July in South Africa: Some Food for Thought at the University of the Western Cape and...Mama Africa

Tuesday was pretty heavy, with a trip to Robben Island. Yesterday, other than the visit to Langa was pretty light- a chance to just enjoy the beautiful surroundings. Today was a good combination of the two and a good near-end to our journey here in Cape Town.

Started with a discussion at the University of the Western Cape, one of 23 universities in South Africa and historically, one that welcomed only "coloureds" in South Africa. While we don't use that word at home, here it is used fairly often, describing people of mixed race that were discriminated against during the era of apartheid.

We got a chance to meet and discuss issues affecting UWC and other higher education institutions with staff and students alike. It was really interesting!

Got to hear about issues of equity and access, which I learned a bit about last summer in a class at NYU. Discussed the tension between following in the path of your family and breaking out on your own- or the values of individualism and the traditional notion of "ubuntu." Interesting to see that the same tensions like that and the idea of autonomy and government control still exist wherever you go. At the same time, we discussed the pressure that students face, in NY due to high stakes testing and here due to similar "matric" exams. Didn't realize that the course of study here for undergraduate ed. is 3 years, which can be direct medical or law school should you choose that path. Makes graduating high school even more stressful, as students have important decisions to make about what path to follow before they even begin study at the university level.

Got to hear about the issues that their student body faces, with a large proportion of students not having an official residence, and rather, illegally squatting with friends in their rooms. Additionally, many of the students don't have regular access to meals, which the school doesn't necessarily provide for them. Hearing stories like this makes me realize how truly resilient the people that make it through a higher ed program of study despite these obstacles really are. Just to illustrate it even more, with 11 official languages in South Africa (and many more spoken throughout the country), our Professor mentioned today that many students experience school in four different languages throughout their lifetime. Being able to process college level instruction and reading materials in a non-native language is astounding to me. The respect I have for these students grew, if that was even possible.

Truly an eye opening experience.

We got to hear about residential life at the school and the responsiveness of the reslife staff to the needs of their students. If only governments could be as equally responsive to the needs of their citizens- and at the same pace!

It was a good opportunity to see a traditional higher ed setting, while also seeing yesterday the way children are able to learn trades and crafts should they choose to follow that path.

Afterwards, we headed back to our hotel to regroup. Walked down to the Waterfront and shopped around a bit.

V & A Waterfront

Sunset at Table Mountain

On my walk, I met a group of people that work at a local restaurant on the waterfront. They had traditional paint on their face and offered to paint me too. They did, see below, and all the while we had a nice chat about life here, life in NYC, and Obama's visit earlier this week. Turns out, they are big fans. It was such a random but nice moment, just chatting and getting to know some of the locals. I'm sure there will be more moments like that as we will be in Pretoria for the next three weeks starting tomorrow.

After the trip to the waterfront, we headed out to a group dinner to celebrate the 4th of July at Mama Africa. Dinner consisted of (fried dough, samosas, potato salad, snoeke pate--I sat that one out!-- and for the vegetarian entree a grilled butternut squash stuffed with creamed spinach and potatoes and topped with cheese. Amazing. Overall, great food, wine, great live music (which turns out is quite participatory, with classmates trying their hands at the instruments), and great company. Life is tough!

Goodnight, Cape Town! Pretoria has some pretty big shoes to fill.

Maura

And now some more of my favorites from yesterday's trip- just uploaded from camera!