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| The Dinning Hall |
Two days ago, we spent our only day in Johannesburg touring on a big charter bus. We mostly found ourselves in Soweto (so-whey-too), driving through the different economical townships. The housing ranged from families who earned only 1,000 Rands per month (6.5 Rands is 1 U.S. dollar), all the way to homes that were bigger than most I have seen in the states. This included driving past the homes where Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela both lived.
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| Stain Glass Mandela |
The best part about all this driving around was the people. Everyone we passed, no matter their age or occupation, would wave to us and smile. The people are so friendly, and seeing each person light up when we would all wave and smile back was enough to fight the looming jet lag. While driving through Soweto, we stopped at the church where the students who were protesting apartheid fled. It’s ceiling had bullet holes in it still. We also stopped at a memorial for the first boy who was killed by these riots. Hector something. However, these two places were monumental in the eventual abolition of apartheid, since these students were the first to boycott the schools teaching Afrikaans rather than their native languages.
Our first lunch was at a restaurant owned by our tour guide and her husband, and the food was delicious. After lunch, me and a few other girls walked across the street to where three kids were watching us with rapt attention. All of the sudden, over half of the girls (there are 44 of us in all) were surrounding the kids. Needless to say, this was overwhelming for them. After showing the kids a couple of pictures of themselves, however, the three opened up, and took to smiling and posing for each picture there on out. They blew us kisses as left and we boarded the bus.
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| Soccer City! |
After visiting the stadium where the world cup was played, our final stop for the afternoon was the Apartheid museum. It was very interesting to see the history, but also very sad to see the destructive path of racism it caused for decades.
Yesterday, we all packed up our stuff again and hopped on the very short, hour flight from Johannesburg to Durban, and then made the hour and a half drive to Pietermaritzburg. This was probably one of the most beautiful drives I have ever seen! The whole area was lush with green tall grass, and many clusters of bushes and trees. The view was just unreal.
When we finally pulled onto our street, there was a roar of excitement from the bus, since we immediately were thrown into a jungle atmosphere, where bamboo stalks and monkeys lined the road. We then got to campus and were instructed to set our stuff down by the orientation room. As we walked, however, several dozen boys in traditional garb began chanting on the lawn in front of us. Then, they did a 15-20 minute performance for us, by chanting, dancing, and singing. It was the best orientation I’ve had, and I already know any other semester will feel inadequate.
Two days ago, we spent our only day in Johannesburg touring on a big charter bus. We mostly found ourselves in Soweto (so-whey-too), driving through the different economical townships. The housing ranged from families who earned only 1,000 Rands per month (6.5 Rands is 1 U.S. dollar), all the way to homes that were bigger than most I have seen in the states. This included driving past the homes where Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela both lived.
The best part about all this driving around was the people. Everyone we passed, no matter their age or occupation, would wave to us and smile. The people are so friendly, and seeing each person light up when we would all wave and smile back was enough to fight the looming jet lag. While driving through Soweto, we stopped at the church where the students who were protesting apartheid fled. It’s ceiling had bullet holes in it still. We also stopped at a memorial for the first boy who was killed by these riots. Hector something. However, these two places were monumental in the eventual abolition of apartheid, since these students were the first to boycott the schools teaching Afrikaans rather than their native languages.
Our first lunch was at a restaurant owned by our tour guide and her husband, and the food was delicious. After lunch, me and a few other girls walked across the street to where three kids were watching us with rapt attention. All of the sudden, over half of the girls (there are 44 of us in all) were surrounding the kids. Needless to say, this was overwhelming for them. After showing the kids a couple of pictures of themselves, however, the three opened up, and took to smiling and posing for each picture there on out. They blew us kisses as left and we boarded the bus. 
Yesterday, we all packed up our stuff again and hopped on the very short, hour flight from Johannesburg to Durban, and then made the hour and a half drive to Pietermaritzburg. This was probably one of the most beautiful drives I have ever seen! The whole area was lush with green tall grass, and many clusters of bushes and trees. The view was just unreal.
When we finally pulled onto our street, there was a roar of excitement from the bus, since we immediately were thrown into a jungle atmosphere, where bamboo stalks and monkeys lined the road. We then got to campus and were instructed to set our stuff down by the orientation room. As we walked, however, several dozen boys in traditional garb began chanting on the lawn in front of us. Then, they did a 15-20 minute performance for us, by chanting, dancing, and singing. It was the best orientation I’ve had, and I already know any other semester will feel inadequate.
<3 I love reading about this place! I can picture my home in Africa in the description of your home for the semester!! :)Beauty! Let you heart fall, Africa will catch it ;)
ReplyDeleteShelli, I am smiling so big as I read your blog. Seeing Africa through your eyes is more beautiful than I imagined it to be. I can't wait to find that special picture, you know the one you almost delete from your camera, so I can hang it on the wall in my house where the oar in the boat and the sun/clouds puddle picture's are, btw I love seeing peoples faces when I explain the puddle picture, they seem to love that it's not what they think it is, it's almost dizzying!
ReplyDeleteLove you sweet girl! xoxo