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Hey Everyone,

I made it back today after a long couple of flights.  My parents were there waiting for with Steven.  Just thought I would let you all know.  Stop by sometime and we can talk some more.

Cheers,
Bobby

Last Week

Hey Everyone,

Well, this is it.  My last week is in the books.  Tomorrow I will board a plane and head back to American soil as a senior in college.  I don’t know where the time went.  It seems like I just got off the plane and am just getting accustom to South Africa.  Life moves on.  Once I get back I will have about two months of summer and work before heading up to Collegeville for football and my senior year.  My time here has been great.  This week has been a rush.  It is finally hitting me that I am leaving.  There first people out have started the parade of people leaving.  I finished all of my papers and tests, so I have a day to see South Africa guilt free. 

 In the classroom.

This last week volunteering was great.  On Monday, the school held Xhosa day for us.  They were so appreciative of our being there that on last Friday they planned the event.  It was a complete surprise to us.  They wanted to hold a day for us to remember them by because they appreciated us so much.  The day was filled with song and dance.  I will always remember the energy and passion that is accompanies each activity of the day.  Towards the end of our trip, the kids all sang and danced for us.  Along with that, the teachers cooked all kinds of traditional Xhosa food for us to eat.  Some of it was good, some of it wasn’t, but the gesture was incredible. 

 More pictures of the crew.

Tuesday was our last day at the school, so we hosted a Family Night for the school.  It was a big event.  We invited every kid along with two family members to the event at the end of the day.  It was a way for us to thank them for our time at the school because we learned so much from them.  We all became very attached to the students.  I know I will miss my kids.  We were at the school all day working on the event.  The kids carried on with their school, but then were let out at 2:00 to go home and get their families and come back at 3:00.  There was a student from my class who waited for his mom to walk him home, so I was able to have a nice talk with him.  There were two students who didn’t have any family at the event either, so I was able to spend some time with them at the end of the night as well.  Goodbyes are not my thing, but I think I was able to thank most of the students properly.  For those that have addresses, I was able to get a few.  I plan on sending a letter to them in a few weeks to check up on them and make sure they are doing well.

Shaz and I with our teacher, Ms. Tembsi.

The rest of the week has been filled with papers and essays, so I feel like there is not much else to talk about.  If you want to discuss things like the political rhetoric post-Polokwane, I will converse with you about the topic when I am back in the States.  I will leave tomorrow and head back with a stop in Johannesburg and New York before finally making it back to Minneapolis.  I have an eight hour layover in New York which I am excited about also because I have never been to the Big Apple.  I am hoping to stop and check out Time square.  I have to switch from JFK to La Guardia airports.  I am checking things out with the others I am travelling with, so hopefully we can at least see a little of the city before heading back home completely. 

Like I said before, things will get fast in a few days.  I am probably ready to go home, but I am actually feeling somber about leaving.  I’ll be busy working and getting ready for football this summer.  School will be even more hectic with classes, football, and the job search.  I will have to join the rest of the world in a year.  The time here has allowed me to grow greatly as a person.  I have made some great friends and I hope I am a much more well-rounded person.  I have grown to love South Africa.  There will always be a place in me for the country.  Living and studying here has permitted me to see all different aspects of the country.  The country is young by many standards.  There are growing pains, but I see a lot of good in the people that live here.  I have made some great connections that I will continue to stay in touch with.  Hopefully we will cross paths again. 

I want to thank you all one more time for reading.  It means a lot to have so many people that care.  I look forward to seeing you all once I return. 

The sun setting on South Africa one more time.

One last time, cheers!

Bobby

One Week Left

Howzit Everyone,

Hopefully everyone is enjoying the hot weather.  I noticed it has been in the 90’s a few times the past few days.  Port Elizabeth has been dealing with some cold 60 degree weather and a few days of rain in the past week.  That’s a South African winter for you.  This is the home stretch for me.  One week from this post I will be back in Minnesota. 

On Friday, we hosted a braai for the staff of our Apartment complex as a thank you for putting up with us for these past four months.  We had to deal with some rain and wind, but it was still a nice afternoon.  On Saturday the volunteers at House of Resurrection were having a family day for the kids, so our whole group went to help but mostly just partake in the fun. 

This afternoon we have a river boat cruise as a group.  It will be kind of a closing activity, one last time to get together as a group for a nice occasion.  There are multiple papers due in the upcoming week, so all of the big adventures are done.  There have been a lot of statements like, “Oh, I’m going to miss that,” in the past week or so.  I expect that to grow even more in this last week.  I am not going to dwell on any of that right now.  I will save most of that for my post next week before I leave.  Right now, though, I’m sitting in the living room of our flat looking out over the Indian Ocean.  That is something I will miss a bit.  The ocean is like a bonfire.  There is something calming about it to the point where a person could sit and watch the waves crest over and over again and not have any thoughts. 

A short post this week, the end is in sight.  Supposedly, the culture shock of returning back home is just as bad or worse than when I first arrived.  I’m not sure how that works, but they have studies.  It’s science.  I also noticed the Twins are on a win streak.  I guess they are struggling this season.  Thanks for reading everyone!  My flight out leaves on Saturday, so look for a post on Friday.

Cheers,

Bobby

Hey Everyone,

Volunteering at Pendla this week was especially rewarding.  It is great to go there every Monday and Tuesday, but something about this week was a little extra special.  I have mentioned before that I have become fond of my students in class.  I hope they are learning from me as much as I am learning from them.  As my time here is limited, I have looked back at the experience going into these last two weeks.  We meet quite regularly to discuss ways that we can maximize our time at our volunteer site.  This week we discussed different parts of volunteering like what we found frustrating, what worked, what didn’t work.  I want to write about two instances that I will remember for a long time because they were particularly special.

