Words cannot begin to describe my experience in South Africa thus far. Much like they cannot begin to describe the landscape of the Western Cape. For the past two weeks I have been taking courses at Stellenbosch University and meeting people who I now feel like I have known my entire life. But before I proceed to talk about these experiences, I must digress and explain how I got here in the first place.
When I told everyone I knew that I would be going to summer school in South Africa they all thought I was lying. Once they realized I was telling the truth they all thought I was crazy. They immediately questioned why I would ever want to travel to a place like South Africa. This is a legitimate question. Contrary to popular belief, there are no lions roaming the streets, but crime is a serious risk here. Statistics show that South Africa is the most violent country in the world that is not at war. While this may be true, my stay in the Western Cape has been peaceful and safe-so don’t worry mom.
Anyways, I began my journey with a two hour drive from Erie, PA to Pittsburgh where my flight to Detroit was delayed three hours. By the time I made it to Detroit I had 30mins to make my flight to Amsterdam. After 7 � hours and approximately three in-flight movies, I landed in Amsterdam (don’t get excited) with another 30mins to spare before my flight to Cape Town. This was the fun part… after 12 � hours worth of in-flight movies and airplane food, I finally made it. My flight was complete but my journey was only beginning…
As I said before, I have been studying at Stellenbosch University. It is located in the Western Cape of South Africa in the town of Stellenbosch (the second oldest town in the country). Even though this is summer school for me, it is winter break for the rest of the University and there are not a lot of students on campus. With regards to the winter, it does not get very cold. I am from Erie, PA and it snows practically eleven months out of the year. For the number of beautiful days I have experienced here so far, I can’t believe they call this winter.
My program consists of an array of classes taught at the University that pertain to nation-building, development and the challenges the face South Africa’s future. The program has students from a number of states within the US as well as students from South Africa, Gabon, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and Italy. During my time here I will be taking courses on the political history of South Africa, the growth and development of South Africa, and democratic consolidation. In addition to taking classes we have gone on multiple excursions including Cape Town/Robben Island and we also spent last weekend in Swellendam. In my next post I will be sure to describe some of these activities that took place outside of the classroom and have taught me more about South Africa and myself than I could have ever hoped.