songs. I have worn Zulu clothes. I have drank Zulu beer. I have eaten Zulu food. I have danced Zulu dances. I have seen their kindness. I have seen their sorrow. I have heard their joys. I have heard their anguishes.

This morning, I wake up about to experience another shake up of 2012. First I moved out of my apartment. Next I quit my job. Then I came to South Africa for three months. Now I return home. If anything life is more uncertain now then it was in the past five months. I return now to the "real world." But the real world that I once lived will now be altered by this experience. Not dramatically yet all experiences in life change who you are. The people I've met, the work I've done, the experiences I've had have all effected me in some way. Will I be the same Varun that I always was? Of course. My goals have changed, though. My old life consisted of work at an un-fulfilling job, happy hours, bars, friends, family, trips. As many of these things will (and should) stay the same, I plan on changing and adding some things.

Now I have done a lot of talking and not a lot of doing, before. This is 2012, though. I told myself that this would be the year of change. Less talking. More doing. I think I'm off to a pretty good start.

Last Full Week In South Africa

I've been pretty lazy the past few days and that is why I haven't gotten a post out. This is one of my last ones as well seeing as I return home in a few days!

Monday there wasn't much going on at work. Neville and I did get permission to go into town for some shopping. I now have most of the gifts for people back home. If you haven't already asked me for something from South Africa, it's too late! You ain't getting jack. It was a gorgeous day for walking around town, shopping. Chilling with Neville was also pretty cool. I'll miss our constant making fun of each other.

Tuesday was a miserable weather day. It was cold and wet. It was birthday time at the office as over the weekend and on Monday there were birthdays. I decided to bring some L-3 MPRI cheer along so I went out and picked up a cake early in the morning. I surprised my co-workers with it and we enjoyed it early. Otherwise, work was also slow as transportation issues kept us from going out anywhere. I actually went home 30 mins early for a nice long 1 hour and 30 min nap. Wednesday was more productive. Sifiso and I went to a high school for one of our workshops. The room was filled with a massive group of students. There was well over 120 11th and 12th graders that were standing waiting for us. Luckily we've mastered the use of the Power Point presentation so we set up quickly and get our point across. I always pull the line, "We want you to be the next lawyers, doctors, business owners. Hell you can become the President Zuma and have 5 wives like him!" They all get a good laugh out of that.

Thursday was another visit to a high school. This time I told Sifiso that he was leading this one. I needed to see how he did on his own with Neville and myself in a supporting role. He was obviously nervous at first and rushed through the presentation. What I did notice, though, is that the students were less nervous and more willing to ask questions. It definitely has to be because he is speaking Zulu and they feel more comfortable asking him in their own tongue. I did get the question by one boy how he can come to America? I use this as a great opportunity to stress the importance of attending a university. If they go to one that offers an exchange program to America, that is one way to go. I also tell them to attend a university or college, work hard, make money and then come visit me. I finish by saying that I wouldn't have come to South Africa if I hadn't gotten my degree and had something to offer Child Care. I'm trying to inspire these young minds.

Friday was similar to the two days before. Only this time we had two high schools to visit. After the session at the first high school, Sifiso and I watched Neville run his program. Neville runs an 8 week program at these schools that chooses a few students from each grade. They then gather and talk about topics that effect their lives. This can cover sex, teenage pregnancy, AIDS, gender based violence, etc. The goal is to establish these learners as educated mentors in their schools so that they may provide guidance to other students. It was fun watching on as they talked about relationships. I even was called upon to provide some advice on love.

After work on Friday, I had set it up so that I would spend the night at Sifiso's home in a nearby village. We picked up some after work beverages and drove out to Ntumeni in a friend's truck. A big reason for going to stay with Sifiso is to see his aunt one more time. She had asked me to come back again the last time I saw her and I wanted to keep my word. After a brief stop in at the tavern, the group of us went to the house for dinner. Sifiso's aunt had made a great feast for us boys with chicken, mutton, corn and sweet potatoes. Exactly what was needed. Following the meal, we headed back to the tavern. I met a wide range of people at this small one room tavern. Had a great conversation with a murderer, a cop, Sifiso's brother and others. A grand ol' time. Around 10 pm, Sifiso said that he was tired so we headed back to the house. Sifiso has his own 1 room home and I was going to stay in his aunt's house. Due to social customs, I couldn't be alone with her in her house. Therefore, Sifiso's brother and I shared a bed.

