Some Interesting Updates

Hello!

Things are still going well here in SA and I’ve been learning a lot both inside and outside of the classroom. There are a bunch of things I want to share with you so I’m just going to make them into a list.

1. I registered for the Two Ocean Half Marathon yesterday. I’m running it with my friend Evan and our resident director, Hestea, will also be racing. Once she runs Two Oceans she will have competed in every half marathon that exists in South Africa. Evan and I began training two weeks ago and it’s going pretty well. I developed a 10 week training schedule that we’ve been following closely so far. We discovered some amazing trails behind the rugby stadium about a mile away, their really hilly but the view is beautiful because they wrap around a mountain.

2. Stellenbosch University consumes more alcohol per student than any other school in the world. The students here are really proud of that and they party every single night. Aside from drinking, everyone here also loves techno music, mullets, and rugby.

3. Speaking of rugby, I bought a season ticket to the varsity games and got a free t-shirt with my purchase. It was R60 ($9) for the six games and the shirt. Sweet!

4. Drinking and driving is a big problem here, but the police claim to be cracking down on it these days. Also, transporting people in the bed of your truck is completely acceptable whether you’re just around campus or on a major highway.

5. Me and the 23 other service learning students began taking the train to Lynedoch this past Monday. It’s only an 8 minute ride but Grant thinks it will help us experience the country better if we ride the train to work like most of the locals. During apartheid the bus was segregated but even now that the laws have changed the black and colored people tend to sit in the back of the train.

6. The meaning of the word colored is different here than it is in the states. Here is refers to those people who, during apartheid, weren’t exactly black enough to be considered black and weren’t white enough to be white. It is strictly based on skin tone yet someone’s race classification can be very situational. Colored people had slightly more freedom during the apartheid era, yet they struggled with their identity because they were caught in the middle. During apartheid everyone was classified into white, colored, or black, but you could apply for re-classification at any time. If a white man wanted to marry a colored woman, he could apply to be re-classified as colored because interracial marriage wasn’t allowed. One of the tests conducted by the government was called the pencil test. They would put a pencil in your hair and if it fell out you were most likely white, if your hair was thick enough for it to stay you were most likely colored or black. When our service learning class learned about this we all found it absolutely ludicrous, but that’s what it was like in South Africa not long ago.

7. February 11th marks the 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison. I haven’t heard anything about any kind of celebration around Stellenbosch but we’ll probably do something to commemorate the date.

8. I went to Cape Town for the first time yesterday and it was a lot of fun. Six of us took the train which cost R7 each way ($1) and then took a taxi to the beach which cost R80 ($11). We went to Camps Bay and it was easily the most beautiful beach I’ve ever been to in my life. The water was crystal clear but very cold because it’s on the Atlantic Ocean side of the country. There was the softest, whitest sand I’ve ever walked in and the views were amazing. If you stood with your back to the water you were looking at a gorgeous mountain called the Twelve Apostles that lined the beach. To the left of that is Lion’s Head Mountain. None of the pictures I took do it justice but check out the two links in the previous sentence because I found a couple pictures of the beach online. I plan on going back to the city a lot because there are tons of fun things to do there and it only costs R125 ($16) to stay in a hostel for a night. US Travel & Leisure ranked Cape Town as the second best city in the world in 2009 and expedia.com ranked it as one of the World’s 5 Bluest Sky Destinations.

9. They're in the process of redoing the train station in the city because one of the World Cup stadiums is in Cape Town. I haven't been to Green Point Stadium yet but I've seen a lot of pictures and it looks awesome. FIFA officials went on record saying it is the most beautiful stadium they've ever seen. The stadium was designed to replicate the cloud over Table Mountain and there are views of both the mountain and Robben Island from inside. The Cape Town Airport is expecting 30,000 people to arrive everyday beginning in the middle of May. There aren't enough hotels in the city to accomodate all these tourists so cruise ships will be parked in the bay for people to stay on. I was hoping to change my flight home (my program usually charges $150 to change a flight) and stay for some of the madness, but FIFA controls all the airlines during the World Cup and I'd most likely have to buy a whole new plane ticket.

10. Afrikaans is used much more frequently on my campus than English, though all students are required to be bilingual in the two languages. By keeping all the mainstream classes in Afrikaans the university is able to prevent many black people from coming here. They disguise this racism by saying that they’re staying true to their roots because they’re proud of their language and traditions. Hopefully I’ll learn some useful vocabulary in my Afrikaans class though because that’s the first language of the students I’m working with in Lynedoch.

11. Being surrounded by the issues of race and poverty here in South Africa has led me to compare it to the United States. You can definitely draw parallels between today’s difficulties in SA and the difficulties we faced in the US during the 1960’s and 70’s. But aside from that, I’ve realized that the division between black and white or rich and poor is comparably bad in the US. I’ve been thinking a lot about the similarities between Stellenbosch University and its surrounding community versus St. Michael’s and its surrounding community. After only being here for 3 weeks I’ve become more aware of the issues we face at home, but I’ve also become increasingly proud of the service work we do through the MOVE office at St. Mike’s. Despite the fact that there are a myriad of ways in which college students could assist this community, I haven’t heard much about service work or social justice. However, there is one idea that was developed by South Africans that I think puts them a step ahead of the United States. Those who are doing service label it as ‘community engagement’ rather than ‘community service’. This is something we’ve discussed a great deal in my service class because it changes the way you think about the work you’re doing. Community engagement strays away from the idea of someone in power reaching out to help someone who can’t help themselves, instead the process becomes more reciprocal and everyone is placed on a level playing field. Grant introduced us to this idea the first day he met us because he wants us to be aware of the fact that the children of Lynedoch have so much to teach us, so it’s not just us doing a service for them. I think there are plenty of people in the US who already think this way, but as a whole I don’t think everyone views service work through this lens.

Ok I think that’s all for now. I know that was long but thanks for reading!
I have to get to bed because we’re waking up at 1:00am to watch the Superbowl.

Oh and some people have asked for my address so here it is
(the first is for letters, the second's for packages):
Sarah Regan
P.O. Box 3271
MATIELAND
Stellenbosch
7602
South Africa

International Office - Wilcocks Building
Stellenbosch University
Victoria Street
Stellenbosch, South Africa
7600