the end of the long journey - the UK

Joburg, Part V
Well, it's probably no surprise that my 13 hour layover in Joburg was spent reading the new Harry Potter in close proximity to a, um, facility. I did get the book 7 hours before any americans, though. ha.

Zurich
Yes, there was another stopover, and another plane.

UK
Ah, home sweet nearly home. Mum thought I looked a bit grim, and she said my luggage smelled like Ghana (warm oily fish. not pleasant). It took quite a few days to recover, but soon I was back in action and laundered. I arrived in time for the summer floods (here's someone's pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/srahtz/sets/72157601074744062/) to really get underway... we weren't affected, since the college is built on high ground, but there was lots of people who couldn't get into Oxford and the resulting floods of the Thames was quite spectacular. The floodplain at Port Meadow (some of the remaining common grounds in Oxford) was full, and people all seemed to be drawn there to stare at the water stretching all the way to Wolvercote. The following week, once the most dangerous releases of the Thames were settling down, I watched some brave kite surfers get onto the flood. It was awesome. Only the grazing animals seemed a bit upset, since they were wedged onto a small strip of dry land, so a few of the cows and horses were being mischievous and chasing people.

That is really much of the story. Of course there are a million things that I didn't write down here, and the more ecological amongst you should feel free to ask me about all the projects and ideas I picked up out there... those of you who want to bully me about my cultural ignorance, please do - I'm only associated with anthro departments, I make no claims to understanding people at all. If anyone wants travel recommendations, I'm not much use, since I bummed around other peoples' fieldsites (thanks to everyone again); but I can recommend the guidebooks that I used. Yes, you can borrow them too.