Saturday I woke up to another chilly morning. Not having packed a bag, all I had were the clothes on my back to keep me warm. Sifiso's aunt made us breakfast and we headed out to see the friend who gave us a ride the day before, Junior. He was heading into Eshowe so I hopped a ride with him. Once in Eshowe, we picked up Neville and headed an hour to Empangeni to visit Junior's uncle. He is the one who got into a car accident and had moved to a new hospital. He appeared to be higher spirits, having his own room, tv and bathroom. I could tell he enjoyed the visit and our company. We stayed for an hour and then headed back. As soccer seasons around the world are coming to an end, so is South Africa's soccer league. Saturday's games would decide who won the premiership. The Orlando Pirates were hoping for a repeat win of last year. If they won Saturday's match, they won the premiership. If they lost, another team would win on points. It was a very intense show case. We hopped between two bars and there were Pirates fans everywhere on the edge of their seats. The game came down to the last minutes with the Pirates sealing their victory with a 4-2 win! We were cheering, clapping and shaking hands with the people around us. This was a truly neat experience.

Singing Happy Birthday

Cutting of the cake

A student speaking during Neville's program

Neville leading

Neville again leading

If you car breaks down, just dance in the middle of the road

This week was a very busy one at work. Monday we had an appointment at a village for our youth presentation. It was in a very small room that used to be a school. There were about 25 people there between the ages of 18-30 there. This was a larger crowd which was very good. We all sat down in colorful mini chairs, meant for 5 year olds, in a circle. I've found that for this presentation sitting in a circle establishes a better connection than standing and lecturing. I spoke to them about the character development skills to not only improve their personalities but improve their job searches. After that we spoke about job searching avenues, how to write a CV and how to conduct yourself in an interview. Like before, some people seemed to be soaking up the information. Others didn't seem to care too much. As I tell them at the end of my presentations now, I can't give them jobs. I can only give them the tools to enhance their job search. They can take what they want from it. Once we left the village, we decided to visit two high schools to set up more visits for the week.

Sifiso looking observing one of our activities

Imposing my knowledge onto these eager minds

Two gentlemen during one of our exercises 

Tuesday morning I was under the impression that we had high school visits to go to. Sifiso found out from one of the mentors that they had set up another village visit for us. The visit was supposed to be at 10 am. I found this all out at 10:30 am. Great. Already 30 mins late. To make things worse, Neville was out with the car. We didn't end up getting to the village until noon! As we were driving up, we saw people leaving. I would have left too if the leaders of the workshop were two hours late. We now had a large, impatient group that had already been waiting for two hours. We knew that our normal two hour workshop was not going to fly. I flew through the presentation, cutting out certain activities and focused on the material. It took about an hour. I felt bad because the day before we had a great session and this day it was rushed and the connection wasn't there. Oh well, hopefully some people got something out of it.

Wednesday. Ohhhhh Wednesday. What a day. Sifiso, Neville and myself had two high school appointments to go to. The area was a decent distance away from Eshowe, about 35 mins. We were on the normal back dirt roads going to the first high school when all of a sudden the car just died. The Mazda is old and pretty junky so just thought it was giving trouble. Neville started it up again and we kept on going. The car dies down again after a while. Neville and Sifiso get out to see what's wrong. I'm useless in this area. Point out a car and I can tell you the make/model and how much it costs. Pop that hood, though, and I'm lost. They weren't sure what was wrong with the car. They thought it was the motor. We did realize that we could go into reverse. Putting the car into reverse, we head forward thinking that if we could get to the main road we could hitch a ride back to town. After about 4 mins of this...the car died again. We push the car to a shaded spot and call back to the office and let them know what has happened. It's 12:30 pm. The office said that they would work on getting us a tow truck. We were hungry so we walked a mile to this very low supplied shop for coke and chips. A great lunch. Once we get back to the car we turn on the radio and wait. After 5 hours of dancing in the middle of the road, taking random pictures standing on top of the car, conversing about who knows what, we are told that a tow truck will arrive shortly. Neville spoke to his father during this time and he told him to check the fuel pipes. After some tests, we figured out the problem. There was no fuel in the car. Before you go and call us idiots for such a simple thing, the fuel gauge was reading a 1/3 of a tank of gas.

Well the tow truck came. The concept of a tow truck here is a pickup truck tying a rope to it's back bumper to your front. Our brakes weren't great as it is and since we were on a small mountain, going downhill would have had us smacking right into the truck. For the downhill part, we went in front and coasted down while the truck was behind us. Like any down hill road, it's not always at a decline and there are flat parts. At these sections, Sifiso and myself would have to hop out, run and push the car to the next decline. Since the car obviously can't stop to let you in, we'd have to hop into the car while it was picking up speed. While being dangerous it was also rather fun, though my legs were killing me afterwards. After an hour and a half we finally reached home. We did a test with a small amount of petrol to see if it was in fact the fuel and sure enough, the car started to run with 5 liters in the tank. Thankful it wasn't any other problem, I ate dinner and went to sleep. Despite the crappy situation and the complaining we did, it wasn't that bad. I had two friends to hang out with, the weather was perfect  for a car break down and I got some fun camera pics.

