My apologies for neglecting my blog, but if most don’t know by now, I’M BACK!! It’s been a wild time trying to catch up with friends and family, especially when I’m still on South Africa time and fall asleep at 6 p.m and wake up at 4 a.m, but I’ve made pretty good progress since arriving home on Saturday.
I didn’t realize that I never posted anything about my experience while watching the final match and my last week in Africa, which is what I’ll tell about in this post. I’ll have another post that is a bit more profound to wrap up the trip’s significance and how it has impacted my life.
July 11 2012: FINAL GAME! A few others and I decided to go to the Fan Park really early to ensure that we got good seats. Upon our arrival we noticed the influx of people on the boardwalk like we had never seen before, and street performers that seemed to line up along the sides one after another. To pass the time we went to the mini-theme park next door and rode the chair lift and got an awesome view that gave us a good view of northern Durban city limits (we could see the stadium really well) and literally passed over the Fan Park. Thousands accumulated and stormed the gates when they opened, a moment that reminded me a lot of waiting for Walt Disney World to open when I was a child.
The fan park filled up very quickly (45,000 people!!) and everyone watched with great reverence as the World Cup-the event South Africans had waited four years to come, was projected as a mere collection of memories during the closing ceremony. The dark clouds overhead sprinkled the crowd with raindrops but that just made the moment more intense as we watched Spain take the Cup. Fireworks went off on the nearby pier and an overwhelming electronica laser show started off the night of celebration. The moment was surreal, for the life of my I couldn’t grasp the fact that the whole event was over and the electric atmosphere was going to dwindle into nothing by the end of the week. And when I say dwindle, I mean to extremely regress.
Four days after the cup, on our last night in South Africa, a lot of the group went out to Florida Road, a place with a lot of restaurants and bars that was always packed to the sidewalks during the World Cup. To our surprise we got out and there was maybe 5 people we saw walking down the strip. There were maybe 10 people in the bar, and 20 people in the large restaurant next door. I had the chance to talk to a waiter at the restaurant and he said on a typical game night he was bringing in R6,000-R7,000 ($800-$900). Towards the end of his 10-hour shift that day, he had only made R50 ($7). This is the sort of sad reality that faces host cities. The economic impact is only temporary until they are able to attract investors that create jobs and provide an economic stimulus. But other than that shocking conversation, the night was pretty good and I was able to hang out and relax with some really great people I got to know over the course of the program.
The entire last week had been devoted towards school projects: a group visual essay titled “Youth of Africa: How they are overcoming adversity and are the future hope of this nation”, and my research paper where I talked about the World Cup’s role in combating South Africa’s (and other developing countries’) most preventable social issues, which involve reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, and combating HIV, AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. All I have to say is that if you think writing a research paper during the school year is hard, try writing one during your summer vacation, with minimal access to the internet, a broken printer, and in Africa of all places. If I ever complain about a paper, I have first hand experience in knowing that it could be worse.
I left for the airport on Friday at 6 a.m. and was all set to go but had to go back into the center to say goodbye to a few people. Arriving to the airport I went to get out of the van when I realized I was missing something very crucial- my luggage! Leaving the largest and most important piece of any traveler’s belongings seems to be something I would definitely do, sheesh. Luckily I had an extra hour to spare before my plane boarded. Other than that, my travels back to the states went smothly, as all of my flights were on time and went by in the blink of an eye. When I woke up with 5 hours of my 16 hour flight left, the couple in my row commended me for sleeping in the positions I slept in for 9 or so hours. In Atlanta I immediately resented being in the states because of the hot and humid weather I had so thankfully missed for 6 weeks. I went to get a drink at a shop and for a brief second though that I was going to buy a juice for R2.95. –A sign of missing Africa already.
