Another chapter from If a Lion Could Talk. This chapter is about humans trying to determine once and for all whether animals "think". The issue is that intelligence and the ability to think are not the same! A common example: a dog might jump up at a door handle over and over again and one time the door opens, the dog is free! The dog might do this over and over again, opening the door each time, but that does not mean the dog understands the underlying mechanism that causes this. The dog is not conciously thinking "I can open the door by scratching at the handle." This example reminds me of some of the papers I read about human-animal relationships. The keepers are bringing the animals food, so when an animal sees a keeper approaching, it is excited and goes to meet the keeper....is that because it has learned that keeper=food, or is it pleased to see the keeper for other reasons?
This chapter talks a lot about learning associations - animals can recognize cause and effect, that does not mean they have a "theory of mind." A theory of mind involves imputing personal intentions, beliefs, and desires to and of others....this is kind of a complicated idea, but here's another example to clarify. The author of the book has a dog that would always try to eat the cat's food. The author would tell the dog off, so it stopped eating the food. Then one day the author was on the phone, and the dog went for the dog food again. The author was busy and couldn't tell off the dog. After that, whenever the author was on the phone, the dog would eat the cat food. So, was the dog thinking "Aha! He is distracted, I'm going to eat the food now!" Or was it simply a learned association - when he's on the phone, eat the food. There is a subtle difference between these two things...unthinking intelligence versus understanding.
Something interesting caused by learned associations is superstitious behavior in animals. Example - a horse shying at the same place in the road where it was once scared by a bird. Apparently animals are pretty quick at picking up possibly cause and effects or associations. They do something a certain way because they recieve positive attention. Okay, so how does all of this tie into my project? I think it ties into the idea of positive reinforcement training - if a keeper treats an animal in a positive manner afte they do something the keeper wants, the animal is going to be more willing to do that behavior again. I've heard of training like this being used with elephants - keepers trained an elephant to raise it's foot for cleaning - positive reinforcement training causes less stress to the animals and make the keepers job easier. I don't know if the animals are really thinking about things - if they make decisions based on what other animals or humans are thinking. But regardless, using learned associations in the zoo environment seems like a grand idea.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Issues in the Field
Today's class was great - I really appreciated it. We had a panel dicussion with the facilitators who have experience in the field. They shared many of the problems they had the field and ways to get around those problems. Some of the issues that concern me the most: I was not really worried about having issues with the people in my group, but it sounds like that is quite common. I just feel like Holly and Emily are going to be so great to have around, familiar faces in a strange new culture. They are both really smart, likeable girls, so I really hope we do not have too many problems. Another thing that concerns me is culture shock. Everyone talked about being overwhelmed and how little things that are different really start to bother them. This is a bit discouraging to me. I want to hear that everything is just great and an amazing and fantastic experience.....I know this is not realistic, and it is good to hear about these issues so that I do not go into the field completely naively. Anyway, back to culture shock, I really like Heather's approach to this problem, and to the problem of lost motivation. She would make a list of the things she loved about South Africa. It might be the only time I ever get to go to that part of the world, and I certainly want to make the most of it, to enjoy and treasure that time.
Other things that worry me - I am worried about meeting people and becoming part of the community. I feel like with our field experience that is a little harder - we are not going to some small rural village where everyone will know us, we are going to a fairly large city. So that means identifying communities within the city to join - I know I will be part of the church community and I hope to be part of the zoo community. Then there is our host family and whatever community they are apart of; hopefully I can enter into that community and get to know their family and friends. Anyway, a big part of our in-field class is getting out into communities and working with people. I guess I am worried that since it is a bigger city that it will be harder to find the right communities to work with....but church and the Thomases should provide enough opportunity to meet and befriend other people. And I would like to go to Mama Yoyo's school, so there is another community!
I haven't been too worried about language, but maybe I should? Heather and others have mentioned that the accents can be quite hard to decipher. And of course there will be new vocabulary. Maybe I'll just listen to a ton of youtube clips of people speaking with various South African accents...I did watch this one video where a guy was trying to teach how to talk with a South African accent - I don't think he did a very accurate job, but what do I know!? Anyway, it was good to discuss these and other issues that arise in the field. I really want to work on adding more safety-nets into my proposal, like Ashley suggested.
