Xenophobia

As many of you know, there has been an outbreak of xenophobic violence throughout South Africa. It started in the townships outside of Johannesburg, but has spread to Durban and Cape Town. I haven't seen or really felt any of the effects of the rioting, it's mainly contained in the townships; Zimbabweans and Somalians have been the main targets of violence, many of them having their homes and stores burned. Refugee centers have been set up all over, many people are staying churches and community centers.

Today, I went to an anti-xenophobia rally at St. George's Cathedral, the Anglican cathedral where Archbishop Desmond Tutu preached against apartheid. One of the South African women I was with, told us that the church has always been a site of social justice gatherings and that her son had been chased in there in the 1970s and beat by the police. Needless to say, it seemed a fitting place for a rally against the intimidation and violence occurring across the country.

We got there early and helped hang up posters and organize t-shirts. Everyone wore t-shirts which read "foreigner" on the front. The rally began with the Chief Justice of the South African Constitutional Court who spoke about the human rights embodied in the constitution and the need to celebrate human dignity. Speakers continued after that, including the current archbishop of Cape Town; there were 18 speakers in total. Although many of the speakers were compelling, listening to so many at once was a little overwhelming and at times boring. I was a little disappointed that the we weren't mobilized to do something about what was going on; I felt comforted by the fact that so many people showed up to the event, but I think the event could have used a little more energy.

Here are some background articles:

Xenophobia hurts like apartheid

Mozambicans flee over the border

Mbeki's rule in limbo as townships burn

Cape Town in May

Again, I've let too much time go by before posting! And, there is really no excuse--most of my classes are pretty much over, and I've been doing a lot of reading for pleasure.

May started out with crazy amounts of work, including several long papers, but this last week my work has totally disappeared! Now that I have all this free time, though, Cape Town has really taken a turn for fall. Today it is pretty nice out, but generally there has been a lot of rainy, cloudy days. To occupy my days, I've been reading a couple books. Last week I read The Nine about the Supreme Court which answered many of questions about how the Court works and helped me understand a lot more about the current justices' personalities and jurisprudence. This weekend, I went a different direction and read On Chisel Beach by Ian McEwan; I loved reading Atonement so I was pretty excited to pick this up. It was a nice, short read which definitely kept me occupied for the weekend. On Sunday, I started East of Eden which I really like so far, but I'm intimidated by its length.

Other than reading, I have done a little exploring. I went to the town of Kalk Bay which is on the ocean and totally adorable. We just took the train out for an afternoon and did a little shopping. I also went out for Sunday tea at the fancy Mount Nelson Hotel. It happened to be a beautiful day and we got to sit out on the veranda, an idyllic setting for afternoon tea. The food was delicious!! I'll try to post some pictures soon.

Things are starting to come to an end, in about a month I'll be back in Chicago!! There are still a couple things I have to do before I leave, but luckily there is a super long study break before exams--lots of time for all the touristy stuff I've missed.

Back to Reality

Well, last weekend was a quick trip to Namibia. I haven't calculated it, but it seems like we spent almost as much time in Namibia as we did on the bus. It ended up being a 25 hour ride each way, and we were only in Nambia for about 3 days.

The highlights include: sand boarding, camel riding, and a dolphin cruise.










Now, I'm back in Cape Town with a ton of work to do. I have three papers to write this weekend, so its been a harsh transition back to reality. So far, I've averaged a paper a day for the last two days, so hopefully that will continue today!!