Onna still missing Cape Town

As a long overdue response, I am still missing Cape Town everyday. I miss the energy, the horns of the minibus, the constant opportunity that a city holds. Coming home was strange at first, everything was so familiar. As much as I wanted to arrive in the US with things being different, new people to meet in my small hometown, and all that jazz- I was painfully disappointed when I got to JFK and everything seemed the exact same. Coming back to Southbury, everything was the exact same- with the exception of the construction of a new ugly movie theater. Things are the same, but I am not the same.

I found the questions of “How was Africa?” to be pressing and quite annoying to be honest. I didn’t feel like explaining how I think I changed because it made my desire to return even stronger. I realized that when asked what my favorite part of my experience was, I changed my answer each time. Many people seemed to be quite disappointed when I told them that one of the best parts of Cape Town was the classes that I took.

With that being said, I have managed to have myself quite the adventurous summer- traveling to Montreal, Block Island, California & Philadelphia to visit friends that I hadn’t seen for months. It was nice to reunite, pleasing to know that many of my friends are on the same page as I am regarding social change, education & equality. Although I have become quite bitter to some of the insensitive side comments that I have experienced in meeting new people this summer.

I’m trying not to let my 4 months in Cape Town seem like a dream. I found myself upset some days… it took hours for me to pinpoint the reason that I felt this empty feeling. Then I realized the answer was easy; I miss South Africa, hard.

With that being said, I’m ready to take on a new adventure… possibly to South East Asia or South America after I graduate in May. But I can’t forget to enjoy the present time. I landed a position as a public affairs intern for the UConn radio station (WHUS) that I am quite excited about- I will be exploring activism and social issues at UConn (and might even be able to score my own talk show!!!!). I have mixed emotions with returning to the student body of UConn but I am trying to stay positive, I hope people respond as warmly as Capetonians did when I struck up a conversation while walking to work. I’m also excited to become more active in new groups & events at UConn, I am going to continue the concept of constantly trying new things. Although I cannot lie, I am absolutely thrilled to return to an environment with my co-educators to talk about how we feel, what we’ve learned, and further reflections on our Cape Town experience now that we have returned to the US. 

Maria hoping folks at home understand the transformation she's gone through

Writing one of my last blog posts is extremely emotional for me because I can’t quite grasp the fact that my time here in Cape Town has officially entered the home stretch. Although I extended my trip 10 days I don’t think that will be enough time for me to fully reflect on my experience before leaving. This last week as been filled with “I want to go here one last time” or “omg this is going to be my last time here” ITS SO WEIRD. Some of my others friends have recently arrived back home and I try to picture myself home but I can barely recall what that is like. I know I probably sound dramatic but I now call Cape Town my home and leaving is extremely unsettling. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, Dani, Onna and I are attending Afrika Burn and will be leaving this Thursday morning. I believe it has the potential to be the experience of a lifetime. It is basically a community based on arts, creativity, love and music that bring people together. You have to leave with everything you bring and the only thing you can buy at the burn is ice; everything else is based on trade with all the unique people you meet.

Part of me is ready to go home to see my family. One thing I have realized while being in Cape Town is how much I truly love my family. We talk a lot in class about our values; working with so many children who come from broken homes has made me realize more than ever how lucky and thankful I am to have a loving and supportive family. We watched a video in Vincent’s class called “Miracle Rising” and as soon as the film ended I emailed the YouTube link of it to my family members because I thought it depicted so well the history of South Africa that so many people just don’t understand or are not educated about. I am excited to tell all my friends about my journey here but nervous at the same time because I hope they understand the transformation I went through.

Even though it is sad that we are all leaving so soon we know we have to make as much time as possible for some fun. Here is a picture of a few of us on a sunset cruise, which was absolutely gorgeous. The water was so calm and the sun was showing off big time. 

I have come to love scuba diving since starting it here; it is such a relaxing activity and really makes me appreciate the ocean and all the species in it. Here is a picture of Christina and I having fun just before going down for a dive. The gopro is quite the camera and I was able to capture rally cool things with it while being in South Africa. 

