(I Would Walk) 500 Miles- and better be prepared to

So, today is Monday, January 31. I cannot believe that the first month of 2011 has already come and gone. I’ve taken to writing these blogs in a word document. Internet availability in my residence is hit or miss and I don’t want to cart my computer around with me all day- it’s hot and carrying a backpack makes it worse and, also, if I have it with me all the time there is more of a chance that it will get stolen.

Today we started our UCT orientation. I won’t lie to you- I only attended a small part of it. Today was particularly uninteresting. I stuck around for the talks on safety, but left when the leaders had us start massaging each other… My friend Ilana (who goes to Barnard College and is from the Maryland-DC area) and I went to Main Road- which consists of restaurants and grocery stores- to get some needed supplies. Main Road is down the hill from school (this school is literally built on a mountain) and up the hill from where we live. It was this spontaneous shopping trip that started my adventure for the day.

Rewind a few hours and you would find me on campus with some other students attempting to figure out how to get halfway up the mountain onto Middle Campus (there is a Lower, a Middle, and an Upper). Yesterday, one of the RA’s, Ferai, had told me to take the Jammie (shuttle) and hop off on middle campus. When we got to the Jammie, a shuttle operator told us that we couldn’t take the Jammie and would have to walk. Looking at the map, it looked as if it would take me all afternoon to get to Kramer Law Building. It wouldn’t have been a problem except we have been walking several miles a day since being here and since most of those miles have been uphill my shin splints are killing me. Usually I can put up with them, but I’ve had no reprieve since my arrival here. I ended up walking a different route to the building by myself- I didn’t want anyone to feel they had to wait for me if I was a little bit slower. I was ready to cry just thinking about it. Eventually I got there and it wasn’t so bad. That map is deceiving and I took a route that wasn’t up a very steep incline.

Despite what you might be thinking, that was not my adventure for the day. The actual adventure started when Ilana and I left the Pick n Pay- this country’s version of a skankier Target. We were going to wait for the Jammie to pick us up and take us back to Lisbeek Gardens (LBG- the dorm where I live), but after awhile it seemed liked it wasn’t going to come. So we started walking. The mistake we made was that we went out the back of the Pick instead of the front onto a road we were more familiar with. Ilana was able to get us back to her house, but I still had no idea where I lived. We walked from her house back up to Main Road where I then parted with Ilana. This morning I was able to get from LBG to campus, which includes going past Main Road, so I thought I knew where I was going. I got a little turned around on a side road and ended up in the courtyard of another residence. Everything is this country is blocked off by either a wall or a fence- both of which have barbed wire on their tops. Apart from looking like an ignorant American walking somewhere and then turning around, I was scared. There were plenty of hours of daylight left and I know the area where I live is fairly safe, but being in a foreign country and lost is quite terrifying. I did get home- so, now worries. And I’m positive now where I live- I know what the building looks like and what streets surround it. I am also recognizing the importance of only going home a way you know and not looking for a shortcut.

I have walked more in the 5 days I’ve been here than I did in the past 3 months at home. And I knew that that would be the reality of where I am living. I had just hoped that my injury wouldn’t bother me this early on. I did get some aspirin today at the pharmacy so hopefully that will help. Once I get a routine figured out that includes classes and daily life searching for internet access I hope that I will be able to find a way around that doesn’t make me feel miserable.

Yesterday, we went a tour of the Cape Peninsula. We saw the penguins (!), went to the southern-most point of Africa at Cape Point, saw the area where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean, went to the Oceanview community (people who were forced to reside in that area during the apartheid government) and saw baboons on top of people’s cars. There are some utterly charming pictures of me at these places included in this post.

All in all my experience in Cape Town has still been amazing. I continue to be absolutely struck by the beauty and diversity of this country. The history is absolutely incredible. I am very anxious for classes to get started. I want to get into a routine. Most of us feel like we have been here for several weeks at this point even though it has been less than one! Once things calm down and the orientation organizers get off our backs I think time will move at a more normal pace.

I am determined to get on the internet tomorrow afternoon. So if I don’t get on tonight- which is becoming more and more unlikely as it is now 8:30 and almost time for bed- I will post a couple of blogs and some pictures tomorrow.

I’m also hoping to talk to my mommy soon. J

As Ferai (my RA) keeps telling me- TIA.

This is Africa,

B.

Franco Un-American and You Live, You Learn

I never cease to be amazed by my fellow members of the Millennium Generation. You have people like my best friend who genuinely cares about other people. She is going to be a nurse- she will more than likely save a few lives, maybe deliver a couple of babies, but all in all she will be someone that other people appreciate. She is focused on what she wants out of life. She doesn’t spend each weekend evening drunk as a skunk in her apartment or out at a bar. There are also people like me. I am super paranoid and especially careful. I refuse to put myself in a situation where I might get hurt or terribly regret something I might have done. Like my best friend, I do not go out on the weekends and get plastered. When I’m at school, my roommates and I go out to dinner, go to movies, and occasionally go dancing. Sure we sometimes drink (mind you it is legal). Alcohol is an easy way to forget the worries of the week and help you relax with friends.

