Sawubona, South Africa!

I made it!

I want to apologize ahead of time if this post is slightly incoherent or jumps around a lot or rambles. Its been a long day on very little sleep, but I wanted to give you guys an update! Also, I am sorry there are no pictures -- the internet here can't handle uploading them. Hopefully I will be able to post some soon.

Soooo, where to start. Well, I flew in on Friday. The flight over in itself wasn't too bad -- I think the anticipation just made it seem extra long and excruciating. After we landed and made it through customs (which was surprisingly easy), we exchanged some money and were shuttled to Shoestrings Airport Lodge where we met up with the rest of the people on the program. We got our cell phones, orientation packet, and a few other details, and then it was dinner time! We had a spaghetti and meat sauce. How very African? It was good nonetheless. I though I would be tired enough to sleep through the night, but the jet lag got the best of me, and it was a restless night to say the least.

After breakfast and more introductions we headed out to Soweto! As a quick history lesson, Soweto is known for the Soweto uprising in 1976. School children were marching towards the Orlando Stadium protesting the government’s decision to make school lessons in Afrikaans instead of English when police opened fire, killing 23 (I’m pretty sure that’s about the right number) of defenseless children and wounding many others. One of the boys who was killed is named Hector Pieterson, so while we were in Soweto one of the stops we made was to the Hector Pieterson Museum.
This experience was a very moving one. At the museum we were able to read first hand accounts from people who were there and see video footage and photographs of the uprising and the chaos that ensued. Nothing I could type would truly do the event justice, so I will limit my reflection to just a couple of points. First is the integral role that the arts played in the black movement under the apartheid government. Poetry and music and art were everywhere during this time. They gave the people strength, spread the truth about their current situation, and expressed their hopes and desires. Even today, walking through the streets of Soweto there were countless murals and paintings on walls, fences, and buildings. And second is that I tend to forget that this happened during my life time. I have a tendency of distancing my own generation from these events, viewing them as in the more distant past than they really are. And although I was too young to remember or understand the events that were happening, it was only in 1990 that Mandela was released from prison and1994 that South Africa held its election. Although a lot has changed since then, my visit to the museum today reminded me that these events are fairly recent, and tension still exists.

Along with the museum we visited the Mandela house – a house that has been attacked many times over the years. The most interesting part of this visit was learning a little bit more about the Mandela family and how much influence both he AND his wife had. They have now hung up all of the awards that the Mandela family has been presented with over the years so that they cover the walls and tables, and I’d have to say that most of them on display had Winnie’s name on them! I knew she had been influential and became more involved in politics once Mandela was exiled, but visiting the house gave me a much better idea of just how much she did for the people of South Africa in her husband’s absence and how powerful a woman she was.

We then stopped for lunch at Wandie’s place where I had some chicken, potato salad, mashed potatoes, rice, and bread (for those of you who are familiar with my diet and eating habits, this should come as no surprise). And for dessert we had ice cream! And cake! And pudding! We then headed to the mall to pick up some converters and adapters so that we can charge our computers and phones as well as some bottled water and snacks for tomorrow.

Now, I’m not sure what exactly I was expecting Johannesburg to be like, but it simultaneously met and defied my expectations. Getting used to the whole driving on the other side of the road thing has also been interesting. I keep wondering why small children are in the drivers seat, only to remember that its backwards here! What I have seen of the area around the airport and our little lodge is very nice and developed. Soweto was, I suppose, more of what I was expecting. The houses were a little more run down, there were street vendors on many of the corners selling fruit and artwork and other goods, and the area around the museums had been made into quite the tourist trap. There were also many walls and fences up around houses which were very small, only a few rooms, with tin roofs that seemed like they were barely nailed down. There were kids running around and playing on all the streets (I guess it is summer here after all) – oh! That reminds me – the weather! It is HOT, especially considering it was 17 degrees in Boston when I left. Today was humid and even though it was cloudy, I was still all sticky and sweaty. We travel in these large 13 passenger vans, with poor air conditioning and it gets a bit stuffy to say the least!

Anyways, I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing! In about an hour or so we will have dinner and then tomorrow we are waking up at 5 to leave Jo’burg and head to Durban, stopping for a hike in the mountains on the way! Thus, it looks like my next post will be from Durban!

That being said, I have had a great time so far in Jo’burg and, consequently, South Africa, although I wish I could have spent a little more time exploring and seeing the city.

Thanks again for reading!
Miss and love you all,
Andrea