First, the past couple weeks the Department of Education has brought in a group of people to teach the students how to play sports like rugby, soccer, field hockey, and other sports that are popular here.  It is a way of giving the students a gym class once a week basically since they don’t have that regularly.  They come during the students break conveniently.  When the group arrives midday on Tuesday, their bus is swarmed by the all the kids, all but the students in my class.  The students in my class could care less.  During recess I play soccer with them.  Them being Busisa, Zuko, Liyema, Liyema S., Ayabonga, Hlmelo, Sisababwe, Sive, and Likhane.  I figured I should give them recognition finally on the blog.  They acknowledge that they are there, but would rather play soccer with me. 

The second came this past Tuesday.  One of the grade 1 teachers is retiring, so there is going to be some shifting of students.  The class that I teach in will be doubling in size to hold about 60 students.  It will be a challenge as I expect it to be mayhem in class.  The room is not particularly big, so we worked on Tuesday moving out the teacher’s desk and getting more desks and chairs in the room.  While this was going on, I happened to just be sitting around talking with the students.  I was not going to be able to control them with the room in such a clutter, or so I thought.  As we were sitting there, Busisa and Liyema took out English books that I had been teaching an English lesson out of before we started moving the room around.  They asked me to read with them.  This was amazing, so I grabbed a book myself and went over to read with them.  After we started, more students came over to join.  In the midst of the mess of the room, I ended up being able to still teach the students.  I must say that this has been the most rewarding part of the trip for me.  I think that this also can symbolize the current situation South Africa finds itself today.  The country may be a mess because of the past, but there are great people here that have big aspirations and strides being made to improve the country.

I have been looking at the weather reports for Minneapolis, and they look very similar to Port Elizabeth right now.  Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the mid 50’s.  It is getting dark here earlier and earlier every day since it is fall here.  It is dark at around 6 o’clock now.  It is weird since the days are getting longer in Minnesota and that is what I am used to.  The nursing department from CSB-SJU will be arriving here Sunday.  It will be interesting to see their reactions to being in South Africa.  I am sure our group looked the same way back on February 2.  Our group has adjusted to living here, so we will be able to show them the ropes about SA.

I want to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there!  Happy Mother’s Day Mom!  Thanks for everything; I hope you have a great day.  I would not be having this great adventure without you. 

Thanks to everyone for reading.  Cheers,

Bobby

Reading to the kids at Pendla. 

Central Port Elizabeth.

Sunset at our beach.

Johannesburg-Soweto-Pretoria

Hey Everyone,

Well, I did not jump off any bridges or climb any mountains this past week.  I did visit Johannesburg though.  A couple weeks ago I was talking with a roommate, and we decided that we have to see Joburg to truly have seen the country.  Many people recommended going to the city, but I was never sure if I could fit it in to my weekends which are numbered.  After learning so much about this country and living here for the past three months, I realized I had to take the pilgrimage to “Gold City.”

View of the Johannesburg skyline.

There are some themes that come up when people speak of Joburg.  Among those themes are that it is a tough and dangerous city.  Those reasons were initially the main reason for not planning on making it to the city.  It really is not a tourist city either because of those reasons.  The city has such a strong history, and it has played such a huge role in the development on the country.  We got a group together and went over our long weekend this past weekend.  Last Friday, April 27^th, was Freedom Day which is the anniversary of the elections in 1994.  This past Tuesday was international employee appreciation day.  America has a separate labor day.  That gave us the opportunity, so we took it. 

Johannesburg was built on the gold mines.  Thousands of people would ride the train and work in the mines to provide for their families.  Part of the reasoning of Apartheid was to keep a cheap labor force to work in the mines.  Many of the men in the family would take the train and live at the mines on contract for about six months at a time.  We decided to take the train, because it was cheap and symbolic.  I had never ridden a train before, and why not in Africa.  The train from PE to Joburg is an 18 hour trip, so long.  It was cramped, hot, loud, and difficult to sleep.  I had a good time though.  Our group took up the time by reading and playing games with each other, but that is not what the other travelers did.  Many times, there would be spontaneous gospel singing which was very cool.  Yes, there were some interesting characters, and some heated situations amongst other riders which caused for some worrisome situations.  We made it fine; the ride back was actually a full 24 hours because the train broke down, so we were stuck in Bloemfontein for a few extra hours.  That’s Africa for you.

The train we rode.

A good friend of ours, Anga, which we met on our second day here, accompanied us on the trip.  This proved to be beneficial in countless ways.  His mother tongue is Xhosa, so he was able to do the talking and interpret for us in sticky situations.  He saved us peace of mind and probably money many times. 

We took a tour of Johannesburg and Soweto (South West Township) one day.  We were able to see the whole area which has so much history and life to it.  Soweto is the largest township in South Africa, and because of this there have been many historical protests and events that have taken place there.  We got the chance to see Nelson Mandela’s current house in a Suburb of Johannesburg along with his past home in Soweto.  His past home is a small museum, situated on Vilakazi Street which is the only street in the world that has had two Nobel Peace prize recipients live on the street.  Archbishop Desmond Tutu who won the award in 1984 still lives about a block away from Mandela’s old home.  The hospital in Soweto boasts that it is the biggest in the Southern hemisphere.  It holds 5,000 beds, so it is quite large.  While driving through Soweto we were able to see some of the barracks that use to house miners.  There was also some drag racing that we got to see by chance.  There was just so much going on while we were driving through.  Unlike in Soweto, we were able to walk around a bit in downtown Johannesburg. 

Soweto

We also toured Pretoria one day which is a short 40 minutes from Johannesburg.  Pretoria is an interesting city because it is about 67% white where South Africa is only about 10% white.  The Union building where the executive offices are held was very cool to see.  There have been some big speeches that have taken place in front of the building, so finally seeing that was amazing. 

