J-Term Diaries: Carter Augustine

I feel like there is SO much to write about and I do not have much time, so I will try to fit a few days into a little time...

Yesterday we heard a few speakers at a black lawfirm.  They talked abut the challenges they faces as a black law firm in the post-apartheid era.  Although they are doing well, they still struggle with subtle racism as well as sexism.  After our discussion with them, we travelled to Sandton.  Sandton is home to Nelson Mandela Square, which has a huge statue of Nelson Mandela as well as an unbelievable mall.  I was surprised to see stores like Gucci, etc.  Our next stop was the township of Alexandra.  Our professors clearly arranged our visit to Alex right after Sandton so that we could visibly see the contrast that exists.  Alexandra has some of the most unimaginable conditions I have ever seen in my life.  Most of the people live in shacks made out of tin.  The area was extremely crowded, and I found myself feeling a bit uncomfortable and guilty for the fact that I was riding around in an air conditioned bus staring at them.  I know that the same was true for some of my classmates, and when I asked one of our peers what she thought the people in Alexandra thought of us she said that they probably thought we were from the government and were there to give them money.  One of the other peers, who is actually white, said that he had never been to Alexandra before.  I was surprised that he could live in Johannesburg and never be exposed to this part, especially since he said his father worked in Sandton.  But, as I thought of it, I realized that I haven't spent much time in the more impoverished parts of Richmond, so he isn't much different from me.  It was a difficult day, but showed us a great deal about how there are still so many extremes here.

Today we visited Soweto, another township South West of Jo'burg.  I had SUCH a fun time today, mostly because had much more opportunity to interact with people and children.  Soweto is much larger than Alexandra, but there is also a lot of contrast within it.  We had a wonderful tourguide, who was from Soweto who gave us a lot of valuable information.  We visited the house where Nelson and Winnie Mandela lived before he went to jail in 1962 as well as the Hector Pieterson Museum. Hector Pieterson was a 13 year old boy who was shot and killed in 1976 during a demonstration against apartheid.  The protest was all students who were fighting against the Afrikaners (the whites who upheld apartheid) making them learn Afrikaans (the Afrikaner language) in school.  Hector Pieterson was the first and youngest student to be killed that day, although many others were murdered in that struggle.  The museum was very inspiring and well put together.  One of our peer assistants said that he really had not realized what those students had done and we was greatful that they did this resistance because they sparked many things that helped put him where he is today.

My favorite part of today was visiting one of our peers' home in Soweto.  She was so excited to take us there and I was very glad to meet her family.  She has a small yard, which not everyone in Soweto has, so many children we playing.  I had so much fun talking to the children and there was one little girl who was wearing a brand new pink Roxy hat.  She was really excited to show it off.  I wish there was more specific that I could tell you about them other than they were SO sweet, but we mostly just played.  When I left I gave one a hug and was surprised to be followed by hugs from about 20 children.  I really, really enjoyed this experience and can't wait to have more like it!

I'll write again when I can-I hope everyone is doing well!

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       We are finally in Jo'burg and having a FANTASTIC time!  I am going to try to write quickly...I am paying by the minute in an internet cafe, so please excuse typos!  After a long 15 hour flight we arrived in Johannesburg yesterday afternoon.  We were warmly greeted by Dr. Klaaren's brother and sister-in-law as well as a woman named Robbie and her daughter Beth.  They all helped us get settled in to Melville.  Each of us was given a cell phone for safety and to make short calls home...I don't think my mom was expecting a call, as she greeted me with "OH...MY...GOSH...You're calling from South Africa!!!"  I think she was pretty excited-and I was glad to hear her voice!

My roommate Jessie and I love our room in Wedgwood Manor.  It has two twin beds and a small seating area with a couch and TV.  We have the most wonderful accommodations and the people that own the Bed and Breakfast are very helpful. 

We had our first taste of Africa last night when we went out for a group dinner.  We walked down to an Ethiopian restaurant--which I think was the perfect way to start our trip.  We all experienced a bit of "naive realism," something we discussed in class before we left (it means assuming things are the same in another culture), when we realized that the when you eat at the Ethiopian restaurant you don't use utensils!!  It was fun and we got quite a show outside with a big thunderstorm!  A few of us went out to a bar for a drink before we went to bed.  We enjoyed observing different people and realized we needed to ask our peer educators how to tip!

