Allie coming to appreciate the value of religion

RELIGION

Yesterday, I spent my last Sunday in Cape Town doing something unexpected: going to church. I go to church with my family when I’m home, but I never make an effort to go when I’m at school or since I’ve been here. However, I had wanted to check out St. George’s Cathedral for a while, and so I attended a morning service there with Anna, Vara, Patrick and Patrick’s dad. The service was really interesting; each prayer or song switched from English to Afrikaans to Xhosa, and there was a visiting choir from a church in Mitchell’s Plain. Also, the sermon itself just happened to be about the Boston Marathon bombings. Instead of talking about the terror and pain, the priest instead spoke about the runners that kept running to the hospital to donate blood, or the bystanders who rushed in to help the victims. Essentially, he was saying that in situations such as these, it is the examples of human kindness and generosity that ultimately shine through. Overall, I had a great experience and I’m glad we went.

St George's Cathedral, Wale Street, Cape Town, South Africa

It is fitting that we went to church on our last Sunday in Cape Town considering how much my time here has changed the way I view religion. At home, I’m not particularly religious. I’ve been going to Southport Congregational Church since I was little, but I’ve never I bought all the stuff we were taught in Sunday School. I mostly just kept going for the sake of the community- I was involved with the Youth Group in high school, and even now it’s nice to go and see all those familiar faces I’ve grown up around. I thought that was just the case in my church, which is why I never pursued religion outside of home. But then I came here, and that changed everything. Religion is EVERYWHERE in South Africa, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at first. But after spending the past few months here, I’ve come to see religion in a whole different way. It’s about much more than just reading the bible and reciting prayers; it’s all about creating a community. Maybe that’s why it’s so central to the South African way of life. This country is still dealing with a lot of problems, and so people are naturally drawn to that sense of support that comes from their beliefs. No matter what happens to them, they will always have God and they’ll always have their church community at their side. While I’m still not entirely sure what I believe, this trip has given me a new appreciation for the value of religion.  

Allie approaching final week in Cape Town

Over the past few weeks, the rule has been not to talk about leaving South Africa. Anyone who mentioned the dwindling number of days here was immediately shushed, as if avoiding the subject could prolong our time here. However, we’ve finally reached the point where it’s impossible to deny our departure; in one week from tomorrow, we are leaving Cape Town. It honestly hasn’t hit me yet, and I don’t think it’s going to until the first morning I wake up in Fairfield, CT. I’m obviously excited that I’m going to get to see my family and friends again; I was lucky enough to have my dad visit for the week before excursion, and that sort of reminded me how much I miss them. But I’m still not ready to go. I feel like there are so many things I didn’t get the chance to do and that Cape Town still has so much to offer. I’m going to miss so much about this city: the colors, the people, the energy- everything.

It’s also going to be strange to no longer call the house we have lived in home. After spending four months here with all my housemates, it’s going to be weird to not see them every day. Considering we didn’t know each other a few months ago, we have become incredibly close- sort of like a big, dysfunctional family. For me, this has definitely been one of the rewarding parts of the trip, and I think that when I look back on my time in South Africa, I’m going to most clearly remember the people I spent it with.

Okay, I’m regretting writing about this now- too sad! I’m just going to try and enjoy my last week here in Cape Town. Luckily, we’ve got a lot to look forward to. I’m hoping to revisit some of my favorite spots around the city- Lions Head, Old Biscuit Mill, St. George’s Mall, etc. 

Quotes on wall in Nyanga school library

But what I’m most excited about is finishing the library in Nyanga; we were there today, and it looks amazing! We finished painting the quotes on the walls, Sharon put up her beautiful mural, and we were even able to put some books on the shelves. I’m so thrilled that we were able to actually accomplish what we set out to do, and I just hope that it can make a difference in the lives on some of these deserving students. 

Sharon's mural hung on wall in library

Allie so lucky to be here

This past weekend, we finally went on the trip we’ve been planning since we arrived in Cape Town: Plettenberg Bay. We left directly after class on Thursday, and then we began our adventures on Friday morning with a trip to Cango Caves. I had never been inside a cave before, and these were incredible. We explored everything from the enormous caverns to the impossibly tiny passageways, and everybody had a great time. From there, we went straight to Knysna Elephant Park. Elephants are by far my favorite animals, and so I sort of freaked out when we got the chance to feed and pet them. But the next morning’s activity was the craziest by far: Bungee jumping! We went with Face Adrenalin’s site on the Bloukrans Bridge, which is the highest commercial bridge bungee jump in the world (216 meters!). 