Union Building

There were some hectic situations during our trip.  One day we were in downtown, we were looking to go back to our hostile.  Our main transportation here is by using the Kombi system that is used in South Africa.  We are almost always the only white people that use them.  We decided to walk a couple blocks to the ‘rack’ where the kombis congregate.  The kombis, which everyone call taxis, where in a big parking ramp that smelled like urine.  A smell that is all too familiar to many areas in SA.  This was probably the most on edge I was during the trip because there was gambling, selling of things that were clearly stolen and loud music blaring while people search for the taxi that will take them the direction they want.  The nine of us stuck out as usual, but Anga was able to do the negotiating for us and we were able to find a kombi that took us our way.  The train ride back also provided a tense situation.  Late in the night there was an argument in our cart.  There was an extended family in the cart with us, and particularly a young man that was intoxicated.  There was lots of yelling in Afrikaans, so we couldn’t understand what was being yelled.  Anga can understand Afrikaans a little, so he was able to get the main subject of the fight.  The main thing I got was that the man was angry at his wife/girlfriend and tried taking his son.  He actually threw many of their belongs out the window.  The most tense the fight got was when the man went out of the cart for a while.  When he returned, he had a broken bottle in his hand.  He only got a couple rows in when one of the mamas pushed and punched him to leave.  He did and the situation cooled shortly after.  Don’t worry mom, our group was ignored the entire time, and the fight never escalated to put us in danger.

View in front of Union building.

One of the museums we visited was the Apartheid museum in Johannesburg.  It was truly one of the best museums I have ever been to.  We ended up spending a few hours just looking through all that was there.  Throughout our time here, I have learned so much about Apartheid, but the vast compilations of artifacts and videos was absolutely astounding.  I was able to gain an even greater amount of what went on during that time, and everyone was shocked from the museum.  One of the nights we watched the movie District 9.  If any of you have seen it before, you know that it is set in Johannesburg.  The movie is a science-fiction movie where there are aliens that live in the townships of Johannesburg.  I had seen the movie before, but watching I was shocked to see the similarities between the movie and Apartheid.  There are forced removals, laws that segregate the aliens and humans, and township life.  The director did a great job of emulating that era of South Africa.  It is a Hollywood production, so there is an obvious cinematic touch to it.  I would recommend watching it because I think it gives the best look into what it was like during Apartheid through a modern lens. 

The trip was one of my favorite adventures I have had during my time here.  Thanks for reading.  I appreciate all the support.  I am on the home stretch as there are three weeks left for me in South Africa.  I plan to make the best of them, and look forward to seeing you all when I return.

Cheers,

Bobby 

Musical Week

Hey Everyone,

I was back in PE this week for classes and volunteering, so no jumping off bridges or climbing any mountains.  One thing that I did notice was how good it felt to be back in the flat after the trip from Cape Town.  The trip was amazing, and I was able to get some great experiences, many of which will be once in a lifetime.  It was comforting being back in PE and my flat, and I noticed how much I have gotten used to the area and my flat.  I have also talked with some others about this and they expressed a similar opinion. 

On Saturday, Matt and I went to campus to get a good lift in and do some running.  We used the kombis or taxis like we do every day for school and getting around town.  There is always some loud music blaring with a packed car that always makes for a great time.  I actually enjoy riding on the kombis because each ride is different and you can learn a lot just from listing and watching those riding.  We have gotten used to riding these large vans; however, and know the routes, prices, how to call for a stop, and just interact with the driver and caller.  On our way to campus there was a large group of white students walking down the street that looked foreign to South Africa.  The driver gave a couple of honks toward them to get their attention while the caller yelled in their direction as usual.  They looked excited that they were able to catch a kombi and waved for it to stop.  They were excited, but hesitated to get on and questioned where it was going. 

The driver answered their questions and they loaded up.  As they were getting on, one of the guys in the group told them all to get out seven Rand to pay for the ride.  Gas prices jumped up about two weeks ago, so the price of the ride was now eight Rand.  Matt and I both chimed in and told them of the change.  Eventually we talked and they were from New York, and getting here to do a few weeks of volunteering out on some farms.  After we got dropped off, Matt and I both laughed about the ride.  That is probably how our group must have looked early in the trip, and it was funny to see it from another perspective.  We have been able to assimilate into the culture fairly well in the past two and a half months.  In short conversations with people we can appear to be South Africa, and even trick a few Americans such as those on the kombi that we are from PE. 

We have become so accustom to many of the things that we see and do every day.  I notice things today that I wouldn’t have early in the semester because I am able to see it differently.  There are always eye-opening moments that I am shocked to see though.  Yesterday, on Monday, those of us that volunteer at Pendla Primary were able to look at a couple of the homes that the students live in from our school.  This was just an incredible experience.  The students live in shacks.  They have no running water, no toilets, no oven… nothing.  We have seen many townships since coming here, but this neighborhood was particularly tough to see.  I think it is because we know the students living in them.  It is just hard to believe that the happy faces and students that we work with live in those kinds of conditions.  This area is some of the poorest conditions. 

Before school, the students need to go to the well to get the families water for the day to wash up and use for cooking.  The area uses the bucket system for bathroom purposes.  That means they do their business in a bucket, and supposedly once a week the buckets are taken away because there is no plumbing.  The shacks are in terrible condition, and it is not uncommon to see trash on the roof to patch up a hole.  One of the teachers that was with us explained about the area to us.  She talked about how hard it is when they know the families have no money.  For myself, I envy the energy and passion my students are able to have each day.  They value their families and friends.  It is not uncommon to see a student in class without a lunch.  All of the other students share with that student to the point where that student usually has more than the rest.  The community which we were able to see while walking through the area also, is something that I think they are all passionate about, and it is a great opportunity for everyone to learn from.

Later in the day, we visited the house of Dudley Tito in the townships who is a jazz legend in the PE area.  He is the only living member left from his original band, but he has recruited new members and they play a handful of songs for us in their yard.  They were very talented and many of the neighbors stopped by once they realized the show going on.  The energy was amazing. 

