Assignment #2

What did you assume before you left that you are not finding in your host-country, host-culture and/or host family and friends? Why did you make those assumptions?

In all of our pre-departure meetings, the one thing that was stressed was to be prepared, but not to have expectations about our pending experience. I thought I had done pretty well in this area before I arrived in Grahamstown. I hadn't made any conscious assumptions about what life in South Africa would be like. Unfortunately, after being here for about a month I started to realize just how many assumptions I had unconsciously made.

First, I assumed that Grahamstown would be a lot bigger and have a lot more going on than it actually does. I think I made this assumption because of the tour guides and websites I read pre-departure. They emphasized Grahamstown's many museums, beautiful architecture and proclaiming it the "festival capital of Africa". These emphases led me to the assumption that Grahamstown would be a quaint, touristy town with lots to because of the many festivals. In reality, Grahamstown has one main arts festival that was hosted in early July before I arrived. Other than that it’s a sleepy little town that completely shuts down on Sundays and gains most of its population numbers from the 8 township extensions that lie just beyond its city limits.

The second assumption I had is that life here would be drastically different from my life in the U.S., both physically and socially. I think this assumption came from a stereotypical national geographic image I had in my head. Although I knew before coming that South Africa was far more modern and economically stable than other countries in Africa, I never completely let go of the image of barefoot people, cooking outdoors, thatched roofs, etc. While I knew I wouldn't completely encounter this rural picture, I assumed the general idea of residing in a developing country would be very salient.

While I do have contact with the impoverished side of South Africa on a regular basis when I volunteer in the townships, for the most part my daily life has many similarities to the one I carry on in the United States. I live in a dorm with all the modern conveniences: running water, electricity, a kitchen with a microwave and fridge, wireless internet and cable tv. My professors use power point during their lectures which take place in large lecture rooms. There are supermarkets within a 5 minute walk from my dorm that are a lot like Safeway and Winco. There's even a KFC in town.

The student life culture is very similar as well, which completely surprised me. I expected to be exposed to new types of music and social pastimes. They listen to American pop music, they're favorite being "I've got a feelin" by Black Eyed Peas and they're favorite pass time is drinking and dancing at local pubs. Students also watch all of the popular American tv shows like LOST, Grey's Anatomy, and The Office.

All of these similarities often make me forget that I am even in a foreign country. Its an odd sensation.

Spring Comes to Grahamstown

It's officially spring time here in South Africa and you can see signs of it everywhere. Trees, bushes, flowers….all are bursting into bloom all over campus. I'm intrigued by the different kinds of flowering plants they have here. All the colors are vibrant and the blossoms are enormous.

Again, its been awhile since I posted, sorry about that. I guess I don't feel like life is all that interesting, even in South Africa. It still seems to be routine. I go to class, do homework, watch t.v., hang out with friends, etc. It’s a powerful testament to the totality of Americanization that I am able to be 12,000 miles from the States and not even realize it on most days. But more on that in my next post...

Honestly, I've been having a pretty difficult time in the weeks since I returned from my trip to Cape Town. It's funny, they try to prepare you for the stages of culture shock before you leave for your program, but its impossible to fully understand the gravity of these feelings until you're plunged into your host culture. Even though I consciously tried not to have expectations of this experience, once they started not being met, I realized how many I did have. I expected to be fascinated by new things on a daily basis. I expected constant new and fun experiences. Instead, I am firmly entrenched in a ping pong match between the 2nd and 3rd stages of culture shock, disillusionment and readjustment.

Disillusionment stage: irritation, vulnerability, health issues can arise, stereotypes emerge, frustration with how new culture works, difficulties with communication (not just related to language proficiency)

Readjustment stage: adaptation to new culture, less chaos, development of deeper relationships with people in host country, more humor and more balance, more understanding and acceptance of differences

And it really is a roller coaster. On a daily, sometimes hourly basis, I bounce between being awed by the beauty of this country, shocked by blatant racism that is far too common, and outraged by the seeming mass chaos and confusion that comprises the Rhodes academic system. Often times I feel like I am failing at the whole study abroad process because I haven't developed deep relationships with people and I haven't made any moves into the mastery stage, which is more total assimilation, less feelings of being a foreigner. Also, sometimes I feel I'm failing because I don't seek out new experiences and conversations with locals as much as I think I should….because its easier to stay in my res and do homework and hang out with international students and stick to my routine.