Christina & Maria

Jillian is preparing to leave and bring home some of the lessons learned

With less than a week left here, it’s hard to believe that I will have to say goodbye to beautiful Cape Town soon. The lifestyle in South Africa is so different to the lifestyle back at home. Everyone is much more relaxed here and less focused on rushing around trying to get places. I love the slow pace of life and the appreciation for the outdoors and enjoyment here. Even with all of that, it’s still hard not to notice the discrimination and unrest here. I was in a cab the other day and the driver was "classified" colored. There was a group of black men crossing the road and the cab driver got really hostile and honked at them. One black man was still crossing the road and the cab driver ran right into him and the black man moved out of the way just in time. The cab driver yelled out the window some very offensive and insulting things to the black man. This was my first real encounter with racism here. I’ve heard of things happening, but I had never been in the presence of it. This showed just how real the competition is between blacks and coloreds. It bothered me to see such hostility when the black man wasn’t doing anything wrong. I didn’t speak up, but I wish I did. I was so confused and shocked at what had happened that I didn’t know what to say. After the occurrence, a lot of things from Marita’s class came into my mind. I have a whole new appreciation for Marita’s class after this happened because I’ve learned so much about what to do in those types of situations. I’m hoping that if I have another encounter like that, I will be ready to speak up. After being in Cape Town seeing and hearing acts of racism and discrimination, I wonder if I will be able to notice things more at home. I’m hoping if I do see something like that again, I will be able to speak up.

Molly looking forward to bringing what she learned home

As my trip is coming to an end I have been catching myself reflecting on my experiences while I have been here and actually picking up journaling a bit. In class this past week we discussed our different experiences by walking to different sides of the room based on our feelings on certain topics. When we were asked if we had trouble with culture shock when we first arrived. I initially walked to the side of not having trouble with culture shock but after thinking about it now I am really do not think I thought about that question fully. I thought back to my first two weeks here during orientation when we traveled around and especially the day that we went to the townships. I remember being in utter disbelief that day of the number of people that were living in informal housing and just the conditions of living. I then continued to drive through the townships every day for my internship and it never became less disheartening. I am glad in a weird way that I have experienced all of this and seen it because now going back home I will never forget it. I think that it will make me more aware of the poverty in the United States as well as making me more motivated to do more to help. I do think I will experience some culture shock going home and not being in this environment anymore but I am excited for all of the new things I am aware of and going to do

Emily L reflecting on how she's become motivated to work for positive social change

To be honest, I have been struggling a bit this past week coming to terms with the approaching departure from Cape Town. I’m not quite sure how I’m going to be able to go back to living the way I did at home because I feel completely changed from these past few months. In class last night, we did a few exercises that required a good amount of self-reflection. My ability to reflect within myself has become so strengthened since coming here, something I’m proud of. One of the questions Marita asked us was whether or not we were going to have a hard time assimilating back into life at home. I immediately knew that my answer would be “yes.” During my time here, I have become such an open minded, positive person. Almost all of that can be attributed to my time working in Tafelsig Clinic and conversing with locals while out and about. I’m going to miss the welcoming spirit of Cape Town and how people are, for the most part, full of light and love.

           

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to be able to spend time in Noordehoek with Onna, Dani, and Dani’s cousins who live there. We spent the evening watching the sunset at Noordehoek Beach, an experience that had a lot more depth to it than I would’ve expected.  Watching the hot pink and vibrant oranges dance across the sky filled me with such a sense of peace. This peace comes at such a troubling time in South Africa. Lately, the xenophobic attacks that have been occurring are all I can think about. Who am I to be feeling such peace in the same land where people are terrified to leave their houses? I’m realizing that these kinds of feelings are going to be a lifelong struggle, and that should motivate me to act against change. 

Dani & Emily L

Taylor L becoming increasingly aware of the gendered expectaions placed on children

In Marita’s class we have learned a lot about gendered expectations and how society influences individuals to think, feel, and act in a certain way. While I have heard about this before, I have never talked about it to such an extent. It is pretty interesting that after these discussions I have become so aware of these supposed gender roles. I have become increasingly aware of these  at my internship and I have tried to combat it.

