tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55277851817999690292024-03-14T02:52:47.291-07:00Jaywig's JourneysFrom an early age I imagined travelling, writing a diary of a world tour well before I earned any money. My imagination was fed by my father's collection of travel brochures. As an adult I did, and still do, travel, but on this blog not all reflects direct experience.Jennie Frainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236024902132203523noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5527785181799969029.post-12857268180430324162014-06-13T05:25:00.002-07:002014-06-13T05:27:34.775-07:00Turkmenistan<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What is it like to to spread actoss Iran and Afghanistan like a rug</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">of many cultures, peoples, denominations?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Not long ago nomads, you now allow high-rise housing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and yet this desert you call Karakum is the home of lunar images</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">a recognition of space, the ultimate fate,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">exploitation and the reconciliation of opposites: Arab</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">without money, future without contamination by the past.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">They say the heat beats all previous experience.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I never thought about this before; you see the future</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">like a victorious wanderer: I want to go, to be with you and your</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">unknown territory, your rare scenery. </span>Jennie Frainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236024902132203523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5527785181799969029.post-22913178316546424772014-06-08T03:24:00.001-07:002014-06-08T03:24:23.048-07:00T Islands<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tuvalu, Turks and Calcos, Trinidad & Tobago, Tonga, Taiwan, Tahiti & French Polynesia</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I love islands, don't</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">get me wrong.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I mean, I live on a really</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">big one; I've travelled</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">over water to Tasmania,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">from North to South Island</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">of New Zealand. Dammit,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I've ferried my way to</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Phillip and Kangaroo</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Islands without panic attack.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And as for Waiheke, well,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">maybe living there</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">was not the smartest move</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">with a daily commute</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">to Auckland. In all weathers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I suppose I'd better say</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Great Britain is not so GREAT</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">although Channel crossings</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">were not memorable.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So here we are traipsing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">islandwards across all the oceans.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Colonised, like my own, are Tahiti,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tonga, Tuvalu in the Pacific, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Turks and Calcos about to</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">disappear, swallowed by</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">the ocean of peace, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and Trinidad & Tobago, so</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">addicted to carnival.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Time to Explore!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />Jennie Frainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236024902132203523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5527785181799969029.post-14896527195012793222014-06-08T03:03:00.000-07:002014-06-08T03:03:22.198-07:00Time For T<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To resume my world travels in imagination or reality, in poetry or prose, in the present or the past ... whatever!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here's the list of T countries:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tahiti & French Polynesia</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Taiwan</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tajikistan</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tanzania</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Thailand</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tibet</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Togo</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tonga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Trinidad & Tobago</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tunisia</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Turkey</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Turkmenistan</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Turks & Calcos</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tuvalu</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wow! I'd better get moving, after 4 months in the U family.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<br />Jennie Frainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236024902132203523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5527785181799969029.post-69321025721230360452014-02-04T04:07:00.001-08:002014-02-04T04:11:51.509-08:00Ukraine & UgandaTwo different places! you exclaim.<br />
To me, they are trouble, troubled.<br />
I hope I am wrong. I stand for<br />
I receive Unreliable Information.<br />
<br />
However, He was The Destroyer.<br />
Idi. We knew from two countries away<br />
he was the Devil Incarnate, and pitied<br />
those who felt the heat, were roasted<br />
on his fire-pit. Amin, not Amen.<br />
<br />
He was and is not the only one.<br />
I wish I could tell you of my fears.<br />
That there really is a war between<br />
Good and Evil and so far the dice rolls<br />
as random as earthquake or bird flu<br />
targeting unfortunate "collateral".<br />
<br />
Today, "They" tell me Ukraine is beset<br />
by dissent. I wish the curse of Opinion<br />
and Righteousness would run its term<br />
and we would be blessed with silence.<br />
<br />
The silence of Love.<br />
Of Peace. Freedom.<br />
Of Kindness.<br />
