Preparing for South Africa

Before traveling to a place, especially on with as rich a cultural and political history at South Africa, I like to learn as much as I can so that I can appreciate it and enjoy it all the more when we are there. I've read a few books and watched a few movies to help me prepare for our big trip.

Kaffir Boy

I read this book and found it to be a wonderful auto-biography of a boy, tracing his roots from a tribal village through the treacherous times of apartheid in South Africa. I learned quite a bit of background information about the culture and people, while getting tons of social and political history about the country.



Age of Iron

This book was highly acclaimed, but I just couldn't get into it. It has a lyrical and poetic sense to the tale of an older white woman on the verge of death who writes semi-coherent letters to her daughter and shares her experiences in the ever-changing world of white & black in South Africa.


Cry, the Beloved Country

Probably the best fiction book I read in a long time! It shares the hearth-wrenching journey of an elderly pastor who goes to find his son and others who have left the African countryside to find work in the big city. Although tragic, his fate is inter-twined with that of a neighboring white man's son who has a fateful interaction with the pastor's son. H watched the movie with me and he also greatly enjoyed it.


Long Road to Freedom: Autobiography of Nelson Mandela

I also read the auto-biography of Nelson Mandela, which is probably the longest book I've ever read in my entire life. Although a bit much on details at times, it was a fascinating story of how this young tribal boy became one of the most powerful and lasting political figures on South Africa. It goes into great detail about the political struggles, the violence between the races, the political resistance and Mandela's decades in prison. We are going to visit Robben Island when we are in Cape Town and take the tour of where Mandela was kept for so long.



21 UP South Africa

This was a very unique documentary in a series that chronicles the lives of groups of people every 7 years. We start out following quite a few children at age 7, and then check in with them again at age 14 and 21 to see how their world has changed, how they have grown up, how their opinions and circumstances have evolved. Several of the children did not make it to 21, due to accidents or illness. It was great to see black, white, mixed, and Indian profiled in the South Africa portion.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Starting tomorrow, I'll be posting a special blog series while we are on our South Africa vacation. I take a trip down memory lane and re-visit each year of my 20's. I never knew how much stuff I'd already forgotten that I'd done. It's been interesting to re-live some of the triumphs and trauma of this amazing decade, and although it's been a TON of work to organize it, I will be happy to have a mini-life journal all in one place.
Hope you enjoy!

Favorite Travel Guides

One of my favorite travel guides to buy for a city and actually take with us are the DK Eyewitness Top 10 books. I think own or have owned about 12 of these compact books that make the perfect tour guide for many popular cities (areas) around the world.

The first useful feature on the book is that the front and back flaps fold out to show various maps- both downtown detail and area overviews. This photo is the back cover of the Boston book and shows the downtown area detail. On the back of the map are generally transportation- bus, train or subway routes.

The front cover is a larger overview of the Boston area and Massachusetts in general.

I adore how these books are laid out. They tell you the Top 10 must-see sights in the city and have a full page spread devoted to each one. Then they get further broken down into specific categories where the Top 10 restaurants, bars, shops, cafes, festivals, local specialties and many more things are listed on a page each. Then to help you find recommenced things once you are in a neighborhood or part of town, the books lists hotel, dining and bar recs for each of the big areas. Finally, they offer some practical tips about getting around in the city and what might make each city unique or present unusual challenges.

One of the great features that I find very useful is the inset map on most pages telling you where the Top 10 on that page are located. I can't wait to check out the Top 10 beaches in San Diego.

In the Los Angeles book, this is a sample of the Hollywood area page with recommendations for bars & clubs and for dining options. The brief description is usually enough information to make a decision and the pricing guide is helpful too. I've got quite a collection of these books going- mostly free from Paperback Swap.

One of my other favorite travel things is the popout map series. They are small enough to fit into a pocket, but contains tons of useful information. Plus they are just too cool!

The inset maps shows major freeways into the city and a map of the local public transportation.


Keep opening and the map pops out to reveal all sorts of good travel stuff.

There is a left popout map and a right popout map that contain different areas of the city and different levels of detail. You can find all the available Popout Maps here.
Happy Traveling!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Back from Disney with lots of good photos to share!