Being home I am trying to take care of business that I missed and catch up on what’s happening in the world and in my community. I’m already noticing changes in how I live, but will post more about Africa’s impact and lessons learned early next week, if not later this week. Have a good one!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Home Stretch
Woke up to the sun rising over the Durban harbor this morning. We are staying in a convent for the next week, and being 3 stories up on top of a hill, facing the ocean really has its advantages ☺ Friday we went to Hluhluwe (pronounce shloo-shloowee) Game Drive and while listening to the Lion King Soundtrack saw several animals, the most exciting moments involved a rhino, a herd of giraffes, and an elephant that passed 10 feet right behind our van! The sunset behind the mountains was also very impressive, and never ceases to amaze me with its illuminating hues of pink, read and orange. We stayed overnight at a hostel in the deep woods, and were constantly having run-ins with bush babies. Don’t be fooled by their cuteness, they have a knack for hypnotizing you with their apparent innocence before taking your food, and jump around the roof at night so you can’t go to bed. On our way home to Durban we bought breakfast from some women on the side of the highway. I got a full pineapple, with the stalk and everything, but the pointy skin had been shaved away so I could eat it like a drumstick. This was possibly the best pineapple I’ve ever had, despite the sticky mess I got all over myself. Today I woke up at 7 a.m. without an alarm clock, a moment my parents have tried to get me to accomplish for 6 years now. This afternoon we are going out to the beach to hang out and make sure we get into the Fan Park for the final. It’s going to be so crazy and I have to make sure I buy a Spanish flag so I can wave it while I hear the Wavin’ Flag song one last time in South Africa. Víva España!
P.S: For those of you who know about my terrible mispronunciation problem (saying aneurism instead of mannerism, etc.) I have a new one for ya. I was in charge of telling the rest of the group where we were staying for the last week or so, and was like “Yeah, so we’re staying really close to the SIT office, in a mortuary place, but for nuns” (I for the life of me couldn’t think of the word convent and totally didn’t catch myself saying mortuary instead of monastery). Imagine how freaked some of the people were when they heard that we were staying in a place with dead nuns, hahaha… hope you had a good weekend!
P.S: For those of you who know about my terrible mispronunciation problem (saying aneurism instead of mannerism, etc.) I have a new one for ya. I was in charge of telling the rest of the group where we were staying for the last week or so, and was like “Yeah, so we’re staying really close to the SIT office, in a mortuary place, but for nuns” (I for the life of me couldn’t think of the word convent and totally didn’t catch myself saying mortuary instead of monastery). Imagine how freaked some of the people were when they heard that we were staying in a place with dead nuns, hahaha… hope you had a good weekend!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
A weem-ba-wop a weem-ba-wop
This past week I stayed in a rural area of aMacambini. We left on Sunday morning and arrived in the afternoon. I had two other roommates, and we were placed with a zulu family that had 3 sons, a daughter, 2 grandchildren, and several neighborhood kids that played on the soccer field in the front of our house. Upon arrival, we were greeted my Mama and Baba who speak no English but had their children translate for us. Their house was the largest of 5 other buildings/huts in the close cluster, and they had all the amenities we expected not to have-running water, an indoor porcelain toilet, beds to sleep on, and several kitchen appliances. They also had electricity, but it had been off since the morning. Luckily, the chief’s daughter was having her coming-of-age celebration that afternoon so we weren’t going to be around the house anyway. The celebration was everything I expected- men, women, and children in traditional Zulu dress, singing, dancing and chanting to the beats of their native tongue. The chief’s daughter and her friends were so excited to have us there, which was very assuring because we didn’t want to impose on her big event.
The next day we had to walk 45 minutes to and from the camp where we worked with local high school students. In groups we traveled to the Indian Ocean beachfront and played a game that was designated to us, and my group, who so proudly decided on the name Purple Prawns, played handball for a good 2 ½ hours until lunch. In the afternoon we had discussions about what it means to have healthy habits, and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. These habits involved social skills, disease prevention, proper nutrition, exercise, and self-consciousness (having confidence and setting goals). That night we introduced the family to Nutella, and they almost had their own celebration for that glass jar that hardly survived to see breakfast the next day. Hannah, my roommate since day one was also one of my roommates here at the rural stay, and she brought the guitar home that night. Mama got down to acoustic renditions of “Baby” by Justin Beiber and “Forever” by Chris Brown as she maneuvered her voluptuous curves around the living room furniture. It was quite a hilarious sight to see! After that we received some good isizulu lessons from our siblings, because the older locals hassled us for not speaking zulu earlier in the day.