The Silence of Certainty.Jennie Frainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236024902132203523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5527785181799969029.post-37570226498616489812013-11-23T02:16:00.001-08:002013-11-23T02:18:16.459-08:00United States of America: California 1987<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"That hill there, that's a wildlife reserve."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm sitting in the front of the Shuttle Bus from airport to hotel in San Francisco. I look where he's pointing and see only a conical hill, devoid of bushes and trees, and there are no large animals. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"A wildlife reserve?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Shuure! Butterflies. Mission Blues. They only live eight days. Won't see anything now."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"You've got a whole hill for butterflies and they only live eight days?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Shuure! They feed on the lupin flowers. Hard to tell the butterflies from the flowers."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I bet it is. Some of the blue spots would dance before your eyes, if your vehicle slowed down enough on this freeway. The hill is already well behind us. Eight days: that would make life rather an urgent matter.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />***</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Eagles sang The Hotel California into my world and here it is in reality: a jewelled quiet cave with settees covered in peach-skin velour.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">***</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At the bottom of Powell Street, two men in dinner suits with macaws on their wrists. For some inexplicable reason, this brings me a memory of my three-year-old son crying, fighting with his grandfather, as I am carried away down Mornington's Main Street in the Shuttle Bus to Tullamarine Airport. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">***</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The syncopated yell of cable cars. They're impossible to board except at the Terminal. John keeps whipping out his cassette recorder to interview bag men and shoeshine men. Frances finds silk outfits. I'm stalking books, latest editions of Marge Piercy's poetry, for example.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">***</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Frances and John return to the Hotel California after our six-day course. I choose the Burbank because it's cheaper. Hearing an eruption two days before July 4, I think war has begun. But the manageress rushes out to reassure me it's only a Chinese wedding over the road, fire crackers on the footpath. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"We had a quake on Monday," she says. "I just wondered," Wondered?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"A big one?"</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Six point eight."</span><br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>Here I'm aware how thin</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>city-skin is - Earth's heart</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>could heave and we would</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>simply fly loose, specks</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>of epithelium.</i></span><br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I visit Alcatraz. A middle-aged man on the ferry, alone. What if his Dad was an inmate? What if his Dad drowned, escaping? What if he's a middle-aged novelist, writing about a middle-aged man whose Dad did time on Alcatraz?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That's the United States for me: questions, questions, questions.</span></div>
Jennie Frainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236024902132203523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5527785181799969029.post-74826772078533681232013-11-10T00:52:00.002-08:002013-11-10T00:56:24.752-08:00Uruguay<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sandwiched between two big haciendas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">you appear as a bite-sized claim to fame.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I hear you eat a lot of beef and famously</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">invent tango with all that protein in</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">your blood. Even to roll those 'r's </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">in your name is to roll the hips and eyes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">to want some thing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There is the Sun and Water on your flag.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Travel Book photos tell me you are</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">undiscovered territory, worth exploring.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I scan my backyard for omens & signs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Small birds leap out of trees at dusk.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I too can tackle something beyond</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">understanding.</span>Jennie Frainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236024902132203523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5527785181799969029.post-88344842857395583742013-11-05T03:05:00.003-08:002013-11-05T03:05:50.206-08:00U's TurnThere is a country from every continent in this family of U: Uzbekistan in Asia, Uruguay in South America, United States of America in North America, Ukraine in Europe, and Uganda in Africa. There is also the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East. I notice the absence of "United Kingdom" and look forward to Scotland, Ireland and England. I know I have personal stories about Uganda and the USA, but the others will be represented by that other source of story-weaving, imagination.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>UZBEKISTAN: <i>May your travels be problem free</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What a beautiful flag she flies</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">the moon and twelve stars in a bright blue sky</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">the green land beneath, the Silk Road</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">edged in red for the threads that connect</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tashkent, Samarkand, people like me</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ignorant of history, to the world's human</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">tapestry. While a sea shrinks, hearts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">continue beating, and azure tiles and roofs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">keep challenging the sun to destroy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">this country of moon and stars, art and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">longevity.</span>Jennie Frainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236024902132203523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5527785181799969029.post-32705167069234435272013-09-15T04:52:00.002-07:002013-09-15T04:52:49.130-07:00Countries beginning with V<u><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">V! This letter is prolific</span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here we have Virgin Islands, Vietnam, Venezuela and Vanuatu.