Open Minds, Open Hearts, Full Stomachs

What a weekend! The CIEE students were lucky enough to have the opportunity to spend the weekend with host families in the Ocean View community, one of the designated Coloured areas from the apartheid era. With almost nothing to expect besides the vague rumors claiming Ocean View as an unsafe area, we set off Friday night excited, anxious, but ultimately hopeful that this was going to be a fantastic experience.
I suppose a bit of history is in order before I get too carried away: during the apartheid regime in the late 1960s, Coloured communities from the surrounding area (Simon's Town, Noordhoek, etc.) were forcibly moved to what is now Ocean View because their former homes were in newly designated "white areas" (this was completely legal due to the Group Areas Act). A person was classified as "Coloured" based on heinously ridiculous tests imposed by the government based on racist ideas: for example, the Pencil Test amounted to the belief that if a pencil inserted into someone's hair didn't fall out, that person was considered Coloured or Black. Also, if the knuckles of the hands were darker than the skin surrounding it, a person would be classified as Coloured, even if their skin was as white as snow. These classifications were instituted mainly as a means for the government to not only control ethnic groups, and by herding these people into specific areas, despite generations of land ownership or history, the government instigated the calculated demise of an entire racial group (not my words, but I'll explain later on).
When the poorly constructed neighborhoods of places like Ocean View were filled with people, tensions between families from various areas sparked terrible unrest, because some people saw themselves as better than others based on where they originally came from. Buses to and from the areas were very limited, and many people lost their jobs because of the unreliable transportation (few people could afford cars). Families were separated: a white person marrying or being married to a coloured or black person was illegal, and those coloured or black people would be arrested for being with a white person (this practice was legal because of the Immorality Act). If they had children their fate would rest on the color of the child's skin: lighter skin meant he or she could stay with their white parent; darker skin meant he or she was thrown into the system, or were basically sent to orphanages. The government intentionally set up liquor stores in the center of every township, so that the disparity from such terrible treatment would lead to alcohol and drug abuse, in the hopes that the people within these areas would be trapped by their own sadness. When injustice sparked anger and the people tried to rise up, the single entrance to the township would be blockaded by the police, and the people would be trapped within their own community while their water supply was cut off from the outside. Anger could only be vented internally, and the communities suffered.
Unfortunately the history of this treatment still persists today, although Ocean View now is much different than it was back in the seventies and eighties. After 1994 people were allowed to move in and out of the community as they wished, and some chose to go while others stayed. My host mom for the weekend, Virginia, and her sister, Bernadette, or Berna, both stayed in Ocean View to teach at local high schools (their four siblings are also teachers, and all live in the area but teach at different schools). They both teach Afrikaans, one of the eleven official languages of South Africa, and both are influential members of the community in Ocean View. They opened their home to me and another CIEE student, Bridget, for the weekend, and Virginia and I talked quite a bit about teaching and what she sees in the community and in the classroom. While some things are better, others are still a problem, and many of the causes can be linked to the history of Ocean View and the apartheid era. Drug and alcohol abuse still plague the area, and gang violence is a problem, although I didn't witness any of that during my stay fortunately. There is still tension between groups, particularly English-speaking students versus Afrikaans-speaking students, as those who speak English at home tend to think higher of themselves and are unfortunately favored by some of the teachers. Many students choose not to go on to higher education, preferring to stay close to home and work part-time or poorly paying jobs because education is so expensive, even at the lower levels. Teen pregnancy is on the rise according to Virginia, based on the number of students in her class alone that are pregnant or are already mothers at grades 10-12.
It's hard to imagine all this, however, when we Americans have been so warmly enveloped into the community for the much too brief weekend. The Friday night dinner catered by the amazing and wonderful Nelly, whom I later got the privilege to speak with at length, was so incredibly welcoming: we got the chance to meet our host families as well as watch talented performing students from the community, and the food was of course delicious. Once things settled down Virginia and Berna drove us back to their home, where we got to meet their five dogs (I was very excited about the dogs!). That night we slept well on full bellies and the prospect of the next day's excitement.
Bridget actually had to go on an all-day field trip for her archaeology course, so while I got to sleep in Virginia got up early to make Bridget breakfast and pack her lunch (what an amazing host mom!) while Berna took some of her students to Stellenbosch for a workshop. Once Bridget was off Virginia and I had a light breakfast and headed over to her friend's house to drop of a jersey for the big bike race on Sunday. Every year there's a big bike race that goes 110km around Cape Town, and part of the race passes right through Ocean View. It's a really big deal for the community, as there's lots of press but also big braai's and revelry as residents gather along the route to cheer on the cyclists. Virginia had seventeen of her students racing, so we were very excited about going out to watch them. Anyway, Virginia's friend wasn't at home so we left the jersey inside her fence and headed over to the mall, where Virginia showed me around. I swear Virginia knows everybody: we were hardly in the mall before she was saying hello to people and chatting with former students or neighbors or just people she knew. I felt like I was back with Mom shopping in Amherst! But we made it back to the car and headed back to Ocean View, where we stopped by Virginia's sister's house as well as her cousin Joyce's. Joyce's daughter is a hairdresser but also an interior designer, and her work is brilliant. The house was gorgeous with bright colors and wonderful textured patterns.