Neville and Sifso checking under the hood

Damn Dimples.

Future Facebook photo

Neville on top of the car

Sifiso's pic for the ladies

On Thursday, a car and driver were hired so Lwazi could take care of the car. After missing the two high schools from the day before and having booked ourselves up for Thursday and Friday, we had a lot of high schools to visit. Thursday we went to our first high school and spoke only to the seniors. They had electricity so we were able to use our projector. It worked great! I feel as if the students paid more attention with the projector being there. They still aren't used to projectors and power point presentations in this rural schools so it catches their attention. The visit went really well and again students were asking questions. Success. I thought that we had more schools to visit but the driver was only instructed to drive to one school. It was back to the office for us. So much for making up for lost ground.

Inspiring the youth of South Africa

Neville, in green, was in detention

No heads down sleeping. Always a good sign.

Friday was similar to the day before. We had a great presentation at a high school with lots of questions. Four high school visits ended up being only one. Frustrating but that's just the way it is.

Not wanting to end on a negative note, in two weeks time I'll be in Newark, DE with my lovely fiance that I miss a whole lot!

Moral of the Story: Fly Between Cities

Another week down. Just 2 more to go. I can't believe this experience is coming to an end.


Last week was a very short work week for me. With the public holidays and my trip to Johannesburg, I only worked on Wednesday and Thursday. We made the most of it, though. On Wednesday, we went and set up appointments for upcoming weeks. Thursday we had an appointment at a high school with 11th and 12th graders. This was, by far, our largest group yet. There had to be close to 200 kids in the room. We came fully prepared with our new projector. Step inside the room and immediately notice that there is no electricity in the room. So much for all the money spent on that thing. I again led the discussion, cracked some jokes and talked with the kids. Sifiso came in afterwards and clarified everything in Zulu. Again, you know when you've made a connection when the students ask questions. After the presentation, a couple students came up to ask us questions. Two girls said that they'd like to come in to the office and apply. A group of boys had questions about the application process. I'd say that was some fine work on our part.

Sifiso talking to the massive group

  

Students asking questions

Me speaking to the group

Friday I had the day off because I was going to Johannesburg to visit my cousin, Claudelle. She, along with her husband and two children, have been living in South Africa for about a year and a half. I was excited to see them as I haven't seen them in 6 years and haven't met their son. I decided to take a taxi van there and a flight back. The reasons I decided to do the taxi van were: 1) Save money 2) Experience the transportation of the locals 3) See different parts of South Africa. A normal drive to Johannesburg is about 8 hours. I was told that these drivers know all the back roads and can get you there in 5-6 hours. Even better. I told my cousin to meet me at the taxi station in the heart of Joburg at 2:30 pm. I got on the taxi and it left at 8:30 am. It was all down hill from there. The seat I was in had 0 leg space. My legs were at a bent position for hours at a time. Imagine that uncomfortable pain and not being able to do anything about it. 20 mins into the trip and we got pulled over by the police. That took about 20 mins. The taxi made one stop after two and a half hours. It made another another after another two hours. I was thankful for both of these as it gave my sore legs some time to stretch. I almost fell on my face after the first stop because my legs wouldn't extend. Let's say that 2:30 pm then came and left. I had no idea where we were and how far away we were. I was in contact with my cousin who was waiting for me. Finally, after an 8 hour trip we arrived at 4:30 pm. This taxi station was in the heart of Joburg. It didn't help that Neville's last words to me were be careful when I got there. The next 30 mins were spent trying to find my cousin. Finally we met up and headed home. The plans she had made for the day had to be scrapped. One of the biggest mistakes of my life.

Only good thing was scenery. Notice the change from lush green hills to dry plains

When we reached her home, it was in a very nice gated community. One of the residents had an orange Lamborghini parked outside. Their house was also very nice. I unloaded and met my nephew and niece. I tried to get them to call me Varun Uncle, but Thahini (the daugther) said I was too young to be an uncle. It was worth a shot. The night was spent relaxing and catching up with the family.

