Erica made close connections during her homestay experience

Erica & Shona

This past weekend, my fellow co-educators and I each spent the weekend with a different South African family in a community called Ocean View. Similar to the human rights weekend, I had relatively high expectations for what my experience would be like since many former program participants had said that the homestay was one of their favorite weekends during their trip. I was very excited to be living with a South African family and seeing what their typical day consists of. On Thursday we met our host families; Shona and I were paired together and our host mom was Auntie Harriet. Afterwards we had a ballroom dancing lesson with everyone, where we learned the waltz and the cha-cha. This was quite the experience since I’ve never done ballroom dancing before. On Friday morning we helped out at a local pre-school, which I really enjoyed; playing with all of the kids brought me back to my days of being a camp counselor. In the afternoon we went to the beach with a group of kids from the community, which was also fun.  I enjoyed our time at the beach because I felt like I made strong connections with the kids in a relatively short amount of time. On Saturday we spent the day with our host families. In the morning we went to the farm, got sushi, and shopped around a bit. Afterwards we went to the local mall to buy food for the braai our family was planning for later on that night. When we returned home, Shona, Celestine (Auntie Harriet’s daughter), and I gave each other makeovers, which were very fun, especially because Auntie Harriet let me do her makeup! Later that night we had a braai at the house where we got to meet some of Auntie Harriet’s extended family. The food was absolutely delicious; I already know I’m going to miss braais when I return to the United States. On Sunday morning we went to church with our host families, and afterwards we all relaxed at the house until it was time for Shona and I to leave. This weekend definitely flew by!

UConn cc-educators enjoying a day at the beach with children from Ocean View

I enjoyed my homestay experience, Auntie Harriet and her family were very accommodating, and they welcomed Shona and I into their house with open arms. I think the homestay experience is a great way for us to immerse ourselves in South African culture, and make close connections with locals.