Monday, August 23, 2010

Development



An Austrian (Cash) from Long Street Saturday night…
“Only two things matter in life: sharing and love”
the guy standing next to him:
“and trust man, you can’t forget about trust.”


I think I was scared when I first got here because I felt like I was being thrown into independence. Not that I have the occupational responsibilities of someone fully independent, but being so far from anyone and everyone that I know was an experience that I could not have imagined before. The more I think about it though, the more capable and independent I feel. Knowing that I am hurdling the cultural obstacles here all on my own is more fulfilling than I originally realized. A couple of days ago I was walking to pick up my laundry and I saw a man…relieving himself…on the side of a building and when we made awkward eye contact he screamed profanity at me. I was so shaken up and so afraid that he was going to chase after me, I put my keys through my fingers in about a half second, but he didn’t come after me and I was fine. I know that I need to be aware of the homeless here, but I am also realizing that the vast majority of them are pretty harmless.
I hit another obstacle Friday when I was getting ready to go volunteer for lawco. I received a text message from our group leader announcing that all sessions would be canceled because the teachers in the township are on strike. At first I was so upset, those kids need to be in school more than anyone, it’s probably the closest thing to a safe place that they have. I wonder what they did instead of going to school that day. It sounded to me like this happens pretty often with the schools there. I also wonder if those teachers are being exploited, it must be one of the most challenging teaching jobs on Earth to expect kids to learn when it is perfectly obvious that their home conditions are hardly fit for living in let alone being academically productive. I was thinking about exploitation because I just learned that my house’s security guard, Farikai who is undoubtedly the kindest and happiest person I have ever met, is paid 8.3 rand an hour…that’s barely more than a dollar America. A dollar an hour! He has two kids and a wife and I just can’t imagine how he is supporting them on that, but nevertheless he is always smiling. As easy as it is to marvel at the mountains and sunsets here, the real reason why I came is for people like Farikai…he is the true inspiring element of this country. People that can find so much joy out of just living are rare and they are who I will learn from while I am here.
There are so many things that I miss about America, but already I am noticing things that I will be so sad to part from here. Definitely the campus, it is incomparable in beauty. Some of the weekly things too though, for instance the Old Biscuit Mill. This place is about ten minutes away and is described as a farmer’s market, but it is actually like a food extravaganza. I went there this Saturday with two of my housemates. They have local chefs serving everything imaginable and it is all incredible. The fresh baked pastries and breads, homemade granola (mine has cranberries added in), pesto sauces (olive and aubergine), smoothies, sandwiches, and foods of every nationality as well. I bought two muffins from this one really cute lady who sells the most beautiful baked good, she had these huge chocolate chip cookies dipped in chocolate…it took a lot of will power to not cave into those. There was also organic dark chocolate that tasted like pure heaven; I will definitely be purchasing that before I go home. I could go on and on about the food, it feels like a cultural experience just eating there. I met one man from Colorado at the market who is working here and he seemed so happy to meet a few fellow Americans. Even though we are all here to experience something different, it’s kind of cute how all the Americans feel a bond towards one another, like we are all each others' little reminder of home.
One thing that I instantly noticed about the environment though was that the crowd was probably 90% white. Some places here still have such a racial division. I could say that about things at home as well, but at home whites are the majority; it makes more sense when there are more white people around, but here that is not the case. I was talking to a South African today and his thoughts on the current state of affairs here was not unlike other South Africans I have talked with, the radical change in society is not taking place at the necessary speed. They call the majority of the population the masses here and that is unfortunately the poor blacks. It is very different for me to grasp that I am living in a country that does not have the kind of social and governmental stability that the United States does. One South African put it me this way: “The greatest thing about the states is that you guys always have a positive attitude, like there is nothing you can’t do. When an innovative idea comes about here, some people run with it, but there are always doubters.” I think with time the South Africans will develop more strength in the faith of their people. Trust takes time, historically social revolution seems to take an evolution in humanity before results are truly seen. The South Africans are a good-natured people though, they avoided civil war in the 90's by bonding together despite all of the violence in their past and I think that if they could do that...the can accomplish much more than even they realize.

It's kind of incredible to me that while South Africa is developing into a modernized nation, it is helping me to develop into a more culturally aware person.

<3

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