First meetings for classes! Friday February 3, 2012

Today was the first meetings for some of the courses I will be taking at the university. The courses I’m taking are: Biome Ecology, Drawing, Human Rights in Peacemaking, Public Theology in Post-Apartheid South Africa, and Global Health: HIV/AIDS.

I was also really planning on “engaging myself in the community” at Kayamandi, a local township where I would be working with elementary school children doing arts and crafts or other fun activities. Volunteers aren't spending time to help those less fortunate, but rather engaging themselves in the community and giving to them just as much as we’re receiving in time, ideas, friendships, etc. Unfortunately, I have class both times when groups leave for Kayamandi so I need to talk to the coordinator to arrange something so I can still get involved. 

The other first meeting I attended today was for Human Rights in Peacemaking. This is the one course I’m taking that I don’t need for any sort of major or core requirement – I’m taking it just to take it and to learn. The professor who will be teaching Human Rights in Peacemaking is Tyrone Savage, a very worldly man who has just come back from working as a member of the United Nations negotiating peace transitions in Nepal. The course will be very discussion-based and its description is as follows:

Negotiations to end violent conflict frequently flounder on a single problem: what to do with serious violations and abuses of human rights perpetrated by the conflict. The initial reasons for the war may even be virtually forgotten as grievances about the worst of acts - acts that are an affront to what is to be human - dominate peace talks and threaten to hold belligerents, indefinitely, in highly emotive patterns of hostility.

While the emerging field of "transitional justice" seeks to respond to this question, historically it is done so cheifly only once an interval of peace has already been established. A growing awareness is emerging among numerous practitioners in this field of the necessity of taking a step back from that interval and honing in on the human rights dilemmas that emerge during negotiations: for it is here that frameworks are established that will have far reaching implications for any and all future initiatives. "Human Rights in Peacemaking" introduces students to the indispensability of human rights in peacemaking efforts. Beginning with a critical overview of the dilemmas and strategic options that emerged in South Africa during the negotiations from apartheid to democracy, the course exposes students to basic concepts in peacemaking (such as the differences between conflict management, resolution, and transformation) as well as the United Nations human rights system and its role in conflict and peace in several major contexts.The course is taught chiefly through comparative analyses of peacemaking efforts in these, and other contexts. Areas to be examined include, among others: South Africa, Nepal, Balkans, human rights in the United Nations system, Zimbabwe, and Cambodia.The course is taught by Mr. Tyrone Savage, a former UN consultant who has just returned from negotiating transitional justice in Nepal. The course will include readings to be read before most classes as well as a number of papers and class discussions.

This is the Sasol Art Museum, which used to be a primary school! I'll be taking my Human Rights class here every Wednesday from 9 - 12.

Monday will start the first week of real classes, and I can't wait!
But first, I have quite the adventurous weekend ahead of me...

Vensters' Day! Thursday February 2, 2012

Today was a busy day. I finally got my card back from the bank, but not without some more adventure. I went to the student center where my card was supposed to be held only to find out I had to find my way downtown to the bank there to retrieve it. So, naturally, I took it as a chance to go exploring.

I made my way downtown with my map which from frequent use is becoming a bit ragged along the edges. On the way there, I asked a couple women for directions. I learned from them that they have both been born and raised Stellenbosch and work here in town. I began to feel like most people living and working in the community are originally from here as well. Moving on to the local market, I met men and women from places like Kenya and Zambia who have moved to Stellenbosch to have a better chance of selling their handcrafted souvenirs to the tourists who frequent the town. One woman, Taby, was caught in thought listening to music playing from her phone when I asked her the price of a ring I liked. Being the inquisitive little bug I am, I not only found out the price of the ring (R20, about $2.75), but also inquired about the music she was listening to. She told me it was a song from her homeland, Kenya, and how she listens to it to remind her of home. She hasn’t seen her family in over four years because she doesn't have enough money to fly back. I plan on going back to talk her another day since she seemed very nice.

