I left my heart in Langa

This past week was one of the hardest weeks I think I've ever had to go through. On Sunday, I had to say goodbye to my beautiful, wonderful host family in Langa Township. It's so funny for me to think back to before I even arrived in Cape Town to when I was terrified of staying somewhere so different from home. I didn't really have any expectations going into my home stay. I didn't know anything about the family I would be staying with until a few days before I met them. I absolutely horrified to be staying with complete strangers.

But when I got off that bus in front of my new house in Langa, and an older woman came running out of the front door to hug me, I knew everything was going to be okay.

These past three weeks have shown me the true meaning of humility and love. Despite the fact that my family is not the richest on the block, they offered and gave me so much. I will be forever grateful to the Simelela's for showing me nothing but affection, warmth, and endless love.

In Langa, I didn't just find a community, I found myself and I found my family on the other side of an ocean. It's been rough, not waking up in Langa to the sounds of Mama's radio and food being prepared. I miss everything about Langa, actually. I never expected to fall so much in love with one place.

I don't have the time for a long post today, but I just thought I'd share my feelings with you, since it's been kind of hard for me today. Hope everyone is having a beautiful start to their weeks.

Enkosi, Mama.

District Six, Robben Island, and a goat

This weekend has been probably one of the most life changing weekends of my life. I guess I'll start from the beginning on Friday:

On Friday, we finally had the opportunity to leave the four walls of our classroom in Rondebosch! Our journey first took us to downtown Cape Town to the South African Parliament building! The political science major in me was kind of freaking out, to be honest. We saw were the National Council of Provinces has their sitting which is a gorgeous room that was built in 1875. There are nine provinces in South Africa, and each province sends ten delegates. It reminds me a lot of our House of Representatives.

We also saw where the National Assembly holds their sittings as well, and the Assembly reminds me a lot of our Senate as well. It was fascinating to me to see where both houses of their legislature hold meetings and conduct their business. I'm excited to learn more about how the government operates in post-apartheid South Africa.

Posing with Mandela's bust

Outside the Parliament building

Hanging with Walter and Albertina Sisulu

After the Parliament building, we got to go to this museum all about District Six. District Six was more or less a township in the Cape Town area that was eventually destroyed in the 1960s. People who lived there were forced out of their homes and relocated to the Cape Flats suburb, which was a significantly poorer area. I definitely wandered around that museum in complete and utter shock. I could not believe that the government could just force people up and out of their homes and that an entire community could be destroyed overnight. It still shocks me, even thinking about it now.

Giant map of District 6 on the floor

Tile about life in District 6

Love this poem about District Six

Foundation of someone's home in what remains of District 6

Field where District 6 once was

The museum was amazing, but what was even more humbling was going to where District Six once was. It's this giant empty field in the middle of Cape Town, with piles of rubble and foundations of homes and businesses. A few hotels were built on the outskirts of town to sort of hide the embarrassment of the government, but other than that all that remains is an empty field. Walking around on top of what used to be someone's home was an incredibly sobering experience. I wish I could better articulate what I was experiencing at that time, but words fail me. Based on the stories I read in the museum, I gathered that District Six was a lively and entertaining place to live, and many who lived there only have fond memories of their former home.

After that truly humbling and emotionally draining experience, it could be said that I definitely needed some comic relief. Well, I for sure got some when I came back home to Langa. I walked through the front gate after class and there was a goat in the backyard! I was very confused at first; my mama refuses to keep dogs as pets, but now she decided to keep a goat? Oh well, this was fine with me! There were tons of adults over with tons of kids, so I went to hang out with the kiddos. They were completely floored that this white girl knew all the words to the songs "Uptown Funk" and "Drunk In Love." And they about died laughing at my version of "The Wobble." Then I showed them pictures on my phone of where I lived in the States and pictures of my snowy yard. They couldn't believe that people lived in conditions like that, and I agreed with them.

