Greetings all--an update to finish off Week 3!

Rocklands was a huge amount of fun. It's an interdenominational conference center/camp/retreat with adventure course settled near the base of a mountain in Simons Town. You wake up in the morning, go outside, and face this immense peak on one side with greenery brushing the ledges, and the vast ocean on the other--so beautiful! I had a really nice time of mental, spiritual, and physical refreshment:

-Physical: went on a hike, jumped up and down on a trampoline(normally I'm terrified of trampolines--well, of falling off of trampolines, but these were inserted into holes in the ground, with the edge of the trampoline just meeting the edge of the earth), built a house of cardboard and a sandcastle with my "team", and slept. Sleep is good.

-Mental: I let go of all the homework I still have to do to complete "South Africa and Its Peoples." I outlined a summary the last night I was there, and that was it.

-Spiritual: amazing praise and worship services and messages and a really great, healing prayer time--and some quality time journaling by my lonesome. *sighs happily* I think Christian retreat centers have this universal quality of peace about them--Susque felt the same way; it's this wonderfully restful sensation of being in a place that is being prayed for by a lot of people. You feel an extra bit of protection, like Jesus going away on the mountain top.

And now...
down...
to...
EARTH!

Back at the ranch, there was more official orientation at Cornerstone to prepare for classes to start next week. Over the past two days we've toured campus, received a TON of information and booklets, received security tags to get into the building without having to buzz the entrance and wait for the receptionist, and in general tried to get our brains into gear for the rest of the semester. The grading system is different here--an "A" is 75-100, a "B" is 70-75, a "C" is 60-69, a "D" is 50-59, and an "F" is anything below 50. However, the difficulty remains the same--that is, it suddenly becomes much harder to achieve a 75, etc. 4 full-semester courses taught in seven weeks--this term is going to go fast.

On that note, I'm still not sure if I should take Peacemaking and Reconciliation. It deals mostly with the history of conflict resolution, different types of conflict resolution in different cultural and interpersonal aspects, and one's own methods of dealing with conflict. It sounds interesting, but...does it work with my major, Cross-Cultural Studies? My other option is Theories of Personality, which goes into the major personality theorists and then discusses different personality traits, internal/external motivation, and intrinsic/environmental factors in personality. Again, it sounds very interesting: question is, does it work better or worse than the first option? *sighs* I have no idea, but I'm very open to anyone's ideas, suggestions, or random comments. I need to decide by Monday.

Oh, by the way, more adventures with Janeen and the Many Locks That Don't Like to Open For Her:

-having been dropped off at the nearest supermarket, the Intrepid Explorer walks approximately ten minutes, purchases secured in her oh-so-theft-deterring black backpack of Wal-Mart fabulousness; she is anxious to get inside and have a snack. She approaches the gate, pulls out her key ring, and attempts to unlock the gate. Doesn't happen.
-the Intrepid Explorer THEN twists the key this way and that, alternatively tries the other lock even though she knows it never works in that lock, and in total spends about 4-5 minutes struggling with the implacable piece of intricately cut metal. The lock stays locked.
-after this defeat, the Intrepid Explorer walks a short distance away from the offending gate to the end of the block, trying to trick the lock into letting its guard down. She then walks back and plunges her key into the keyhole and--nothing. The lock laughs at her.
-she then prays, which she should have done to start with, and calls her flat-mate's cell phone. Nothing doing on that end.
-the Intrepid Explorer then half-heartedly tries the lock a few last times, and calls her flat-mate's step-mom. Ruth answers the phone, and sets about Doing Something.
-the Intrepid Explorer waits for the Something to be Done, and while idling, manages to sneak inside the gated fence after someone else who's key DOES work the lock. Perhaps they secretly bribe the lock with chocolate-flavored WD-40.
-upon entering the flat, the Intrepid Explorer then has to sort out the fact that her flat-mate WAS in the flat, and she could have "buzzed" her, had the Intrepid Explorer the slightest idea what "buzzing" was, and in the mean time, she has to sort out things with Ruth and the flat-mate who is exasperated at being fussed at by Ruth.
-Eventually, a snack is eaten. It is tasty and involves lots of vegetables. The End.

When I get a house, I'm thinking of just getting a nice, safe moat and drawbridge; no keys, no fuss, and you can have goldfish and rabid platypi in the moat.

