Megan's Great African Adventure: Orientation in Johannesburg

Friday February 1 – After an 11 hour plane ride I finally arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa! It was so exhilarating to step off the plane and onto the tarmac and African soil for the first time. After months of progressively colder weather in Vermont, the warm air and sun felt amazing on my skin. Understandably I was very disappointed that I had to go inside away from the sun and wait in line to go through immigration. The line was long, but once I got to the counter I was through in a matter of minutes. The official just took a quick look at my visa, scanned my photo, and stamped and signed my passport. I got off really easy compared to other people in my group! After Allie and Sarah made it through immigration we all collected our bags and trooped off to terminal A to meet the rest of the group. Thirteen of the twenty-seven of us had early morning flights so we all hung out while we waited for our ride to the backpackers’ lodge where we would be staying until Tuesday. Our ride was thirty minutes late (classic Africa) and didn't have enough room for all of us so we had to make two trips. The car also didn't have enough seats so I rode in the trunk with three other girls.

Once we got to the lodge we were assigned rooms and given the opportunity to shower, change, and relax while we waited for our program directors, Stewart and Tabisa, and the rest of the group to arrive after 5pm. I have honestly never been happier to see a shower in my life. After 48+ hours of travelling in the same clothes, that shower was a godsend. Did I mention that it’s in the high 70’s/low 80’s right now in South Africa? I changed into shorts, a tank, and Birkenstocks and spent the afternoon laying in the sun and getting to know some of the other girls in my program. I got a wicked sunburn on my left arm because I was too lazy to dig out the sunscreen from the bottom of my bag. After sunbathing/napping we all went inside and played Scrabble and Mafia while we waited for dinner. When the rest of the group finally arrived around 8pm, we chowed-down on some delicious white rice, beef + vegetable stew, rolls, and watermelon – yum! Nothing tastes as good as watermelon after a long lazy day in the sun. Even though we were all jet-lagged and ready for bed after dinner, Stewart gathered us together for a quick meeting to handout our orientation schedule and readings. We got assigned a 25-page reading for Sunday (shortest assignment I’ve ever been given!) and sent to bed.

Saturday February 2 – Saturday was our first day of orientation in Johannesburg! After showers and breakfast we all headed outside to do get-to-know-each-other activities and go over basic program/trip information. Our group is so diverse! There are 25 girls and two guys from universities all over the US. We have people who were born in Bermuda, Colombia, Ethiopia, England, and Mexico and a professional cyclist (Juan even brought his bike with him so he can train in SA!). Everyone is so cool and I already feel like I've known them my whole life! My favorite activity that we did was called “hopes, fears, and expectations”. For this exercise we broke up into small groups to talk about and write down our hopes, fears, and expectations, and then after about twenty minutes we all came together and each group shared what they had talked about. After our mini presentations, Stewart explained how to change our fears into hopes and our hopes into goals. For example:

We fear that Stewart will not let us call him Simba (his nickname). ->

We hope that Stewart will let us call him Simba before the end of the program. ->

We will be on “Simba-level” with Stewart by the end of the program!

Stewart also explained to us the danger of having expectations. When you have expectations only two things can happen: you will either end up happy or disappointed. It is better therefore, to set goals for yourself because then you’re putting your life and happiness in your own hands and not someone else’s. Not only did I love the message behind this activity, but I also found it comforting to know that the other people in my program had the same hopes and fears (now goals) as me.

After a quick lunch we headed out into the city of Johannesburg for the first time to go to the Apartheid museum. Some quick observations about driving in Joburg (and possibly SA in general):

- You drive on the left side of the road

- It's okay to let your passangers sit in the back of your pick-up truck

- It’s perfectly fine for a 32-person bus to reverse on the highway if the driver misses the correct exit

- Feel free to ignore stop signs if no one else is around or run through a red light if you just barely missed the yellow light and the cars with the green light haven't started moving yet

Basically if you’re going to drive in Joburg, you better be confident in your driving skills and a good defensive driver!!!

When we arrived at the Apartheid museum we were each given a ticket and then allowed to walk around on our own for a couple of hours. The museum was intense and took a toll on my emotions, but I really enjoyed it. After reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, which is basically the story of apartheid from his point of view, it was cool to put faces to names and see different artifacts and videos from the apartheid era.

Entrance to the museum - everyone is randomly assigned a race and must enter through their race's door. I was classified as a "non-white"

After the museum we headed back to the lodge for dinner. South Africa was playing in the semi-finals of the African World Cup (soccer), so a bunch of people got together in the living room to watch the game. I was pretty burnt out so I decided to retire to my room instead. Unfortunately SA lost in overtime to Mali, wah.

Sunday February 3 - Day two of orientation was jam-packed with activities! First we went to the constitutional court where we had a lecture on SA’s constitution and learned about the court in general. SA has one of the most progressive constitutions in the world and seeks to make sure its citizens’ rights are well protected. One of the cool things that I learned was that all legislation must first pass through the court to make sure it’s constitutional. If the court deems any of the legislation unconstitutional, then it’s back to the drawing board! Even the president is subject to the court! I really admire SA’s constitution and think that other countries, especially the US, could learn a lot from it. After we had walked around the court a bit, we got back on the bus and headed to SOWETO, which stands for Southwest Township, for lunch. We went to Orlando West and ate a buffet lunch on the street where both Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu lived. We had some time after lunch before our next activity so we got to go to Mandela's old house and take a tour! Out tour guide was hilarious and very informative. He kept us very entertained - I definitely recommend going to see him and the Mandela house is you're in Joburg and have the opportunity!
After our tour we trooped back on the bus and drove to the Market Theater to see the play "Mies Julie". A basic synopsis of the play is that a white woman and her black farmhand fall in lover during apartheid, though the play is much more complicated than that. It was very dark and not at all what I expected, but I did enjoy it. The actors did an incredible job and the intimate theater setting (about 80 tiered bench seats facing a small stage) really made the play that much more powerful. I walked away with a very different understanding of apartheid than I had from my readings and the apartheid museum.
The play was followed by dinner at an Italian restaurant in Sandton and then a train ride back to our lodge. We had to walk from the station to the lodge in a light rain, but I still enjoyed the walk. The rain just made our adventure that more exciting!

Stewart pointing out the Constitutional Court - it says "Constitutional Court" in all 11 national languages on the front of the building

All 27 basic human rights are carved into the front doors of the court

The Constitutional Court!

Nelson Mandela's address

Monday February 4 - Monday was our last full day in Johannesburg. We got up really early for breakfast and to catch our bus at 7:30am (!) so we wouldn't get stuck in rush-hour traffic and miss our tour at the Origins Centre at Witswaterand University. The Origins Centre was really cool and we had another awesome tour guide named Brian who likes the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The museum focuses on the history of modern humankind, which originated in Africa, and is definitely a must-see for anyone interested in archaeology and African culture. After our two-hour tour we were given free time for lunch before heading to Liliesleaf Farm. For those of you who don't know, Liliesleaf Farm was the secret meeting place of prominent ANC and MK leaders during apartheid after the organizations were banned. Unfortunately the farm was discovered and raided by the police which resulted in lifetime prison sentences for almost all those involved. The farm is beautiful but it was very hot, so it wasn't quite as enjoyable as some of the other historical sites we went too. Nonetheless, it was still cool to have the opportunity to see yet another place that had such an impact on South African history. After a quick bite to eat post-museum, we headed back to Shoestrings to pack and prepare for our departure to Cape Town the next morning!!!