I feel weird. I can't describe what it is because I dont know. I know that it's an uneasy feeling that has something to do with being lonely for everyone in SA and my roommates. But it's more than that.
I'm sitting here and watching a Bowflex commercial. Besides the level of ridiculousness that this commercial far exceeds, I just feel upset with the amount of frivolous things surrounding me as I'm back in the U.S. And I'm guilty of it too.. when I go back to my place tonight, I'll be back to my nice TV, a couple computers, more dvds than I can count and more clothes than I even want to wear. Doesn't matter if I bought them with my own money that I earned. It's too much, and what does it really do for me? Not a whole lot, that's what.
I don't want to hear about certain things anymore. I don't want to hear about how much money you make or how many cars you own. I dont want to hear about whatever diet you are on that's working so well. I dont want to hear about those tiny little inconveniences that made your day 'so terrible.' And I definately don't want to hear about how much money you had to pay to fill the tank on your SUV. On and on. My level of interest to these topics was pretty low before I left, and it's only gotten exponentially lower over the last 3 weeks.
But beyond this, I'm nervous to go back to campus. I stayed at my moms yesterday and today and she's been amazing, just like I knew she would. But talking to some friends, I know that not a lot of them read this blog. They have even less of a clue how I'm feeling and what I'm thinking than those of you who are reading this now. How do I explain to them why I don't want to do a certain thing or why I dont want them to crack a certain joke around me or why I fundamentally disagree with their opinion? I have a lot of friends who I know are a lot less willing to deal with my changes than my family is. They wont understand and I wouldn't be surprised if some of them are unwilling to take the time to understand. I think coming home will hit me 50 times harder when I'm back on campus and have to explain my actions to the people who expect me to come back to them the same person I left as.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
The End?
I've really been procrastinating to write this so-called wrap up entry for two reasons:
1- I can't find the words (yet again) to describe anything, the sights, sounds, feelings.. There is a question in our class journal that askes something like, "How will you describe this trip when you get home?" I have no idea.
And 2- writing this entry forces me to admit to myself that I'm home. Once and a while it hits me and I cry or get a really sick feeling in my stomach, from knowing that I'm gone and I can't simply jump in my car and drive 20 minutes to go visit this place and the people that now possess a huge part of my heart.
I miss the crazy driving, I miss ubuntu, I miss palm trees, I miss Marcel's frozen yogurt, I miss sharing a house with 10 other people, I miss Gugulethu, I miss Long St, I miss Noxie, I miss the food.. I miss everything.
I think it's funny that I feel a little uncomfortable being surrounded by a lot of white people now. I'm not used to it.. my comfort zone has definately done a complete 180, not just with this, but a lot of things. I learned how to let go of everything and just live in the moment and I learned that I can live with a lot less comforts than I ever thought I could.. and it's a lot more relaxing, I like it. Yesterday I watched a little bit of golf with my stepdad and that was the most tv I watched in the last month.
Edwin told us during our last night at the homestays that we took up a large part of their hearts and that we were going to leave a big hole when we left. It is the same for all of the students as well. I'm not the same person I was when I left the US and I'm missing a big part of my heart. I feel like the only thing to fill that hole that would do my South African family justice would be to give back to my community just like they have been doing and to bring back the ubuntu that we were shown. Nothing else would quite be worth the space they have taken.
So what happened the last few days? The perfect ending to the best time of my life.
We did get a chance to go to the Holocaust Museum and I am so glad we did. There is a large population of Holocaust survivors in South Africa, which is the reason they have a museum there. Along with all the facts that were presented, the place had a very personal touch to it because it told the stories of individuals- names, photos and personal letters and diaries were all over the place and it was hard to forget that the Holocaust happened to human beings rather than just faceless people. I liked that there was a little tie-in to Apartheid because it makes you think of the questions "have we learned anything at all? how easy is it to allow a group to be dehumanized? and when is it ever going to stop?"
I got it to tie together a part of who I am that is very important to me with my experience here and what these amazing people have shown me.
It says 'ithemba' and means 'hope' in Xhosa. During an unfortunate time in my past the only thing I had to get me up in the morning and do what I needed to do, besides my mom and my brother, was the hope that things would be better. Ever since then, the idea of hope has been inseperable from my identity and outlook for the future. One of the most beautiful things to me is finding a tiny little diamond in the rough, to be too cliche. This is one of the reasons I came to South Africa and why I am going to India this January. To be in a place with such a dire situation and witness that glimmer of hope that a better future can be created is amazing to me. The people here have shown me that, I looked around and I saw the hope they have for the future of their people. While I was in South Africa, I saw the importance of hope, and I saw it in many peoples' eyes.. it is something I will never forget. The font is from pieces of art at the JL Zwane Center and the fact that the letters are jagged and different sizes is perfect for me, because life isn't perfect but it's beautiful. That is why I have my tattoo, it is my connection.
1- I can't find the words (yet again) to describe anything, the sights, sounds, feelings.. There is a question in our class journal that askes something like, "How will you describe this trip when you get home?" I have no idea.
And 2- writing this entry forces me to admit to myself that I'm home. Once and a while it hits me and I cry or get a really sick feeling in my stomach, from knowing that I'm gone and I can't simply jump in my car and drive 20 minutes to go visit this place and the people that now possess a huge part of my heart.
I miss the crazy driving, I miss ubuntu, I miss palm trees, I miss Marcel's frozen yogurt, I miss sharing a house with 10 other people, I miss Gugulethu, I miss Long St, I miss Noxie, I miss the food.. I miss everything.
I think it's funny that I feel a little uncomfortable being surrounded by a lot of white people now. I'm not used to it.. my comfort zone has definately done a complete 180, not just with this, but a lot of things. I learned how to let go of everything and just live in the moment and I learned that I can live with a lot less comforts than I ever thought I could.. and it's a lot more relaxing, I like it. Yesterday I watched a little bit of golf with my stepdad and that was the most tv I watched in the last month.
Edwin told us during our last night at the homestays that we took up a large part of their hearts and that we were going to leave a big hole when we left. It is the same for all of the students as well. I'm not the same person I was when I left the US and I'm missing a big part of my heart. I feel like the only thing to fill that hole that would do my South African family justice would be to give back to my community just like they have been doing and to bring back the ubuntu that we were shown. Nothing else would quite be worth the space they have taken.
So what happened the last few days? The perfect ending to the best time of my life.
We did get a chance to go to the Holocaust Museum and I am so glad we did. There is a large population of Holocaust survivors in South Africa, which is the reason they have a museum there. Along with all the facts that were presented, the place had a very personal touch to it because it told the stories of individuals- names, photos and personal letters and diaries were all over the place and it was hard to forget that the Holocaust happened to human beings rather than just faceless people. I liked that there was a little tie-in to Apartheid because it makes you think of the questions "have we learned anything at all? how easy is it to allow a group to be dehumanized? and when is it ever going to stop?"
We went out a restaurant called Mama Africa that night. I didn't like my food all that much, but the restaurant was great and the live band was great to listen to! We had our last class Thursday morning where we wrapped things up and talked about leadership things. We all got 17 notecards and wrote warm fuzzies to each person. I read mine on the airplane and they made me smile. I'm so happy that I got to go on this trip with these people, they are all amazing!
Thursday night, we had a braai at our place (South African bbq). Edwin and Noxie came, along with everyone from Interstudy and our new buddy Allen. We ate a ton of food and talked, and later we gave photos of the group to the JL Zwane Center and Interstudy to say thank you for all the work they did with us. Aaron gave a little speech to thank everyone, including us students, and we each got a chance to say thanks and it all got pretty emotional.
