South Africa

My best friend. She and I have been tight like THIS!!!! <crossing fingers> since undergrad. We're literally from opposite sides of the world with her being from an all-black, Xhosa village in South Africa and me from a snow white village in Upstate NY! Still we hit it off right from the start, especially as roommates our sophomore year. These days, she's in the States with her white, American husband  I'm in I am almost on my 2nd year living in the  "mother land" with my black African (well...more chocolate than black, but whatever) bf. It's like we've literally switched places! I have seen her since our mutual friend's wedding in 2007 and yet I feel as close to her as if we had spent every day of the last year together. Mom used to tell me that one of the hardest parts about coming an adult is not just the responsibility, but also that genuinely good, devoted friends become harder to find. I've been lucky - Pumz has been there for me thick and thin regardless of the time and distance that passes between us. Imagine, we still write to each other via snail mail...and no 2pagers either. I do believe the average letter that gets sent is between 8 and 10 pages long! Sure, we e-mail and G-Chat too, but letters to and from Pumz are definitely my fav. 

This Christmas Pumz is flying down to South Africa to be with her family. HOPEFULLY, her husband will be able to join as well. My guy and I are flying down to meet them (our first int'l trip together <grin>)- it will be the first time in almost half a decade that I'll get to see Pumz in person. I am, to say the least, beyond excited to see her again. Meanwhile, it'll be interesting to be in a country that has such a turbulent past in terms of race relations, especially as I am in a "mixed" relationship. How will people treat us, I wonder? A close friend of mine who has spent many months living in South Africa told me that she was often yelled at by white South Africans when she walked amongst blacks. In Kenya you don't see such hatred towards interracial mixing...or at least I haven't experienced it yet. Here, it is not so uncommon to see mixed couples holding hands and whatnot. I actually even forget at times that my bf is a different color than me unless somebody back home brings it up or one of my mzungu friends gets carried away w/ their ever curious questions. I've heard that in South Africa one has quite a different experience as many of its people  still seem to cling to the country's segregated past. Am not one to judge a country based on another's opinion though - I'll go and make my own opinions, thank you very much. So till December let me hold back my opinions and rather focus my thoughts on the excitement of meeting my best, "best friend." :)