Hello everyone! We are almost finished with our two weeks of orientation and I already feel like I have seen and learned so many new things. These past two weeks I feel like I have been in two different worlds on opposite ends of the spectrum. On one side, there is a beautiful ocean surrounded by creative shops and exotic animals, where the sun is constantly shining and the mountaintop is clear. At the other end, there are mile-long townships with inadequate clean water and children fighting over trash on huge piles of waste. It is hard to imagine that these two worlds are occupying the same area, but filled with such different lives.
For the most part, the first week of orientation was filled with tourist attractions. We attended our first South African barbeque, hosted our first braai, toured the waterfront and shopping markets, went to amazing jazz clubs such as Swingers, and overall settled nicely into our new homes. Although we drove past the townships and saw a lot of unemployed and homeless people begging for a rand, living in an amazing house and listening to various security briefings still made me feel like a tourist separated from that other world. Even after the shocking tour on Robben Island and learning about the immense mistreatment and torture towards political activists, it still did not hit me how little time has passed since apartheid ended and its devastating consequences of poverty and other current issues.
Last Sunday was the ultimate awakening of truly understanding South Africa with all its beauty and heartbreak. We attended a packed church in a hot little room that was filled with more spirit than I have ever experienced in my life. I am not a religious person; I never attended church and I was raised in a household that never mentioned a God. My past did not seem to matter and I was brought to tears when I saw how secure and grateful everybody in the church felt towards their beliefs. These people had more faith and spirit, despite of their pasts filled with discrimination and loss, and it made me feel guilty for ever complaining or being upset by anything. When we toured the townships shortly after and learned about the unemployment, poverty, poor health and education, and HIV crisis that these same people were facing, it was an extreme newsflash about how much I take for granted. Now that orientation week is coming to an end and I have experienced the beauty and witnessed the hardships of many South Africans, I am so eager to see what happens when we start our internships and classes.
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