After our guests left, we busted out some drinks for TJ's 21st birthday! We had bottles and cans stored up in the fridge and were leaving for the US the next afternoon, so obviously they needed to get drank. We went out to Long Street to a club called Velvet for a while until it got so hot in there that some people left and went to the Purple Turtle. We ended up splitting into a couple different groups so I have no clue where everyone went, but I went with Allen and Siviwe and they were so nice to take me over to Joburgs! I'm one of the only people in our group that likes Joburgs so I was super excited to go there one last time before we left. We went to another club before we had to go home as well.. I looove Joburgs and the last club because they were so much more local than the rest of the places we went to, so I thought they were a lot more fun! So we got home around 3:30 or 4 and went to sleep to get up a few hours later to get ready to leave. It was such a great night, I can't even say. I guess I didn't put a ton of details in here, but it was just a great night on the town with people I'll never forget!
I got it to tie together a part of who I am that is very important to me with my experience here and what these amazing people have shown me. It says 'ithemba' and means 'hope' in Xhosa. During an unfortunate time in my past the only thing I had to get me up in the morning and do what I needed to do, besides my mom and my brother, was the hope that things would be better. Ever since then, the idea of hope has been inseperable from my identity and outlook for the future. One of the most beautiful things to me is finding a tiny little diamond in the rough, to be too cliche. This is one of the reasons I came to South Africa and why I am going to India this January. To be in a place with such a dire situation and witness that glimmer of hope that a better future can be created is amazing to me. The people here have shown me that, I looked around and I saw the hope they have for the future of their people. While I was in South Africa, I saw the importance of hope, and I saw it in many peoples' eyes.. it is something I will never forget. The font is from pieces of art at the JL Zwane Center and the fact that the letters are jagged and different sizes is perfect for me, because life isn't perfect but it's beautiful. That is why I have my tattoo, it is my connection.So with that said, I had the time of my life. The most incredible three weeks I've ever experienced and I owe it all to the people who were around me. Everyone. South African, American, black, colored, white, rich, poor... No one will ever be forgotten and I am eternally grateful for everyone I met. Coming home is hard and it will be more difficult than I ever imagined to get back into life here, but in return for my indescribable time in South Africa, I'd be willing to pay that price a million times over.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Just a Quick Note
For those of you checking up on me, we are leaving for the airport in less than half an hour. I should be home Saturday afternoon sometime.
Keep reading here because I have another entry to write about my last few days here- days that have been incredible
Keep reading here because I have another entry to write about my last few days here- days that have been incredible
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
I'm Having Trouble Titling This One
I don't really have a whole lot to write about. We're back to doing the touristy things, and most of it really doesnt feel as good and fun as it did the first week we were here. I'm tired of spending money. I'd much rather sit down with a stranger and hear them talk about themselves and their story than drop another 40 Rand on a wooden carving. I had a little conversation with an artist at Green Market Square, but in the end all really is all about is them wanting to sell you something.
Hopefully we'll make it to the Holocaust Museum tomorrow, since Table Mountain will be closed for bad weather. I'm disappointed that we wont have time to go to the top of the mountain because I've heard that it's absolutely beautiful. It's funny that it's so close to us and we never went. I really want to see the Museum, though, because it's an important part of South Africa's history that many people never really consider.
We did walk through St. George Gardens today (I'm not sure if that's what it's called, but that's what you get) on our way to check out the Holocaust Museum (which was closed for a Jewish holiday). They were reaaaally pretty but involved far too many pidgeons for my taste, nasty little creatures. And squirrels that would charge at you until you throw crackers to them. Gross. But the plants and fountains were gorgeous!
Walking through, I wondered what all the old buildings used to be. They looked like colonial government thing. This question probably would have been answered had I read my tour guide book that I absolutely had to have before I left for this trip.
Yesterday, some of us went to a shop called MonkeyBiz. It's a non-profit that sells the beaded crafts made by women of the townships. The women recieve the proceeds from the sales. MonkeyBiz also runs a once-a-week clinic, support group and food service for its women who are HIV positive. It's a great place, I really wish I would have taken pictures of the inside. One woman there told me all about what they do and took me upstairs to show me where they hold the support group and clinic. There is a wall there that displays tons of pictures of the women of the group.. there had to be at least 50 pictures on there. She walked over to an enormous and pointed it out. I couldn't tell what it was, but when I got in front of it I realized that it was a 4x3ft beaded picture of a woman and her child:
Those are all tiny beads. The woman told me it took 2 weeks to make it. On the bottom it said, "You can change the world if you have a heart without fears, a mind without walls and a dream big enough to share -Ashley"
MonkeyBiz has a website.. you should check it out. Apparently you can order from their catalogue. Even if you don't want to order anything, look at it anyway because their products are really incredible http://www.monkeybiz.co.za/
I'm not sure if I meantioned this before, but we had the opportunity to get a mini-show from a group called Siyaya from the JL Zwane Community Center who sing to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. They are in the United States right now and have a show this June 29 in Minneapolis. I highly recommend trying to get tickets for this show, trust me-they are amazing. We only saw a snippet of their performance last week.. I guarentee their full-length show with costumes has to be a hundred times more incredible. I know you would not be disappointed in going. Here's a link for you: http://www.thecedar.org/open_arms_presents_siyaya
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Guilt-Inducing Juxtaposition
Over the last week, I've found myself becoming a lot less talkative and I know it's because of our time in Gugs. I can't get it straightened out in my head yet and it's uncomfortable. And it's messy, and still a little surreal.
I know when I get home, I'm gonna need a lot of time by myself to lay out in the grass, stare at some clouds and think.
We went on a wine tasting tour on saturday. I'll be honest- as much as I enjoyed everything and appreciate the industry's importance in South Africa, I hated it. Why am I swishing wine around in my mouth and dumping it out if I dont like the taste when just the other day I was playing with kids who live in shacks and struggle to get enough food? Don't get me wrong, the vineyards were amazingly gorgeous and I'm a firm believer in appreciating the good things you have in life. But this felt wrong to me, it really did. With everything I liked about that day, there was an equal (if not stronger) sense of guilt and wanting to go back to Gugulethu and make sandwiches for Pricilla's kids again.
On the way home we passed by Khayelitsha, which is the second largest township in South Africa. Over a million people live there, most of them in shacks. The HIV/AIDS rate here is absolutely unbelieveable: at least 25%. Go grab four of your friends, pull one of them away and say goodbye forever because it's a reality that AIDS will kill them. Go ahead and make one of your four friends a child too, because that is what these people face. 25% of the people here are HIV positive, and it doesn't discriminate against age.
When we first drove up next to Khayelitsha on the highway, our tour guide pointed to the shacks and said "this goes on for 10 kilometers." I didn't believe him, he seems like an over-exaggerator and I thought he was just being dramatic. No, he was serious. 5 minutes later (driving at highway speeds, mind you) we were still driving along side of shacks. Then something happened that I will never forget: I looked out the opposite side of the van for no more than two minutes and then looked back toward Khayelitsha, thinking I'd see shacks again. What I saw made my stomach twist: I saw nice houses. Walking distance from these nice big houses are the township shacks, it was like blinking my eyes and seeing a mouse turn into an elephant; poverty to excess. The stark difference between these two areas brought me a horrible feeling. I realized that we were on our way back to Mowbray in the foothills of Table Mountain and within 10 minutes I was going to be in one of those nice houses. I felt so disgusting. I have too much when millions of people don't have enough.
I am nervous to come home to face my excess and everyone else's, too. I am nervous to come home so changed that my friends and family don't get me anymore. I'm nervous to explain my experiences to people when I still can't get them straight in my own head. I'm scared that I will never make it back to South Africa to see my new family ever again.
But I will figure out how to deal with these things because it is important that I tell my experiences and if I truely want to come back here, I know I will find a way to do it.
On a different note.. I went shark diving today!! God bless seasickness patches, worked like a charm. Not everyone on the boat was as lucky as me. Well, what we did was get picked up by the skark diving company at 6am and took a 1.5 or so hour drive over to Gansbaai Harbor. They gave us a little breakfast and then we had a little safety talk and got on the boat. The ride out to Shark Alley was frickin sweet! The swells were HUUUUUUGE, it was like riding a rollercoaster and it was 200x's cooler to stand up for the ride. You could see the waves coming at the boat and it was just watching these emmense masses of water surging toward you. After 45 minutes, we got to Shark Alley (by Dyer Island) and put the anchor and cage out and they started chumming the water. This is where I was sooo happy that I wasn't getting seasick because that smell wouldve put me over the edge. It took a long time for a shark to come around, but all of a sudden, this massive great white shark came sliding in next to the boat! That thing was huge.
