Rainy Mandela Day

Hey humans!  Hope you are all happy and well! Today is Mandela day! So far not sure what that means to people here.  I have heard that usually it's  a day when people volunteer for 65 min.  I haven't really seen the evidence of that, but I am guessing it's happening in a less obvious way.

It's rainy, but Anna and I came into Cape Town for the day because out classes were over early in the day.  We are back at Lola's the cafe I wrote about earlier which has skateboards on the walls.  I got a carrot/orange/ginger juice and a croissant.  Very yummy.  I have been feeling really stranded on the UWC campus because it is far from other places and transportation can be difficult and expensive.  But it's fine once we make it out of the "Bush"!  (Bush is the local nickname for UWC because it is in a nature reserve.)

Last night we had Emma and Jules over for dinner after my IES class and the three of us got to talk more about our plans to WWOOF together.  Everything is still up in the air, but the girls are changing their flights home so we can stay for awhile.  I could not be more excited!

Today I had the first day of my Philosophy class.  Unless I can get into African Philosophies (the class i really wanted to take) I will be staying in it.  The theme of the course is Race, Culture, and Identity, which all sound great, but the concept is constrained by the fact that 1/3 of the small course are white American exchange students.  Over all I don't see much of the American presence on campus, so I was surprised by the high number in that course.

The IES course met last night for the first time.  We were told to map our homes and our new homes.  It was kinda a cool excersise to  see what and where people come from and how they conceptualize Cape Town.  I have some misgivings and apprehensions about the presumptions inherent in the volunteering we will be doing for the class.  Sometimes I feel like there is a pretty basic lack of compassion and lack of a grasp of nuance among people trying to "help".  At the end of the day, the people you are trying to help are HUMANS, who live in HOMES (not shacks), and are trying to make the best of their situation for themselves and their families.  They deserve respect, and unfortunately, it often happens that a well intentioned person can violate their pride by coming in with a dangerous combination of enthusiasm and righteousness.  Anyway, despite these concerns I am very excited by what our professor has to offer, and I trust her to be able to navigate these tricky waters.

Today at the store we got veggies, sweet potatoes, more rice, apples, wine, coconut milk, curry powder, chicken, ramen and hot sauce.  It's going to be a yummy week!  The thing I miss most here is my ability to be independent, but I am trying to focus on the really awesome things like my unique learning possibilities and having fun cooking.

Hugs from SA!