First Post from South Africa

Sunday, July 22, 2007

This is my first post – we’ll see how it goes. Please post comments if you have any, especially if you think this blog sucks. This is my first time doing this so it’ll probably be all over the place. Also, if there’s anything you’re curious about that you want me to write about/investigate please let me know and I will do my best to post something about it. Apologies for the jump start, but I’m not going to write an intro/transition post because I am lazy. Enjoy (or don’t and let me know why you didn’t!) :)

Today was easily the best day thus far, even though the day was spent with 350 international students (mostly American). We hopped into buses and were led on a brief tour of Cape Town (our first real excursion outside of the highly touristy Long street area), stopping at major landmarks and scenic lookouts. I usually loathe such tours, but today I was simply happy to no longer be talked at about program policies and regulations. We stopped in the township of Oceanview on the way to Cape Point to have lunch and interact with members of the community. The younger kids break danced for us and were very impressive (no Bc One, but impressive in person. For those of you interested in some unbelievable breakdancing check out the red bull bc one on youtube) – I wish I had brought my camera. Everyone in the community was extremely friendly and interested in why we came, but as is often the case on these trips, all the poor residents were black while all the visitors were white. It has been hard to ignore the white liberal guilt that dominates the mood on trips like these. I feel it in myself of course too, and I have yet to come to a decision as to whether it is better for these people and me to suppress this need to help (which seems to have many sources, none of which seem truly genuine) and rather to cultivate an unconditional willingness to help that rejects any self-gratification. What that looks or feels like I have no clue. I will try to tackle this in a future post, but for now I must leave it open.

The Cape is one of the most naturally gorgeous places I have ever been. We lucked out and got good weather, as you can see from the pictures. What the pictures don’t capture is the immensity of the place. Although the Cape isn’t actually that big (it’s no Grand Canyon) it sure feels big. It must be knowing that it’s the southwestern most point in Africa or that it’s where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet that make it feel so important (not to mention its historical significance to European trading ships.) I mentioned to a friend as we were hiking up to the vista point that the visit would definitely be a deeply spiritual experience had there not been so many tourists. *Reflecting on it a week later, despite the tourists, my experience at Cape Point was a uniquely powerful encounter with nature, one that I had not previously experienced and don’t anticipate experiencing for a while.*