Soaking Wet!

I'm sitting in our house right now with 10 other of the group participants. We all tend to blog at the same time. The room is filled with sounds of keys clicking and pencils writing. 

Today was the best day so far. We woke up this morning and walked several blocks away to meet our tour bus. We began the morning by taking a tour through Cape Town. The downtown was very urban. Unlike American cities, very few people live downtown and it essentially shuts down at 6pm. The city is trying to make living downtown more attractive simply to cut down on crime. Efforts are touch and go. 

Following our tour downtown, we drove to the ritzy suburbs that are situated on the coast. Most homes are condos perched on the cliffs and can be as expensive as $10 million (50 million Rand). The beaches are absolutely breathtaking. Even though it's too cold to swim, standing on the beach is still beautiful. 

Following a few opportunities for photos, we boarded a ship that took us to an island off the cape where seals mate. We were unable to get a good view as it started storming shortly after we left the harbor. We were in a little boat with about 6 foot waves and the rain was pouring. Not only were we drenched from head to toe, many were experiencing seasickness. Needless to say, the boat ride was not pleasant and thankfully the guide turned back early. 

After the boat ride, we headed to Simonson, a town south of Cape Town famous for its beach dwelling penguins! I had honestly never heard of penguins on a beach, apparently they exist in South Africa, Chile, and Australia. See the picture above for this craziness, notice that I'm still soaked wet from the boat ride. Considering I took 87 pictures today, a bad hair day was NOT appreciated! The penguins were so cute and live on the beach year round. According to our tour guide they have a tendency to be a bit aggressive, however, we had no problems today. 

After lunch in Simonson, we had the first opportunity to dip our toes in the Indian Ocean for the first time. Technically, the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet at Cape of Good Hope which was our next destination. The drive  to the cape was a bit rough. The roads winding through the mountains did help the fact that many were already still feeling sick from the boat ride. However, the bus ride was well worth the view. I think I have an idea of what heaven is like. 

Cape of Good Hope is the southern most point in Africa and the place where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean meet. In order to get to the cape, we had to drive through a national park which is home to many wild animals. We saw baboons and ostriches feeding along the side of the road. It's funny how baboons, zebras, ostriches, and lions are like deer and raccoons to us. After driving through the park, we were dropped off at a visitors center for the Cape of Good Hope and given 2 hours to explore. 

I can say with a great deal of confidence that Cape of Good Hope and the surrounding area is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. As we took the path closer to tip of the cape, we came upon a beach with no footprints -- it looked straight out of a movie with a deserted beach. We went down to the beach and were amazed by the strength of the waves. Because both oceans basically meet at that point the rip tides are incredibly powerful. Furthermore, we could see a storm brewing in the distance which added to the intensity of the waves. 

After time at the beach, we climbed  back up the cliffs and continued on our walk to the edge of the cape. This is when the rain began to pour. Before coming to South Africa we were told of rain and wind being a staple in the winter weather. In fact, we were advised against bringing an umbrella because it would break in the wind -- a rain coat is our only defense. I don't know that any of us had been so wet in our lives. I had puddles in my shoes, my jeans weighed about 5 pounds and my sweatshirt was soaked...even my tank top underneath was wet and I was wearing a raincoat! Despite the rain and wind (rain is often referred to as being horizontal because it doesn't fall, it is pushed by the wind), we made it to the tip of the Cape of Good Hope and took a few pictures. If my internet was working better, I would post a few pictures, hopefully it is working better tomorrow. 

While listening to the tour guide talk about the elite properties of Cape Town, I couldn't help but notice how inexpensive the cost of living is. In the prime areas of the city (meaning right on the beach and away from the wind) homes average to be about 6 million Rand or under $1 million. In the classier areas of town, rent tends to be about 5000 Rand/month or roughly $700. Food is also incredibly cheap. Yesterday I bought a good bottle of wine, a good cheddar cheese, a loaf of bread, peanut butter, crackers, and a bag of chips for under $10. Going out to eat is also very cheap. A high end meal usually costs around $7, drinks at a bar are usually around $2. I am unaware of the average income of a South African...it's very difficult to tell because of the small middle class. Unlike my last summer in London, Cape Town is very inexpensive and I am enjoying it! 

