not all those who wander are lost.

what i learned in durban that i think will help me in kisumu

1. Don’t ask dumb questions. Kids in the US are taught that there’s no such thing as a dumb question. From my experiences, there are plenty of dumb questions. 
2. Participate in something cultural. Show a general interest in how they live. That way, when you slip up and do something stupid, it will come across as funny rather than offensive
3. If you are lost, act like you know where you’re going. Wear sunglasses. 
4. Store valuables on your body, not your purse/bag.
5. On that note, never put valuables in your checked baggage. 
6. A little knowledge of the local language can go a long way.
7. Always pack toilet paper, baby wipes, hand sanitizer and a flashlight.
8. Don’t go somewhere alone after dark. More importantly, don’t let anyone else go somewhere alone after dark. If you look out for them, they will look out for you. 
9. Always try to eat the mystery meat that makes your stomach churn. If you can’t eat it, eat everything else on the plate.
10. Don’t drink curdled milk. Just don’t.
11. Know the local slang term for “white person.” Embrace it.
12. Don’t give money to beggars. Accept the fact that you will feel like shit ignoring them, but also realize that you have to be stern to get rid of the aggressive ones. Give them food. You don’t know what they would use your money for. 
13. Make friends with the people at your favorite internet cafe
14. Also make friends at the backpackers/hostel you stay at. Use good judgement though, some very questionable people end up at backpackers. 
15. If you are ever uncomfortable or sad, befriend a child. They have less filters than adults and so you will learn more about a culture from them than anyone else. Plus they will make you happy. 
16. Always ask before you take a picture, and always show the person the photo after you take it. 
17. Be emotionally present. You will be miserable if you’re thinking about home all the time.
18. If you’re working, really try to put your best foot forward those first few days. Even if you mess up, it’s clear that you’re trying and your boss will take mistakes as learning opportunities rather than wasted opportunities. 
19. This might be obvious, but be flexible. Be patient. 
20. “When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” - Clifton Fadiman

On that note, here is a link for the blog run by the Center for Public Service for all Heston interns. You will see my posts there, as well as the posts of other students doing internships in Kisumu, Nicaragua, and Gettysburg.

gumption

noun

1. initiative; aggressiveness; resourcefulness

2. courage; spunk; guts

3. common sense; shrewdness.

On to the next

I told you I wasn’t done yet—I’m going to Kenya! Thanks to the Heston Summer Experience for giving me the incredible opportunity to work with KMET in Kisumu, Kenya, a port city on Lake Victoria. Works cannot describe how excited I am. Details on what I will be doing will follow in the near future.

I know my family isn’t exactly excited to see me leave again (only for 2 months this time), especially to a place that seems to be surrounded by so much violence. By some miracle, I actually had other job opportunities for this summer, and so this decision was not easy. At the end of the day, though, I know I made the right choice. I am currently doing a program through the Eisenhower Institute (Inside Politics with Kasey Pipes) and Kasey sent us a commencement speech to read that was given by Chris Matthews. I have to admit that I know next to nothing about Chris Matthews besides the fact that he has a show on NBC and that he came to Gettysburg to speak while I was abroad. But his words really resonated in my head while I was making my decision about whether or not to go to Kenya. When Matthews was 23, he began his two year Peace Corps job in Swaziland. Didn’t know that, did you? Totally caught me off guard too. His overall message in this speech was that sometimes our best experiences are ones that required us to take a leap of faith. It got me thinking, and I realized that some of my best life choices were also huge risks. I won’t bore you with the details but choosing Gettysburg College was actually a huge leap of faith for me, and in retrospect I should have put more thought into my decision. But thank goodness I made that hasty decision; it was the perfect choice. Choosing to go to Durban was also a big deal for me, but it was easily the best four months of my life. 

Anyway, my point is that I just could not imagine myself turning this opportunity down. The only reason I had this opportunity was because of the chances I took in the past. Matthew said in his speech:

Ever watch a little kid standing alone court side while the big kids play basketball? When a ball goes out of bounds, he runs for it and passes it back in. And as time goes on, when an older kid has to go home for dinner, somebody yells, “Hey punk, wanna play?”