Allie (back row far right) with the crew ready to bungee jump

I’ve never been afraid of heights, but I admit that as I peeked over the edge, I was absolutely terrified. But all that fear vanished the moment I jumped, and it was replaced by pure joy. Falling through the air, with nothing except the trees around you and the river below you- it was indescribably amazing. Plus, the fact that we all jumped as a group made it a lot better. They had music playing at the top of the bridge to pump everybody up, and it was comforting to know that as scary as it was to jump, all my friends were right there with me. As if that wasn’t enough of an experience, we even got to dip our toes in the Indian Ocean on the way home- a first for me! Over, it was a fantastic weekend and I’m so glad we were able to go.

I think if I had to describe the past few days in one word, it would have to be “surreal”. Everything we did and saw seemed too amazing to be real. Even as it was happening, I couldn’t believe that I was dangling hundred of feet in the air, or that I was standing face to face with an elephant. It almost feels like this can’t actually be my life; these are all cool things I hear about from other people, or only experience through the pages of a book or the screen of my computer. But as impossible as it seems, it’s all real. I’m here, and I’m lucky 

Allie loved excursion but happy to be back in Cape Town

Last week, we finally embarked on something we’ve been hearing about since before we left Connecticut- excursion! We spent the first half in Johannesburg, and we managed to fit a lot of activities into just four days. We visited a bunch of museums, toured a number of historical sites and saw the play “Curl Up and Dye”. As enriching as all these activities were, my favorite part of Joburg was definitely our day at the Boys and Girls Club of Soweto. We arrived in the morning and split up into small groups to work on a number of different projects; some people were clearing out a soccer field, some were gardening, and some were building a mosaic table. I was supposed to be on food duty, but since there were literally too many cooks in the kitchen I ended up just playing with the kids around the club. It was so much fun- they were so sweet, and they were thrilled to hang out with us. They even put on a dance performance for us at the end of the day, which was fantastic. It was so great to have a chance to get to know the kids, and I know we were all sad to leave at the end of the day.

            

For the second part of our trip, we got back on the bus for the long drive from Joburg to Kruger National Park. Personally, I’ve been looking forward to this since the beginning of the trip; I’ve been watching Discovery Channel specials on African wildlife for my whole life, and now I finally got the chance to go on a real safari! It was even more than I could have hoped for. Minutes after driving into the Park our bus was surrounded by a herd of elephants, and over the next two days we saw even more elephants, giraffes, antelope, warthogs, rhino, and even a few lions. It was absolutely incredible, and I hope I make it back to Kruger some day.

            

As much fun as we had in Kruger, I was relieved to return to Cape Town. Even though we were only gone for a week, I found myself missing everything about our lives in Cape Town. I missed the familiar rhythm of life at Loch Road; I missed the colorful people and places around the city; I even missed always being able to see the mountain- the horizon looked so empty without it! So even though I learned a lot about South Africa’s history and nature over the course of the past week, I think the most significant thing I’ll take away from excursion is how much I love my life here in Cape Town, and how hard it is going to be to leave.

Allie's "coincidental" adventures and amazing outcomes

This week, I didn’t really know what to write about. Nothing big had happened at my internship, and we hadn’t had any particularly noteworthy adventures in a while. As is often the case, this lack of inspiration led to procrastination, and I still hadn’t written a thing four days after my post was due. However, it’s a good thing I neglected to write anything, because on Friday I finally encountered something worth writing about.

I spent the day working on the library project in Nyanga with Patrick, Anna, Liz and Kelsey. We started to put paint on the walls, and decided that they’re going to be alternating peach and turquoise. Already, you can tell that it’s going to create a warm, welcoming environment. Plus, the carpenter we hired was nearly finished rebuilding and varnishing the shelves. Overall, it’s finally starting to look like a library, and I could not be more thrilled.

Allie & Patrick painting the library for their Books for Nyanga activist project.