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">VIRGIN ISLANDS</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Miniscule as they appear</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">on page 53 Collins</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Essential Atlas of the World</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ref K8, the UK and USA</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">clearly will not sell off</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">this prime real estate</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">contiguous to better-known</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">islands such as Puerto Rico,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">the siamese twins of Haiti</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and Guatemalan Republic,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and that outpost of inspiring</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">social experimentation,Cuba.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A "dreamy weather year-round"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">has my hands itch to be rid of</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">arthritis, the reggae rhythms</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">have my legs and hips</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">remembering how to dance, but</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">there is nothing Christopher Columbus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">could say to explain why</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">islands this balmy and laid-back</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">should be named for St Ursula</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and eleven thousand virgins.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">VIETNAM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I sat on hard asphalt, protesting on your behalf. Now I know so many people who love to visit you. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When you were not free, I taught those who deserted you how to survive in this less dignified, less cultured country. Sometimes they cried. Sometimes they told me how to survive open boat journeys across heaving seas, although I could not then and cannot now imagine ever needing to. Invariably, they were orphans.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One young man adopted me as a mother-figure. We ate our pho in Victoria Street. He was tormented by unrequited love. It was the custom, he explained, to cut off a finger to demonstrate the power of devotion. I never saw him again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I missed the parties and spring rolls, the occupation of my home. When I left the job and suburb, however, I did not look back. For all of us, the future is far more inspiring than the past.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">VENEZUELA</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the English class, she insisted Venezuela </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">is not as kind to women as it could be.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A country of extremes and big proportions</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">say the travel experts. Who are we</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">to disbelieve?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">VANUATU</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Eighty-three islands, one hundred</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">languages. Let me retreat to a multinational</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">resort and bury myself in lush luxury,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">be pampered and never have to utter a word.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Or walk among, swim and boat throughout,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">your miraculous multitudinity, become</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">an internationalist within one country. </span><br />
<br />
<br />Jennie Frainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236024902132203523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5527785181799969029.post-1938306602331062002013-08-12T03:42:00.001-07:002013-08-12T03:42:30.491-07:00Wales<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have actually visited Wales, though I recognise none of Lonely Planet's favourite features. My travels are far too people-oriented to take in days hiking or touring castle towns. Both my visits were limited to Cardiff. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My first was in 1975 with my friend M, whose mother was born and raised in Cardiff. During or after World War 2 she met her French husband and they brought their two daughters to live in a Nissan hut at Fisherman's Bend, Melbourne, in about 1957. Of course they didn't stay longer than a few years in the hut; they bought land, built a house, lived happily ever after.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My friend M and I left Melbourne for Europe via Asia at the end of 1974. We took a train to Cardiff in an April that snowed, and passed through Birmingham, discovering how black and white a city could be. The image remains in my memory as one of those I'm-glad-I-don't-live-here-and-can-travel-on moments. M's relatives in Cardiff lived in the same street in which they'd grown up and plied us with several carbohydrate feasts. I left there slightly heavier and educated in the uses of three-tier silver cake trays and tea sets featuring pink spring flowers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ten years later I visited Cardiff to reconnect with a couple I'd met in Zambia in 1977. She was a Town Planner, he was something financial. They had two daughters too (there must be couples who produce sons in Wales, but I didn't meet any in my small sample of contacts). My son was a toddler; we took a walk through heathland that surrounded the new estate where they lived. That kind of estate now colonises the hilly ex-farming lands around my country town. Two storeyed eaveless homes copy the British way of housing a fast-growing population. The streets are off-road and winding.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Some time at the beginning of <i>this</i> century, I looked up R and F in Cardiff on the worldwide telephone directory. Only R was recorded as living at that address. As I didn't have an email address for them, I haven't found out why. My imagination makes up answers which I attempt to repel. I suppose I could have snail-mailed. Why didn't I? Ditto about my answers as above. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This blog has told me I need to take action. Facebook and snail mail, here I come. I hope I'm not too late. Wait for me, Wales!!</span>Jennie Frainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236024902132203523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5527785181799969029.post-82358964594365721592013-08-01T04:38:00.000-07:002013-08-01T04:38:47.720-07:00<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Little W countries and territories.</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I really do mean <span style="font-size: xx-small;">little.</span> We have Wales, Western Samoa, Wallis and Futuna Islands and Wake Island. A country under dispute is Western Sahara. On my Map of the World circa 1960, Wake and Wallis Islands earn speck status, while Futuna and Western Samoa either were unnamed as such back then or were less than specks in the big blue Pacific. To add insult to injury, Western Samoa does not exist for Lonely Planet in its big The Travel Book which purports to take us on "a journey to every country in the world". This makes me think WS no longer exists under that name, even though it appears in the Usborne Spotter's Guides FLAGS sticker book of 1997. Doomed, I'd say, to be renamed, by its plain red flag with a yellow Southern Cross on a blue rectangle in the top left hand corner.