"ah, so this is what apartheid felt like."

I've toyed with the title of this blog entry in fear of political (in)correctness, who may be reading this or how my words may be interpreted over the interwaves. However, this is my own personal blog and I chose for raw material to be presented thus raw emotions will be delivered. I would be really interested in hearing your own thoughts or perhaps even experiences on the following subject so please don't hesitate in commenting or messaging me about it like many of you have been doing so far! Okay y'all know I'm trying to keep this as chronological as possible but the point of my preach will be covered, promise!

I haven't updated my tiger travels in a while as the past few days have been full from sunrise to far beyond sundown. A quick rundown of Thursday and Friday would include:

- Establishing Opuwos first drama group from both 16:00-17:30 and 18:30 to 20:00 as the obligatory afterschool study sessions clash in the two Opuwan highschools. We'll be working with them every day with a final performance on Friday! The students are loving it and we've already had a few inquiries from them on how to keep the group going once we leave. Music to my ears!

- Being asked to help out at the youth center on Friday to give a CV building & interview techniques masterclass to around 15 people. I explained things from the importance of establishing easy to spot, different sections of a CV to why a cover page including vast quantities of the biggest and brightest clip art was perhaps not the best idea when applying to a government agency position. The latter was not very enthusiastically accepted but in all it was a very fruitful class with some great comments and questions!

- Showing a young boy the wonders of Google images. Explaining to a 17 year old who seldom uses a computer that there's a Web page out there where by entering 4 key words you can find the EXACT image you're looking for and witnessing the subsequent bewilderment is a feeling I genuinely cannot put into words. I always try not to take things for granted in life but I must admit that Google images is definitely a concept that slipped my Idon'ttakethingsforgranted outlook upon life.

Now comes Saturday. Following my first lie in in 8 days (who'd have ever thought I'd consider waking up at 8am a lie in!) we had a pretty laid back day catching up on life. In the evening we had all bought tickets to attend a Bullet concent, a local band who are quite the hotshots right now having just returned from performing at the Brazilian world cup. Sounds great, nee? What could go wrong at a packed concert of such a jet setting band, music is the language of everyone and all that jazz (no pun intended)? Yeah, that's what I thought too. We arrived at the location and immediately we're ushered through a busy restaurant, through their kitchen and out the backdoor into the concert area, much to the amusement of those dining in the restaurant. I clearly wasn't the only one feeling awkward as a few jokes were made within the group about white treatment or tourist perks. But it didn't stop there. Just as we settled into the crowd (with a tiny bit more anonymity for comfort) the owner of the establishment himself came up to us and ushered us to the front where we realized we were supposed to be located elsewhere. With our teachers who had already arrived. Sitting as opposed to standing like everyone else. In front of the securing fence right in front of the stage. Squeezing past everyone to get to our seats was awful enough with comments about white millionaires and such being thrown around. As the night dragged on my discomfort failed to cease despite all the great pre-acts and charming presenter who entertained the crowd in-between. It did, however, increase. I didn't think would be possible! During the breaks in-between the support acts there was a presenter guiding the show and instructing the dj. The whole night they had been playing African hits and at one point it suddenly changed to "western" house, at request of the presenter "for our guests". As a few of our group members went crazy on the dancemoves I was still glued to the floor in cringe. Then I made the fatal mistake of looking behind me, behind the tall security fence, where not a single person in the crowd was so much as tapping a foot to the beat. We stayed for a few more minutes then finally decided to make a break for it at which point someone from our group of escapees mentioned that he "now understood what apartheid felt like", in my opinion an accurate summary of our evening. When we all reunited the following morning a few people said they didn't feel that way at all that being VIPS at a concert is always fun. This left me a little unsettled; am I possibly simply overreacting? This is always an option however how I felt on Saturday night is a feeling I'd never like to encounter again.

Sunday was far more fun with a brief visit to a Himba home, a great chat with the chief and his wives and lunch at Epupa falls. This week is busy, busy, busy as we finish up our internships and power through our projects.

If you're still reading, give yourself a pat on the back. Go on, you deserve it!

Missing you all, Tiger Laylay xo

No turning back.

I've made it to my first checkpoint: Rotterdam airport. I must admit I was a little concerned at the fact that my bag weighed a mere 10kg considering I've worn more kilos of clothing than that before to cut the costs on a Ryanair flight (following a mini break to the UK, not exactly 7 weeks in Africa either). However, there's no turning back now as I'm writing this from the otherside of the security checks. No turning back for last minute forgotten items or last minute panic. No turning back even when the large lady in front of you at the check-in desk has some sort of panic attack/seizure, starts screaming in Turkish and you overhear someone translate that she's cursing us all. Only caused a few tears from fellow passengers and a swarm of security, no biggie. Everything should be a doddle from here on!

Next stop: 4 hours in Turkey and then Cape Town, SA!

Toddle pip, Tiger Laylay xo

Let the games begin.

What a surprise, I'm starting a travel blog. 

Lets start with the basics for those of you who have no idea why I'm in need of said travel blog. Back in October I successfully applied for the fantastic Going Glocal project my university offers. As part of the course requirements I followed the "SSC 281: Youth Modernity & Development: Namibian Perspectives" course which you can read more about here. And now, coming Tuesday, with a cliché brand new perspective on the world, I'm jetting off to South Africa to start the second part of my Going Glocal adventure (conveniently named SSC 381).

Of course the adventure has already begun and all here in my very own Middelburg. Not only with the SSC 281 course but also in the town hall where I just picked up my first Dutch passport. It was as simple as entering the building, paying for, waiting for and subsequently picking up yet to me it felt like an incredible milestone. Those of you who know me well know I'd sworn never to return to the land of windmills and tulips yet here I was leaving the town hall of a region my mother grew up in, two years into my degree and clutching a passport of the very nationality I'd never associated myself with. 

I started off my motivation letter for the Going Glocal project with "There is an ongoing joke between my friends that I am a European mongrel". Jokes aside, for some reason or another I've placed a lot of importance on my nationality (or lack of thereof) over the years. Feels of lack of nationality can lead to feels of homelessness, disorientation and also temporarily not being able to vote. This being said it can actually be quite useful during the World Cup. As dramatic as this may sound (me, dramatic?), SSC 281 has caused me to critically assess how I define myself and what I choose to define myself by. And why do I let myself feel so dominated by this concept of nationality which I had just ordered, paid for and picked up within the space of five business days? There's some food for thought for us all.

Philosophical bullshit aside, today has been interesting if not almost productive. Following a whirlwind visit to the UK I'm now back in the Burg and have spent the day reading other blogs on what exactly to pack. I have learnt that I need a lot of things I don't have yet and clothes for temperatures ranging from -2c to 38c. Sounds easy enough!

48 hours to go.

Tiger Laylay over and out xo