Now this was unexpected

Over the last couple years, I've started getting into Geocaching.  For those who don't know that hobby, it's like an Easter egg hunt for adults, assuming the Easter bunny is rather quirky and (sometimes) sadistic in his hiding spots.  Players use GPS handheld devices to locate the caches (the Easter eggs), and with the advent of smartphones, everyone has a handheld GPS now.  The caches can be big, like an ammo can or lunchbox.  Birdhouses are common too.  Or they can be small, like a film canister.  Or they can be evil, like a bolt that's not really a bolt, but a magnetic hiding spot tucked underneath a bench.  Caches will all have a log for people to sign once they've found the actual cache, and you can record your finds online too.  They can be very involved too.  Some are puzzles that you have to solve in order to find the coordinates to the actual log.  Others can be multiple steps, finding one cache that leads you to the next, which leads you to the actual log.  Like I said, if the Easter bunny was quirky and sadistic.

I've enjoyed it though, because they get you looking at the places around you in a little bit different way, noticing things you might not.  Or making average places (like boring suburban Central Texas) seem a little more interesting.  Caches might be up hiking trails or in the middle of a shopping mall.  Often people will place them near landmarks or points of interest or scenic views.  Pretty fun to do as you're travelling about.

And now all of this has been background leading up to the point of this post: the Berlin Wall. 

No, seriously.

Geocaching does challenges every so often, asking players ("cachers") to find caches with x-many favorites (like Facebook Likes for geocaches), or find one that's a puzzle cache, or whatever.  This time it was finding one that had a certain number of favorites.  Near where I live in Honolulu, this was the closest.  It was also really cool.

Honolulu Community College has a piece of the original Berlin Wall.  The piece of the wall is incorporated into a memorial, the Berlin Wall Freedom Monument.  The wall was erected, protected by glass, with concrete wall sections extending out from either side, to give a greater impression of what it must have once been.  A bit of trivia, they oriented it the way it was in Germany: plain side facing east and the graffiti covered side facing west. When they set up the memorial, this was only the third piece of the wall in North America, so something very unusual.  And it's still there on the HCC campus, tucked away between academic buildings behind the library. 

And on a more somber note, in the 20-odd years since it was set up, the Freedom Monument has expanded.  Right near the wall in the same little lawn, is a memorial to the 9-11 Trade Center attack, with pieces of rubble from the towers and from the Pentagon. 

So, if you're in the area, it's worth the little detour as you drive to Pearl Harbor from Waikiki (or whatever other tourist stops you're hitting).  And I wouldn't have found it if someone hadn't hidden a cache there!

New Mexico: White Sands National Monument

Mom and Zach and I ventured out to the desert at the end of March for a marathon event (because what this spring needed was a major race and a whirlwind trip out west, right?).  We honestly had a lot of fun, though. 

The first stop we had was at the White Sands National Monument.  This is an interesting little geologic site and worth the stop.  It's not a national park, just a monument, so no wide-ranging trails or backcountry hiking like Yosemite or Zion or anything.  But it's still a pretty bit of hiking, and definitely a good day trip if you're in the Alamogordo or Las Cruces areas.  Be sure to check the park's website beforehand though - weather can make a difference to access, especially in the summer.  As can the firing schedule of the nearby White Sands Missile Range.  How many National Parks can you think of that have to worry about that?

The titular White Sands refer to the gypsum dunes which cover a large portion of the park.  These dunes are in fact the world's largest gypsum dune field.  The gypsum has eroded over the years from large selenite crystals which formed in an ancient lake which once filled the Tularosa Basin (the region where the park now sits).  Selenite is one of the crystalline forms of gypsum, and as it eroded away, the now-granular gypsum began being picked up by the wind and moved around.  (Bit of trivia - the winds need to be at least 17mph to pick up the grains of gypsum).  The winds pick up the grains and blow them into dunes, which change shape over time.  Since the winds are pretty steady from one direction, the dune field is actually gradually moving.  Dunes in the center of the field can move 30-35 feet in a year, and build up to 60 feet high.  Dunes at the edge of the field move more slowly, meeting resistance from vegetation at the edge of the field.

