Here I am with internet in Annie's Cove, and after spending an hour just trying to upload photos to facebook, I am finally getting to writing the stories behind all of the photos I've been snapping this week. What a crazy few days it has been. With the rainy week we had when we arrived, I was not prepared for the rays of the African sun that would burn me this past weekend. I have to say, though, I certainly don't mind being a little burnt from the sun -- this IS Africa, after all!
All of that nonsense aside, the past few days have been some most adventurous times I can imagine. To start with, Addo Elephant National Park was just a dream come true. We drove through the enormous land reserve in a bumpy bumpy van, with our cameras and binoculars handy for sighting elephants, kudu, warthogs, jackals, zebra, ostrich, antelope, and so much more. For the first hour, our tour guide Geoff was assuring us that we would come across some elephants. I honestly was losing hope until at last, we turned the corner to find a line of cars stopped in their path, and a herd of about 15 elephants weaving slowly, calmly, through the vehicles to eat the vegetation and make their way. It was remarkable. For once in my life I witnessed the most majestic creature, in my opinion, completely in control of its surroundings. Without any humans guiding it, the elephants were thriving in their natural environment, completely happy and aware of their role on the reserve. The humans were actually becoming quite petrified around us.. Geoff was a source of serenity and told us that as long as we turned our engine off, the elephants would ignore us. We turned off our engine, as did most other cars around us, and simply listened to the very surprisingly soft footsteps of the elephants as they passed us by. If I had stuck my arm out of the window, I would have been able to graze their skin, they were that close. They paid us no attention and went on their way, as if they were giving us their blessing to visit their home and watch them. I will never forget how small, yet secure and peaceful I felt when I saw those elephants in front of me.
Of course, all of the other sightings of animals were awesome, too. Kudus, who both taste delicious to South Africans and make some very nice jewlery, grow more beautiful with age. Their horns grow another spiral with every couple of years they age, and the oldest males have these Dr.Seuss-looking twirly horns on their head. Quite interesting!
I have to pause right now to note that as I am writing this, in my head I am speaking with SOME sort of accent- anything but the natural American one I have. I guess this is a good time to speak about the culture of Annie's Cove and PE, and how I am constantly interacting with people who speak another language before English. I love it! I will be having a discussion with people, and all of a sudden, a few of them will break out in German. I must look crazy because I continue to attend to their conversation, even though I have NO idea of what they're talking about! They laugh and translate for me, but I really don't mind. I think all of the languages I hear are beautiful, and if it is only Tuesday of my first week and I am already thinking in a European accent, I'd say the chances of me walking away from here tri-lingual are pretty high!.. baby steps.
Annie's Cove is a wonderful place to live. You walk outside and just introduce yourself to anyone, and they will be friendly and kind and BAM! you've made a friend. It's the perfect place I can imagine myself being without anyone else from home, because in every instance I've walked up to a stranger or knocked on someone's door, I've been instantly welcomed into the group of people, invited to walk somewhere and felt as if I belong. I feel really lucky to be here with such an open and diverse group of people. After a while, you don't even realize that you're from a different country. Tonight, there were about 100 people in one house, from many different parts of the world. You're constantly identifying yourself as an American or from Massachusetts, and it's pretty cool. I've never felt so much ownership over being American before, because it's never been something different about me. Now that I am sometimes the only American in a group, people will turn to me and ask me what I would call certain terms or how Americans do certain things. You learn a lot about your culture once you are not in it anymore!
Orientation week is in progress, and today I took a tour with other students of Port Elizabeth. Our guide, Bradley, grew up in a township in PE, and became a teacher here. He knew everything there was to know about the city, the townships, the people and culture, and was really inspiring. He put such an emphasis on visitng the townships when we are here, and when we walked around one and met the people, I understood why. In the townships, areas that were created for the housing of poor "whites", "blacks", and "coloreds" were given government grants. The conditions still today are very poor, and a person typically only makes about 1500 rand a month. That is not a lot of money, especially when school for the children costs almost half of that. (note that I may not have the figures right, but that's the general idea.) The townships were split among the races to create a divide, so that the British settlers and upper class white people would not have their power challenged. Driving from first world PE to the townships is like crossing into a different universe. In PE, you almost feel as if you aren't in Africa at all. The beaches are pristine and there are guesthouses that have chandeliers and 5-star restaurants in them. In the townships, the houses are powered with solar energy, they are squished together in very tight quarters, they're made out of rusty tin and the schools are built with asbestos sheets. The grass is not very lush and there is trash everywhere because of the poor waste systems. People cook outside and may not even have a bathroom close by, so they have to use the 'bucket system.' People sell vegetables and fruits out of a stand in their yard to make money, and some start businesses like barber shops or shoe stores as well. As we drove through this area, everyone waved to us and yelled out things to us. I don't know why they were yelling to us, and quite frankly, expected them to be hostile to a huge double decker tour bus with "Hakuna ma tata" written in neon letters on the side, but no. They were waving and smiling, so we all did the same back. The simple gesture felt nice, but did not come close to helping me understand why it is that they live in these conditions, while I am so fortune enough to live in the conditions I have.
When we got out of the bus, we greeted some children who were walking along the street, and then went into the Red Location Museum. So much history to retell, all I have to say is that the significance of the South African history that everyone should know, goes unheard of in school. Horrifying stories were told of the injustices that occurred among the working class, and how many of the victims of the oppression are still living with haunted memories.
After the museum, we went into a community kitchen where three "Mamas" spoke to us. We didn't know it at the time, but this was the first time they had ever spoken in front of a group. They were beautiful women who had been unemployed, and now educated tourists about the culture of their townships. They consider everyone their children in those communities, and look after one another. They even called us their children, after us being there for only 5 minutes. This is how it is in the townships, they have a strong sense of community, and they form bonds with anyone who shows them care and love. They know all of their neighbors, and I spoke to one Mama about how I wished it was like that at home. I have had hallmates just a few doors down from me at school who I did not even speak to more than maybe once every now and then, if at all. These people are one family, and share their love with so many more people than I can imagine. It seems like such a better way to live, yet I can think of very few times in my life, besides among family and close friends, where I am in an environment where I consider everyone around me to be a loved one. With them, it is like this all the time.
It is hard to believe that I could continue to write for so much longer, and yet I've only been here one week. South Africa is beautiful, as chaotic and limitless as it is at times, and I am trying my best to absorb every bit of it whenever I step outside. I must say, it takes a lot out of you to take on this many cultures at once, but I've never had an experience like this before. Thank you for reading!
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