Unfortunately (and unlike my best friend and myself) there also seems to be a majority of young people who have absolutely no accountability. Here in South Africa, I am amazed that an extraordinary percentage of my American classmates feel comfortable enough to get absolutely plastered in this foreign country with other Americans who they have known for three days. We went to dinner at a beautiful restaurant last night: Mutu. It was buffet style dining- stations included venison, meat, chicken, vegetables, salads, stews, and desserts. While there I had a delicious chickpea concoction, springbok on a kabob (the national animal of South Africa), green beans, salad, and cheesecake. What I did not do at this beautiful restaurant, in this gorgeous country, on an insanely clear summer night was drink until I was laughing and stumbling and giggly around the room.

Does this make me a bad young person? Maybe… But I really don’t care. And I’m sick of watching other people behave this way. Luckily, I found a minority at the restaurant- a group of other American students who were not into acting like monkeys while in South Africa. I hate to think what the parents of these people would think if they saw their children behaving this way. For a girl (no older than 20 or 21) to get on a bus screaming and giggling to each passenger about how badly she wanted to go out is ridiculous. I shudder to think about what would have to happen for this girl to realize how pitiful and unnecessary her behavior is. I know my community has witnessed multiple times what can happen when immaturity and poor decision-making is mixed with too much alcohol. Personally, I have friends who I know have suffered after not being careful enough while partying.

What is even more astounding is that we are in a foreign country. This girl has no idea where she is or where she is going. Similarly, this girl doesn’t know anyone here. It isn’t like at home where I would be comfortable getting drunk as a skunk after a horrible week because I know I have friends who I can trust to keep me safe. That girl on the bus doesn’t know anyone here and she doesn’t know that she can trust any of them.

In the end, I guess it isn’t any of my business. People can do what works for them and I will continue to do what makes me happy and comfortable.

Despite the sometimes ridiculous behavior of my peers, Cape Town is amazing. It is so beautiful and I can’t believe I live here. Internet is super spotty. I’ve only been on once since Tuesday. I’m currently writing this on a word document and I will publish it when I find Internet. Today is Saturday and earlier we moved into our permanent housing. Let me just say that I am glad I mentally prepared myself for not living like a queen here in South Africa. My room itself is fine. They gave us sheets and bedding- which I admit is kind of sketch and I will most definitely be washing it before I sleep on it. Thank God I brought my own blankie! But the bathrooms are… less than extraordinary. I just went to take a shower only to discover that there is no shower curtain- the shower head points directly to the middle of the bathroom. So I went to the bathtub in the next room. Is it just me or is it weird to bathe in another man’s bathtub? Well I just keep telling myself, “This is Africa.” So I went with it. I decided to take under advice what the Italian woman told Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love regarding heating the water and taking a bath, “Everything that’s important gets covered.” I filled up the bath with a couple inches of cool water, jumped in, scrubbed myself with soap, washed my hair under the facet and hopped back out! I’m not exaggerating when I say that I was pretty proud of myself.

People are going out tonight for a girl’s birthday. I don’t know the girl so I am not particularly inclined to go. I’m quite exhausted, mildly sunburned, and my shin splints are killing me (it was the running all over campus uphill, Mom!). I think I will sleep soundly tonight with my freshly washed hair gracing my bear and blankie after popping Eat, Pray, Love into my computer.

All for now.

Attempt to take a bath in 3 or 4 inches of cold water and let me know how you do.

Best of luck,

Britt.

Carry On My Wayward Son

If there is one thing to know about me it is that I am an eternal pessimist. I live by the motto, "If something bad is going to happen, it's going to happen to me." I'm not exaggerating- it always works out that way. And sure enough, it's happened again! Today is Friday. Yesterday was Thursday, my first day in South Africa. But my first day was supposed to be Wednesday... Why, then, was I 24 hours late? Because my plane out of Omaha was delayed so much that I missed my international flight and couldn't get out again until the next afternoon. Horrible. Absolutely terrible. I was mortified. I cried and bawled in the airport. I sometimes feel like I just can't catch a break.

But I guess the important thing is that I did make it. Mind you, everyone participating in the program knows who I am. I'm the girl who was late... Charming, right?

South Africa is so beautiful. The backdrop to my university is a giant mountain. Everything is green. There are gorgeous flowers. The fruit is so fresh and super delicious. We've only been on campus and on a main road (I'm in a fast food restaurant right now paying for internet...) but I'm already overwhelmed by the shear size of everything around me.

I was telling a new friend that it doesn't even seem remotely like America. I'm not sure how to explain it, but everything looks different. Not just the scenery and landscape, but the signs, the roads, the billboards. It's amazing how everything changes.

But just when I was thinking to myself, "I can't believe I'm in Africa right now..." Grenade by Bruno Mars came on the radio on my way to where I'm staying. You really can't escape American influence- for better or worse.

