Days 75-76: More on South Africa's History

Yesterday I read more on South Africa’s history (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa#History), but didn’t get to upload a blog because we went on a day trip and didn’t get home until really late. We went to Santa Cruz and walked on the Ocean Boardwalk. It was CRAZY crowded! So, today I’m finishing up my mini-history of South Africa:

In 1961, South Africa became a republic following a referendum, and Queen Elizabeth II was stripped of the title of queen of South Africa. Despite internal and external opposition, apartheid continued and resistance movements were harshly oppressed. Violence became widespread as apartheid became increasingly controversial, and many Western nations began to boycott doing business with South Africa. In 1990, the National Party government took steps towards ending discrimination when it lifted the ban on the African National Congress (ANC) and released Nelson Mandela from prison after twenty-seven years. After negotiation, the government repealed apartheid legislation, and in 1994, Africa held its first universal elections, which the ANC won by overwhelming majority. Nelson Mandela was elected as Africa’s first black president. (As many of you may know, he died in December of last year). South Africa then rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations. Post-apartheid, South Africa struggles with unemployment and poverty, although recent violence has not been as widespread as initially feared.

Nelson Mandela

Happy Sunday, everyone! More tomorrow!

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 74 – A Turmoiled History

Today I’m going to begin discussing the history of South Africa. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa#History). South Africa has a very long history of human habitation – it contains some of the oldest human fossil sites in the world. The Bantu-speaking people had settlements in Africa from the fourth or fifth century BC, and this was the dominant ethnic group in South Africa at the time of initial European contact.

The first European voyage to land in Southern Africa was in 1487, but it was not until 1652 that what would become Cape Town was established on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. In 1795, Great Britain took over the Cape of Good Hope. Conflicts between the native and European peoples in the area continued for several decades into the 19^th century. The discovery of diamonds and gold in the late 19^th century intensified the European-South Africans’ struggle to control the indigenous people, and led to the Boer Wars, which ended in 1902. In 1909, the British Parliament granted nominal independence and created the Union of South Africa on May 31, 1910. In 1931, the United Kingdom passed the Statute of Westminster, making South Africa fully sovereign and independent from the British government.

In 1948, the racial segregation begun by the Dutch and British colonial rule was strengthened under the National Party. The South African people were legally segregated in what was known as apartheid. Although the minority, the whites enjoyed a high standard of living and controlled the black majority. The black majority suffered disadvantage in every area, including income, education, housing, and life expectancy. In 1955, the Freedom Charter, demanding a nonracial society and end to discrimination, was adopted by the Congress Alliance. More on that tomorrow!

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 73 – A Quick Lesson on South Africa’s Government

Today I read a broad overview of South Africa’s government. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_South_Africa) South Africa is a constitutional democracy. It has similarities to the United States in that it is a three-branch system. The Parliament of South Africa, made up of the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces, holds legislative authority. The President of South Africa, who is head of state and head of government, holds executive authority. Parliament elects the President to serve a fixed term. The current president of South Africa is Jacob Zuma. The Constitutional Court, Supreme Court of Appeal, and the High Court make up the judicial branch. The South African Constitution is the supreme law of the land in South Africa.

South Africa's Flag

South Africa's Parliament

By the way, I’ve been shortening these blogs a little bit to try to fit them better into the coffee reflection timeframe. Hopefully I will find a good balance!

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 72 – South African Cuisine

Today I looked at South African cuisine! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_cuisine). South African cuisine is very diverse, and is even called “rainbow cuisine” because of this. It is heavily meat-based. South African barbeque is known as braai. There are several typical South African foods and dishes. A few are: amasi, which is sour milk; biltong, which is salty, dried meat like jerky made from Antelope or other venison; and potjiekos, a traditional Afrikaans stew cooked over a cast iron pot.

Braai!

Nom nom nom… that’s it for today. I have a job interview tomorrow so I’m off to prepare for that! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 71 – Switching to South Africa Today: A Mini-Geography Lesson

So, as promised, today is a new country: South Africa! I have not yet been to Africa, but I’m eager to go, and South Africa is one of the countries there that I would like to visit. Here is some information on South Africa's geography (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa#Geography). 

