South Africa Wrap Up

On our last day in South Africa, we went to Pretoria, the nation’s capital and about an hours drive from Jo’burg. We first went to the Voortrekker monument, a giant building built to commorate the Afrikaaner pioneers who went on the “Great Trek” from Cape town to the inland areas of SA in the 1800s. It was built in the 1930s in the Art Deco style. I went into the day thinking that it was going to be very racist and controversial. But after looking through the exhibits, the Voortrekkers seemed to be the exact same as the America’s heroic westward traveling pioneers. They even wore sunbonnets and used oxen powered covered wagons. The monument really served as a slap in the face in terms of my interpretation of American history. The problem is that we rarely get to hear the side of the Native Americans, while in SA we often hear the perspective of the original people. History really is determined by those who conquered. Anyway, the monument was really cool- even engineered so that on December 16^th, the date of a large battle, a ray of sunlight shines into the monument over the tomb of the unknown Voortrekker. We also saw zebras right outside of the monument!

After the monument, we went to the US Embassy. After going through heavy security checks, we met with the Senior political advisor, a cultural affairs officer, and the deputy press attaché. They gave us information about the role of the embassy and about the process of entering into a career with the State Department. It re-inspired me to consider a career with them. Afterwards, we headed to the University of Pretoria to meet with a history professor who was also an Afrikaaner. He explained the Great Trek more fully and had an interesting observation about the end of apartheid. He said that the Afrikaaner community felt apartheid was justified as long as the United States imposed segregation as well. After the civil rights movement, the Cold War was in progress and since the ANC, the group in charge of the liberation movement, was also unashamedly communist, the US was afraid an ANC government takeover would mean losing an ally in the Cold War as well as losing access to the supply of strategic metals necessary to produce nuclear weapons. So the US chose to support the white dominated government to maintain its own security and stability. Only after the end of the Cold War did the US become outspoken in ending apartheid. It was a very interesting point of view that I would have never considered otherwise. He was also a very entertaining professor and told me afterwards that he had been to Oregon and visited the Bonneville Dam and hiked up Eagle Creek! Small world.

Jo'burg 2

During the second half of our first week in Jo’burg, we left Soweto and ventured into downtown Jo’burg. It was just like any other large city- busy streets, tall buildings, and business people in suits no matter the heat. Jo’burg is the economic and financial capital of the country as was apparent by the number of bank buildings we passed over the span of a few blocks.

We had the opportunity to speak with a representative of the Democratic Alliance party and then immediately afterwards to talk to representatives of the ANC-the dominant party. The man from the DA said that one of the challenges to South African politics today is that the ANC is still seen as the liberation party, and has been in power since 1994. He suggested that because the party is blindly supported as benevolent liberators, the ANC is not pushed to improve its provision of services to the public because they don’t have an incentive to (ie. no real political competition). His point was validated when we visited the ANC offices and were treated to a detailed and glorious history of the past 100 years the party has been in power. However when we asked them about current political policies and challenges there was much hemming and hawing to be done. As I learned in my African politics class, liberation movement leaders often become presidents because they have the popular support, but it becomes easy for them to hold on to the power and hard for democratic transitions to occur fully. I met people who said that there was no doubt in their minds that the ANC would win the next election; it was just a matter of figuring out who the ANC would elect as their presidential candidate. To me, South Africa is not quite a true democracy yet because there is no real competition between parties and voters base their decisions on the past and party loyalty rather than on policy or on a charismatic leader.

This weekend I got the opportunity to stay with a black South African family with another girl from my program. We were supposed to be living in Soweto, in order to really soak in the culture that we had been studying for the past week. My family however, had moved from Soweto to the suburbs and lived about 45 minutes outside of Jo’burg. It was a family of 4: Mom, Dad, daughter aged 17, and son aged 9. The daughter was born in 1994 and her name is Nonkululeko, meaning freedom. It was interesting to talk to her and hear about her beliefs growing up in a world that never experienced apartheid. Much of her life was very similar to ours in the US- lot of homework and worry about applying to university, a cell phone addiction, getting excited about prom. One thing I felt that was different and admirable was the strong moral compass she and her friends all had. They were comfortable with their beliefs whether they were concerning religion, women’s rights, moral behavior, or sex. I think it takes most American teenagers much more time to figure out what they believe and who they think they are. On the other hand, South Africa is a pretty socially conservative society and perhaps it is easier to take a strong stance on issues, while in the US there is more flexibility in terms of what your culture tells you to think. We were treated to traditional foods such as “dumplings,” which was steamed bread, and “pap,” a thick mashed potato like dish made from maize-meal. We also had a braaii (BBQ) and some vegetable dishes. All in all, I was lucky to have the opportunity to live with a host family for the weekend, even though the circumstances were somewhat different than what I had expected.