A last note: there's a really good health food store within walking distance--it sells wheat-free, yeast-free stevia cookies! :-D

“You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.”- Psalm 86:5

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

So THIS week...

I'm off to college camp at Rockland! It's basically a couple of days of ice breakers and team building exercises and fun activities for the first years--and the exchange students too! Also, a lot of the upperclassmen come along, including Orit. After that, it's back to Cornerstone College for a few days of orientation, and then the weekend, and then college starts! Yikes!

College here works in once-a-day concentrated modules over a two-month term and there are four terms in a school year. So, this term(Feb.-Mar.):

Monday: African Worldview from 8:30-12:30ish
Tuesday: Reconciliation and Peacemaking from 8:30-12:30ish
Wednesday: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 8:30-12:30ish
Thursday: Urban and Rural Development from 8:30-12:30ish
Fridays: excursions/field trips

Each day you get a break for tea and a break for lunch if class goes over the official end time. I can already predict I'm going to be challenged--especially trying to budget all of my class time with all of that supposed "free time" in the afternoons!

Saturday we went to Hillcrest Berry Orchards, a VERY Janeen-happy place that had all sorts of things I could eat, including yeast-free, wheat-free bread!

http://www.hillcrestberries.co.za/HILLCREST%20BERRY%20ORCHARDS.htm

Greetings world.

I've now been here about two weeks. Here's what I've learned so far:

-"Howzit" is a standard greeting.
-"Just now" means sometime in the future.
-"Robots" are traffic lights.
-"Load shedding" means that you won't get to watch the DVD today--*laughs* Actually, it's something to do with the fact that South Africa doesn't have enough electricity to go around, so sometimes the power just goes off rather randomly.
-Cricket is not as easy as it looks--found that out playing Live Action Cricket with some other Americans--hah!
-Seagulls like burnt potato skins, or at least will eat them when you've made it clear they won't get anything else from the braai!
-"Mr. Fix-it"=trash TV and stupid too. Don't see it.
-kudu biltong is just as tasty as kudu burgers.
-no matter where you go, shops near tourist sites will ALWAYS be horrendously overpriced.
-never go to an upscale restaurant with 60+ people without warning them ahead of time. That happened when we visited Stellenbosch. It took an hour and a half for my table to get their food--and we weren't the latest group to be served! It wasn't the restaurant's fault--they were just really overwhelmed!

Stellenbosch is a farming area--it also has the University of Stellenbosch. We visited a union office and learned about the issues with abuses of female farm workers. Many still only make R40($6ish) a week and also are often evicted from their homes due to alcoholism. The deal is that they used to be paid in bottles of wine, especially if they worked at a vineyard, so the farmers kind've caused the problem. The Western Cape province has the highest rate of fetal alcohol syndrome in the world--crazy, eh?

-when crossing the street, look right, look left, look right again, look left again--and then just walk out fearlessly and hope nobody hits you. This jaywalking philosphy works particularly well when there are others in front of you.
-you can buy white rice flour for waaay cheaper than my region of the US.
-texting rules, because airtime is expensive. However, people from anywhere in the world can call you and it never charges your cell phone.

-There's a lot of confusion over identity here--more on that in a later post.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”- Philippians 4:8

Byes!

Greetings from Week 2!

Hello world. This week is getting steadily busier with classwork and things--the readings are getting more intense in terms of length as well. Thank God Quinton gave our class a few more days for our group presentations and papers.

I've noticed things lately in the metrorail--how all of the whites and coloureds take the first class area, and the blacks and coloureds take the third class area. There's not much different between the two, just seats that are a bit comfier, and more room, yet yesterday I was confused by which side of the platform was first class, and I found myself looking for where any white people or upperclass people might be standing--or schoolkids. School kids of all ethnicities tend to ride first class; I think their parents foot the bill because it's supposedly a little safer. When I'm riding by myself I ride first class, because it's less crowded and I'm so spacey that even if there was never a chance of anyone swiping anything off me in third class, the sheer amount of people might distract and fluster me and I'd end up leaving my backpack on the train or something. When I'm traveling with someone, I go for third, because it's cheaper. It's just interesting to see the dynamic that develops there, or when I go to buy a newspaper, and a black man is in front of me, and the coloured cashier automatically tries to wait on me first. The prejudices of Apartheid (white, then coloured, then black African) seem to be so ingrained into the system in some ways that people don't even notice it. It puts the whole concept of "privilege" into new terms and settings...not as something that is one race or ethnicity's "fault", but as something entrenched into the worldview that everyone needs to work together to repair. South African society's collective memory needs to be healed and lessons harnessed for future generations. The deal is, this is going to take a while, because the racial stratification has been in place for hundreds of years.

