From the Graceland (Not Elvis')

PLEASE DO NOTE: This post is exceptionally long and summary oriented. This will not be the case in the future.

July 1st-2nd—Flight

All of the US international students were ready at 6a.m. on July 1st to head to JFK airport for South Africa (SA). We promptly boarded our party bus, which was fully stocked with orange juice. Some made their last goodbye calls while others tried to catch some shut eye (myself included). Boarding went smoothly except for the brief hiccup at security, which involved a toddler throwing up in the middle of a narrow line. Gross.

I sat next to a friend, Fiona, and we decided to sync up the times we watched in-flight movies. The food was decent and the flight attendants were stylishly dressed in SA’s national colors. We ended up landing almost 24 hours later to be greeted by Ayesha, the program director, and thousands of 2010 FIFA World Cup signs.

Later, I found out that Fiona was celebrating her 21st birthday during the plane ride. She decided not to tell me since she thought that would put a lot of awkward pressure on me, which is probably true. Although a group of flight attendants singing happy birthday would be pretty unforgettable.

July 2nd-3rd—Logistics

Pretty boring, typical, introduction information about Wits and Johannesburg. I got my address:

K. Savage
c/o IHRE Wits International Office
Private Bag #3
WITS 2050
(Johannesburg, South Africa)

We stayed in a hotel in downtown Joburg and I roomed with another international student from Zimbabwe. Some random things that I noticed: a. There is trash everywhere, even in rural areas b. There are cartoon images of Obama plastered on almost every street corner c. Driving on the opposite side of the road is weird, but having the toilet flusher be on the other side is even weirder d. Everyone (at least in my program) knows so much about the US its scary e. People are much more open about their personal life.

We ate an amazing meal at Gramadoela’s, which is right near the famous Market Theater. I tried worms (crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside) and ostrich/ warthog meat (both tasted just like chicken).

July 4th-July 9th- Rural South Africa

I lost all sense of time during this five-day trip because I didn’t have a cell phone, watch or other timekeeping device, plus I was still a little jetlagged. Here are some highlights:

1. Visiting a traditional healer village- The four local healers told us how they are called upon by their ancestors. First, they fall extremely ill and no western doctor can make a diagnosis. Then their ancestors send them on a “scavenger hunt”, telling them to collect animals bones and to drink the blood of a goat. After that, they have to pick their specialty and be properly trained. We did not get to see a ceremony since, naturally, they were not open the public.
2. South Africa’s Grand Canyon- Almost all national hot spots have been introduced to me in a way that compares them to the US (Examples: Durban is to SA as Miami is to the USA, Gold Reef City is to SA as Disney World is to the USA, etc). We hiked down the canyon and all of the American students were dying because of the altitude difference.
3. Bushbuckridge Orphanage- We broke up into small groups and planned activities for around 10 orphaned children, ranging from 2nd to 12th grade. Most of the kids had parents who had passed away due to HIV/AIDS and were living in children-headed households. All of the children had cell phones. Every South African has a cell phone.
4. My home stay in Rural South Africa- My group met up with Victoria, our house mother, and walked back to her home from the orphanage. She works as a home-based caretaker, meaning she visits people in the local community and tries to help them with basic medical needs since doctors are few and far between. She was recently married, so she and her husband had just started building their house. As of now, it is one small room that contains a bed and not much else. We told her to treat us as family, so she had us help lay the foundation of another room that she was working on building. We shoveled, wheelbarrowed and dug for what felt like hours, but I had no way of telling besides the setting sun. Then, we built a fire (it took a lot longer than it should have) to make some pap with a homegrown herbs (almost like solid porridge covered in a seaweed mucus). Never have I worked so hard for such a small meal. By that time, we were ready for bed. I slept on a cement floor without a pillow thinking “its just one night, you can do this”. I got really cold during the middle of the night but decided I didn’t want to cuddle up with people that I had just met less than 5 days ago. To make matters worse, the neighbors had a rooster who made himself known at 4am. In the morning we took a bucket bath and bushed our teeth in the yard. Unlike some of the other home stay houses, my group did not have a bathroom hole, so we just went in the backyard.
5. Homebased care visits- We went with Victoria on her usual rounds. The first was a family of seven orphaned children. The oldest child was 22 and the youngest was around four. They have been trying to apply for government grants, but since they have different last names they haven’t received any. I was really impressed at how close this family, although not by blood, has remained during such hard times. The second house was a man who was infected with HIV. All of his family has disowned him and his neighbors, typically a very strong support system in rural SA, refuse to help him in any way because they are afraid the disease will be transmitted to them. Overall it was a very educational but nerve-racking experience.

July 10th-July 12th- Joburg

Now that I’m back in the city (with internet!), I am getting acclimated to campus and cooking for myself. Tonight, I made a grilled cheese with bacon. So yummy.

Miss you all and hope you had a good 4th of July. I know I missed the glory of the Lexington Carnival and fireworks at the Esplanade.

P.S.-- Dad, I'm pretty sure you will be the only one to understand this entry's title.