UCONN

Signal Hill, Cape Town, 17 January 2010

Back row: Leah, Katherine, Michelle, Pamela, Rachel; 
Middle Row: Brett, Sarah, Erica, Meredith, Adam;
Front Row: Brittany, Kayley

Meredith enumerating the "lasts"

My mind is still processing leaving so here are my scattered thoughts going into the final day in South Africa:

This is weird. We are so close to leaving that this blog feels weird. Last blog. Tomorrow is our last day here, how can that be? Now every time I do something I think, this is probably the last time I’m going to be doing this. Going to Cocoa Wah Wah to finish up homework and munch on a gigantic cookie. Last time. Marcel’s for strawberry frozen yogurt and chocolate chips. Last time. Devouring a milktart. Last time. Lying on the beach looking out at the Indian Ocean. Last time. Sitting on a strangers lap on a minibus with twenty-three other South African. Last time. Hosting an African Braii. Last time. Hearing the clicking of the Xhosa language. Last time. Walking through the commons to Pick n’ Pay for last minute dinner items. Last time. Forty minute uphill walks to UCT on Thursdays. Last time. Hearing South African’s roll the pronunciation of the letter “R.” Last time. Six tea breaks a day. Last time. Living with twelve completely different people. Last time. Standing on the tip of Africa looking out at the world. Last time.

There are so many things that I am going to miss.  I’m trying not to think about it too much right now because we are all about to leave to go to the final dinner and I’m dressed up.  Wouldn’t want to smudge my makeup with the tears.  Already did that today when saying goodbye to the kids and coworkers at Christel House.  I am going to miss that place more than I can express.  I’ve learned so much from everyone there and I knew that leaving would be hard.  I didn’t realize it would be this hard.  I’m incredibly nervous about going home and missing the kids. 

Another part of Cape Town that I’m going to have trouble without is Table Mountain.  Wherever you go in Cape Town, you can still see it.  It is always there, looking down on you.  Like an omnipresent over the land.  It’s so big and strong and represents so many amazing things for Cape Town.  Table Mountain represents something different for each one of us so by not having it with me anymore will be rough.  I hope that I can take Table Mountain home with me in my heart. 

As Pamela and I walked to Rondebosh for our last stroll of well “lasts.” I thought about the difference between the beginning of the trip and the end of the trip.  How much we have all grown through our time of a variety of experiences.  I remember our first night sitting in Chai Yo and feeling incredibly home sick.  I remember getting home that night and crying because I was so far from my family and friends.  Now, I truly feel like Cape Town is one of my homes and I’m crying that I have to leave this place.  Cape Town has comforted me for these past four months in a way that even Connecticut can’t do.  It is hard to explain how much I love this place to someone who hasn’t been here.  All I can say is that this will not be my last time here.  There is no way I can live the rest of my life without coming back here.  Cape Town has a place in my heart forever. 

Rachel on leaving her second home

                                                                   Cape Town Coordinator Rev. Vernon Rose and Rachel

I am packing my things to go home as the sun shifts over to the other side of the world in which I will be on my way to tomorrow. I can’t say that I am looking forward to about 24 hours of traveling straight.  I can say that I miss my family and friends.  But I think after the excitement for a day or two, it will wear off.  I will be bored and quite frankly sick of answering the question: “how was South Africa?”  How do you sum up four months in your life?  I have been trying to come up with an adequate response, but I am not sure I ever will.  I am going to miss walking across the commons that I had to do so many times and every time, I complained. I am going to miss the house where I stayed with 11 other people who I now consider my family.  And what I am really going to miss most of all is all of the Capetonians that I met here in which I came to a realization that I will most likely never see again in my life.   They are also my family now.  I will miss the beautiful mountains and the bright blue sea on the sandy beaches of and ice-cold Atlantic Ocean, or a slightly warmer Indian Ocean if I had preferred.  I miss the....I think you get the point.  

I could go on for days of all the things that I will miss.  After learning so much about the history and current situation, I have grown a love-hate relationship for South Africa.  I hate that when I go into the townships, there is no running water in the houses and the people are only allotted so much water per day and meanwhile you go into the center of the city and there are huge fountains spraying water day and night.  I hate that I have learned South Africa is ranked number one for most unequal country IN THE WORLD.  Some days I am frustrated while here, but others I thank everyone for making it possible for me to be here.  I have learned more than I wanted and seen more than I expected.  So when the sun comes back around tomorrow and I can’t procrastinate anymore, I will pack the rest of my things a get onto a plane in hopes that one day I will also come back around. 

No matter how much hate I have for what the current issues are, Cape Town I feel, is now my second home.  I went to a practice game at the world cup stadium a few weekends ago.  And I was sitting in the crowd with South Africans behind me, to the side of me, and the soccer field in front of me.  The whole crowd was decked out in South African flags, t-shirts, and vuvuzelas screaming for South Africa to win.  I was also screaming for them to win, and I felt just as comfortable as if I was at Yankee stadium cheering on New York.  I looked around and realized I might have been too comfortable.  When I go home, and watch the world cup on the television, I will be screaming “BAFANA BAFANA” even though they won’t make it past the first round.  Because that is what you do for your hometown no matter how bad they may be.  And I’ll smile at the TV and no one will understand how I feel or how I felt in South Africa.  

