Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Late Nights...Early Mornings

Whew!!! I have been incredibly busy over these last few weeks - not only with Building Global Bridges but also with my own personal work. Anyone who has ever completed a PhD program can testify to this statement: The work never ends...until you graduate...kinda. Even though I am away I still have to keep up with my academic responsibilities from home. Its been difficult to manage all of my responsibilites but I am ever learning to master the skill of time management, which is essential to successfully navigativing the journey of professional life. Needless to say, I have had my share of late nights and early mornings in Durban. I must confess, however, that my nights of limited rest cannot only be attributed to work. I have also stayed up/out late exploring South Africa outside of Kenneth Garderns and UKZN. At this point in my life, I am also trying to master the skill of working hard but playing harder and I am getting great practice in Durban. This past weekend I had an awesome time visiting Zululand. I had the opportunity to visit museums honoring King Shaka Zulu and Cheif Albert Luthuli (1st South African nobel peace prize winner), see a series of AMAZING traditional Zulu dances, dance some AMAZINGLY DIFFICULT traditional Zulu dances, eat dinner with the Cheif of Shakaland (a small commerical community within Zululand), and visit King Dingani's palace. I also went on a safari during which I saw 4 (elephant, wilderbeast, rhino, and a lion)of the South Africa's Big 5 (we missed the cheetas). Annnnnnnd I had a chance to meet and spend some time with a Sangoma(traditional healer). I loved all parts of my trip in different ways but the visit with the Sangoma was quite interesting and one of my favorite parts. Though most of the South Africans that I have met think that going to see a Sangoma is a pretty wild idea - I enjoyed my experience thoroughly and saw somethings I had never seen, heard somethings I already knew about my life, and learned somethings that I did not know. Overall, this weekend was great! It gave me a different feel for South Africa and I appreciated that. I played very hard this weekend and enjoyed every minute of it :) Check out my pics below...
                                                                          

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Here's my comment Jasmine, YOU BETTA WORK GIRL!!! So happy for you and for what you're eyes are seeing. Bring some of that healing home from the healing guy. I could use it because I have this knot in my shoulder...I'll spare you. When you come back, I want to see ALL the pictures. We'll do lunch!
    ~Curtis

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete