"Soft, yet dynamic with plenty of cherry, plum and white pepper flavour leading to a beautifully balanced finish."

I guess this is the longest period between blog posts- I hope you haven’t been holding your breath….

With the school routine starting, life has started to calm down a bit; however the adventures never cease. Last week we went on a treasure hunt to find our textbooks because the university bookstore did not carry them. To our dismay, after searching all the bookstores in the area, we never found the “X marking the spot”- NONE of the bookstores had the required books we need. Well, let me take that back, one bookstore claimed they had 6 copies of a book, but we couldn’t locate the book anywhere in the store and neither could the employees. I’m not kidding- the books weren’t arranged in any order- not by author, or title, or subject. Need I remind you, This is Africa (TIA).
While I try to make light of these frustrating experiences, the reality is far from comical and I have started to wonder what it would really be like if I faced these hurdles every day for the rest of my life. As we got on our hands and knees searching for the non-existent books, a conversation I had with my hairdresser came to mind. I told him I needed a haircut because I was coming to Africa and wouldn’t be able to use tons of electricity to dry my hair, and we started talking about the poverty and unemployment rates in Africa. His response: African people are lazy and don’t work hard enough. And while the manta try and you will succeed may hold in the US, for many people in Africa this is not the case. They always say privilege is invisible to those who have it.

Aside from not being able to get some of the books I need for class, actual classes are going pretty well. I am particularly enjoying my clinical psychology class because many of the disorders we have been talking about are set in the context of South Africa. For example, my professor was one of the main psychologists assigned to work on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which is a forum/courtlike body established after the end of the apartheid to help people express their stories in a public forum. She has told tremendous stories which recount the process of how people are able to come to terms with horrific events and what happens when they relive these events when they retell the story.
One thing I have noticed about South African students is that they are not afraid of questioning what the teacher says, or giving their opinion on the matter. Whereas kids in the US are like sponges (they just soak up information but don’t really analyze or think critically about what they are being told), South African students say upfront that they disagree or find the theory to be weak. Sometimes their comments seem a bit rude to me, however the professors don’t appear to be offended. One of my other classes, Liberation in South Africa. is full of Americans which is kind of a bummer but last week we had two guests who are famous in their fight against the apartheid: Denis Goldberg and Dr. Neville Alexander. Dr. Alexander founded the National Liberation Front, was convicted of conspiracy to commit sabotage against the government and imprisoned on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela from 1964-1974. Denis Goldberg was a member of the underground armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe and was sentenced to four counts of life in prison in 1964 Rivonia trial. The ANC (African National Congress) members on trial had originally expected to receive the death sentence but words from Nelson Mandela, along with the work of the defense council changed the verdict. In what can be equated to the I Have a Dream Speech in the US, every South African knows Mandela’s words on trial. Here is a little snippet:
“This is the struggle of the African people, inspired by their own suffering and experience. It is a struggle for the right to live. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society, in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunity. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and achieve. But, if needs be, my Lord, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”.
It was amazing to hear these men speak about their extraordinary experiences, knowing they were true crusaders against apartheid and legendary figures in South Africa. One of the many reasons I chose to come to South Africa was to learn about the apartheid and to see how the city has progressed since 1994 and I feel very fortunate to have had the chance to listen to their stories.
This past weekend the girls in my house decided to go on a road trip, so we rented a car and traveled in the direction of the winelands to Stellenbosch and Franshoek. The weekend got off to a rough start when the clutch gave out and started smoking; but eventually we got a new car and were off on our journey again. On Saturday we went to St. George’s Bay to swim in crystal pools and then on Sunday we went on a wine tour to 4 different vineyards. I really know nothing about wines and don’t have the most delicate of palates, but one can always pretend. In some cases, the descriptions of the wines were just so ridiculous- I mean how can you keep a straight face when the description reads, "Intense violet aromas and purity of raspberry and red fruit flavours, with a kick of white pepper, a very assured, sleek texture, and a long, energetic finish".