The Great African Adventure!

Molweni!

Check out all of my pictures at:

PICTURES!!!!

I am not very punctual with this whole blog thing, am I? I have so much to tell, so I’ll do my best to avoid my typical ranting.

A great deal has happened since my trip to Johannesburg. I turned 21! Not exactly a big deal here, but I will make great use of this milestone in my life upon my return to the USA. Teaching has continued to be a wonderful experience. I adore my students. They are wonderfully respectful and I truly believe that I am learning more from them than they are from me. The kids that I tutor through the volunteer organization SHAWCO are freakin’ hilarious! Their energy is dumbfounding. I am absolutely exhausted after merely two hours with them, but I love them. I made a deal with them…if they behave well for an hour and a half and let me teach them English, then they can teach me Afrikaans for the last half hour. I have learned a lot, primarily…that I’m not good at Afrikaans.

Classes at UCT have been going well, but I am learning way more outside of class than I am in class. I have had a lot of work recently…I am not exactly thrilled about any of the assignments. Although I will miss South Africa very very much, I look forward to Boston College classes…they are far more engaging and challenging. My roommates all agree that the classes here are just blah, despite UCT being the premier university in the entire African Continent.

Despite the lack of engaging classes at UCT, the societies (clubs) that the school offers are brilliant. Upon recommendation from a friend, I joined this society called the Art of Living and began the Art of Living week long course…I am very grateful I heeded my friend’s recommendation. The course was a cleansing process for both body and spirit, and I felt so much healthier by the end of the week. I know it sounds like a cult, but think about Antioch (those of you from Mendham) or Kairos (those of you from BC)…it is just all around a great experience.

I almost walked out of the room within five minutes of starting the course when I was informed that for the duration of the week one cannot consume: garlic, onions, zucchini, eggplant (the Italian in me cried a little), eggs, meat, caffeine, alcohol (the Irish in me cried a little), or any unnatural substances (even Advil). Basically one is restricted to vegan diet. The course was very yoga intensive and involved difference breathing exercises, both of which were very new to me. Like any other retreat like process, it would be misunderstood to describe the activities of the course out of context. Thus, I won’t go into detail on what we did, but rather what I learned.

We discussed…

-How expectations reduce joy.

-The important of being happy now, rather than focusing on happiness in the past or future.

-Opposite values are complementary…we can use the negative in our lives to create positive.

-Don’t try…Do!

-The importance of not seeing intentions behind others mistakes, we all make them.

-Don’t be the “football of others opinions.” Be content with yourself and don’t let others sway you too much.

-Responsibility is power, take responsibility for your actions.

-What you resist… will persist. Face difficulty to head on.

-The present moment is inevitable…embrace it.

-Accept people and situations as they are.

-Don’t pour water on other’s fire.

The Art of Living was an incredible experience and it is offered all over the world, I highly suggest the journey to everyone. It does not offer any answers; and although it is certainly a Spiritual experience, it is a complementary one; it cannot exist alone as a way to live, but together with your beliefs (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, etc) can offer a more fulfilling experience. As a Catholic, I found the course to be introspective and a rather prayerful journey. I am grateful of the insights it provided, and I plan to continue on with many of the practices that I learned during the course.

Anyway…after that experience….my sister Rebecca and her husband Brian came to visit!!!! We kicked the visit off with a weekend in Stellenbosch (wine country). After some misguided directions, a scenic drive in the wrong direction, confusion with Afrikaans street names, and a debate on the difference between diet coke v coke light we finally found our Bed and Breakfast. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at a vineyard called Tokara, and called it an early night to begin a long day of wine tasting.


We hit 9 vineyards in one day! I learned a great deal about wine, but honestly it all tasted good at the end of the day. Our tour guide was really interesting and taught us all a great deal about wine and wine tasting. The first vineyard we went to was Stark-Condé and it was certainly the best. The owner and wine-maker, José, gave us a personal tour and introduced us to the wine-making process. Not only did he allow us to drink straight from the barrel, but he also allowed me to churn the grapes. In order of best to worst, in my own personal opinion, the Vineyards we visited were: Stark- Condé, Annandale, La’Avenir, Mulderbosch, Thelema, Muratie, Hartenberg, and Neil Ellis. Upon our return to the bed and breakfast, Brian and I crashed by the pool, while Rebecca took a little nap in the room.

Day two was much more relaxed; we only went to 5 vineyeards in Franschoek, the town next to Stellenbosch. However, the dinner that we went to at a place called Rubens may have been the best meal that I have ever had, ever! The last day, we hit 9 vineyards again; yet, this time I had to spit the entire time because I had to write an exam the following day. The vineyards that we visited in order: Le Riche, Kanonkop, Lynx (where we received another wine-making tour), Camberly, Vriesenhof, Grangehurst, and Ken Forrester. The Cabernet Sauvignon at Le Riche was, without a doubt, the best wine that I have ever had. I then, returned to Cape Town, and over the next few days spent time with Rebecca and Brian. However, on Thursday we parted ways and I flew to Durban to begin what I would like to dub: The Great African Adventure.

