africa what?

so im gone now... no more bintou in mali...bintou must resume the name claire. the last few days in mali were intense and it was really hard saying bye to my friends and especially my family. but i will leave it at that i dont think its something i can really blog about.

anyway, im currently in capetown, south africa with the fam undergoing major culture shock. this city is suuuuper cosmopolitain and i feel like ive just been thrown back into the western, consumerist world with no fair warning (silly of me to expect it would be anything like mali). this place is really beautiful and interesting. it is so lush and there are huge hills and mountains dropping right off into the ocean... really incredible. its also crazy to see the after effects of apartheid... i cant even begin to understand the complexities of race relations here.

im having a hard time coping with consumption... i cringe everytime i have to flush a toilet and couldnt really handle the amount of water i was wasting when i took my first hot shower since january (i did cold bucket showers for all of mali). i had to turn the shower off to soap up because i felt too guilty leaving it on. eeerrrrg we waste so much in the west! its also weird not greeting every single person i pass and asking about their health/family/day. and eating food on individual plates instead of sharing a dish in one big bowl. i cant finish the huuuge portions they bring at the restaurants here and i asked tonight and the just get rid of the food that isnt eaten!!! ah! that killlllllls me! (i dont know if i ever mentioned this, but in mali, no food ever gets thrown away... walk outside your door and there are plenty of people that would love to eat whatever you couldnt finish).

anyway, i guess i have to adjust back to the 'west' at some point, it just kind of sucks when i think of how carelessly we can consume. i dont want to partake in that. it would be interesting to try to lower my consumption to malian levels back in the US. i think im going to try. any joiners?