Larissa's "spring break" in South Africa

For our spring break in South Africa we took a trip up to Johannesburg where we were able to visit some of the most important and informative museums in the country.  We started off the week by visiting the Hector Pieterson Museum where I learned the gut-wrenching story of young boys and girls who were killed while protesting having to switch to the “white language” of Afrikaans in school and Bantu education.  One of the things that stuck out most to me was the photo of the man running with the bloody and limp body of Hector Pieterson in his arms, along side Hector’s sister who is screaming out in disbelief beside her baby brothers dead body.  Such a powerful image to see people so young putting in such an effort, risking their lives, to stand for their beliefs and their rights in a world where they were being forced down into undeserved silence. 

We also got to tour the Apartheid Museum where there was a huge Nelson Mandela exhibit going on.  Obviously we hear about Nelson Mandela all the time, but this exhibit really offered another perspective on not only what an amazing leader he was, but an amazing human being as well.  He is a perfect example of someone who worked his or her way up from the bottom all the way to being completely successful not only in his own personal life, but in positively changing the lives of millions of people. 

We also got to tour Constitution Hill, where thousands of black and white prisoners were held throughout the apartheid battle.  Nelson Mandela had even stayed there for a while, although he was in the hospital wing while he waited for his trial dates.  There were different sections of the prison, including parts for men, women, blacks, and whites.  It amazed me to learn that if the women were pregnant, they would still live in the jail cells, and the black women would even have to go go through labor in the jail.  The white female prisoners were allowed access to the hospital, where they could hand off the child to someone outside of jail as soon as it was born.  Since the black women were giving birth in the prison, this meant their newborn babies were going to be in prison with them.  No crib, no diapers, no baby food, just the warmth of their mothers’ body. 

By the end of the week, we had gained a new understanding of quite a few political leaders of South Africa, and of the way South Africa had worked during the many years of apartheid.  To end our week of learning, we drove down to Kruger National Park, the safari! 

To say the safari was one of the coolest experiences of my life has to be an understatement.  We parked about 6 feet away from lions, we saw elephants nurturing their babies, we witnessed giraffes picking from the top of the trees, and some groups even saw leopards nesting in the branches. 

Not only was the safari a real life sight out of a National Geographic television special, but also the time we spent at Kruger National Park was another priceless bonding session for my group of co-educators.  Weekends where we get out of the house and get to mix with more people from the group are always nice, it gives us an opportunity to have sleepless nights of wonderful conversation and to strengthen the friendships we’ve been building since day one.

Bundled up for early morning game drive
left to right from back: Savitri, Jerard, Andrea, Avery, Elise, Carl, Aimee, Patrick, Anna, Erica, Larissa, Allie, Sharon

Spring break on Cape Town Study Abroad is certainly not what most people think of as a typical college spring break, but it was definitely a once in a lifetime kind of spring break!  I wouldn’t want it any other way- this was such fun and just one more thing to add to the list of what makes this experience one of the best times of my life.