On Tuesday we had fish sticks and French fries for breakfast…I bet you can guess that I ate more corn flakes than the hot breakfast that morning. On our way to camp we surprised the locals with our capability to successfully acknowledge them in isiZulu. At camp we headed straight for the beach again and started off with yoga and meditation in the warm morning sunlight. We had an intense handball tournament that lasted the whole morning, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed going into the ocean for our halftime breaks. The afternoon had time for a follow-up discussion with our groups, where we got onto the topic of marriage. In Zulu culture there is a dowry of at least 11 cows (every cow costs about $1,000), and typically more is given through negotiation. One of my SIT peers was outraged that the day before, when a man had purposed that she marry him, that he only offered 2 cows, haha. True story! They couldn’t believe that there was no dowry in America, and that the divorce rate was above 50%. They claim that it is very rare and shameful to divorce in their culture. After discussion we played tug-o-war, said our goodbyes, and left for our last night at home.
After a long walk of munching on sugar cane, we got home and played soccer with about 30 neighborhood kids. I sat by the goal with the kids that didn’t want to play, and there was an awkward tension between me and the girls that crowded around behind me. All of a sudden I felt a poke on my arm and the girl who poked me ran away. Yes, they were scared to touch the skin of a white girl. I left my arm out and let them touch me. Then I let down my braided hair and they were even more taken aback by its soft, smooth texture. None of them spoke English, so I gained their friendship by teaching them hand-clapping games and performing cartwheels. I can’t speak for them because I wasn’t able to communicate with any of them, but by their big smiles and lingering hugs when I had to say goodbye, I think the fact that a foreigner (no less a white girl) took the initiative to play with and acknowledge them meant a lot.
Had the same dinner as the night before (Pap, cabbage, potatoes and peas) then watched the first semi-final game on the eldest brother’s projector screen. –You weren’t expecting that one, were ya? Woke up Wednesday morning to no electricity again, and played soccer outside with the usual group of boys (we call them “bafanabam” which means “my boys” in isiZulu) until our van came. Going back up to the house to collect my things my buti and sisi came out wearing the U of M t-shirts I had given them, and demanded we take pictures. I felt like I had become a part of their family in just 3 days, and I’m bummed we didn’t have more time to stay there. Today (Thursday) is my last day with my urban host family in Durban until we stay in a convent for the last a week. The rest of this trip is going to fly by so fast, I just know it.
The next day we had to walk 45 minutes to and from the camp where we worked with local high school students. In groups we traveled to the Indian Ocean beachfront and played a game that was designated to us, and my group, who so proudly decided on the name Purple Prawns, played handball for a good 2 ½ hours until lunch. In the afternoon we had discussions about what it means to have healthy habits, and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. These habits involved social skills, disease prevention, proper nutrition, exercise, and self-consciousness (having confidence and setting goals). That night we introduced the family to Nutella, and they almost had their own celebration for that glass jar that hardly survived to see breakfast the next day. Hannah, my roommate since day one was also one of my roommates here at the rural stay, and she brought the guitar home that night. Mama got down to acoustic renditions of “Baby” by Justin Beiber and “Forever” by Chris Brown as she maneuvered her voluptuous curves around the living room furniture. It was quite a hilarious sight to see! After that we received some good isizulu lessons from our siblings, because the older locals hassled us for not speaking zulu earlier in the day.