I'm still thinking about how these lessons relate to the US ethnic and racial issues. I do think that in the US there's some sort of strange emphasis on confrontation, conflict, and (on the opposite side of the spectrum) color-blindness. Some kind of balance of reconciliation needs to be reached--and I'm sure that the idea has been considered before. I'll have to do more research.

In other news, the weather is lovely here, I've managed to find white rice flour for quite a cheap price, and the massive mountains are still there. God is still good!

*laughs* Oh my...

Okay, today was the day our group had "off" after a morning intiative with another study abroad group from Azusa Pacific(they're staying three weeks, it's for the J-term).

A taxi was hailed. I'm still getting used to the idea that taxis here are these 15-passenger vans(okay, sometimes they're a little smaller).
A mall was visited--it looked much like an American mall, except movie tickets are waaaay cheaper and the food court was nicer and different store names, people, etc.
A Janeen was dropped off at the metro station in order to return to Diep River so she could relax at the flat and do some seriously needed devos.
HA. HA. ---> By the way, Terry Pratchett's Hogfather has been made into a TV series! Crazy stuff!
Anyways, so she gets off at the wrong exit, goes off the train and away from the station before she REALIZES it's the wrong exit(Wittebome instead of Steurhof), so our intrepid, sleep-deprived explorer walks on back to the train station, buys another ticket for Steurhof, and hopes for the best.
She misses the first train out of Cape Town because she's on the wrong side of the tracks.
She waits for the second train to come around, and twenty minutes later, is finally settled into what she hopes is the metro-plus section.
She tries to get off at Steurhof, but can't manage to get the doors open!
She resolves to get off at the next exit, no matter what--but still nearly misses it and in fact only manages to leave the train thanks to the kind help of another passenger. Our explorer wishes she had had a nicer expression on her face when she thanked the passenger, but she was too busy glaring at the door.
She walks out of the station, finds out that this exit actually works much better than Steurhof, and walks to Pinewin.
There she discovers she can't locate the gate to unlock to get it. A call is made to Mrs. Keret(host-sister's Mom), who guides her to the gate, wherein the intrepid explorer tries all of the keys on her chain. None of them work. Finally the lovely Mrs. Keret calls one of the flat workers to open the door for her.
Right, now our traveler strides over to the door of the flats, confident that THIS time one of her keys will work.
No Such Luck, wait, bad word choice--ah, Fortune?--no, not right word either--let's just say, the door doesn't budge. Thank God another tenant buzzes into the building at about that time.
Now on the premises of her flat, the explorer trudges up the stairs and begins unlocking the three locks separating her from a power nap and a much-needed devotional time.
First lock=opens nicely.
Second lock=hah!.
Third lock=decides to play the same joke as the second lock.
After many struggles and much toil, the locks finally open and Janeen enters the flat.

Today we took a tour of some of the townships; specifically Langa and Khayelitsha. I would have taken pictures, but firstly I have certain personal reservations about taking pictures of someone else's living arrangements, no matter how 'insightful' it is into their culture and secondly, I have yet to unpack my second memory card. I'm sure there are plenty of other photos of poor urban communities proliferating the internet for your viewing...awareness-enhancement. For now, the following blog entry shall have to suffice in all it's rather random musing.

Langa -- An Island of Broken Glass

The township of Langa was established in 1927; there's a long story behind it, but basically the government was having problems with where blacks and coloureds(yes, it is not un-PC to use that terminology here) were living beforehand and so forcibly resettled them. It's a common story repeated durin much of the twentieth century. "Langa" means "the Sun" in the Xhosa language. 90% of the township residents speak Xhosa. 52% of township residents are unemployed.

