As you all may know, we were staying in the home stays for three nights, and today was our last day staying with the mamas in Cape Town. After we woke up, we walked to Mama Noc’s house because her house was like the “meeting house.” When we left our driver Igshaan, I was a little sad because we’d kind of grown a relationship with him. After the plane there was also a lot of confusion in regards to transportation because our bus driver was an hour late and when he got there he was super unorganized and his van was very cramped and everyone was super tired. This is a good lesson about life in another country when things that are planned don’t really work out.
We first visited the Apartheid Museum which was very heart tugging because it talked about a lot of different events and laws that went on during apartheid, but the main thing was Nelson Mandela. There was a long exhibit that talked all about his childhood and how he rose to fame and made a difference for his country. They had a wall with all of the laws passed and there were so many I could not believe it. At the entrance, they gave us each a card with the words “white” or “non-white” on it (in English and I think Afrikaans). We used the card to enter the museum from one door or another depending on our card. That part was super depressing because we are free now, but that was real life back then. They also had a video of what the state of emergency looked like in the townships and that was also heart tugging because life for blacks was so hard, and the violence was sad and terrible to watch.
Being in a new city and new place to stay (the Curiocity Hostel) has been a bit of a hard adjustment for many of us. Hopefully Joburg will be fun since we have interesting things planned to do. It is also really cold here! Our hostel is very lively.
Lauren B., DC International School