Kayley thankful for the amazing experinece

There are two days left in Cape Town. There are so many thoughts running through my mind. Will I be able to be the strong, knowledgeable person that I have become at home? How will my friends and family react when they hear about my experience? The most worrisome thought is, will I be able to hold on to these experiences and goals and not assimilate completely back into the privileged American life? It is terrifying and exciting to think of what will come in the future.

All I can say is that I would not be the person I am right now if it weren’t for all the people I have met here. Although currently we are all pretty sick of each other, I have learned so much from each one of my housemates. Every single one of them is uniquely amazing and we will forever have a bond that most people will not understand. Just being in this house alone has been a learning experience. Living in an extroverted dominated house has definitely taught me to speak up more. We have had the most hysterical stories and experiences in this house and out side of it.

Prof Rode has also been an extremely influential person in my experience here. Going to khayelitsha with him each Tuesday has taught me so much more about the major health issues in South Africa. Shadowing Prof in the burn unit has also been influential. He always makes the point to his students that to be a better doctor you have to take interest in other things outside of medicine. He always tells his students that you need to have a real relationship with your patient in order to be the best doctor. Although he can be intimidating and loves to put you on the spot, I have learned so much from him and will greatly miss this internship.

This experience would not be anything without our amazing professors. Vernon took the best care of all us, he made sure everyone was happy at their internship placement and spent so much time organizing this program so we could get the most out of our time here. Marita’s class helped us talk about issues that we are seeing here and in the U.S. We were able to debrief our weeks and enjoy a wonderful home cooked meal while watching a documentary that directly applied to what we were learning. Vincent taught us the tumultuous history of South Africa so we could relate what we see and our internships to what happened in the past. He spoke of the fight against apartheid not as an outsider but as a participant, which made everything so much more powerful. Instead of having a history teacher read from a textbook and just relay information they studied, we had a professor who made history and is still working towards bettering the future of South Africa. Of course Ben our house mother, who talked us through everything, showed us around the city, listened to our ridiculous stories that he has probably heard dozens of times, took us on late night magnum bar runs and so much more. Ben was always there for us when we needed him. I am going to miss all of these people so much.

Most of all I am going to miss the gorgeous view of table mountain every day, the sunny, mostly dry gorgeous weather, the smiles and friendliness of people everywhere, the accents, the languages, the phrases (howzit, is it, shame man, aybo, etc), basically everything. I cannot imagine running at home and not being able to see Table Mountain, Red Cross and the shadow of UCT. I could go on and on about what I will miss here but it won’t do anything. All I can say is that this has been the most amazing experience of my life so far; I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to come to Cape Town, South Africa.

Leah's thank yous

There is not much more I can say about myself in South Africa at this point. The past four months have changed me. Now, I must thank those who made this change possible. 

First to Vernon. Vernon, thank you for “facilitating” my personal and intellectual change. Your guidance has irreversibly altered me and my future path. You may never comprehend the magnitude of the dramatic difference you have made in my life as a friend, mentor, role model, and teacher…thank you.  

Marita. Throughout this semester, I have admired your passionate, independent will to work for social justice. You have been a role model to me on my journey to becoming a strong, confident woman, dedicated to making the world a better place. Through your example, I have learned and changed immensely. Thank you.  

Ben. Thank you for always being there to chat. Whether about house issues or capitalism, you have been the best RA. Your dedication to the students continues to amaze me. I felt so much safer in South Africa with your presence.  

Mr. Tsoli. Thank you for sharing all of your stories with me. Your first-hand accounts of participating in the struggle amazed me and made the history of South Africa come alive to me. Thank you for your guidance and assistance in the field of teaching.  

Ms. Bopi. Thank you for always being a happy, singing, dancing, positive inspiration in my life. I will miss your smile so much. You made my semester in South Africa fun, hilarious, and so completely awesome! Thank you.  

Jacqui. Thank you for inspiring me. You showed me that one person really can make a difference in the world. Through your work, you are changing lives and working toward equal education. Thank you for the opportunity to assist you in your efforts. 

Vincent. Thank you for teaching me about the history and politics of South Africa. As we have all been saying, you made the material come alive. Your passion for the subject inspires me. 

My learners. Thank you for motivating me to continue on my path toward teaching. Whenever I would question my teaching ability or my impact, one of you would always remind me that I was getting through to you. Especially to Abongile, who was the first person to welcome me and my first good friend at Thandokhulu High School.  

My colleagues. Thank you for all of the conversation. Whether it was debates about prostitution or de-briefing about internships, you have kept my mind active. I am so happy that I have been able to become friends with all of you. I look forward to going back to UConn with 11 new friends! 

