Eric appreciating music as a central part of South African culture

As I am slowly approaching the point in the semester where I begin to look back and reflect upon what I have done in Cape Town, I am starting to realize that my fondest memories took place in the presence of great music. Music is such a central part of the culture in South Africa. It seems like every single person I have met or walked by on the street is able to sing or play some sort of instrument. As we learned from watching the documentary Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony in Vincent’s class, music played a key role in the liberation movement. The songs united the freedom fighters and kept morale high in the face of violence and unfair treatment. I have been exposed so such a wide variety of musical genres and musical groups that I wanted to highlight some of my favorite!

Kirstenbosch Garden Summer Concert

The Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is among the most beautiful of its kind in all of South Africa, if not the world. However, in addition to its blooming flora, it hosts Summer Sunset Concerts on Sunday evenings on a stage nestled into the foot of Table Mountain. Our first trip to Kirstenbosch was during orientation to see The Soil, a trio of a capella jazz and soul singers. When my family came to visit, I made sure that I took them to see a performance. We saw Al Bairre, which apparently is one of the rising popular groups in South Africa. I can certainly see why—their music is uniquely upbeat and cheery and I have listened to them almost every day since. This evening, many of my classmates and I are going once again to Kirstenbosch to see the Icelandic group Of Monsters and Men, an extremely popular and well-known band around the world. Though the nights are certainly chillier than they were for the first concert, I know we will have an amazing time together. 

I also attended two music festivals (and plan on attending one more tomorrow!) from all different genres of music. In late February, I traveled to the West Coast Ostrich Ranch not to see the animals, but to attend Ultra Music Festival, a gathering of some of the world’s best electronic and dance DJs. We partied with people from around the world to the sounds of Galantis, Zedd, and Skrillex. This past Monday, a group of us rounded out our Easter weekend by attending Parklife, a music festival on the grass of the Cape Town Cricket Club featuring several local folk and rock artists. I got to see Al Bairre perform once more, in addition to another band called Desmond and the Tutus, whom I had also previously seen with some classmates at The Assembly in District Six. The highlight for me was seeing Jeremy Loops, a fantastic South African performer whose music I knew about much before I applied to study here. Lucky for us, we managed to score a selfie with him after his performance! Tomorrow I will be attending Cape Town’s world-renowned International Jazz Festival, where I will immerse myself in a style of music that seems to be played in every other restaurant here in the city.

As I mentioned above, singing seems to come naturally to the average Capetonian, not just those who are famous. I’m sure by now many of my co-educators have written about Mteto, the inspiring young man who taught himself how to sing Italian opera. I was lucky enough to have Mteto sing a very special rendition of Happy Birthday to me on my birthday! I twice ate at Stardust Theatrical Dining and both times was blown away by the talent of the waiters and waitresses who doubled as our entertainment for the evening. Not to mention, the men and women at the church service in Gugulethu and the choir from Easter mass at St. George’s Cathedral would put most American reality singing show contestants to shame.

Fortunately, because of video recording and the Internet, I will be able to take some of my favorite new artists and performances home with me to the United States! I am hoping that in these last few weeks, I will be able to attend a few more concerts and gather with friends and strangers alike to simply appreciate each other’s company in the presence of beautiful sounds.

Molly's reflections on her Easter experiences in Cape Town

Being abroad sometimes gives me this feeling of invincibility, as if I can do things here that I would be too afraid to do at home, and if things go wrong I can excuse myself because I’m an exchange student who just wants to learn more about the culture. One of the things I’m usually too afraid to do at home is go to services at churches I’m unfamiliar with. Going to new churches always makes me a little worried because I never know what to expect and standing out in a congregation can be awkward. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one who wanted to visit St. George’s Cathedral, so a few of my coeducators and I went to St. George's Cathedral in downtown Cape Town on Easter Sunday. The Cathedral is well-known for being the home cathedral of former Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the same man who led the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. The sight of European-looking churches next to palm trees is new and a bit uncomfortable to me; it reminds me of the colonialism that brought Christianity to tropical regions and it almost seems as if the church doesn’t belong and shouldn’t be there. With that being said, Christianity has been a positive motivating force for many of the people I’ve worked with here, and who am I to say it doesn’t belong? There’s a welcome sign at the entrance to the cathedral which invites people from all walks of life, regardless of job, race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, handicaps, or any other aspect of life/identity you can think of, and that welcoming attitude seemed to be reflected in the congregation. Afrikaans, English, and Xhosa were all represented at different parts of the service, and the sermon compared Jesus's resurrection as only the beginning of the Christian struggle to the end of Apartheid being only the beginning of the struggle towards equality. I don’t get a lot of contact here with older white people who think that the struggle towards equality continues today, so it was refreshing to see a white reverend at a well-known church acknowledging it. In any case, it was better than the comparison between UConn men's basketball and Jesus’s resurrection that was made to the last Easter service I attended in the United States.