The rest of the afternoon Virginia and I spent getting some work done: her grading while I read for class, but we each succumbed to a late-afternoon nap, which was just perfect as we were getting up while Berna walked through the door, followed not too long after by Bridget back from her field trip. Dinner time: my good lord the food was fantastic! Virginia made us delicious chicken, sausages, a fully-loaded salad... I thought I wouldn't be able to eat for days afterward. Oh boy was I wrong! Later on we drove over to Nelly's house (she's Virginia's close friend) where we were treated royally by Nelly and her husband Trevor. Both were very interested in hearing our thoughts and opinions of South Africa, Cape Town, UCT, Ocean View, the works. I finally mustered up the courage to ask about their experiences during and after the forced removals (it's a very loaded and charged topic, not to mention extremely emotional, so I was a little hesitant to just outright ask about it, but I really wanted to know more because you can only get so much from books). Nelly gave us the background (synthesized for you above) and spoke about how even now the echoes of apartheid are still being felt today. She was incredibly gracious and thorough in describing how she felt and it was again incredibly emotional hearing about the heartache and sadness surrounding the event and its aftermath. I certainly felt that I'd gained an appreciation and a great deal of respect for people like Nelly, Trevor, Virginia and Berna who chose to overcome the hardships around them to become the wonderful people they are.
Sunday morning dawned with the tantalizing smell of eggs and bacon as Virginia did her magic in the kitchen once again. Somehow my stomach still had room for more food, and I gobbled up the delicious fare as we watched the beginning of the cycling race on television. The weather was absolutely perfect, and the professional men's and women's groups had record-breaking times as they crossed the finish line. Once breakfast was partially digested we headed out to the main road to watch the race, and it was a ton of fun to watch the cyclists speed by as they flew through Ocean View towards the finish line back in town near the new soccer stadium. I was really struck by how appreciative the racers were as we cheered them on: many actually thanked us for supporting them, waving back, giving high-fives to the kids lined along the road, smiling widely as Virginia encouraged them, "Already passed halfway, you're doing great! Keep smiling!" (she's done the race before, so she's completely qualified to give advice!). I saw one racer with an American flag top on and got excited and a little homesick. We watched and cheered and clapped for almost two hours before our hands were numb and our voices shot, and finally a few of the Ocean View students whizzed by, so we headed back to the house in order to have lunch and get out of the sun. Bridget and I were treated once again to a feast: pork and chicken, rice, cauliflower in cream sauce, and another loaded salad. As if we hadn't eaten our weight already!! But we both managed two helpings (I say managed like it was hard, but really it was so good to have home-cooked meals that we just couldn't help ourselves) before calling it quits and plopping down in front of the TV.
The rest of the afternoon passed all too quickly as Virginia put out a snack for us to go with tea (usually served at 4 but since that's when we were leaving to head back to the res we had it at 3) and again Bridget and I couldn't help but stuff ourselves full again. Virginia even made us a goody bag (or plastic container as the case may be) of leftovers from lunch to take back with us (host mom of the year!) and we walked back to the high school to catch the bus.
We snapped a couple of last-minute photos of the four of us before saying goodbye and promising to come back for dinner sometime (we have an open invitation, and they both want to meet Shaun when he comes out to visit in June).
I'm having a hard time putting into words how great an experience this weekend was: I came into it a little hesitantly because I really didn't know what to expect, but decided to be open and willing to learn all I could. I think I achieved that, and certainly feel that I've made a great connection with people who graciously allowed me into their lives. I took a chance: it's not often that an American gets the opportunity to submerge him- or herself into a community like this, and I'm ecstatic that I did, because I came away from it with a greater understanding and appreciation for people as a whole, if I can be so bold in such a generalization. But I think it speaks to the human character when a group of people who have been so badly treated come together and rise above the anger and hate to prove that they're better than the people who mistreated them. Only time will tell if the echoes will eventually fade away, leaving nothing but a vague memory or a chapter or two in a history textbook, but as Virginia told us at dinner Friday night: "A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step."
I'd like to think my first step was coming to Africa, and each day and each experience is another step in my journey towards a new understanding of myself and the people around me.