Overall, despite our issues with the weather, today was an exceptional day. Tomorrow we plan to go to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was jailed during the majority of his incarceration. We will also being having a lecture from another political science professor at UCT concerning current affairs in South Africa. I'm really looking forward to what he has to say!

Thanks for all of your continued comments and support! Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures soon!

Apartheid

It's a rainy evening in Cape Town, following a sunny day. Because I'm in the southern hemisphere, it is technically winter in South Africa, but it hardly feels like it. Temperatures are in the 70s, it's slightly humid mostly because the town is situated on the ocean. Rain is common in the winter, as tonight was the perfect example. I walked home from Nando's, a famous chicken chain (they also have them in Great Britain) and was soaked by the time I arrived home. I'm looking forward to nice weather tomorrow...

Today was our first day of class and it was probably the most interesting lecture I've had at my time in college. Zwelethu Jolobe is a political science professor at the University of Cape Town and gave us a history of Apartheid which gave us a much better understanding of why Africa is the way it is. I've always wondered why HIV/AIDS is most prevalent in South Africa as opposed to other urban, poor areas such as India or Mexico City. Apartheid, in a lot of ways, seems to be the reason. 

Apartheid was created in 1913 by the Land Act which granted 13% to "colored" people and the remaining land to the whites. As you may have guessed, the vast majority of Africa's population then and now are non-white. At the time, the Land Act was a form of modernizing the country in the form of urbanization. Because whites were the minority population in South Africa, they needed to create greater minorities among the majority of the other population. They proceeded to further the divide the population into very specific racial categories such as "blacks," "coloured," and even more specific likewise. 

People living in South Africa were divided into two developments: urban and rural. Urban areas were designated for whites who were given a citizen status -- this would explain why the urban areas have a heavy European influence and do not show any signs of poverty. Rural areas were designated for any non-whites (although the specific racial classes had their own communities) and were given a "subject" status -- this would explain why the township areas are overwhelmingly black and do not have the luxuries that living in the urban areas does. Because non-whites were only given a "subject" status, they were given absolutely no rights or benefits from the government and they were not allowed to advance as a society. Their resources were contained and the government did everything within their power to keep them under control of the regime. The laws instilled were reminiscent of segregation in the US pre-Civil Rights Movement. Blacks and whites had strict separations, including separate bathrooms, restrooms etc. and mixed marriages and relations were strictly prohibited. 

For the greater portion of Apartheid's existence, there was little resistance to the oppressive ruling. Eventually, in the 1970s, the first trade union was formed among blacks in Durban. This event is largely considered the turning point of the Apartheid because for the first time the government had to recognize a union by a "subject." Opposition to Apartheid grew stronger and stronger, and blacks basically withdrew themselves from the economy, the elite-like government felt as though they were forced to change their policies. When blacks withdrew themselves from the economy, the economy itself collapsed -- whites could not run the economy themselves. The difference between Apartheid and many other revolutions throughout history is that this was not a take over of a government, it was a decision made by the minority government to change their government. While the pressure from the oppressed was apparent, ultimately, the whites made the decision to end Apartheid and move to a new type of government. 

While I could go on forever about the details of the negotiations of Apartheid, ultimately, the government came up with one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. Whether the constitution is effective is still up for debate. South Africa straddles the line of democracy and socialism, where every citizen is guaranteed healthcare, education, and adequate housing (the latter has definitely not been fulfilled), citizens enjoy a free market. I am unsure where the income tax level stands, our lecturer did mention that South Africa has the second highest Gini Coefficient in the world (meaning there is a huge disparity between the haves and have-nots --even more so than the US). 

Following the dissolution of Apartheid, there was a huge migration to the urban areas, because blacks were finally granted access to the urban centers where the jobs existed. With this massive migration, further worsened the condition of the townships. Millions of people were living in shanty towns (people living in huts, some of their homes were created out of pallets and a piece of steel). With the extreme poverty, followed hunger and the need for survival, hence the high crime and prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Just because the blacks were now viewed as citizens, didn't change the fact that they were unbelievably poor and uneducated. Johannesburg experienced the bulk of the migration and is notorious for being incredibly dangerous and impoverished. 