After much reflection and discussion with friends, I've come to the conclusion that its impossible to fail at studying abroad. And that feeling of failure is the inherent problem with setting up expectations for this experience. I was expecting to change in drastic ways over this semester, instead I've become different in small, possibly imperceptible ways. For one, I've always felt that being an American was kind of boring and that we didn't have a distinct culture, just a melted conglomeration of many other cultures. Being here I have realized things that are inherently American, like our access to abundant resources that we take for granted, our knowledge and need of technology, our high value of good customer service, our efficiency and organization, even our sarcastic and sexual innuendo-heavy humor. But more than realizing we as Americans are unique, I've realized how strong my American identity is and how much I like having that identity. I've also realized just how blessed we are with an abundance of food, water, technology, and how many different options we have to choose from on everything from where to eat lunch to what pens to buy. We truly are the "land of plenty" and while I may not love every last thing about our country and the government, I am very firmly and proudly an American girl.

Spring Break on the Garden Route

Hey Guys, sorry I haven't written in awhile, life got really busy around here towards the end of term. Thankfully we had a week long break between terms. For the week I traveled with four other girls along a highway known as the Garden Route. It's a gorgeous highway that runs all along the coast of South Africa. We traveled along a section from Port Elizabeth to the city of Cape Town. It was an action packed week, so here's a break down of how the trip played out…

First the travelers: Ashley, Harriet, Jesi, Jess, and me

Friday: The 5 of us took a bus from Grahamstown to Port Elizabeth where we stayed a friend of Jess's who is also studying abroad at Nelson Mandela University. The housing there is set up in small flats: 2 bedrooms connected by a mutual kitchen and bathroom. Jess's friend (who was also named Jess) had no extra blankets or pillows and her room had no heater. We spent the night curled up on the floor with bags as pillows and towels for blankets. Needless to say it was a long, cold night and without much sleep.

Saturday: Up at 6am to catch the BazBus, which is a bus that lets you hop of and off at any hostel along the route. We traveled to Plettenburg Bay, hopped off at Albergo backpackers, rested for about an hour before catching a shuttle to Bloukrans Bridge. Bloukrans is the highest commercial bungee jump in the world at 216m (about 700ft). We ziplined to the actual jump site and then I did the bungee. It was simultaneously the most terrifying and exhilarating thing I've ever done. Falling through the air at 75mph really puts things into perspective; once I'd taken the huge step of the bridge, I didn't have time to be afraid, it was too amazing. After the jump we went back to the hostel and grilled burgers, which tasted incredible and then had a lazy night and turned in early.

Sunday: We woke up and went down to the beach, walked around and took some pictures before catching the BazBus to Cape Town. On the bus we met an interesting 18 year old british guy named Rob whom we nicknamed Puffin. Upon arriving in Cape Town (CT) we met more of Jess's friends, Jessica and James Todd, a brother and sister who welcomed us into their home for the week.

Monday: The plan was for Ashley, Harriet, and I to visit Table Mountain and Robben Island. Unfortunately, it poured rain ALL DAY LONG. So instead Jessica and James took us bowling and then we had an amazing lunch of chicken strips and fries. That night we went to a club called Mercury where we met up with Puffin. Puffin was incredibly drunk although very friendly and willing to buy everyone drinks. He was also a very entertaining dancer. Overall it was a great night.

Tuesday: Time for a day-long cape tour. We saw the jackass penguins near Simonstown, Cape of Good Hope, and all the beautiful landscapes along the coast. It rained for most of the day again, finally quitting as we finished all of outdoor activities. After the tour we went to meet Jess' aunt who had invited us to make dinner at her gorgeous bed and breakfast. We made a delicious feast of chicken and pasta in a garlic and white wine sauce.

Wednesday: Again, a fail to see Robben Island and Table Mountain. Instead Jessica took Ashley, Harriet, and I to the District 6 museum and Signal Hill. District 6 is an area of the city that was declared all white during apartheid and the museum is a testament to everyone who were forced to leave. Signal hill was near Table Mountain and offered us a fantastic view of the city. We just hung out for the evening and made nachos, they don't really have tortilla chips so we used doritos. Not as good as home, but still pretty delicious.

Thursday: The celebration of my 21st birthday! Ashley, Harriet, Jessica and I spent the day wine and cheese tasting in Stellenbosch. It was FANTASTIC. That night we went out to a few different clubs and danced for awhile. There was some drama with lost IDs and not being able to get into a club. But overall it was a pretty good birthday party.

