From week 1

Our class was visited these last two day by a guest professor from the Iniversity of Kwazulu-Natal, one of the largest, most racially diverse, and most controversial universities in the country. 43,000 students, 5,000 staff members, out of whom there are 3 black women, none of whom were from rural areas. Priyah speaks on how this is a product of the system in place here that has denied AGENCY based on race, gender, and class, to an extent not seen anywhere else in the world.

Quotes like, "I don't care if this is an entrenched discourse, how dare you repeat it unthinkingly!" help to characterise the PASSION this professor enveloped us with. She lived the struggle, alongside professor Gazelle although they didn't know it at the time. Prof. Gazelle travelled to SA in 89' to learn about theatre, specifically resistance plays, and it invoced the activist in her that led her to race relations, and her dissertation of how race, class, and gender help from identity. With both these women, there is so much passion, it can almost be frightening, because the root of the violence in SA, (violent crime being one of the two dilemmas facing SA today), is rooted in ANGER, and there is so much anger in their attacks on the system and it's disparity. SA africa, today, in it's post-apartheid state is lowest on the asdgasfh scale of disparity, so the rich are richer than ever, and the poor are poorer than ever.

The secondo dilemma that is dragging down current south africa is the HIV/AIDS epedemic. Priya wrote some articles entitled, "it's all about trust", and her words on this HUGELY COMPLEX issue basically said that silence is our problem. the stigma of AIDS prevents people from talking about it, I have a lot more to learn about this. That's kind of a theme here.

Journal 2

This was from last night-

Singing- "Because a girl like you is impossible to find,

impossible to find."

Imagine the temperatures of a Michigan summer with the daylight hours of winter. Sunrise is around 6:30, and it's pitch dark by 6:00 PM, which is one thing if i'm staying in an apartment, and another if I'm staying in Zonkizizwe. So far i've had pretty healthy sleeping habits, as far as going to sleep around nine and waking up around 5, but I really want to have those habits when i'm in Joberg.

Yesterday we went into Downtown Durban to see the touristy markets. There was probably a mile and a half of beach with a walkway, bordered by amusement parks as well as public parks, on the other side of which were vendors selling masks and beadwork and wooden animals and t-shirts and air-soft guns and everything else that tourists want to buy, "Very nice, low price". We decided that probably 90% of the materials had been manufactured in china. The possible exceptions being food, and some rather shocking remnants of apartheid. For example, in many stalls you could buy leather whipe, that may have been toys, or billy-club wooden sticks with knobs on the end. Then we saw someone selling passbooks, the ID cards that blacks had to carry at all times and produce on demand from anyone whose skin was colored on the other end of the spectrum, and get signed by their employer to visit the city, and get signed from their previous employer to move to a different employer. It was a very dark reminder of how recent apartheid law was.

Ashiq sang me a song today, and translated it after he had finished. A friend of his in high school had sung it to him at a school assembly before they had all parted ways. I love when Ashiq sings, and he loves to sing, so this arrangement works out very well.

Amandla!

Journal Entry #1

This a backdated about a week.

The itinerary has unfolded thus far as such- A detroit flight took 15 people to Paris, where the 12 hour layover gave us time to take a bus to Notre Dame. After some very French crepes and pear cider, we caught an organ recital at the cathedral, an homage to Rameau, and some Lied by G-someone. You could have sat on the keyboard and it still would have sounded gorgeous there. After listening to some street musicians by the river, I was inspired to join the accordion player on our train back to the airport in some French oom-pa-pa tunes (my mandolin is rarely out of arms reach, in fact, rarely out of my arms).

The next flight landed us in Joberg, where we met with another 8 of our team, including Maxwell and Sudiso, (sp?), our current van/bus drivers. Once we were all collected, we immediately got onto Mango airlines and hopped the hour over to Durban, where we are spending our first week. Our flats on the ocean are the nicest travel accomodations I beleive i've ever experienced, with a fully-equipped kitched, swank furniture and a view of the water that is quite breathtaking. Our group will travel into the city to The University of Kwazulu-Natal/Durban for the first week, beginning tomorrow.

There really are 13 different languages here, and while you can get around and probably live only speaking English, you are just not as cool as the people around you (like our drivers), who grew up speaking Zulu, picked up Xhosa and Sotho on the way, and still speak English better than I do half the time. I do however, have about 13 adapters, none of which fit the prongs in the wall, which are apparently used in SA and "older parts of Ireland".

Now Ashiq, Mike, Maxwell and Sudiso are about to retire to Marginella, our complex, listening to the ocean and sounds of monkeys trying to get into our food in the kitchen.

I love it.

The night before.

My two suitcases are splayed in this room, 5/7ths full of gifts, clothes, and essentials like lots of socks and small computers. There is also my backpack, which is happily empty right now, good for last-minutes, and the mandolin, which I will be learning/practicing/performing on a lot in the next couple weeks. I am prepared with my learning tools of books and notebooks and books of notes, and I am as prepared mentally as I will ever be. The sense of community my family gives me is a much-needed comfort before I go all independent again. My siblings and parents have taught me many ways to love, I hope this love is well received by it's intended recipients.
We'll find out soon. I think I might make a rule for this blog, only blogs during daylight hours allowed. That way I don't go into public late-night rants. This is a good rule.