So the first group of 6 people got their wetsuits and goggles on and went into the cage and the crew would yell things out like "divers down! to the right! it's a big one! Oh its a big one!" when they yelled out 'down' you had to take a deep breath and pull yourself underwater. You would stay down as long as you could and watch the shark swim RIGHT by the cage. Laurie, Nichole and I were in the third group that went in. It felt so nice to be in the water because it was a lot warmer with the wetsuits on than it was on deck. It was actually really hard to keep control while we were in the cage because the current was so strong that it would pull our legs out and our feet would sometimes get pulled out of the cage toward where the shark was swimming! It only took a couple times of that happening to figure out how to make your legs stay down. Then sometimes a big wave would come in and smack your head up against the top of the cage if you weren't careful. We all got a big drink of chummed up salt water today.
But all these things didnt even matter when we heard the crew yelling "down!!" HOLY CRAP those sharks are huuuuuuuge! Underwater, it was a little green and murky and then this massive shark would just come gliding on past less than 2 feet from the cage! There was one shark that swam by us and started to head back out to the ocean but turned around and swam straight at the cage! It was down at our feet and I remember just looking down, my eyes the size of dinner plates, seeing this massive grey shark head 2 inches away from our feet! He bumped the cage a little bit and then turned around and swam off for a bit. Oh wow. I don't even know, it was crazy.
There were a lot of groups that went in and when some of my roommates were in the cage, there was a really aggressive shark that really wanted the bait tuna. He was fighting for it and was splashing up on the surface of the water and then eventually he went right at the cage and bit the corner of it and shook at it!! Sarah and Kate were screaming and when the shark swam away, the only words coming out of those two and TJ were "holy shit, holy shit! that was so scary!" It was sooo awesome to see it up from on deck too. We ended up getting a dvd of the day, so I cant wait to watch through the whole thing! Oh and on the way home, we saw a mother and baby Right Whales. They weren't supposed to be there, but I guess the whales were showing up two weeks early..so we got lucky! We could only see them from a distance, but they were still awesome and gorgeous and huge!
I've wanted to shark dive FOREVER and I finally did! I saw sharks today and swam with them! Great white sharks! God, it was incredible
I know when I get home, I'm gonna need a lot of time by myself to lay out in the grass, stare at some clouds and think.
We went on a wine tasting tour on saturday. I'll be honest- as much as I enjoyed everything and appreciate the industry's importance in South Africa, I hated it. Why am I swishing wine around in my mouth and dumping it out if I dont like the taste when just the other day I was playing with kids who live in shacks and struggle to get enough food? Don't get me wrong, the vineyards were amazingly gorgeous and I'm a firm believer in appreciating the good things you have in life. But this felt wrong to me, it really did. With everything I liked about that day, there was an equal (if not stronger) sense of guilt and wanting to go back to Gugulethu and make sandwiches for Pricilla's kids again.
On the way home we passed by Khayelitsha, which is the second largest township in South Africa. Over a million people live there, most of them in shacks. The HIV/AIDS rate here is absolutely unbelieveable: at least 25%. Go grab four of your friends, pull one of them away and say goodbye forever because it's a reality that AIDS will kill them. Go ahead and make one of your four friends a child too, because that is what these people face. 25% of the people here are HIV positive, and it doesn't discriminate against age.
When we first drove up next to Khayelitsha on the highway, our tour guide pointed to the shacks and said "this goes on for 10 kilometers." I didn't believe him, he seems like an over-exaggerator and I thought he was just being dramatic. No, he was serious. 5 minutes later (driving at highway speeds, mind you) we were still driving along side of shacks. Then something happened that I will never forget: I looked out the opposite side of the van for no more than two minutes and then looked back toward Khayelitsha, thinking I'd see shacks again. What I saw made my stomach twist: I saw nice houses. Walking distance from these nice big houses are the township shacks, it was like blinking my eyes and seeing a mouse turn into an elephant; poverty to excess. The stark difference between these two areas brought me a horrible feeling. I realized that we were on our way back to Mowbray in the foothills of Table Mountain and within 10 minutes I was going to be in one of those nice houses. I felt so disgusting. I have too much when millions of people don't have enough.
I am nervous to come home to face my excess and everyone else's, too. I am nervous to come home so changed that my friends and family don't get me anymore. I'm nervous to explain my experiences to people when I still can't get them straight in my own head. I'm scared that I will never make it back to South Africa to see my new family ever again.
But I will figure out how to deal with these things because it is important that I tell my experiences and if I truely want to come back here, I know I will find a way to do it.
On a different note.. I went shark diving today!! God bless seasickness patches, worked like a charm. Not everyone on the boat was as lucky as me. Well, what we did was get picked up by the skark diving company at 6am and took a 1.5 or so hour drive over to Gansbaai Harbor. They gave us a little breakfast and then we had a little safety talk and got on the boat. The ride out to Shark Alley was frickin sweet! The swells were HUUUUUUGE, it was like riding a rollercoaster and it was 200x's cooler to stand up for the ride. You could see the waves coming at the boat and it was just watching these emmense masses of water surging toward you. After 45 minutes, we got to Shark Alley (by Dyer Island) and put the anchor and cage out and they started chumming the water. This is where I was sooo happy that I wasn't getting seasick because that smell wouldve put me over the edge. It took a long time for a shark to come around, but all of a sudden, this massive great white shark came sliding in next to the boat! That thing was huge.
So the first group of 6 people got their wetsuits and goggles on and went into the cage and the crew would yell things out like "divers down! to the right! it's a big one! Oh its a big one!" when they yelled out 'down' you had to take a deep breath and pull yourself underwater. You would stay down as long as you could and watch the shark swim RIGHT by the cage. Laurie, Nichole and I were in the third group that went in. It felt so nice to be in the water because it was a lot warmer with the wetsuits on than it was on deck. It was actually really hard to keep control while we were in the cage because the current was so strong that it would pull our legs out and our feet would sometimes get pulled out of the cage toward where the shark was swimming! It only took a couple times of that happening to figure out how to make your legs stay down. Then sometimes a big wave would come in and smack your head up against the top of the cage if you weren't careful. We all got a big drink of chummed up salt water today.
But all these things didnt even matter when we heard the crew yelling "down!!" HOLY CRAP those sharks are huuuuuuuge! Underwater, it was a little green and murky and then this massive shark would just come gliding on past less than 2 feet from the cage! There was one shark that swam by us and started to head back out to the ocean but turned around and swam straight at the cage! It was down at our feet and I remember just looking down, my eyes the size of dinner plates, seeing this massive grey shark head 2 inches away from our feet! He bumped the cage a little bit and then turned around and swam off for a bit. Oh wow. I don't even know, it was crazy.
There were a lot of groups that went in and when some of my roommates were in the cage, there was a really aggressive shark that really wanted the bait tuna. He was fighting for it and was splashing up on the surface of the water and then eventually he went right at the cage and bit the corner of it and shook at it!! Sarah and Kate were screaming and when the shark swam away, the only words coming out of those two and TJ were "holy shit, holy shit! that was so scary!" It was sooo awesome to see it up from on deck too. We ended up getting a dvd of the day, so I cant wait to watch through the whole thing! Oh and on the way home, we saw a mother and baby Right Whales. They weren't supposed to be there, but I guess the whales were showing up two weeks early..so we got lucky! We could only see them from a distance, but they were still awesome and gorgeous and huge!
I've wanted to shark dive FOREVER and I finally did! I saw sharks today and swam with them! Great white sharks! God, it was incredible
Friday, June 6, 2008
Impossible to Leave Unchanged -- Friday
I am not very good at expressing my thoughts and feelings, especially when as I write this, I know that people who I don't know very well will be seeing them. But I need to tell this, for many reasons.