You can learn more about the geology which created these amazing dunes on the National Park Service Nature Site or on the White Sands website itself.  And of course read about the plants and animals that have evolved to survive in such an unique environment too.  But that's my science background talking - you could just enjoy the hike and pretty pictures too ;)

The gypsum comes from Alkali Flat and Lake Lucero, areas where the selenite is now exposed to erosion.  An overlook on the edge of Alkali Flat is the turnaround on one of few trails in the park, the appropriately named Alkali Flat Trail. We're standing at the turnaround in the picture above (I'm pointing to where we are on the trail map).  The trail is definitely one to do when you're at the park.  It's about 4.5-5 miles, just walking through the dunes.  As mentioned, the dunes are always blowing around, always shifting, so there is no actual path through them.  You follow a series of orange signposts, like the one next to us.  Sometimes you'll be able to see the next 4 or 5 posts across the dunes ahead of you.  It's a very different little trail.  Be prepared for lots of wind and exposure (I wouldn't want to do this trail in the summer heat) and definitely bring water.

The park regularly holds moonlight hikes and bike rides along Dunes Drive.  Can you imagine these vast stretches of white sand in the moonlight?  Must be gorgeous!

 

An unusual activity in the park is sledding on the dunes.  And it's totally legit!  They even sell saucer sleds in the park gift shop!  (We just borrowed the pair we used.  It was a wee bit too windy that morning to spend tons of time playing on the sleds.)  The gypsum sand has different qualities than quartz sand (besides the color), and the dunes are very fine and soft, yet stable.  Which makes them good for sledding, as it turns out. It's not the fastest sledding you'll ever do, but the dunes aren't that steep either.  Of course, you can still get hurt, so use caution, be safe not reckless, watch where you're landing, yadda yadda yadda.
Also be warned that the sand, being as fine as it is, will be in your clothes and shoes for WEEKS!  Zach was changing his shoes last week, and I looked at him and the clouds of something around his feet, asking "What is that?"  "White Sand."  Three weeks later!!

And yes, I did sled too.  I took pictures as they sledded, then they filmed me going down when I took my turn.  Whee!

 

And a last little thing.  These are the picnic shelters below.  With the winds coming pretty much unidirectionally, all the picnic shelters had these walls on one side.  They look like little space ship pods, don't they?  Especially in the areas where there were more of them clustered together, they had this kinda sci-fi sort of feel.  One of those random little things about the park  :)

 

To close, here is the only picture I have of all three of us in the park.  We're all there, even if just in silhouette :)

I blinked and Spring happened...

Well, I knew this spring semester was going to be a doozy, but I didn't realize how big until I sat down to write today and saw my last post was from DECEMBER!  Yipes!!

But, lots has happened in the meantime, so for a quick catch-up:

• I am in my final semester of grad school, and almost done with that (only 5 more weeks now!!)
• I finished my End of Project Exam in February.  This is the capstone exam for my degree program - Written Comps/Comprehensives, some might know it as.  Basically a looong week of writing papers, trying to demonstrate in your answers that you are fully synthesizing what you have learned over the past three years.  Pretty draining, with the way I write papers.  But all is good; I've been notified that I've passed.  One more box checked off before graduation!
• I finished a pair of blankets for my niece and nephew.  THE blankets, if you've heard me talk about them.  Quite the project, but finally all done and being enjoyed by the little ones :)
• We had a whirlwind trip to New Mexico with Mom for a marathon.  There are so many pictures from this trip, that it will have its own set of posts.
• And the big news (as if all that wasn't enough): Zach and I have moved!  We are now in a hotel in HAWAII looking for housing as Zach in-processes at his new job. After 5 years in TX and 3.5 in the desert, we are in Hawaii!!  Water!  Mountains!  Trees!  Very very exciting!!!!  But more on that in another post, since the whole move has been a saga unto itself.

So, yes, a few more posts to come over the next few days, with plenty of pictures.   I've time to write again, now that the semester's winding down and I'm not working at the moment.  Just consider this a teaser for now, so stay tuned :)

IFLA WLIC Final Thoughts - Travel & Cape Town & South Africa

There was a lot I learned this trip outside of librarianship, too.  

The history of the country was such a learning experience, first of all.  US schools are focused on Western countries (and US history specifically) that I honestly never had any course on African history or politics.  I think we brushed over a little bit of colonization in one of my European history courses, and a brief intro when we read Heart of Darkness in 10th grade English.  But anything I know now, I've really learned from reading on my own (often to make sense of events in current news).  I read Long Walk to Freedom for one of my courses this summer, and have already recommended it to Zach to read too.  Very eye-opening.  The history in South Africa is so intense, and to my mild little personality, so hard to understand.  The apartheid system is just mind-boggling for me; beyond the human rights issues, even - economically, practically, it's incredibly short-sighted.  How do you bring your country to compete on an international stage if over 80% of your population can't even get a decent education?  How do you think so little of an entire group of people, that this is considered a normal system?  I know all of these issues came to the fore about 20 years ago, but I am just learning these things, so my mind is still trying to wrap around some of the issues apartheid brings up.  Besides, the system was in place for nearly 50 years, and we're only about 20 years past it.  There are still many lingering issues - education and illiteracy to start with (we discussed these in some of my sessions, since libraries do play a bit of a role).  And unemployment, which can top 50% in some areas of South Africa.  Being able to learn about this, and see some of these lingering effects, made this a very educational trip.