Staying on the musical theme, today we went on a day trip to some parts of the Eastern Cape Province that we haven’t been to yet.  We started at Grahamstown where we stopped at Rhodes University which is the oldest university in South Africa.  We were given a lecture on a bit of story of Africa as a whole with attention paid to the musical aspects of the various regions.  After that, we travelled into a village near the coast.  Here we learned about some of the traditions of the Xhosa and Zulu people that make up the two major tribes in South Africa.  We had a traditional lunch of chicken with samp and beans.  The lunch gave us the energy to have enough energy to learn how to Zulu dance.  The Zulu culture was once a very strong tribe which had a militant approach to life.  Under the leader King Shaka the tribe advanced their area throughout most of the area pushing out many tribes and conquering many in the process.  Their fall came to be the British Empire in the 1800’s when Britain began to colonize the area.  The Zulu dancing has a manly aspect to it because of its war driven roots.  There are many powerful stomps and chants in the actions. 

Thanks for reading! 

Cheers,

Bobby

Greetings,

One last post here to finish up my adventures during my Cape Town Trip, there is still plenty to talk about though.  We took a wine tour as a group on Wednesday.  The land is so beautiful.  All you see when gazing across the landscape is the rolling valleys that are filled with vines of grapes, all enclosed by humbling mountains.  We were able to tour a couple estates and learn about the process it takes to make the wines.  I must admit that I had no idea it took so long to make wine.  Depending on the type, it can take over a year and a half to put out a finished product.  Also, a wine tour would not be complete without a tasting as well, so we were able to try some of the different varieties.  My tastes for wine are very young, so many of the differences that the leaders spoke of were lost on me. 

On Thursday, many of us went to an aquarium on the waterfront to check out what it had to offer.  A few from the group, Matt, Liz, and Emily, are certified in scuba diving, so they were able to dive at the aquarium.  The tank they dove in was full of all kinds of sea water fish.  It had everything from colorful schools to giant sea turtles to sharks.  Yeah, sharks.  They were not an aggressive breed of sharks, but they looked intimidating and I can tell you that I would not jump in that tank. Water sports just aren’t my thing.  The tank had glass on about 75% of it, so we were able to watch them scavenge around the bottom in search of lost teeth and swim around the giant rays.  After that, we walked around on the waterfront to check out all the vibrant life that goes on around that part of town.

On Friday I, along with a few others, decided to explore the city a little bit.  We walked all around to check out the various areas of the city.  We checked out the different markets and street sellers that are everywhere in the city because you can do some great people watching and check out some really cool paintings and sculptures.  On Saturday, some of the group had left to take a slow route back to PE and make a stop or two at different cities on the way.  I stayed with a group and we spent the day checking out various museums throughout the city.  There are all kinds of museums that are dedicated to Apartheid, but also some other cool things.  One of those things is a castle that was built by the Dutch East India Company that first settled on the Cape.  We toured the castle and were able to watch a loud and impressive cannon demonstration in the process.  On Sunday, we went to Easter Mass in one of the churches in the city.  We ended up walking around the city and looking around the city one last time.  We ended up spending most of the day at the SA Science Museum and Planetarium where we checked out the different exhibits and watched a movie on 2012 while it was raining. 

Cape Town has a life of its own.  If you ask anybody that has been to SA, they will tell you to check out Cape Town.  If they know the country, they will also tell you that the city is not a representative of Africa.  That means that the city showed a very different aspect to what I have already seen.  The city is very diverse with large amounts of all kinds of races which is great, and gives it a great culture.  Some things I noticed was that the crime is definitely a step up from PE.  Port Elizabeth is known as the ‘friendly city,’ and it is a small city despite its large population.  While down the street from our backpacker to get some food, we would be hounded by beggars and dealers of all sorts of stuff.  We have maybe become a bit lax in PE because we know everywhere that is safe and have gotten better at fitting in.  In Cape Town, we had to take extra precautions to make sure that girls did not walk alone and keep an eye on our belongings at all times. 

The last few days of the trip were somewhat rough.  On Thursday, one of the girls on the trip found out that her dad had past.  My heart and prayers go out to her along with everyone else on the trip, and we all have done what we can to rally around her.  Over the weekend, another girl lost her grandfather.  This was also a tough blow, and I will not comment more because those situations are personal.  I cannot even imagine being in their positions and I hope they can find support in our group which has really become close throughout the trip and last week especially. 

That should cap everything up.  I know I probably missed some things, but I think I got most of the trip well covered.  If you have any questions, feel free to try and get a hold of me to ask.  Thanks for reading as always!

Cheers,

Bobby

View of Cape Town 

Chapman Bay in route to Cape Point 

 

On Top Of the World

Hello Everyone,

Another post here about the trip to Cape Town over our spring/fall break.  Continuing my post from yesterday, we started off Saturday the March 31^st at the Slave Lodge in Cape Town.  This museum in the center of the city focused on the Trans-Indian Slave trade that was fundamental in the formation of Cape Town.  It was separate from the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade that was used in the Americas that most of you are familiar with.  The difference being that the slaves came from across the Indian Ocean, not the terrible conditions or treatment of the slaves themselves.  Also, some may think that because Africans were slaves in the Americas that it is the same in Africa.  This was not the case.  The majority of slaves in South Africa were not natives, but from India and other areas like Malaysia.  This is the root of SA’s large Indian population today. 

The company gardens outside the Slave Lodge.

