South Africa's Constitutional Court: Justice Under a Tree (June 7)

 On Monday, Steph and I had the pleasure of visiting Constitutional Hill: the site of "Number 4" Prison (where thousands of  ordinary people were brutally punished before the dawn of democracy in 1994)
 and the South African Constitutional Court, established in 1994 following the country's first Democratic Election.

Pretty Amazing....flag donated by 7 Zulu women- entirely made of beads, black hide skin covering the justices' desk symbolizing unity (the black) and individuality (the white lines 11 times), the clear windows to represent transparency, the level seating throughout the room representative of equality...the 5th country in the world to legalize same sex marriage, amongst many other intrepid but necessary human rights proclamations...

Here at the other photos from our day at Constitutional Hill.

This was the first time I have been to a museum of this sort (i.e. containing such pithy recollections of our humanity and frankly, the egregiousness of it) since I was at the Holocaust Museum in D.C back in 2004. It's powerful, very poignant and Stephanie and I stood with wet eyes on many occasions while reading and looking at some of the horrors, and, as well, the inspirations, before us.

Hope there is a thing or 2 thrown in here that you find edifying, moving or merely worth your time reading;)

Learn more about the history at the website: constitutional court and the Number 4 Prison.

Thanks!

My Favorite Excursion So Far...(Pysch!!)

This was the last stop we made today: the Bead Shop- Stephanie "liked this very much" and joined Heidi and Kate in perusing the craftsy selection for 30 mins. I, on the other hand, took a seat at a desk and recaptured the day in words and photos on my phone. NB: i did try to look around for 4 mins- after that I couldn't take it any more.

June 1: Day in Zurich with the Strommers

An Elaboration on My Notes From Our "Pleasant" Day in Zurich

Summary (if you don't want to read the whole post)
During our layover in Zurich on Wednesday, the lovely Andrea Strommer gave up her time to collect us from the airport- she took us back to her beautiful Swiss home, allowed us to take much needed showers, naps and then join her 4 quads (Arthur, Benjamin, Daniella and Oli) for a wonderful lunch (Hungarian Meatloaf, roasted yellow potatoes, steamed broccoli, and mini salad capresses, followed by carrot cake or cupcakes and tea).

All of Alanna's Pictures So Far: June 5, 2011

Africa: Summer 2011