Cape Town and South Africa in general have a very unique dichotomy.  The poorer areas are so very poor, while the richer areas are rich even by US standards.  Cape Town has beach front resort properties and skyscraper hotels and wineries and hosts international conferences, but also has township areas which don't appear to even have proper utilities throughout.  Bustling urban life, dramatic natural beauty, and severe poverty all less than twenty minutes apart.  It was just so different from any place else I've ever visited.  Even my trip to Oaxaca, Mexico after college didn't have quite this disparity.  In South Africa, the two ends of the scale are just so far apart!

The Cape is absolutely beautiful, though.  Table Mountain is such a memorable feature for the city skyline, while the drive down to Cape Point reminded me of Highway 1 and the Pacific coast - very rocky coastline, winding roads, very raw and dramatic and breathtaking.

On a general travel note, isn't the Internet incredible.  Ever step back to stop and think that?  The conference center and the hotel both had wi-fi, so I just used that on my phone throughout the whole trip.  Wi-fi doesn't hit my data plan, and I was able to message the family semi-regularly (I was pretty busy, after all!).  Zach and I were even able to talk in the middle of the week, using a free app.  Free calls from Africa to the States!  Amazing the potential in technology today.  Does this make me sound old?  ;)

Thinking international connections, it was very interesting seeing everyone's reactions to where I'm from.  My standard answer to where I am from/am living (as a military spouse, there is a definite difference), was "Currently, in Texas."  Most didn't pick up on the subtlety there.  The only ones who did notice my qualifier were a pair of retirees who had also lived in Texas at one point.  We all laughed that there are two types of people in Texas: Texans, and People Who Live in Texas.  They had also been People Who Live in Texas.  From South Africans and international travelers (mostly other IFLA delegates), it was interesting to see what people connected in their minds with Texas.  I heard several answers: "Everything's bigger in Texas!", "hot!", "George W. Bush", and from one music-loving Finn, "ZZ Top."  

I honestly loved being surrounded by so many languages, both at the conference and on the streets.  For the past almost 10 years, I've heard English or Spanish, and that's pretty much it.  Maybe a little bit of Vietnamese or Chinese or something while at a restaurant, but few and far between.  So much international chatter was an audible reminder of how big the world is (and how much there is left to see!).  I'd never heard Finnish or Swedish or even English in a Portuguese accent, let alone Afrikaans or any of the local dialects chattered on the streets in town - Zulu or Xhosa being the most common in Cape Town.  (Check out the Cape Town Tourism page - translations and slang!)

I also loved listening to the music here.  Like I said earlier this week, it just permeates life here.  It was nice not hearing just the top 40 songs played on loop like back home (we don't have a lot of radio options where we are).

In short, visiting South Africa was an incredible experience - from a cultural perspective, from a human one, from a tourist perspective, from an educational one.  I don't know if this trip will be "life changing" but who knows?  I might find an opportunity for one of the interests sparked at the conference, or I might meet someone through connections made here which open doors professionally.  At any rate, I am truly glad I had the opportunity to attend.

IFLA WLIC Final Thoughts - International Librarianship

Now that I'm back in the States and have had a chance to breathe (and get over jet lag - 7 hr time difference is nothing to sniff at!), I've also had some time to look back on the conference itself, see what I've learned.  

Library jobs are surprisingly transferable internationally.  Yes, universities in South Africa use Dewey and ones in the States use Library of Congress, but that's really a pretty superficial obstacle.  There were several presentations I attended where the presenter is from one country and talking about their work in another.  There was an Australian working in Qatar, an American working in Moldova, an Italian working in Australia... and those are just the ones off the top of my head!  I chatted about that with one of South African librarians, and they'd had the same impression.  Many of the information management basics are the same no matter where you go, so should you want to move internationally, it is quite possible to have your certifications transfer as well.  The world's your oyster, so to speak.

