So I guess I'm
going to try this blog - let's see how it goes. I don't really know where
to start. Should I start with the moment I realised I wanted to go to
Cape Town? The day in January I found out I was accepted to the project centre,
while simultaneously learning that my girlfriend, Lena, would be going to India
in A Term? The awkward meet and greets in D Term when I began to doubt
how well I would do in Cape Town with these people I barely knew? The
summer cultural assignments I put on the back of my mind while I shared the
best summer of my life with Lena? The 6 hour drive to see her for 3 hours
before she left? The pit stop I took on the ride back to Worcester when I
happened to check my email and discover that I was not in fact on the project I
really wanted but on the project that seemed cursed from the start?
Should I talk about the infamy that is ID 2050, through which I grew to love my
project, my partners, and gave a killer presentation to wrap it all up?
(Viewable
here – I’m on the WaSH Team)
At each of
these moments, Africa became more and more a reality, yet the fact that I am
writing this in Africa is still beyond my contemplation. I guess I'll
start last week, when I bid my friends and family farewell, picked up Lena from
the airport and shared a lovely few days with her and her father. And
then before I knew it, they were dropping me off at JFK International and I was
on my own.
The panic set in, my heart heavy with goodbyes. I
checked my bag, and found my feet leading me toward the Catholic Chapel in the
airport. This was my first international flight, and first time
experiencing the wonder of airport chapels. A sign on the door read that
there was no Mass that day, yet the silence of the sacred space was exactly
what I needed to relieve my frustrations and find comfort and peace in the
Lord. I lit three candles: one for my family, one for my girlfriend, and
one for myself. Though I'm sure the Chaplin will reset the electric
candles soon, I like to think of those three lamps keeping vigil until I return,
with my and the Blessed Mother's prayers lighting my way on this journey.
With renewed
strength, I found my way through security and to the gate where I eventually
met up with Zach, a fellow student in the project centre and my traveling
companion. Together, we began the 15 hours to Johannesburg. Though
a long flight, the time did not drag as much as I feared. I thankfully
was able to sleep for about 5 hours and passed the other 10 listening to music
and watching movies (Invictus and The Internship. Both pretty good, the
latter one surprisingly so). There was a bit of turbulence throughout the
flight, but overall the trip was fine.
We arrived in "Joburg"
and found our way to our next flight with the help of two friendly gentlemen
who graciously insisted on carrying our bags for a mere 20 US dollars
apiece. Unfortunately, perhaps it was something I ate on the flight, or 15
hours of unnoticed motion sickness catching up with me, but I started to feel
rather ill. I had mild indigestion and contemplated vomiting in the
airport toilet. After a few minutes and a few prayers, I decided I did
not need to do so, and boarded my next flight for Cape Town. I slept for
the entirety of this flight and felt much better.
And before I
knew it, we were in the Cape Town airport. We retrieved our luggage,
found our driver, and made the 20 minute drive to our lodge. I was just
beginning to admire how similar the city was to America (except for driving on
the opposite side of the road) when we passed an informal settlement on the
outskirts of the airport. Cue the culture shock.
We got to the
lodge, and shortly after joined a small group of people going to the V&A
Watefront to get Rand (South African currency) and phones. I’m really
grateful for the students who arrived earlier and had already bought phones,
because I still don’t understand the plan I bought. (I think I got 30 min of calls for 55 Rand or
$5.50) We hung out at the waterfront for
a little bit, and had a lot of fun! We
saw some good old African acappella, which was really cool.
For dinner, our
advisors took us to Gold: Opulent African Cuisine (paid for by our project
centre fees apparently). The place was
really awesome! We received a taste of
cuisine from various parts of Africa, were entertained by live performers, and
even learned how to drum some African beats.
I realize this is
very detailed, and don’t expect such a detailed description every day, if ever
again. For days we will be working on
site, we will be posting reflections to the project centre website, I think
viewable here, though we will piloting a newer version of the website which
might have a different URL
Until next time, Usale ngoxolo! (Goodbye in Xhosa)
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