Other things that worry me - I am worried about meeting people and becoming part of the community. I feel like with our field experience that is a little harder - we are not going to some small rural village where everyone will know us, we are going to a fairly large city. So that means identifying communities within the city to join - I know I will be part of the church community and I hope to be part of the zoo community. Then there is our host family and whatever community they are apart of; hopefully I can enter into that community and get to know their family and friends. Anyway, a big part of our in-field class is getting out into communities and working with people. I guess I am worried that since it is a bigger city that it will be harder to find the right communities to work with....but church and the Thomases should provide enough opportunity to meet and befriend other people. And I would like to go to Mama Yoyo's school, so there is another community!
I haven't been too worried about language, but maybe I should? Heather and others have mentioned that the accents can be quite hard to decipher. And of course there will be new vocabulary. Maybe I'll just listen to a ton of youtube clips of people speaking with various South African accents...I did watch this one video where a guy was trying to teach how to talk with a South African accent - I don't think he did a very accurate job, but what do I know!? Anyway, it was good to discuss these and other issues that arise in the field. I really want to work on adding more safety-nets into my proposal, like Ashley suggested.
If a goldfish had arms and legs....
So this is the blog for Friday's class - we worked on project proposals. It was a good workshop, I learned several things to add to my project to improve it. I wasn't really sure what to blog about this workshop though, so I have turned to "If a Lion Could Talk" for inspiration. The first chapter is entitled "Who is the smartest of them all?" Something I found really interesting was the idea that started with Darwin's theory of evolution that evolution is like a stepladder and that organisms are trying to progress up that ladder, say from insects to the top, humans. Humans were considered the "most evolved" and "most intelligent". In reality, all organisms are equally evolved. All have evolved to their niche - their habitat, lifestyle, etc. Another problem is how one defines intelligence - how do you measure it? How do you fit a bird's abiltiy to fly or a spider's ability to weave a web into a human idea of intelligence? Tests for intelligence are often biased - even among humans. So try testing hundreds of different species! A different test would need to be created for each species, perhaps even each individual. "Animals differ in temperament, perceptual abilities, social behavior..."
Another point I really like is this - "we say a dog or horse is smart when it does what we want it to do" - humans have projected themselves so much onto animals....it is hard to separate our perceptions of the world in order to think about how animals might perceive the world. Something else to be aware about when judging an animal is their input and output ability. The author talks about how we judge animals that can see and do things readily as being more intelligent i.e. a monkey that can sign with its hands or an owl that can see great distances. But just because a golfish has limited eyesight and no limbs does not mean that it is dumb. So monkeys and owls might have greater ability to demonstrate that they are taking things in (greater input and output ability) but that doesn't mean they are the smartest animals around.
So how does all of this apply to my project? I think it is really important to be aware of all these things before I go out and work with animals. I am really curious to see what kind of biases and stereotypes exist against animals in the zoo. Do the same biases that apply to intelligence apply to relationships? I mean do keepers not even try to develop relationships with certain species because they think it is impossible to have a relationships with them? Is it impossible to have relationships with certain species...probably yes, it would be hard to have a relationship with a snail or a butterfly, but I wonder.....I want to be careful to not assign intelligence to certain animals just because they behave in a human manner or have greater output and input abilities.
Another point I really like is this - "we say a dog or horse is smart when it does what we want it to do" - humans have projected themselves so much onto animals....it is hard to separate our perceptions of the world in order to think about how animals might perceive the world. Something else to be aware about when judging an animal is their input and output ability. The author talks about how we judge animals that can see and do things readily as being more intelligent i.e. a monkey that can sign with its hands or an owl that can see great distances. But just because a golfish has limited eyesight and no limbs does not mean that it is dumb. So monkeys and owls might have greater ability to demonstrate that they are taking things in (greater input and output ability) but that doesn't mean they are the smartest animals around.