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now let's look at Western Sahara. On the aforementioned Map of the World circa 1960 there is a similarly shaped territory in West Africa called Sp. Sahara. I presume the Sp. refers to Spanish, not Spelling. Interestingly, this block of land is divided into two sub-sets: Rio di Oro in the south and Seria El Hamra in the north. The division is announced with a straight dotted line running east to west until it reaches the Atlantic Coast where, if you were the painter of such a line, you would be able to shade your eyes against the sun to see if the Canary Islands have drifted any closer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I will discuss Wales in a similarly erudite manner in the next blog, if it actually exists as a separate country.</span>Jennie Frainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236024902132203523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5527785181799969029.post-9499248656081269582013-07-31T06:11:00.002-07:002013-07-31T06:11:56.131-07:00<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">X</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While no country xists</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">whose name begins with X</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">we know there is a place</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">possibly one of those specks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">which mark a spot, which signal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">a reason to perplex</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">for there might be a treasure</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">aye, though palm or spinifex</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">have grown o'er ground</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">once tossed and turned, and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">search may become complex.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But where would be the fun and joy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">where quests revealed a holy grail</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">in a casing of perspex?</span>Jennie Frainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236024902132203523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5527785181799969029.post-26049959047658800142013-07-22T05:26:00.002-07:002013-07-22T05:26:45.005-07:00<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>Time to move on, this time to a place I've never visited</i>: <b>Yemen</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On the map</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">shaped like a clenched</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">fist, muscular arm</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">they say happiness</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and humour create</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">oases here, that</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sinbad and Aladdin </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">haunt without being</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">pushy, that someone</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">or something faintly</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">remembered by us -</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">languid, fluid, dry</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and gentle, inhabits</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">country, laughs mostly</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">at <i>our</i> comical parody</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">of human beingness.</span>Jennie Frainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236024902132203523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5527785181799969029.post-50876473383824200442013-07-08T04:55:00.000-07:002013-07-08T04:55:07.729-07:00<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Still in the zone of Zeds ... we are in Zambia</span><br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0cm;
mso-para-margin-right:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0cm;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">LETTER
FROM ZAMBIA, 20.12.11</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Dear
S,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
wonder whether you ever returned? Even if you had, they tell me massive change
has occurred even in the past five years. I feel tremendously optimistic and
blessed to have lived to see how it is now.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
is still a friendly country, even friendlier with the threat of military action
gone, vanished as if it never was. Even the elderly musungu in Planet Books did
not discuss it; she’s been here 54 years – came for a holiday, married,
returned to England only after 14 years. Fourteen years! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Kabulonga,
Northmead, Woodlands, they are run-down remnants of the ‘70’s. Places you used
to go “hunting” for butter, cheese, cooking oil, soap, toilet paper, even rice.
Those were the days of shortage and as my new acquaintance in the bookshop
said, it made us resourceful, resilient. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Here
I am with a battery-powered computer typing my story straight into something
printable. Forget the world of banda machine, carbon paper, chalk and board.
The youth here is as up-to-date as no doubt your students back in England were.</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">At
home with my hosts, the news stream on the 70 inch screen continues to update
us about Kim Jong Il’s successor, his son, Kim Jong Un, and Egypt’s
misfortunes, Syria’s resistance, deaths in the Philippines from floods. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
had no such access to the international stage. The good memories belong in
Kasama: firelit suppers when power failed and we cooked outdoors; disco nights,
special events such as Soap Ball and the Dinner Dance, and Independence Day
suppers, all in the New Dining Hall; Athletics Competitions on Unity Day and
Africa Day where you and I recorded scores and organised competitors. We made
do, loved the challenges.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 346.85pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Here, the dependence on government employment has largely
been replaced by enterprise and creativity. The roads are lined with furniture
makers, charcoal sellers, marble grinders, pillar and brick makers, charcoal
burner makers, gate makers. Everywhere there is activity – young men touting
shirts, flags, car parts, fruit, talk-time tickets (keeping the mobile phone
culture going). E. and I pass the small stall on the corner of her street in
Roma and she tells me the young man sitting there has funded his entire
schooling through the revenue he’s generated. Gone are the days when only women
sold roasted mealies along roadsides as was the case in 1985. The streets are
alive with the sound of urgency, action, intentionality, and so many young men.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 346.85pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 346.85pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Can you believe the banks are open all weekend these
days, some of them from before 8 am and up to 22:00 hrs on weekdays as well!