Following that tour we hopped on our busses to head to the base of Table Mountain.  The hike was great.  There is a cable car that heads to the top, but everyone in our group decided to trek it up.  The group ended up splitting up because of the various paces that we took.  I ended up cruising to the top with the front group and it took us a hair under an hour to make it to the top.  The last of our group made it up in about an hour and a half, so not far behind.  The views just get better and better the further up the mountain you get.  At the top, the city, the surrounding mountains, the bay, and Robben Island are all visible.  It is rewarding seeing it after the hike itself.  Words, nor pictures, do the view or feeling justice of being at the top of the city or even world for that matter.  It is really an awe inspiring emotion that really makes somebody humbled and thankful for that moment.  I know it made me thankful for everything and everyone that was involved in me coming to South Africa thousands of miles from home.  We also brought sandwiches and ate them atop the city that we would be exploring the next week. 

Gazing over Cape Town.

After the mountain we grabbed our gear and headed over to Gugulethu, a large township of Cape Town.  The reason for this was home stays that we had planned.  We were broken up into pairs where we lived with different families in the Township.  Talking, eating, sleeping, and living with them for two days.  We arrived in the afternoon and were able to meet our new families.  The mothers are referred to as Mamas in respect, and my mama was Mama Pinky.  The family consisted of a father, mother, two teenage daughters, and five sons; but they were happy to house us as well in their two bedroom government built house.  They had actually built 3 rooms in their small backyard that the three older boys lived in for some more space.  I was paired up with Matt, and we were able to converse with the father Liter about things from his job to touching on how it used to be during Apartheid.  The older three boys, Liter, Kilo, Sobi, were about our age in their early 20’s and they took us around the townships showing us what it was like.  I was amazed to see some really nice cars driving around.  There was everything from old Toyotas to nice, new Mercedes. 

Lunch on Table Mountain.

Driving around was great because it was dusk and we were able to see everything getting going for the night.  There was one street that was one big braai that it took us about 20 minutes just to get down a few blocks because there were so many people in the streets and people hopping out of their car to say hi to a friend.  Like any other township that I have seen while here, there were a large amount of taverns and trash that covers the land.  The neighborhood that we lived in was called Tambo Village and the brothers took us around that and the adjacent Kuwaito.  The second night we spent time conversing with the family some more and talking and playing with the younger brothers Cea and Wamkelekile (which means welcome inn Xhosa).  Overall, the experience was amazing.  Hearing from the others, it seemed everyone had a different experience and did something different.  From my side, the family showed great hospitality and made me feel very welcome.  I definitely saw some things and was able to get a better feel for how people live. 

Cape Town from Robben Island.

Sunday morning we went to church in the townships.  It was a very lively mass that focused on prayer through music which made for a somewhat entertaining morning.  We then headed over as a group to the waterfront to catch the ferry over to Robben Island to take a tour around the jail that housed Nelson Mandela for 18 of his 27 years.  The jail was used for both political and common prisoners in the early years, but the political minds like Mandela and Sisulu ‘infected’ the minds of the common prisoners.  The government decided to use the jail primarily as a political prisoner outpost in efforts to stall the freedom struggle.  The island itself has a very desolate feel to it because it has a lot of bush, but very little trees.  The jail was moving.  After reading everything about Mandela’s time in there, it was powerful to say the least walking through the areas where he did for so long.  The tour guide we had was a former inmate and he explained to us the conditions and routines of the day for them.  One of the Mamas came with us with her boyfriend.  We asked them if they had been to the island before.  Both said yes.  The man, whose name I did not catch unfortunately was very quite while we were loading onto the tour bus.  The Mama notified us that he had been imprisoned on the island for 10 years and that this was the first time he had been back.  Wow.  At the end of our tour, we ended up in a large room where a large amount of prisoners could be held at once.  The man with us stayed after everyone had left looking at a spot on a floor in the room.  He then took the mats they had for show and rolled them out as he had done for years.  I can’t even fathom the emotions that he was feeling, but I hope he was able to find some sort of resolution in the visit. 

Cell #466/64.  Home to Nelson Mandela for 18 years.

The following day we visited Parliament in the morning for a tour.  We have been learning about the government in politics obviously, so it was interesting to see some of the building where everything happens.  We then headed to a part of the city called Bo-Kaap which is situated on the upper part of the city.  This part of town is a coloured community which has a large Muslim population and a vibrant culture that was able to stand strong and not get moved throughout the forced removals.  The city is full of colorful houses that give the area a life of its own that is really a creation of all the different cultures that have been to Cape Town.  We later had a nice dinner at Mama Afrika where we at some more local food.  I had a nice kudu burger. 

View of Bo-Kaap with the colorful houses to the bottom left.

The next day Tuesday, April 3^rd, we took a couple busses to Cape Point, an absolutely beautiful spot at the edge of the African continent.  It is where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet.  Situated next to False Bay that is outlined in mountain, it gives a view that seems like a painting.  A packed lunch at the edge of the world was delicious.  Later that evening, I climbed Lion’s Head in Cape Town (it is the point to the right of Table Mountain) with Isaak, Ryan, and Andrew.  The climb was great.  The peak is not nearly as high as Table Mountain, but the hike is more challenging where there are points where you need to climb straight up the side using chains and ladders on the trail.  It is also situated almost in the middle of the city which gives it a spectacular view.  We decided to climb it to watch the sunset as encouraged by one of our guides up Table Mountain.  The sun setting over Cape Town and South Africa was truly a sight to see that was a highlight of the trip for me. 

The Atlantic and Indian Oceans meeting.

Me atop Lion's Head.

I will try and finish the last part of my trip in my next post, so stay tuned for that.  It rained all day yesterday, and it has cooled down considerably from early in the semester.  It is technically Fall here being in the Southern Hemisphere, so things are cooling down instead of heating up like back in the States.    It is still nowhere near a Minnesota Fall, but I must admit I did not give SA credit for having cold.  I look forward to sleeping under the covers from here on out.  Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Bobby

Jumping Into It

Hey Everyone,

It has been a while since my last post because of my trip to Cape Town.  A lot happened to say the least.  The best plan is to just run through it chronologically, so that is what I will do.