Up until now, I've just been writing a play-by-play of my trip. Now, I feel like I'm ready to share some deeper things.
First off, I don't want to come home to the states. I don't even want to go back to Mowbray and UCT for the last week of class. I just want to stay with the JL Zwane center and Gugulethu (which, I never mentioned, means "our pride" in Xhosa) because this place and everyone here has an eternal spot in my heart and I dont want to say goodbye.
I have a new family. My Gugulethu momma's name is Noxie (short for Noxolo for those of us who cant click the X). I shared with the group last night my gratitude toward Noxie and something I will never forget: she looked at me and Stella and asked, "Are you happy in your home? This is your home." I never once felt like a guest (which would have been just fine, it was all I was expecting) but instead I felt like I belonged there and that it truely was given to me as my home. We were here for only three days and I've gained a huge new family with all the hosts that took care of our group. None of us know each other's entire life story but there is a bond here that surpasses all of that. I'll never forget the love of these people, and I've been praying to God that he'll bring me back here to see them again. They have a word, 'ubuntu,' which has a much deeper meaning than can be put into English, but basically means that their purpose is to live for others and to love them. I can say that every single one of us learned the meaning of ubuntu this week, and I hope that we bring it back home and live by it.
Every night here, we all got together for potluck style dinner, talked and tried to learn the chicken dance and how to do the Xhosa clicks while our host families laughed at us. To be honest, I was nervous to sleep in a township. I heard about all the crime and wasnt sure how safe the houses were. I wasnt scared by any means, but I was nervous and was hoping that it would all go alright. After the first night, though, all my nerves were put to rest and I realized that we would be just fine. Everyone made us incredible food for dinner and lunches and made sure that we were never hungry. Last night, our last night there, was even bigger than usual so my momma went all out and got a pig head! Nate, Aaron and I tried the eyeball (in my opinion, tastes like a hardboiled egg) and Aaron was pretty grossed out by the whole experience! He didn't want to eat any meat today.
So if our families and everyone at the community center showed us the happy side of the township, our lectures and excursions showed us the sad side. There are some lecturers that I want to talk about. The first one is Nombeko Mpongo. She is the Health Information Officer for the City of Cape Town. She contracted HIV in the 1990s when she was gang raped in an area that she pointed to through the windows of the community center. Her outlook on life is incredible, to say the least. She doesn't care what anyone has to think about her. She believes that no matter what happens to you in life, you always have to take responsibility for how you react to it and create your own life. She said, "It is your choice to live or die with AIDS." I know a lot of people, including myself, that have a lot to learn from her.
We learned about health clinics from our speaker, Zetu. Her discussion was very interesting, but the main points I took were:
1. If the government had responded to the HIV/AIDS issue earlier, the situation would not be as bad as it is now (1/5 people being HIV positive)
2. ARVS are given for free, but there is now a problem of people breaking into clinics and taking the ARVS and using them as part of a drug or selling them to people with HIV.
3. One of the most important things that need to happen is for more primary clinics to be opened that are closer to the township residents so that they are physically able to get ARVS.
3. One of the most important things that need to happen is for more primary clinics to be opened that are closer to the township residents so that they are physically able to get ARVS.
**Something I just thought about and had to write down because it made me so angry: We sat in an HIV support group and there were these two white women from Dallas that were visiting. One of them raised her hand to make a comment and said something along the lines of "Back home, our rates of HIV are lower than they used to be because people are taking their ARVS; it's like chemotherapy for AIDS. So take your ARVS.." WHAT?!? WHAT??!!?!
1: ARVS do not cure HIV, they just allow a person to live longer.. I hope no people in that group think that they no longer have HIV because they take ARVS and end up having unprotected sex because of it and pass HIV along to someone else.
2: Our HIV rates are not down. If anything, rates are UP because people aren't afraid of contracting HIV because of the ARVS
3: Nonchalantly telling township residents to take their ARVS is almost like telling a woman to become a man- for most, it's completely impossible, and you aren't doing a damn bit of help coming in with your poorly-educated advice.
4: She did absolutely nothing to kill my stereotype that Texans are stupid.
Ok back to it. I don't want to go through all the speakers, so I wont. I want to talk about what Edwin told us. I don't cry in front of people. Throughout my entire life, I've learned to be completely stonefaced until I can be alone. I couldn't do that now, I teared up pretty bad and I couldn't keep it from happening. For me to tear up in room with 20 other people, it means alot. I've been able to keep together the entire week with everything we saw, but it was a lot to think about today. Here is what Edwin talked to us about. It is no big surprise that HIV and poverty go hand in hand. But no one in the world will ever be able to tell me again that there is no direct link: the South African government offers a disability grant that people with HIV who are no longer able to work are eligible for. Many women do not feel the right to ask their husbands to practice safe sex with them because they would rather contract HIV and recieve government help to buy food than have their children starve. HIV has become a way to survive in a life of poverty.
Ok back to it. I don't want to go through all the speakers, so I wont. I want to talk about what Edwin told us. I don't cry in front of people. Throughout my entire life, I've learned to be completely stonefaced until I can be alone. I couldn't do that now, I teared up pretty bad and I couldn't keep it from happening. For me to tear up in room with 20 other people, it means alot. I've been able to keep together the entire week with everything we saw, but it was a lot to think about today. Here is what Edwin talked to us about. It is no big surprise that HIV and poverty go hand in hand. But no one in the world will ever be able to tell me again that there is no direct link: the South African government offers a disability grant that people with HIV who are no longer able to work are eligible for. Many women do not feel the right to ask their husbands to practice safe sex with them because they would rather contract HIV and recieve government help to buy food than have their children starve. HIV has become a way to survive in a life of poverty.
He also told us a story where he came across a 9 year old boy who was being taken care of by his uncle because both his parents had died of HIV. The boy was being used for sexual favors by the uncle's girlfriend and put out on the street as a prostitute to get money for her, and this is how he contracted HIV. Eventually the boy was somehow involved with having sex with a dog and was giving sex to other boys in showers and ended up transmitting HIV to two other boys. I can't even wrap my brain around this.. the conditions that are present to allow for this kind of thing to happen are mind boggling and something that I could never understand. I can't get over that. I can't forget the look on Edwin's face when he told us that story. Nothing that I'm able to write here will ever enable you to fully understand the situation and the emotion that the people in these townships are feeling. Nothing.
Along with the speakers, we had little excursions, I guess you can call them, in the afternoons. One house we went to belongs to a woman named Pricilla, who is one of the most amazing people ever put on this earth. Pricilla is an older woman who is taking care of 11 children, only three (or two?) of them are her own. She gets some support from the government, but sometimes that support only gets food to last for a week-after that, she has to figure out how to get food for the rest of the month. We went to her house twice-the first time was to meet her and some of her kids. The second time really made an impact on me. We brought stuff to make lunches for her kids to eat when they got home from school. We put together sandwhiches and gave them chips, juice and a candy bar. We brought some toys with us and gave them to the family as well... before we knew it, there were about 30 kids cramming into Pricilla's house and front porch, all wanting to play with the new toys and get their picture taken. It was so much fun seeing all the kids playing around and blowing bubbles.
When it was time to go, Pricilla thanked us, and I could see in her eyes how much our small effort really meant to her. She said it was beyond words to say how meaningful our time with her family was. Edwin later told us that what was truely important about the lunch was that for even just that one day, Pricilla didn't have to worry about how she woud feed her kids. She didn't have to go out to find odd jobs to earn enough money to buy what food she could. It is just that one time and that small act of help that means the world to someone and gives them hope to wake up the next day.
We also went out to deliver a bunch of the donations that we brought. Some of you might know how completely excited I was to be able to buy a ton of rain jackets to bring down here- for those of you who don't know, the rain jackets were the favorite thing that I got and I couldn't wait to bring them down here. The reason I was so excited was that before we came, we were told that rain jackets would be a really important thing for us to have to keep us dry because the winters here (as we found out the hard way) are rainy and windy and consequently very cold. I wanted the kids to be able to stay dry too. If we could stay dry, why shouldn't they be able to? They shouldn't have to be sopping wet on their walk to school.