We visited the cultural center, which is a large cinderblock structure on the nicer side of town(ship). Just inside the entrance is a large courtyard tiled in beautiful glass and ceramic mosaics. The colors are blue and green, with enlivening splashes of red and yellow and orange directing the eye to the shape of the artwork. While at the cultural center we were able to see these young boys, "the gum boot dancers." Gum boot dancing evolved from the Johannesburg coal mines, where the many black workers used it as a way of amusing themselves. I never thought you could do those kinds of moves in rain boots! Also at the cultural center was a pottery studio. It was started as a way of employing some of the township residents--they paint ceramic plates, cups, and other pieces, and sell them. A lot of major companies have contracted with them for comemorative plates and other celebratory things. I love how art can be used in such a productive way--the true essence of art is function as well as beauty.

From the cultural center we took to the streets of the townships. Now, I'm a spacey sort of person, so in an unfamiliar environment I'll often look at the ground in front of me to try and make sure I don't trip. When I did that in Langa, I realized the sandy spots between the sidewalks and roads, and even the sidewalks themselves, were covered in bits of green glass from shattered beer bottles (I'm glad I was wearing shoes). It was an interesting contrast--the broken glass from the cultural center, reflecting aspirations of a better future, and the broken glass on the dirty sand, telling of the past and present poverty and despair and hopelessness.

We saw people roasting sheeps heads at the fire; butcher shops give them away for free. The flames help the fur to come off easier--then they fully butcher them and sell them. There is fierce competition in the sheeps-head selling business--who would have thought? Our guide, who lived in Langa for a time, said it actually had a certain taste about it. Hmmm... *pictures bringing a sheeps head home to the flat for supper, or to the United States* "Yes Mr. Security Officer, it's only an ethnic trinket...!"

Then we went to the hostels. They used to house men brought in from other parts of Africa for cheap labor--now they house whole families for R20/mo(about $3-$4). This is even hard for families, because South Africa's unemployment for single mothers is only R200/mo(about $33). Now the government is renovating/converting hostels into family units for R200/mo; after five years of payments, the family can own the hostel outright. This is great for people who can afford it, but often families can't keep up the payments, so not only do the lose the house, but they also lose all chance at another, because their names are already on the national registry.

We last saw "Beverly Hills." These are fancy houses built near the roadside so that passing motorists will have a better impression of the townships. However, informal housing(re: shacks and shanties) have popped up nearer to the roadside. The government wants the people to move, but the people want to be closer to work, as most often they are migrants from the eastern Cape and from other countries, particularly Zimbabwe.

We next went to call on the healer, but he was in the eastern Cape. Healers in South Africa have to be registered with a government list of traditional medicine practicers. They have no cure for HIV/AIDs, but they do offer HIV/AIDs education as a part of government programs. However, they have a cure for alcohol: a medicine made from turtle urine. I think just threatening someone with the medicine might get them to quit!

Then we went to Khayelitsha township. It was meant for 250,000-800,000 people; it houses over a million people. It was another government scheme to get blacks away from the city during the Afrikaans-striving-for-identity-through-supremacy time period. There are approximately 250,000 school-aged kids, which makes for 40-60 kids per class room. The shanties here are rough, but they can be owned outright, instead of paying rent like the hostels. There are communal water taps and toilets.

We stopped by Vicky's Bed and Breakfast. From the outside, it looks like a small, rough shack, but on the inside it's beautiful!
http://www.cape-town-hotels.travel/Vicky_s_Bed_and_Breakfast

She uses some of the money earned to help educate township kids on South African history with trips to Robbin Island and museums.

As I traveled through the miles of shanties and hostels and things, what surprised me was the amount of pride and effort people put into their homes. Yes, these people are very poor and have been cruelly treated by the past government without proper reparations from the present one, but there was still such an...I still don't know how to put it. "Taking lemons and making lemonade" sounds trite, but...? *shrugs* In Cape Town there seems to be such a complicated mixture of optimism, corruption, social divides, and social cooperation, and racial/ethnic everything. Hmmm...

Week 1-ish

Alright, here at last is a decent-sized message about my experiences in South Africa. I'm going to try and post here at least once a week. I have yet to get the pictures sorted out, but I assure you that I have taken them, they are quite nice (if a little compacted on that teensy memory card) and they shall be up in the near future.

The last few days have been very hectic. I will try and summarize each day, paragraph by paragraph.

