Landed in Jo’burg. Amazing. After so much talk and more talk and planning I have finally set foot in South Africa. Kind of overwhelmed and intensely missing people, but nonetheless exciting. I met up with PJ and we just bounced around the airport for a while meeting some really nice and interesting people. We found a room in the airport that we could stay in with our bags for the night. It was semi-sketchy, but hey, it all worked out. At one point, around 2:30am South African time, we were awaken by some intense snoring. It was me, PJ, two people from Spain, and four South African men in the room and everyone had waken up from the snoring. Though none of us knew each other at all and it was a totally random situation, we all just started laughing. One of the South African men in the corner of the room kept murmuring funny ways to stifle the snoring and we all bonded. We made a friend named Juan from Spain, who was traveling to Port Elizabeth to spend time with his son. Nice guy.
I have arrived in Grahamstown after some sweet adventures and am slowly getting my wits and heart about me. Though still generally totally lost, I am beginning to become physically acclimated. It's so weird to think I'm not at BC or home for all the hanging out and events and adventures and laughter and conversation.
I'm in a mixed state of confusion/excitement/overwhelmingness/fun/adventurism/totally missing people. I would so much like to be nearer to certain people back home and at BC but at the same time am realizing that this is going to be a pretty special place after some of the awkwardness subsides. I've already had several moving experiences that I'm trying to wrap my head around. I have met a whole bunch of people from all over southern africa from a number of cultural backgrounds. Sometimes it seems like stereotypical college in that people want to drink a lot and hook up (both scenes seem to be much more intense in that regard than I expected, weird) and at some other points it seems clear to me that I'm in South AFRICA. And that I'm SO white, in many common conceptions of the word from skin color to wealth. And have an accent. And have SO much to learn about anything from language to poverty to race to music.
We went on a tour of the whole town with a professor who is kind of our adviser/friend while we're here. Prof. Antrobus is AWESOME. He will be a major asset and opportunity-maker for us during the trip. He'll be setting us up with our volunteer placements for the semester. I don’t know where I’ll be yet, but I am excited for a semester commitment that will no doubt be moving, ruining, and inspiring all at the same time. I hope. Anyway…we drove through some nicer areas of the town (those areas and the campus are BEAUTIFUL. It's the most beautiful and unique campus I've ever been on) and then we went to the east side of town and I saw the most intense poverty I have ever seen in person. It really messed with my head. Not that I'm pitying people or feeling like I need to save them or anything like that, but just amazed at the diversity of experience there is in humanity and trying to combat what might be feelings of helplessness. Through our placements, though, I think at least to some degree we'll be able to do more than gawk at tiny tin shacks and rubbish and immerse ourselves with real people. I hope the pretty campus and academic culture don’t create too much of a bubble separating certain parts of the reality of Grahamstown.
South Africa RULES in positive and negative ways that move the heart. People are nice. Conversations are so interesting. And I'm doing something new and real and exciting every hour it seems like. I miss everybody so much, though, especially since I haven't been able to verbally talk to anybody yet. It will work out, though.
I have arrived in Grahamstown after some sweet adventures and am slowly getting my wits and heart about me. Though still generally totally lost, I am beginning to become physically acclimated. It's so weird to think I'm not at BC or home for all the hanging out and events and adventures and laughter and conversation.
I'm in a mixed state of confusion/excitement/overwhelmingness/fun/adventurism/totally missing people. I would so much like to be nearer to certain people back home and at BC but at the same time am realizing that this is going to be a pretty special place after some of the awkwardness subsides. I've already had several moving experiences that I'm trying to wrap my head around. I have met a whole bunch of people from all over southern africa from a number of cultural backgrounds. Sometimes it seems like stereotypical college in that people want to drink a lot and hook up (both scenes seem to be much more intense in that regard than I expected, weird) and at some other points it seems clear to me that I'm in South AFRICA. And that I'm SO white, in many common conceptions of the word from skin color to wealth. And have an accent. And have SO much to learn about anything from language to poverty to race to music.
We went on a tour of the whole town with a professor who is kind of our adviser/friend while we're here. Prof. Antrobus is AWESOME. He will be a major asset and opportunity-maker for us during the trip. He'll be setting us up with our volunteer placements for the semester. I don’t know where I’ll be yet, but I am excited for a semester commitment that will no doubt be moving, ruining, and inspiring all at the same time. I hope. Anyway…we drove through some nicer areas of the town (those areas and the campus are BEAUTIFUL. It's the most beautiful and unique campus I've ever been on) and then we went to the east side of town and I saw the most intense poverty I have ever seen in person. It really messed with my head. Not that I'm pitying people or feeling like I need to save them or anything like that, but just amazed at the diversity of experience there is in humanity and trying to combat what might be feelings of helplessness. Through our placements, though, I think at least to some degree we'll be able to do more than gawk at tiny tin shacks and rubbish and immerse ourselves with real people. I hope the pretty campus and academic culture don’t create too much of a bubble separating certain parts of the reality of Grahamstown.
South Africa RULES in positive and negative ways that move the heart. People are nice. Conversations are so interesting. And I'm doing something new and real and exciting every hour it seems like. I miss everybody so much, though, especially since I haven't been able to verbally talk to anybody yet. It will work out, though.