On Tuesday we had fish sticks and French fries for breakfast…I bet you can guess that I ate more corn flakes than the hot breakfast that morning. On our way to camp we surprised the locals with our capability to successfully acknowledge them in isiZulu. At camp we headed straight for the beach again and started off with yoga and meditation in the warm morning sunlight. We had an intense handball tournament that lasted the whole morning, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed going into the ocean for our halftime breaks. The afternoon had time for a follow-up discussion with our groups, where we got onto the topic of marriage. In Zulu culture there is a dowry of at least 11 cows (every cow costs about $1,000), and typically more is given through negotiation. One of my SIT peers was outraged that the day before, when a man had purposed that she marry him, that he only offered 2 cows, haha. True story! They couldn’t believe that there was no dowry in America, and that the divorce rate was above 50%. They claim that it is very rare and shameful to divorce in their culture. After discussion we played tug-o-war, said our goodbyes, and left for our last night at home.
After a long walk of munching on sugar cane, we got home and played soccer with about 30 neighborhood kids. I sat by the goal with the kids that didn’t want to play, and there was an awkward tension between me and the girls that crowded around behind me. All of a sudden I felt a poke on my arm and the girl who poked me ran away. Yes, they were scared to touch the skin of a white girl. I left my arm out and let them touch me. Then I let down my braided hair and they were even more taken aback by its soft, smooth texture. None of them spoke English, so I gained their friendship by teaching them hand-clapping games and performing cartwheels. I can’t speak for them because I wasn’t able to communicate with any of them, but by their big smiles and lingering hugs when I had to say goodbye, I think the fact that a foreigner (no less a white girl) took the initiative to play with and acknowledge them meant a lot.
Had the same dinner as the night before (Pap, cabbage, potatoes and peas) then watched the first semi-final game on the eldest brother’s projector screen. –You weren’t expecting that one, were ya? Woke up Wednesday morning to no electricity again, and played soccer outside with the usual group of boys (we call them “bafanabam” which means “my boys” in isiZulu) until our van came. Going back up to the house to collect my things my buti and sisi came out wearing the U of M t-shirts I had given them, and demanded we take pictures. I felt like I had become a part of their family in just 3 days, and I’m bummed we didn’t have more time to stay there. Today (Thursday) is my last day with my urban host family in Durban until we stay in a convent for the last a week. The rest of this trip is going to fly by so fast, I just know it.
Friday, July 2, 2010
"Cookies so nice for breakfast, so nice" -Mama Dolly
Sorry it’s taken me a week to post, it’s been a combination of having a lot of lectures and higher priorities (a.k.a BIG research paper due in 2 weeks and slow internet connection). My topic is really cool though! I will be investigating how the World Cup has helped perpetuate the MDGs for South Africa, which are initiatives proposed by the UN for all developing nations, to be accomplished by 2015. Now for my quick re-cap of this past week:
Saturday was the USA vs. Ghana game. The group of 33 American SIT students went to the Durban Fan Fest (which is actually the biggest and most successful Fan Park not only of WC2010, but in all World Cup history!) and watched it amongst the South Africans who have been told to follow the “Africa United” campaign and support the Ghanaian Black Stars. Basically, our group was the target of directed celebration after both goals Ghana scored, and I have never felt so marginalized. On our ride home we talked about how uncomfortable it was to be a part of the minority, something I haven’t really experienced in the U.S. All the same, I knew going in to the match that I would be happy with either outcome, and I am behind Ghana to win it all.
Sunday was dreary so I watched one of my favorite movies Crash, with my host sister and her boyfriend, and we had a very insightful conversation about race. One of my favorite aspects of being here in a different country is being able to discuss our viewpoints about certain topics. Later that night I went to the movie theatre and saw the South African film “Survival Guide to South Africa”, a parody of South Africa’s social problems surrounding the world cup. Tuesday we had a practicum with high school kids and discussed how the facilities and opportunities to play and compete in sports differed from facilities and opportunities in America. Later in the afternoon we taught them how to play softball and had a mini tournament. Later we went out to watch the Japan/Paraguay and Spain/Portugal games, and found a restaurant with a hidden passage that opened up into a covered terrace with a fountain and projector screen that showed the matches -talk about a whole new kind of romance.
