The Tigers Ate My Homework

I went to see Botswanan dancing earlier this week. It reminded me of an ASP Culture Night or one of the country presentations at a CISV village. The students in the Botswana Society, all citizens of Botswana in Cape Town for various reasons, wore traditional Botswanan dress and performed songs and dances from their country. The songs were all sung a capella with lots of clapping. The dancing was incredibly cool, combining stepping, stomping, and tapping their feet with different leanings, postures, and arm movements, all perfectly in rhythm with the singing. I felt it was very generous and kind of the students to share their traditions and heritage with others like that, not to mention it was an experience I definitely wouldn't have had in the States.

Rugby is HUGE in South Africa. I went to see my first rugby game last night (Western Province vs. Griqua). Rugby is sort of a mix of American football and soccer, only much more violent and involving fewer/no protective pads of any sort. I had the good fortune of sitting beside a guy who plays club rugby at his school, so he explained the finer points of the game to me, like the meaning of rucks and scrums, and how the scoring of tries and field goals and conversions works. Definitely an educational experience. Enough rugby might almost make up for the fact that I'm missing most of football season.

I went to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens today, which were beautiful. The gardens have a huge range of plants, including trees, bushes, ferns, mosses, and flowers. There was a fragrance path, a path designed for the blind that featured braille signs and lots of textured and scented plants, a path that showed particularly useful plants, a wetland area, and a section that featured dry-climate plants from South Africa. While I might have found a botanical garden in the U.S. less interesting, the plants were things I'd never seen before since most were native to Africa and prevalent only in warmer climates. The garden itself is set on the side of Table Mountain and affords beautiful views of the mountain and the city. I was amazed to wander through the garden and see all the wonderfully diverse and beautiful things God has created!

My favorite sign in the garden: "The aromatic lemon bush is rubbed on the skin to protect against dogs and crocodiles."

Introduction to SAEP

I'm getting involved with an organization called South African Education and Environment Program (SAEP). SAEP has undertaken three basic tasks: providing and supporting creches (day care centers for 1-6 year olds) in the townships, creating tutoring programs in township high schools, and working with "gap-year" interns (students who have completed high school but failed one or more subjects on their graduation exams who have one year to study and pass those exams).

I went to visit a few of the creches yesterday and it was simultaneously heartbreaking and inspiring. The buildings are mostly constructed out of tin and cardboard; they are very small and rather rickety. Most of the creches have only three or four rooms, with kitchens for cooking and rooms for keeping the children. The creches open before 7 a.m. so that parents can drop off their children before taking public transportation to work and remain open until nearly 7 p.m. for parents to pick them up. The centers are very over-crowded, one of them had 192 children in only 3 rooms. There are few toys and books, the rooms seem bare. Most of the centers have little or no playground space and limited, poor toilet facilities. The conditions are, in short, tragic.

At the same time, the services being provided are a godsend. Most of the creches were founded by women who wished to help. SAEP simply works with those women to improve conditions, organize things, and provide funding. The parents are charged a small fee for the care of the children, but the directors also don't turn away children who can't pay. Despite lack of resources, the staffs manage to maintain remarkably good discipline and care, making sure that the children get regular meals and some education at the creches.

The children are amazing, though. When our group of seven college students entered, the children gazed at us with curiousity. They were eager to shake our hands, they waved and gave thumbs-up, and some even sang and played games with us. Despite the conditions around them, the children are like all the other children I've ever met.

I've decided to work one afternoon a week in a creche with the children, as well as spending an afternoon working in the SAEP offices doing my capstone project. I'm excited to work with an organization that is getting involved and trying to improve conditions through existing formats.

$6 for a Coke?! ...or... Why I don't have any clean clothes to wear

The currency in South Africa is the Rand (R). At present exchange rates, there are about 6.5 R to the U.S. dollar. This is, of course, perfectly normal. The only problem is that price tags are in Rand, so everything looks very expensive. For instance, I was going to buy a Coke yesterday, but the price tag said 6 and I thought "Six dollars for a Coke? Unbelieveable!" before remembering that it was actually only about a dollar for a Coke. This has the effect of making me even less likely to spend money than I usually am. In addition, there are 5 Rand coins, which is almost like having a dollar coin. I am constantly amazed when I can pay for something with just one coin. Change is actually WORTH something here, which is a very strange reality. It'll be nice once I finally make the adjustment to another currencty.

