Homecoming

I’m at a loss as to where to start. I’ve collected at least six months’ worth of borderline unbelievable stories and adventures, ideas and conversations, in just my first few days in South Africa. I’m very, very happy.

Somewhat fittingly, my very first experience in South Africa was paying a bribe at the Johannesburg airport in order to get the overweight baggage fee for my luggage waived. Carla, I must say, the hour and a half I spent there did nothing for my opinion of the place. My final flight was to Port Elizabeth, a little city situated on the Indian Ocean, where the sun was beaming down, and the atmosphere was much more welcoming. This is not to say that all is well in Port Elizabeth (PE) – from the window of the plane, I had seen the properties with swimming pools neighbouring primitive, informal settlements, just like I’ve always read about. I instantly regained my confidence that this is where I want to be.

I was retrieved at the airport by the co-ordinator of the Rhodes International Summer School. Our hour-long drive (on the “wrong” side of the road) was through dramatic, untouched, and hilly landscape, which rivalled Antarctica for sheer beauty. And it was amongst that beauty that I spent four days getting to know the country’s elephants, giraffes, rhinos, monkeys, and zebras, as well as the other students in the program. I particularly bonded with my four American housemates and our two South African rangers. We spent our evenings on illicit midnight lion hunts – sometimes on foot, sometimes on water – and drinking home brewed African beer with our Xhosa neighbours, who were happy to share with us the details of their cultural practices. We were just one day late for a ritual cattle slaughtering, which – honestly – I would have been very interested in attending. I feel unbelievably lucky to have had all these experiences, especially so early into my venture.

As an IDS student, what I’m most interested in observing in South Africa are the legacies of apartheid in terms of wealth disparity and race relations and, more generally, what it means to live in a developing country. I also hope to learn about how people here envision “development” and what it is that they would value in it. Fortunately for me, these aren’t issues that you could avoid if you tried. For example, the Barrie-sized city that I’m currently staying in, Grahamstown, retains its middle-class city centre, within full view of an impoverished slum on the hill at the edge of town. The Grahamstown middle class is no longer exclusively white, but geographically speaking, it is still an apartheid-era town. It’s outrageous.

Positively, I’d say that race relations are far better than I had anticipated. I suppose I'd expected to see some open hostility between people of different backgrounds, given the violent history of the country. But for the most part, white and black people interact in restaurants, bars, and on campus very easily and naturally. The diversity is everywhere and it's quite lovely.

I’ve had some very enlightening conversations with South Africans about these topics since my arrival. Most of the people that I’ve chatted with so far are my age, meaning that apartheid is only a distant childhood memory. I talked with Merko, one of the young white rangers on the game reserve, about affirmative action, which he explained that he opposes, because he as an individual had nothing to do with apartheid, and so should not have to suffer for the past wrongs and be passed over for jobs because of his race and gender. I still feel that the collective good is more important at this point in the country’s history, but he did successfully give me a sense of how frustrating and confusing it must be, at the individual level, for your homeland to undergo a revolution. For example, the national holidays that he celebrated growing up have been “taken away” and the names of cities that everyone is familiar with have been changed to reflect the new era. There’s lots and lots to think about.

Another fascinating conversation happened at school after an introductory lesson on South African history. I was chatting with a new friend of mine, a white South African, and telling her how I could never get bored of the history of her country, even though I knew everything that was detailed in the lecture. Shockingly, she told me that much of the history lesson was, in fact, new to her. When she was in elementary and high school, the apartheid-era textbooks which detailed a very white-biased version of South African history, had not yet been replaced by post-apartheid textbooks. As a university student, she had not learned the history of her country as thoroughly as it is taught overseas. I can see this being very problematic for post-apartheid society. Sigh.

I can’t claim to be experiencing firsthand the typical living conditions in a developing country - our accommodations at Rhodes University are not fully heated, but just fine – and it’s in fact the smallest things that hint to me where I am. Like the posters encouraging everyone to be tested for HIV, stop signs instead of traffic lights, and how it’s hard to find laundry detergent for washing machines – most of it is soap for hand washing in a basin. What is actually intensely frustrating for me is the necessity of walking in groups in order to go out. I’m generally quite independent and used to be able to go where I want, when I want, and without fear of having my wallet or camera taken.

It is, of course, totally worth it. I am so thrilled to be here.

Over the next few days, Grahamstown will be host to the National Arts Festival and I’ll be happily attending South African plays and films and exploring the town more, in addition to getting some course work done.

An elephant makes his way past our jeep.


Stalking a giraffe on foot.


Mother and young white rhino.

What's My Line? Part I

This time next week, I’ll be en route to South Africa, ideally downing horse tranquilizers to ease the pain of the multiple flights and layovers. To my surprise, I’m feeling pretty calm about the fact that I’m just a week away from a trip – nay, the trip – that I’ve wanted since elementary school, when I pronounced “apartheid” “a-party.” Maybe the decade of mental preparation and planning helped.

But the lead-up to this point hasn’t all been calm. At the end of May, I experienced a near-meltdown at the South African Consulate in Toronto, when I collapsed into the nearest armchair, finally petrified by the realization that I was requesting to depart for a foreign country, far away in the developing world, for over six months. It took me about ten minutes to get back up and submit my application for a study permit. That incident aside, I’ve mostly been excited – and comfortable with the knowledge that this is exactly what I want to be doing. South Africa fascinates me. Living there is a lifelong dream of mine, as well as an opportunity to test out the world of International Development – why else did I study it in school for the past four years?

Writing always helps me sort out my thoughts, and a couple things that I want to better understand before I leave for South Africa are my fears and expectations for the trip.

Undoubtedly, the thing that most unnerves me are issues of personal safety. I’m going to have to recognize and adapt to new behavioural norms, such as not going out alone after dark, but yet not succumb to paranoia and miss out on my entire time abroad. I’m fully aware that I may have my wallet stolen, that I won’t be able to go jogging at night, and that I’ll have to be conscious of being flashy with Natalie (my laptop), my cell phone, and jewellery. I’m sure that there’s more to learn beyond those precautions, but they’re my starting point.

I’m also apprehensive about being a foreigner, especially when my outsider status is compounded with being an ethnic and linguistic minority. Being a foreigner can be a ton of fun when people are interested in you, but it can also be a burden when you’re trying to fit in with everyone else.

Another concern, this one a little odd: I’ve been infatuated with South Africa for years – what if I arrive and it turns out that I've built it up too much in my mind, and it isn't all that special a place afterall? What if I can’t find other people who are equally fascinated by its history, politics, and economic development struggles? I’ll be so disappointed.

I know that I will feel homesick from time to time, especially for my family and friends during the holidays. It will be a challenge to constantly remember how lucky I am to have this time in South Africa, and that I’ll be able to return to all the amenities and comforts of home, like driving Bella and listening to country music on the radio, quite soon enough.

If by acknowledging these concerns, I can confront them, then that’s productive…

As I mentioned earlier, one of my goals for this time abroad is to assess whether or not I am cut out for the world of International Development. The best indicators of this will be how I enjoy the fieldwork and the volunteer work that I have planned.

My second goal: In the end, I want to better understand the culture, the people, and the challenges the country faces, so that when I return to Canada, I’ll have carved out another little piece of home.

Brief Overview of my Plans:

June 22-July 21: International Summer School at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape (including some regional travelling and fieldwork)

July 21-Dec 6: Semester at the University of Cape Town in Cape Town, Western Cape (including some regional travelling and volunteer work)

Dec 6 - Jan 8: Open for discussion