Wednesday night I showed my sister how to make chocolate chip cookies, and she kept looking in the oven, totally confused over what the heck a "cookie" was. With our cookies and some popcorn the family watched a movie and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the night. The next morning the breakfast table was set with all the regular foods and a big plate of cookies. Mama loved that the cookies could be eaten as a “sweet breakfast treat”, and by the time I came home they were all gone.
During the day on Thursday we had lecture then went to Chesterville Township to play soccer. We showed up at the field and were greeted by the boys of the Barcelona Project, a grassroots soccer team that were all about my age. We all knew it would be rough because we haven’t had the opportunity to exercise during any part of our 4-week stay since we arrived, and some didn’t even make it past warm-ups! But all in all the guys enjoyed having us because there are several D1/D2/D3 soccer players on the trip, and for those that have absolutely no soccer experience (me) they were amused at our attempts and insisted on calling me Torres instead of Tori. After that I went home and relaxed/fell asleep as my sister braided my whole head (it’s a part of my preparation for the rural stay). Today I woke up without a voice. Sickness is going around the group and I now have a scratchy sore throat to accompany the bug bites on my hand and face. I'm going to the doctor soon, so hopefully he'll make me feel better and I can enjoy my day a bit more! Phrase we say to stop complainers in the group: T.I.A.- This Is Africa (Get over it). Love.
Saturday was the USA vs. Ghana game. The group of 33 American SIT students went to the Durban Fan Fest (which is actually the biggest and most successful Fan Park not only of WC2010, but in all World Cup history!) and watched it amongst the South Africans who have been told to follow the “Africa United” campaign and support the Ghanaian Black Stars. Basically, our group was the target of directed celebration after both goals Ghana scored, and I have never felt so marginalized. On our ride home we talked about how uncomfortable it was to be a part of the minority, something I haven’t really experienced in the U.S. All the same, I knew going in to the match that I would be happy with either outcome, and I am behind Ghana to win it all.
Sunday was dreary so I watched one of my favorite movies Crash, with my host sister and her boyfriend, and we had a very insightful conversation about race. One of my favorite aspects of being here in a different country is being able to discuss our viewpoints about certain topics. Later that night I went to the movie theatre and saw the South African film “Survival Guide to South Africa”, a parody of South Africa’s social problems surrounding the world cup. Tuesday we had a practicum with high school kids and discussed how the facilities and opportunities to play and compete in sports differed from facilities and opportunities in America. Later in the afternoon we taught them how to play softball and had a mini tournament. Later we went out to watch the Japan/Paraguay and Spain/Portugal games, and found a restaurant with a hidden passage that opened up into a covered terrace with a fountain and projector screen that showed the matches -talk about a whole new kind of romance.
Wednesday night I showed my sister how to make chocolate chip cookies, and she kept looking in the oven, totally confused over what the heck a "cookie" was. With our cookies and some popcorn the family watched a movie and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the night. The next morning the breakfast table was set with all the regular foods and a big plate of cookies. Mama loved that the cookies could be eaten as a “sweet breakfast treat”, and by the time I came home they were all gone.
During the day on Thursday we had lecture then went to Chesterville Township to play soccer. We showed up at the field and were greeted by the boys of the Barcelona Project, a grassroots soccer team that were all about my age. We all knew it would be rough because we haven’t had the opportunity to exercise during any part of our 4-week stay since we arrived, and some didn’t even make it past warm-ups! But all in all the guys enjoyed having us because there are several D1/D2/D3 soccer players on the trip, and for those that have absolutely no soccer experience (me) they were amused at our attempts and insisted on calling me Torres instead of Tori. After that I went home and relaxed/fell asleep as my sister braided my whole head (it’s a part of my preparation for the rural stay). Today I woke up without a voice. Sickness is going around the group and I now have a scratchy sore throat to accompany the bug bites on my hand and face. I'm going to the doctor soon, so hopefully he'll make me feel better and I can enjoy my day a bit more! Phrase we say to stop complainers in the group: T.I.A.- This Is Africa (Get over it). Love.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
