Tuesday we had a diversity panel talk to us about how the apartheid directly affected them and their families. The way I perceive Cape Town is a lot different now as compared to when I first arrived. Don't get me wrong, it is a beautiful country full of wonderful people. However, under the surface there is still a lot of residual tension and hurt left in the natives of the city. A group of us went to the V&A Waterfront Tuesday afternoon, and spent the afternoon by the harbor. We came upon a man named Prosper who was selling colorful paintings of the townships and people of South Africa. We ended up talking to him for over 45 minutes about the aftermath of the apartheid. He was very emotional about it, and wanted to help us understand. In the city you have two very extreme economic classes. There are the very rich which live luxurious lives in multi-million dollar homes, and then you have the poorest of the poor. Driving into the city from the airport we passed by thousands upon thousands of shantytowns called townships. One of the comments he made about the township was that yes it is a very sad situation because they are living in the worst conditions. However, they are generally happier than the wealthier people. The people of the townships are more appreciative of the things they do have, which is family and friends. He compared the values of the people in America and in South Africa. Americans are concerned of chasing after their goals and dreams. We get so caught up in achieving their personal quests that we lose sight of what is really important. In South Africa, the apartheid took away their opportunities, jobs, and homes and separated them from neighbors, friends, and family members. South Africans realize how important it is to live in the moment and appreciate the things they have and the people they have because they have had these things taken away. It was a very moving moment to catch a glimpse inside the heart of a South African.
V&A Waterfront
Today we had a surprise activity after class in the morning. We were told that today was the day we were climbing Table Mountain which is one of the seven wonders of the world. Table Mountain is in the middle of Cape Town and can be seen from anywhere. It's a very rocky mountain and is basically like doing a stairmaster the whole way up. No joke. We went on the path that was supposed to take about 2 hours. We started off so excited and at the beginning of the group of 150. It was an extremely steep path the whole way up so we gradually got passed by a couple other Global Lead students. After taking many water breaks and attempting to catch our breath we finally made it to the top. All the sweat and exhaustion was completely worth it when we saw the view. Literally breathtaking. We saw the city of Cape Town and the ocean from the flat, rocky top of the mountain. We took a ton of pictures that will hopefully do it justice.
Yeah we climbed that.
At the top!
No comments:
Post a Comment