This morning we went to Wits University and met our Peers!!!!  I already love them all and I was excited to meet Justice, who I had heard wonderful things about from students that came on this trip last year.  He says hello to everyone!  The rest of the Peer Educators are new this year, but I am really enjoying them all and they are all very helpful.  We've talked a lot about differences in America and South Africa--prices of textbooks, curriculum's, sports, and other things like that.  I can tell that I am going to get close with a few of them--I already feel close to some and it's only the first day!

After meeting the Peers we toured the Origin's Center, which is basically a museum dedicated to the origin of humankind.  Then we ate lunch, followed by a tour of Wits guided by the Peers.  Tonight we are going to dinner at Robbie's house--we were originally going to Dr. Klaaren's brother's house, but they are unfortunately without electricity right now!! 

I don't know when I'll have access to a computer again, but I will try to write as soon as possible!! I love being able to update everyone, so hopefully it will be sooner rather than later!

P.S.  Hello to my wonderful Bookstore ladies and family!

P.P.S.  To the Guza Fam: The suitcase, zip wallet, and travel book have all be very helpful so far--thank you all for being so thoughtful!!

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I am excited to say that I have successfully completed 30 hours in class and two exams this morning!  It is such a relief to have the weight of two exams off of my shoulders.  Now, the true preparations for the trip begin--I have very little complaints about this because I cannot wait to get to Johannesburg!

I am headed back over to my apartment to start packing.  Our challenge is to stay below the weight limit of 50 lbs.  I am interested to see which of my classmates will have difficulty with this!  We leave from school tomorrow morning at 11:30 and depart from Dulles around 5:00.  Our flight is actually direct to Johannesburg-15 glorious hours on the same plane-which is one of the longest flights in the world.

When we arrive in Jo'burg it will be around 3:30 PM--approximately 8:30 AM in Ashland, as we will be  7 hours ahead.  I can't wait to get over there, and hopefully I will have an opportunity to write what we are doing as soon as possible so that I can keep everyone up to date!

 I'll also be trying to post pictures as much as I can-no promises-I'm not sure how great our access to computers will be, but I will try my best.  Until I write again....thanks for reading!

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Coming back to school from a long, relaxing break could be considered a type of culture shock.  We have spent our first two days in class (a total of 12 hours so far-only 24 more hours in class to go!), and have only one week until we depart for Jo'burg!  I can definitely say that this class is very intense, but I know that all of my classmates and I agree that it will be worth it when we finally get to experience South Africa.

We have already received a great deal of information, but I will attempt to describe a bit of what we are learning about.  From the psychological perspective, we have been discussing psychological reasons behind prejudice and discrimination.  With Dr. London, we have been focusing on cultural anthropology, fieldwork, and what tactics help us gain valuable information from different cultures.

I have found the anthropological side of our course extremely interesting so far.  I have recognized that in my few experiences abroad I have unknowingly used some anthropological tactics to learn more about those cultures.  I'm looking forward to knowingly using ethnography to truly learn more about the particularities and universals of South African culture!

I am not going to go into too much more detail of class right now, but I will explain one aspect of our trip that I am getting extremely excited about: The Peer Educators.  Dr. Klaaren and Dr. London have arranged for South African students to accompany us to many of our lectures and essentially become our mentors and friends.  I cannot wait to meet our peer educators and become comfortable enough with them to ask them what life is really like in South Africa.  I know that they will provide us with such a wonderful perspective of their culture and unbelievable insights.

I'm off to finish up my reading and get ready for another day of learning!  More to come later...

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Hello everyone! I'm Carter, a junior psychology major from Richmond. I will be writing on this blog as often as possible to tell everyone about my trip to Johannesburg, South Africa.

I am excited to be back to blogging! I was lucky enough to be able to chronicle my January term trip to Romania last year and am thrilled to do this same for this trip.

We leave for South Africa on January 16, but we will be very busy in Ashland studying for 8 days. We will be flying from Dulles to South Africa and primarily staying in Johannesburg. Professors London and Klaaren have plenty for us to do before we leave, as we will be in class approximately 6 hours a day. I am excited to learn all this information and then be able to see it in all in action in Johannesburg.

This holiday, after a bit of relaxing and enjoying the break from work, I have gotten back down to business and have been delving into the wonderful book The History of South Africa. Our assignment was to read it over break and we are lucky enough to be taking a quiz on Monday, our first day back to class. The public library and I have become close friends-I actually got myself a library card and checked out another book about South Africa that I will hopefully have some time to read before all of the homework sets in!

I will have much, much more to write when we get back to school. Until then, thanks for reading!

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