So how does all of this apply to my project? I think it is really important to be aware of all these things before I go out and work with animals. I am really curious to see what kind of biases and stereotypes exist against animals in the zoo. Do the same biases that apply to intelligence apply to relationships? I mean do keepers not even try to develop relationships with certain species because they think it is impossible to have a relationships with them? Is it impossible to have relationships with certain species...probably yes, it would be hard to have a relationship with a snail or a butterfly, but I wonder.....I want to be careful to not assign intelligence to certain animals just because they behave in a human manner or have greater output and input abilities.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
A History of Art
The oldest art objects in the world were discovered in a cave in South Africa! So, it has quite a history of art. The art and religion of South Africa was the topic of conversation for Wednesday's class. I would like to focus on the art aspect of South African culture in this post. What were the art objects in the cave that are 75,000 years old - they were drilled out snail shells probably strung on something to create a knecklace. Vanity existed 75,000 years ago! There was also rock art created by the ancient ancestors of the Bushman or San.
Today there is a vibrant and active art community. I was interested to see what kind of art was produced during apartheid. Here are some examples:
Pretty dark, dramatic stuff, as you might imagine. It was interesting to look at some of the photography from apartheid - interesting is not the right word, heartbreaking is really more appropriate. Here is some mor contemporary art...I found that a lot of the contemporary art depicts tribal scenes or traditions - South Africans have not forgotten their roots or their history.
And of course, there is all the craft artwork, like this bread pot made out of...telephone wire!!! It's amazing.
What did I learn from this brief exploration of South African art? I can postulate some things: South Africans are very crafty and good at making beautiful things with very little - rocks, telephone wire, etc. They have a strong connection to their past and keep old traditions alive in their culture today. I am excited to go there and learn more about their art - hopefully we can go to the art show that Heather has mentioned a couple times.
Today there is a vibrant and active art community. I was interested to see what kind of art was produced during apartheid. Here are some examples:
Pretty dark, dramatic stuff, as you might imagine. It was interesting to look at some of the photography from apartheid - interesting is not the right word, heartbreaking is really more appropriate. Here is some mor contemporary art...I found that a lot of the contemporary art depicts tribal scenes or traditions - South Africans have not forgotten their roots or their history.
And of course, there is all the craft artwork, like this bread pot made out of...telephone wire!!! It's amazing.
What did I learn from this brief exploration of South African art? I can postulate some things: South Africans are very crafty and good at making beautiful things with very little - rocks, telephone wire, etc. They have a strong connection to their past and keep old traditions alive in their culture today. I am excited to go there and learn more about their art - hopefully we can go to the art show that Heather has mentioned a couple times.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Anthropomorphism
Dr. Smith is one of the professors that I am made a course contract with - he teaches the wildlife behavior classes on campus. When I was in his office talking to him about my project he suggested several books to read, books with the fun side of animal behavior, or the stories rather than the science. I recently started reading one of these books. It is called If a Lion Could Talk. In the introduction it talks about anthropomorphism - giving inanimate/non-human objects or animals human characteristics. This is something we do with animals all the time. It is interesting that we compliment or appreciate animals more when they behave like humans. We are extremely self-centered. But the author points out that animals are doing this too - dogs treat humans as they would other dogs. Some guy Xenophanes wrote this: "If cattle and horses, or lions, had hands, or were able to draw with their feet and produce works which men do, horses would draw the forms of gods like horses, and cattle like cattle, and they would make gods' bodies the same shape as their own." So I guess we humans can't really be blamed for treating animals like humans. The author also brought up the point that sometimes it is just easier to describe something as if it had intention - a human characteristic. For example it is easier to say that giraffes grew longer necks to reach higher up in trees rather then going into the details of evolution and natural selection.