Friday: We spent all day on a crowded, hot, smelly bus riding to a little coastal town called Mossel Bay. We didn't get in until after 9pm and hadn't eaten in hours. After dropping our bags at the hostel (which was a refurbished old train 300 yards from the beach) we ran to the attached restaurant where I ordered a sandwich and onion rings. It may have been the fact that I was about to die from starvation, but it was hands down the best meal of the trip. After eating we headed to bed to catch up on our sleep. Unfortunately we were staying in the dorm and there were 10 drunk german guys sharing it. They came in around 3am yelling, singing, and acting like disgruntled train passengers. It was a LONG night.

Saturday: So today was my actual birthday. Instead of a crazy drinking fest, I spent it sun bathing on the beach. For dinner we went to a seafood restaurant right on the beach and I feasted on mussels, prawns, calamari, and fish. And for dessert, a warm chocolate brownie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. All in all, it was the perfect day and a great end to our trip.

Sunday: Another all day bus back to Grahamstown and a dinner of nacho's at a local restaurant.

I have a ton of pictures from the week so I'm going to just post them all on Facebook for now. If you don't have a Facebook don't worry, I'll get them on here as soon as I can.

Assignment #1

Over the course of my time here I have to write two blogs on specific assingments from Willamette. So I thought I might as well get one out of the way. Here is the prompt:

2. How is the education system you are experiencing different from what you are accustomed to in the U.S.? From your perspective as a student in the U.S. how is it beneficial and disadvantageous?

Consider the perspective of your host-country’s students, how is it beneficial to them? Is it unfavorable to them in any way?

The education system here is vastly different from anything I have encountered in the United States. Firstly, the academic year starts in February, with the first semester running February to May and the second from July-December. Also, the year is further divided into terms, with each semester containing 2 terms. As I think I've mentioned before, there is a huge lack of communication between departments. Also, every department is allowed to run each course the way it chooses. For example, my history class is running the same course for the entire semester. However, my anthropology course is divided into separate topics, one for each term, complete with different professors and final exams for each course topic. Class times are also different. Instead of happening mon/wed/fri or tues/thurs, classes meet between 4 and 8 times per week, but there is no schedule of days, and each class is at a different time, and possibly a different venue everyday.

I think this system is unfavorable in that it can be chaotic, especially for foreign students trying to come in and figure out how the system works. It is confusing to begin with, and the lack of communication only increases the confusion because you will invariably have to talk to a number of different people in different departments before you are able to figure one thing out. The changing of class times and venues can be good in that it helps offset the monotony of one's weekly schedule. Similarly, having multiple professors teaching one course exposes students to a wide variety of teaching styles and perspectives. On the negative front, it means the student is constantly having to learn new standards of expectations from each new professor.

Aside from the general structure or courses, most classes do not require you to buy textbooks. Instead you go to the library and check books out on short loan and either read the chapters in the library or copy the readings and then returning the book. This means that the library is used far more than at Willamette. The problem is that there is not adequate study space for this amount of traffic. Also, while the idea of copying readings instead of buying textbooks is cheaper and thus beneficial for many of the poorer students, there are not adequate copying facilities and the books are only loaned out for 1 hour at a time. Needless to say, this makes obtaining the class materials quite time consuming. There is currently construction going on to expand the library. I think this will be highly beneficial for Rhodes students because it will give them more space to study and hopefully, more copy machines will be added to cut down on congestion.

On Strike!

When I chose Grahamstown, South Africa as my location for study abroad I was hoping to get an experience of how the "other half" of the world lives. I was interested to become immersed in a culture that was vastly different from my own, who was struggling to overcome a history of racial segregation and slavery. Over the past week, I have become enmeshed in a situation that is more first hand experience than I could ever ask for.

Currently there is a strike going on within the University of grade 1-5 workers. In South Africa job positions (at least within the University) are rated on a grade scale of 1-15, with 15 being the Vice Chancellor (or president of the university) and 1 being the lowest manual labor position. So basically, the people who are striking are basic maintenance, cafeteria workers, and housekeepers. The reason of the strike is because the University is currently undergoing a program of "remuneration adjusment". This means they're trying to move all of their pay grades to the 50th percentile, between the highest and lowest paying universities, to ensure their positions remain competitive.

5million rand (roughly $645,000) was set aside for this purpose. The majority of the money was set aside for grades above 8 (administrative and managerial staff mostly) because they are the furthest from the 50th percentile. Grades 1-5 received the smallest chunk of the money because they are paid within the 50th percentile for the most part. Now, in principle, this all sounds reasonably fair and equitable, right? Now consider the fact that people in grades 8 and above take home between 10,000 and 20,000 rand per month and that grades 1-5 take home around 2,000rand. Keep in mind that 2,000 rand is only about $260 and that the majority of these people have a family of 4 or more people and that they provide the only income. Still seem fair and equitable? I didn't think so.