I am also struggling with the present laundry situation. Our house has a washer in the kitchen, which is very convenient. (Except for that time that I made it overflow bubbles all over the floor, but that's another story...) While we have a washer, we unfortunately do not have a dryer. Upon learning this I thought, "Fine, I'll just hang things out to dry on the clothesline in the courtyard. Not a problem." But there is a slight problem: we're in the middle of South Africa's rainy season. That means that it rains 5 out of 7 days in a week. You have to do the laundry when you think the rain will hold off long enough to get your clothes dry. I washed my clothes yesterday, for instance, and all day I've been looking hesitantly at the gray sky and hoping that a sudden downpour doesn't prevent me from having clean clothes to wear tomorrow. Yeesh. I've never been more thankful for having access to a washer and dryer before!

I'm off to check if my clothes are dry yet. More updates soon!

Sesotho Hymns and Eating with my Hands

Last night a friend of mine from Zimbabwe invited me over to have dinner with him and a couple of his friends. Together we cooked (and by "we cooked" I mean they cooked and I did dishes) a typical meal from Zimbabwe. The meal consisted of a base of "sudza" (I'm not sure of the spelling) or "mealy meal" with minced beef and swiss chard. Sudza starts out as a sort of powdery grain, but is cooked with water so that it has a consistency of something between stiff grits and very dense mashed potatoes. The meal is eaten without utensils, instead scooped up with the fingers of one hand. I had a wonderful time learning to scoop up my meal and enjoying the wonderful new tastes.

After dinner, we visited a ballroom dancing club party very briefly. I know almost nothing about dancing, but I got to watch some excellent dancers and even try one dance. It was quite an evening.

This morning I went to the multilingual worship service at the Methodist church around the corner from my house. The spoken parts of the service were in English, but the hymns were in African languages like Sesotho and Xhosa and were all sung a capella. I was the only white person in the room other than the minister. It was invigorating. The sermon was also quite interesting, blending Scripture from Ecclesiastes, Philippians, and John together with ideas from St. Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, and Rick Warren (writer of the Purpose Driven Life). The worship was invigorating.

"I'm going to open doors for you, doors you never even dreamed existed. Oh, what times we're going to have..." -Auntie Mame (the movie

One week of classes down, many to go. My classes so far have been fascinating, though. The lectures keep tying in with one another in themes and ideas, but never so much that the classes are boring. Most of all, they've left me asking questions, which I love. Some of the questions that have occupied my mind the most have been:

1) Are ethics solely religiously or culturally based, or are they universal, or does it depend?
2) Can cultural comparisons be made or are such things inherently ethnocentric and therefore wrong?
3) What are the causes and solutions to the current problems in Africa?
4) Whose perspective is being taken in understanding history and shaping the present?
5) Do we have a right or responsibility to interfere when cultural practices are harmful?

In short, my classes have forced me to consider things differently than I ordinarily would have, and I appreciate that.

The other great thing about my courses is the schedule. I'm not sure how things worked out so well, but I don't have any classes before 10 a.m. and I'm finished every day by 1 p.m. That leaves my afternoons open for research, homework, and work on my service-learning capstone.

I visited the offices of SAEP (the NGO I'm hoping to work for on my service-learning capstone) today. I got to hear more in-depth about the sorts of projects they do. SAEP has education and social work programs on many levels. First, there are the creches, which are daycare centers for infants and very young children in the townships whose parents are working and need childcare. Second, the program hires interns who have completed their high school education but failed one or two of their exit exams. The interns work for SAEP on various projects and recieve tutoring and wages in return. SAEP also organizes after-school tutoring and journalism programs at high schools in the townships. The organization seems to me to be an excellent one. I'll probably be involved mostly in the administrative aspect, working on a database for an outside evaluation firm so that SAEP can continue to recieve funding and creating a brochure to inform potential volunteers and community members about the organization. I may also work in the creches or something, but I'll have to see how time goes.

Rain, rain, go away...

