Laura T so incredibly thankful for this experience

So I lied in my last post, I didn’t realize we all had to write one more blog post. Oops! So this is officially the last post I will write in South Africa.

We leave in three days. Three days. That is so little time.  It doesn’t seem real to me. I feel like this has been my life for so long now, going to internship in Khayelitsha, going to class, exploring Cape Town and South Africa. It feels like home here now. Returning to the US is going to feel so different. It doesn’t seem real that on Monday I will be waking up in Maine instead of in Cape Town, that I won’t be going into Khayelitsha and that I won’t see everyone at my internship. I am going to miss this place and the people here so much.

This Sunday, I did the 3 Peak Challenge, hiking Devils Peak, Table Mountain, and Lion’s Head all in one day. This was the perfect way to spend my last weekend in Cape Town. Hiking alone for ten hours gave me so much time to think and reflect about my time here and how I feel about leaving. It was so relaxing and peaceful to be alone on these mountains and to look out at the amazing city of Cape Town and the vast ocean. Sitting on Lion’s Head I got pretty emotional. The sun was beginning to get low over the water and the reflection was so beautiful. I was the only one up there (a rare occurrence), and as I gazed out over the ocean I realized that out there somewhere, 8000 miles away, was the US, and realized that by that time next week I would be home. I actually almost started crying.  I don’t know how to describe all the feelings and emotions I had and how special it was, and I am so happy that I had this experience, and that I had it just to myself.

           

The emotional roller coaster continued with our internship thank you dinner on Tuesday. It was a great night, full of speeches and thank yous, delicious food and great music. It was a lot of fun, but also bittersweet, as it began to hit me even more how soon we are all leaving. I don’t know when I will see all these people again and that is so sad to think about. Wednesday, my last day at the Social Justice Coalition, was even sadder as I said goodbye to everyone I have worked with for the past three and a half months.

           

I am so fortunate to have been able to come to Cape Town and so incredibly thankful for this experience. I wish it wasn’t ending so soon, that it could last a little longer. I miss home and everyone there, but I think I am going to miss Cape Town more than I ever missed the US while I was here; I knew I’d always go home to Maine, but I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back to South Africa, although I know I will, someday.

Laura T not quite ready to go home

Sun setting on her time remaining in Cape Town

This is the last blog I will write in South Africa. The knowledge of this saddens me greatly. I can’t believe we leave in just over a week. I have done everything I really wanted to do, and a couple weeks ago I felt ready to go home, but now, realizing how little time I have left, I don’t feel quite so ready. I have used my time here well, have done so many different things, but I am still sad to be leaving so soon. I have enjoyed every day here and have loved living with my 16 other co-educators, and can’t imagine what it will be like to no longer see them everyday.

           

This was a great second-to-last week here in Cape Town. I went to a protest with SJC outside the SAPS (South African Police Service) Headquarters; we were protesting the new police station being built in Muzienberg, a largely white and safe area of Cape Town. Muzienberg in the past year had 27 murders. There are other communities in Cape Town such as Khayelitsha and Nyanga, which had 279 murders last year, that need these police resources to a much greater extent. But mainly people of color live in these areas and with institutionalized racism still governing South Africa they are often ignored. This is very frustrating to me and I enjoyed having the opportunity to protest this unfairness and prejudice with my organization.

           

Muizenberg

Nyanga

I also got to go to Khayelitsha this week for a soccer tournament that the Firefighters, a youth boy’s football (soccer) club that several of my co-educators help out at for their activist project, hosted. Although it was quite cold, I thoroughly enjoyed being able to help make the event run smoother. Soccer provides a safe space for these kids who live in a dangerous area, giving them something to do after school and on weekends to keep them away from the violence that is prevalent in Khayelitsha. This is such an important cause and it was nice to see how many people came to both play and watch. The event seemed like a great success and I am happy I was able to help, even in a small way.

             

It was also my 21^st birthday last week. The day was at first a little hard for me, partially because it was a long day of work with internship and class, but mostly because I have a twin sister. Although we have been apart for our birthday before, we have never had a 6 hour time difference to work around. Because of the time difference, our busy schedules, and the poor internet at our house, we were unable to Facetime or even call. This was hard for me but my fellow co-educators were so nice and helped make sure I still had a great day, even cooking me dinner and getting me a free ice cream. This was so kind and made me feel so happy, but also sad knowing that in two weeks I will no longer be living with them all.

Laura T had a wonderful experience which was both informative and enjoyable

This past week we went on excursion to Johannesburg and Kruger National Park, which was a great experience, both fun and educational. The hotel we stayed in was incredibly nice and had amazing breakfast! It was just a few minutes walk to Nelson Mandela Square, which had some great restaurants and a movie theater, where several of us saw Get Out, which was extremely good and I highly recommend to everyone. It was a very interesting movie that had deep social commentary about race, which was fitting given everything we have been learning while here in South Africa. We also got the chance to do some shopping at a large African flea market, which was slightly overwhelming but cool.