           

One of the learners I work with loves to play with the kitchen set in the Speech Therapy big room. I encourage him to play and pretend cook after our sessions. I never thought that this might not be acceptable in society’s eyes. Therefore, I was taken back when I witnessed one of his classmates get upset after he tried to play with the kitchen set in the classroom. I confronted the girl and told her that anyone could play with the kitchen set and informed her that she could also play with all the toys. While my statement quieted the girl, I am curious where she got this idea. I surely hope the teacher did not say that only the girls could play with the kitchen set. I do not think this teacher would say that but this young child was so adamant that the boy coming to the kitchen was not allowed.

           

Another instance where I noticed gendered behavior was at lunchtime. One of the boys in the classroom did not want to finish his lunch and a male volunteer turned to the boy and said “come on, don’t you want to be a man.” This statement insinuated that society expects young boys to become strong men and that anything but is not acceptable. This got me thinking about how the volunteer would have responded if the learner were a girl. I think the volunteer would have dismissed it and believed that the girl was full.

It is sad that these ideals are passed on to youth when they are so young. I hope that educators and individuals coming in contact with youth eventually read these articles. We have such a profound influence on the youth and we could prevent the next generation from abiding by the imposed gender roles.

Christina contemplates going home

Throughout this entire semester, we’ve focused on race and gender in Marita’s class. During our studies we have learned about a lot of stereotypes and gender norms especially. Women normally do this while men do that. It’s been going on for generations and has become normalized on many levels. For example, in my own experiences, men usually pop the question and propose to their significant others. One might say it’s even tradition, yet I’m not even quite sure how or when it originated. But just the other day at work I experienced someone defying that gender norm. A girlfriend of a co-worker of mine comes in occasionally to volunteer at the aquarium. One day when she came in, we got the opportunity to join the collections team out on the boat while they were busy collecting kelp. During the time the divers were underwater we got to chatting about her relationship. They have been together for two years now and the matter of marriage has popped up a few times. He wants to wait a few years, but knows he wants to ask her. Her mentality on the other hand is that neither of them are getting younger, she’s 29 and he’s 33, so she wants to ask the question herself. Apparently there is a tradition regarding leap year that allows a woman to ask a man. This was unheard of by me so I did a little research.  According to old Irish history or tradition, believe what you may, St Brigid struck a deal with St Patrick to allow women to propose to men every four years. The reasoning behind the myth is that it came into place to balance the traditional roles of men and women in a similar way to how Leap Day balances the calendar. To be honest this woman seems like she would ask him to marry her even if this tradition didn’t exist, but I found it very interesting and empowering that she was planning on doing it. She has everything planned out including the proposal happening at the aquarium and although I enjoyed hearing about it because I am a helpless romantic, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by how confident and excited she was to make such a big move that is traditionally a man’s role in society.

Another thing we’ve focused on this week has been the reality of going home so soon. It’s crazy to think that 3 ½ months have gone by. I also have been dealing with how I feel about it all. I have very mixed emotions in a sense that at times I feel ready and okay to go home because I have accomplished so much and have seen and experienced more than I could ever imagine. But then I’ll have a really good day at work or something will just make me so happy like the mountains or looking at the ocean and then I’ll get an overwhelming feeling of sadness and nostalgia about leaving this place that I have grown to love so much. Cape Town is my home. I can officially say that I have lived somewhere else other than Brookfield, CT. And at moments that realization alone is enough to terrify me to leave. Going home will certainly be a process, and adjusting back to life will be an even bigger one that I am not looking forward to. There are many challenges I am anticipating on facing when I get home. How I deal and handle those challenges are something I can think of and prepare myself for now. But how I react for sure is a mystery until the time comes. Until that time though I am going to enjoy every last minute here in my beautiful city of Cape Town.

 

Maria's not leaving quite yet

It’s pretty hectic, as many South Africans would say that our time here in Cape Town, for now is coming to a close. I have been extremely busy these past couple of weeks trying to fit every possible thing in that I wanted to do throughout the semester. A few days ago I was in a gift shop and picked up what was labeled a South African passport. As I read through it I realized I had been to or experienced all but 2 pages that was listed as top things to do in Cape Town, which was a pretty cool feeling. I am such an avid hiker back home so being able to bring that love here and finding awesome hiking trails to enjoy with friends has been one of my favorite parts. Here is a picture of Jess, Caitlin, Bernie, Christina, and I at the top of Table Mountain after hiking it. For some of us it wasn’t our first time up but for others it was their first time so it was a good mix. The hike was extremely hard, probably one of the most mentally draining hikes I have ever done.