Anthropomorphism is something I wanted to look at a little in my project - do zoo keepers give the animals in their care anthropomorphic traits? If they do, is that a bad thing? Or does it somehow help improve relationships? Does the zoo discourage giving human traits to animals? I mean we have already captured these animals, confined them, and forced them to act in ways that benefit man and not necessarily animal....So, we give animals human traits - partially in an attempt to understand them better. Animal conciousness is something that has more recently begun being seriously studied. A big motivation for these studies is a better understanding of animal welfare and animal rights - how should we treat animals? Thinking about it, I realize that my project anthropomorphizes animals right off the bat - they are developing relationships with humans. Aren't relationships a largely human realm? Maybe not, wolf packs and lion prides have hiearchies and relationships...so there is something that humans and animals share, the need for relationships, the need to work with other individuals for survival.
Anyway, I want to be very aware of how I treat and talk about animals and see where I tend to anthropomorphize them...and if zoo keepers do the same.
Anthropomorphism is something I wanted to look at a little in my project - do zoo keepers give the animals in their care anthropomorphic traits? If they do, is that a bad thing? Or does it somehow help improve relationships? Does the zoo discourage giving human traits to animals? I mean we have already captured these animals, confined them, and forced them to act in ways that benefit man and not necessarily animal....So, we give animals human traits - partially in an attempt to understand them better. Animal conciousness is something that has more recently begun being seriously studied. A big motivation for these studies is a better understanding of animal welfare and animal rights - how should we treat animals? Thinking about it, I realize that my project anthropomorphizes animals right off the bat - they are developing relationships with humans. Aren't relationships a largely human realm? Maybe not, wolf packs and lion prides have hiearchies and relationships...so there is something that humans and animals share, the need for relationships, the need to work with other individuals for survival.
Anyway, I want to be very aware of how I treat and talk about animals and see where I tend to anthropomorphize them...and if zoo keepers do the same.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Represent!
Today in class we continued talking about gaining access - to the community and the organizations we will be working with in South Africa. She asked us three questions, which I would like to answer here. The first question was how do I explain my purpose in the field? We are going to be meeting a lot of new people, and they are all going to know what this young American college student is doing in South Africa. My project is easy to explain simply...I almost worry it is too straightforward? Like people will want to ask clarifying questions just because it is so brief....but Heather did tell us to make it as concise as possible. My purpose in going to South Africa is to study the relationships between zoo keepers and the animals in their care. Boom, done. To go a little more in-depth: I want to study how relationships between keepers and animals can benefit the animals and how it can benefit the keepers. The model is that positive relationships benefit both parties. I want to further explore how positive relationships develop and what the benefits are.
The second question was what roles will I be assuming inside the homes, communities and organizations that are hosting me? I will start with my host family. Heather mentioned that the Thomases did not want to impose on us because they viewed us more as guests. I do not want my role in their home to be as a guest - at least not for three months. It might start out that way, but I am hoping to become a friend. Not a relative necessarily, but not a guest - I think friend is somewhere in the middle there. I want to help out around the house and I want the Thomases to know they can ask me to help and I will not be offended at all. This goes into reciprocity, which we also talked a little about today. In the host home, service is the best way to "pay back" our host family. The role I want in the zoo is a little harder to define...I am not exactly sure yet what role I want there. Obviously I want to be more than just a zoo goer. And I want the zoo keepers to be more than just my study subjects. I want them to be a major part of the research and aides in the research - with their full consent and willingness, of course. I want to become a friend or colleague to the people who work in the zoo. Someone they can trust to observe things usually done behind the scenes, and maybe even trust enough to help out with stuff. I am not sure what other communities I will become a part of...certainly the LDS community. In that community I want to be another YSA, a faithful, helpful member. I wonder how much of the Thomases community we will meet and how many interactions we will have with them - enough to become a part of it?
The third question was how will I introduce myself in these contexts? Our host family will already know a little about our background since they have been hosting BYU field study students for the past few years. Someone in class on Monday brought up the point that we need to be careful how we treat those communities and people we interact with, because we will affect how future BYU students are seen and how easily they are accepted. I wonder what preconceived notions the Thomases, the zoo, or the LDS ward will have of visiting BYU students? When I think about introducing myself to someone I have just met, whether it be at church, the zoo, or some social gathering, here are some things I will probably include: I'm a college student at BYU, I grew up in the United States, my family is from Montana (will they even have heard of Montana?), I'm studying wildlife, and my purpose for being in South Africa is to study keeper-animal relationships. I am interested to see how this changes over the course of my stay there - if there will be certain details I want to leave out in certain situations etc.