Downtown I also found a real “fair trade” kind of store. A couple from Germany runs the store filled with colorful woven tapestries and bags and rugs. Their employees are women from the local townships which they train and employ at the shop so that they can have a steady income. As you can imagine, the work they do is very time consuming and requires a lot of skill and focus - so nothing was cheap. It was enough for me just to look at their creations.

Later that night, it was time to go out and watch the productions the first-years have been rehearsing for the past few weeks since they arrived here. My friends and I got together to walk the streets of campus at dusk.  

This is part of my group from AIFS!

The first years have had to wake up early every day to learn their dance parts and lines for short skits. There must have been at least a dozen of these presentations, each lasting maybe 10 minutes. Each residence hall "res" - they don’t call them “dorms” here - had it’s own skit to put on. The skits featured popular music by Rihanna and Avicii – reasons why I’ve heard Calvin Harris’s beats coming through my windows at 7 am every day! I knew which group was from the residence I live in because I recognized the music! I didn’t understand everything going on in the skits since they were half in Afrikaans, but I got the gist and took some short videos. Each skit had a message around it, like “balance work and play” and “respect your neighbor” – cute cliché things first years should

abide by in order to succeed in school. 

Cute little booths that sold snacks & soft drinks to raise money for the res

Beach Day! Wednesday February 1, 2012

Beach day at last! AIFS is planning two beach days for us by the end of summer, and today was the first.

We went to Strand beach, a flat sandy beach only about twenty five minutes away.

On the way there, we stopped at a grocery store. That offered no vegetarian sandwiches. Will I ever win? Better than that, though, I found some guacamole and corn chips! Avo, as they call avocado here, is on practically everything from pizza to breakfast sandwiches. I love it. I also snagged some chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, which are quite pricey but worth it in taste.

We spent about three hours lounging out in the sun and playing frisbee on the beach. The beach was completely deserted except for our group of 30 Americans and about a dozen people in green jumpsuits who worked  to clean the beach.

One of the most beautiful things about the beach is the view. Looking to the right and the left, you see hundreds of feet of beach but then along the edges, it curves off into a point. Along the point you can see small and large houses of Cape Town along the seaside.

The snails nomming on a dead fish...or something.

Wildlife? I saw the craziest little creatures today. I thought I noticed some hermit crabs racing about so I grabbed one only to find out they were not hermit crabs, but speedy snails! They use their two antennae to pull themselves across and sometimes under the sand. 

Trekkin' around Tuesday January 31, 2012

Today continued my quest to get my swallowed bank card back. After spending over two hours in the bank, I learned everything would be ok and that I should get my card back on Thursday. I won’t feel relieved until I have it back in my hands! That bank guy never came on Monday or Tuesday. Blah.

After the event at the bank, I decided to explore the campus library. The library is located entirely underground, which makes it really cool – literally! There are a lot of books there (obviously) but from what I saw, most are in English. It’s just a really big university library. Lots of desks, lots of study rooms. I think there are two floors. Over the library is the main red brick walkway for all the students which is in the middle of the student center and faculty offices.

I also today found the Botanical Gardens on campus. They are stunning! I’m not sure how big it is, but it’s large enough to house both a small restaurant and a garden shop. I got a cup of coffee and walked around the area, taking notice of the incredible trees and flowers around. I love summertime! There were cute couples around and a handful of people taking naps in the grass. I can’t wait to go back and explore the garden store more. They sell a lot of organic beauty products as well as teas, coffees, books, and accessories. Yay!

We had another braii tonight as well, but this time it was much smaller. About ½ of the AIFS students came and ½ of the French students. It was a lot of fun, and this time I made baked potatoes for everyone and they came out pretty ok. I still feel hungry though. I wish they had vegemeat here! Or maybe they do and I’ve yet to find it.

I got three bags of 9 small potatoes for R10. That’s like $1.50. For three bags of potatoes. Such a steal! Somehow I spent a lot more on groceries than I thought though, after I calculated my budget f the week.  I bought a lot of cheese, but I realized I really really don’t like the taste of it over here. Cheddar doesn’t taste like cheddar. Most people say they like the food over here a lot better than at home, but I think I disagree. Reading the labels, a lot of the food here has so many preservatives I’ve never even heard of. Even a lot of the salt and seasonings I saw at the supermarket has MSG in it! The feta is the only thing I love. That and Nutella. 