Information management remains pretty consistent internationally, and so do a lot of the challenges we face in the profession.  The idea that kept floating through my mind the whole week, was how similar it sounds working at all these different international libraries.  As I said earlier this week, there's lots of differences, but there's a lot more in common too.  Everyone seemed to have concerns over funding, training, professional development, community connections, determining customer needs, management support...  It was interesting to watch people relate through frustrations in their respective organizations half a world apart, or through excitement and pride over accomplishments.

Language is one hurdle that is a pretty common one, at least outside of the English-speaking world.  There are lots of languages, but a large bulk of manuals, resources, etc. are published in English.  So how do you teach patrons when they speak Romanian or Xhosa or Mandarin, and the resources you're using are all referring to equipment in English?  How do you train your staff when you're facing the same linguistic hurdle?  And to really put a fly in the ointment, what about countries with multiple official languages?  Remember, there are 11 in South Africa, and that's only one country's circumstances!  It was an interesting question that I hadn't really considered (being an English speaker myself).  

The language discussion also made me want to become fluent in another language.  My French is very rusty (though surprisingly not a far gone as I'd thought!) and my Spanish is about enough to ask directions to the bathroom or how much something costs, but little more.  Being surrounded by delegates who had 3 or 4 language stickers on their name tags, or listening to the South Africans shift between 2 or 3 languages so easily... I felt very much the stereotypical isolated American.  Gotta change that!

Librarianship is also a pretty small community, I learned.  Well, for those active in it beyond their own facilities.  I suppose if you never really work with any others outside your own building, then it's a REALLY small community.  But even on an international level, it seems to be a rather contained world.  My professor went to dinner one night this week with a handful of people.  No one really in the same committees or specializations, and definitely not in the same institutions.  Yet, they were quickly finding all sorts of connections - people they'd worked with in common, or if they'd sat in one another's presentations at previous conferences, that sort of thing.  Instead of 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon, she said that it felt more like 2 Degrees of Librarianship!  In short?  Don't burn your bridges professionally - you never know who you'll meet and have to work with again!

But the actual work in this field can also be as big or as small as you wish to make it.  There are opportunities which never take you beyond your facility, being "just" a librarian.  Depending on your personality, that might be a very satisfying career.  Or you can be involved at state, national, or international levels, joining committees or international advocacy efforts.  IFLA was presenting a case at the UN this past year, in fact, on how access to information needed to included in the UN post-2015 Development Agenda.  So, the same woman speaking at the Closing Session of the IFLA conference was also speaking at the UN last year, but at one point was a basic law librarian, back at the beginning of her career.  Really, it can be whatever you want to make it, however big or small a picture you want to see. 

On that note, we had an interesting discussion about publishing one night.  Academic librarians and professors at LIS schools publish regularly.  Like with many academic positions, publications are part of the path to reaching tenure.  So there's tons of information on academic libraries and best practices there, and so forth.  But my professor was saying that there's noticeably less published on public libraries, and school libraries even less than that.  There isn't the push from management to publish, so many librarians don't.  It's a shame that their information isn't being shared on a larger scale, but I can see it from the other side too.  There are so many other job duties pressing on you during your 8 or 9 hour workday, that if it's not a requirement, it's more likely to be pushed to the bottom of the to-do list.  It goes back to how big picture or small picture you're thinking.  You might have the best Summer Reading Program ideas ever, but if you're focused entirely on your own facility or library system, you're not thinking of libraries on the other side of the country using these same ideas.  So those ideas or best practices or whatever don't ever make it into the professional literature to be shared.  It's just not your priority.  But at the same time, you should be thinking at least a little about sharing these ideas.  It benefits the profession as a whole if ideas are exchanged.  Which brings us back to the first point - if there isn't the push to write, publish, share ideas, then we tend to focus on our own small worlds first.

Thinking of publishing and tenure and jobs... I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up!  It's been one of the questions I've been asking a lot of people this week, how they reached the position they're in now.  The information or library PhD isn't a common one, and it's not one that you enter school thinking that it's the path you'll be taking.  So hearing how people arrived there is helping me sift through options for myself.  I've talked to LIS professors, senior staff in both public and academic libraries, editors on professional journals, as well as entry and mid-level "basic" librarians.  Everyone seems to have a different path, but many worked for a few years before coming back to the PhD.  The general consensus was that it built connections and helped narrow down the focus for their research and dissertation.  