           

Jess, Caitlin, Bernie, Christina, and Maria on Table Mountain

The weather temperature dropped pretty quickly here just as most people said it would but I refused to believe them until now. I have no reason to complain though because by cooling down I mean it is now in the low 70s. The beauty of this place ceases to amaze me. When John, Dani and I were walking to work one hazy morning a rainbow happened to be hovering over Table Mountain, which was a sight to see. The past week one of our assignments for class was to watch a few videos and one of them was called “Look Up” which was about putting down your cell phone and enjoy the world around you. Before watching this video I started to notice myself and how I was becoming unattached to my phone in a way; meaning I wasn’t dependent on having wifi in a restaurant or running straight up to the common room every time I got home to connect to the wifi. This is a habit I most definitely want to bring home with me. 

I am so happy I am fortunate enough to be able to extend my time here in South Africa. Dani is staying until the end of May but Onna and I are staying until May 12^th. We are all attending AfrikaBurn and if you don’t know what that is I suggest you Google it because it is such a unique event that takes place here. They adopted the concept of Burning Man, which is held in Nevada back in the states.

           

It’s going to be really sad to see my fellow peers leave for the semester but I know that I will see some of them this summer and definitely all of them once we return back to school in the fall!

Bernie will bring home lessons learned

This past weekend I went to the beach everyday. Being at the beach is one of my favorite things so I am making sure that before I leave I go as many times as I can. Also I hiked Table Mountain this past Friday and that was an experience. I am not sure what hiking trail we did but all I know is that it was hard but I am so happy I did it. I feel like when you come to Cape Town you have to hike Table Mountain, so after 3 months I can cross that off my list. It’s crazy that there is less than 2 weeks left here in Cape Town. I still feel like I have so much to do with so little time. I’m excited to go home and see my family but I am sad to leave this beautiful place but I am going to make these last 2 weeks the best before I leave!

On another note in Marita’s class we watched a video, America Needs Human Rights, on how America violates them on a daily basis. I never thought much about human rights in America and that is mostly because of the circumstances that I was raised in. However after seeing this video I realized that human rights do get violated everyday, there’s a violation when we see a homeless man in New York but we don’t see it like that. After watching that video I changed my perspective so instead of saying there’s a homeless man, I will see him as a man who is having his rights violated by not being given shelter and food. I wish everyone in America realized that there are people whose rights are being violated right next to them, but they don’t realize it because since their rights aren’t being violated they aren’t worried about someone else’s; that’s how I used to think. However it’s important to think about others whose rights are being violated because we're all connected and should care for each other and want the most for one another. People in America need to realize that America isn’t the best country, that we have even more problems than other countries and its time to do something about it and fix those problems. I am going to take the information learned from this video and use it when I get home and get people to see the truth and how to fix it.

Becca found excursion helped all she had learned in the classroom to click

Going to Johannesburg and experiencing a different part of Cape Town was really interesting and a great experience. I am not really a museum person but I did enjoy all of the museums that I went to while in Johannesburg. The things we have been learning in Vincent’s class like the Soweto uprising and the Sharpeville Massacre just really came to life and just finally clicked when we went to the museums in saw all the photographs. It was like something just clicked, especially with the Soweto uprisings. I mean they were just kids protesting for a better education and they were shot at by police. I think the Hector Peiterson Museum, because it really does show how much power students, people like me have. They sparked a reaction to the apartheid system across the nation, so even though I really don’t care for politics and everything like that, it was nice to know that when it does come to a being heard, I do have the power to be heard despite being young. 

I also really liked the Nelson Mandela exhibit at the Apartheid Museum. It was really cool seeing pictures of his life that I had read about in “The Long Walk to Freedom”. I also really liked how they had quotes of his about things like courage, loyalty, and other qualities and aspects of life. I thought the quotes were really inspiring and the lay out of the exhibit was really well done. 

The thing that blew my mind about the apartheid was the media coverage about the events like the uprisings and just the violence that people really experienced when it came to the living under the apartheid system. And just the people that I met how experiencing the apartheid and everything. Like Alice from the Sharpeville Memorial was just the sweetest lady ever. The struggle caused her to lose so many family members, including her husband and two of her kids. Yet I found it so strong and inspiring to see her talking about the massacre and how it helped shift the fight in their favor.