The second question was what roles will I be assuming inside the homes, communities and organizations that are hosting me? I will start with my host family. Heather mentioned that the Thomases did not want to impose on us because they viewed us more as guests. I do not want my role in their home to be as a guest - at least not for three months. It might start out that way, but I am hoping to become a friend. Not a relative necessarily, but not a guest - I think friend is somewhere in the middle there. I want to help out around the house and I want the Thomases to know they can ask me to help and I will not be offended at all. This goes into reciprocity, which we also talked a little about today. In the host home, service is the best way to "pay back" our host family. The role I want in the zoo is a little harder to define...I am not exactly sure yet what role I want there. Obviously I want to be more than just a zoo goer. And I want the zoo keepers to be more than just my study subjects. I want them to be a major part of the research and aides in the research - with their full consent and willingness, of course. I want to become a friend or colleague to the people who work in the zoo. Someone they can trust to observe things usually done behind the scenes, and maybe even trust enough to help out with stuff. I am not sure what other communities I will become a part of...certainly the LDS community. In that community I want to be another YSA, a faithful, helpful member. I wonder how much of the Thomases community we will meet and how many interactions we will have with them - enough to become a part of it?
The third question was how will I introduce myself in these contexts? Our host family will already know a little about our background since they have been hosting BYU field study students for the past few years. Someone in class on Monday brought up the point that we need to be careful how we treat those communities and people we interact with, because we will affect how future BYU students are seen and how easily they are accepted. I wonder what preconceived notions the Thomases, the zoo, or the LDS ward will have of visiting BYU students? When I think about introducing myself to someone I have just met, whether it be at church, the zoo, or some social gathering, here are some things I will probably include: I'm a college student at BYU, I grew up in the United States, my family is from Montana (will they even have heard of Montana?), I'm studying wildlife, and my purpose for being in South Africa is to study keeper-animal relationships. I am interested to see how this changes over the course of my stay there - if there will be certain details I want to leave out in certain situations etc.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
I really enjoyed the reading we did for Monday's class and the discussion and examples we had in class. There were several things we talked about that apply to my field study experience. Ashley threw out a bunch of vocabulary words. One of them was defocusing. I think this is an important concept to remember for several reasons. Defocusing allows you to step back from a situation and check out what your emotions are doing. What judgements are you making? It also helps you refocus your observational skills. What things have you allowed to become commonplace, that are really very important? This can help a stagnant situation gain some pizzazz. A point that Ashley brought up was that defocusing can help with safety. People keep asking me if my parents are worried that I am going to South Africa. I say a little, but I am going to be careful and follow the rules BYU has created to help keep us safe. I'm sure that as we get more used to East London safety might be less and less on our minds...I hope to use defocusing to step back, remember that I am in a new, different culture, and keep on being aware of my surroundings - as that pertains to my project and to staying safe.
The reading was entitled "Choosing a Site and Gaining Access". In class we focused mostly on the gaining access side of things. We listened to a really great interview that was the perfect example of someone gaining access to a community. Applying this to my project: I do not have 18 months. I have three months. So I am going to start working with the "gatekeepers" now. Gatekeeper was another vocab word. For me, I do not have to worry about going through some tribal chief or the CEO of a business - my gatekeepers are going to be the zoo administrators. I am preparing a letter of introduction to send to them. This is my first step in gaining access to the zoo. Once I arrive in East London, I will continue to work with the gatekeepers, but I will also need to start establishing rapport with zoo keepers. It sounds so clinical and sterile to be describing it this way - but I really am excited to meet new people and just learn about their lives as South Africans and as people who work with animals. Something from the interview that I appreciated was that the woman who was doing the study tried to make the community comfortable around her...I genuinely want to make friends with the people who work at the zoo, and I want them to be able to rely on me to help out with things. I do not want to be the superior outsider. I realize this might take a little time, but I am willing to put in that groundwork before I pounce on people to start answering my questions. Rapport is going to be really important for me... I want to gain their trust so that I can have a little bit more of an insider's access - to the enclosures, the animals, and the interactions that the public doesn't always see. I can practice some of this stuff now by practicing being a good friend to the friends I already have, and I can make some new friends. Whahoo!