           

Over our four and a half days in Johannesburg we toured multiple museums, including the Apartheid Museum, Constitution Hill, Nelson Mandela’s family home, the Hector Pieterson Museum, a memorial of the Soweto massacres of 1976, and Sharpeville, where in 1960 69 innocent people were killed when protesting the apartheid law requiring them to carry passes. Although these days were heavy, I’m glad that we had the chance to visit these important memorials.  

           

The museums definitely expanded my understanding of what I have been learning about, especially in Vincent’s class, in which we learn about the history and politics of South Africa. It was nice to actually see these places that we have been learning about. Visiting the museums and memorials made everything more real to me. My favorite part of these visits was reading eyewitness accounts and personal experiences, as well as looking at the photographs. These described and showed what it was like to live during apartheid, to be at the Soweto and Sharpeville Massacres, which is something that you can’t get from sitting in a classroom.  The information provided a more in-depth perspective of what we have learned in class that I am grateful for. Although all of the museums and memorials were informative and each deepened my understanding of South Africa’s recent history, I think the Apartheid Museum was the experience that best helped me to understand the history and current political climate of South Africa, as it provided vast amounts of information on the period of apartheid. I also loved how the museum was designed, and I wish we could have spent more time there.

           

We also spent a day at a Boy’s and Girl’s Club in Soweto, helping clean the building, cook food for the kids, and play with the children. There was a massive rainstorm while we were serving lunch, and everyone was running around laughing and screaming. I loved it. It made serving the children hectic, but also so much fun. That day we also met the global CEO of Tupperware, a sponsor of the club, which was pretty cool. Overall it was a great day.

           

Finally, at the end of the week, we took an 8 hour bus ride to Kruger National Park. It was a long weekend full of very early mornings, but it was completely worth it. We saw a variety of wildlife, including several hyena, tons of impala, kudu, wildebeest, birds, and zebras, a massive herd of buffalo, some giraffes, and even an elephant! But the highlight of being at Kruger was seeing two male lions walk along the road in front of us on our first night there. It was so amazing to see one of my favorite animals so up close.

           

This week was such a wonderful experience, so informative and enjoyable. It was a great break from our routine of internships and classes, and I wish we could have had more time to explore both Kruger and Johannesburg.

Laura T loves that she gets to be in Cape Town for an entire semester

This past week was possibly my favorite week here so far. Last weekend I went shark cage diving and it was awesome! Although the water was absolutely freezing, it was worth it to be able to see such massive animals up close. It was so cool to see great white sharks just feet away from me! I also hiked Table Mountain with Shona and Ashley, which was again, quite cold! The wind was so strong that the cable car was shut down, forcing us to alter our plan to hike up and take the car down, but I still had a great time. We met some American students who are on a semester-at-sea program, so they get to travel all over the world to countries such as Japan, China, and Zimbabwe (and South Africa of course). We hiked with several of them for a while- it was cool to meet some people from home and to hear about their amazing adventures. Although I am jealous that they get to travel to so many different countries, I am also happy that I am on a semester-long program in Cape Town. On the semester-at-sea program they are only in port at each country for up to 6 days at a time, which to me is not enough time to truly explore a new place. I love that we get to be here in Cape Town for so long, it gives us the opportunity to become truly immersed in the culture and makes me feel like this is our home, rather than just feeling like a tourist. It gives us the opportunity to learn and experience so much and get to know locals, which I really enjoy. But I do hope that I get the chance to travel around the world someday!

This Sunday we are leaving Cape Town for an excursion to Johannesburg and Kruger National Park for a week! I cannot wait to see a new part of South Africa and explore what Jo’burg has to offer, and I am beyond excited to have the opportunity to go to Kruger. This is one of the things I have been looking forward to most basically since the moment I committed to the program.

But my week wasn’t full only of extravagant adventures. There were also many exciting moments at my internship and activist project. This week I attended the City’s council meeting with SJC, where the mayor of Cape Town gave a speech on the draft budget for the 2017/18 financial year. I couldn’t tell you much about the speech however, because we were kicked out of the meeting after a silent, peaceful protest. Once we were outside the Civic Center, everyone from my internship broke into song and dance, and we remained there for about an hour. I love that this is how people protest here; it is fun and unifying. It was probably my favorite day at my internship so far. It was also just a great day in general. Because we were “asked” to leave around noon, I took advantage of my extra time to walk through St. George’s Mall and enjoy a peaceful lunch in the Company Gardens before heading home for Marita’s class, in which Ethan gave a great talk about masculinity.

It was also a busy week for activist projects. I went to Khayelitsha for the Firefighters soccer practice on Thursday, and Friday went out and bought supplies for the crèche in Kuyasa. Saturday we spent the day painting the crèche, brightening up the walls and making the building feel more homey. I enjoyed doing some manual labor; it was rewarding to see how the building was transformed, and it was fun being around some of the older kids who aren’t there when we normally go on Fridays. They sang and danced while we worked, which made the atmosphere so great, and one boy in particular was extremely helpful as he chipped in with the painting. I am excited to go back when we get home from Johannesburg and see how else we can help the crèche.