Tomorrow is February 1^st. And I’m going to the beach. That sounds awesome.

Monday January 30, 2012

I wanted to go to Cape Town today, but a lot of the girls left very early before I even woke up. I didn’t do too much today, just hung around and walked around campus, trying to learn my way around. We went grocery shopping again, and I nearly broke my back carrying my groceries back! We walk EVERYWHERE around town. So I probably walked ½ a mile with my backpacking backpack filled with fresh produce for me to eat. I need to start buying nonperishable food items! 

I also played a little soccer with the French boys today by where we have the grills. In this building, it's us 4 American girls from AIFS as well as maybe 8 French boys and a few girls from Germany. We share the grill area with the girls who live in the building next to us, who are also mostly from Germany.

Sunny Sunny Sunday January 29, 2012

I didn’t do much today, I finally took some time for myself and organized my room and such.

Hmmm…so what else can I write about about South Africa? The people! Everyone we’ve met so far is incredibly nice and welcoming. At the bars, the locals want to get to know you and most are eager to introduce themselves. I want to develop a group of close South African friends (as well as American ones) so I can get the full experience. We were warned in orientation not to develop a “third culture” in which we create a clique of American or other international friends and go out and explore South Africa only with these friends in way that is very tourist-y. The locals are very friendly and I can’t wait to join a few student societies, or clubs, next month when classes start. The ones that look interesting are the Animal Rights and Environmental clubs. I’m very excited to hear a South African viewpoint on these issues.

Recycling is about as popular here as it is in the US, from what I’ve noticed. There are recycling bins paired with trashcans outside, but they’re both brown and it’s hard to distinguish between them unless you read the labels. That makes it really easy for people to mix trash and recycling together, thereby ruining the bag of recyclables since no one will take the time to sort it. It’s sad, really. Don’t people think about our planet?

Another note about South Africa: SHOES ARE OPTIONAL HERE! YIPPEE! A lot of South Africans go barefoot around, even to go grocery shopping! I think it’s beautiful. I love the barefoot thing and I wish my feet were acclimated to it so I wouldn’t be so likely to get some sort of nasty fungus or something. It’s shoes for me, the American! 

As for style, high heels aren’t popular here either, so I’m down with that. Everyone here has such good style! The girls wear a lot of dresses and crotched sweaters. High-wasted shorts are popular. Knit hats, big necklaces, belts. It’s floral patterns as well as bright, dark, and white solids. Loves it.

Music? ELECTRONIC MUSIC EVERYWHERE, EVERYTHING IS REMIXED. I’ve already heard at least two remixes of Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain” but I’ve yet to hear the real thing. I’ve heard a little Backstreeet Boys and Drake playing at the grocery store too. It's basically the best. Nero, Rusko, Skrillex, Chase and Status, drum & bass, dubstep, trance, you name it, it’s here. I’ve found my heaven. The only thing is I could use a little less of Avicii’s “Levels” every single second of every day blasting out of every dorm and every car.

Cape Town! Saturday January 28, 2012

I’ve found out what’s on the other side of the mountains: THE OCEAN! AND DOLPHINS! AND CAPE TOWN! 

We took a bus tour through Cape Town, passing the townships of Khayelitsha and Langa on the way.  I’m planning on going on a township tour of these areas on foot soon. And although they live in poverty, these people live in joy. Their close housing proximity is a reflection of the closeness of their friend and family bonds. The people sing often and I cannot wait to visit them soon. I’ll try to work on my Afrikaans before then so I can have a brief conversation.

One of the reasons I wanted to come to South Africa is to learn about the rest of the world and to find ways to volunteer within these communities to help in any way I can. I have seen a number of people begging for money on the street, but we learned in orientation rather than giving money directly to these street beggars, we should opt to donate to charities which aim to support them. I plan to learn more about these charitable organizations as well.