Some final observations; now that we are reunited with the group. I am realizing how much I value alone time for reflection and rejuvenation. They say there are 2 types of people, those who draw energy from participating in large groups, and those who find themselves drained by a large, loud environment. I am learning that I fall into the second group. While I love connecting with my fellow travelers, after a whole day of learning/driving/eating together, I am ready for some alone time by the evening. Instead of feeling bad or anti-social about this, I’m taking the time for myself, knowing if I do, I will be able to be my best self around others the next day. That’s all for now, tomorrow we visit the US embassy in Pretoria and on Wednesday we fly to Namibia!

**Note: The internet crashed so I wrote this yesterday and posted this a day late. Look for a new post about Pretoria soon! And I fly to Namibia tomorrow J

Journey to Johannesburg

After 16 and a half hours of flying- 7 to Dakar, Senegal plus an hour wait inside the plane, plus another 8 and a half to South Africa, we made it to Johannesburg. First observations were that it didn’t feel a whole lot like a place outside of the United States, aside from the fact that cars drive on the left side of the road. Since all signs and advertisements are written in English, I didn’t get the usual culture shock I get in most countries of trying to decipher foreign words. Additionally the cars are a pretty normal size, unlike the miniature ones the Europeans scurry around in. Even the weather was fairly normal. It’s been overcast and windy- not more than 70 at the hottest. I even wore jeans today!

While in Johannesburg the 16 of us students plus the professor and intern are staying at a guesthouse in a suburb outside of Jo’burg. It has quite a history, built in 1911 and served as a secondary school and seminary for young black men such as Desmond Tutu (!). It is a perfect place for us to adjust to the 10 hour time change and take everything in. All the buildings are open air and the courtyard is filled with shady trees and tropical flowers, a beautiful contrast with the stately brick buildings. We eat breakfast and dinner here and I was surprised to realize that South African food is heavily influenced by British cuisine; I guess I should have suspected that since they were under British colonial rule for so long. This has led to food such as beans on toast for breakfast, marmalade, lots of tea at all times of the day, beef stew, and puddings of all types.

The last few days we have been exploring Soweto, the largest township in South Africa. It houses an estimated 3-5 million people in a 16 by 23 km area. This was the area where many blacks lived during apartheid because it was within close proximity to the city, where they could work but not live. Today, I was surprised by the vastness of the area and the economic diversity within its boundaries. From how the area was presented by the media and in articles I had read, I imagined the entire area to be a sprawling slum. However I was surprised to see very nice homes, a university, a shopping mall nicer than my own back home, and the largest state hospital within its borders. We also saw Nelson Mandela’s house and some liberation struggle museums within Soweto. Today we visited Kliptown, which was a much more impoverished area of Soweto. Most residents were unemployed and received little if any help from the government, except the use of porta-potties, which were distributed one per 25 families. The root causes, that I could discern from the situation, was a lack of means to attain a quality education- there are no schools in Kliptown and children must walk far to attend even primary school, which then creates unemployability. The lack of utility services was also a noticeable problem. Lastly, we were told that illegal immigrants often end up in informal settlements such as this one because they lack proper documents to qualify for other housing. On a positive note, we were made welcome in the community, despite our feelings of self-consciousness trooped through someone else’s neighborhood. Kliptown is a forgotten part of Jo’burg and the impression I got was that residents were glad someone was taking the time to learn about them and the daily challenges they face. My overall impression of Soweto is that today it is as economically diverse as if it was its own city. Perhaps if it was treated as its own independent entity it could get funding for services more easily than today, as it is treated the same way as it was pre-apartheid- simply as a township adjacent to the larger city of Johannesburg.

That's all for now, I stay with a host family in Soweto this weekend, and I can't wait to experience South African food and culture firsthand!

The Adventure Begins

My journey began today with an early morning flight out to Washington DC. I'm spending the night at a classy hotel out at the airport (thanks to mom's AAA card discounts!) before embarking on a 17 hour flight to Johannesburg tomorrow. I'm starting the trip off with the first of many new experiences- I've never spent a night in a hotel alone before, but it's turning out to be a good thing. All day long people have been helpful and nice to me, from the lady in line at security with me whose daughter graduated from both my high school and my college, to the airport shuttle driver who offered me both information and conversation. I'd like to think of it as a little message from the universe telling me that while I may be feeling the most independent I've ever been and a little alone, there are always people willing to help out and offer friendship. The experience is also making me excited to meet the rest of the students in my study abroad program tomorrow. While traveling alone has been much better than I expected it would be, I still feel like an essential part of the traveler's experience is the ability to share moments with others. I can't wait to meet my fellow adventurers! Lastly, this first part of my trip has reminded me why I love to travel. I love the constant traffic in airports, the swarms of people and airport personnel all moving non-stop in a carefully orchestrated dance that ships people and their things around the world. Call me crazy, but in some way, airports always make me feel more connected to the rest of humanity. And as much as I don't like change, I was reminded today how much I like experiencing new places and meeting new people. Today's smallish trip across the country made me realize how much I have to look forward to over the next few months. Despite a few butterflies, I'm ready to go!