The Monday after Easter is Family Day in South Africa, so I spent most of the day with every single other white person in Cape Town at the Parklife Music Festival, a folk-pop festival that took place on a cricket club in Green Point. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen that many white people in one place at a time in Cape Town, and I hope I continue to be critical of the overt whiteness that will surround me when I go back to West Hartford Center or a Dave Matthews Band concert back in the US. Some of the music was very good, but I couldn’t help but cringe when a white artist named Xavier Rudd took time from his set to thank the ancestors for this land, or when a stoner band called Desmond and the Tutus (how is that okay? maybe Desmond Tutu has a better sense of humor than me) took the stage and started proclaiming their love for girls from Pretoria. We discussed the existence of white culture in class several weeks ago, so it was interesting to finally see white culture in Cape Town represented so dynamically through vintage clothing, folk-pop, and food trucks.

Alex L thoroughly enjoyed the excursion

Although I am very happy to be “home” in Cape Town, I really did thoroughly enjoy our excursion in Johannesburg. We started off the week touring museums and historical sights which is honestly not my favorite thing in the world to do, but I learned so much while being there and listening to the accounts shared by people who had encountered Apartheid atrocities. Walking through museums such as the Hector Pieterson Museum, it was heartbreaking to read about how these people were simply protesting the fact that they were all of a sudden being forced to learn in a foreign language and many lost their lives because of it.  That is like having to learn in Spanish for only English speaking students and there is no way of getting around it…that boggles my mind. Something that also hit home was walking through the Black Only cemetery in Sharpeville. I have been to cemeteries in the US and some in Israel for fallen soldiers, and these are some of the most beautiful places with granite headstones and beautiful flowers lining every single one of the graves. Meanwhile, walking through the cemetery for the victims of the Sharpeville Massacre was like walking through a landfill. There was trash lining the graves instead of photos or flowers, many people didn’t even have headstones to identify who they were or their life and that utterly broke my heart.  I wanted so badly to fix up the place, plant some grass, flowers, remove the trash, and give these people a proper resting place because they don’t deserve anything less.

Later was the Kruger National Park excursion which was even more incredible than expected. Seeing all these wild animals in their natural habitat was so peaceful because I am only used to seeing animals locked up in a zoo with no freedom to roam. On one of the excursions we saw a female lion with many cubs as they were trying to cross the street. There were obviously many cars and trucks stopped in the road to see this amazing sight, so one of the cubs got lost and separated from the group and was clearly scared and attempting to roar for the mother to hear.  The mother came back to look for the cub and was eventually reunited. My heart melted. The next night, we went on another game drive and within minutes we witnessed three female lions attacking a water buffalo for that night’s dinner. The cubs were close by, almost taking note of how the mothers were doing it. It was the most beautiful and disturbing thing I have ever witnessed. I started crying because of the noises the buffalo were making in its last minutes of life, almost screaming in pain. We were standing by with cameras out and it felt very awkward to watch something die, but on the other hand I realized it is only the circle of life and this needs to happen in order for the other animals to eat and survive. The cubs were amazing to watch, they were so timid and waited a very long time until the moms essentially said it was okay to eat. As sad as it was, I am so grateful I got to witness that type of nature with my own eyes because I am almost positive I will never see something like that in my life ever again.

Becca: Jo'burg Part2

On Wednesday, we traveled to Soweto to do some work with the Boys and Girls Club there. This was definitely my favorite part of Johannesburg. While I was there, weeded and hoed a plot for their garden so that they could expand it. We made a lot of headway and it was really satisfying to see the before and after shots. The director of the club was also so grateful which made it feel even more worth. In the afternoon, the kids arrived and we played games it was so fun. It reminded me of Olympics day during camp and it was so fun to get the kids amped up and excited to work in teams. I think it was so nice to spend time with them because, as cliché as it is, kids’ optimism and seemingly infinite joy always give me hope and reminds me of all the good that exists in the world—something I sorely needed after everything we had been learning the past couple of days.

