South Africa part one

written 7:41am Monday, Jan 15, 2007 pictures to follow later



Hi Friends!



I've been in South Africa for not quite a week… We left last Sunday and spent 25 hours on a plane and finally arrived in Capetown on Tuesday morning (and they’re 9 hours ahead). I’m staying in a city called Stellenbosch and housed at a dorm called Huis Ten Bosch at Stellenbosch University .



The school looks very similar to Chapman but it’s much bigger… they have something like 25,000 students. The students aren’t around, as they’re on break for another few weeks but it’s quite a nice campus. We’ve had lectures most all of last week from University professors on topics such as South Africa political and economics, the struggle against Apartheid, the negotiated transition, the truth and reconciliation commission, HIV and AIDS, the responsive integrity of the church, and the public role of the church. We spent an afternoon at the JL Swane Centre in a township (slum) called Gugulethu and learned more about their HIV/AIDS education and support… some of the youth put on a very powerful presentation with song, dance, and stories about their experiences. They have been sponsored a few times to go to the US and around Africa spreading the word about prevention and safety of HIV/AIDS and were very talented men and women ages 17-22.



I got a chance to visit the botanical gardens in Capetown after a lecture at University of Cape Town (which is an AMAZING campus… it’s set on the face of Table Mountain and provides a phenomenal backdrop to the ivy covered buildings, stone buildings, and impressive memorial hall) and it was absolutely beautiful. I got some amazing pictures of these HUGE bees that were pollinating around some flowers.



This past weekend was spent mostly in Cape Town (about an hour away) and we got to visit Robbin Island , where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years. It used to be a leper colony and there’s a graveyard there for all the lepers. We saw the jail and drove all around the island and saw some penguins (Emily got a bit close to one and almost got TOO close) and were led around by a ex-prisoner who had been there for a number of years. It was a powerful experience.



We also got to attend a church service at the place where we visited the centre that put on the mini-performance at. It had AMAZING music. In Cape Town we got to hang out at the Waterfront and there was a jazz festival going on with some fun music. We got to shop around and talk to some people and it was rather interesting. We also drove to the tip of the Cape (where the Cape of Good Hope is and where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet) for some scenic stuff.



I was sitting at a table with Erin Turner and I felt something brush against my leg and looked down. Now the next part is a bit fuzzy because it all happened so fast, but I saw a dog on the table and looked up and said, "why is there a dog---" and immediately realized that it was NOT a dog. It was a BABOON. A large, hairy, mean looking BABOON. It had run down the stairs and jumped up on the tabletop between Erin and I and stole our chips that we had been eating.



We jumped out of the way and everyone just yelled to stand back and let it get away so we did and it ran off with our chips. It was rather amusing because after it ran away, it sat on a nearby roof in plain view of us and opened the bag and just started eating them like a regular person. It was unbelievable. Even crazier was when we walked back up to the parking lot, it was like stepping into Jumanji... there were baboons running all over the place stealing peoples food, drinks, cameras, sitting on cars, chasing kids, and monkeying (no pun intended) around. Talk about strange. Only in Africa, I suppose.



We got a chance to have dinner in a restaurant that was strangely located smack dab in the middle of Kayamandi, a township literately within walking distance of the University. It was called Roots and it was incredible. We had authentic African food (which was AMAZING) and we got to play with African drums. The guy who kind of led the drumming and I really hit it off and drummed for about two hours (some of the other people had some… interesting… senses of rhythms… I guess being a music student paid off) and it was so fun. The kids were dancing around with some of us and we had the drums going and people across the street were dancing too. That was on Erick’s birthday and when we started singing to him, the people across the street started singing in different languages. It was sweet.



Other than that, South Africa is surprisingly similar to places in California . (Strangely enough) We’re in a nicer area and while that wasn’t quite the route I was expecting, it’s been a good way to see the stark contrasts between the blacks and the whites and the rich and the poor. Immediately out of the airport on the freeway there are miles and miles of townships (slums) with terrible living conditions. It’s very very sad and very similar to what you might see when driving through the outskirts of TJ. It’s also frustrating to see how well the whites here are so much wealthier and how just a few minutes away from the townships are nice houses with nice cars. The whites only allocate roughly 8% of the land in South Africa to the blacks yet the whites only make up 20% of the population. Therefore… a lot of South Africa is, well, nice. And there are TONS of vineyards. From what I can see anyway. We’re in an isolated area.



Driving back from the cape last night we took the back way and saw the back half of what you see driving on the freeway of the townships… miles and miles of slums. It’s called Kayalisha (I might be spelling that wrong). However, down the street there are zebras, springbok, antelope, and ostriches that wander around outside of the vineyards. It’s very surreal. So much has been jam packed into our trip that I’m leaving a ton off as to not bore you, but things are going well and it’s been an interesting trip so far. I leave you the thought that while Africa is thought of as poor, black, and diseased… South Africa is actually doing rather well for a developing country. It’s very disheartening to see the racial segregation and poverty that still exists under a blanket of “we’ve worked things out” but the country is headed in the right direction. We will be spending the next couple of days working at a school and then this next weekend we’re going on the garden route (a safari? I guess? I’m not quite sure, but I DO know that it involves riding ostriches, elephants, and seeing lots of animals). So with that I bid you adieu for now, and hope things are well for you!