down to the wire

Hello all. I think this may end up being my last actually thought out blog post from South Africa. I really only have 3 more days here (which is INSANE) and one of those days, Thursday, I have a final in the middle of the day. Let’s see…

Last week after I wrote, I hung out with my housemates and we had some drinks before going to a club in Claremont called 91 on Main or Club 91, something like that. It only recently opened which is why I hadn’t heard of it until which was definitely too bad, it was really nice; had great music, lots of areas to sit and relax, drinks weren’t too expensive, what more could you ask for? It was a lot of fun being out with them too because early the next day half of them left to go traveling since they’re all done with finals and they won’t be back until this Thursday. So our house has been half empty the past few days which is kind of sad but I guess it’s all just leading up to this Friday but let’s not talk about that yet.

On Friday night I ended up staying in with the people left in the house and we baked cookies. After just a slight overlook with how runny the dough was so that our first batch flattened out and just covered the pan, we added more flour and tried it again. Those came out good and what had covered the pan we scraped off and was actually pretty good too. So that was a fun night, funny how that’s what I spent my last Friday night in Cape Town doing.

I had talked to Mel about going to the Old Biscuit Mill on Saturday and I lucked out because she wanted to go, I didn’t want to go to Woodstock by myself, it’s a bit of a shady area. I had heard a lot about the mill and had wanted to go for a while but it just never worked out. Since it was our last Saturday I really wanted to go and I’m so glad we did, it was great. The mill is split up into sections, there are boutiques and art gallery kind of places where there are fancy and expensive brand name clothes, jewelry, bags, etc. My favorite section though was an area that was a permanent tent-like structure packed with food venders. They pretty much all had samples and there was so much of everything – fresh organic fruits and veggies, bread, cheese, dips, desserts, waffles, sushi, tea, honey, and on and on. We went around and tried samples of everything we were allowed to and then got hummus and pita for a snack. I almost wish every day until we leave was Saturday (that’s the only day the mill is open) so we could go back but at least I did get to go once.

After that, I went with Mel back to her bf place where we had the hummus and pita, watched TV, listened to music, and just talked. We left in the late afternoon to go back to our respective living places but went back there for dinner. He made an African dish of mostly beans and fried plantains with some rice too. Simple but really yummy. We were there for a while just hanging out and talking about lots of things including HIV/AIDS, interracial couples, and other things. It was great to be able to have an intimate conversation about these topics between the 3 of us all being different people with different experiences. Eventually they went out to a club while dropping me off at my house on the way. The rest of the night I ended up on Faith's bedroom floor talking for around 2 hours about lots of different things which was an enjoyable little spurt of bonding.

Sunday morning I decided to go to Faith’s church with her which was a great experience as always. The beauty of the music and faith of everyone there still moves me and I’m glad I had the opportunity to be able to take part in something that holds such a heavy weight in African society. Religion is a big deal for most Africans that I’ve encountered and I can understand why having gone to their services. It is very unfortunate that I didn’t get the opportunity to go to a synagogue except for that Passover Seder back in April. There are a couple reasons for this but the main one is that it is unwise to travel on your own at night in Cape Town and I didn’t want to go to a Saturday service. There were many times where I tried to get together with some people to go to a Friday night service but between timing and my general insecurities, it always fell through and I didn’t pursue it which I sincerely regret. It was something that I had been really excited to experience while I was here.

I had hoped that joining the Jewish organization on campus would help me to get in touch with the Jewish students at UCT but for the semester it ended up doing – literally – nothing. All the activities I heard they were hosting were at another university in Jo’burg. Though the fact that there is a kosher cafeteria on campus says that there is obviously enough people that needed it so that it was created, the Jewish student body is completely immersed in the rest of the students. Many people don’t even know about the existence of the Jewish cafeteria and if they do, they often don’t know where it is but only that it exists.

My professor for A History of Antisemitism also wrote a book on antisemitism in South Africa. We didn’t really elaborate on the topic in class but from what I understand, there was a lot of prejudice against Jews for a long time, some of it still carrying over to today. It’s a topic I hope to look into more and I’m disappointed in myself for not taking a more pro-active role in finding out more about the community while I’m here. I definitely take berg’s active Jewish student body for granted in that it is so easy to get involved; I am truly looking forward to returning to that community in the fall.

Since then I have been spending time trying to see people, doing a lot of personal reflection, slowly starting to pack, and occasional studying haha. While I don’t mean to seem like a complete slacker, I could get a 3 and still pass the class (that’s a 3% on the final). So I guess I just don’t have that much motivation. I did exceptionally well in both my seminars (an 81 in Sex, Soaps, and Social Change and a 77 in Branding which are A/A+ grades) which counted for 50% of each of my Comm classes.

One thing I am certain of is that berg is the perfect school for me. UCT has very different teaching and grading techniques and combining that with the large, impersonal lecture classes where I don’t feel inspired to contribute, I know that the small, liberal arts school was definitely the right choice for me. I felt insignificant in the classes where we would have different lecturers every few weeks who would simply talk at us for 45 minutes before disappearing and being extremely hard for me to get in touch with, even via e-mail. I’m sure that many people like/are used to this kind of an education and I’m not saying that it’s bad, it just doesn’t work well with me and how I enjoy learning. There are probably people on my program who didn’t have these issues, but I’m just looking at it from my standpoint.

The next few days will be mostly studying, packing, going around Cape Town, and saying goodbyes. To everyone who actually spent the time to follow my South Africa “adventure”, it really meant a lot to me. Especially as I struggled with not having my family and friends here with me, it was so wonderful to know that no matter where I am in the world, there are people who care about me. So I thank you all very much for that. I have been getting slowly more and more bummed about leaving this place but knowing that I am going home to all of you makes it a little easier. I have begun to think about the routine I fell into here and how strange it will be to go back to an old routine that should feel familiar but will be changed mostly because I have been changed.

Of one thing I am certain and it’s that I have been changed. Even though I don’t necessarily feel it right now, I know that I have, it was inevitable. Granted, my personality, values, and beliefs haven’t changed, but being here in this place for 4.5 months has given me new insight to just a corner of the world and even though technology is shrinking the world (i.e. you’re reading something that I’m writing in the early evening in Cape Town, South Africa while you are who knows where else in the world and what time it is) I feel that the world is actually even bigger than I thought before. There’s so much more to see and learn about and though I have no idea where my future will take me, I only hope that I will be able to go to other places and learn about their life and culture and maybe even come back to Cape Town again in my life.

All the best,
Sarah