Walking around over the last few days I've been reminded of the monologue from Forrest Gump about the different kinds of rain in Vietnam. Forrest goes on about "big, ol' fat rain, stinging rain, rain that blew in sideways..." and I'm beginning to understand what he means now that I've seen Western Cape's rainy season. It has been incredibly cloudy, cool, windy, and rainy here for the last few days. The problem with rain here, though, is that it always comes with wind, which makes umbrellas completely useless. If you try to use an umbrella, the buffeting winds will blow the umbrella inside out repeatedly until you eventually surrender and put the object away.

The nice thing about the rain, though, is that it has a sort of unifying effect on all the people on campus. Rain, of course, falls the same on everyone. So the people who are ordinarily fashion plates have hair and clothes just as soggy and rumpled as those of us who simply grab the first clean thing out of the closet. It also brings people together in our huddling under the eves of buildings and in doorways. There are clusters of people everywehre and it is suddenly simple to start a conversation with something like, "Lovely weather we're having, eh?" I walked all the way down from Upper Campus today with someone I barely know and we had a lovely conversation, which probably wouldn't have happened on a warm sunny day when people can wait around for people they already know to emerge from buildings.

Something about rain always makes me want to accomplish things. I feel as though since I'm inside I must get things done. Today I went and found out how to check out books from the Short Loan desk at the library and put Rand on my print quota so I'll be able to print papers and such. Not to mention that it's much easier to accept sitting inside and reading texts for class when it's impossible to go out and do something else.

Now I'm off to trudge through the rain to get home and have some toast and curl up with a book.

I get around...

Perhaps I don't always get around, but I try. Below are some of the transportation options and complications in Cape Town.

Cars in South Africa are driven, as they are in the UK, on the left side of the road. This always throws me off since I expect all cars to be coming from the right and nearly step out in front of traffic after looking the wrong direction. Another challenge is heaped on remembering to look in all directions before crossing, and that is the lack of respect for pedestrians. When crossing the street in front of cars, it is not unlikely for the car to speed up and steer toward the pedestrian. I, like most pedestrians, have taken to checking every possible direction for traffic, then running across the road and hoping to survive. It's rather like the live-action version of Frogger.

In addition, since cars drive on the left, people walk on the left side of sidewalks and staircases. This causes me great frustration because I'm in the American habit of walking on the right side of sidewalks. Habit causes me to run into people constantly unless I walk along consciously repeating to myself "Left...stick to the left...", which tends to make me look mentally unbalanced.

Many people here don't have cars and gasoline is expensive, so a sort of transportation known as minibuses has developed. A minibus is a van that drives up and down the principle roads in Cape Town, picking people up and dropping them off wherever they request along the route. There are a few quirks of minibuses, however. Each minibus has 2 workers, a driver and a "guard". The driver steers the vehicle down the road while the guard yells out the window at people about the places the van will take you, collects money from the passengers, and runs "customer service". Thus, the streets are full of sketchy-looking vans, usually crammed with people, driving back and forth down familiar routes, emitting honks, whistles, and shouts as they go. Minibuses are cheapest form of transportation in the city, but they're a bit shady and can't be taken after dark.

Alternatives to the minibuses are metered cabs, like those in U.S. cities, and the train. The metered cabs are the safest but also the most expensive form of public transportation. The train, I am told, is very dangerous, and I have been warned never to ride it.

For students at UCT, there is also the Jammie Shuttle, which provides transportation to and from campus. These are strikingly similar to the Columbia bus system in that they are large blue buses packed with students. These are free, but the hours and routes are extremely limited. I mostly utilize the Jammie to take me up the hill to the top of campus in the morning so I don't have to walk hundreds of steps in the rain.

Classes? What do you mean classes?

It's the middle of July, which, for people in the U.S., means that it's still summer vacation. But in South Africa, classes are beginning for the winter semester. Today was my first day of classes. My classes all seem really good so far. I'm enrolled in three classes: Religion in Africa; Religion, Ethics, and Human Rights; and History of Africa, Colonial and Post-Colonial Encounters. The first two are smaller discussion classes with about 30 students, mostly foreign. The History class, however, is a larger lecture which is broken down into tutorials or "tuts", which meet weekly, like discussion sections in the U.S.