Thursday morning March 29^th our group started out by waking up bright and early with the sun rise to get on the road by 6:30.  Our first stop was the Bloukrans River.  The mission, jump off the bridge over the river at Face Adrenalin which is the highest bungy in the world at 216 meters (709 feet), so it is kind of high.  I cannot tell you how much of a rush that was.  I was very excited to do this because people I knew from past groups have encouraged me, and I think it embodies the entire spirit of the trip, taking a leap of faith and just going for it.  I stayed calm for the entire bus ride while some others were getting nervous.  I decided to prepare like a football game, and put on the IPod to get in the zone.   Starring out over the valley was both intimidating and exciting.  The jumping station was under the road part itself, so to walk out to it we had to take a cat-walk.  That was when things set in a little.  Yeah, I looked down.  Once at the jump station, we found the crew was playing loud house music which we could hear the entire walk.  It helped for a lot of us and we were able to have some fun while waiting instead of spending every second questioning what we were thinking buying our ticket 30 minutes ago.  Once they start strapping you up, everything happens pretty fast.  After I was all strapped up, I was helped bounce to the edge where they gave me a countdown 5.4.3.2.1.  They did not pause between any of the numbers and it goes too fast for you to think.  The air flew through my face as I fell, and I did my best to enjoy the great scenery in front of me while my heart pounds faster than I fall.  The music fell quiet as I was hundreds of feet below and bouncing above the river with the ocean in my background.  I was eventually pulled up slowly, but I was calm by this point, almost in a state of shock.  In total, about 25 of our 30 members jumped, some of whom made the decision on the way over from peer pressure.  Only one girl in the group had a nervous breakdown, but did quite well none-the-less.  It was truly a once in a lifetime experience that cannot even be described in words.

Bloukrans Bridge (the jump spot is in the middle under the road)

After that rush, we hopped back into the busses and moved our way further across the land.  We stopped for lunch in a beautiful town called Knysna which is consistently voted the best vacation spot in South Africa.  The stop was not too long because we were taking a slight detour to Cape Town and stopping in a town called Oudtshoorn.  Here we visited an ostrich farm and some of our group got to ride the large birds.  I am too heavy to ride them, but I enjoyed watching the others struggle to balance on the weird birds.  Ostriches have very large eggs, about 30 chicken eggs worth in one.  Talk about a big Easter egg!  After that, we checked into our hotel and went to a restaurant where I was able to eat the national animal of South Africa the springbok for a late dinner. 

Knysna the vacation town.

Friday morning the 30^th we started our day out by heading over to the Cango Caves and do some spelunking.  These were some cool caves, and we were able to go through a section that was the opposite of spacious at points.  Some of the names of the various sections were Love Hugs because it is impossible to go through without being “hugged” by the walls and Devil’s Chimney which was a small chute we climbed and I have no idea how I and everyone else was able to fit through.  Although I was not sure why anybody would first explore those vast dark caves in the dark, I enjoyed being like a kid again and climbing through the dirty tunnels. 

Molly riding an ostrich.

Once we were able to find our way out of the caves, it was Cape Town or bust.  We were able to make it to Cape Town around 6 pm.  Just in time for some dinner and off to the International Jazz Festival.  The festival was very cool.  There were five different stages with a variety of artists and groups.  I walked around with a small group checking out the different stages before settling at a stage that was playing some jazzy hip-hop and R&B.  To cap off the night, I watched one of the few non-South African groups in the festival, and fellow Minnesotans Atmosphere play a set.  The group is from South Minneapolis, and I have been a big fan of them since high school.  A group of us stayed after and were able to meet the lead singer of the group. 

Cape Town 

Overall those first two days were full, but they were just the beginning.  Cape Town is a very cool city which has a life of its own, and some of the most notable spots in South Africa.  I am going to try and get multiple posts up this week because of all the action that went on.  Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Bobby

Frontier Weekend

Hello Comrades,

I hope everyone is doing fine today.  Hopefully there aren’t too many suffering from a case of the Monday’s today.  This past weekend was a fun one here in SA.  The whole group took a trip inland to a farm for the weekend.  The farm was in the shadow of The Great Winterberg Mountain which is the third largest mountain in SA.  A pair of families hosted our group to accommodate the entire group.

View of the area

The first thing to note is that the farms are primarily animals.  There are cows, chickens, and sheep just like farms in Minnesota.  Unlike farms in Minnesota, there are eland, springbok, kudu, and other animals indigenous to SA.  Obviously since it is very mountainous, the land is not ideal for crops like the breadbasket of the US.  Farming is what the Afrikaners took a liking to after settling in Cape Town in the 177^th century.  I’m not accustomed to life on a farm at all.  I am a city boy, so most of the activities we did were my first experiences with them. 

We left early Friday and arrived in time for a late lunch.  Following that, we visited a nice river to swim in with various waterfalls.  That was obviously very cool to do.  When we returned to the farm though, we help round up some of the sheep in the pen.  The reason we did this was to castrate the sheep.  Yes, that was new to me.  I guess it serves a couple different purposes.  The first is so that the wool doesn’t get infected or tainted.  Basically, the tail will eventually fall off which is a great place for maggots and bugs to get in the wool and infect it.  The second is for breading purposes.  The best bulls are bought, so the ones on the farm are just used for their wool.  We then had a late dinner before playing guitar and entertaining each other before splitting up for bed.

The mountain we climbed

On Saturday, we went to a neighbor’s plot of land to climb a mountain.  On our way around the land we stopped at where they sheer the sheep to watch a couple of sheep getting a hair-cut.  It is amazing how much wool comes from one sheep.  All of the roads are dirt and filled with huge holes which made are main mode of transportation fun (the back of a bakkie- a pick-up truck).  We were able to drive a large portion up the mountain.  By looking at the final peak, I thought it would be a quick trek up.  Nope, the height is misleading, and there is always another peak at the top.  The view was phenomenal because you can see the entire valley filled with various villages and farms.  The landscape is quite different from that on the coast, and you really can see the “bush” that Africa is known for having.

