After returning from the Ocean View homestay, I feel like I already want to go back. It was such a different environment from what I have experienced so far in Cape Town; like being with a real family and feeling so genuinely welcome. I also loved being back on a consistent meal schedule, I can’t remember the last time someone made me breakfast lunch and dinner so promptly (and it was tasty too). Being around so many kids was also a big highlight; in addition
to working at the crèche and visiting the local park, I lived with an adorable 5 year old named Gideon and got to meet a plethora of his equally adorable cousins. I have been really jealous of my co-educators who have been working with children and, as much as I really enjoy my internship, I think I was missing that aspect and I felt very fulfilled after four fun, kid-packed days.
But the experiences I enjoyed most from this weekend were the conversations I got to have with my host family and others in the community. This is the first time that I have been able to sit down and have a casual conversation about apartheid with someone who was there and experienced (and is still experiencing) its effects. It’s one thing to visit the museums and learn about discrimination and racism in class, but it’s a completely different thing to hear it from the actual population we’ve been discussing. For that reason, and many others, I was extremely glad that the homestay was introduced into this program and I cannot wait to go back and visit Ocean View.
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