Shopping, district six, Linda Fortune

Long day! In the morning we went to this craft market and I wanted everything! I literally could have bought everything there. The jewelry was so pretty, I wanted it all. We were able to bargain down prices for things but I always felt kind of bad. I did get some good deals on things (I think) but I didn't want to rip them off or be ripped off.

After shopping we went to the District Six museum and got to meet Linda Fortune. She grew up in District Six and we read her book during our class. She was amazing! I loved hearing all her stories about growing up in District Six and the history behind the removals. She took us to Odekraal, a secret beach in Cape Town with caves! It was so beautiful. The pictures I took don't do it justice. The ocean water was a spectacular blue and the mountains overlooking the beach were breathtaking. Linda talked about how her and her family would go to Odekraal during vacations and live in the caves. It hit me when she mentioned how one time they went there and set up and began cooking like usually and then were kicked out because it had now become a white only area.
Odekraal had such amazing scenery and I can't imagine not being able to experience it because of my race. We climbed through caves and hiked up hills and enjoyed the fresh air. I ate lunch looking out onto the ocean and the rocks...beautiful. It was a perfect day.

And 30 hours later...

I'm finally in Cape Town! What a long flight! From Chicago to DC to Johannesburg and ending in Cape Town. Total trip time from when I left my house to when I stepped into the Cape Town house is about 30 hours. Travels didn't go exactly as planned when I was stopped in customs and had to go to the immigration office and when my bag arrived in Cape Town on the wrong flight. I did see Akon though at the airport so that was pretty cool. Other than that it was fine, the airplane food wasn't terrible like I had expected. Lots of chicken and beef. When we got here I found myself wanting to look at everything. Even though it was 10pm when we arrived here I still wanted to take in every little detail of what I saw. The house we are staying at is really nice! We all have our own room and the living space is huge! Im excited to explore on our first day around our neighborhood, "the observatory" and go to the beach!

Yays and Nays

Top 5 Things I’m Excited to do in Cape Town

1. Working at the volunteer sites and meeting new people
2. Touring District Six and meeting Linda Fortune
3.  Hiking
4.  Hopefully seeing penguins at Boulder’s Beach
5. Just being there!

Top 5 Things I’m not excited about for Cape Town

1. Traveler’s diarrhea
2. Looooonnnggggg plane ride with 6 hour layover on the way back
3. Jet lag
4. Not being able to talk to my parents every day
5.  LONG plane ride!!

Guest Speaker: Dr. Bekisizwe Ndimande

Dr. Ndimande was a guest speaker for class this week. It was really interesting to learn about his experience growing up in South Africa. He definitely got everyone in the class talking and asking questions. I just can’t wait to actually be there and experience Cape Town for myself. It’s one thing to read and hear about it, but I still can’t imagine what it will be like when we actually get there. Dr. Ndimande is going to meet with us again upon our arrival and I’m sure that meeting will be even more intriguing.

Short this week. Too much going on.  

Topic: Children in South Africa

In class this week we watched a file “Age 7 in South Africa”. This film goes through the lives of various children all age 7 living in South Africa. All the kids were really cute and it was interesting to see all their different lifestyles. It was interesting to hear their thoughts about blacks, white, coloureds, and the government at the time. The white and Indian children talked about how townships were bad and how they would never want to live there and the black children talked about how they wanted to be rich and live in the white areas. This shows how the inequalities during that time were apparent to children as well. The condition of the schools in the townships and the white neighborhoods was also very different. Some of the children in the townships could not even attend school. Lastly, I liked to see the differences in languages which the children chose to speak, Afrikaans, English, Zulu, etc. I am eager to watch the following videos as the same children get older and see how their ideas have changed.

This class made me excited to work with the children when we get to Cape Town. I love how children are so open with their personalities and have their own opinions about things. It will be interesting to see the differences between children of South Africa and the United States which regards to how they spend their free time and what is important to them. 