I have had a life altering experience here in Cape Town. I cannot thank all of you enough! For the South Africans, please keep in touch. For the Americans, I’ll see you all in a couple months. Cheers

Pamela on the best experience of her life!

Seems like yesterday the twelve of us got on the plane and landed here in south Africa and now  it’s already time to go. My last week in South Africa was definitely interesting… On Sunday Meredith and I got invited to Mzoli’s to celebrate our co-worker’s birthday and also spend time outside of the classroom, it was definitely a fun experience! Mzoli’s is a famous braai place in Cape town situated in Gugulettu which is a township. I had so much fun that day , we arrived there at about noon and it was already full, there were no table left for us to sit so like everyone else who didn’t have a table we sat on the street… I know! It might sound weird but it was really fun. There was  a great vibe, the people , the food , the music everything was just great! We spent at least six hours there just sitting , talking and eating. I had a great time with them.

      
This past week I have been thinking about the time I spent here and how much I got out of it. Being in South Africa has made me learn so much about issues dealing with gender, race and class. I have a totally different view now on these issues. 
The best part about learning about these issues is that I got to experience different part of them here for example working at Christel and being able to go visit the children’s home in the township  thought me so much about race and class and even gender.

Working at Christel house was definitely an Awesome experience looking back , I don’t believe that I can compare it to anything I have done in the past … Being an intern has been the best experience here for me in South Africa . I cannot thank the kids and the teachers enough for being so welcoming and loving. I will miss the kids so much once I get back home. I learned so much from them, they will have a special place in my heart forever…

This was a great study abroad and I don’t think that I could have ask for better, Nothing will ever be able to top this experience. I know that I am going home a changed person , a better person because of what I have experienced here. I will dearly miss living in South Africa, the people that I have met here, the people I live with and the food! I want to thank Vernon, Marita , Ben , Vincent, my housemates and Christel House for making this the best experience of my life. This is not my last time in Cape Town, I will be back.

Michelle saying good-bye...but hopefully not for long

This past weekend was out last in Cape Town. It was a daunting thought, and I, even the planner, had been thinking of things that I wanted to do for that last weekend. A bike tour through South Africa’s famous wine country, perhaps? Or a final trip to Kalk Bay for its amazing sea food? Instead, Brittany and Brett found a guest house in Khayelitsha that needed volunteers to help finish building its school and lecture rooms. I decided that I would much rather stay at this guest house, really see Khayelitsha like we, and most white tourists, and even white South Africans never do, and give back to this country that has given me so much these past four months. 

As Rachel has said below, unfortunately there wasn’t a lot of work for us to do because it was the weekend, but I still wanted to reflect on how I felt in this place, and also the people that we met. 

Because there wasn’t a lot of work to do, Rachel called Sizwe, a friend we met at the Human Rights Conference a few weeks ago. He came to the guest house, and even offered to take us out for the night in Khaylitsha. I was a little wary of going out to a bar or shebeen, but knew that if we did go with Sizwe, he would make sure that we were in a safe place. We didn’t end up going out, but the next day he took us to a drum competition near Site B. It was obviously a community event, and I felt almost like I was intruding coming to this place where parents and grandparents were watching their kids perform. It was also kind of nice, because it reminded me of the various recitals that my parents attended when I was a kid.

It was a powerful experience spending a night in a township, and I had an even more powerful and amazing experience on Sunday. Leah and Sarah had invited some kids from their classes at Thondokulu on a hike up Table Mountain, and I, wanting to hike it one more time, tagged along. I didn’t know any of the kids, and had just assumed that the kids would do their own thing, and talk in Xhosa amongst themselves and Sarah, Leah and I would just hang out. Almost the exact opposite happened. The kids were so funny, and peppered me with questions about the States, how I liked South Africa, and my internship. One of the girls, Sphosethu, seriously doubted her ability to make it up the mountain, and even told me her mother didn’t believe that she could do it. I promised her that we were going to make it to the top together, as we shared stories about our childhoods, and our goals and dreams for the future. She wants to be a Broadway actress, and shared her beautiful voice with us both up and down the mountain. Her smile when we got to the top was brilliant, and it made me so happy to be there when she accomplished something that no one in her support system, even herself, thought she could do. I have a feeling that many of the things that Sphosethu accomplishes are like this.

Spending time with these kids was so much fun, and it almost made me jealous that some of my housemates got to work with them all semester. These feelings were fleeting, as I completed my last day at Gender DynamiX today. I wasn’t expecting to feel so down about leaving, but as I said goodbye to some of the friends I have made, Charl, Caroline, Tebogo, I started to miss them already. GDX got a huge grant to do a medical conference to help doctors become more well-versed in doing successful gender reassignment surgeries in December, and my heart aches with knowing that I won’t be there to help put it together, and watch how GDX grows.

 It’s already been hard to try to start saying goodbye to this city, but hopefully it won’t be for too long.