It reminded me of the Woody Allen quote that my dad used to always say to me, that 80% of success is just showing up. I didn’t understand it when I was younger, but my dad would tell me that everything will fall into place from there, but nothing can even start if you don’t show up. Someone is finally letting me play with the big kids, and this time I’m showing up. So thus begins my next adventure. 

denial

So I’ve been home for two weeks now. Two weeks! I didn’t realize that until I just typed it. I don’t think I’ve done a good job adjusting to home life, and I’m definitely failing on the whole tell-everyone-how-Africa-was front. Let me tell you, it is exhausting to talk about this past semester. I’m getting better, but my limit seems to be an hour before I start having out-of-body experiences.

Anyway, my travels home were almost fine. I survived the 16 hour flight from Joburg to JFK, but got home to find my suitcase had been cut open and pilfered through. Since I am a grade-A idiot, I put my dad’s Nikon D3000 in that suitcase. I know, total rookie move. Of course it was stolen. It was the first time I ever checked a camera/valuable…and the last. I remember our program coordinators always telling us that we could never let our guard down, because that would be the moment something would go wrong. I made it through the semester without getting sick, mugged, robbed, harassed, etc, but I slipped up by checking that camera and karma jumped at the chance to get back at me. Don’t worry, I have filed claims with every single organization even remotely related to international travel in the hopes that I can salvage some of my pride. Luckily I had all the photos already on my computer, but the idea of someone going through my stuff and my pictures is disturbing. Let this be a lesson to….me, because I’m the only person stupid enough to check a camera.

Let’s see, culture shock? Does it exist? I guess. The resonating emotion most of us have had is just a feeling of numbness, as depressing as that sounds. I know for me it’s been hard to go from Durban to Bergen County, New Jersey, because people here are…how to put this nicely…living carefree. I was afraid I would slip back into the North Jersey mentality of “I’m the center of the universe and I deserve all the nice things in the world” but then a week went by and I realized I had yet to spend any money. Seriously, I hadn’t even touched American currency yet. That makes it sound like I didn’t leave my house for a week, but I swear I did.

Every shower has been better than the last, bagels and pizza make me smile, and I couldn’t be less excited about people’s soap-opera lives. The nice thing about going abroad 9000 miles away is you have absolutely no way of hearing everyones problems on even a weekly basis. I also spent the semester thoroughly enjoying deleting emails and putting things in my “look at in December” folder. Well, now it’s December. So now I have to, like, figure out my life. 

I have really enjoyed listening to my friends who are going abroad in the spring talk about how nervous they are. I felt exactly the same way they did, but all I can really say to them is that yes, you will be uncomfortable and it will be hard to leave home but, my goodness, you’ll never want to come back home by the end. There is another Gettysburg student doing my program next semester, and I will be living vicariously through her the whole time. It’s going to suck.

I don’t think I will be using this blog for a bit, however I do plan on continuing it on my next abroad adventure…because there will be another one. Can’t get rid of me that easily, Mama Afrika.

Cape Town!

Surprise! I have internet! That means one more post from South Africa. I’m really loving Cape Town. I thought I would hate it, because I had heard it was super European. Then I dropped my snob act and remembered that I like Europe so why on earth would I not like Cape Town? Spoiler alert: Cape Town is super European. It’s beautiful and adorable and I love it. The mountains cascade behind the huge city buildings and there are windy, hilly cobblestone streets. It’s very, very, very, very, VERY different than Durban. Even though I love Cape Town, it’s no Durban. But anyway, here’s what we’ve been up to:

Tuesday we woke up at 4 am to watch the sunrise over the ocean in Durban…it was our last morning there. We flew to Cape Town that afternoon, arriving at our backpackers around 4pm. By 4:30 we were walking through the city to Long Street, the Florida Road of Cape Town (Florida Road is in Durban). There are tons of bars and restaurants. We had Ethiopian, which I’ve been dying for, and it did not disappoint. Also, we are staying at a place called the Zebra’s Crossing and it’s the best—stay here if you ever come to Cape Town!

This morning we went to Robben Island, which was a cool experience. The tour guides are all ex-prisoners so it’s a pretty honest tour. On the bus tour around the island we had a different guide who was awesome and knew anything and everything about…anything and everything. Tonight is our last night in South Africa, which is unreal. It hasn’t hit me yet…I’m still in denial. Sorry in advance for gushing about Durban for months. Actually, I’m not sorry, you should go. All of you. 

It’s been a crazy semester, and I hope you all enjoyed living it with me. Most of all, I hope to have encouraged you to reach beyond your comfort zone every now and then—it’s always going to be a challenge, but it’s always going to be rewarding. Always. 

Ok I’m done sounding pretentious. It’s been real, South Africa. See you soon.