One of the most beautiful things I've noticed is the diversity on the University of Cape Town campus. My orientation group and I were sitting outside on the steps of the Student Union waiting to begin a scavenger hunt (which was a complete nightmare, this school is built on a mountain!) and I actually noticed how different everyone was. It was just each person's race, but you would see two boys walk by with blue mohawks, followed by a group of girls in more American-style clothing, after which gorgeous South African women would walk by in colorful dresses. It was so beautiful. Especially in a country where less than 10 years ago blacks were legally unable to go to University.

My program through CIEE has shown us different organizations where we can volunteer while we're here. There were some that I was definitely interested in and other where I didn't know that I would fit in well. But before we went to visit those places a woman who works in the development sector in South Africa came to discuss poverty and development with us. It was just again striking to be presented with the idea that some people have so little, while I have more than everything. She said that 25% of South Africans live on a little more than 300 rand a day. For some perspective- I turned in $400 at the airport and received 2600 rand.

I hope that my time here again highlights to me that Americans have more than everything, while some people live with less than nothing. How can things get better? Even when Western countries interfere to try to "help" we always get something out of it and it ends up hurting other people.

The future of the world is incredibly interesting. I'm both excited and petrified as we move forward. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. People with everything are getting more and people with nothing are receiving less. It certainly puts some things in perspective for you.

So as not to end on a totally depressing note-

One of the most interesting things I've seen is a billboard featuring a menacing-looking man with a large hand gun. The billboard says "The money you use to buy illegal cigarettes, he could use to buy a gun." Alarming, right?

Well that's all for now. Will be moving into my permanent housing tomorrow. Hopefully I don't have a stroke in this heat. I'm only a tiny bit sunburned.

I've been challenging myself since my time in Kenya in March to think about things before I buy them. Do I really need these new shoes? Probably not... If you want to, spend some time each day thinking about how lucky we Americans are. We all participate in consumer culture and we don't recognize how our actions are affecting the rest of the world. Spend some time sending good thoughts and prayers to those that are suffering.

Love,

B.

Dream Like New York

Introductions and new beginnings are always awkward. How does a person explain and describe themselves briefly? What are the most important parts of a person's life? What would a stranger find most interesting? I always find introductions especially excruciating because of the important details we try to hide from one another until a time when they are deemed more appropriate.

This blog is supposed to be about my experiences in Cape Town. I'm studying abroad there from the end of January until June. Most people who will read this know me well and are just looking for updates. But on the off chance that a stranger is reading this, I will attempt to explain who I am and why I'm doing this.

My name is Brittany Haga. I am the only child of a single mother and I (along with every member of my family) was born and raised in rural central Nebraska. Through a series of events and circumstances, I developed the desire to leave a town where everybody knows everyone and their cousin. I craved a world unlike the one I knew. And I got it. After graduating from high school, I went to Washington, DC to study international studies at American University.

Now all of my rambling about dreaming of the big city and a new kind of life doesn't mean that I left home without looking back. I look back rather frequently. My family (Mom, Nan and Papa, aunts, uncles, and cousins) has done a lot for me and I think they're happy that I was able to accomplish what I wanted. But living in DC makes me miss things- babies growing up, illnesses, and major life events. I do regret not being there or being too far away to do anything about what's going on. Each time I come home I generally spend a couple fast and furious weeks with roughly 5 friends from high school that are still a part of my daily life despite the distance. They are almost harder to leave than family. Relatives have no choice but to see each other, but so much can happen between friends.

Despite many confused looks from loved ones, this new adventure is really happening. Studying abroad is a very important experience at AU. Each member of my school "fam damily" (as Heather calls it) is also studying abroad. Auria is in Rome. Heather is in COpenhagen. Megan is in Dakar. and Monica is in Edinburgh. I"m going to Cape Town. FOr my degree, I will be focusing regionally on Africa (hence the studying abroad in Cape Town.) I find the region fascinating. Every person in the world is a descendant of an African, yet the region is considerably undeveloped. My interests in the area include the development of impoverished areas ( like Kibera- a huge slum outside of Nairobi), human rights abuses, and health concerns.

One of the other major reasons for this blog is that I hope to encourage other young people to reach for new experieences. It is impossible for me to count the number of kids from my neighborhood who have said that they couldn't do the same kind of things I'm doing. I'll admit it's rare- I know 2 or 3 other kids from my town who went to college out of state and have gone abraod. If you're scared- get over it. If you think you can't afford it- trust me, there are ways to make it happen.

I'm a pretty philosophical eprson so I imagine some of this blog will be about what I"m learning and how it is affecting me. But I also hope that this will be a fun place for me to share pictures and cute anecdotes.

In the end, I think life is all about if you did what you hoped to do in the right way. Dreams are so important. Just because yours aren't exactly like everyone else's doesn't make them wrong. Believe in them and accomplish them. Here I go. Onward to Cape Town for five months with 43 pounds of stuff.

So that was my awkward introduction.

I love you, Mommy.