I'm enrolled in an anthropology class entitled "Power and wealth" and have an amazing professor who is Coloured and who grew up during the apartheid reign. For the past two days she has stepped out of her "professor" title and opened up the class as a place for honest discussion. The class is mix of black, white, coloured, rich, poor, foreign, and native South Africans and the views I have encountered during these discussions and the realizations I have come to about how the University is choosing to handle the situation may be some of the most important experiences I will have during my time here.

When I first arrived here, I was surprised to see how segregated the social bubble of the university remains. You rarely see skin colors mixing in friend groups, and everyone claims that it is simply cultural differences rooted in musical tastes. Aka the blacks like hiphop and rap and the whites like pop so they don't hang out together. Excuse me? The viewpoints raised in my anthro class speak far different words.

There have been two students in particular who completely baffled me. Both are white, one male and one female, both well dressed and obviously from good families. The female expressed an opinion that she " came here to work hard and to end up at the top of the career ladder and make lots of money and that once she's there she doesn't want other people making the same amount as her and that the people on strike have opportunities to move up and should just work harder."

I nearly exploded. These people just need to work harder? They are at work from 5am to 7pm or later, up to 7 days a week. The most promotion they can hope for is to move from cleaning the basement of a house to cleaning the top floor. Not to mention the fact that its because of white people like her that during the apartheid they weren't allowed to get decent education (there was legislation passed called the Bantu Education Act that made it legal for schools to give bad educations to black and coloured people). Now cleaning toilets is the top of the ladder for them and they don't even make enough to survive on and she wants them to work harder.

The male white student made a similar sentiment. He was defending the Universities actions and stated that the dire financial situation of the strikers was "not his problem". The university has completely blown the situation out of proportion and is twisting words and occurrences to try and save their own asses and keep people on their side. In an informational letter that came out yesterday they claimed that the strikers had been marching in and disrupting lectures, threatening students and staff, vandalizing property, and other assorted things. And furthermore that any and all damage to campus property would come out of the strikers paychecks. They also stated that due to this they are filing for a restraining order and keeping police on campus to protect "our safety". And just to end things off on a good note, they let everyone know that students were planning a march this afternoon to protest "the industrial action" and the inconvenience it's causing them. When in reality, the student march is to protest the universities unwillingness to renegotiate and stop the strike, only the university told the student government that they were not allowed to "take sides" and is now spinning the protest in their favor.

One of the black students in our class had actually marched with the strikers and we found out that their "disruptions and intimidations" were no more than singing and marching between buildings. Yet I was locked into every one of my academic buildings yesterday for my "safety". And should I choose to participate in the student protest that is going on this afternoon, I run the risk of being thrown in jail if things get out of hand, just because I am "close to the strikers" and the police will not bother to differentiate.

When I came here I expected to find the " New South Africa". A country that is striving to put behind them the grievances of apartheid rule and create freedom and equality for every South African no matter the color of their skin. Instead I found that the reign of power and wealth are the same in every country. That you cannot trust "news" because it is written by people in power for their own devices. That the truth is buried beneath extravagant lies and people can claim that its "not their problem" because they are not suffering from it. Because these people do not share their status, their privilege, their skin color, their blood. They have so degraded these people that it does not matter that they are someone's mother, that they sleep on cold floors, that they can't feed their children. That they are HUMAN. And that they're basic rights as human beings are being thrown out and trampled on, under the guise of "external equity".

I am a stranger here and do not have a shared history with these people, so why is it that I can clearly see their pain, hunger, and desperation, while their own countrymen have them begging at their feet but merely cross

over to the other side, and keep on walking?

An Adventure in Addo Elephant National Park

For Saturday we had planned to go to a game reserve called Addo Elephant National Park, where we were promised that we could see all sorts of wild beasts, as well as ride and feed elephants at a nearby elephant sanctuary.

My day began way too early at 6:45am, I met up with five other girls at the Old Gaol (pronounced jail) at 8 and met our driver for the day who's name was Sean. Our first stop was the elephant sanctuary (who's commercial name I can't remember at the moment). Here we watched four female elephants do some cool choreography and kick soccer balls. Then we got to feed them and ride them. It was so awesome! The work they are doing at the sanctuary is incredible. It's run by a group of men from Zimbabwe and they rescued the elephants from an area that was doing population control by killing elephants off. Over the last 18 months these men have built relationships with and trained these once wild animals, and now they are completely docile. It's sad that they couldn't be put back into the wild again, however compared to the alternative they have it pretty good.