Besides advice on degrees, the other advice I received was to get involved.  Professional committees and round tables and mailing lists - IFLA, ALA, and state level were all mentioned.  Community organizations too, particularly if you are considering working with multicultural or indigenous services.  Especially being in such a small community as librarianship, these networks will help get a foot in the door professionally.  And like working for a few years, being involved professionally will also help spark interest for a dissertation topic, introduce potential advisers, or even determine if you actually need the advanced degree after all.

So, yeah, still don't know what I want to be, but I have a little bit better idea of how to get there.  :)

IFLA WLIC Day 9 - Edibles

As my week has come to an end, I'm putting all my foodie-type chatter into a single post.  My strategy with food was just to try whatever I encountered in these receptions and at breakfast at the hotel.  My biggest food challenges are heavily fried foods (more common in America than traveling) and my only food allergy is both (a) rare and (b) mild.  So, time to be adventurous!

At the breakfast buffet at the hotel, there was always a nice selection of fresh fruit, including one that it took us a few days to identify.  Turns out it was passion fruit!  I have tried it now, and it turns out it's very tart.  It's good, but I liked it better sprinkled with a little sugar or mixed in with yogurt, rather than plain.

I did try a jaffle (pronounced like baffle, not waffle).  Mom - you know that sandwich press you have, that makes the little pocket pies/stuffed grilled cheese sandwiches?  That's pretty much what a jaffle is - a toasted sandwich with edges crimped shut from the special toasting press used.  They come with a variety of fillings; like subs or deli sandwiches, it's really whatever you want to put in.  I had a cheese and tomato and pesto one.  Quite yummy.

I also went twice to a seafood restaurant here (back to back days in fact).  Not living on the coast at the moment means that our only seafood restaurant in town is Red Lobster.  Call me a snob, but that's NOT seafood.  This place was real seafood.  I had fish and chips too!  Crispy, not heavily breaded, fried but not dripping grease, real fish and chips.  I was a happy camper.

The Magnum Pink is pomegranate ice cream, with a pink-colored white chocolate shell.  Delicious!

And for something very new, I really liked the Cape Malay foods that I tried.  But then, it seems I'm a sucker for curry.  The Cape Malay curries (I tried a chicken kabob, a chicken wrap, and a curried meat on a little bun) are a little sweeter than the Thai or Indian curries I've tried, but that doesn't mean there isn't a kick.  It is just one of the spicy heats that sneaks up on you, instead of taking the roof of your mouth off at first bite.

The Cape Malay foods were really the reason I wanted to get a South African cookbook (which I eventually found, at the airport bookstore - last minute find!).  The book also had a recipe for milk tarts, which a dessert I tried at the reception on Tuesday, but didn't catch the name for at the time.  Flipping through, I saw the picture - "Hey, I've tried that!"  It's rather like a flan or custard in a crust, nice and light and not overpoweringly sweet.  And browsing the book, I found a whole chapter on jams and preserves, including a watermelon preserve I want to try.  Seeing as I can eat my weight in watermelon, I'm very intrigued by that one.  We'll see how it comes out!

So, yes, am very excited to try some new recipes.  Thank goodness Zach is an adventurous diner too!

IFLA WLIC Day 9 - Last bit of sightseeing & Random tourist-y thoughts

My last tourist stop, and several odds and ends in this post, as I wrap up here in South Africa.

This morning we went to the Two Oceans Aquarium (a second time for me, since there was a reception there earlier in the week).  Got to see the penguins this time, though we couldn't stay for feeding time.  Silly planes to catch.  But we did have time to get our pictures taken!

And this time the penguins' area was open (it hadn't been the other night at the reception).  So more penguins before I went home!  :)  They have African penguins and Rockhoppers there at the Aquarium, and part of the display are signs giving their names and how to identify them (spots or bars on their chest, for example) and how they came to the aquarium.  Several of the African penguins were rescues, and the rest were born "on their beach" at the aquarium, while all seven of the Rockhoppers were rescues.  

The other really neat exhibit I saw on Saturday that I hadn't seen Tuesday was one on plastic waste in the ocean.  It was a very sad exhibit, but animal death from human trash can't be handled happily.  There were several pieces of art on display, ocean animal statues constructed from plastic garbage.  The same way that there are giant or life-size models of sea creatures in other parts of the aquarium, these were just made out of trash.  Very striking, really.

One other little fun thing from the aquarium - their clownfish display is actually labeled "Nemos".  Seeing it during the day, with a handful of kids around, it made me smile :)

For the odds'n'ends now (and these are indeed pretty random)...