Reading Fool

Since I discovered Paperback Swap, I've been on a book tear! I heard such great things about the movie, I thought I'd read the book Charlie Wilson's War. It's SUCH A GREAT BOOK. Throw together a small-town Texas congressman, the flashy '80's lifestyle, Cold War communism, the powerful & secretive CIA, the high-power congressional committees and mix in a war in Afghanistan and you have a gripping tale. Don't forget reality- it was all true & unbelievable amazing story of how the US covertly supported the Afghan rebels against the Soviet invasion, which was one of the biggest ways we beat the Russians during the cold war.

On the recommendation of a friend, I picked up The Poisonwood Bible to read a little background on American missionaries going into the Congo in the 1950's. Since it was fiction, I had to shift gears a bit & it took a while to get into this novel where each chapter is told by one of the 4 daughters, complete with her own point-of-view and idiosyncrasies. Being on Oprah's book list, I think I was expecting a little bit more. However, it provided some great insight into the problems that still plague christian missionaries that arrive in foreign lands and attempt to force Jesus onto people who are simply struggling to survive everyday.

Back to non-fiction, after reading Infidel, a friend also suggested Between Two Worlds- Escape from Tyranny: Growing up int eh Shadow of Saddam. This was a fascinating auto-biography from a young girl who grew up in an Iraq which was very much like the western world. They went to school, danced, picnicked and lived a rather normal life until her father was promoted to be Saddam's pilot. She has an incredible story of what it was like to be so close to some one so evil. The constant fear that surrounded her life as the Iran-Iraq war began, and she began to see Saddam as not mearly an "uncle", but also the man responsible for so much of the world around her. Another fascinating read about Islam and the Middle East, and how many of the ordinary people are being held hostage by warped leaders.

Seeking to read more books about South Africa, I found the author Coetzee to be highly acclaimed, so I picked up his Age of Iron. It was an interesting tale of a dying woman's realization of the evils of apartheid, and who is sending letters to her daughter in America in her final days. It was just a strange story to me, and I never really got into it.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Going out with the family tonight for

More Leisure Time

The Great Debaters

This was a really fabulous movie, based on a true story, about an African-American college in the 1930's. Besides the historical and cultural backgrounds, it was neat to watch this team challenge stereotypes and break down barriers as they became national debate champions. Denzel Washington is such a great actor, and the movie was pretty close to historically accurate.

Unforgiven

I'd added this movie to our Blockbuster list because I'd seen it described as one of the best western movies ever. I thought it would fit the requirement of our 101 List of watching classic movies. I HATED this movie for so many reasons. First, I'm NOT a Clint Eastwood fan. Second, I think I was too disturbed about how the initial confrontation escalated to the women making bad decisions and then all these people basically trying to track down and hill these men. Urgh...I think I will have to let H screen my movies on the list.

Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian and Jew- 3 Women Search for Understanding

I really enjoyed this candid & frank discussion between these women as they explored stereotypes and many of their own insecurities with each other. It was very interesting to read about how they were each struggling with elements of their own faith, but in the end, were re-affirmed by learning about other people's faith. I'd highly recommend it to anybody wanting to learn how the three major world religions are similar and how they are different.

Hancock

I really, really don't care for going to the movies, but it's my husband's favorite thing in the world to do. I try to compromise sometimes & he's so excited if we go to see something at the movies. A few weeks back we went to see Hancock, and I surprisingly enjoyed it. It started out a bit hokey, but I typically like watching Will Smith. It was a neat twist on the super-hero concept, except all the flying scenes made me a bit motion sick.

I've actually read a few other books since these, but I think they were so good that they deserve their own special posts coming up shortly. And we've been so engaged in watching the Olympics every night that we've seen very few movies either.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Zoe & I are off to the dog park again this morning to play with Ms. Ruby.

Book Giveaway

I'm a big believer in reusing things and passing them along once I'm done with them. I also love to support and encourage my friends to read. I know I've got several book worms who read my blog, so as a celebration of my blog-iversary I'm passing them on. If you want a book- just leave a comment before anybody else claims it.

