Langa had some decent facilities though. A few Catholic nuns
came there years ago and established a school and church there so there are
some educational opportunities. There was also a certain degree of African
cultural traditions that they still did. One that our guide talked about was
circumcision. You weren’t seen of as a man in the community until that
procedure occurred with any anesthetics. You had to learn about your culture in
the bush that lay outside of the township. You had to be there for I believe a
year or 2 and when you came back to the township you were allowed to
participate in community meetings and such because you were now a man. They
also had just implemented an after school program for the children, because
most parents didn’t get done with work until 5 and school ended at 3 and the
children needed something to do so they would stay out of trouble. They had
soccer and rugby fields at this township too.
Basically, the courses we are taking over here are focused
on community/ social/ economic development and children and youth and society.
So the functioning of the townships are vital for our courses and that’s why we
are going to so many of them. So far classes have kept us pretty busy with
readings every night (some being 40+ pages), but I guess we are here to learn
too!
After Langa we went to the Bo’Kap which is the Muslim region
of Cape Town. The owners assured us that this particular region of Cape Town
was safer due to the fact that primarily Muslims live there. The food was
traditional middle eastern food so lots of chicken and rice concoctions. The
view was spectacular. You could see Lion’s Head, all of Table Mountain, and the
city below. The Bo’Kap was tucked in the hills surrounding Cape Town and
personally, I would live there just for the view. The apartheid separated
everyone based on race as I mentioned earlier, so that’s why this region only
have one ethnicity in it.
A few days later we went on an all day tour seeing Cape
Point. If you look on my Facebook you can see all the ocean scenery. It’s
flawless. I’ve never seen anything like it. It looks just like a painting you
would see at a museum. We saw lots of wildlife too such as ostrich, antelope,
baboons (that actually live in Table Mountain and are EXTREMEMLY dangerous), and
iblands which are like antelopes but way bigger. And then we went to the Cape
of Good Hope, which is where the Indian meets the Atlantic and we thought we
saw a whale. But after taking 40+ photos completely zoomed in on the area, we
realized it was a rock… My goal is to see a whale while I’m here. Then we went
to a super cute restaurant for lunch that had the best fish and chips. And
afterwards we got to see the Jackass Penguins, which have been renamed the
African Penguins. They are called the Jackass Penguins because when they do
their calling, they sound just like a donkey! It’s pretty neat and there were
dozens of them all over the beach, on the rocks, and in the hills of the beach
too. All I could think of was Happy Feet- none of them danced though so that
was a bummer.
We also went shopping and lets just say we all did some
damage to our bank accounts. The clothing here is very similar to what we have
back in the states, which is the same as the food. The two main differences in
reference to food are that they use way less salt on everything and that they
don’t use as many preservatives as we do. Other than that, they have basically
anything- except for Starbucks. The two main grocery stores we go to are Pick
N’ Pay and Woolworths. Both have reasonable prices- Woolworth’s is a little
more though. We have been living off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and
pasta this trip- let’s just say we will be needing some more simple recipes so
if you have any please comment!
The people on this trip are pretty nice as well. There are
12 girls and 1 boy and for the most part we all get all fairly well. It was a
bit difficult the first week because not everyone knew each other, but I can
confidently say that we are growing closer. I’m in a triple on the second floor
with Mitchie and Lucy- both are very kind hearted and amazing ladies that I am
fortunate to have met. The room next to us is where Megan and Erin are, and
across the way are Beks and Lizz. On the first floor is where Julia and Morgan,
Margot and Halle, and Tara are. Felyx is in his own apartment because of his
gender. It’s nice because most are psych majors and a few of them I have class
with next semester so yay for new friends!
We also went to the District 6 Museum. The museum tells the
history of an area that used to hold the homes and lives of people of all races
and religions. They were forcibly moved from the area and split up based on
gender. The government deemed that District 6 was to be a white only zone, even
though no whites moved in because they disagreed with the action the government
took. It was sad to hear the community these people had and familial ties that
were lost. They are now in the process of rebuilding District 6 and many who
used to live there are excited to have the chance to rebuild what was once
lost.
Today has consisted of homework and that’s it. Lazy Sundays
for life. I’ll try to update it more often- I still have quite a bit to catch
up on, but this is good for now!
Song listening to: Best Day of My Life by American Authors.
Wearing: Yoga pants and a hoodie
xoxo