So some of the items that we dropped off today were some of the rain jackets! I wanted to share this with you guys because I saw the look on one woman's face when she got a couple of the rain jackets that you helped to get.. she couldn't believe it. There was a moment when she was speechless and all she could do was smile and shake her head. Just like everything else I am writing about, words cannot describe this moment. The look in her eyes, genuine gratitude and when she said "God bless you," will be yet even more moments I will never forget. She reminded me if my Grandma Lowinske, by the way.
These are boys who got rain jackets as well. I wanted to show this one because they are orhpans living with their aunt and the boy on the right is HIV positive. When I found that out, I tried my hardest not to let this thought enter my mind, but it wouldn't go away: HIV eventually becomes resistent to ARVS and requires a different line of the medicine to be taken. There are only 2 lines available in South Africa-when your HIV becomes resistent to the second line, all you can do is to prepare for death. Even if this boy is taking ARVS and able to survive for a long time, his HIV will become resistent. Because he is so young, unless the situation surrounding the HIV pandemic drastically improves, his ARV lines will run out sooner and he will never see a long life.
I want you to see the face of what it is to live in a township. Please keep this in your memory, because I believe they deserve to never be forgotten.
Our last day in Gugulethu, we went to a school for disabled children called Thembalethu, which means 'our hope' in Xhosa. This is the only school in all of Gugulethu which accepts children with all disabilities. I really liked going here. All the students got together so that we could introduce ourselves to them and say hi. Their chior sang some songs for us and then we split up into groups to help out around the school- some people worked on crafts, some helped file, some cleaned up the basketball court, and the group I was with cleaned up the playground.
When we first got there, the playground looked completely abandoned and the principal of the school said that the kids were afraid to play there. We worked on getting the sandbox loosened up so kids could dig in it, and as we went around, we pulled out countless pieces of broken glass and had to cover up sharp rusty metal rods that were sticking out in the corners. We mowed the grass too. For everyone at McCarens that knows how uncomfortable it is to clean up the flower beds downtown without wearing gloves--this was just as bad, if not worse. I definately picked up some very questionable items.. there were bones, condom packets, old food, glass, wrappers... all of them I had no idea where they had been. And this was in a playground. Eventually, the grass was all cut and we were able to clean most of it up before we had to leave. It was really great because the kids were helping us out and having some fun with it. It was fun to talk with them and hear about what they like to do.
Seiphemo told us that he thought the groundskeeper was embarassed by us coming out there to fix it all up, so maybe that means he will keep it up better in the future. We also left all the tools we used at the school, so they will be able to use them in the future as well.
My host momma is a first grade teacher and Stella, Cole, Kate and I got the chance on Wednesday morning to visit her class. The kids are sooooo cute! It was funny because I could tell the second I walked in the door which table was the troublemaker table, they just looked mischeivious. They sang a bunch of songs for us and we taught them a couple.. we did Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and the Hokey Pokey. They really liked that one. Here is Noxie and her class:
Noxie's school is in a township called KTC, which largely made up of slum settlements. Most of her students live in the kind of shacks that we saw during our tours of Gugs and she told Stella and me later that 3 of them have HIV. One girl was hospitalized to treat the tuberculosis that she got because of HIV and will be there for 6 months. First grade.
That's it for now, we are shark diving in the morning so I need to get up at 5am. I think tomorrow I will be writing about the guilt and messiness I am feeling now that we are out of the townships, knowing that millions of people will never have the opportunity to leave like we did. That, along with my nervousness to come home-for many reasons.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Introduction to Gugulethu
**Sidenote before I write anything: I discovered the most delicious combination at Wimpys the other day when we were sitting down for some burgers.. Fries dipped in mashed avocado. Give it a whirl. I'm really craving that right now.
We are going to our homestays tomorrow, so Aaron wanted us all to blog before we left since we won’t be by our computers until Friday night.
Today was was a little introduction to the upcoming week for us. Today definitely was heavier than what we experienced all of last week. We had class at the JL Zwane Community Center and had three lecturers. First we heard from Edwin Louw, who works with the community center, and he described a little bit about his life. His mother was a white woman who came from a very rich family. She gave up all family and financial support to marry Edwin's father, who was poor and Zulu. Edwin's grandmother was extremely racist and would treat Edwin and his siblings much much worse than she would treat their cousins. Because of this (and I really respect and appreciate his honesty), he told us that for a long time, he held a strong hatred of white people. He really changed his point of view when his son was born and realized that he did not want his son to look through the same eyes that he had looked through; he did not want his son to live a life so entrenched in hatred because nothing good would ever come from it. He made a conscious choice to change his outlook.
It's hard for me to explain my reactions to the lectures we got today. It was so refreshing to me to hear the absolute truth about what these men felt, but I definitely don't feel like I know enough about their side of the story to form any solid opinions. I'm not used to putting all my thoughts and feelings out for everyone to read them, so that's another reason I'm having trouble writing this.
Edwin talked about a couple other points, but they completely flew out of my mind as I was writing the last paragraph.
Dr. Rev Spiwo Xapile spoke to us next and told us about where he is from and the work he does. Spiwo was supported by a local pastor because his family did not have enough money to finish his education. The pastor's decision to support Reverend Xapile, he said, changed his life. It seemed to me that this situation played a large role in his belief that leaders do not create change for others, but rather help them to create it themselves. A big thing that I took away from his talk was that a huge part of a leader's work is to help people see that their situation does not have to be the way that it is, that it can be different. He said, "leadership is helping people cross bridges that they have to cross."
To move on from the history of Apartheid, he believes that black South Africans have to realize that they are somebody and that they need to be the ones to make change in their own lives. They have to create South Africa's future and make it different. His role in this is helping people switch to that mentality, especially by expanding their worldview past the borders of their township. He travels with members of the community to various countries to show them that it is possible to create an environment better than a township.
There were a couple other things that Spiwo said that I really liked. First he said, "I'd rather ask the church for forgivness than to ask for permission for someting that will never be granted." What he meant by this is that in his line of work as a reverend, actions must be OKed by the church, but because the situation in the townships is so dire no one really believes that positive change will actually happen, so many requests for projects are rejected by the church. He would rather have to ask for forgivness for taking an action may produce results rather than waiting around for the church to grant a permission that will never come. At least, that's what I got from it.
The other thing I liked that he said was, "Some say that if you walk with dwarves, you will be a dwarf; if you walk with giants, you will be a giant. But leadership is making giants out of dwarves, and you can't do that unless you walk with dwarves." Think about that one for a bit. It reminded me of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and how he walked with the people.
The next person who spoke to us was Kenneth Lukuko from the Institute of Justice and Reconciliation. It's an NGO that was created to deal with the issues not addressed by the Truth and Reconciliation Committee.
(The Truth and Reconciliation Committee was set up after Apartheid to hold hearings for both the perpetrators and victims of Apartheid-era crimes in order for them to tell their stories and begin a healing process.. I would recommend the book Country of My Skull by Antjie Krog if you want to learn about it)
Basically, the TRC only dealt with the physical harm that was caused. The Institute of Justice and Reconciliation was created to address the mental, emotional, etc harm that was caused. Much that is being addressed now deals with the violence that occured between different black and colored communities because of fighting political groups. Communities come together and each person comes up with 5 milestone years and how that year affected their lives, their families lives and the lives of their community. This process challenges the assumptions that members of each community have about each other. It brings people back from the state of dehumanization that was caused by the enviornment of Apartheid and builds new communities across geographic, racial and political boundaries. Kenneth called it 'Rehumanization'
This process is so important because the harm that was cause not only affects a person's mental state, but it also affects people's ability to come together. The different groups here are now in a position, for example, where they are allowed to work together, but it causes huge problems when you work in the same building as somone who murdered your brother 20 years earlier. This whole thing tries to heal the wounds so people can move on with each other.
