Locals, national and international visitors welcome to Mtubatuba. I have only been living here since January 2011 but I assume that gives me the right to say welcome. Or should I say wellcome? (sorry inside joke). My contribution to this blog will be the one from the foreign lady's point of view. I am very sensitive to racist, sexist or xenophobic comments/posts so will suggest complete removal of them.
Mtuba is magic. Mtuba is crazy. It is rural but not really. It lacks a decent bar. Random potholes appear after the rains. The roads in KwaMsane are indeed shit. But it's more than that. International people come over and make strong friendships amongst them in short periods of time. If they are smart they will learn to be humble, sharpen their diplomatic skills and be patient in order to make friends with locals. Takes time and effort and probably depends on one's background/past and whether they are willing to temporarily set it aside. Coz the locals won't do it easily! But that's another story, not a welcome story.
What is Mtubatuba for me? It is heat, driving, summer storms, mosquitos, shisanyama, driving, running, nights out in St Lucia, ocean, waves, surfing, animals, rugby, good food, bad food, driving, macho men, racism, big smiles, black and white, insane drivers, strange fruits, good friends, driving, power cuts, challenging friends, have I mentioned driving? Not all good and not all bad but a combination most of the time.
Mtuba is not an easy place to live in. Especially if you are a woman. Not sure if the skin colour makes any difference in this case. Coz it seems to still make in most of the cases...See, I get the right to say welcome as I have said the phrase "its because I am white" more than once... But hey, there is hope. I am proud to have witnessed change with my own eyes. It is worth living here for these moments and only. Welcome to Mtubatuba.
Mtuba is magic. Mtuba is crazy. It is rural but not really. It lacks a decent bar. Random potholes appear after the rains. The roads in KwaMsane are indeed shit. But it's more than that. International people come over and make strong friendships amongst them in short periods of time. If they are smart they will learn to be humble, sharpen their diplomatic skills and be patient in order to make friends with locals. Takes time and effort and probably depends on one's background/past and whether they are willing to temporarily set it aside. Coz the locals won't do it easily! But that's another story, not a welcome story.
What is Mtubatuba for me? It is heat, driving, summer storms, mosquitos, shisanyama, driving, running, nights out in St Lucia, ocean, waves, surfing, animals, rugby, good food, bad food, driving, macho men, racism, big smiles, black and white, insane drivers, strange fruits, good friends, driving, power cuts, challenging friends, have I mentioned driving? Not all good and not all bad but a combination most of the time.
Mtuba is not an easy place to live in. Especially if you are a woman. Not sure if the skin colour makes any difference in this case. Coz it seems to still make in most of the cases...See, I get the right to say welcome as I have said the phrase "its because I am white" more than once... But hey, there is hope. I am proud to have witnessed change with my own eyes. It is worth living here for these moments and only. Welcome to Mtubatuba.
J-Z in the house!! The humble thing is definitely true. Expats definitely have to discover new experiences and in the process change a bit. The thing that gets me--how much of the humble stuff is unique to being an expat in mtuba as opposed to England? In that expats in England also need to discover different experiences. There is a difference, and I think it's way different for different people: it's probably also the number and magnitude of experiences. On a side note and completely beside the point, I wish humans would leave other animals alone when it comes to their "monkey-business." Humans should realize that a large rhino horn isn't going to make "monkey-business" easier just because the rhino horn is sharp and long. Neither, is drinking giraffe milk. All sorts of animals produce milk when they have kids--just because the giraffe has a long neck doesn't mean it'll help facilitate human "monkey-business," upon drinking the ostensible elixir. Also, if it were true, giraffe milk doesn't exist so that you may do your stuff... The milk came through a process of natural selection for the giraffe infant, not for some middle-aged dude... sorry, for the weirdness, just wish sometimes humans would be a little less humany.
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