I was able to see a couple of old friends last night. When I was a Rotary Scholar here in 1997, John Inge was my Rotary host. A chartered accountant (equivalent to an American CPA), John is a respected member of the Grahamstown community and he served as a wonderful guide and gracious host (though I lived in on-campus digs) in my first year in South Africa. He helped me to organize a series of talks I gave at Rotary clubs across the country, he was always willing to help me make plans to get away or simply to make my life easier. Despite a staid initial facade, John has a wonderful, wry wit and whenever I return he is warm and inviting. He and his lovely wife, Heather, had me over to dinner last night. We had a braii with his two children, both right around my age. His daughter was also with her husband and their 13-month old son. John and Heather look just as they did when I first met them and just as they have when I have seen them since. Good South(-ern -- John is originally from what was then Southern Rhodesia, but he left to come to Rhodes many years ago) African genes, I guess.
Braiis, or barbecues to the uninitiated, are a hallmark of South African culture. I suppose they are most everywhere, but the braii is venerated here. South Africans know how to grill up meat. On any given summer night, entire communities will be overwhelmed with the scent of boerewors and steaks and sosaties and, pretty much anything that can be killed and grilled. Braiis go well with beer, which goes well with sports. There is a major rugby test match happening in Australia between South Africa and Australia, which would normally be cause for endless hours of braiis, but because they are being held in Australia, even South Africans are reluctant to fire up the braii pit at 1:00 in the morning. Some of my great memories of past trips involve braiis, beer, and sports, especially rugby.
I have been dealing with another old friend the last couple of days. The Cory Library for Historical Research has moved into a new, bigger, shinier, more comfortable and simply better place in a section of campus known as Eden Grove. The big new building is hideously ugly and does not fit into the Cape Colonial architecture of the rest of campus, but the library facility is a significant upgrade from the second floor of the main library, where it used to be housed. I worked here extensively in the past, and I still know some of the folks who work there. I am finding great stuff on the Alexandra bus boycotts, but I long ago exhausted the stock of things on the project I initiated in 1997. Nonetheless, my library time has been fruitful, and I look forward to two more days there.
The last major leg of the trip is taking shape as well. On Sunday I will jump on to another overnight bus, this one bound for Cape Town. I'll arrive at 9 in the morning and will meet my good friend Doug Sanyahumbi, a Zimbabwean who got his PhD from Rhodes. We are old friends from Oakdene House here at Rhodes, and I am very much looking forward to seeing him. We were able to get together a year and a half ago, when I went to London and he was still there for a postdoc in biochem. He now has a job doing sciencey stuff in Kaapstad. When I get to Cape Town I'll have a week left on this trip.
In any case, sorry for such a prosaic posting, but I wanted to convey a sense of comfort in Grahamstown in addition to my other tales of adventure and chaos.
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