Eventually we were called in for dinner, and a plate of strange-looking meat that smelled different than anything I had ever smelled before. It was served with Xhosa steamed bread which was absolutely delicious. But everyone was eating this meat with their hands, so I tried some. It was incredibly chewy and did not taste like anything I had ever eaten before. My Auntie came over and asked, "So how do you like the goat?" 

GOAT?!?! Yes, I was eating the goat I had met earlier that afternoon. Needless to say, I was done eating after that. I just ate a couple more slices of steamed bread and a fat cake and claimed I was full. So now I can say I've eaten goat. What have you done today?

Delicious goat meat with steamed bread

On Saturday we had the amazing experience of going to Robben Island, were many political leaders during apartheid were imprisoned. Famously, Nelson Mandela spent 18 years behind bars on Robben Island. You can only get to the island by boat, so we took a small ferry through majorly high waves to get to the island. One the way there we saw a baby WHALE. That's right, a WHALE. We had the fabulous opportunity to actually go inside the cell were Mandela stayed. It was one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had. One more cool point about Robben Island: all of the tour guides for the prison were former political prisoners. Our tour guide was imprisoned from 1976 until 1981 for being majorly involved in the Soweto student uprisings in June of 1976. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves and wrap up this post. It's my last week in Langa, and I'm not emotionally prepared to leave my amazing host family. Enjoy the pictures, and I'll write more soon!

Entrance to Robben Island

Inside Mandela's cell

Inside the recreation area

Barbed wire shot

Group before going to the island

Peace, love, and Cape Town

Reflections

So much as happened in the past week. For starters, the homework load has significantly increased, so that's why I haven't been as present on social media and this blog. Also, I've been trying to take in as much of Langa and Cape Town as I possibly can. My days here are numbered, and I honestly don't know if I'll ever have the chance to come back here again. It feels like I've been here for years already. (No seriously, I don't freak out when we drive on the highway anymore and see the cars coming from the opposite direction!) My Xhosa is improving, thanks to my amazing host family. I'm not served first for dinner anymore, meaning my family isn't seeing me as a guest and more as a member of the family. The neighbors know me by name, and I'm finally sleeping through the night without waking up to the loud noises that always happen in Langa. I am beginning to finally feel more at home here, which is an incredible experience for me. The one thing that I can't get used to is eating with my hands -- my host family digs into their food, especially the chicken, with their hands, and they constantly tease me for using a fork and a knife. I hate, hate, hate getting my hands dirty - I have hated that since I was little - so the fork and knife is just something that is going to have to continue.

While I am having an amazing time here and loving every second of it, I can't shake this intense fear of missing out. That seems totally silly, typing that out. I mean, I'm in South Africa for goodness' sake. Whatever I'm doing here is exponentially more fun than anything happening in Illinois. Yet I feel like I'm missing some really important milestones: my mom's graduation, several of my closest friends' graduation, my dear friend finding out she's cancer free, all of the fun things happening at my university. And I know I have an excellent support system back home full of friends and family and loved ones who are cheering me on and wishing me the best, but there are always those moments where I wish more than anything I could be back home.

That's not to say that I'm not enjoying my time here in South Africa; that's not what I'm saying at all. I just wish sometimes that I had better internet connections so I can Skype friends and family more often. I wish I could talk to my loved ones more.

However, that being said, I am also grateful that I'm not constantly seeking out my friends and family. It's giving me more of an opportunity to explore this brand new city in this brand new country. I'm doing some incredible things here, things I would not have had the opportunity to do in the States. And for that, I am so humbled and grateful. But also, that's not to say that I won't jump at the opportunity to talk with my friends and family at a given chance.

Anyway, enough of the sappy stuff. Let me tell you what I've been up to this past week: my activities have included a trip to the beach, lots of class time, and observation at a high school. The high school visit was interesting: we were broken up into five different groups and each group was given a different high school to go visit. My group went to observe the Cedar House High School, which is an independent school in a really nice area of a suburb of Cape Town. However, the school itself was more like an "alternative" learning campus: the classroom was structured around student participation and students more or less ran the classtime. There was no uniform, so the school encouraged the self expression of its students. It was interesting to me to see that, since I have horrible flashbacks to the strict dress codes of my junior high and high schools. There was also a skate park in the middle of the school front lawn.