Ok so enough about the lecture. It's late and I want to go to sleep. We had an AWESOME lunch today that was made a few women at the community center. Absolutely delicious, it was like Thanksgiving. If I could eat homemade South African food everyday for the rest of my time here, possibly for the rest of my life, I'd be cool with it. Then we watched a small performance of a singing/dancing group from here that is about to travel to the states to put on a ton of shows. When they are in Cape Town, they travel to schools and different places to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. They were amazing. I can't even tell you how cool that was. There was 5 singers along with a small band and those 5 singers could take out any 50-person chior I've ever seen. And their dancing was pretty kick ass too. (They'll be in Minneapolis around July 5th, you should definately go check out the show, seriously).
Then we were driven around Gugulethu for a tour. This was surreal. Pictures can't quite describe it, I've seen photos in National Geographic of shanties before, but I went in one today. The people that live there are a 17 year old girl and her 9(I think) year old brother. Their mother died 2.5 years ago, and they are now left to take care of themselves. What they live in, I guess you could call it a dwelling, but there is no way you could call it a building. 2 rooms. Both less the size of a small walk-in closet. One room is the kitchen, the other is everything else.. except a bathroom, they dont have one of those. They have a wash bin but no toilet. Nothing is new, or even in good condition. There are tears and dirt and even the wooden beams that hold the 'ceiling' up are cracking and bending.
It is damp in there too and just like the rest of their house, the floor is made out of scraps of anything flat. As I'm writing this, it's pouring rain outside and freezing cold. I feel pretty dumb for complaining about how cold our carpeted and roofed house is as I sit here and think about where they are. Driving around today, it was aparent that they are the rule and not the exception in the townships. It is weird to think that there are entire cities of this. We have areas of cities that are bad, but this isn't just an area. Take your city and replace everything with a scene you would imagine from under a bridge in New York City. That's basically what I saw. There are houses, but they are more like a dilapidated strip-mall version of housing. Rows of tiny houses just stuck together, better than shacks but I wouldn't like to live there. I didn't take many pictures because I felt crooked doing it. This is these people's reality and it's not here for me to gawk at or take pictures of simply so I can say I visited a township. I did take a few pictures, however, because I want you to see. I want you to see because I believe these people deserve to have someone know of their situation. Just to know and acknowledge that they exist halfway around the world, I think, is a step in the right direction. And it isn't just about these specific people in South Africa, but people around the rest of the world as well. But at this moment I am here and this is what I can provide, so here you go.
We saw two monuments: the first one was in memory of the Gugulethu Seven. On March 3, 1986, these seven black men were walking to a demonstration march when a white police officer came down the street and shot everyone of them to death without provocation; the monument was built on the spot where they died.
The second one was for Amy Biehl who was doing missionary work with children and was murdered by two black men outside a gas station; her monument is also on the spot where she died.
I will post pictures and some more messy thought blogs that done make any sense when we get back from our homestays on friday, I'm tired now and want to go to bed. More to come then!
We are going to our homestays tomorrow, so Aaron wanted us all to blog before we left since we won’t be by our computers until Friday night.
Today was was a little introduction to the upcoming week for us. Today definitely was heavier than what we experienced all of last week. We had class at the JL Zwane Community Center and had three lecturers. First we heard from Edwin Louw, who works with the community center, and he described a little bit about his life. His mother was a white woman who came from a very rich family. She gave up all family and financial support to marry Edwin's father, who was poor and Zulu. Edwin's grandmother was extremely racist and would treat Edwin and his siblings much much worse than she would treat their cousins. Because of this (and I really respect and appreciate his honesty), he told us that for a long time, he held a strong hatred of white people. He really changed his point of view when his son was born and realized that he did not want his son to look through the same eyes that he had looked through; he did not want his son to live a life so entrenched in hatred because nothing good would ever come from it. He made a conscious choice to change his outlook.
It's hard for me to explain my reactions to the lectures we got today. It was so refreshing to me to hear the absolute truth about what these men felt, but I definitely don't feel like I know enough about their side of the story to form any solid opinions. I'm not used to putting all my thoughts and feelings out for everyone to read them, so that's another reason I'm having trouble writing this.
Edwin talked about a couple other points, but they completely flew out of my mind as I was writing the last paragraph.
Dr. Rev Spiwo Xapile spoke to us next and told us about where he is from and the work he does. Spiwo was supported by a local pastor because his family did not have enough money to finish his education. The pastor's decision to support Reverend Xapile, he said, changed his life. It seemed to me that this situation played a large role in his belief that leaders do not create change for others, but rather help them to create it themselves. A big thing that I took away from his talk was that a huge part of a leader's work is to help people see that their situation does not have to be the way that it is, that it can be different. He said, "leadership is helping people cross bridges that they have to cross."
To move on from the history of Apartheid, he believes that black South Africans have to realize that they are somebody and that they need to be the ones to make change in their own lives. They have to create South Africa's future and make it different. His role in this is helping people switch to that mentality, especially by expanding their worldview past the borders of their township. He travels with members of the community to various countries to show them that it is possible to create an environment better than a township.
There were a couple other things that Spiwo said that I really liked. First he said, "I'd rather ask the church for forgivness than to ask for permission for someting that will never be granted." What he meant by this is that in his line of work as a reverend, actions must be OKed by the church, but because the situation in the townships is so dire no one really believes that positive change will actually happen, so many requests for projects are rejected by the church. He would rather have to ask for forgivness for taking an action may produce results rather than waiting around for the church to grant a permission that will never come. At least, that's what I got from it.
The other thing I liked that he said was, "Some say that if you walk with dwarves, you will be a dwarf; if you walk with giants, you will be a giant. But leadership is making giants out of dwarves, and you can't do that unless you walk with dwarves." Think about that one for a bit. It reminded me of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and how he walked with the people.
The next person who spoke to us was Kenneth Lukuko from the Institute of Justice and Reconciliation. It's an NGO that was created to deal with the issues not addressed by the Truth and Reconciliation Committee.
(The Truth and Reconciliation Committee was set up after Apartheid to hold hearings for both the perpetrators and victims of Apartheid-era crimes in order for them to tell their stories and begin a healing process.. I would recommend the book Country of My Skull by Antjie Krog if you want to learn about it)
Basically, the TRC only dealt with the physical harm that was caused. The Institute of Justice and Reconciliation was created to address the mental, emotional, etc harm that was caused. Much that is being addressed now deals with the violence that occured between different black and colored communities because of fighting political groups. Communities come together and each person comes up with 5 milestone years and how that year affected their lives, their families lives and the lives of their community. This process challenges the assumptions that members of each community have about each other. It brings people back from the state of dehumanization that was caused by the enviornment of Apartheid and builds new communities across geographic, racial and political boundaries. Kenneth called it 'Rehumanization'
This process is so important because the harm that was cause not only affects a person's mental state, but it also affects people's ability to come together. The different groups here are now in a position, for example, where they are allowed to work together, but it causes huge problems when you work in the same building as somone who murdered your brother 20 years earlier. This whole thing tries to heal the wounds so people can move on with each other.
Ok so enough about the lecture. It's late and I want to go to sleep. We had an AWESOME lunch today that was made a few women at the community center. Absolutely delicious, it was like Thanksgiving. If I could eat homemade South African food everyday for the rest of my time here, possibly for the rest of my life, I'd be cool with it. Then we watched a small performance of a singing/dancing group from here that is about to travel to the states to put on a ton of shows. When they are in Cape Town, they travel to schools and different places to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. They were amazing. I can't even tell you how cool that was. There was 5 singers along with a small band and those 5 singers could take out any 50-person chior I've ever seen. And their dancing was pretty kick ass too. (They'll be in Minneapolis around July 5th, you should definately go check out the show, seriously).