People work so hard. And still, dancing and singing are said to be an integral
part of life. I don’t hear it in the streets. Shops selling CD’s aren’t
overflowing as I remember that one in the Location in Kasama being. But maybe
it was always thus here. Or maybe it’s another change everywhere.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 346.85pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 346.85pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I have met up with some of those students we trained not
to fear authority, change, true independence of thought and action. This world
is of their making. I wish you had lived to experience the difference you made.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Here are photos of Northern Province, not Lusaka. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 346.85pt;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dN2TyAtSelY/Udqe3MdudwI/AAAAAAAAAMs/KFKCgia-VQ8/s1600/PICT0119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dN2TyAtSelY/Udqe3MdudwI/AAAAAAAAAMs/KFKCgia-VQ8/s320/PICT0119.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Kasama's Post Office</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sv6lnfX41i0/Udqe9MIMqJI/AAAAAAAAAM0/dREIp94I9t8/s1600/PICT0185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sv6lnfX41i0/Udqe9MIMqJI/AAAAAAAAAM0/dREIp94I9t8/s320/PICT0185.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lake Tanganyika, dusk </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aP20knoEEBU/UdqfGbpld1I/AAAAAAAAAM8/cxDIh_gcg-4/s1600/PICT0151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aP20knoEEBU/UdqfGbpld1I/AAAAAAAAAM8/cxDIh_gcg-4/s320/PICT0151.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The valley that Kalambo Falls tumbles into</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vtg96AdCZOc/UdqfkmUJ5pI/AAAAAAAAANE/2nV680X0Exo/s1600/PICT0062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vtg96AdCZOc/UdqfkmUJ5pI/AAAAAAAAANE/2nV680X0Exo/s320/PICT0062.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Past and present: remains of the open thatched shelter at our favourite picnic spot, Chishimba Falls, and the modern tourist facility behind</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6NUAsAz99v0/UdqfpZd8CDI/AAAAAAAAANM/M-ZBx3cvFuU/s1600/PICT0092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6NUAsAz99v0/UdqfpZd8CDI/AAAAAAAAANM/M-ZBx3cvFuU/s320/PICT0092.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Kasama's Airport</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LKHT2v2yP-Q/Udqf6ROjdHI/AAAAAAAAANc/CvVTwKZ1fqA/s1600/PICT0024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LKHT2v2yP-Q/Udqf6ROjdHI/AAAAAAAAANc/CvVTwKZ1fqA/s320/PICT0024.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One of the three sections of Chishimba Falls</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t7sA10Wmhc0/UdqgJ-TQMCI/AAAAAAAAANs/V8KnPw7qF18/s1600/P1090341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t7sA10Wmhc0/UdqgJ-TQMCI/AAAAAAAAANs/V8KnPw7qF18/s320/P1090341.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Beadwork takes on new dimensions.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0b8qR6hIDgo/UdqgMmdzxgI/AAAAAAAAAN0/DZqKkgHNGHE/s1600/P1090356.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0b8qR6hIDgo/UdqgMmdzxgI/AAAAAAAAAN0/DZqKkgHNGHE/s320/P1090356.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AsWFhiHgiZk/Udqgc1_TYnI/AAAAAAAAAN8/AnhUYX2QJs0/s1600/PICT0194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AsWFhiHgiZk/Udqgc1_TYnI/AAAAAAAAAN8/AnhUYX2QJs0/s320/PICT0194.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Heading for the port on Lake Tanganyika at Mpulungu</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W7Kn6t47rI0/Udqgmh4XB4I/AAAAAAAAAOE/YxtEM0DeUIM/s1600/PICT0226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W7Kn6t47rI0/Udqgmh4XB4I/AAAAAAAAAOE/YxtEM0DeUIM/s320/PICT0226.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lake Tanganyika, trade route to Burundi and Tanzania</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 346.85pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">By the time I took these photos my Panasonic Lumix had got a bad case of Internal Lens Humidity and refused to work. The search for a replacement is a story in itself, involving three stores, a back lane and four cameras in a glass case purchased secondhand on e-bay.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 346.85pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 346.85pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">It was not my dream camera.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 346.85pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 346.85pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 346.85pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 346.85pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 346.85pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Jennie Frainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236024902132203523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5527785181799969029.post-24149355332685244872013-07-05T05:42:00.001-07:002013-07-05T05:42:39.568-07:00<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Eastern Highlands, Zimbabwe, 1985</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Chimurenga War punished this colonial potato farm.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mugabe's New Order allows re-creation as a holiday house.