out of america

i am happy to report that i am finally starting to feel more at home in this brave new world called africa. today marks the second time this week that i walked home by myself from pic-n-pay (a supermarket), and although i'm not quite sure what kind of distance that is, i can assure you that i am feeling increasingly comfortable taking the route at a leisurely pace. the area of town in which i reside is actually quite nice... during the apartheid era, it was strictly for white residents only, but now the community has diversified into a black and coloured supermajority. that, of course, doesn't mean it's a bad area: in fact, on my way home from pic-n-pay, i pass a few churches, a local theatre, a playground (there's always children hogging the swings, though, gosh darn it!), and a day care (called a "kindergarten" here). i marvel at the thought of what my neighborhood must have been like just 15 years ago, when it was for "whites only" until apartheid fell and brought about an era of integration...

the university of cape town's student body is, at a glance, self-segregating. whites hang out with whites, blacks hang out with blacks, coloured hang out with coloured, and asians hang out with asians (i'm not trying to be incorrect with any of those terms: those were the words that the apartheid government adopted to describe south africa's denizens, and those are the words by which south africans continue to describe themselves today). from what i've seen so far, in south africa, race is the number one aspect of your identity. it dictates who your friends are, what your political views are (blacks overwhelmingly support the anc party, whereas coloureds and whites overwhelmingly support the democratic alliance), which language you speak, how you live your life, etc. even though apartheid fell 15 years ago, artifacts and remnants linger, even in a socially progressive institution such as uct.

that isn't to say, of course, that members of the races don't intermingle. the other day, i saw an interracial couple holding hands, and it made me smile. :) if such a couple had done that the year i was born, they would have been swiftly arrested (especially the male, who, in this case, was coloured). nevertheless, the mindset of race composing the better part of one's identity lingers. i wonder if the south african students here merely act this way as a result of their respective upbringings: since all of their parents lived through the apartheid era, then surely there must be some feelings and even resentments that they still harbor toward other racial groups. or, perhaps, this phenomenon is more engrained within south african society itself; that is to say, institutions comprising south african culture dictate that race be the key to one's identity. then again, it could be something else altogether.

it is possible, of course, that these individuals harbor phobias toward anybody different from them altogether. even though americans make up a considerable portion (8%, i believe) of the university's student population, my fellow students nevertheless seem automatically disapproving of americans sheerly based on grounds of nation or origin. i'm aware of recent xenophobia-induced bouts of violence within recent years throughout the republic, but i thought that south africans' reaction to incoming mozambicans, zimbabweans, etc. was a reaction similar to americans' reactions to incoming mexicans and haitians ("they took our jobs!"). however, after overhearing disparaging comments by south african students regarding americans, i know that this is not the case. perhaps, however, there is an underlying, subconscious institution of south african society which makes out foreigners to be dislikeable. after all, south africa was rather isolated for many years during the apartheid era due to other countries' disapproval, and so it's reasonable to suggest that south africans became "fearful of the unknown" (that is, mistrusting of non-south africans). this is not to say, however, that this perspective is unanimous throughout the entirety of south africa's populace, nor is it to suggest that these feelings of resentment toward outsiders; countries, by their very nature, breed certain basic ideologies into their denizens, and perhaps this is the one that the institution known as the republic of south africa breeds into south africans.

obviously, the united states is more than guilty of doing this as well, which provides me with a fantastic segway into my next topic of verbiage: my classes. i began classes on monday, and already i'm witnessing the vast differences between american and south african (or, more generally, non-american) education. at gwu, whether my professors have been liberal or conservative, all of them have nonetheless retained, more or less, a pro-america attitude. here, however, that is certainly not the case. in my classes here, the united states is seen as one of several global superpowers (along with the european union, china, and russia) attempting to capture a clear majority of the world economy; therefore, the united states is a country who we should keep an eye on. it has definitely been a culture shock for me to hear of my native country in such a way, but after some self-reflection, i am thankful for this experience as it helps me become a truly global citizen.

speaking of which, my classes are as follows:
- sociology of industrialization and globalization
- international political economy
- urban politics and administration

while i don't think any of the 3 will be terribly difficult for me to contend with, the different vantage point from which i will study politics and society ought to prove challenging enough. and after a few days of feeling homesick and mopey, i feel equipped to take on the challenge. sure, south africa is a weird place with a lot of bugs, but there are a lot of great experiences to be had that i've only begun to dip my feet in to. and if i'm already feeling comfortable to take the 20-minute walk home from pic-n-pay by myself, groceries in tow, i wonder how adept i will be come november. so, i say this: bring it on! :)