On Friday I went to Robben Island. Robben Island is a former prison where political prisoners including Nelson Mandela were held during the struggle over Apartheid. It, like Alcatraz, is off the coast by the city and is no longer an active prison. It was amazing to tour a place with such immense natural beauty that was used for such a terrible purpose. The prison buildings are all surrounded by fences and walls with razor wire. However, as the guides (who are all former political prisoners who were held on the island) will tell you, all those defenses couldn't stop those held inside from fighting for their cause. Despite the terrible treatment and pain of isolation, the prisoners held hunger strikes, passed petitions, and kept up their struggle against the prejudiced system surrounding them. Just beholding the place where such determination was shown was inspiring.

I also took a minibus into the heart of Cape Town this weekend to visit the South African Museum and the Jewish Museum. Both were fascinating, but the greatest accomplishment I felt in the endeavor was actually managing the minibus rides and navigating the city with another American. I can't take credit for the navigation, my friend did that, but just handling the city atmosphere and not getting too frightened makes me proud of myself.

It is nice to finally have people on campus. Until today, there have only been international students on campus, so it has been rather empty. Today campus is vibrant, with students of all races speaking all sorts of languages all mixing together, hugging, greeting their friends after vacation, and beginning classes. While I don't know many people yet, it's nice to have people around instead of wondering down empty sidewalks and into hollow buildings.

To be or not to be...

Hamlet last night was really good. Claudius was played by a Tony-award-winner and the rest of the cast was amazing. It was a fascinating performance in that the actors were dressed like modern South Africans, with the guards carrying machine guns rather than swords. Talk about a unique performance.

I'm now officially registered for class at the "varsity" here. I'm in 14 hours, which is actually only 3 classes: two four-hour classes and a six-hour class. It was actually quite a painless and reasonably quick processs, considering that nothing in the process is computerized and it all involves waiting in "Qeues" (sp?). I also got an ID card, which means yet another helpful piece of plastic that features a terrible picture of me on its surface.

I've been going through weird waves of homesickness since I've been here. It's a bizarre experience. I'm fine when I'm with people in low-stress situations. But when I get lonely or upset by my surroundings, I get abnormally bothered by it, suddenly feel homesick, and have, on several occasions, nearly burst into tears. It's really hard to handle because I'm never sure when I'll be fine or upset. For instance, when one of the computer technicians in the library insisted I stop using the computer for "personal e-mailing", then told me off loudly in front of the entire population of the computer lab, I nearly started crying. But I'll be fine an hour later when I'm having lunch with my "digsmates". It's a very strange reality.

At the moment I'm chilling in an internet cafe with a huge crowd of people. Apparently we picked the busy time of day. Then it's off for some school shopping and I know not what. Cheers!

Orientation Jive

I don't have a whole lot to report of late, since I've been mostly sitting in orientation information sessions, but there have been a few notable experiences.

On Sunday I got to go on a tour of the Cape Peninsula as part of orientation. It was awesome to get to see the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. I got to go to the Cape of Good Hope, the farthest southwest part of Africa. There was a signpost at the CoGH that let us know that we were actually twice as close from that point to the South Pole as we were to New York City. Talk about a sudden dose of reality. We also got to see penguins in the wild, including babies. They were so adorable!

We had an amazing African drumming lesson/seminar last night for all the new international students. We all got to try the drumming with our own drums under the leadership of five really good drummers. It was incredibly cool.

I've found a wonderful, small Indian restaurant near my residence, so I've been there a few times already. I also discovered the local coffee shop for students. The first night I went there the owner was out drinking and had left a random guy who happened to be an ex-Catholic priest in charge of serving and making the drinks. I ended up playing Jenga with some international students and two slightly-inebriated off-duty waitresses. It was a hilarious experience.

I finally get to register for classes tomorrow, so I'll have some idea of my schedule then, as well as a student ID that will let me finally have reliable internet access (which will mean longer, more informative entries here and more time to e-mail!). Tonight it's off to a performance of Hamlet.

Sign: "Feeding Baboons is Strictly Prohibited"

Arrival

Greetings from Cape Town, South Africa. After 30 long hours of travelling, including one 17 hour flight, I have arrived in Cape Town. The flights were long and taxing, but for the long one we had personal video entertainment systems and could pick from a large selection of recent movies to watch whenever we want. The Pacifier, by the way, is surprisingly good, as is Coach Carter. I also slept a lot on the flight and have gotten well-rested since I've been here, so I don't feel terribly jet lagged.

