Blog 2: Settling In

I am approaching the two week mark of being in the city of Cape Town, and I can say that my feelings have certainly changed from my last blog post. I'm feeling a bit more comfortable, a bit more settled in, and it has become easier to get used to living in this place. There are still things that I miss about home, but these things are no longer at the forefront of my mind. Instead I am learning to feel intrigued about every aspect of this new place and new culture I must become familiar with, and I am excited to see what the next few weeks have in store.

I think one of the biggest things that is difficult for me is knowing so little about the actual history of this place. I like to think that I knew more about South Africa than the average person when I went into this semester, but I still have so little idea of everything that has happened to the people here and even how recent some of the tragic history really is. It is so interesting to be in Africa, to see things such as one-room houses made out of tin, and segregation more intense than anything I have ever seen in the states, but every time I see something I find my mind grasping at straws, relying only on a sense of the word “Africans” and pictures I have created in my imagination. I want to know why and how some of the things in South Africa happened the way that they did, and I want to know the relationship between this country and plethora of other countries sharing this continent. I want to know why colored people (people of mixed-race), typically don't look anything like me (I am mixed-race). I want to know how deep the segregation really does still go in the mind of native South Africans, and if seeing only people of the same race together is or is not exaggerated in my mind.

The other day I was speaking with a mentor from ISA (the program through which I am studying) and he began speaking about Hout Bay, a place only about a thirty minute drive from where I am living, and how it had recently declared itself independent from South Africa in order to continue using the racial segregation laws. Hout Bay is one of the most beautiful places I have seen so far in this country, but to think that it is a place still abiding by archaic laws, and to think that there are still people in this country who believe in such racist ideals makes me feel very strange. I wouldn't say it turns my stomach—I have such a difficult time believing that this information is even true—I just don't know what to feel. It is information I am trying to process with such a limited understanding of this foreign place.
Although the process of registering for classes is more complicated and difficult than any experience I have had so far at Loyola, and although after two weeks I still do not know exactly what classes I will be taking, I am looking forward to the start of school. I want to learn about this country in the words of people who actually live here, who have actually lived South Africa. Being part sociology major, I find it so fascinating to think about all the things the people here think about and use to understand this world; although I get the idea that most South  Africans hate Americans I would truly like to know what their  ideas about who we are actually are. I can definitely understand the stereotypes and how these ideas of Americans would paint a negative picture of our culture, but I am very curious to understand their ideas of themselves compared to us Americans. After all, we have a somewhat similar history of segregation to South Africa, and when compared I think it would be interesting to examine the differences between what happened to them and what happened to us. Perhaps because they are in a different stage of development in their country comparison would be difficult but I really just would like to know what the South Africans think about segregation in their own country compared to the extreme decrease in segregation in the United States.
I think the biggest change between last week and this week is my gratitude and appreciation for this opportunity. Other than the absolute raw beauty of this country, I am so grateful to be able to expand my mind to such new horizons, even though it has been difficult. I hope that at my next blog post, I will have learned something new and fascination about this country’s rich history that I can share.