Education is not one of my passions, so the visit was more of an escape from classwork for me. However, when the whole class got back together to go over the different schools we all went to, it was startling to see the extreme differences ranging all across the city of the different schools. Next week, we get to visit NGOs, which I know I will enjoy much more.

I'll wrap up this post with two pictures from my beach trip on Saturday: it's always nice to just the day relaxing and soaking up the sun (and getting sunburned - this South African sun is relentless!) Sobonana!

Table Mountain from Camp's Bay Beach

Live On at Camp's Bay

Yesterday, it's been 25 years since Nelson Mandela was released from prison

Yes, you read that title right: 25 years ago on 11 February 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from prison. And I was in Cape Town where he made his first speech as a freed man. What an incredible feeling of finally being free after over two decades imprisoned.

Yesterday was probably one of my favorite days here. We started off the morning by visiting the Langa Township Museum. Langa was one of the first townships in South Africa, so there is so much history surrounding the very street that I live on. The museum was once a pass court, meaning that was where people were taken if they did not have their passbook or identification book on them. Black people during apartheid were required by law to carry this bulky book containing all of their ethnic background information, employer history, and place of residence. They could be arrested on the spot if they failed to produce the book to a police officer. Eventually black women were required to carry a passbook as well, and this lead to a huge Women's Defiance Movement in the 1950s in South Africa, especially Langa. There was one woman we learned about, Annie Silinga. She was one of the most resistant women during the struggle. It is said that her grave marker bears the slogan, "I will never carry a pass!" Up until her death 1984, she was never registered with the SA apartheid government nor carried a pass. It is also said that she told an officer, "If you strike a woman, you strike a rock." So that is definitely my new motto.

Annie Silinga

Look at this amazing woman. Meet my new hero.

After the tour of the museum, we took a walking tour of Langa, which was wonderful. I had really only viewed the street that I live on, so it was amazing to see the rest of the township that I call home. In Langa, there are several different types of housing: there is the multiple family hostel, were several families can share a single room. There are the renovated hostels which allow one family to an apartment. There was also the ranch style houses, like the one I'm staying at. The government also supplies some residents of Langa with temporary housing, which is equipped with solar panels on the roofs. And lastly, there is the tin shack that so many associate with townships. The government however is demolishing the shacks and moving the residents into the temporary homes.

Family Hostel

Temporary housing

Shacks in Langa

After class today, Mama Kholeka took me to a relative's surprise party! Happy Birthday in Xhosa is Imini emnandi kuwe (I think) and you sing that just like you would in English! In Xhosa culture, or at least the family I was with, it's tradition for the birthday person to sit in the middle of the room while everyone says super nice things about you. After the person finishes saying the nice thing, everyone breaks out into song. The songs are all in Xhosa, so I had no idea what they were saying but it truly sounded lovely. 

While I was there, two small girls were hardcore staring at me. I motioned for them to come sit by me and they just stared at my skin. The one girl, she had to be about 5 or 6, grabbed my nose and said, "White people's noses are so pointy." I just laughed, mainly because I had no idea how to react. I then asked them, "Ngubani igama lakho?" which means "What is your name?" They were totally taken aback by my ability to ~kind of~ speak Xhosa. Then they told me their names (which I promptly forgot) and the six year old asked where and who I was staying with. I told them I was staying with Mama Kholeka in Langa, They both told me that I was lying but I assured them I was definitely staying in Langa. To this, the six year old said, "But white people don't stay in Langa."

Since coming to South Africa, I have definitely become more and more aware of my race. In the US, I belong to the majority of white people, so I've never really had the experience of being "the only white kid in the class."

