Homestay

I spent this past weekend doing a homestay with a family in Grabouw. As an Afrikaans community, the "gr" is pronounced combined with the Hebrew "ch" so it's like "Chgru-beau." Located an hour and a half southeast of Cape Town, it is an agricultural hub for the country. There are apple orchards everywhere so they are home to the extremely popular drink Appletiser, essentially sparkling apple juice. I chose this location for my one homestay opportunity in order to enjoy a unique rural experience. Also, I knew I would never get to visit this intriguing town, otherwise. When we arrived Friday, we were welcomed by an African dancing and singing performance at the primary school. They then brought all the host families and the students together for a collective community dinner. I sat down with, what I thought was, a married couple but I quickly learned that they had only met three weeks before. The man had just broken up with his wife/girlfriend a month ago, came to Grabouw, met this woman, and moved in with her. I shared several quite interesting conversations with him. He told me his "sob story" about how his father had worked for Heinz ketchup (but it used to have a different name, supposedly) and received a promotion to move to America. His father turned it down, not wanting to leave, and he's held it against him ever since. Also, he explained to me that to belong to a church here, which everyone does, you must pay at least one tenth of your income to the church every month, no matter how much your salary is. Because of this, priests earn significantly more money than any other professions, so unfortunately some locals go into the occupation solely for that benefit.

            After dinner, I met my “mom” and “dad!” As a 73 year old colored woman and a 77 year old black man, they have been married for 48 years. They have three sons in their 40’s, two of which are married and have children. The woman was adorable and immediately opened up her arms and heart, exclaiming “my child!” as I approached her. Throughout the weekend, I enjoyed myriad interesting conversations with them both, ranging from religion to the Apartheid and Shrek to Two and a Half Men. We painted mathematical murals on the walls of the local primary school, toured the preschool that my “mom” is principal of, and spent hours cooking Potjie, a South African delicacy cooked outside in a pot. To wrap it all up, they brought me to their Anglican church on Sunday, which provided a great insight into their strong sense of a religious community. I experienced my first and probably last Communion, being force-fed the cracker and “Jesus’ blood.” Mountains beautifully surrounded the town everywhere you looked and I truly felt a tug as I pulled away at the end of the weekend. I am so glad I brought them a pie with a thank you note and I look forward to receiving a birthday phone call from them on Wednesday, as promised. As each day here goes by, not wasted for one second, I have gained a deeper and more genuine perception into the daily life of not just a local Cape Townian, but a local South African, and I am so thankful for that.

Visitors!

I apologize for my lack of blogging lately; it is because I have been so lucky to receive so many visitors!

On March 24^th Danny arrived! We shared an unbelievable week together which I will briefly touch on. We toured the city, including the Central Business District, Long Street, and Greenmarket Square, climbed Table Mountain, ate at the famous Bombay Bicycle Club, explored Old Biscuit Mill (where he bought a beautiful wooden watch!), toured the township Langa, and partied at Shimmy’s Beach Club. That was just the first two days! We also went horseback riding on the beach, ate at (also) the famous Mzoli’s, rode a champagne sunset cruise, toured a vineyard with wine tasting, slept at the incredible Drakenstein Lion Sanctuary, went kloofing, took a cooking class in Bo-Kaap, wandered through Kirstenbosch Gardens, and saw the Of Monsters and Men concert! At Drakenstein Lion Sanctuary we slept amongst 32 extraordinary lions, hearing them roar all night and forming such unique connection with each dominating beast. Kloofing is South African canyoning so we abseiled (repelled) down canyons and waterfalls, it was awesome! I am so unbelievably happy that he had the opportunity to not only see me here, but to get to experience with me how life-changing this country can be.

Next, my parents visited! We also went to Old Biscuit Mill and hiked Table Mountain but then enjoyed the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, very lovely. We spent the entire next day driving along the coast to Cape Point, reaching the Cape of Good Hope. Starting in the 1600’s, in order for traders to travel between Europe and Asia, they sailed ships around the entire continent of Africa. The Cape of Good Hope served as an approximate halfway point for their journey, providing them a venue to restock resources and gain “good hope” for the rest of their venture. It was quite a scenic drive there, filled with beautiful views, playing with penguins, eating along the harbor, and great conversation. We ended the day at the famous Nobu, which I believe exceeded Daddy’s previous experience at the Nobu in Las Vegas. We also enjoyed wine tasting at three different vineyards amongst the winelands in Stellenbosch, toured Robben Island and the V&A Waterfront, and took all my friends out to dinner to shmooze and bond. The next highlight was the shark cage diving! I have been counting down for months to get to dive into this with daddy and it was even more exciting when mommy spontaneously decided to too! It was riveting getting to witness great white sharks so close up. I then got to show them around my gorgeous University of Cape Town campus as well as Kirstenbosch Gardens, where we shared a tree climbing-filled picnic. Lastly, the safari!!! During our three-day safari, we saw the Big Five within the first hour! The Big Five acquired their label because they used to be the five most hunted animals in South Africa: elephants, lions, leopards, rhino, water buffalo. We also saw giraffes, monkeys, impalas, nyalas, warthogs, hyenas, various birds and bugs, and more. Going on a safari was absolutely entrancing and I highly recommend it to every person I know. Clearly, it was an astonishing seventeen days straight with visitors and I am so ecstatic to have enough memories (and pictures!) to last a lifetime.

Township Tour

            In my previous blog post about the campus protests, I mentioned townships. Essentially, they are ghettos of Cape Town where residents live, in primarily overly occupied shacks. On March 6^th, I did my first tour of Langa. Led by a local, the tour consisted of walking through their shacks and meeting locals. One old woman who I spoke with invited me into her approximately 6x6ft bedroom. There were three twin beds squished into it, with no space for anything else, and all their belongings on shelves above their beds. She explained to me that she shares her bed with two other people, three people share the second bed, and four people in the last bed. Ten people share that tiny room together.

            Interestingly though, that is not what the tour is about. They do not open up their homes to gain pity from the more well off, but to provide insight into their culture. The men who I spoke with beamed with such pride about their lives growing up in Langa, centered and focused around family. They do not view a difference between culture and religion, or even daily life and religion, it is all so thoroughly intertwined. They shared with us some of their traditional customs.

An entire part of their territory is gated off and when a boy turns sixteen, he goes to the other side of the land for about five weeks. The family invests all of their money into an elaborate celebration for him, filled with sacrificing animals and drinking alcohol. The boy is then circumcised, without any anesthesia or medication, and spends the next months engaging in secret tasks. They could not share with us the details of his time on the other side because they view it as sacred ritual. Once he returns, he is considered a man and must acquire all new belongings, clothing, and even a new bed. He is then ready to marry, but he can wait if he wants; it is common for men to wait until their 30’s to marry. Girls in Langa also have a ritual at age sixteen but since our tour guides were men, they were unaware of them because only women can know. Customs like this, though they seem so outrageous to us, show how important of a role history plays in the life of South Africans. In many cases, even if a healthier or safer option is now available in modern day life, they remain true to and stick to the traditions of their ancestors.

            Touring Langa proved to be a pertinent part of my experience in South Africa because the townships compose a significant percentage of the national population. They receive substantial financial pension from the government yet still acquire such minimal possessions for themselves. Their simple, yet of course restricting, lifestyles can be viewed as depressing, but are truly just inspiring.