Took some graduation photos of one of my best friends here at school – is she not gorgeous? Love you, Hanna!

The map on the floor was of District 6 and had names of who lived where

They also had a bunch of street signs (this happens to be a main street in downtown Charleston, too!)

People had written testimonials and these were then embroidered in order to be kept forever

My friends Lindsey and Quinn reading up on some District 6 history

Alright, I know I still have many things to update you on about my study abroad trip (including the District 6 museum, shark cage diving, Garden Route, our safari, a music festival and more), but I’m leaving on Friday night and I wanted to make sure I posted my feelings about my whole trip before I came home and everything got away from me.

I don’t even really know how to put this all down into words. I’m a terrible writer, but I hope because this is coming from the bottom of my heart that it will come out sounding somewhat okay.

What was I expecting when I decided to apply to study in South Africa? Quite frankly, I have no idea. I didn’t know much about South Africa, other then the general Nelson Mandela news. It was portrayed as a generally dangerous country that should be feared by outsiders and most adults I told were worried for me (let’s not even talk about my parents!). I was definitely excited, but had no idea how amazing this whole experience would turn out to be.

Coming here has been the single greatest experience of my twenty years and might stay number one for a very long time. I learned way more about myself here then I ever thought possible. I made amazing friends that I plan to keep for life and I got to experience things that I would have never done had I stayed in the United States. Life in South Africa is different. I can’t exactly explain in words without you seeing the life here, but let’s just say I will try to never complain about money, school, and little things in life ever again. When people ask me how South Africa is as a country, it’s very difficult to say. Because I lived here for 4.5 months, I got a completely different perspective than a vacationer. South Africa is not somewhere like Europe, or Australia…a country that is westernized like the United States, but with slightly different cultures. South Africa is a new country. It was only made a democracy 15 years ago, thanks to Nelson Mandela and all his hard work, so they are still working on developing themselves. And this is very clear when you travel around the country.

And we can’t forget the segregation and racism that is still abound. I volunteered in places where people were living in SHACKS. One room shacks. One of the girls I volunteered with slept in her kitchen (more like kitchen/bedroom/living room) because there wasn’t another place for her to sleep and she unbelievably didn’t seem phased by it. She even giggled at me when I asked her about it (her reaction was as if someone asked you if there was running water in the United States). I’ve tried to explain the racism by saying that when the United States was “discovered” and the Native Americans were moved out of their lands, the government tried to be “nice” about it…by moving them to reservations (oh and giving them casinos!). In South Africa there was no hiding what the government did. They moved the blacks and coloureds from their lands to NOTHING and then flattened their previous towns for growth in the white community. But there was no covering up what they were doing. They were very open about their opinions on the MAJORITY races in their country and a lot of people still are today.

I know that made it seem like South Africa is completely terrible and black/coloureds are not regarded as real people, but this is not 100% true. There are many successful people that are NOT white, but it’s just crazy to look at the statistics of how many people in South Africa are NOT white and then the poverty of the people who ARE white (slim to none).

How has been to come home? Honestly, I thought there would be more culture shock. But maybe it’s because I came home to a very comfortable place, so it wasn’t all that bad. Of course, there have been lots of realizations. Before living in South Africa, I was never extremely patriotic about living in America. I loved it, yes, but I just didn’t know what else was out there. I grew up in an upper middle class family and have amazing parents. I have always been provided with whatever I need(ed). I would never call myself ignorant, as I knew what was out there, even in my own country, but I had never endured it quite like I did in South Africa. After traveling, I have realized that I LOVE America. Us Americans are so very lucky to live in a country where we have freedoms unlike many places in the world. Yes, South Africans have freedoms, but the culture and life is not the same. It’s so hard to explain to people without everyone having experienced it. One of the best ways to describe my travels is “just being it is 2009 in the United States, doesn’t mean it’s 2009 in South Africa”. The years mean nothing to them. For a lot of people, it’s all about survival on a day to day basis, rather than the next best technology.

I wish I could voice everything better, but this is the best it’s going to get.