It's interesting because when I look at map of Cape Town, the map explicitly labels the suburbs (and wealthy) areas of the city but gives no mention to any of the townships, many of which house hundreds of thousands of residents. They are generally disregarded as parts of the community, yet they house the vast majority of the population. 

Having a lecture from Zwelethu really put into perspective how Africa got to be the way it is. Later this week a colleague of his will give us a better background of the current affairs of South Africa. Currently, there has been a huge influx of immigrants from Zimbabwe due to conflict in the country. The new immigrants are taking jobs from blacks in the townships which has created a great deal of animosity between South Africans and immigrants from Zimbabwe. Riots have been especially violent in the townships outside of Johannesburg, but recently violence has spurred in Cape Town. 

The rest of this week will be devoted to learning more about South Africa and its current state with Apartheid. We won't actually enter the townships until next week. I'm incredibly anxious to enter the townships because I feel as though I've heard so much about them, but haven't actually experienced them. The townships are often described as the hangover of Apartheid and I'm anxious to see the disparity firsthand and reflect on how HIV/AIDS further complicates the matters in townships. 

I hope you are all doing well. I thoroughly appreciate your e-mails, comments, and words of support. So far, I've largely felt like a tourist in this city, but I imagine as we become more involved in the townships, my perspective will change greatly. It still baffles my mind how I can shop at Jimmy Choo and Louis Vuitton at Victoria Wharf, and less than 5 miles away, I can be standing in the middle of an area with one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world. I hope all is well!

Finally Here!

 It's just after 9pm in Cape Town and we've finally had a chance to set up our internet. I've been in Cape Town just under 24 hours and I'm already in love with the city. We left Minneapolis at 7:05 am, meaning most of us were at the airport at 4:45. We took a two hour flight to New York JFK where we had a 7 hour layover. Following our layover, we had an 18 hour flight to Johannesburg and after racing through the airport and customs, we boarded a 2 hour flight to Cape Town. All in all, we had about 30 hours of flying and layovers, so we were quite exhausted by the time we arrived at our residences.

Our residences are BEAUTIFUL. They are beyond anything I could have imagined. We live within walking distance to the University of Cape Town and the view from our street is of Devil's Peak (see picture on the right), which is attached to Table Mountain (see picture on the left). We're divided into two homes that are across the street from one another. It's really nice to be so close to each other. I am currently writing this blog from the other residence because we blew out all of our outlets in our residence...

Overall, Cape Town is a beautiful city. It's easy to spot the British influence on the city; the cars drive on the left-hand side of the road and the type of English they use is much more British sounding. The streets are narrow and winding and there are great deal of British chains in the city. There are a great deal of differences among Cape Town, it's British sister, London, and cities in America. The most apparent of those differences are in the residences. 

South Africa is notorious for its crime. We've been warned time and time again about locking ourselves into our house and being sure to lock our homes when we leave them. Around each of the houses are gates with two sets of locks. Our windows have bars on them. Every door in our home has a lock and an individual key. The front door consists of a barred door which has a lock and a wooden door which has a different lock. We also have a security system to set when we leave which is operated by a remote control, much like a keyless entry into a car. Whoever is in charge of our keys for the day feels like a janitor sometimes because they're carrying around some many keys!

Today was devoted to exploring Cape Town. We were met by our student mentors at 8:45 this morning to go to the University of Cape Town to have talks about safety and other logistical things. We took our time walking to our classroom on campus and we had a chance to soak in our view and the UCT campus.

The campus sits at the base of Table Mountain. The majority of the classrooms are at a fairly high altitude, so walking to class was quite a challenge. The architecture of the campus is beautiful. It reminds me of buildings I would see in Europe, very victorian and colorful. Many have vines growing on the side of them. The campus truly surpassed all of my expectations I had. I really felt as though I was in 

Following our campus tour, we took a shuttle to Victoria Wharf where we had lunch and an opportunity to see the ocean and do a bit of shopping. The view from the Wharf was breathtaking. We could see both Table Mountain and the ocean. We also got a view of the new stadium that is being constructed for the 2010 World Cup. The shopping was fun, I found a few pieces of African art. Because Victoria Wharf is geared mostly towards tourists, most of the shopping was waaaayyy out of my price range, although it was fun to window shop. We even saw some former contestants from America's Next Top Model Cycle 9. 