• Probably an effect from being part of the British Commonwealth, but there are tons of roundabouts here (not really as common in the States, for whatever reason).  They lead to some crazy looking lane arrows! 

 

• Definitely a British commonwealth side-effect, but I loved having an electric tea kettle in the hotel room :)
• For a crazy landmark, there is literally a road to nowhere in downtown Cape Town.  They started building a highway overpass, but construction was halted for whatever reason (the tour guide had heard several theories, including funding issues, land ownership issues, and an incorrect design creating a dangerously tight curve).  At any rate, there are two ends to this overpass but they don't connect.  They just end.  Apparently, the road is still regularly used though - movie crews and film students regularly take advantage!

•  I got to see sunsets over the Atlantic!  (For those of you who live on the Eastern US, you'll understand how backwards that feels, even to say!) 

 

• Penguin toilet paper!!!  I'm not kidding!  In the middle of the week, I'm in our hotel bathroom, and look down and our TP roll has these happy little dancing penguins on it!  (If you can't see in the picture, he's very happy and bunchy and reminds me of the guy from Happy Feet).  Best quilting pattern EVER!!!  Oh, and I wasn't totally oblivious either - talking to someone else, she hadn't noticed it until the middle of the week either.  Apparently the hotel just got a new batch of paper Wednesday-ish, meaning we just lucked into awesome TP for the last half of our trip.  

IFLA WLIC Day 8 - Table Mountain

FINALLY!  One of the two big landmarks in Cape Town that everyone says you have to see (Robben Island being the other) and I've finally made it up here!  On my last full day!  That wasn't really the intention, but between cloudy weather and a busy schedule, this is the first day when my schedule actually matched times when the cable cars were running.  So of course I had to take advantage and get up there!

Because, yes, it really is a cableway that takes you too the peak!  Like James Bond or Where Eagles Dare!  Only, you know, with tourists, not spies.  It is possible to hike to the peak too, but depending on the trail, I heard estimates of anywhere from 2.5 to 4 hours to climb from the lower cableway station to the peak.  Unfortunately, I just didn't have that kind of time, though it would have been quite a hike!  Maybe if Zach and I ever make it back here and have some more time to play, we'll take the day and hike it.

 

This picture is waiting at the base of the cableway, looking up the rails at the two cars running.  It really is that steep.  To make the ride crazier, once you start moving, the staff member tells you to please not hold on the walls or rails, because the floor will start moving.  And it does!  It rotates in one full circle across the five-minute ride to the top.  I understand why - it lets everyone see both the mountain and bay view so no one's crushed into one side of the car or the other, but it is kinda a crazy feeling!

From the top of Table Mountain, over 1000m above sea level at the highest point, you have some phenomenal views.  The City Bowl is the view behind me here, and you can just make out Robben Island sitting off in the bay in the upper left of the photo.  The open greenish area to the right of me, right in the midst of the city, is where District 6 was.  It's still not all redeveloped, as recent as the relocation was and as ongoing as the legal battles have been.  Instead, it has remained just kinda an open area in the midst of the bustling downtown section of Cape Town.  And between my shoulder and Robben Island, you can still make out the Stadium, the white ring over near the waterfront.  You'd be able to see the Castle too, but I think that's behind my other shoulder from this angle.

The mountain is pretty unique, being flat like it is.  It's unique weathering over 6 million years has left it with that unusual shape.  A side effect of this shape is what's called the tablecloth.  It's when clouds sit on top the mountain, a dense, puffy white layer spilling just a little over the sides of the mountain, looking, well, like a tablecloth!  The tablecloth completely covers the plateau at the top of the mountain, so when it's cloudy (as it's been most of this week) they don't run the cablecars.

Another view from the top.  This time I'm looking south along the coast, away from the city.  It was really a perfect day to be up there - so clear!  As pretty as the tablecloth clouds were, draping over the mountain, I'm really glad it cleared up and I could get up here.

 

The mountain was recently voted one of the 7 New Wonders of the Natural World.  Though, the wonders aren't new, of course, but the list is.  Besides being old and beautiful, the mountain is unique in another way too.  I heard on several tours that the Cape area (of which Table Mountain is a large part) is a unique vegetative area, the Cape Floral Region. There are over 2000 species of plants in the Cape Floral Region, and 1500 on Table Mountain itself (basically, this one mountain has as much unique vegetation as a small country).  And nearly 3/4 of these species are unique to this area!  The King Protea is one of the species found here, as well as several related species (the King Protea is the South African national flower).  In short, the Cape Floral Region is one of the smallest, richest floral areas in the world - it's even been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

This shape has been one of the most recognizable landmarks in all of South Africa for hundreds of years.  It was a landmark for sailors coming into Table Bay, and now the stylized outline is used in Cape Town city emblems (and in the IFLA logo this year!).

