George Bush's biggest fan

Tuesday--Pilanesberg to Capetown

So it was time to leave the bush velde, and head out to civilization. We were picked up by our driver around 10:30, even though he was scheduled for 11:00, and he found this to be exceedingly awesome. His name was Daniel, and he kept talking about how safe a driver he was. Yes, he was super safe, especially when he was turning around to talk to us instead of looking at the road in front of him. He informed us almost every five minutes about how fast he was driving, but in kilometers, so it wasn't really helpful. At one point, we passed a hideous car wreck (note: everyone in South Africa drives like ABSOLUTE SHIT) and Daniel was very excited about this as well. There was a small blue car that had been totally ripped to shreds by a truck, and Daniel kept saying "Look! Look! Dead bodies! Look!" Lizzie was half asleep, so she looked out the window, much to her horror. I knew from the wreckage that it must've been awful, so I kept my eyes to the shoulder. We had to drive off-road to get around it, and Daniel reported:

"Two dead white men and three dead black men!"

Thanks for sharing, Daniel.

The other most awkward part of this was that he gave us a comment card. We had to fill it out and say what a safe driver he was because we were stuck in his car, and then our safe driver read it in front of us while driving. Yes, very safe. In any case, we survived that, and made it to the Jo-burg airport.

I was hungry and cranky (Yay!) and so we had to find somewhere to eat in the airport, the only available location being Wimpy's, a burger chain which I assume is named after the character in the Popeye cartoon, but I could be making that up. The food was hilariously terrible, and we asked for Diet Coke and got Tab, which was super excellent. Mmmm, diet tab.

We flew out to Cape Town, collected our luggage which had thankfully arrived with us, and then went to meet the car that would be taking us to the hotel we were staying at. The driver was a black man from the Seychelles named Emmanuel, and the first thing he asked us was if we were from Cape Town. So we told him we were from America, and he said "Oh! Who do you want to win the election?"

Lizzie and I looked at each other and said, in stereo, "Obama."

He asked us why, and we gave our myriad of reasons, and he laughed the whole time we were speaking.

And then he tried to school us stupid white chicks.

First he said that McCain needed to be president, because when black men become president, all of the white people leave and that leads to the destruction of countries and their economies, just like in Zimbabwe. (Yes, because with our white male president right now, our economy and country is definitely headed in the right direction). He also said that he was a huge fan of George Bush, and preached to everyone about how awesome W is, because George Bush worked for God, and not for the Devil. He said that George Bush believes in what he does, and as long as you believe in what you do, and believe that it is correct, it's the right thing to do.

Really? Well what if we think the right thing to do is to not pay you, sunshine? Does that make it okay? What if we decide that murdering you and stealing your car is the right thing to do? Break out the ice pick, Lizzie, it's car jacking time!

I was annoyed with his condescending attitude, and shocked at his naievete, and saddened by his self-hatred. He went on to say that it's okay that the US went into Iraq for the oil, because, hey, everyone needs oil! Just take whatever you want, and that's cool. I wouldn't be so soap-boxy with someone from such a different culture, normally, as I'm sure there are reasons for his believing what he does beyond what I'm aware of, but he clearly was not willing to do the same for us, as he was obviously not interested in hearing a dissenting point of view, especially from two women. So get out there and vote, folks, just to prove Emmanuel wrong. He doesn't vote, by the way, because he's not originally from South Africa, and doesn't feel like he should get involved. The man is just a closed-minded enigma, now isn't he? Also, he would like you all to know that the Seychelles has 85,000 inhabitants, and is perfect, and everyone loves each other. That's probably why he emigrated to South Africa.

The racism here is intense. (Not, of course, that it doesn't exist in America as well). There's three large strata of people, Whites, Blacks, and Coloureds, the "Coloureds" being anyone not "purely" black or white. Racism is rampant between each group, most destructively between the Coloureds and the Blacks, and also, when it exists within those two groups. The ending of Apartheid, though a majorly positive step, seems to be a small beginning to fixing a much larger problem. Again, my knowledge and experience about and in South Africa is limited, but I think I can safely say that hatred is never the way to go.