Fun Facts about elephants: 1. They can live 60-65 years in the wild and 80-100 years in captivity 2.They can eat up to 484lbs of food and drink up to 33gallons of water everyday 3. They eat for 18 hours a day and eat so much they only digest about 40% of it.

Next we moved on to Addo Elephant National Park. Not even five minutes into the drive we spotted this huge male elephant grazing on some bushes. We turned off our van and coasted down the hill to watch him eat. After munching for about 10 minutes he calmly started walking directly towards our car. Approximately 1m away he turned and crossed in front of us and continued munching on the opposite side of the road. I cannot accurately explain how massive he was. It felt like I'd stepped into Jurassic park and was watching a T-rex walk by. Amazing.

Throughout the day we saw all manner of exotic animals, including ostrich, kudu (an antelope type animal), many more elephants, dung beetles, warthogs, zebras, buffalo, and huge ant hills. Around 1:30 we stopped for a delicious lunch of Kudu steak, salad with chutney, braai bread (bread that you cook on the BBQ), chips, and soda. Due to poorly engineered grills and lacking some essential items, lunch took about 2.5 hours.

So around 4pm we packed up and decided to meander our way out of the park. Shortly, we ran across and elephant family drinking at a man made watering hole. There was a baby with its mother who was absolutely adorable and captivated us all for a good ten minutes. We watched the baby drink from its mother for awhile, and another elephant who was spraying water out of its mouth. As you may be able to tell from the picture, the mother elephant looks quite emaciated. We think its because elephants have to eat so much already and can only digest 40% of it, the rest is automatically wasted. So can you imagine trying to eat enough to sustain yourself and a growing elephant baby?!

Well, here is where the real adventure begins. As we were driving up this giant hill our van started overheating. We pulled over and Sean poured all the water we had into it (side note: the car is engineered in such a way that the part of the engine that was overheating was under Sean's seat so he had to lift it up to access the engine and there was smoke billowing everywhere). After about 5 minutes or so things seemed to be alright and we continued on our way. One huge hill later we had overheated again. This time when Sean lifted up the seat a huge geyser of brown oily water sprayed everywhere. Sean got it full in the face, all over the windshield, ceiling, and the 2 girls who were riding up front. Just then a truck that had passed earlier showed up with more water and a rope to tow us to the park gate. We turned off the van, let it cool, then got in and they started to tow. About 1/3 of the way up the hill, the truck driver realizes he can't pull all the weight. So all of us girls jumped out and climbed into the back of a third truck owned by the park. A few things should be noted at this point: 1. It is STRONGLY advised that you not leave your car on account of you could be eaten. 2. Just the day before 3 lions had been spotted in the area where our car broke down. So here we are, six 20yr old American girls sitting in the back of a random pickup truck in the middle of a South African game reserve. Good times.

Eventually we made it up the hill, figured out we just needed oil and more water. After some lengthy negotiations, we convinced someone to bring it to us and then just waited an hour and a half for them to arrive. By 6:45 we were good to go and on our way home. What an adventure!

Updates, July 27th-31st

Well, the first week of school is over and I made it through. I moved into my dorm on Sunday and I really like it so far. I have met a few girls and everyone seems really nice.

The process of registering for classes has been incredibly complicated. There is a huge lacking of communication between departments on this campus and I've spent quite a lot of time running from place to place and talking to many different people trying to get things sorted out. When I finally got it all sorted I registered for Anthropology, History, Linguistics, and Ethnomusicology.

The classes are all interesting so far, although in linguistics we're discussing English grammar, which isn't exactly riveting but not too bad. Ethnomusicology is going to be very cool. This week we learned how to play a Nigerian Shantu (a kind of tube shaped instrument that is played as a type of percussion. We also had a woman come to class who is Xhosa and plays two box instruments, the Uhadi and Rhube. Its really interesting to be learning about the indigenous music of this region.

On Wednesday I was introduced to Rhodes Interleague Rugby (which is like our intramural sports). The teams have games every Wednesday and the whole school comes out to watch. Many of them also get uproariously drunk, which makes for an interesting night.

This weekend we are planning to go to Addo Elephant National Park and so I'm hoping to see some great exotic animals!