1- The Kite Runner (my review)

2- Three Cups of Tea (my review) GONE

3- Not on our Watch (my review) GONE

4- Like Water for Elephants (my review) GONE

5- The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian & A Jew, 3 Women Search For Understanding (Amazon review)

6- Smart Couples Finish Rich (my review) GONE

7- Eat, Pray, Love (my review) GONE

8- Infidel (my review) GONE

9- 3:16 The Numbers of Hope by Max Lucado (my review)

See a book you'd like to read?

My blogging review usually included a link to Amazon to read more about each book. First person to leave a comment requesting a book can claim it. I will cover the shipping charges and hopefully get them in the mail this week. One book per reader/commenter, you must email me with your mailing address to receive the book.

Also, in a special contest to thank all readers and especially those who leave comments, I'm giving away a $25 Amazon e-gift card. Even if you don't want a book, leave a comment and tell me who you are and how you found my blog. I'll have a random number generator tell me which lucky commenter wins the prize. You can have a book and the gift card, so share some comment love!

CONTEST IS NOW OVER!

Thanks again for stopping by!

ETA: Thanks for all the comments! I've been able to get an email address for everybody so far from your Blogger profile. I'll be sending you an email once you claim a book.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: More pictures of this stinker tonight & I'm meeting a friend from High school for dinner.

Recent Entertainment

Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End the Genocide in Darfur

I picked up this book because I wanted a better understanding of the crisis going on in Sudan. It was a heart-breaking and inspiring book at the same time. I can only hope and pray that our politicians will hear the pressure of the public to stage a more aggressive intervention into the killing spree.

Water for Elephants

I was stuck out in San Jose, CA a few weeks ago without anything to read on the long flight home. I dashed into the bookstore & grabbed the first book I'd heard of from the bestseller shelf. For my 101 Things, I need to read some fiction and I thought this would be a good opportunity. This is just a very odd book. Think about all the creepy and bizarre things that went out in the 1930's and in a circus and multiply them together. It was entertaining, but fairly depressing in how the circus and society as a whole treated societal outcasts and animals.

Glory

Also on my 101 List, is to watch classic movies. H happened to record this on our DVR, so we watched in a relaxing Sunday afternoon. Great movie- but such a sad and tragic topic. All war movies are difficult for me to watch, but it was amazing to see the pride and eagerness that African Americans were willing to fight and die in the Civil War.

Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court

Given my recent shift in political views, I wanted to learn more about the supreme court. I know that above and beyond all the issues of each and every election, both sides cry out "...and don't forget the importance of life time judicial appointments!" I wanted to understand better why the court has remained "liberal", even after a string of appointments by Republican judges. It's a good- mostly about the judges themselves and not specific cases.

The Bucket List

Watched this movie on the airplane and probably wouldn't have just picked it. Again, sort of a depressing topic- making a list of fulfilling and exciting things to do before you kick the bucket. I think everybody should make that list long before they are given a short time left to live. I also wasn't too happy with him leaving his wife & family during his dying days, nor being nearly moved to tears while on a plane. ;)

Step Up 2 the Streets
Another airplane movie, but I totally dug it in all of its cheesiness. It's a culture shock and clash when a street dancing girl gets accepted to a classical dancing school. Of course, the predictable crush on dance boy, and she *frees* many of the students from their stuffy, conservative art box by starting a street dancing crew.

Ballet: 3 Classics, 5 Tangos

So I'd heard about this Tango Ballet coming to town months ago and bought us tickets. I'd been very eagerly awaiting the big show. We got all dressed up and went out for dinner, but my Cosmo was my main highlight. I guess I just don't *GET* ballet. I can appreciate it a little bit, and I'm impressed with their athletic ability and skills. However, I just get bored after a while and there was nothing remotely tango-ish about this show to the casual (me) observer.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: So much more free time lately- I'm loving it!

3 Cups of Tea

A few weeks back, on my travel-hell week, I grabbed a book to distract me from the stress of delayed flights and studying for the PE exam. I happened to pick up an amazing book called 3 Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace one School at a Time.