The reading was entitled "Choosing a Site and Gaining Access". In class we focused mostly on the gaining access side of things. We listened to a really great interview that was the perfect example of someone gaining access to a community. Applying this to my project: I do not have 18 months. I have three months. So I am going to start working with the "gatekeepers" now. Gatekeeper was another vocab word. For me, I do not have to worry about going through some tribal chief or the CEO of a business - my gatekeepers are going to be the zoo administrators. I am preparing a letter of introduction to send to them. This is my first step in gaining access to the zoo. Once I arrive in East London, I will continue to work with the gatekeepers, but I will also need to start establishing rapport with zoo keepers. It sounds so clinical and sterile to be describing it this way - but I really am excited to meet new people and just learn about their lives as South Africans and as people who work with animals. Something from the interview that I appreciated was that the woman who was doing the study tried to make the community comfortable around her...I genuinely want to make friends with the people who work at the zoo, and I want them to be able to rely on me to help out with things. I do not want to be the superior outsider. I realize this might take a little time, but I am willing to put in that groundwork before I pounce on people to start answering my questions. Rapport is going to be really important for me... I want to gain their trust so that I can have a little bit more of an insider's access - to the enclosures, the animals, and the interactions that the public doesn't always see. I can practice some of this stuff now by practicing being a good friend to the friends I already have, and I can make some new friends. Whahoo!
Monday, March 5, 2012
How to Write a Persuasive Essay
For my project proposal I am supposed to do a literature review in the form of a persuasive essay and I have been struggling with that, so for this learning journal I decided to read up on how to write persuasively. With a persuasive essay, the writer is trying to convince the reader to reach the same conclusion as the writer did...this means the basis for the conclusion has to be considered. Translation - I am trying to show why my project is important, legitimate, or necessary, so I have to go through the reasons why I think it is those things. Things to look at: assumptions, don't assume the audience agrees with you, play devil's advocate with myself, support all conclusions with evidence, especially outside evidence - don't just use personal experience. That won't be hard for my paper, all of it is from outside articles.
Organization is often a problem with persuasive essays - I think that is where mine went especially wrong. So, I need to make sure I have: thesis, introduction, conclusions, transitions between paragraphs. In the introduction make sure to state why the issue is an issue - why is it important for me to be studying the relationship between keeper and animal? Clearly state position on issue. Clearly state reasons supporting your position - use topic sentences with because clauses, shows the reader that you are connecting back to the thesis and making an argument. So some topic sentences for me would be "The relationship between animals and keepers is important because it can affect animal welfare." Then I would have a paragraph looking at how it affects animal welfare. The conclusion should summarize the opposition's views, relate issue to larger issue...in the conclusion is where moral or emotional appeals can be made. So with those things in mind, I am going to go back through and come up with a better, more logical outline and try the literature review again!
Source:
http://www1.english.montana.edu/~engweb/wc/Information/PersuasiveWriting.pdf
Organization is often a problem with persuasive essays - I think that is where mine went especially wrong. So, I need to make sure I have: thesis, introduction, conclusions, transitions between paragraphs. In the introduction make sure to state why the issue is an issue - why is it important for me to be studying the relationship between keeper and animal? Clearly state position on issue. Clearly state reasons supporting your position - use topic sentences with because clauses, shows the reader that you are connecting back to the thesis and making an argument. So some topic sentences for me would be "The relationship between animals and keepers is important because it can affect animal welfare." Then I would have a paragraph looking at how it affects animal welfare. The conclusion should summarize the opposition's views, relate issue to larger issue...in the conclusion is where moral or emotional appeals can be made. So with those things in mind, I am going to go back through and come up with a better, more logical outline and try the literature review again!