Then we were driven around Gugulethu for a tour. This was surreal. Pictures can't quite describe it, I've seen photos in National Geographic of shanties before, but I went in one today. The people that live there are a 17 year old girl and her 9(I think) year old brother. Their mother died 2.5 years ago, and they are now left to take care of themselves. What they live in, I guess you could call it a dwelling, but there is no way you could call it a building. 2 rooms. Both less the size of a small walk-in closet. One room is the kitchen, the other is everything else.. except a bathroom, they dont have one of those. They have a wash bin but no toilet. Nothing is new, or even in good condition. There are tears and dirt and even the wooden beams that hold the 'ceiling' up are cracking and bending.
It is damp in there too and just like the rest of their house, the floor is made out of scraps of anything flat. As I'm writing this, it's pouring rain outside and freezing cold. I feel pretty dumb for complaining about how cold our carpeted and roofed house is as I sit here and think about where they are. Driving around today, it was aparent that they are the rule and not the exception in the townships. It is weird to think that there are entire cities of this. We have areas of cities that are bad, but this isn't just an area. Take your city and replace everything with a scene you would imagine from under a bridge in New York City. That's basically what I saw. There are houses, but they are more like a dilapidated strip-mall version of housing. Rows of tiny houses just stuck together, better than shacks but I wouldn't like to live there. I didn't take many pictures because I felt crooked doing it. This is these people's reality and it's not here for me to gawk at or take pictures of simply so I can say I visited a township. I did take a few pictures, however, because I want you to see. I want you to see because I believe these people deserve to have someone know of their situation. Just to know and acknowledge that they exist halfway around the world, I think, is a step in the right direction. And it isn't just about these specific people in South Africa, but people around the rest of the world as well. But at this moment I am here and this is what I can provide, so here you go.
We saw two monuments: the first one was in memory of the Gugulethu Seven. On March 3, 1986, these seven black men were walking to a demonstration march when a white police officer came down the street and shot everyone of them to death without provocation; the monument was built on the spot where they died.
The second one was for Amy Biehl who was doing missionary work with children and was murdered by two black men outside a gas station; her monument is also on the spot where she died.
I will post pictures and some more messy thought blogs that done make any sense when we get back from our homestays on friday, I'm tired now and want to go to bed. More to come then!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Non Stop -- Friday, Saturday, Sunday
The last few days have been crazy! I have a lot to catch up on...
Friday:
In the morning we had class at UCT and had a lecture from a man named Steve. To go along with our last lecture, which gave a political outlook of Apartheid, Steve's lecture gave us a personal one. Steve was born in exile because his father was a wanted man in South Africa because of anti-Apartheid activities (I forgot exactly what he did). Steve and his family grew up having to change names and moving from country to country. They lived in a politically-charged environment and members of the ANC (African National Congress) became their extended family. Their house was even bombed twice. That's crazy, I can't even imagine what it would be like to live like that. It was really cool to hear his story.
After that, we went down to the harbor for some lunch before we went out to Robben Island. A bunch of us sat down at a Cape Malay restaurant because we hadn't tried that kind of food yet. Nate and I split this seafood platter that had mussels, calamari, line fish and prawns. I never had mussels before this, and I'm never going to eat them again! Apparently, you aren't supposed to chew them.. I didn't know this and it turned out to be an unpleasant culinary experience. And I didnt know what prawns were until the plate came out. It's crayfish! Crayfish as in they serve the entire crayfish-shell, antennas, eyes and legs!! I felt a little grossed out looking into the eyes of my food and I was afraid its little legs were gonna start kicking around when I grabbed it. But don't worry, I ate it anyway.
Then we got on a boat to go over to Robben Island and I slept the whole way, which was awesome because it's a 45 minute ride. Robben Island was where they kept black political prisoners during Apartheid. The tour was alright.. it was very interesting and our tour guide was a former prisoner who received a 7 year sentence for bombing a government building. What I didn't like was that most of the tour was focused on Nelson Mandela (who is the most famous prisoner of Robben Island). It was cool to hear about all that, but I wanted to hear stories from other prisoners too because as important as Mandela's work was, he wasn't the only prisoner there and he didn't end Apartheid by himself. I felt that the tour was geared more toward what visitors want to hear rather than telling an equally-balanced history of the prison.
Saturday:
Safari day! We got ourselves up before sunrise (quite possibly around 4:30ish or so) and walked down to the police station to meet our tour bus. This morning, it set in beyond any question that yes, Africa does get cold, cold+damp. It's winter here and it was definitely in the 40's that morning. I know we're all from Minnesota, but we weren't ready for this. So we hopped on the bus, wrapped up in blankets and slept for most of the 2.5 hour drive to Inverdoorn Game Reserve. When we got there, we looked around and it was absolutely gorgeous! They have a whole set up with little cabins, a pool, tables, a fire pit, all that kind of stuff. They served us coffee, tea and some bar/bread type of stuff. Eventually, we got onto the trucks with our guide, Grant, and went to see the animals! We went to see the cheetahs (who are kept in a separate area until they are quarantined) and driving up there, we were thinking "oh, we'll probably just drive along the edge of the fence and look in." Nope, we went in! With cheetahs. They were literally less than 15 feet away from our truck! It was so crazy. But they were pretty chill and got annoyed with us and kept walking away. Fun fact of the day: cheetahs' bones are almost completely hollow.
So then next were the lions. We went up to a lookout tower to see them. They are 'canned lions,' meaning they were raised in captivity and fed until they are fat and easy to hunt. It's illegal since there is no sport to is.. I guess it would be like baiting deer? I don't know hunting laws, so maybe not. They don't know how to hunt because of this so they associate humans with food, so we couldn't go up to the fence because they could break through and eat us. Lions. Amazing.
After the lions, we went into the main reserve and eventually, it started warming up! The sun came up and it was awesome. Even in winter the sun is really powerful here (when it is out).We drove around for a loooong time and had to be really careful not to stick our arms out too far because a ton of the trails had these plants lining them that would tear your arms off. Not really, but you know.
Here is the other animals we saw:
Friday:
In the morning we had class at UCT and had a lecture from a man named Steve. To go along with our last lecture, which gave a political outlook of Apartheid, Steve's lecture gave us a personal one. Steve was born in exile because his father was a wanted man in South Africa because of anti-Apartheid activities (I forgot exactly what he did). Steve and his family grew up having to change names and moving from country to country. They lived in a politically-charged environment and members of the ANC (African National Congress) became their extended family. Their house was even bombed twice. That's crazy, I can't even imagine what it would be like to live like that. It was really cool to hear his story.
After that, we went down to the harbor for some lunch before we went out to Robben Island. A bunch of us sat down at a Cape Malay restaurant because we hadn't tried that kind of food yet. Nate and I split this seafood platter that had mussels, calamari, line fish and prawns. I never had mussels before this, and I'm never going to eat them again! Apparently, you aren't supposed to chew them.. I didn't know this and it turned out to be an unpleasant culinary experience. And I didnt know what prawns were until the plate came out. It's crayfish! Crayfish as in they serve the entire crayfish-shell, antennas, eyes and legs!! I felt a little grossed out looking into the eyes of my food and I was afraid its little legs were gonna start kicking around when I grabbed it. But don't worry, I ate it anyway.
Then we got on a boat to go over to Robben Island and I slept the whole way, which was awesome because it's a 45 minute ride. Robben Island was where they kept black political prisoners during Apartheid. The tour was alright.. it was very interesting and our tour guide was a former prisoner who received a 7 year sentence for bombing a government building. What I didn't like was that most of the tour was focused on Nelson Mandela (who is the most famous prisoner of Robben Island). It was cool to hear about all that, but I wanted to hear stories from other prisoners too because as important as Mandela's work was, he wasn't the only prisoner there and he didn't end Apartheid by himself. I felt that the tour was geared more toward what visitors want to hear rather than telling an equally-balanced history of the prison.