I've met all of the students in my program. Most of them, including everyone in my house, seems to have come here largely for the purpose of getting drunk and partying, which is definitely NOT my bag, so I've been a bit lonely, so far. The city is incredible and beautiful, though, and I have hope that once classes get started and I meet some other students things won't seem so bad.

I'm living in a double room with a student from the University of Denver in the lower level of an enormous, 150 year old home near the college. There are about 15 people in my house, three males and the rest females. I have my own bed and closet and lots of space. The house is nice, despite the lack of common ground with the housemates.

A few notes about Cape Town: it lies right at the foot of Table Mountain with the ocean close on the other side. I haven't been to the beach yet, it's a 20 minute drive from my house, but I'm looking forward to getting there soon. It's very urban with all the expected conveniences and such (yes, I have hot running water and I can drink the stuff that comes out of the tap). There's an incredibly mix of poverty and wealth, with the townships and shantytowns showing immense poverty and very wealthy homes all surrounded by security gates.

We've had two days of program orientation, so tomorrow we start the official orientation for the international center at the University. Our first thing in that orientation is a tour of Robben Island (a former prison for political prisoners where Nelson Mandela was held) which I'm really excited about. We also get to register on Wednesday and get our student IDs, which means I'll finally have reliable internet access. Then next moenday we get to start classes, which will mean I'll have more reliable internet access and will be able to respond to an e-mails sent my way (hint, hint!).

Topics to be covered in future entries sometime: driving in Cape Town, poverty, more descriptions of the natural beauty, and a whole lot less complaining.

"Work is love made visible."

Tomorrow?

Tomorrow I depart. Tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. I leave my house not to return for 5 months. And tomorrow evening I'll lift off the ground in New York and leave the U.S. for 5 months. I think I'm almost ready.

I've spent the last week repeating to myself, "I'm LEAVING in (fill in correct amount here) days to go into the unknown for FIVE MONTHS." It's starting to feel real. At least, I think that's what that nausea in the pit of my stomach is. I've said most of my goodbyes already, leaving this as a day to mostly relax and mentally prepare. I even managed to get everything I'm taking into ONE giant duffel bag and my carry-on bookbag.

So in case I didn't get to say goodbye to you in person, consider yourself hugged and farewelled. I'll miss you for sure, so please, PLEASE stay in touch! I'll post again when I'm safely on South African soil.

Maybe if I sit on it...

I decided when I woke up this morning that today was the day to pack. So I dragged out my luggage options: an enormous rolling duffel, a big framed camping backpack, and an ordinary bookbag. I'd made a general packing list and I'd done my shopping, so I started pulling things out of their usual storage spaces and making a pile on the floor. The pile, once fully gathered, seemed reasonably small. I honestly thought that I could fit everything into the framed backpack, like the study abroad program recommended.

Once I'd packed about two-thirds of my stuff into the backpack, I realized there was no way I'd get the rest into the bag. Then I had a stroke of genius: put the backpack INTO the duffel, then just take the duffel! "AHA!" I thought, "This will be wonderful, I'll have extra space!" So, I started packing everything into the duffel. I tried to get it all in, I really did. But with the tennis racket and the sleeping bag and the framed backpack and all the winter and summer clothes and shoes and stuff, it just wasn't possible. I tried shaking the bag, picking it up and dropping it repeatedly, taking everything out and refolding it, but to no avail.

I finally gave in and accepted the idea of taking TWO checked bags. So now, instead of one checked bag and my bookbag, I'm taking my bookbag, my huge duffel and a much smaller duffel that will hold just my sleeping bag and Howard. I'm determined to be able to carry all of my stuff on my own (plus it's a requirement of the program) so I'm going to be wandering around the Cape Town Airport lugging all of this stuff and generally looking like one of those horrible people who overpacks for every trip. At least I'm not pushing the weight limit for baggage.

New poll: I need to pick a couple of books, a few CDs, and some snacks to take in my carry-on for the flight. Please, lend me your suggestions! (Put them in the comments below)