So far my impressions of South Africa have surpassed all of my expectations. Sometimes it's difficult for me to believe that I'm in Africa, mostly because my visions of what Africa would be like surround the poverty and devastation portrayed by the media outlets in America. Cape Town is especially modern and cosmopolitan, which makes it even more difficult to believe that outside of the city are the world's highest rates of HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty. It would be similar to living in Minneapolis and driving outside to where the suburbs would be and seeing shacks and tents. 

I'm excited to continue exploring Cape Town. On the agenda tomorrow is learning more about apartheid and how that has affected South Africa. We'll be doing a bit more of touristy stuff this week and next week we will venture into the townships. 

That's all for now! Again, your feedback is welcome and encouraged! I hop you are well!

At JFK!

It's just before 2:30 at New York JFK. The group has been here for about four hours now and the anticipation of boarding our flight to Johannesburg is beginning to build. Our flight left Minneapolis this morning at 7:05, meaning we were at the airport before 5 am. Many students on the trip stayed awake through the night. Most of us are exhausted but are waiting for our 18 hour flight to South Africa to catch up on sleep. We were pleasantly surprised this morning when Rev Run (he has an reality show on MTV) boarded our flight to New York. 

I've known that I was going to be going to South Africa for several months now, but with the distractions of school and everything else, I hadn't found a great deal of time to really reflect on what type of experience this is going to be for me. A lot of people ask me if I'm excited, to which I always respond an enthusiastic "yes," but when I really consider the purpose of our trip, I can't help but feel nervous and a bit uneasy. 

The places we'll be working primarily in are overwhelmingly poverty-stricken. This trip will be far from any other international experience I've had, simply because I've been well protected from the hardships of other cultures and countries. My nerves mostly come from the fact that I don't know how I'm going to react to what I see. I anticipate seeing and hearing incredible stories of tragedy and survival. What I can't anticipate are my emotional reactions to those stories. 

All nerves aside though, I am incredibly excited. I love traveling and the opportunity to go to South Africa doesn't present itself often. The notion of being halfway across the world is a thrill for me. I'm eager to learn more about the AIDS pandemic in South Africa and how its history of apartheid plays a role in the pandemic, in fact, I'm eager to learn more about South African history in general. By the few people I know who have been to South Africa, I've been told that Cape Town is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. I'm excited to explore a new city, in a new continent, with a new purpose. 

I look forward to hearing your responses to this blog. I really enjoy hearing from people from home, so please send me an e-mail (blan0196@umn.edu) or write me on facebook. Also, I'd like to extend a HUGE thank you to everyone who donated to medical/school supplies or money. I couldn't even take everything donated, I had so much. Anything that I couldn't stuff in my suitcase will be taken by Kevin Winge (director of Open Arms of Minnesota) on his next excursion to South Africa. THANK YOU! People in South Africa will be very appreciative of your generosity. 

Next time I write, I will be in South Africa! Yay!!

Laurie

Hello! Welcome to my blog! 

This is the first of many entries documenting my experiences in South Africa. I've just arrived home from my final orientation meeting; it is officially 22 days until departure and it can't come soon enough. Focusing on the school work I have now is proving to be especially difficult because all I think about are the exciting adventures to come. 

Now for a bit of background on my study abroad trip to Cape Town. The class is focuses on the AIDS pandemic taking place in the townships outside of the city. In a sense, these townships are the "hangover" of apartheid. Basically, it is marginalized living situations for the marginalized citizens of apartheid -- blacks. In these townships, an overwhelming amount of the population is living with HIV/AIDS and has little access to adequate healthcare. As I view it, the main purpose of our trip is to study and observe apartheid's and leadership's role in the realities that make living in the townships with HIV/AIDS especially difficult. 

As you can imagine, the contents of this blog may become graphic, depressing, and maybe a bit unbearable. But in my mind, it is my responsibility to be completely honest in the realities I see and experience so that you can better understand why the AIDS pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa is a global problem, not just another one of the misfortunes this continent constantly faces.

So please, read this blog with an open mind. Offer me your feedback. Update me on your life. Let me know your impressions upon reading this. Ask questions. And most importantly, I challenge you to become more informed about the disease that has claimed 28 million lives and affects the daily lives of millions more across the globe. 

Thanks for reading.

Peace