On the weekend of the 25th, my friends and I made our way to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 18 of his 27 total years in prison. The stories of the camaraderie between both the political and other prisoners is astounding. They say that the structure for the post-apartheid modern South Africa was founded there in Robben Island when the prisoners would have their breaks. The political history of South Africa is absolutely incredible, and it's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that so many major changes have occurred within my lifetime.
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| Robben Island |
The city and campus are becoming more familiar to me, as are the accents and slang terms, which initially had me thoroughly confused:
"Bru": Used like "bro", as in "How's a goin' bru?"
"Dodgy": South African equivalent to "sketchy".
"Lekker": Still a bit confused about how this one is used, but generally in means that something is 'tasty' or 'awesome'.
"Howzit": A common greeting.
"Cheers": Used as a pleasant 'thank you' and/or 'goodbye'.
"Robot": One of my favorites. Here it means traffic light/stop light.
There are a few more, but those are some of the fun ones.
As much as I love the history, geography, plant and animal life, people, campus, and city itself, crime is never too far away. Although nothing too serious has happened to me or those close to me, crime has an overwhelming influence on so many aspects of peoples lives here. Even I, who haven't been a victim of any sort, still have to carefully plan when I go out, where I'm going, what path I'm taking, who I'm going with, how I'm getting there and back. This is something I have taken for granted living in Madison, where crime still exists, but to a much lesser extent. Despite everything that I admire about Cape Town, crime is a large enough factor that I find it hard to see myself staying here for an extended period of time in the future. Although it's possible that I'll get used to it, it's a real downer to have to keep those things in mind at all times.
That being said, I live in a very safe area, and as long as I'm smart about what I do, there is a slim chance anything would happen.
Ah, I just remembered, this past Thursday I had my first Township Debating League meeting. I was paired with my housemate Riam, (by chance) and an experienced debater named Dan. We were driven out to our school and met with five brilliant young students. Dan led us in some lighthearted debating exercises and we got to interact with the kids, listening to their opinions and arguments and offering praise and constructive criticism. We too were required to participate in front of the kids and Dan, which had me a bit shaken. To make a long story short, as part of the exercise, I had to convince everyone why the rapper Eminem would deserve to have the only parachute in a soon-to-crash plane that also held Barack Obama, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and a few others. So much fun. I'm looking forward to seeing them again this coming week.
At the end of this month is UCT's 9ish day fall break, so for the next few weeks, I'll be trying to find something adventurous to do. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to share.
On that note, I'll be signing off for the night.
Cheers,
-Andrew
Thanks for sharing, Andrew. I love reading about what you`re doing. What a hard position to be in debating about that one parachute. :)
ReplyDeleteHowzit Bru,
ReplyDeleteYou should have already known that lekker is "tasty" since it was a German (and Dutch is very similar to German) term. I recognize a few others from The Power of One.
I'm sorry to hear that crime is such an ever-present concern although I am glad to hear that you're taking whatever precautions are necessary.
In regard to your time off (and it's probably over already), I'd suggest shark diving (in a cage, of course). Then you can tell us whether or not it's something you'd like to do when we're there in June.
Take care of yourself and we'll look forward to reading your next post.
Love,
Dad