An Update on School

Since my last post I have been … busy. I’ve been in and out of faculty offices, getting used to changing venues, dressing in layers for the schizophrenic weather, joining clubs, meeting new people, attending art festivals, meeting with non-profits, climbing mountains, adopting kittens, walking up and down the million flights of stairs on campus, and reading until my eyes cross.

-Let me air that out a little bit-

Friday the 13th was the first day of school, which was uneventful and disappointing. None of my classes were actually held on Friday, but I did get to pick up one of my course readers and sink my teeth into a little bit of academic material before our first class. From where I live it takes about 25 or 30 minutes to walk all the way to upper campus (sweating and panting), or 6 minutes to the jammie, a 3 minute ride up to campus, and 5 more minutes of walking to my building. I ALWAYS walk down though (mostly because I’m afraid to take the wrong jammie and end up on a different campus). I went on a run up and down campus with Laura yesterday, and I don’t think I’ll ever do that again. But campus is beautiful with Table Mountain as a backdrop, and I’ve already found a cozy place in the library where I can hermit between classes. I’ve also found a very popular Indian lady that sells delicious vegan-friendly food and sweets on campus and I visit her every day. We’re good friends – I’m already a regular.

On Sunday afternoon Mindy and I met three guys from Congo, Tanguy, David, and Angel, and after they insisted on walking our groceries home for us (they turned out to be our neighbors), we invited them over for dinner. Tanguy is very deep and likes to ask huge and unanswerable questions like “Do you think that youth today really understand what love is?” which, it turns out, is even more difficult to discuss through the French-English language barrier. Angel is very fun-loving and outgoing and aspires to live in New York. He asked Mindy and I to show him all of our photos from the U.S. and says that he loves my family, and thinks that dad looks Lebanese (??). And then there’s David, who spoke almost no English and giggled at his end of the table all night when we would try to involve him in the conversation. We ended the evening around 8pm, just in time to relax and unwind before the next school day – it was great to meet some people who were as sick of the night scene as we were.

On Monday the 16th I had my first classes, and I LOVE them. I have quite a heavy load, but I’m excited about it. I am taking Medical Anthropology (a second year course and my favorite), Anthropology through Ethnography (a third year course), Ethnographic Approaches to Research (a post-graduate level month-long module through March), and a post-graduate level independent research project in Socio-Cultural Anthropology. I have been VERY busy already, and haven’t even started my March class or much of my independent research. I have been meeting with the head of department in Anthropology frequently about my project, and today we’ve made it official that she’ll be my advisor. Inspired by my classes and the unique history of South Africa, I will be studying South African youth and HIV/AIDS education through the arts.

Last weekend Mindy and I (we’re getting to be great friends!) went with Angel and Tanguy to watch some performances around town. The Spier Arts Festival - Infecting the City presented by the Africa Centre is a group of outdoor performances in random public locations, all surrounding this year’s theme of “Home Affairs.” These performances are in response to the xenophobic violence that took place throughout South Africa in May of 2008. Sixty-four immigrants were murdered, many more were beaten or raped, homes and businesses were destroyed, and thousands of immigrants fled the country. One of the most famous and horrific images of the media coverage is of a man on his hands and knees, completely engulfed in flames, and this was the image they chose to represent the festival. We watched four amazing performances all over downtown, but my absolute favorite was one performed in the water fountain in a roundabout in the center of the city. It was beautifully choreographed, with about 30 men and women splashing through the fountains, and it had a happier ending than the depth of the material would suggest. It’s amazing to think that not more than 15 years ago, this type of public protest could get you imprisoned or killed. If you’re intrigued, the website is www.infectingthecity.com.

When I first got here I contacted a non-profit organization here called My Africa Jam. They call themselves a youth empowerment organization and lead events for thousands of impoverished high school aged youth in a township near Cape Town. They have several programs within the organization, including an afterschool theatre arts program, and an HIV/AIDS awareness theatre production put on by Africa Jam staff that they tour around different schools (www.myafricajam.org for more information). We met yesterday and there’s a lot of excitement on both ends. They’re excited to learn from my experience teaching theatre workshops and being in a touring social justice theatre company and want me to train their staff. They were also very excited about my ideas for theatre education techniques (thank you Jan Mandell!). I am pumped that I will have the opportunity to do some real ethnographic research that could benefit their curriculum. It’s a win-win and we feel like it’s destiny that we found each other (they’re also based out of MN – small world). I will be volunteering with them on the weekends as assistant to the theatre youth group leader and I’ll be starting as soon as we can figure out the logistics (Kayalitsha is quite the trip by public transport).

Mindy and I also joined the Mountain and Ski Club at UCT, and our first event was last Wednesday: a sundown climb up Lion’s Head. It was about 10 times easier than climbing table mountain, but unfortunately when we got to the top we only got about 1/10th of the view. It was so foggy that we couldn’t see the trees 25 feet in front of you, let alone the sunset. Our hike down, therefore, was very dark (usually they’re guided by the full moon), but we made it. I’m looking forward to our next adventure, rock climbing this Friday!

Well, this week has been challenging and it will only get busier. I’m disadvantaged in that I am taking classes simultaneously that usually are taken in a strict order, and I am doing my research backwards (and packed into a semester instead of a full year). The good news is that I’m in a beautiful country in a new educational setting that will teach me new ways to learn - and what better place to study Anthropology than in South Africa where I am constantly (although subtly) adjusting to a new culture. I feel truly lucky to be here. Talk to you soon.

Love,
Emily

Sorry, no photos this time - haven't taken any in a while

PS – I’m adopting my landlord’s kitty for the semester. Her name is Nellie Mandellie and she is very naughty. She likes to bite my ankles when I’m walking and attack my pencil when I’m trying to study. I really like when she falls asleep on her back with my skin or clothes between her teeth.


The best pic I could get of a kitty that can't sit still