Constitutional Court

This court is certainly a source of pride for the citizens of Johannesburg. Without even asking, we were booked to visit Constitutional Court before we even arrived here at St. John's. Anna and I were lucky enough to get an art and architecture tour of the building - who knew there could be so much symbolism behind the vast styles of furniture! To me, the most striking thing about the Court was how open it was to the public. Stacy, our amazing tour guide, told us about the location of the Court. It is basically a "passing zone," so people travel throughout the Courthouse grounds on a daily basis - and this is exactly what was planned. My favorite design of the building was part of the actual courtroom. A slim and oblong window that rests close to the ground is the only way to look outside. Through this window, due to it's low laying position, you can only see legs of the people walking by the court. This was created as so to play off of the idea that gender, race, and other physical features are irrelevant to judging a person. It goes to show that, while in the court, a person will never be judged unfairly due to their race, religion, or gender.

The Flare of Democracy, outside of the Court

Chapel and Religion at St. John's

I've been meaning to write about chapel for quite some time now. Religion is a huge part of the school life here - you simply can't avoid it. Boys in "the college" have chapel every day except for Thursdays, and the girls in 6th Form have chapel three times a week. Any sort of required religious gathering at St. George's usually referred to with a sigh or a groan. Here at St. John's, on the other hand, students (or "learners") are all so excited to participate. Every single person sings along with the songs and responds aloud when appropriate. In addition, students regularly volunteer to read aloud during the one and a half hour long services, and Communion is given at nearly every single chapel service. It's so different to see everyone really getting into the church services!

This is the picture of the beautiful Main Chapel!

TLC Orphanage

THIS is the day I had been waiting for since I touched down in Johannesburg nearly 2 weeks ago. Anna and I were privileged enough to visit the TLC Orphanage just outside of the city area. What a pleasure! These kids ranged from 2 weeks to 4 years old, and were absolutely wonderful. The moment I stepped onto the premises I was sent straight to work. Some of my jobs included: folding laundry, doing dishes, changing diapers, feeding, and holding the little rascals that refused to sleep during nap-time. The day was full of smiles and headaches, but it did not take long for the sadness to set in once I finally left the orphanage. These poor kids, some unable to be cared for by their family members and some found at the doorstep of the orphanage, were helpless with their destinies. We luckily got to sit down with the owner of the orphanage during lunch to hear a little more about the process. Most, if not all, of the kids that get adopted from the agency are adopted when they are just babies. The group of older kids, all up to about 4 years old, usually have stuck around for so long because they are diagnosed with HIV and are unwanted by prospective adopting families. This day has really opened my eyes to a whole new part of the world... I don't think there is an orphanage within hundreds of miles from where I live. What precious children.

Traditional African Dance

So, on our way out of the grocery market to stock up on some granadillas, Anna and I came across a showing of African traditional dance on the sidewalk. It was amazing to watch and the singing and clapping throughout the crowd was certainly something to experience. Check out their traditional dress, too!

The African Flea Market

Today Anna and I had the privilege of visiting the African flea market. It was such a great experience! There were the most beautiful handcrafted trinkets and paintings of Africa on canvas. I bought items here that I could simply not buy at any other place in the world! It was so nice to truly get a taste of what South Africa is like beyond the walls of the boarding school.

The most interesting part about the crafts at the market is actually HOW they are made. The picture below is of colorful baskets being sold at one of the tables in the market. And guess what... they're made of telephone wire! It was also not unusual to see items made from soda cans and everyday plastics. So cool!

Tea, Tea, and... More Tea!

The tea intake going on over here on this side of the world has to be documented as absolutely staggeringly astronomical. Here's a look at the schedule:

- Tea for breakfast
- "Morning tea" break time
- Tea at lunch
- "Afternoon tea"
- Tea at dinner
- Tea before bed

The tea offered here by the school is certainly nothing to rave over, so how on earth can everyone be so obsessed with it around here?!

Well, when Alejandra's family hosted Anna and I for the weekend, I finally got to taste the better end of this tea phenomenon. Just in a small café there are hundreds of different teas to try. I have to say... I fell in love! Next on my checklist is to buy some delicious teas to bring back to the US with me. This way I can enjoy my tea like they do over here in South Africa... 6 times a day!

delicious!

The Nightlife

It's incredible to see the difference between the "nightlife" here in South Africa in comparison to that at home. The term "going out," on the weekend seemed to me to be innocent enough. But when a girl named Maips asked me at lunch if I had "gone out" yet, Anna and I naturally answered her question with something along the lines of,

"Yes, we went grocery shopping at one of your shopping malls and bought a pair of gloves, too!"

Laughter erupted for nearly 10 minutes straight before Anna and I finally got an explanation. Apparently "going out" is classified solely as going "clubbing" or "partying." We responded with a timid "oh," and looked down at our plates. It was quiet for a moment before the table began to ask questions again.

"Wait... so you guys in America don't go clubbing or drinking?"

It took the next unfortunate ten minutes to explain that yes, Americans go clubbing and drinking, but no, Anna and I do not. They couldn't believe that people our age in America actually obeyed the drinking laws (granted there are some people that do not). Apparently in South Africa, where the drinking age is already as low as 18 years, businesses do not even ask for identification when purchasing alcohol! Thank goodness Anna and I will be staying over a host family's house over the remaining weekends... no stress in having to dodge these situations!

Food Poisoning

Oh yes... it happened. Not sure if it was the under-cooked chicken or the fact that the kitchen staff was sorting the utensils on the ground outside. So much pain... ahh!

