South Africa and STRIKE

Hey everyone!

So I've been in Bots for a month now, but this is my first blog entry. That means I am not beginning at the beginning, so bear with me if are confused. But I really prefer not to rewind to a month. I will try to make these entries witty and interesting to outsiders, rife with intellect and filled with keen preception. Now I have to live up this tall order.

To begin, this weekend the four ACM students (Jordan, Avery, Emilie and myselft) as well as the program director (Todd) and his family (Deb, Edie and Daphne) went to Jo-burg and Soweto. We stayed at an amazing hostel called "Lebo's Soweto Backpackers."

I wish I could live there, seriously. This place has more employees than guests, and by "employees" I more accurately mean "friends." They chill in the backyard that looks vaguely like a tiki hut, are very proud of their "bar" which is actually a tie-died refrigerator surrounded by wind chimes. They never stop pumping rastafarian music, they smoke bongs at 9 am and they jointly own a dog named Bruno who survives on bones and meat that he begs from guests and staff alike. Later we had the pleasure of watching him throw up his carefully procured meat chunks and then proceed to eat them again. It was probably the single most likely event to make me NOT miss my pets.

This place also has lots of roosters and chickens, and one morning every single one of us had to on different occasions follow Daphne (six years old) to the backyard where she pointed out "the chicken in the tree." The next morning we woke up to the sounds of both Daphne and Edie chasing after a disgruntled rooster outside our door.

Other than the hostel we saw the Apartheid Museum and went on a bike tour of Soweto. The Apartheid Museum is amazing, horrifying and indescribable, I suggest anyone staying in South Africa this semester check it out (cough, MaryBeth, cough). The bike tour was also great, and the tour guide was our very own Lebo of "Lebo's Soweto Backpackers." He told us stories of his childhood growing up there and about the freedom and student movements that occurred when he was about 12, and it was awesome to have this first hand storyteller with us. We also went to some of the poorest villages in the city. It was probably the most poverty I have ever seen but the people still seemed overwhelmingly joyful, waving and smiling. The children moved in packs and played in the streets. They couldn't speak English but were perfectly happy to pose (often gangsta-style) for our photos and laugh when we showed them the little screen. The worst part about Soweto was that I sustained a horrible sunburn and it made me feel sick/faint for a day or so.

Also we had some problems at the border on the way back. Here's the scenario when it is my turn at the immigration counter: first of all the immigration officer has an accent I can't understand, second of all there is a huge plate of glass between us, thirdly there is a mob of people behind me in line talking loudly. The woman starts talking to me, and like an idiotic American I keep leaning closer and screaming, "What??!!?!??" finally I understand that my form says I am staying for four and half months, but that since I have no visa that's not allowed. I try to explain that my waiver is being processed through the university and can't understand her response, she stamps my passport and I move on bewildered. Later on we discover she gave me 30 days to stay in the country when I originally had 90, and Jordan only recieved 5 days. We have decided that since in 5 days Jordan will be an illegal immigrant unless the International Center gets there shit together and gets us our waivers within 5 days (unlikely knowing Botswanan bureaucracy) she will be forced to sell candies on the street corners with the other women and dodge the immigration police who will inevitabley be pounding on our door.

After we arrived back at the dorms, within a half hour our program director called us and told us we needed to immediately leave the dorms. The student strike* had gotten worse over the weekend and they believed it prudent to "recommend" all international students leave campus. At first none of us wanted to leave, campus didn't feel dangerous and all of our local friends said that as long as we stayed away from the classrooms and the libraries we would be fine. But Todd coerced us to leave (he was like a worried father). So we packed up and arrived at the dingy Kagisong Lodge is host to a lovely musty smell and one dim light on the wall. It may be good we left because apparently at 2 am the students were pounding on doors. Over the weekend three students from University of North Carolina at Greensborough actually went home to the US because they had gotten in the middle of a mob at the cafeteria who were turning over tables and throwing food and wanted to go home.

So basically I am at the mall right now waiting to see if I can go back to the dorms tonight or need to return to the Kagisong. We all want to go home, so we'll see how this goes.

*The strike is due to the government reducing student allowances so they are striking classes hoping that the allowances will be returned to former amounts.


UPDATE:
We had to stay at Kagisong. Kagisong sucks. We must remain at Kagisong indefinitely. Some pigeons and undetermined animals are making noises on the thatch roof here at Kagisong. Kagisong still smells bad. See how I am artfully incorporating the name “Kagisong” into every sentence here? …

Leps, the head dude, told us not to fret and that we will for sure get credit for the semester even if it means cancelling spring break so we can attend classes for the week we missed. No one mentioned that even if classes are held that week we will skip out anyway to see the Okavango Delta. Apparently if the strikers don’t give up soon they will shut down the school, which means all students will have one hour to vacate the campus or else the police will bodily remove them.

If they shut down the campus I will be happy because then we are all going to say “screw it” and ship out to Victoria Falls. Yessir!

We are hoping to head in to Game City (the mall) tonight for dinner. Hopefully I can get internet soon to post this stuff.