This past week we spent in
Johannesburg and in Kruger National Park, a weeklong excursion out of the
normal routine we’ve fallen into. A lot
of our time in Jo'burg was spent visiting museum dealing with South Africa’s
violent history. It was sobering to see
the examples of these atrocities that we had only read about. The apartheid museum stuck out to me the
most, with the wall of propaganda posters and other artifacts from that era. What was particularly disturbing was the
videos of the violence in between 1990 and 1996, a time that I thought was
primarily peaceful, with Mandela having been released from prison. It was shocking to see the violence and
rioting after that time, as well as the increase in AWB movement during that
time period. This trip gave me a new
perspective, knowing more about apartheid now than I did during our
orientation, it was nice to be able to apply the history in places like Soweto
and Sharpeville, places I have been reading about for the last two months.
The
entire trip, as much as I enjoyed the history, and especially the safari, made
me realize how much I appreciate Cape Town.
Throughout the week I really felt homesick for a place that was not my
home, but I’m realizing has become one over the last two months. I had a discussion the other day with someone
talking about whether we can say we “lived” in Cape Town, or merely “studied”
there, and I don’t think I could feel the way I did hopping off the plane in
Cape Town and knowing that we would be heading back “home” if I was merely
“studying” here. I’ve been very grateful
for the opportunities given to me here but I think it took a week away to fully
appreciate what I have here in Cape Town.
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