And one last view of the mountain.  This one was actually taken yesterday as we walked to dinner at the Waterfront. Gorgeous view, isn't it?

IFLA WLIC Day 8 - Last Official Day

Last night might have been the Closing Session, but today was my last day with official conference stuff on my to-do list.  I had registered for one of the local library visits, heading to the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and its associated Mayibuye Archives.

UWC has a interesting history, especially for a pretty new institution. It was only founded in 1959, with the first students in 1960. It was created to be a college/training institution for colored South Africans, but in about 10 years become a full university. When the first black Rector was appointed in the mid-1970s, UWC became increasingly liberal and by the early 1980s, had an official policy of nonracial admissions in place.  The university was one of the vocal supporters of democracy, and was home to lots of intellectual debates on the subject.  It has grown into a respected research university (the Chem and Life Sciences buildings were both enormous and state of the art!).  President Mandela praised it for having grown "from an apartheid ethnic institution to a proud national asset."  It's student body is still predominantly black or colored, and the school keeps education for under-serviced/disadvantaged populations as one of it's primary missions.

The library at UWC itself is pretty standard in a lot of ways for a large university library, I guess.  There are 14 floors of materials, special collections, study areas, archives, computer labs, computer classrooms, offices, and so on.  Some of the special collections are pretty unique, with lots of local history (there's a whole section on District 6 and relocations, for example).  On that topic, for another personal touch, one of the collections development librarians leading us around had been a resident of District 6 - his family had been relocated when he was about 5 or 6.  Again, putting a personal face on history.

The library's in a nice, big new building (see above!) and it's understandable they're proud of it.  The 14 floors seem to be staggered or offset from each other, not 14 floors straight up like a sky scraper.  They are all accessed from a main atrium.  There's a ramp instead of a staircase, spiraling up the atrium and opening onto each floor.  It's a neat use of space, and apparently the design won some architectural awards.

 

Something I didn't know was that South African universities use Dewey for their academic libraries.  Not everyone uses Library of Congress, of course, as it's the US Congress referred to in the title.  But I honestly didn't know what they would use, if they would have their own national system or something.  Now I know!

The other stop of the tour was the Mayibuye Archives.  The archives are housed on the UWC campus, on one of the lower levels of the library building, but they are actually run by the Robben Island Museum.  It has focused on collecting material about all aspects of apartheid, resistance, social life and culture in South Africa, and has built collections from several hundred individuals and organizations.  They describe themselves as an inside look at apartheid, because of the thousands of letters and personal papers that they have collected.  There's thousands of pictures, oral recordings, and video material too.  Very very interesting place.  The biggest downside?  Being a museum archive, there's a relatively small staff, so there are always more projects on the to-do list than the staff has hours in the day.

Oh, and "mayibuye" means “Let it return” in one of the South African languages (there are 11 official languages, and I'm not sure which one).  The word was a popular slogan and rallying cry in the anti-apartheid movement, with a number of meanings.  Two of the most common uses are referring to bringing back exiled South Africans, and to bringing back Africa to her people.

There weren't pictures allowed in the interior of the Archives, but they had a very interesting display of the history of apartheid and the anti-apartheid movement.  Lots of newspaper clippings, flyers, photos on display for the casual researcher to see as they visited the building.  It's one of those displays that really made history feel real.  And rather disturbing - some of the newspaper clippings were about the children arrested as political detainees: 1000s arrested, subjected to the same arbitrary decisions of the police, even the same beatings and tortures (electroshock, especially) as the adult detainees. And this was in the early 1980s!  Just like the District 6 Museum, it's the feeling that this shouldn't be happening in my lifetime, that people and governments should be more civilized than this. But then, we still have news today of violence and police beatings and so on in developed nations, including the US.  Maybe we just want to feel like civilization has progressed, when we're really always working against humanity's baser, more negative (and self-defeating) interests.  (And when did this become a philosophic, 'serious issues' blog??)

One last note on the UWC trip.

