Way too lucky

Earlier this evening, I was at the rooftop of my apartment and saw the stars and city lights that made the city scape of Cape Town bring. I won't be surprised if they happen to be my lucky stars, because I cannot stop counting the number of incidences I have been blessed in this city.

First there was the meeting of the Burmese friends at Cape Town that I wrote about in my earlier entry. And then, I got a chance to volunteer at the IAS conference and learn about the workings of such a large scale international conference and learn from it.

And then, there are many friends that I made through this and these I the friendships that I know I will be able to keep. And I found out that one of my local friends, Barry, does rockclimbing and I am hoping to go outdoor climbing sometime. (How sweet would it be to climb the rocks outside, in the city that was voted the msot beautiful in the world(2008) ?)

Just yesterday, I was going home from the conference and I asked the security guard who was guarding the street junction near the Convention Center (where the conference takes place) if there were many like him on the roads, so I could guage if it was safe enough to walk home. To my surprise, he stopped a police patrol over and the person who was driving (I found out that his name was Cid and that he loves traveling) sent me right back to my door step. I have some friend who have been here for about more than half a year and such has not happend before.

But the most exciting news of all was today. I was supposed to be doing regiration duty for the conference and since the event has kicked off, most of the delegates have registered and so the area was quiet. I asked to be transfered to another duty so that I could see more of the conference, and I got to learn about this campaign, where a photographer from New York takes pictures of people to raise awareness of HIV stigmatizaton. I was ushering the conference delegates around this photo booth and in between sessions, I struck a conversation with one of the local photographers. The conversation started with the standard lines of how beautiful cape town is and blah blah, but then I complained how frustrating it was that I couldn't take pictures of the beauties this city has to offer.

He then introduced me to a lady named, Lindeka.

Lindeka is a community photographer. She takes pictures of South Africans, in a way that best potray their social conditions and lifestyles. I was eager to know more about her, and to see Cape Town beyond the city centre lined with tall buildings. I explained to her, how my trip has been funded by my school and that I was hoping to do a photo exhibition. Then, I bombarded her with questions on her profession. She entertained my enthusiasm with a few short answers and left. I was hoping to ask if I would be able to shadow her on some of her shoots, but then, it seemed like that wasn't going to happen.

A few minutes later, she returned. She told me that she was going to eastern cape (apparently more beautiful than the western cape, which Cape Town is in), and that I could come with her!

You wouldn't think I am exaggerating, when I said I am way too lucky, would you?



The photographer of the campaign




Some of the participants of the campaign. My picture will be among these photos tomorrow.