What I also liked about excursion was I really got to learn about other problems South Africa faces that I am just not exposed to here in Cape Town. When we went to the Boys and Girls Club in Soweto, I really got to learn about the short-comings in the school systems here. I was cataloguing the kid’s report cards and some of them are not doing so well in school. Some are passing with less than 50% and yet they move onto the next grade. To me that is crazy. Not only that but I met this one little girl there who was partially deaf and she wasn’t attending school. The people at the Boys and Girls Club were trying to get here into a deaf school but they couldn’t find documentation to prove that she was a South African citizen so she just doesn’t go to school or anything. That is just so sad and the whole concept would terrify me. Not being about to effectively communicate with anyone would be so frustrating, and I could tell she was getting frustrated when we were playing with her and everything. It was an eye-opening experience. 

Overall, I really enjoyed travelling to Johannesburg. Just seeing everything and being able to travel to Soweto and Sharpeville really just made everything that we have been learning in the classroom click. And even though Johannesburg was a pretty cool city, to be perfectly honest it feels so good to be back in Cape Town. 

Bernie finding connections between the past and present

Well today was the first day back to real life after going on our excursion to Johannesburg and Kruger National Park. The excursion was such an awesome experience in so many ways. What I loved about being in Johannesburg was going to the museums and memorials. I enjoyed going to those things because it made me think of some of the information we all learned in Vincent’s class and with having that knowledge and seeing the museum and memorials with pictures and videos really just allowed me to see how things were for people back then during apartheid and it allowed me to learn more and really understand the impact of apartheid. My favorite memorial was the Hector Pieterson Memorial. I enjoyed this museum because most of it contained first hand accounts as to what happened during the Soweto Uprising. While reading those first hand accounts I became very emotional because of the fact that these children were not armed and were not causing any harm, they just freaked out a couple of police officers who decided that it was okay to shoot them because of it. 

 

It just upsets me to see that that happened to people, and how people still until this day are affected by these events and all the events during apartheid. What also upsets me is that these kind of events happened in the past, happen in the present, and will probably happen in the future in the United States. I always find myself thinking about the article that we read once for Marita’s class about what American history tells us and what they don’t tell us. I think about that article because when I hear stories about what happened during apartheid in South Africa I become shocked that these horrible events and tragedies happened to the people. Then I think about why I am so shocked because these events happened in the US as well but I am shocked because I don’t know about those events, history never taught us about it.

On another note, there is only 18 days left here in South Africa and I’m freaking out because I feel like there is still so much that I want to do here! I’m not ready to leave this beautiful place yet so I have to make the most out of these next 18 days before flying home!

Bernie's running and discovering

Today has already been a crazy day because I just ran the Two Oceans Half Marathon. This was something that I have been trying to accomplish for 3 years, so I am very excited to have completed it in one of prettiest places on earth! First half marathon and it was in Cape Town! That’s so awesome!!

Anyways this past week I have been reflecting a lot with everything that we have learned. In class we watched a video called “I Am’ and that is the reason I have been reflecting. This movie was a very eye-opening movie for me to watch. It was eye opening because it talks about everyone is connected when in our world we are all used to talking about how we’re different. This video asks what’s wrong with the world and it made me realize that I am what’s wrong with the world, people are what’s wrong with the world because we all find ways to separate ourselves when in reality our body tells us that were connected, nature tells us that were connected, but we don’t listen to that. What I loved about this video was that it was very scientific. Me as a lover of science I love hearing about experiments done and what the results are and what was found was that we are all connected by electromagnetic waves, through the heart, and through the air. It also said that science is finally catching up with spirituality. To me that is crazy because those two worlds have different views of how the world was made and topics of that matter but with the video saying that science finally caught up with spirituality, shows me that science isn’t always right, and that’s a hard thing for me to admit because I always see science as the main answer to questions. Spirituality always said that were all connected and now science is saying that too. I wish that more people knew this information in order to embrace it more. I very much enjoyed the “I Am’ video that we watched and it really made me rethink the world.

We go to Johannesburg tomorrow and I am so excited to see a new area and learn some new information! It should be a really fun week and we get to it end it with Kruger National Park and get to see the Big 5 hopefully!