My niece, Thahini, preparing some ice cream for me

Nephew, Krish, with his cars

Saturday we started the morning by all of us going to Bush Babies. Bush Babies is a monkey reserve about an hour away. I thought it'd be walking around seeing monkeys in cages. It was quite different. It is a mini forest where the monkeys are free to roam around. We were immediately greeted by a monkey that checks your pockets for stuff. There are signs everywhere that say monkeys are kleptomaniacs and to secure all items. The tour was led by a guide that would point out the different monkeys that we saw. It went around different paths and across wire bridges. It was a really neat experience. Afterwards, we headed home for some lunch. Following lunch, Claudelle, the kids and I went to the Lion Den. This is a reserve for different animals with lions being the main attraction. You drive your car around these paths and look at the different animals. There were antelope, meerkats, lions, cheetahs, wild dogs, giraffes and others. At the end, you're allowed to go into an area with a bunch of lion cubs and pet them. Kind of felt bad for these cubs as their first months are spent with countless people touching you and flashing lights at you. We headed back home for a relaxing evening. Pizza was ordered, beers were poured and conversation was plenty between my cousin, her husband and myself. 

The monkey checking pockets

A monkey just enjoying his meal

King Julian the Lemur

My cousin and her son

Sandeep, the kids and I 

Check out that back drop

Antelope, I think, at Lions Den

Go Voltron Force!...anyone get that?

I bet he is so embarrassed this is on the internet

The cheetah just waiting to pounce

My cousin petting the lion cub

My turn. No, they're not dead

Mr. Giraffe wanted a close up

 Sunday morning I went with my cousin's husband, Sandeep, to his tennis lesson. Now I haven't had any proper tennis lessons in my adult life and I can just volley back and forth. The lesson began with a quick, intense warm up. Next was a volleying session. What happened afterwards I was not expecting. The teacher decided to teach me the basics and theory. He showed me a completely different way to hold my racket and  form. I felt bad taking over the lesson from Sandeep but this was extremely helpful stuff. At the end of the lesson I was sore, sweaty and tired but grateful to this teacher for giving me this lesson. I am definitely going to try and continue with lessons when I get back home. After a shower and breakfast we headed into Joburg for some shopping. My cousin took me to a market where I could haggle for merchandise. It was great and I have begun my gift purchases for people back home. Lunch was at this all-African cuisine restaurant called Moyo. It was completely outdoors with servers dressed in typical dress, a group singing African songs and women doing face painting. It was your typical tourist stop. The service was bad and the food was just okay. We left the restaurant and headed to the Apartheid museum. This was a moving experience. It gave a little history of South Africa and Joburg and then went into the history of apartheid. There was, of course, a big section dedicated to Nelson Mandela. This visit had to be cut short, unfortunately, so that I could get to the airport. It was extremely sad having to say goodbye to all of them. It was such a fantastic time visiting with the entire family. From playing cars with Krish, playing PSP with Thahini and conversations with Claudelle and Sandeep, the trip was a memorable experience.

Entrance to museum. They randomly assign you as white or non-white and you use that entrance.

Free at last!

Three great men of our time: Mandela, Tutu and Me

A picture of all of us outside of the museum

I flew back and Lwazi picked me up from Durban. After food and some shopping we came back to Eshowe late Sunday night. It was a great weekend...except for that damn taxi ride.

Hey American Guy, Are You From the UK?

This was asked by a very intoxicated, college girl. Everyone went quiet and I didn't quite know what to say. Then it was an eruption of laughter and me saying very nicely that no, I'm not from the UK. Her friends and she were very embarrassed after that.

This past weekend I went to Durban with Neville. Friday was a holiday so around 1:30 pm we hit the road. Now by hit the road, I don't mean hopping in a car or a taxi. I got my first taste of hitch hiking in South Africa. Before you get all worried and calling me stupid, understand that it is very different here. It is an extremely common thing to do and rather safe. A car with a couple picked us up and drove us all the way to Durban. We gave them R50 each and that was it. Neville's friend picked us up and we went to his flat in Pinetown, a suburb of Durban. Since this was a long holiday weekend, a lot of other friends were also in town. A few from Joburb had come in as well. The night consisted of drinking, getting to know these new friends and hanging out. It is in the middle of this group that this girl asked her question and we all had a good time with it. This question was a re-occurring joke through out the weekend.

After about three hours of sleeping, the morning began with McDonalds, grocery and liquor run and a beer in hand by 9:45 am. I did also get to try beef liver. Though it didn't taste too bad, I've decided that livers aren't for me. Yet, all the guys were impressed with my willingness to dig in and how quickly I fit in. The highlight of the weekend was finally going to the cinema. Neville dropped me off at very nice mall and I finally go to see The Hunger Games. Let's just say, I can't wait for the next film to come out! I got picked up after the film and we went back to the house to get ready for the night. The night found us going to a township where a friend was dj'ing. Apparently the township was a pretty dangerous one but we were with other people listening to music, drinking and dancing. It was a fun time and we ended up coming back later in the night to hang out.