We had three stops while in Cape Town. The first was a beautiful garden where we stopped to have coffee and walk around. I saw more animals, and finally interacted with one. Are you ready for this? SQUIRRELS! I was actually worried I wouldn’t see any here. I do love squirrels. And these were the friendliest squirrels I have ever seen. They are used to tourists and people walking through the park so they’ll come right up to you. I fed a couple squirrels pieces of muffin right out of my hand! The garden was stunningly beautiful as well, with giant trees reaching up to the sky and thousands of bright fragrant flowers planted around. There were a lot of men and women napping in the shade of the park.

Yes, wildlife!!!

Before leaving the park, we witnessed a troop of four boys aged about 6 – 9 performing a rehearsed dance and dressed in animal-print underwear with jangles around their ankles. One of the boys drummed while the other four took turns doing solo dances for the audience of park-goers. They were incredible dancers, but I couldn’t help but see through their dance to the poverty they must live in. Walking around the park dancing all day in 85 degree weather? Where were their parents? Where were their water bottles? A few people tossed coins into the basket they brought around, but I didn’t have any cash on me. I was facing the question, where does this money really go to? Does it go to their families? Is this child labor? It was a beautiful dance, and it really made me think.

Our next stop was Victoria’s Wharf, where we climbed up onto the rocks and saw dolphins in the ocean. I was rendered speechless by their beauty. The dolphins must have known we were watching, because the put on quite a show, jumping out of the water and swimming about. I also saw the stadium where the last world cup was held. I nearly cried. Bofana bofana!

We stopped at the beach next, but no one brought their bathing suit. Instead, we strolled along the beach for a while and I bought a painting done by a local artist. The painting is of Zulu women dancing and it cost R300. 

There were another two troops of children on the walkway by the ocean. One group of girls, one of boys. They were dressed in tribal print and danced for the people eating at the expensive restaurants along the strip, putting out a basket for change after. Again, their dances were very well-rehearsed and my heart went out to these beautiful stone-faced babies dancing in the sun. I wanted to give them a jug of water and wondered when the last time they had a break was. I really want to talk to someone who can tell me where these children usually come from and how many of them are actually involved in this dancing for change. As I said, I’m not sure how to feel about it. A few of the girls I was with from my group took pictures with the girls, and a passerby called out at us “Look at these American girls. Taking photos with beggars so they can go home and show their friends!” It really made me feel ashamed to be as blessed as I have been with everything I have: my family, my health, and my living situation. I am so thankful for what I have, and I do keep those less fortunate in my thoughts and prayers. I don’t know what else to write.

 

Also on the street were various vendors of art, trinkets, and jewelry. All of the goods were beautiful, and it reminded me a lot of the streets of New York City. 

When I got back to campus, my bank card got swallowed by an ATM machine. Yup. I got my pin number wrong three times and the machine literally said “Your card has been swallowed” across the screen. Well, at that point, I swallowed my already swelling tears and talked to the man at the cash register at the convenience store. He told me to leave my phone number and he’d call when the bank came to open the machine Monday or Tuesday. Yeah, ok. I better be getting this back. I know it’s for safety purposes but I’m not ok with the ATM taking my card from me, I don’t care how many times I got the pin number wrong.

Later, I went out with an Austrian girl I made friends with. She introduced me to a group of students from Namibia who live on campus nearby our housing. Having a conversation with other young adults from Namibia was very interesting. A lot of things we had in common: their playlist featured songs by Paramore as well as Circa Survive and Kings of Leon. A big difference was that they seemed so much more cultured than me. For example, they had a conversation amongst themselves about all the plays they had attended and what plays they were planning on seeing. Telling me about things I should do, they mentioned a number of different shows I should attend and even jazz festivals. Jazz festivals? Do I listen to jazz? And the last time I was at a show, I was in it in high school. I’m truly jealous of their interests as compared to my own and most people I know back at home.

Later, we went to a few clubs and bars. One club had a dancefloor with electronic music on the bottom floor and the second floor played traditional Afrikaans music as well as classic American pop and rock songs and other mixes. The natives tried to teach me to dance, and me, not a dancer, had a lot of fun learning! It was a great night.