A "Safrican" Week in Review

Mowbray (Cape Town), South Africa

I should begin by apologizing for not getting a chance to write since I arrived in South Africa nearly a week ago. This week has been a whirlwind filled with adventures both during the day and at night, leaving me very little time to sleep, much less to write. For whatever reason, though, I have felt so stimulated by the new people and environment that I have not felt overly tired until today. That said, I am staying at my flat tonight with almost all the other American students to recover from this crazy week. Also, my internet is finally up and running, so I am taking advantage of my ability to finally post!

I think that it will be easiest to describe my experiences over the past week by differentiating between the daytime and the nighttime. As you may know, during the apartheid, South African cities were integrated during the day and largely segregated at night. Despite the fact that the apartheid is no longer in existence here, I have noticed that the city (or at least the places where I have been spending time) has a very different racial breakdown during the day than it does at night. Specifically, the racial breakdown of the city changes in that I find myself surrounded almost completely by white people wherever I am at night. The only black or colored (a word that I have a hard time using as it has not been socially acceptable since before the Civil Rights Movement in the States, but in South Africa refers to a person that is neither white nor black, i.e. mixed race, Chinese, etc.) people in the places we visit after dark appear to be working for the white people that frequent the restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. What has been interesting about this is that there are a few black American girls on my program, and they stick out in the all-white crowd. As you can see, race is a very popular topic of discussion here, both amongst South Africans and Americans. More about that in future posts I’m sure!

While issues of race are always present in South Africa, they seemed especially apparent to me today when my program organized a trip to a black (note the separation from colored) township called Gugaletu. We ate lunch at a touristy meat market called Mzoli’s, which is located in the center of a poverty-stricken neighborhood in which very few people have an education or a job. While some of the other students on my program were snapping pictures at every corner, I refused to take my camera out of my pocket out of fear of disrespecting the locals in their hometown. It felt to me as though the township was one large museum, and it made me feel pretty uncomfortable. That said, I am interested in spending more time in the townships so that I can get to know South Africa in its entirety. I found out today that it is possible to do a homestay in a nearby township for a night or two, so I am looking forward to that.

On a completely different note, a bunch of us spent a full day in the wine country in a town called Stellenbosch. We tasted wines at three different vineyards, and they were all amazing. It was nice to get to know everyone and to see another part of the country. Since then, I have spent a lot of time with the Americans and not enough with the locals, so I am constantly trying to meet new people and try new things. Unfortunately, it’s never considered safe for a

white American to walk around alone in the city, so I am always exploring the city in large groups of Americans. I hope to find an opportunity to be alone here so that I can feel more at home in my new environment. Luckily, my flat is feeling like home now that I have decorated my room a bit. I still haven’t found a routine here, though, because classes haven’t started yet and it feels like a vacation. I’m sure that once school starts, life will feel different. By then, I hope to feel more adjusted to the racial complexities of South Africa so that I can focus on becoming a regular UCT student for the next four months.

Hopefully, I will have reliable internet access soon and will be able to post more regularly. Check back soon for more!

I have attached some pictures of my room above. People here call it the "Beach House," as it has tile floor, unlike the rest of the flat.