This past weekend, we went on the
homestay in Ocean View. After Chantel came to class, I was really excited to go.
I was just so looking forward to interacting with the community and especially
the kids. My host family was Astrid, Adrien, Aiden and Amber. Astrid and Adrien
were our host parents and Aiden and Amber were their two kids. I absolutely
loved them. They were so excited to bring us around and show us Cape Town. They
brought us to Long Beach, Hout Bay, Chapman’s Peak, TopStones, World Of Birds,
to their church, and just drove us around by the water so we could look out at
the beauty. Not only did they do all of this, but they were amazing to talk to.
Emily and I spent the whole weekend talking about their lives here, and the differences
between here and the US when it came to politics, attitudes, and day to day
life. Amber, too, was adorable. She is 9, and when we arrived we found that she
had decorated our door with our names to greet us. She loved playing games and
was extremely energetic and confident.
On Thursday evening, we did ballroom dancing
with some of the kids from the community. They were so good, and I learned so
much. I miss being a dancer every day, so every opportunity I get to dance is
the best experience. Then, on Friday, we went with Chantel and the kids
from the daycare to the Muizenburg pools. It was very fun, but so so
exhausting. At one point in the pool, I actually had 6 children on my back and
was crawling around to give them a ride. But it was so fulfilling to see these
kids having a blast and really just getting to be carefree, and I would love to
continue to do similar things in Cape Town and at home.
One thing that I thought was
perplexing was my experience at the church in Ocean View. It was a rule that
women had to wear skirts or dress; they could never wear pants. During the
service, there were only men on the stage. Then, when they were singing out the
songs, all of them had this theme of whiteness as purity. One of the song’s
refrains literally repeated the words “White as snow” again and again, implying
purity and righteousness. This church was all classified Coloured, and for me
that sort of theme just represented the legacy of apartheid. It was really
jarring to me to see those words in the song book, and to see these amazing,
determined people soaking in that theme. I don’t blame them at all for it, I don’t
think it is their responsibility to decolonize their lives because it wasn’t
their choice for it to be colonized in the first place. I also don’t think that
many people would think it is right to change their holy verses. However, I was
just surprised at how outright and plain the theme was for anyone to see, and I
thought the people in the community deserved more than that.
Overall, it was an amazing weekend in
Ocean View
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| Megan's selfie in Ocean View |
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