Sundowners, Photos, and 360 Degrees of Jozi

04 June 2012

I’ve been in Jozi for nearly two years, during which time I’ve photographed the city skyline from countless different perspectives. (See some examples here, here, and here.) I’m afraid the 2Summers audience may start to tire of my Jozi skyline posts.

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There's Something About Swaziland

31 May 2012

Swaziland grabbed me a few years ago. It won’t let go.

My first visit to the Swazi Kingdom, in 2008, was an emotional earthquake. I was blindsided by the realization that I wasn’t the person I thought I was. So I went back to the United States and spent the next 18 months trying to deny my discovery. I thought maybe I could keep this scary new person – who I called “Africa Heather” – under wraps, and live happily ever after as “U.S. Heather”.

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A Fiery Swazi Weekend

29 May 2012

Before this past weekend, the last music festival I attended was the legendary HFStival – sometime around the turn of the millennium in a grimy, beer-sodden stadium in southeast Washington D.C. It was oppressively humid and there were more than 70,000 attendees, mostly suburban kids aged 14 to 25. There was moshing. With the exception of my favorite ska/punk band, Goldfinger, I don’t remember who played.

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Medieval Wench for an Evening

13 May 2012

Last night I found myself in the back of a taxi – a legit South African minibus, minus the filth and missing floor panels. The taxi driver’s name was Shadrack. I nodded to the rap tunes blasting from the sound system beneath my feet as we hurtled out of Joburg and toward the Cradle of Humankind.

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Wi-Fi Revolution

02 May 2012

I didn’t give much thought to internet access when I lived in the United States. American broadband internet is cheap and easy to get. Just about every home has it. And as far as I know, internet in the United States is always unlimited.

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A Bryanston Shopping Spree

22 April 2012

I don’t go to Joburg’s northern suburbs often. To be honest, the northern suburbs – Sandton, Bryanston, Morningside, Fourways, etc. – remind me too much of the bland American suburbs that I fled to Africa to escape. (No offense to those who live there. That life just isn’t for me anymore.)

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