Community Service

Upon request to be informed of any available community service opportunities, Anna and I finally got word on a way that we could help and get involved with the Johannesburg community. As it turns out, St. John's was hosting a computer class for underprivileged citizens. The class taught these citizens, who were on average 30 years old, how to work basic programs on the computer. Today we worked with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, and Anna and I spent all the way from 8am - 11:30am helping these people learn the basics and even create a resume to aid in applying for jobs. The men and women that we were able to help were absolutely wonderful people - they were so grateful for our help and of course made the waking-up early worth while! Taking barely more than 3 hours of my own personal time truly helped these people in great need; it warms my heart to know that Fionah, Maps, and all of the other wonderful people I met will soon be seeking out a job with the resume that we created together!

First Rugby Match

Today Anna and I went to our first rugby match at St. John's! It was so exciting and the atmosphere was amazing. To begin, I was absolutely enthralled (and a little appalled) at the actual playing of the game. With no protection whatsoever... now that's asking for some broken bones! In addition to the rowdy play, the atmosphere around the stands was enthralling. The school had such intense spirit, and chanted "war cries" in unison to cheer on their schoolmates. In addition, every student takes part in an activity that they call "spelling," where they actually spell out "SJC" (St. John's College) with their own bodies. When the students get the cue, they know whether or not to take of their blazers to create the image! It's actually quite compelling... here's a picture!

Teacher/Student Respect

In my third day of classes I got my first experience with what class is really like once the elephant in the room, or the awkward exchange student, becomes more of a friendly face. When graded homework was cheerily handed back to the students by Mrs. T., Nyasha raised her hand after reading the corrections made on her paper.

"Ma'am," she politely began, "I'm not sure why you took off points here."

The teacher, as suddenly as the flip of a switch, turned red hot with anger. The tangent that followed was both horrifying and appalling. What little I forced myself to remember included some of the following:

"If you expect me to not take off points for your horrible English language you should be ashamed."
"If you never learn to speak and write English properly you may as well go to that corner right now and kill yourself because you will grow up to be nothing more than a worthless bum."
"You are lazy, sloppy, careless and an awful excuse for an educated human being."

How awful to watch my friend brake down in tears due to the heartless words of a professional!

List of Things to Bring Home With Me:

1.) Crunchies Honeycomb Chocolate Bar

2.) P.S. Chocolate Bar

3.) Curry powder (the real stuff!)

4.) Marmite (for Dad)

5.) Beefy Bovril Meat and Vegetable Extract (again- for Dad)

Boy/Girl Divide

The boy and girl divide is so much more than I was expecting here. Not simply within the student community, but the teachers and staff members also create this deep divide between genders. "They just don't really acknowledge us," is how my friend Fumi from Kenya described it. I didn't believe that this could be the absolute truth until I had my first-hand experience. The only girls in the lunchroom, about 15 of us, all crowded around one table while the boys inundated the rest of the area.

"Boys, stand up!" was bellowed by one of the faculty members.

I, naturally, followed instructions by remaining seated. Within a 3 second time span I realized that I was the only one of my friends continuing to sit, and my friend Ziwe quickly pulled me up by the arm. Once the prayer had been said and the signal to sit down was given, the girls began to laugh at me.

"Don't get used to being addressed around here... they still think they're an all boys school despite the 30 of us."

School Day #1

All I can begin to say is WOW. The school life here in South Africa differs immensely from that back at home. I'll spend today's blog by talking about a regular class day here at St. Johns. Classes generally start at 7:25 am, and continue until 5 pm. Students arrive to class either right on time or 5 minutes late... but never earlier! When the teacher arrives, all students abruptly stand up in their seats (something that I was awkwardly ill prepared for)  and greet him/her with an in-unison "hello ma'am" or "hello sir." The actual class discussion differs from St. George's in that it is mainly question-and-answer based. There is not much discussion, and there's a lot more focus on what rather than why. Students do not use laptops although most of them own Dells and Macs. In my first class, nearly 30 pages of material were given out to each of the 10 students... it made me forget how eco-friendly St. George's actually is! The schedule is also much more lenient here: there are only 2 required classes that each student is required to take (called "compulsory") - and they only take place once every two weeks! What a change from my St. George's experience. Although this is all so strange I am confident to say that I'm getting used to it. Everyone is so friendly and I'm ready to take on a second day!

Arrival

I survived! The 16 hour travel time to South Africa could have only been a success with the help of hundreds of movies and TV shows offered by the South African Airlines flight. Thank goodness! Anna and I finally made it to the airport at 7:30 am Africa time. This is 1:30 am time but the kind Mr. Taylor, who picked up Anna and I from the airport, was unfortunately unaware of this. We drove to St. John's, which was a convenient 10 minutes away from JNB, and quickly got settled. I've already chosen my classes: Psycology, Geography, Divinity, English Language, and Economy (score!). So excited to take Economy after the sad realization that AP Econ. wouldn't couldn't fit into my St. George's schedule for my senior year. And, as much as I would love to continue blogging, I haven't slept for an entire 24 hours. Signing out!

Step One: Plane Ride

As excited as I am to begin my exchange in Johannesburg, I have to admit that I am not exited to  begin the 16 hour in-flight expedition. If the flight time isn't sufficiently irritating, I don't even want to begin to think about the intimidation of going through customs and security. Plus the omnipresent fear of loosing circulation in my legs from sitting for too long and developing life-threatening blood clots.


Okay, maybe I'm thinking too much into it.


Whatever the case, I know that my stay in South Africa will be worth it. "Cheers," as they say, to waking up at 3am! Next time I'll be on the other side of the world!