But recently, I've been the only white girl in the room or the only white girl in on the bus or in the cafe. It's been a very different experience for me. I don't really know how to describe how it makes me feel, but it's different. And that's exactly what I wanted from my study abroad country. I can already tell that it's effecting me and changing how I view the world, though I'm not entirely sure how just yet. Already I am so grateful to South Africa for shaping my person growth, even though I've hardly been here two weeks. I am so excited to see what the rest of my journey looks like and how it ends up shaping me.

I'll end with the words of the Great Madiba:

"What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead."

Thank you, Tata

Just call me Thandi

I don't know how to put the last few days into words. It has truly been a magical, terrifying, and adventurous two weeks here in South Africa.

I'll tell you about Saturday and Sunday, because those two days I think have been my favorite days on this trip so far.

On Saturday, the group woke up very early to check out of the hostel we were staying at in Cape Town. We were up so early because that morning we were going to hike up to the top of Lion's Head, which is a mountain that is about 2195 ft above the city of Cape Town. From the top of the peak, you can get a 360 degree view of the city. This hike is something that I've only dreamed about for the past year. Now I was actually going to be able to go up to the top and I was feeling a wide range of emotions: happy, excited, nervous, exhausted.

Here's a picture I took of Lion's Head. From this view, you can't really tell that it's a lion, but trust me when I say that it definitely is a lion. Google it if you don't believe me!

We were told before hand that this would be a relatively easy hike. In fact, and I quote, our academic director told us, "Five year olds do this hike all the time!" So I think, being from the Midwest were one hill is a big deal, oh no problem. I can hike up a mountain, if five year olds can do it, so can this 21 year old.

I think they must have been to Olympic athletes for five year olds because let me tell you, I have never done something as difficult as hike Lion's Head.

I like to think that I'm not afraid of heights. I've flown in an airplane at 36,000 ft, so surely I can hike up something that's a little over 2100 feet. Well, in an airplane you have the option of closing the blinds so you don't have to constantly see how high up you are. You don't get that option while hiking. You are forced to look all around you to see where you are going and where you still need to go.

Each step I took made me more and more afraid, but I knew that this was something I've never done before and something I may not have the opportunity to do when I go back home. So that alone made the hike up worth it. It took us about two hours to get to the top, but once we were up there, it made everything we did to get up there so worth it:

Me on top of Lion's Head!

View of Cape Town from the top of Lion's Head 

On the edge of the mountain!

Panorama of Table Mountain and Cape Town

These pictures don't even begin to show case the beauty of the city I am fortunate enough to call my home for the next three months.

After the hike, we boarded the bus and drove to Langa Township to meet our host families for the next three weeks. I tried to go into Langa with zero expectations about where I would be staying, but of course I was worried. I didn't need to be. My host mama, Kholeka, came out to get me and gave me the biggest hug I have ever received. She gave me my Xhosa name, Thandeka or Thandi. That's a Xhosa name for "love" or "one who is very loved." Sometimes I catch them talking about me in Xhosa using my new name. But pretty much everyone speaks at least basic English so I can communicate no problem. They are also helping with my Xhosa!

Besides Mama Kholeka, there is her mama, my grandma, who is almost 90 years old! She is the matriarch of the family: she always is served food first and gets to sit wherever she wants in the house. I call her my Grandmama, but I'll find out what the Xhosa name for grandma is soon, Mama Kholeka has a daughter and a son, Zizipho is the daughter and she is about 24, and Simpiwe (we all call him "ToTo") is about 27. They both work during the day. Mama Kholeka has a sister named Nosipho and she's my auntie. My auntie has an eight year old daughter named Yondipha, who we call Yondi. She is a giant bucket of sass and has quickly become my new best friend. We do everything together. Yondi and my auntie live about two doors down from Mama Kholeka, so they are over at our house all the time.

Meet Yondi!

That's all I have time for today! Stay tuned for more updated soon!

I can't believe I'm actually here

One of the best feelings in the world is waking up and seeing Table Mountain each morning.

