South Africa Refreshed

I've stopped adding to this blog, but the end is also a new beginning. My blog on my experiences being back in South Africa is called South Africa Refreshed.

Breaking Up: Final Blog Post

I'm sitting amid a pile of boxes and suitcase. In about 20 hours my plane to South Africa flies out from JFK. These are my last hours in New York.

That makes this the last blog post from New Mokum.

I spent my last evening, by chance, in the IHouse Pub with Brian DeBono who I met when I went to the House to sell my old printer.

I spent my last weekend saying goodbye to friends at a farewell dinner, and hanging out with Alyssa in a day of flyering (old printer, anyone?), brunching with St.Ace, Christmas shopping, movie going (Milk - see it!) and a final late-night visit to the amazing jazz and pot atmosphere of St. Nick's Pub which is just around the corner from me on 149th Street, and I left me wishing I'd discovered it sooner.

I spent my last week in a crazy fast-rotate cycle of packing, working on my research project and trying to enjoy the city. Shipped my stuff out of New York on Friday.

At the moment, New York is feeling like one of those relationships where you wake up to the fact of how important it has been when its pretty much over. Actually, I've never had one of those relationships with a person, but I'm sure they exist. But it seems at least I'm having one with a city. So, New York, I'll publish it on the Internet: although I've vilified you constantly, I will 'fess up and say you are an amazing city, harbour some of the best people I've met, and been the scene from one of the happiest and fullest times of my life. It has been an amazing experience. I think I have been in love with you without really knowing it.

Now its time for me to go.

10 Things

... I will miss about New York

1. great people
2. winter sunshine
   
3. shopping for groceries at midnight
4. the subway
5. water water everywhere
6. gothamist architecture
7. ethnic neighbourhoods
   
8. endless variety
   
9. dogs dressed in T-shirts
10. not really being in america
    

And for good balance, here are 10 things I will not miss about New York

1. Duane Reade, and its suppository aisle
2. the subway
3. obese cars
4. times square
5. hipsters in fake glasses
   
6. fast food nation
7. consume consume consume/trash trash trash
   
8. rats
9. tvs in bars, laundromats and taxi cabs
10. really being in america
    

Broadway, Second Act

Made it onto Broadway tonight for my second show, in the company of a tibetan princess. The show was August: Osage County by Tracy Letts. It is the story of a family in Oklahoma which implodes. And no, its not a musical.

Winter Hiking: Sleet Sleet Sleet

I've been a driver for the hiking club for two years, but I have never lead a hike. I wanted to lead at least one before leaving New York, so today I lead a small group (6 others) onto Schunnemunk Ridge, close to Westpont Academy about 60 miles north of New York. As my luck would have it, this was the worse weather I have ever hiked in: rain, then sleet, then mist, then rain. Actually, it was not only a cold and slippery hike, but it was also a pretty intense one which I am glad I did. I was also very happy that everyone who put their name down actually came along. And even more glad that I had a thermos of hot tea with me.








(Photo: Brian Bulthuis)

Microbrewery Kitchen

Today I joined friends (Heide, Melinda, Louisa) brewing beer in Heidi's kitchen. We brewed one batch, bottled a second and drank a third. Not only did this stink nothing like the Holsten brewery I lived next to in Hamburg (it was a pleasant smell which reminded me a bit of bread) , it was also huge fun to do - and the product was amazing!

Mugabe as an Anti-Gentrification Symbol in New York

Sickening as it might sound, I saw Robert Mugabe used for the second time as a symbol in New York today. This photo of 2008 election photos and the "fist of empowerment" (sic) is from the window of the "African Peoples Farmers Market" on Nostrand Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. I walked past it on my way to thanksgiving with friends. The older photo was taken on Sep 16 2007 at the African American Day Parade in Harlem.













The organization behind this is called "Friends of Zimbabwe" and is based in Brooklyn. Among other things, they are protesting gentrification (the "colonisation of the black areas in New York by real estate companies to extract maximum profit" as Kai put it). Here is an article on the movement in the Workers World, and this media advisory from the group from 2004 talks about Mugabe's 'strong leadership example'. This would almost be funny if it wasn't so nauseating and misguided. Can these people really ignore the catastrophe Mugabe has boxed his country and people into because they want to use him as a symbol for their local issues?

Thanksgiving's Seitan Turkey

Thanksgiving weekend is like Christmas for vegetarians: it kind of puts them on the spot, especially when, like for me this year, you eat in a mixed crowd of vegetarians and meat eaters. I cooked up a Seitan 'Turkey' from scratch (kind of like a meatless meat loaf). It was made from soy flour, tofu, wheat gluten and lots of other good things. I celebrated with Kai and Jed and Farrel and a bunch of other people I met for the first time in Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn.

Hiking the Croton Aquaduct

Today I hiked the last part of the Old Croton Aquaduct, which was completed in 1837 as New York's first major water supply. The hike was lead by Arcadia, who is doing an independent project on the aquaduct. We walked through Yonkers (north of New York) into the Bronx, and the hike ranged from pretty countryside to gritty urban landscapes.

Extreme Metting

I'm doing my best to catch up on two years of not taking full advantage of the many discounts which a Columbia ID gives you in New York. Today I went for a packed hour into the Metropolitan Museum and got Byzantine piled on Papa New Guinea, Renaissance Italy, Ancient Egypt and 18th Century France. Whew!

Ice Skating in Central Park

Thursday night we went ice skating in Central Park - the rink is down by the South East corner of the park, and is one of serveral open-air rinks in the city (including Byrant Park, which is small but free). The location is amazing: there is something about a ring of skyscrapers which puts me in a buoyant mood. Jules, my friend from Canada, proved once more what an awesome teacher she is by taking Jackie, from Kenya, for her very first time on ice, and teaching me the fundamentals of skating backwards.

The rink is owned by Donald Trump, and his name is everywhere. It adds to the smooth slitheriness of the ice...

Aftewards we had gluhwein with extra kick in it and toblerone-chocolate fondue. Yeah!

Mini Cooper Extreme

Hired a Mini-Cooper convertable and went out with Kinneret and Julia to the Dia:Beacon Art Gallery north of New York. Great fun, although I have to say that I like the Mini's more to look at than to drive.

Anti Prop-8 Protest

The bitter side of the recent election was the passing of Proposition 8 in California, which banned the gay marriage law passed by the state supreme court there. Today, I went to a protest outside city hall in New York (one of many across the US). Huge crowd and a great feeling of solidarity. The photo shows Erica Beckmann, Anna and a group of their friends.

Winter Kayaking

One last kayak trip down the Deerfield River in western Massachusetts in cool temperatures. Made it through the Zoar Gap without getting wet.

Good Cheer

We left the bar where we were watching the election results just too early ... I got home, jetlagged from the trip to Germany, and suddenly the streets around erupted in hooting, whistling, cheers and the explosions of fire-crackers. Barack Obama has just been declared by the TV networks to be the next US president.