To get there, we had to drive about 20-30 minutes away from the downtown area to get to the campus.  In doing so, we drove through the Cape Flats area, which is one of the township areas.  These are the areas where black and colored people (distinct racial classifications under apartheid) were relocated after being removed from other areas of the city (like District 6).  These areas were typically under-supported by the city, to put it mildly.  As one librarian at UWC termed it, these are shantytowns, or squatters areas.  These areas show various levels of poverty, and even from the highway as we drove by, you could see lots and lots of tin roofs crammed in tightly next to each other.  For a little girl from the US suburbs, this was worlds away from anything I'd ever seen.

 

The librarian who was leading our tour, however, had an interesting perspective.  She drives that way from her neighborhood, past the Flats, to get to UWC for work.  She says that it's a daily reminder of why she does what she does.  As I said above, UWC was one of the earlier universities to adopt nonracial enrollment policies, and still boasts a large number of graduates coming from lower socioeconomic circumstances.  An education opens doors, makes change possible, and the library helps a student reach this goal.  A daily reminder on her commute to work.

IFLA WLIC Day 7 - Boulders Beach

And here it is, THE PENGUINS!! You knew it was coming at some point this week, and today was the day :)  This is a very picture-heavy post; you have been warned.

Boulders Beach is on False Bay, to the southeast of Cape Town.  It is part of the national park, and it is a protected beach where African penguins come to nest!  Once you're in the park, you follow the little boardwalk around to the beach.  It's a short little walk, so easy enough for anyone who wants to see. 

And there they are!  They are RIGHT THERE near the boardwalk.  Wild penguins!!  See how close they are to the boardwalk?

This little guy was just too cute, standing so properly.

 

African penguins are unfortunately an endangered species.  The several large nesting grounds in South Africa are reporting fewer and fewer breeding pairs each season.  Like many animals, humans are having an impact - the fishing industry has depleted their food supply, their beaches are being built up with condos, global warming, pollution, and the occasional oil spill. 

We even saw a penguin release today.  Several people carrying large cardboard boxes with air-holes and labeled with the Shorebirds Conservancy logo crossed the fence, going off the boardwalk and onto the beach itself.  They carried the boxes over to a quieter part of the beach, lined them all up, and then tipped them slowly out.  And out came penguins!  I didn't get to ask the parks staff (dressed in that standard, international olive green shade used by Parks departments around the globe) if they were rescues or rehabilitated or what.  But whatever they were, they were released!

 

Aside from the pictures I'm in, I think this is my favorite one that I took.  I am actually quite proud of it.  :)

IFLA WLIC Day 7 - Wind and Wildlife

Today I took a bus trip down to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope.  Which, incidentally, is not the furthest south you can go in Africa.  There's another cape a little to the east (just a couple lighthouses east, as a matter of fact) which is further south.  The Cape of Good Hope is, however, the further southwest that you can go in Africa.  And how often can you say you've been to the corner of a continent?

The drive reminded me very much of Highway 1 in California.  Very rocky coastline, very windy roads, and absolutely gorgeous scenery.

 

The Cape itself is a National Park, with plenty of wildlife and wide open scrublands.  There really isn't tall vegetation, simply because of the wind!  This much water around you, this far south, means that the winds can get pretty intense.  Fun fact: they were going to name this the Cape of Storms, but that was considered too negative, bad luck, so they went with the more positive Cape of Good Hope.

At the Point itself, you take a little funicular rail to the base of the lighthouse, and then can take the stairs up to the lighthouse.  You have an absolutely breathtaking view, while the wind is whipping about also taking you breath away!  In the pictures below, the one with my windblown locks is in front of the Cape of Good Hope (the little spit of land behind me) while the other is in front of False Bay.  Which is actually a bay, but not Table Bay at Cape Town which olden sailors were aiming for.  The mountains apparently looked similar enough that it caused confusion; hence, False Bay.

 

And being a national park, we were on the lookout for wildlife.  The first siting was an ostrich crossing the road.  It sounds like the start to a joke, doesn't it, but there he was!

 

Further up the road, our bus driver slowed because he had spotted a baboon on the side of the road.  As we sat and watched, it turned out the baboon wasn't alone!  There were several of his friends, including several young ones scampering about and playing!!

 

 

Baboons are actually a pretty dangerous pest animal in that part of the world.  They are intelligent, move in large groups, and will eat anything and everything.  The park and the coastal towns actually have a job called Baboon Spotter, who radios in the movements of baboon troops sited in the area, so that those nearby can plan accordingly.  

And yes, this sign below was the one which the baboons were playing behind.  Very appropriate, really.

But the real stop was coming up next - Boulders Beach!