It's the true story of Greg Mortenson who stumbled into a Pakistani village after nearly dying on his attempt to summit the deadly K2 Mountain. While recovering, he has some moments of clarity and decides to dedicate his life to a new passion in the mountains he has come to love. Be sure to check out the great info on his website too.

He commits himself to building schools in the super-remote regions of Pakistan. The book is about his struggles in the 1990's, how he was able as a white American to gain the trust of the locals and make incredible progress towards educating a whole generation of rural Pakistanis.

Through the generous donation of a philanthropist, he is able to establish the Central Asia Institute to work on dozens of schools and commit his life to bringing education into an area where the Taliban started infiltrating after the war in Afghanistan.

Read more about the book at it's official website. It was a fabulous and inspiring book, and I really am amazed that one single person made such a difference to thousands of people. He also reinforces the only way to fight fundamentalism and terror threats around the world is through education, opportunities for advancements and ending extreme poverty.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: After reading about the incredibly harsh conditions and basic lifestyle of the rural Pakistanis, I'm so blessed to have just been born in the Western world 28 years ago today :)

Review: Smart Couples Finish Rich

The other great book that I have mentioned that has revolutionized my financial thinking lately- Your Money or Your Life and it works very well with Smart Couples Finish Rich.

Part of SCFR that I enjoyed was that it worked well with YMOYL by helping me define my life goals not just in terms of finances or money. It's easy for people to say "I want to have a million dollars" or "I want to retire when I'm 40", but those statements don't get to the heart of what you really desire or why achieving those goals would bring fulfillment.

By forcing myself to write out the things that I valued most on my life, I was able to find a renewed purpose for financial planning. We've paid off all of our consumer debt, so we're now able to save aggressively. But save for what? Save it all for retirement? Retire and do what then? What about enjoying life now? How do we want to spend our money the next 20, 40 or 60 years?

The first part of the book is lots of facts and figures and anecdotal stories to tell you how messed up people's finances are. He presents lots of charts and graphs showing how much you could have at some future date if you had started saving in junior high. The middle portion of the book, where he focuses on goal setting and defining your value is the most valuable part to me. The rest of the book was composed of very elementary personal finance lessons, which weren't relevant to me.

Another more complete review of the book is available here at The Simple Dollar, a great personal finance blog (which also contains reviews of many other personal finance books).

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I finally have dental insurance and I'm going to the dentist today!

Review: Infidel

I mentioned last week that I had a stack of books to be read, and I started reading Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali on New Years. All I can say is that this was an amazing, extremely intense book that opened my eyes to a whole new world.

The book is the autobiography recounts Ali's days as a child who was raised in an ultra-strict Islam family, moved from Ethiopia to Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia trying to escape the tribal violence and clan fighting.

I learned a great deal about the clan and tribal systems that are prevalent in many African countries. In a place and time where honor and family name matter more than life and death, it's difficult to be a child who begins to question the rationality and validity of Islam.

The reader learns about how women and children are considered property, regularly beaten and sexually abused through circumcision. Children, both boys and girls, routinely endured the incredibly cruel and painful surgeries without anesthesia or antibiotics, generally in their own home. I hate to mention this because it's is so awful, but I think we can no longer ignore these things. You can read more about female genital mutilation by reading the World Health Organization's website.

As Ali grows older and watches the horror around her, the constant killing and continual treatment of women as inferior to men, she slowly begins to crack through the scar tissues of guilt and fear that had be so methodically instilled into her.

After being married off to a man she neither knew nor loved by her father, as was the custom for all women, she flees to Holland on her way to her husband in Canada and seeks asylum in the country.

Her story continues as she adapts to life in a modern world instead of on a dirt floor. She must face the demons of her past and question the values that were literally, beaten into her nearly every week of her life. She works hard to make the most of this opportunity to leave behind her painful past, getting an education, working hard and finally beginning to share her first-hand experience as a Muslim woman with the outside world. She discusses the 9/11 attacks and the death of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, whom had helped her produce a provocative film about the inhumane treatment of women in Islamic countries.

Amazing book. I highly encourage everybody to read it. I learned so much about African culture and the inner-workings of Islam. I understand so much more now and it's so disturbing. I am even more committed to the causes of women's equality throughout the world. You owe it to yourself, as a woman (and any many that loves a woman), to be aware of this on-going global tragedy.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I'm so incredibly lucky and blessed to gave just been born in this country and to a loving family.

