More thoughts: My Michigan accent is disappearing, its kind of cool, I can turn it on and off-code switching ability. Also learning Afrikaans is fun!
The people in my program are like my little brothers and sisters, they are great and I love them.
Things I’ve done:
High Africa Adventure camp in the bush: rock climbing, high ropes, lots of workshopping and teambuilding.
Classes started! I love all my professors and the classes: Poverty and Development, Social Research Methods, and Afrikaans (although I sometimes sit in on the xhosa classes for fun). Still working on getting stated at the Brooklyn Chest Hospital (TB clinic)in the children’s wards. Children are not contagious once they have started treatment, so we are able to interact and play and work with the children with no fear of infection. Had my first day today!
Visits to Clifton Beach for sundowners (going to watch the sun set with friends, food and good times), celebrating birthdays in our program family.
One Saturday morning we went to the Old biscuit mill food market, which was the largest organic farmers market/ foodie fananza I have ever experienced. It was also filled with white people! The most white people I’ve seen in one place since I’ve arrived, it was very odd and made me feel uncomfortable. I can only wonder what returning to West Michigan will feel like. It was almost exclusively white people at this market-but so so very much good food for good prices. I have mixed feelings about this market place.
I’m loving my new church Jubilee and lifegroup which meets on Wednesday nights, have I mentioned how great the diversity is here? A baking exchange was planned after I was asked if I could bake, “Real, American chocolate chip cookies?” and we will all bring what we know, from Zimbabwe, America and different areas of South Africa.
CIEE (our study abroad program) took us to a professional soccer game one Sunday afternoon, this next Sunday they are taking us to a concert at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.
I’m learning SO MUCH, I’m tempted to stop telling you all about the things I’m doing all together in order to devote more time to sharing the knowledge and wisdom I’m acquiring. For now I’ll attempt to do both.
Other random things, we have a gardener, night guards, a cleaning woman, lecturers come to our house to have personal meetings with us, our academic advisor and program director meet individually with us once a week to see how we are doing and to make sure we are doing ok, reflection meetings once a week at our house-pizza included, we are SO well taken care of here. Treated like kings and queens. The other day I spent some time talking to Adam the head head boss of all CIEE programs who was visiting from America, so that was cool, he is very happy with the service learning program here.
Having all these wonderful experiences and plush living in contrast with the poverty we work with as we volunteer everyday is heart tearing and mind perturbing. More to come about my service site-in the next learning post.
It is so strange to me that you have all of those meetings every week, I didn't have any of that during St. Abroad. I was kind of on my own.
ReplyDeleteAgree, on the luxury that I live in contrasted with the poverty I work in.
ReplyDelete