We returned home that afternoon to find a Facebook message from an Ari Mason, an intern at NBC Connecticut. She is a friend of Erica’s, and she heard about Books for Nyanga when Erica’s boyfriend Dan brought us a suitcase full of books from the US last week. She wanted to interview us about Books for Nyanga, and we obviously responded immediately. The segment was scheduled to air on the Friday night news, so Patrick, Anna and I did a skype interview with her about fifteen minute later. (Keep in mind, we had just spent the day working in the library- Patrick and Anna were still covered in paint, and my hair was literally dripping wet from the shower). But even though we were taken somewhat off guard, the interview went smoothly. We talked all about how we first visited Nyanga and decided to help out with the library, and how we’ve been using social media to gather support back home. We got home later that night to find an article about us on the NBC News website, and we were even able to hear some of the segment as it aired (the live feed wouldn’t work, but Anna’s mother called so we could listen to it over the phone). It was all so surreal; we are 8,000 miles from home, and yet there are people talking about us on the local Connecticut news. Still, doing that interview was an amazing opportunity. We’re trying to spread the word about what we’re doing in Nyanga, so getting on the news was a big deal; we received 1,200 lbs. of books on just the day after the story aired! I only hope that all the people that heard about us will tell their friends, and this interview can start a ripple effect to bring in more donations for the library.

As I’m writing this post, I can’t stop thinking about how all of these events have occurred so perfectly. It just so happened that Erica knew someone working at NBC, and she heard about how Dan was bringing us books and wanted to put us on the news. Then there’s the way in which we started this project; if we hadn’t visited Marita’s flat one day, we would have never met Joseph, gone to Sithembele Matiso High School, or even known about the library that we are not devoting so much time and energy into rebuilding. And if you look even further than that, it gets even more convoluted; the only reason we went to Marita’s flat that day is because we wanted to tell her about our adventure in the Manenburg, which only happened because we were running late and caught a taxi with an incredibly kind driver. I know that there are words for this sort of phenomenon- kismet, serendipity- but I’m starting to wonder if it’s fate. It just seems too improbable that all these things could be nothing more than a series of coincidences. I really don’t know what to make of all of it, but I do know I’m grateful that everything has worked out so far, and I hope our luck continues for the remainder of our time in South Africa.  

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Read more about the project at: http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/UConn-Students-Donate-Books-to-African-High-School-198503371.html

To donate to the project go to http://www.gofundme.com/booksfornyanga

Allie overwhelmed by the symbolic significance of color

I’ve had some great days in Cape Town so far, but last Saturday may have topped them all. It started off with the annual Cape Town Pride Parade. I honestly didn’t know what it was going to be like; we had just heard there was a gay pride parade downtown, so we figured we’d check it out. Suddenly, we were sucked into the middle of what was essentially a giant dance party. There was music blasting from the floats, and everyone around us was just having a great time as they celebrated the diversity and acceptance of Cape Town. From there we went to the Holi ONE Festival of Color, a large concert based on the traditional Indian Holi festival. It was set up in St. George’s Parade, right in the middle of the city, and on the stroke of each hour the crowd would throw bags of colored powder into the air. By the time we left we were exhausted, exhilarated, and coated in the neon powder. It was an incredible day, and one that I’m sure I’ll remember for a long time.

I guess the habits of an English Major die hard, because over the next few days I kept thinking that if I were to analyze these events in a novel, I would be overwhelmed by the symbolic significance of color. First, there was the gay pride parade. Not only was there a lot of color (and glitter) all around, but the symbol of the gay rights movement is the rainbow flag. Then, there was the Holi Festival, a celebration that featured periodic explosions of neon green, blue, pink, yellow and orange powder. Furthermore, all of this was happening under in South Africa- “the rainbow nation”.  And beyond this, there’s the historical significance of color in terms of race. The term “coloured” has traditionally been associated with the divisions instituted by apartheid, but at one point in the concert the singer shouted out to the crowd, “Tonight, we are all coloured!” It was as if they were repossessing this idea that had been used to divide, and flipping its meaning to one of unity.  And that’s what all these uses of color signified: they were all examples of different elements coming together into a single expression of celebration.

I know that some of you might think I’m reading too far into this, and you may be right. That’s probably the most common complaint against English as a subject: overemphasis of metaphor and symbolism. It’s a legitimate point, too; sometimes the color of a character’s house doesn’t reveal anything about their psyche, but just that the author liked that color. Still, I believe that symbols actually hold some measure of significance. One of my favorite authors, John Green, frequently talks about how much symbols matter in literature and in life. (For those of you who aren’t familiar with John Green, he’s a bestselling young-adult novelist, an Internet/YouTube personality and generally awesome human being.) Anyways, his views are pretty much summed up in this statement: “You cannot separate metaphor from reality. Metaphor is part of reality. Metaphor is an exploration of the nature of reality.” So while all these instances of color I noticed on Saturday may have been coincidence, they took on significance because myself and other people interpreted them as having such. They are a way for the people of the parade, the festival and South Africa as a whole to express their acceptance of diversity and pure, overwhelming joy.