Look at that. It's my view right outside the hostel we are staying at called Once in Cape Town. Every morning I wake up and look at this mountain and I think to myself, "I'm in South Africa." Giving myself that daily affirmation is enough to wake me up and get my day started. 

I feel like I've been waiting for this day for such a long time and now that I'm actually in Cape Town, it doesn't feel real. I am completely in love with this city. I don't know what I expected it to be like, but I know that I am completely and 100% head over heels. 

Since being here (we've been in Cape Town since Tuesday morning) I've experienced so much. We've been to a club, taken the train, walked to the city, learned a little bit of Xhosa, took a taxi, went shopping, got sunburnt, experienced a power outage, and so much more.

Yesterday was one of my favorite days. We were divided up into groups and then given a destination somewhere in Cape Town. My group's destination was the Diamond Museum on the V & A Waterfront in town. To get there, we had to buy a train ticket into the city and then walk there from the train station. The trains in South Africa are so different than the Metra in Chicago! For one, they don't announce the stops -- you have to go to the map and find your station and then count the stops until yours. In Chicago, they usually announce what station you're at, but not in Cape Town. Luckily for us, Cape Town was the final stop, so we all just got off when everyone else did. Walking into town wasn't hard either; we just followed the signs leading to the Waterfront, which is a huge tourist attraction. It actually reminded me of Navy Pier in the city. 

The Waterfront was absolutely gorgeous. The weather was absolutely perfect. I loved being on the water so much, and we even saw sea lions playing in the harbor! There was also this gorgeous clock tower:

How pretty is that?? Anyway, the Diamond Museum was pretty cool. They are actually owned by a diamond company, so of course we didn't get the hardcore "blood diamond" details that plagued South Africa's history. But they did have a lot of really cool diamonds and facts about diamonds. They even showed some diamond cutters actually shaping the diamonds right there in the store.

The way back was probably the best part of the day for me: we took a taxi back! When I say taxi, I mean these little mini buses that South Africans call taxis. It took us awhile to find the mini bus station, but once we did find it, I think I counted 18 different people in the taxi at once. It was PACKED. There are two people who operate the taxi: there's the driver, and then there's the guy who hangs out of the window screaming at passerby where the destination is. It was definitely unlike anything I have ever done before. I wish I could accurately describe the experience but I was just so in awe of the whole situation that it's hard for me to put the situation in words.

Last night, a small group of us were at dinner at about 8:30pm, when all of the sudden, the power went out. We were warned that South Africa would be experiencing power cuts all over, and we had ours last night. The power was out for two hours, so we all sat in the lobby of the hostel talking. I think that we are so privileged in the US that we don't have to worry about the power going out. But it was really interesting to sit around and talk with everyone.

It's hard for me to describe the physical beauty of this place. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before, especially growing up in the Midwest. I've been trying to take pictures of everything, but even pictures cannot accurately describe the beauty of this place. I've only been here for three days, but it already feels like home to me.

Sobonana! (That's how you say goodbye in Xhosa!)

I tried chakalaka today!

So much has happened within the last two days! First and foremost, I met up with pretty much everyone who is in the SIT program with me! Thank goodness, I was getting pretty lonely. Everyone seems pretty chill and ready to have a good time, which I am definitely okay with. There was a small group of us who got picked up from the airport around noon. The next group was going to be picked up at 7:30pm, so we had some down time. There was a small marketplace within walking distance of the hostel we are staying at (called Shoestrings, it's adorable). The group of us decided to walk there. However, someone with extremely pale skin (hint: that's me) forgot to put sunscreen on (sorry, Mom). So I had a nice red glow all down my arms and chest.

On our way to the market, a school must have let out for the day because we ran into a big group of kids walking home from class. Fun fact about South Africa, the school year starts in January and goes until December. Makes a lot of sense, right? Anyway, we got mixed in with these school kids and they would say something, I'm assuming in Zulu since there is a huge population of Zulu people in Johannesburg, and then all start laughing. So of course they were definitely talking about the strange Americans who would jump out of the way whenever a car came speeding down the road. Another fun fact about South Africa, sidewalks aren't a thing. And everyone drives like their hair is on fire. And they drive on the opposite side of the road than Americans do. So you have to look left instead of right before crossing a street. And you get into the shot-gun seat by getting into the left-hand side. It's all very confusing.