We then headed out to Mpumalanga where we spent three days at Kruger National Park. Here we enjoyed game drives and a braai as well as some time to relax by the poolside, enjoy each others company and reflect on our time in Johannesburg. I got a lot of reading in and it was really awesome to see the animals in a more natural setting. I’ve always found zoos to be extremely unsettling. I hate seeing animals cooped up that way. I saw almost all of the big five (except leopards) and saw lions mating. On our night game drive, I was looking out at the stars, which were much clearer than I’ve seen in a while, living in a city. And it hit me, I am in Africa. It seems so obvious, but when you have adjusted and are spending every day in class and commuting to work and living life regularly it is easy to forget where you are. I think that is the beauty of it though, that I have adjusted so much that I can forget. At the same time, it just made me want to explore more. I work in the city, but theres so much of it that I haven’t explored and so much more I feel I can learn.

So, as soon as we landed home I hit the ground running. On Saturday, Emily and I spent the day at the Company Gardens and the South African National Gallery Where we enjoyed some art.

On Sunday, Drew, Caroline, Derek, Megan, Trista and I went for a hike. While we intended to reach Devil’s Peak, we took some wrong turns and ended up on the lower peak. It was still an excellent time. We then headed out for an unconventional Easter dinner of sushi.

On Monday, I still didn’t have work because it was a national holiday—Family Day, which I spent at the Park Life music and food festival listening to local artists. It was a wonderful spring break and I am looking forward to getting back into my routine refreshed and ready to take on new challenges.

Becca: Jo'burg Part 1

Meg, Trista, Emily, Maria, Megan & Becca enjoying time in Jo'burg

I’m not going to go through every single detail of our time in Johannesburg because other people have covered that. Honestly, I wasn’t initially very excited to go. I felt like I was just getting into a routine in Cape Town and the thought of going through another week of traveling around with our entire group seemed cumbersome and tiring.  Once I got there, I realized that this break in my routine to explore South Africa’s history more deeply and more experientially was exactly what I needed to truly analyze the impact that my time in South Africa has had on me thus far. Now that I have gotten to know my peer educators a little better, I feel more comfortable delving into more intimate conversations.

I think that my favorite experience was the Hector Pieterson Museum and it’s focus on youth engagement and the power that young people and students have in social movements. I know that my peer educators and I have frequently discussed our frustrations with the lack of political action among our peers, it’s cause, and how to effectively address that. While I still don’t necessarily know the answer to that, it was so empowering to see what people my age are capable of in the right context and with the right mindset.

I don’t know if it’s right to say that I enjoyed Sharpeville so much as it was the most profound experience I had. To give some context: The Sharpeville Massacre occurred in 1960 on the 21stof March (now the South African national holiday Human Rights Day) when around 7,000 black demonstrators stood outside the South African Police station to protest the Pass Laws, the policy of internal passports required of blacks during apartheid to systematically segregate the population, manage urbanization, and allocate migrant labor by limiting their ability to move within their own country. During this protest, police opened fire into the crowd, effectively killing 69 non-violent protestors. Our time in Sharpeville was spent walking through the police station where the protests took place and touring Sharpeville. We ended at the Sharpeville Cemetery. The most salient moment from this were two gravestones next to each other covering the graves of two victims of massacre of kids aged twenty and seventeen—the ages of me and my sister respectively. This was shocking first because of the state of the cemetery. Despite its status as a national artifact, it was falling apart. It was just so disconcerting to see such an important moment in South Africa’s history represented in such an unimportant way. The fact that these two graves existed there and I could relate to them in a really weird way almost seemed to personalize the travesty of apartheid and its implications. I don’t exactly know how to verbalize how I felt, but it reminded me of a quote from a book I just read (Diane Brown’s The Sabi) by a classified colored woman who grew up during the 20th century apartheid regime, “In the end you have to surrender the individual to the magnanimous, and disregard the individual wants, whims and idiosyncrasies. This must be the point at which freedom is almost palatable”.