South Africa is located in the southernmost region of Africa and its coastline spans more than 1500 miles and two oceans! (the Atlantic and Indian). The interior of the country is mostly a vast, flat plateau. The south and southwestern parts of the plateau are known as the Great Karoo, which is sparsely populated scrubland. North of the Great Karoo is the dry, arid Bushmanland, and then in the very northwest of the country is the Kalahari desert. The deep interior of South Africa has its hottest temperatures, with the official hottest recorded temperature being 119.84F in 1993! The mid-eastern, highest part of the plateau is known as the Highveld, and here is a relatively well-watered area that contains much of the country’s commercial farmland. The southeast escarpment of the Highveld is formed by the Drakensberg mountains, which have limited skiing in the winter.

The coastal belt moves from hot and dry in the northeast to subtropically hot and humid, to dry scrub land in what is known as the Little Karoo. A narrow coastal strip between the Cape Fold Mountain range and the ocean has moderately high year-round rainfall and is famous for its indigenous forests in the otherwise forest-poor country. In the southwest of the country is the Cape Peninsula, which has a Mediterranean climate. This area produces most of South Africa’s wine! Cape Town is located in the Cape Peninsula and is South Africa’s legislative capital. It is also home to about 3.7 million people.

Here is a picture of the Drakensburg mountains! More on South Africa tomorrow!

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 70 – Italy Wrap-Up

I think today is going to be the last day I write about Italy. There are so many more things I could read about, but I want to get to research another country or two this month. If I try to cover everything about Italy I want to, I will be writing about Italy for the rest of the year! Frankly, it’s a little overwhelming to try to fit research about an entire country into morning coffee time, even when attempting to break that research into bite size pieces. Nevertheless, I will soldier on with this experiment. After all, at least some parts of an experiment are bound to fail. Perhaps this month will be more difficult or less organized than some of the others, but at least I will learn from it!

Since part of my goal was to learn more about countries that I’m interested in visiting someday, I looked today at the travel destination in Italy I’m most interested in, Venice, and I found this fun article on what NOT to do in Venice: http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/18/112434/62/travel/What+Not+To+Do+In+Venice%3A+The+Top+5+Tourist+Mistakes.

The most interesting recommendation? NOT to take a gondola ride. This was a bit disappointing to me, since this is something I’ve always wanted to do in Venice. Apparently, however, these days the gondolas are just overpriced and overpacked with tourists. The article does recommend taking a traghetto for under a Euro instead. It’s a gondola shell, which the locals use for quick, cheap transportation across the Grand Canal. However, you better have good balance since you’ll be standing in the little boat. (Hmmm… I’m off to work on those yoga poses).

Traghetto

I do like to make an effort to experience at least some things that the locals do when I visit a new place. I think it’s a little ridiculous to be completely anti-tourist, since you are, in fact, a tourist. There are usually tourist attractions that are worth seeing. The trick is figuring out which ones are worth it and avoiding the rest! Does anyone have experience with gondola rides? Do you agree/disagree that they are not worth it? What other tourist traps have you fallen prey to? I’d love to hear some good stories from those of you who like to travel!

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 69 - Italian Cuisine!

I cannot complete my discussion of Italy without at least mentioning Italian food… Wine and pasta are what I think of first when I think of Italian food, but my favorite Italian food is Tiramisu. Tiramisu is a relatively recent invention, with most tracing its invention to the restaurant “Le Beccherie” in Treviso, Italy. However, there is some debate over whether this is the case, and several other versions of Tiramisu’s creation story exist. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiramisu) 

Whatever the truth behind Tiramisu’s invention, it is one of my favorite desserts. Traditional tiramisu is made with finger biscuits, egg yolks, sugar, coffee, mascarpone cheese, and cocoa powder. I love the coffee flavor- which should come as no surprise since I’m basing this whole blog’s premise around morning coffee! Just to tease you… here is a picture of tiramisu!

Now, I want to know… what is YOUR favorite Italian food?

Xoxo,

Diana