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I tie you to my back, little one, walk as if toting</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">a sack of meal from the store. The Africans with us</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">refrain from pity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Underfoot, hills and vales of moss and conifer sheddings</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and your weight countered by the lift of lichens, frail</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and dense as cobwebs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am walking like a huntress. At the lookout, scan</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">a city of floating inselbergs, a deep broad borderland. How far</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">they had to climb</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">out of Mocambique, those freedom fighters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I lace my fingers beneath your slung bottom,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">pace restless.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Juliet says if we speak bad things about the views here</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">the spirits will be so angry we can never come again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From this windowsill of the world, we trudge then</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">the shortcut to our rebuilt house, our place for retreat</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and play.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Asleep, you sag, drag my shoulders back </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">while my feet step lightly, caressing the path</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">to recovery. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />Jennie Frainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236024902132203523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5527785181799969029.post-80490944390983929212013-07-04T04:43:00.000-07:002013-07-04T04:43:08.593-07:00Starting at the end of the alphabet<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Zimbabwe 1985</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Fv3iDgyNQOM/UdVdLNnRxGI/AAAAAAAAALE/6pcLwAl3c7Y/s1600/018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Fv3iDgyNQOM/UdVdLNnRxGI/AAAAAAAAALE/6pcLwAl3c7Y/s320/018.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Great Zimbabwe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vpJvUgydiUE/UdVdTk54zoI/AAAAAAAAALc/dA2JfNWrzMY/s1600/022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vpJvUgydiUE/UdVdTk54zoI/AAAAAAAAALc/dA2JfNWrzMY/s320/022.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One way to cross a vast grassland</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We stayed in the former home of the former Attorney General. The first entry in my journal was that the burglar bars looked like lace. The huge living room windows were unbarred, and I speculated that they had possessed more than one giant German Shepherd. Our hosts had no large dogs and one morning we woke to find the windows had been used as doorways. My watch had vanished from my bedside table, a laundry basket - full of clothes the evening before - had been ransacked and was almost empty.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There was an unfenced swimming pool in the grassy grounds. The houseworker and I took turns holding our sons' hands as they toddled around the perimeter. This proud woman spent her free hours studying secretarial skills and participating in street theatre with a workers' freedom group. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">With her, we explored the rural villages where her family lived, viewed and failed to capture on film a range of wildlife that made me gasp, and felt the pull of a powerful past at Great Zimbabwe. My son, not yet two, often slept tied to my back and, when awake, demonstrated the art of mimicry, doing as we did, experimenting with actions that made little sense to him. He remembers nothing of his five-month stay in Africa.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Though we bonded in the shared knowledge of single motherhood, my new friend's world was vastly different to mine. A world where clerks expected women to "fall in love with them" and therefore pave the way to receiving maintenance payments from absent husbands. A world where widowhood meant being "inherited" by the brother, or even nephew, of the deceased, and then to be required to stave off all his advances until the time when the mourning and dependence could end. A world where a difficult birth meant you'd been unfaithful, and to "tell" was the way to make the birth easier.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Less intimately, I discovered how to prevent water spilling out of the tins women carry on their heads. Do you know how?</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EWOZKS1Cwpk/UdVfF0ijBBI/AAAAAAAAALo/bWWurtXHFEo/s1600/020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EWOZKS1Cwpk/UdVfF0ijBBI/AAAAAAAAALo/bWWurtXHFEo/s320/020.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The young explorer</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NpoqlNcPeM8/UdVfIlmm9ZI/AAAAAAAAALw/KEpzlxIgIVQ/s1600/021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NpoqlNcPeM8/UdVfIlmm9ZI/AAAAAAAAALw/KEpzlxIgIVQ/s320/021.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Afternoon tea in the back yard</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Jennie Frainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12236024902132203523noreply@blogger.com0