Wednesday, 08 March 2006

fake plastic africa


these are the fake plastic street kids i'm now in charge of. uh, nervous laugh.
actually it's cool becuase a fake plastic organization with the fake plastic south african government is going to put me through 3 months of training and then i'll apparently know what to do with these kids.
but to be honest, i don't find myself thinking about much else. i'm in love.


this is my friend at the hospice, which also feels fake and plastic. apparently i work at an AIDS hospice every tuesday and thursday. when is this going to feel real?



and this is my incredibly fake plastic roommate melissa. i cannot believe i have only known her for 3 weeks. that seems like a fake plastic sentence. she's like one of the greatest blessings and funnest people i know.

i like fake plastic africa. i'd bring a few other people here if i could, but maybe one day we'll all float back together like pangea reversed, and fake plastic africa will be like a stroll down the block.

the bbc team is here, minus arley who is here in spirit. it's nice having faces (and gifts) from home. natural peanut butter and swedish fish and notes from friends don't come easy here in africa.

go to seth's blog for cool pictures and thoughts!

7 comments:

Richard D. Jenkins said...

You are so completely beautiful!!

Anonymous said...

i don't think i'm understating the meaning of "fake plastic"

Unknown said...

It is so awesome to see the Kids!! I love it. Let me know how the morning duties contrast with the afternoon joys! Love ya!~

Anonymous said...

ashley... do you need someone to pinch you? even if that happened i am sure it'd still feel fake plastic. haha... are you in heaven??? sounds like it. and... october in the big U is looking/sounding/feeling almost definite.... did you get that email?

Emma said...

oh. i am anonymous. i don't know how that happened. ha.

Unknown said...

liz--you are in urgent need of hearing radiohead's "the bends" album, track 4. i'm sorry you've been neglected until now. please, forgive us all and go get the album.

africa is fake and plastic for many reasons. perhaps i should explain this more...
for so long africa has had a very mystical and unreal sort of component to it. even as i approached my move here, the idea of moving to africa couldn't really sink in b/c, for most people, africa is only real in stories and dreams and exciting adventures involving wild animals and spears and mummies if you like mummies.
so, to live in africa, work in africa, drive a car in africa, do pretty much anything here...it feels as dreamlike as those thoughts of it used to be.
also, it's beautiful and tragic and it seems to bluntly express all of it's many contrasts.

and if you listen to the song, you'll find that africa is fake and plastic.

Anonymous said...

Ashley,
Thank you for sharing this experience with all of us. I have been praying for you and the people you work with there. God Bless you. Remember to take care of yourself.....