Miles & Smiles Away: Take 2

From June 1st-July 1st I will be in Johannesburg, South Africa (with a quick day layover in London each way for good measure)! I will be going with 7 other students and 2 professors as part of a study abroad program. I will be covering stories about social justice, paying particular attention to issues regarding gender and women in leadership, produced through a variety of mediums (podcast/video/photo story/article).

Similarly to my time abroad, during this month I once again look to embody a sense of independence and leadership from my past experiences, but capitalize on this in terms of the community in which I am placed. I am aware of this privilege I have at this time in my life, and that this may not happen again. For this reason my goal is to enrich my mind, knowledge, and life experience through the development of quality stories and products that I will be able to take back to the states, share, and forever look back on-past the idea of them being just an assignment that needs to be completed.

Today I leave from the Philadelphia airport and find myself incredibly anxious to depart, in a positive way. I feel so much more prepared and excited to leave the country than I had less than a year ago. Similarly to what Nelson Mandela discusses in his very very long autobiography when arriving and leaving various places, “There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered” (pg. 84). I didn’t realize it over the course of my four months until I started my spring semester that my outlook on some things, people, and situations was different, and I have a feeling that this month, this trip, this work, will do the same.

We took off out of PHL airport on Wednesday, May 30th for a flight I truly did not know the length of. Going through security, waiting to board, and being on the plane did not feel like I was about to leave the country for some reason. Even after the long flight and 12hr layover in London it really hadn’t hit me yet. London truly was a blur because of sleep deprivation, but we did a lot of walking. We saw Hyde Park, Green Park, Buckingham Palace, and ate at Ye Olde Chesire Cheese Shop, where I had some classic fish and chips before heading back to Heathrow airport for our final flight to Johannesburg! Overall, the flights did go better than I anticipated, especially because I got to watch some great movies! (Stronger: 10/10, Battle of the Sexes: 9/10, Aristocats: 11/10).

We arrived in Johannesburg around 8AM in the morning on Friday. We got our bags and loaded them into a man’s car who would meet us at the B&B in Melville that we are staying at. Our group of 10 then got our van that we would be having for our trip. I definitely forgot about the opposite side of the street that is driven on here, but luckily our professor is from South Africa and knows a thing or two! We got settled in the bed & breakfast and then headed to the shopping center of the town where we got our toiletries and went to Nando’s for a quick bite to eat. We then went to yet another airport, but this time for our welcome dinner, where our professor’s sister in law caters. Here I had my first meal of crocodile (bacon like texture I would describe it as). All the food was authentic to South Africa which I really enjoyed and definitley could neither pronounce, spell, or say what was in anything. I slept really really well this night, was very thankful to be horizontal to sleep again!

Saturday, June 2nd

We all woke up like true South Africans, with no power. They have frequent blackouts here, which means no electricity, wifi, and most importantly heat. They have breakfast everyday at the b&b for us which is awesome, so this did make the chilly weather more bearable.

Today we headed to the apartheid museum, which was really great and informative, and we are going to return again since we didn’t even finish it and were there for over 2 hrs, so I am very excited to return and see the Mandela exhibit soon.

We then went to Lenz, where my professor is from, and picked up his friend Hassan, who would be giving us a tour of Soweto (South Western Townships-named during Apartheid to distinguish its separation). This area was super vibrant as we drove through, and is much different than the area in which we are staying. We stopped at the area where the Freedom Charter was written (document by the Congress of the People which outlined core principles of the marginalized). This was also when we got pulled over by police for having too many people in the car. This was quite the experience to see how police interact and operate, we luckily were let off with no ticket.

We then went to a community center where we talked to Bishop Paul Verryn. Born in Connecticut he spoke to us about his life and faith journey. The center has become a hub for Zimbabwe refugees, over 30,000 have come through, and each one the bishop has spoken to individually to learn more about them and their individual story. We then spoke to two refugees, Mr. and Mrs. Tembo, who make clothing and art at the center, for no exchange for also living there. As the bishop said, there is no exchange, only welcome.

Outside we played with some of the children and then headed back to Hassan’s house to pick up his wife and children for dinner. We went to an Indian restaurant that was very busy since their fasting had ended. We had lamb, dosa, naan, and lots of sauces, all very good!

We made our way back to the b&b only to be greeted by darkness once again :/ Since all of us were without any communication for the day we headed to the local cafe to get some wifi! When we returned there was still darkness, but we all headed to my room to eat some sweet treats our professor got us. Soon enough the power was restored, I put my heater on, and went to bed!

Sunday, June 3rd

We didn’t have anything planned for Sunday, so it was an easygoing morning, as I woke up around 8AM to get some breakfast and tea (always need something warm with the chilly mornings here) and read some South African news.

Myself and three others then went to a place called IT Corner for some coffee and work, which is located in this really cool part of Melville which has a ton of restaurants/cafes/shops. The other five then met up with us here and we started to plan out our trip to Cape Town and then walked around the Melville area.

Later in the evening a few of us attended a mass, got some dinner, and then headed back to the b&b for a meeting with the group to go over our stories for the week!