Riding around in the bakkies

Later, we went to the other families house were we relaxed by their pool, played tennis on their court, or chatted with our hosts on the patio.  It is definitely a different side from what we have seen.  Another first followed this, shooting a gun.  The owner brought out a 22 gauge rifle, and we were all given one shot at hitting the bulls-eye on a target.  My shot was not very close, but it was not the furthest either.  It is a good thing I don’t have to hunt for my own food.  The owner then showed us his gun case and trophy room.  He has quite the collection of both.  The trophy room was particularly cool because it was decorated with everything on the walls from a giraffe to a zebra to a wildebeest. 

Trophy Room

Sunday we did a different hike which ended at a cool canyon with a swimming hole that we swam in.  Maybe one of the coolest places I’ve seen yet because after swimming through part of the canyon it opened up to various ledges and a crevasse with a very cool waterfall.  At the base of the waterfall was a pool where you could sit and relax.  I was not able to get any pictures because I needed to swim to the spot.  The mystique will have to remain a legend.  The land over all was very cool.  I don’t think I could live like that though.  The distance to town is too far, and I need to be in an area with something going on.  The trip was a blast though.

I will probably not post again for a couple weeks because we are taking a big trip to Cape Town.  We leave Thursday the 29^th and we will not get back until April 9^th for “fall” break.  The entire time there will be packed with activities.  Among the activities are bungee jumping at the world’s highest bungee, an international jazz fest   (with Atmosphere- a Minnesota artist who is one of my favorites), climbing table mountain, visiting Robben Island, a wine tour, homestays (in the townships).  Those are just some of the activities amongst many that will be fun.  It is the trip that I am looking forward to most on the trip along with most of the group.  There will be plenty to do, so I will probably need to split up the posts. 

Until then, thanks for reading!  Congrats to the Osseo Boys team for being state champs, great work.

Cheers,

Bobby

Human Rights Day

Hey Everyone,

So I decided to post a link to our Shosholoza video on Facebook.  I don't think you need a profile to view it, but if you do let me know and I will try another way.  Now, there are no music majors in our group and overall no amazing singers and we were taught this song in 20 minutes, so considering those circumstances, I think it turned out really well.  This is our show for the NMMU choir who sang for us in return after.  They were much better than us(Sorry, no video of them).  I have posted a video of a flash mob they did last July in the big shopping center here in PE, so check them out.

Shosholoza

NMMU Choir Flash Mob

Otherwise, yesterday was Human Rights Day in honor of the Sharpeville Massacre.  The event was on March 21, 1960 when a large group in the Sharpeville Township (about 35 miles south of Johannesburg) protested the Pass Laws of Apartheid which forced people to carry a pass stating where they were allowed to be.  Blacks could therefore not go into a white area unless in their pass their employer allowed it during the day.  The police on the scene had live ammunition and fired on the protesters killing 69 and wounding more than 350.  The worst part about it was, almost all of the bullet wounds were found to be in the back as people were running away.  


In honor of that event, we had class off which I spent finishing my 18 page paper on the transition stage of 1990-1994.  This period was after Apartheid, but before Democracy.  More people died during those 4 years than in the prior 300 years of the country, and that includes Apartheid and the South African War (Anglo-Boer Wars).  It was a hectic time in the country which is why the end result is considered a miracle.

Thanks for reading as always!

Cheers,
Bobby

Learning about the City

Hey Everyone,

This week was not overly scheduled with activities.  As I mentioned in the short post on Thursday, I had a few papers due during the week with another next week.  Yes, I am taking classes here and getting an education.  I need to remind myself of that with the ocean view, trips around the country, and general summer weather creating quite the distractions.  I must apologize once again for not having the Shosholoza video up yet again.  I borrowed it from one of my comrades here, and did not foresee this much trouble in getting it online. 

We had an interesting speaker come talk to us in literature class this week.  Her name was Janet Cherry.  She is a white woman that was part of the liberation struggle actively during the 80’s.  She spent various stints in jail, and gave us a bit of information on what was going on in the Port Elizabeth area for the struggle.  We also saw a video where she was interviewed.  It was really cool to be able to see footage of places we recognized and be able to understand the context of what she was saying.

 

On Friday, which was apparently one of the craziest days of the tournament ever, I went to the downtown area with Chris to check it out.  We really wanted to see more of the city that we live in.  It was really great, so much life and energy.  The main stretch of Govan Mbeki Ave is filled with all kinds of shops and stores.  There are also many side stands where people sell fruit or crafts.  I enjoy the South African style.  They wear a lot of vibrant colored polo’s which I plan to get a few to wear.  I am looking to accumulate more polo’s anyway. 

I hope everyone had a nice St. Patrick’s Day.  It is not celebrated here, at all.  Our group wore green and had a nice braai (barbecue) which was fun.  After we finished with the braai, there was a semi-professional rugby player and his dad that started cooking.  His team is from East London and they played a game earlier in the afternoon.  A couple of us had a really interesting conversation with them.  They were very paranoid about the crime in South Africa.  Many of the native white people seem to be that we have talked with.  They would never go to the downtown area because they were scarred of being robbed and jumped.  They were also scarred that the car was parked out in the small lot with no shelter.  They were surprised that we use the Kombi’s to get to school and back.  I have found that many of the white South Africans have these fears about their country.  Much of it is from the unknown.  They just assume the worst about the things they don’t know.  This father and son were great people and we had a great time chatting with them (they laughed at us telling them we grill patties back in the states).  I have noticed that there has just been a certain conditioning here.  There are some really great people here that show great hospitality, but many people are afraid to search for them.  As always there are some great improvements being made at all times with some great hope for the future.  Yes, we have to be vigilant at all times as well.  Being aware of surroundings is needed, but we have a smart group that has not had even one problem yet.