BOOK REVIEWS

My favorite librarian often shares with her blog readers what she's reading to her kids and she recently asked for audience participation in what we were currently reading. I've actually been on quite a reading spree lately (mostly on airplanes to Detroit and Los Angeles and Arkansas), and I received a few books for Christmas I am looking forward to reading.

3:16- The Numbers of Hope by Max Lucado

I obliviously just finished this short devotional book and doing the 40 days of meditations. I thought it was, great, simple and focused. Anybody, no matter how busy you are, could do the 1 page daily devotionals. Great gift idea if you know somebody interested in learning more about Jesus.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

This books was on my Amazon wishlist, but I saw it in the airport and grabbed it to read on the plane. EXCELLENT book! I couldn't put it down. In many ways the story of the struggle of the young boys transcends time, culture and geography and could have been set anywhere. However, using Afghanistan as the background for this wonderful novel lets the reader have an inside view of the culture and the country that we only know about from news reports. I can't wait to see the movie and look forward to reading the other book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, when it's out on paperback.

When the Nile Runs Red by DiAnn Mills

This book was for sale at church after our special missions Sunday sermon a few weeks ago. Our church has recently purchased land on the Nile River to build an orphanage for children with AIDS. The author of the book was signing them & all of the proceeds were going straight to Africa. We had also recently watched Blood Diamond, Hotel Rwanda and God Grew Tired of Us. I've learned so much about the civil wars and genocides in Africa that I'm honestly shocked and appalled that these situations continue. This was an interesting fiction novel set in modern day southern Sudan, where there is fighting between the Arab Muslim government from the north and the African tribal, mostly Christian, groups in the south. I really learned quite a bit about the situation and the background on the fighting, and I'd recommend this book to anybody who wants to know more about this on-going tragedy, but finds it hard to read newspapers or academic books on the subject.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Another airport buy! Since this book has been on the best-seller list for months and I *LOVE* travel, I thought I would give it a read. It was pretty enjoyable, although I liked the Italy and Bali parts the best. It was a great introduction to meditation and how you can still use it within other faiths.

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

This was a Christmas gift from my Amazon wishlist that I can't wait to read. After reading the Kite Runner and other books about political happenings in Muslim parts of the world. I'll hopefully start on it very soon and update you when I'm done.

How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth by Gordon D. Fee

I saw this book recommended and thought, that after doing my 40 day devotional, it would be useful to learn more about how to read the Bible. It has great reviews on Amazon and I think, as a Christian, it's vitally important to understand the way the Bible works together was a whole, how it was written and why the authors wrote what they did.

Smart Couples Finish Rich

I did a TON of financial reading in college and my first few years out of school, but then turned more towards reading books about my faith and then of course, marriage and relationships. I thought it was a good time to re-focus on our finances and learn how we can reach our goals (after we figure out what those long term goals are!). We're doing great and will hopefully be on target to reach all our short-term goals.

Frommer's Brazil & Argentina

Can I just say what a great Christmas present!?!? We've already spent at least an hour scouring the pages, sticky-nothing things we need to copy to take with us and resigning ourselves to the fact that we will definitely have to go back to Argentina again to cover the rest of the amazing country. I'm getting so excited about our big trip- just 6 weeks left!

National Audubon Society Guide to Landscape Photography

As you can tell by our Colorado Trip- I love the great outdoors! Most of our travel dreaming places include amazing scenery, so I had to include a book on my Amazon wishlist. I've only flipped through this book so far, but the pictures are unbelievable. I need to add several more places to my "must go soon" list! I can't wait to read all the tips and tricks for taking spectacular photos of God's masterpiece.

A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power

After reading/watching/hearing so much about all the struggles that are going on throughout the world, I think it's vitally important to understand who the American government and the American people have contributed, in both good and bad ways, to the atrocities that are going on in South America and Africa. It looks long and very detailed, but when we are talking about millions of people dying, I don't think you can ever read enough about it.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: So much learning going on- I love it!