Safety First

We had our safety and health information session so you know what that means…NO MORE EMAILS FROM STUDY ABROAD! YES! In all honesty though, the safety and health session made me really nervous about going abroad. My main concerns aren’t blood borne pathogens, malaria, or getting mugged or hit by a car. My main worry is getting traveler’s diarrhea! I am 97% sure that traveler’s diarrhea is going to happen to me. I just hope I’m not the one person on the trip that is sick the entire time! Also, it seems like Jan always has a new story every week about someone needing to go to the hospital or the group getting stomach flu or something. I’m sure it was not a huge deal though and it’s not like anyone died so I should be fine. I’ll just make sure to bring all my meds to keep me healthy! It also didn’t help that we talked about Amy Biehl in class. Amy was an American visiting South Africa who was murdered by black South Africans who assumed she was a supporter of apartheid. It was sad to here that Amy was killed as a result of anger towards the apartheid system. It is comforting to know that her family understands the anger surrounding her death and have started a foundation to keeps children away from violence. I am happy we have Jan and Jess with us on the trip to inform us of the safe places to go and I’m sure the atmosphere in South Africa post apartheid has grown more positive, although vivid memories of it still exist. 

With all that being said,

My Wish #1 for Cape Town travels: avoid traveler’s diarrhea and motion-sickness 

Apartheid is Over: Racial Perceptions Still Exist

This week in class we learned more about apartheid and the segregation between white, blacks, coloureds, and Indians. In South Africa, coloured has a different meaning than someone from the United States would view the term. In the US, the term colored has negative connotations linked to slavery and the treatment of blacks during that time. In South Africa though, coloured represents the people of mixed race and these individuals are proud to proclaim that they are coloured. During apartheid when individuals were being separated into different townships, the color of their skin was often used to determine what race category they would fit into. These classifications brought about racial perceptions based on skin color that still exists today in South Africa and the United States.

After experiencing such a history that was so racially involved, it would be impossible not to talk about race in South Africa today. To show that these racial perceptions still exist, we watched a film called “A Girl Like Me”. In this film teenage girls of different skin complexions spoke to the struggles they face. The Kenneth Clark study was depicted in the film where black children were asked to chose which doll, black or white, was smarter, prettier, and better. In most cases the children chose the white doll signifying that they still believe in some way that white is better than black.

This was very heartbreaking to see, especially because I am black. I could relate with many of the ideas in the video. This class also got me thinking whether I would be considered black or coloured in South Africa. Even though I’m not South African, I am just curious as to what I would be. Jan told a story of a past group where the black students were given African names by one of the South African men, but one lighter skinned black student didn’t get a name probably because she would have been considered coloured. I could probably go on and on about skin color and race, but I’ll just stop here in hopes that I will get an African name by someone in Cape Town J

Topic: District Six...One Big Family Split apart

This week for class I read the book “The House in Tyne Street”. It was a very quick read compared to A Long Walk to Freedom! This novel by Linda Fortune gives her account of what life was like as a child in District Six. After reading the book I felt like I had a good grasp on the neighborhood dynamic in District Six. It was a diverse area with families of all different backgrounds and traditions. Everyone seemed to know each other and look out for one another. It seemed no different from the typical neighborhood in the United States where every family knows each other and takes care of one another. It was difficult to read about the individual families that got forced out of District Six. District Six was the place so many people called home. I could not imagine being forced out of the place where I grew up and made friends and memories.

Before reading this book, I thought of District Six as a bad neighborhood full of poverty and crime. From Linda Fortune’s account, it wasn't a wealthy neighborhood and there was some crime, but the individuals living there did the best with what they had and that made them happy. It actually reminds me of the neighborhood stories my parents have of their childhood. My parents didn’t grow up in a wealthy neighborhood by any means, but they made the best of what they had and enjoyed it. The children in the neighborhood all knew each other and played simple games like the ones described in the book. It’s the camaraderie of the individuals in the neighborhood that made everyone a family.


To save the best for last…GOOD NEWS! We get to meet Linda Fortune, the author of “The House in Tyne Street” while in Cape Town. I enjoyed reading her book so much and now we get the opportunity to meet her. I can’t wait!