Jillian's getting much more comfortable with South Africa

Jillian (in center) with friends Julia & Caitlin

As the program continues, I’m getting much more comfortable in South Africa. I’m meeting so many new people through my internship and just from being out in the community. One thing I’ve noticed about South Africa is that the people are much more open and willing to talk and have a conversation with you. I love the community here just because the way of life is so different than in the United States. People focus more on relationships than having a schedule and routine. At my internship, the pace is so different. People aren’t rushing to get things done. They are instead stopping to have conversations with coworkers and enjoy their time at work. Because of that, the atmosphere at my internship is great to work in. I’ve gotten to know the people I’m working with fairly well and we always have a good time together.

We’ve been learning a lot about racism in class and I’m beginning to see the world differently because of what I’m learning and being exposed to. A lot of this information I never learned at home and I felt uninformed. I found it hard to speak up about certain issues for fear of sounding uneducated or of offending someone. Now that I’m learning more about racism in the world, I feel a lot more comfortable talking about it. I ask more questions at my internship about apartheid and how people felt during it. I’ve asked the social worker numerous amounts of questions because we’ve developed a great relationship. I’ve learned so much from her just by starting conversations. Aside from starting conversations, I’ve been trying to be more active in the community regarding race, gender, and poverty.

Last week, I went to a production called “Reclaiming the P Word” which was put on by the Gender Equity Unit at the University of Western Cape. The show consisted of all young black women telling different true stories about sex, gender, and femininity. It was very similar to slam poetry. I really enjoyed the show because all of the women told the stories with so much emotion. Parts of it were really funny and other parts of it were more emotional. Afterwards, we met some of the people in the Gender Equity Unit who were in the show and they were all so fun. I’m glad I went because I met some really awesome people and learned a lot about women and feminism.