Anyway, we made it to this market where it was incredibly shady. Or, I guess, it was shady compared to an American market. We ended up not buying anything, but it was nice to walk there and stretch our legs. The walk back was less eventful, since we kind of got the hang of the street concept.

We waited around for everyone to join the rest of the group, and then we called it an early night since everyone was all jet lagged anyway.

Today was the fun day! We woke up around 7:30 and had breakfast at 8:30. Breakfast was good, it was pretty simple. I love breakfast so I hope that maybe my host family is a big believer in breakfast like I am. The morning was kind of chaotic, since there is 23 of us and only one shower in this entire place. I'm serious. One shower. There's one outside the hostel, but I can tell you right now that that is NOT going to happen.

During the rest of the morning, we spent going over the schedule for the week and some of the rules for the rest of the time in Joburg. Then after that, we broke off into groups to talk about our hopes, expectations, and fears. I think this was a good exercise, especially for me, since seeing all of my fears for this trip didn't make them seem too scary after that. It was also nice to know that my fears were similar to several other people going to Cape Town. Another part of this exercise that I liked was that we were told to write down our expectations, and then cross them all out. The idea of going into something with absolutely no expectations kind of terrifies me, especially since I like to know exactly what is going on at all times. But South Africans don't work like that, So I guess this will hopefully be a great learning experience for me.

After lunch, we drove into downtown Johannesburg. That city was definitely much bigger than I was expecting! I couldn't get any good pictures of the skyline because the sky decided that right then and there it was time to open up and release tons and tons of rain. I didn't think we would actually make it to our destination, the Apartheid Museum.

The best part of the entire museum was that parts of it were outside. Which I would have enjoyed much more if it wasn't POURING. The workers at the museum assigned you a random ticket that either said "Whites" or "Non-Whites" and then you had to go through the appropriate door, and you would experience apartheid style conditions through the first five minutes. However, due to the torrential downpour, we just ran straight through into the inside of the museum. So I was kind of bummed that we didn't get to experience that part, but the rest of the time was absolutely phenomenal. It was so humbling and inspirational to walk around and see the struggle that so many committed their lives to. There was also an entire exhibit dedicated to the life of Nelson Mandela, who is personally one of my heroes. It was amazing to watch how he continued his fight even while in prison and once he was released.

One of the most haunting exhibits for me was a room that was simulated like a prison room. It listed all of prisoners who died in custody, and listed how they died as well, such as police brutality and injuries already sustained while brought in. But the most common way of death was suicide by hanging. When you looked up at the ceiling of this room, there were hundreds of rope nooses. It was actually terrifying to see that and to think that these political prisoners found this to be their only way of escape. It truly made me stop and think. (The Internet here is being weird, so I can't post a picture of it. But the website has tons of pictures to offer if you're interested: http://www.apartheidmuseum.org)

Another part of the museum I loved was the wing of influential women in the movement. There is a saying, "Malibongwe," which means, "let them be praised." It refers to the women who marched in 1956 in an anti-pass book demonstration. I loved walking around and seeing the portraits of these inspirational women who gave up so much to provide for so many.

So yeah, today was an amazing, humbling day. We ended the night with some brie, which is was South Africans call barbecue. We also had chakalaka, which is like a South African chili, and another fun fact, I saw them make it on a food show on the African Channel before I left! The food here is DELICIOUS in case anyone was curious! I'll try to post pictures of it when I get a better internet connection!

To wrap up, I would like to leave you with this quote from the museum. Have a wonderful weekend!

"When it is over, I don't want to wonder if I have made my life something particular, and real. I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument. I don't want to end up simply having visited the world." -- Mary Oliver