The Cape Town study abroad group arrived in at the airport about 10:35pm on Thursday and guess who's luggage didn't make it through? Yep, somehow it was delayed--actually, I didn't receive it until Saturday afternoon. I'm really glad that my Mom made me pack an extra set of clothes; also, the Bethel group was really great about lending me things for Saturday.

We spent Thursday night through Sunday afternoon at BISA, the Bible Institute of South Africa. BISA is located in Kalk Bay, which is about thirty minutes away from the college. This was because our homestay families were still on holiday; plus, the dorm-lik situation helped us get adjusted to the place. It is so beautiful there! There are these great, green-padded mountains surrounding you on three sides and the clear blue-green ocean curling up in broad waves on the fourth side. We spent Friday on orientation subjects and getting acquainted with the area, which meant walking along the shore to Fish Hoek and back again, and eating delicious fresh-caught fish at a local fish and chips shop. I was finally able to try grilled calamari, with chips and lime juice and salt--delicious! We also received cell phones that day; they operate like TracFones, but the minutes are very expensive, so I'm getting a crash course on the less-expensive texting. Friday night was a braai--mmm! I had went to one on my trip through Namibia--technically they are a barbeque, but really so much more! Borewoers sausage and nicely chargrilled chicken and steak and this cornmeal pudding with tomato relish and a green salad besides! Ahhh.

Saturday we had practice taking the metrorail into downtown Cape Town, where we had to find several local monuments and ask questions of several South Africans. It was an exercise to get us familiar with the area, since many of us will use the metro to get to and from school. On this trip we were able to stand on the balcony where Nelson Mandela gave his famous speech promoting reconciliation after apartheid had just been finished! Also, on this day I ended up switching homestay families. A girl was going to end up with a more affluent family and she really wanted a less affluent family as she really wants to work in underprivileged areas, so I switched with her. To be honest, I was worried about how a less affluent place was going to afford my food, with all of my food allergies! I didn't want to impose on someone who really couldn't afford it--sometimes it's hard for ME to afford to eat! ;-) Also, this new homestay is with an Israeli international student, which sounded like a really interesting perspective.

On Sunday we went to Quintin's church(he runs one of the study abroad programs we'll be doing). That was really great. Afterwards his wife treated us to authentic Cape Indian food--spicy and delicious! It was odd, because the curry and biryani, which looked ominously tangy, were actually just very flavorful--the innocuous watermelon relish and cucumber sauce held te REAL too-hot culprits! Of course, I discovered this AFTER I had assumed they were mild and topped everything with them! My sinuses were quite clean after that meal!

Then we went to Cornerstone, where I was picked up by the parents of my homestay host sister, as she's on holiday. They'll be staying with me in her flat until she returns at the end of the week. It has worked out really well; her parents are lovely people--he's Israeli and she's from Germany. I know at least she has lived here during the apartheid. Plus, Orit's mother is on a special diet as well, which means accommodating me is no problem! For diabetic reasons Orit's Mom(no, I'm still not sure of her name, first or last) has to eat brown rice and brown rice pastas and low sugar and etc--it's delightful! We've gone to the stores twice already, buying fresh fish and vegetables--she's absolutely concerned that I don't eat anything bad for me. This has been a real God-send for me, as food was something I had been praying about a LOT(for those who don't know, I'm allergic to wheat, apples, bananas, pears, and 'moldy' foods like aged cheeses, vinegar, and alcohol).

As far as schooling, that's going well, Praise God! Today was the first official day of the two-week intensive study of African cultures before the regular term sets in; we had some discussion and a walking tour of Cape Town. It was very good, but I'm very tired due to a long day yesterday--after picking me up, Orit's parents proceeded to give me a three hour driving tour of the whole Cape peninsula! I've been walking nonstop here-I'm going to get very fit! *laughs*

"The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song." -Psalm 28:7

Indeed, His providence is truly beyond my imagination! I will keep praying that my heart is open to His leading this semester.

In His Word,
God bless you all,

-Janeen

Just for posterity's sake

This is just a quick post to let you know I've arrived safely in Cape Town, and I'm doing well. I'm typing this from a 'net cafe in Fish Hoek. The plane ride was long and somehow they didn't get my gluten-free meals, so I half-starved, except for the snacks I brought--they came in very handy. :-) So far, so good--the place is beautiful!

I will have a less abstract, more complete post up soon. Thanks for your patience and understanding!