Saturday:
Safari day! We got ourselves up before sunrise (quite possibly around 4:30ish or so) and walked down to the police station to meet our tour bus. This morning, it set in beyond any question that yes, Africa does get cold, cold+damp. It's winter here and it was definitely in the 40's that morning. I know we're all from Minnesota, but we weren't ready for this. So we hopped on the bus, wrapped up in blankets and slept for most of the 2.5 hour drive to Inverdoorn Game Reserve. When we got there, we looked around and it was absolutely gorgeous! They have a whole set up with little cabins, a pool, tables, a fire pit, all that kind of stuff. They served us coffee, tea and some bar/bread type of stuff. Eventually, we got onto the trucks with our guide, Grant, and went to see the animals! We went to see the cheetahs (who are kept in a separate area until they are quarantined) and driving up there, we were thinking "oh, we'll probably just drive along the edge of the fence and look in." Nope, we went in! With cheetahs. They were literally less than 15 feet away from our truck! It was so crazy. But they were pretty chill and got annoyed with us and kept walking away. Fun fact of the day: cheetahs' bones are almost completely hollow.
So then next were the lions. We went up to a lookout tower to see them. They are 'canned lions,' meaning they were raised in captivity and fed until they are fat and easy to hunt. It's illegal since there is no sport to is.. I guess it would be like baiting deer? I don't know hunting laws, so maybe not. They don't know how to hunt because of this so they associate humans with food, so we couldn't go up to the fence because they could break through and eat us. Lions. Amazing.
After the lions, we went into the main reserve and eventually, it started warming up! The sun came up and it was awesome. Even in winter the sun is really powerful here (when it is out).We drove around for a loooong time and had to be really careful not to stick our arms out too far because a ton of the trails had these plants lining them that would tear your arms off. Not really, but you know.
Here is the other animals we saw:
- Ostriches
- Springbok (the national animal of South Africa, and the cutest but most hilarious animal I've ever seen.. they spring up in the air when they run, kind of like a mix of tiny reindeer and rabbits on crack)
- Wildebeest
- Buffalo (the real kind..which happen to be the #2 killer in Africa, they are HUGE!!)
- Zebra and Rhinos!!
- Giraffes.. we got to walk with them! And see two of them fighting..intense! Here's a video of it.. its too bad you can't hear the noise it would make when they hit each other because it sounded really painful
Oh my lord it was great! I took about a million pictures and I'm keeping them all. After we got back from the safari, TJ, Nate, Aaron and I had a chance to go 4wheeling through the bush for about half an hour and it was absolutely one of the best times of my life (along with everything else on this trip)! They have a trail that leads out through a vast open bushland area going toward the mountains. It was so much fun- the trail curved all over and had sand and mud and little hills to jump off of, and the entire time there were the mountains in the background and a bright blue sky above us. It was incredible. On the way back, we went through a huuuuuuge puddle of muddy water way too fast and it splashed all over my pants and killed TJ's quad (thats what they call them here). This is the only picture I have of the 4wheelers.. TJ got some when we were out on the trail, so I'll put one of those up when I get them.
So then we slept on the way back home so we'd be ready to go out and celebrate Nate's birthday. We got reservations at an African cuisine restaurant called Marcos. It was so much fun! They had a great live band playing and singing and did an awesome cover of No Woman No Cry. I am proud to say that I tried some pap, ostrich, crocodile, warthog, springbok and sheep stomach! I liked aaaalll of it. The sheep stomach was weird, probably would have been better if I didn't know what it was. It tasted like sheep smell.. not like the dirty barn smell, but a general sheep smell? Make sense? Well, thats how it tasted. The springbok was delicious, it was like the most tender steak you've ever eaten in your life.
The best part of dinner, though, was the beer. Marcos has one specialty beer and it is brewed in Gugulethu (the township we will be in). They bring everyone's beer out together in this big wooden sphere jug. You swirl it around, drink it and pass it on to the next person. You will never taste a beer like this in your life! It wasn't even like beer except for a small little bite of flavor at the end. It was more like a liquid fruit yogurt drink mixed with beer.. but in the most delicious way! I love that beer. What I was told is that they brew it in the township early in the week, let it ferment throughout the week then bring it out to the restaurant and by saturday it is pretty potent. I'll post some pictures of this when I get them.
After dinner, everyone except for Aaron went out to the bars. Sawiwe, Ajidt and his friend Allen came with too which was awesome cuz those guys are a ton of fun. We stopped at the Dubliner for some over-priced drinks (where we got a shot called the Springbok...mint liqueur and Kahlua Amaretto. Amazing) and a live band with a very good looking lead singer. After admiring this man's talented singing for a while, a few of us wanted to go dance (I had been waiting for it since our plane touched down here) so we went across the street to the Joburg bar. It's some semi-hole-in-the-wall place with some great music to dance to. By 11 it was absolutely packed and about 1000 degrees in there! We made it out to one more club that I didn't like as much only because they played techno music nonstop once 1:00 rolled around. Not my bag of chips but it was fine, it was still a great time! Favorite part of the night: learning some African moves.. too much fun.
Sunday:
This wasn't originally part of our trip plan, but Aaron asked us if we would want to attend a church service in Gugulethu (as it came highly recommended by Kevin Winge), an we all ended up wanting to go. We were able to get both of our van drivers to come pick us up so around 8a.m. we piled in (a little/a lot tired from the night before) and drove to church.
The service was amazing. It was a Xhosa/English mix so I could only understand 25% of what was said, but that didn't matter at all. We got hymn books so we could sing along in Xhosa.. they don't use organs or instruments or anything, just a small drum and the most wonderful impromptu A Capella I've ever heard. The entire congregation knows all the words to the songs and don't need to look at the hymn book at all, they clap their hands and dance to the music. The sermon, even though I couldn't understand most of it, was so heartfelt, sincere and hopeful.
Everyone there is so friendly, too. A lot of people greeted us and were genuinely happy that we were there to worship with them. I wasn't sure how we would be received because I am never sure of how black or colored South Africans may view privileged white people. I don't know how they have been treated in the past by white people so I don't know if they think we are here to take advantage of their situation or treat them badly or impose our beliefs or judgements on them. A lot was said about learning how to be their brothers and sisters and that made me feel so welcome because in this country that has such a stark divide along racial lines, these people are willing to accept us beyond the color of our skin, and reversely, see that we want to do the same.
That is one of the greatest reasons I came on this trip, and why I will be going to India in the spring.. I want to know someone as a person. I dont want to know them by their nationality or the color of their skin, I don't want to know black, brown, green, red, poor, rich.. I want to know them as a human being, and I feel like I can do that here.
One of the best parts of the day is that we got to meet our host families! We are living in Gugulethu tuesday through thursday (as well as going to class and doing service projects during the day all week). Stella and I are staying with our momma, Noxie. She is so great, I already love this woman. She is so full of life and so kind. She teaches a first grade class and we get to go with her in the morning on wednesday (or thursday?) to meet them! Most of the host families have had students staying with them for a homestay experience and were willing to do it again for us, so they love what they do. Every night, we are all getting together with all the families to eat dinner together. Noxie is going to teach me and Stella how to cook like a South African, wrap our hair up like a South African woman.. anything that Stella and I want to learn how to do, she wants to teach us. I am excited to learn from her. She was born in Gugulethu and has lived there her whole life. I want to hear her story and I'm happy that she is willing to tell it.
I know that this next week will be difficult. Noxie had an 18 year old son that died a few years ago, I'm not sure how but I know she will tell us later. We are going to leave the rich part of Cape Town to spend countless hours in poverty-ridden areas; and we're going to face some hard truths, knowing full well that there is nothing we can do to give it a quick fix. Nothing. There will be so many people in need and such deep-rooted social issues that no amount of donated money can fix it-it will take a lot more than that, much more than we are capable of doing at this point. That will be tough because it hurts to feel as though you are turning your back on someone in need, especially when that person is in front of you, looking you in the eyes. That is what I've prepared myself for but I know that no matter what I do, I cant completely prepare for next week. But thats ok because I dont want any preconceived notions getting in my way of learning exactly what it is Gugulethu wants to teach me.
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