As always thanks for reading.  Next weekend we will visit a farm and learn about the rural life in South Africa with a trip to Cape Town the week after, so there are some fun weeks ahead.

Cheers,

Bobby

Shosholoza

Hey Everyone,

I must first apologize for not putting the video up earlier this week like I said I would.  The video is a different format than usual, and I need to figure out how to change it.  I may have to upload it to youtube and put a link on here.  This week has been pretty packed in school.  We had a couple of papers due in class, so I haven't done anything of huge note.  I decided to post a few photos for your enjoyment instead.

Walking on campus with Matt.

The soccer stadium from our balcony (the harbor is in front of the stadium).

The break area at Pendla.  Where we play games like soccer.

The courtyard that all the classes surroung at Pendla.

A monkey in a tree above us at Hogsback.

One of the signs on campus. 

The drivers in SA drive much more aggresive than back in Minnesota.  They honk a lot more, but more as a hello.  I have actually been surprised.  We have only seen one little fender bender since coming here.

As always, thanks for reading! 

Cheers,

Bobby

National Anthem-Hogsback

Hey Everybody,

I hope everyone is having a great day today.  As always, it was an exciting week.  I’ll start off by giving you all the Pendla update.  This week was hectic at the primary school.  The teacher we work with has done a good job of allowing us an opportunity to teach them English and read to the students.  During this time, she usually leaves us alone with the students.  The problem with this is that she leaves us alone with the students for way too long.  We do not have enough activities to keep them entertained and focused for the entire time, so after a while it is very hectic in the room.  The kids don’t respect us as an enforcer like they do their teacher.  They think we are there to play with them, and speaking Xhosa gives them a tool against us.  I did make a seating chart with the names of the students.  I know a good amount of the students, but not quite all of them.  Each trip to the school brings a full day of energy and excitement which is great to see.

 Some of the students in my class.

(The girls wear the yellow dresses while the boys wear the tan)

In music class we learned the history of the national anthem Nkosi Sikelel ‘iAfrika along with how to sing the song.  The song includes 5 of the official languages of the country (Xhosa, Zulu, Sotho, Afrikaans, English).  It is truly a beautiful song with the first verse a Xhosa/Zulu hymn which is where the song gets its name.  Certain groups will only sing the part of the song that they know.  If any of you have seen the movie Invictus which is based on the Rugby World Cup shortly after Mandela was elected president, this can be seen.  At the rugby game we noticed that the fans would at least mumble or hum the parts that they did not know.  They are teaching the entire version to kids now-a-days as part of the unifying goal of the country.  We also learned the unofficial national anthem of the country Shosholoza.  This song comes from the sound of a train (SHO-SHO-SHO-SHO), and is about the train picking up workers to work in the mines which has been the biggest business for the country the past century.  We sang the song to the NMMU choir and in turn they sang for us.  I will try and post the video tomorrow.  Unfortunately, it will use up too much of my internet here at my flat, so I will use the school’s internet.

The South African countryside.

Many of you read my post from last week where I commented on the government.  The government here is doing a great job.  One thing that shows this is its spending.  1/5 of government spending goes to education.  That is 20% for those of you not great at math.  Now if you know anything about the US spending, that is quite a bit higher of a percentage.  It really shows that the government realizes that education is the key to a better life, and is backing it up.  Also, there was a very large strike last Wednesday.  It was supposedly the biggest strike since the free era of ’94.  It was going to just be a Johannesburg strike dealing with some toll booths that are being built, but it spread nationwide.  We were notified on Tuesday that we might not have class on Wednesday because the university might have to shut down if there weren’t enough employees.  Don’t worry; we still had class as it was not quite as big as expected.  During the day there were about 10,000 people that marched around downtown.  Port Elizabeth is similar to Detroit, but they are quick to point out that the industry is growing here.  The car industry was hit worst as the GM plant reported 85% of hourly employees did not show up for work that day.  One thing that I am impressed with in South Africa is the way they deal with problems.  They are great at really talking things out and taking a very open mind into the conversations.  Sometimes this can drag out a process which would cause a go-go American to become impatient, but I am sure that this will be worked out just fine.

This past weekend I travelled with a small group to Hogsback.  It is a little town North of PE and slightly East.  The town is situated in the mountains which look like a hog’s back at the various peaks.  We stayed at a backpackers hostile and hiked through the mountains on Friday afternoon and Saturday.  We were able to see some really great mountains along with a few pretty neat waterfalls.  There was also a swimming hole at the bottom of one of the waterfalls that we stopped and swam in.  We were literally walking around in the jungle and there were multiple monkeys that would be swinging on vines above us.  On the way there, we made a 3 hour car ride into a 7 hour ride on the way there because we took a wrong turn.  We were not discouraged, and that is probably why we went so far before realizing that we were not going the right way.  The landscape was so nice.  We would be driving on the side of a rocky mountain one minute, and be looking over a stretch of open savannah the next.  We also made a few stops.  One particular stop was in the town of Alice shortly before we arrived at Hogsback.  The reason for this stop was because that is where the University of Fort Hare is located.  In reading Mandela’s autobiography, we learned that this is where Mandela went to college for the first time. It was very cool to walk around a place that we read about and where Mandela really grew as a person so much.

 Some pictures from Hogsback.

Thanks for reading! I appreciate all the support from everyone.  If you have any comments, please feel free to leave them.  Also, if there is something that you would like for me to post about that you read about or have heard is going on, just send me or my parents an e-mail.  I would love to give my observations about the matter.  Today is Selection Sunday for college basketball.  March Madness is my favorite time of the year for sports, but it is worth it to be experiencing all that I am here in South Africa.  I will still be completing a bracket, but I haven’t watched a game in well over a month.  I want to wish Sam and Gonzaga good luck along with Michael and the Osseo basketball team as they head into their respective post-seasons.

Cheers,

Bobby