Sunday we were supposed to head back home. We decided to save money and get a ride with Lwazi on Monday. It was a gorgeous day out so we were able to hit up the pool in the afternoon and chill out there. Neville told me that we would hit up a club at night, as I've been wanting to do. Yet we hung out at the apartment all night and people were falling asleep. It was a bit disappointing as I was really looking forward to experiencing night life in the city of Durban.

Monday we met up with Lwazi around 2 pm. Lwazi had a surprise for me. We drove to a store. He told us to get some food while he picked up something. There was an indian shop so we stopped for some quick curry and bunny chows. I then saw Lwazi load up the car with what he bought. He had bought a projector and screen for Child Care for us to use in our presentations! There'd been talk about getting a projector since I'd gotten here so I was glad to see the purchase.

Enjoy some photos from the weekend!

The four "white" guys

Drinking outside

Getting ready to go out

The tent where the dj'ing was happening and we were hanging out

At the pool. Action shot of some cannon balls

Neville enjoying his milk. The 2 year old enjoying his beer...wait a minute

ICC building in Durban

I'm Alive. Not In A Ditch Somewhere

I apologize for taking so long to post to the blog. I actually haven't had access to the internet for the past week. Trust me, I went through internet withdrawal. Internet is back and so are the blog posts.

Last week was a very successful week. Monday we were supposed to go to a high school to do our presentation. Alas, due to transportation issues we were unable to go. I was ready to write Monday off as a failure. That was until a guy came in who was at my welcome party on Saturday. We chatted about the weekend and everything. I thought he was here to see Sifiso or someone. It was then that he said that Sifiso told him that he could come in and get help with applying to universities. I didn't even know this kid was in high school. I told him that of course we could help him out and had him pull up a seat next to my laptop. I went over our packet with him very briefly. He let me know that he didn't have copies of certificates and other necessary items so he'd have to finish the application later. He did know that he wanted to study education to become a teacher at the University of South Africa. This is great news that he already knew what he wanted to do. I know I didn't when I was his age. I was thinking about becoming a sports agent. Anyway, we went to the website and saw that the application deadline was in 3 days! I printed it off for him, gave him the info that he needed from the internet and he went on his way. The system was working! Neville, getting motivated by seeing this kid, decided that it was time that he go and get his degree. He had me print off an application for him. Double whammy!

Tuesday we had our first village visit for the other section of our program. This part is 18-30 year olds character development and job searching skills. The group consisted of about 15 women. I led the session with Sifiso doing a quick back track after each section. We sat in a circle and I tried my best to lecture. Included in the presentation were a few activities to help them understand and provide some movement. Some were paying attention and taking notes. I did lose some to boredom, though. Oh well. I had a great time presenting and hopefully this will help some of them get a job. Neville took some photos on his phone so I'll get them later and post them here.

Wednesday we went to a high school for another presentation. It was a short 30 minute presentation like the others. It went well but I am finding trouble communication with the teenagers. I would think that younger people would understand English better than older but I'm finding the opposite here. I ask them questions and they never understand. And trust me, I'm not mumbling. That is why Sifiso is there, though. I am seeing an improvement in Sifiso's presentation skills as well. Before he seemed nervous. Now he appears more comfortable and knows his stuff. This is comforting since he will be taking over once I leave.


Thursday's work day was a failure. We drove 45 mins to a village high school only to arrive when they were dismissing for the holiday weekend. In the evening, I did get a call from Lwazi saying this his cousin was coming over and to be home since he was at work. I met her and she was a college student at the University of Zululand. She is a bright communications major that wants to become a journalist. Her visit was to interview Lwazi about Child Care. The two of us chatted for a few hours while we waited for Lwazi to return from work. We talked about her classes, America, Joburg, books and lots of other things. She spoke English well so I was easily able to joke around with her. It's these one on one conversations getting to know people that I really enjoy.

Too keep this post from becoming too long, I'll post about my weekend in 2nd post. Here are some pics from my welcome party and the week.

Some boerwurst on the braai

Sifiso the braai master and the kid who I helped with his application

Two of the mentors

Sifiso with Tholake's baby. Also looks like the house is haunted.

Lwazi and Zotha

Neville and his girl

Natty is throwing up the peace sign and Thandazo

The girl is Thandazo's daughter. The boy is Bhoyo, Thandazo's nephew.

Sifiso getting an early start on the drinking

I guess everyone was getting an early start on the drinking

Same mentors from before after some drinks

People like me!

My attempt at being artistic

On our way to the high school. Another school watching a game of Mat Ball.

Neville leading his program at the high school we visited