Source:
http://www1.english.montana.edu/~engweb/wc/Information/PersuasiveWriting.pdf
Thursday, March 1, 2012
East London in the News
In Wednesday's class we talked some more about ethics and how to treat people and how to handle being in a different culture. Since I've already written about those things, I thought I would try to find some current events for East London, or South Africa in general. Here are some of the news articles I read:
At least eights roads have been shut down in East London because of heavy rain this past month. I also found a bunch of pictures taken when they had some major flooding this last summer. I hope something like that doesn't happen while we are there, because it would definitely make doing research a little difficult.
A bigger South African headline is that Julius Malema has been expelled from the ANC, or African National Congress, and also from the ANC Youth League. He was expelled because he portrayed the ANC and the president under a negative light. He has been accused of hate speech before. I read up a little about Malema's life - he has had an interesting one. He got involved with politics at a very young age, nine or ten. He has not done very well in school and is still working on a Bachelor's Degree. Many of his actions have been frowned on by members of the public and the government.
A group of college students from Walter Sisulu University had to climb out of a burning bus on the interchange between East London and King William's Town. Everyone got out okay, but the bus is completely burnt out inside. The fire was apparently the result of an electrical fault.
Nelson Mandela was discharged from the hospital earlier this week. He went in for a check-up because of on-going discomfort, but it sounds like he is okay. He really seems like a big celebrity in South Africa. The article mentioned a neighbor across the street who did not want to comment on his health. Apparently she got in trouble earlier this year when news agencies mounted cameras on her fence to watch Mandela's house, so she is being very cautious now about anything to do with him.
The Daily Dispatch Felt Cycle Tour just took place in East London - a two day event which featured a couple 100 km cycling races for men and women. There were about 700 cyclists! And a 46 km fun ride for anyone who wanted to bike. I need to figure out how to convert miles to kilometers and Fahrenheit to Celsius.
This was fun! I think I'll try to do this periodically, it is a good way to learn about things that are important in East London and South Africa. It was kind of hard to find a good website with news of East London - is this a cultural thing or do they just not do as much online? Most of the things that come up when you search East London are tourist information for EL or stories from East London in England....
At least eights roads have been shut down in East London because of heavy rain this past month. I also found a bunch of pictures taken when they had some major flooding this last summer. I hope something like that doesn't happen while we are there, because it would definitely make doing research a little difficult.
A bigger South African headline is that Julius Malema has been expelled from the ANC, or African National Congress, and also from the ANC Youth League. He was expelled because he portrayed the ANC and the president under a negative light. He has been accused of hate speech before. I read up a little about Malema's life - he has had an interesting one. He got involved with politics at a very young age, nine or ten. He has not done very well in school and is still working on a Bachelor's Degree. Many of his actions have been frowned on by members of the public and the government.
A group of college students from Walter Sisulu University had to climb out of a burning bus on the interchange between East London and King William's Town. Everyone got out okay, but the bus is completely burnt out inside. The fire was apparently the result of an electrical fault.
Nelson Mandela was discharged from the hospital earlier this week. He went in for a check-up because of on-going discomfort, but it sounds like he is okay. He really seems like a big celebrity in South Africa. The article mentioned a neighbor across the street who did not want to comment on his health. Apparently she got in trouble earlier this year when news agencies mounted cameras on her fence to watch Mandela's house, so she is being very cautious now about anything to do with him.
The Daily Dispatch Felt Cycle Tour just took place in East London - a two day event which featured a couple 100 km cycling races for men and women. There were about 700 cyclists! And a 46 km fun ride for anyone who wanted to bike. I need to figure out how to convert miles to kilometers and Fahrenheit to Celsius.
This was fun! I think I'll try to do this periodically, it is a good way to learn about things that are important in East London and South Africa. It was kind of hard to find a good website with news of East London - is this a cultural thing or do they just not do as much online? Most of the things that come up when you search East London are tourist information for EL or stories from East London in England....
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