The Great African Adventure began as any epic journey should: hungover and a half an hour behind schedule. The trip was Tristan (Berkeley), Jane (Wisconsin), and Me. Despite, the sweat of running through airport terminals, we were graced with a good omen…we were bumped to business class, free of charge. It was truly amazing, I have never slept on a plane before business class, there was just so much room. We arrived in Durban, South Africa and immediately checked into the Durban View Lodge, a quaint little hostel with free booz =). We spent the day reading and relaxing on the rooftop, with a beautiful view of Durban and one of the World Cup Stadiums. On Day 2 we rented a car and clumsily navigated through Durban. We found our way to the harbor and downtown Durban, seeing all that there was to see and then head northbound into the Heart of KwaZulu-Natal.: Mtunzini. Although Mtunzini was merely our base-camp, we stayed in Toad Tree Cottage, a quaint little B&B in the middle of a vast sugar cane field. Over the two days that we were there, we strolled through the indigenous plant garden and got lost in the expanse of sugar can, chewing on sugary cane whenever a sweet tooth began to snarl. When the sun fell behind the horizion, we watched shooting stars and constellations from our sugar sanctuary. It was beautiful.

Despite the beautiful sunsets and nights of Mtunzini, there is very little to do there during the day; thus, we went to St. Lucia. You may be asking, “Matty, why ever would you go to St. Lucia?” I would respond, “Well, friend, St. Lucia has the highest population of hippopotamus in the world! We jumped aboard a river Safari and saw crocodiles, beautiful birds, water buffalo, and of course tons and tons of hungry hungry hippos. Fun fact: Hippos are vicious, they are not nice, and they are fast.

After, our day trip to St. Lucia, we said goodbye to both KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa and crossed the border into Swaziland. Our first night we stayed in a place called Nisela along the Lobombo Mountains. in traditional Swazi Beehive Huts. After a night, making shadow puppets and reading by candlelight, we made our way to Mkhaya Game Reserve where we went on a Safari. I stood no more than 4 meters from a mother Rhino and her child. We saw Zebras, Elephants, Antelope, Empala, Warthogs, and all sorts of crazy animals…for pictures, check out the snapfish link at the top of the post. I would say, despite the amazing animals, the most entertaining part of the safari was our guide.

Exhibit A
Me: Which lives longer, the white rhino or the black rhino?
Safari Guide: Which lives longer, the white man or the black man?
Me: Well it depends…
Safari Guide: Wrong, the white man lives longer because he has money.
Me: Hmmmm…

Exhibit B
Safari Guide: Has anyone been in the bush before?
Sarah: I have…
Safari Guide: Forget it, you do not know da bush!

After our safari we stayed at a backpackers lodge in Milwane, where we watched a beautiful sunset, hung out with an ostrich, ate a traditional Swazi dinner around a bonfire, and went for a midnight swim. The following day we spent kicking around Milwane on trails and then went to Manzini, the biggest city in Swaziland. After our day in Manzini, we woke up early and walked to the KFC parking lot (KFC is everywhere here!) and hitched a ride to the next country of our excursion: Mozambique.

Our ride to Mozambique was certainly interesting. Crammed in a Chapa Bus, I found myself in the front seat with a drunk by the name of Paenias. Paenias, rather self-conscious about his English, become much more bold as the ride carried forward. After he drank his 6th mini-bottle of Gin, I finally remarked “rough day?” He found this very funny, and reached into his bag to give me a bottle of Amarula. We ended up getting rather tipsy together on our 6 hour ride to Mozambique.

Mozambique was like no place I have ever seen before. Tormented by the Portuguese colonial occupation, the country found itself dissolving into factions, with communism demonstrating favor. With the withdrawal of the Portuguese, Mozambique found itself in a traumatic civil war, which last until only 14 years ago. Although Capitalism won out, there is a still great deal of communist sentiment as streets are named Mao Tse Tsong Ave, Che Guevara Blvc. etc However, despite the end of the war, there are still clear indications of battle everywhere. One can still find bullet holes, blown out buildings, and wreckage everywhere. The country is an economic travesty-I have never seen such abject poverty.

We arrived in Maputo, and immediately made our way to Manica to meet Tristan’s friend Anna who is in the Peace Corps. We stayed a night in Anna’s village and learned a great deal about what she does in the Peace Corps. We met some of the people of her village and together we made a delicious dinner. As nighttime fell, we covered ourselves in Mosquito nets, took our Malaria pills, and fell asleep surrounded by baking soda so as to keep away the cockroaches!

The next day we stuck out our thumbs and hitched a ride back to Maputo in a flatbed. We walked all around downtown Maputo and had wonderful conversation with people. Although, Mozambique is a Portuguese speaking country, I found myself able to communicate with people quite well through my broken Spanish and their broken English. I was having so much fun; I could not stop speaking with people. We went to the Maputo market and I bought fruit from people even though I wasn’t hungry, just so I could speak with them. We stayed at a hostel by the name of Fatima’s and stayed up wicked late talking to backpackers from all around the world.

The next day we woke up bright and early, once again, to hitch a ride to Tofu. After taking a Xee Xee in Xai-Xai (Pee pee in the town of Xai-Xai ), we hitched another ride to Tofu. Finally, after 9 hours on the road, we finally made it. Tofu is basically paradise. I slept on a hammock between palm trees, went swimming and surfing in the crystal blue and warm Indian Ocean, and took long walks picking up shells on the beach instead of an Easter Egg Hunt. I went swimming with Sharks and Manta Rays. I woke up every morning for the sunrise and watched the sunset over the palm trees. I met some truly amazing people as well! A craftsman by the name of Nando showed me his shop and how he carves his pieces from large blocks of wood.

The entire trip was unbelievable; it is so difficult to put into words the amazing experiences and conversations that I encountered during my travels. I met some truly amazing people and saw an incredibly different world.

Since, I have returned to Cape Town I have been absolutely bombarded with work, but during my little free time I hit poetry slams and enjoyed SHAWCO and teaching at St. Joe’s.

There is so much more to tell, but this entry is exceptionally long and so I will bid you adieu here. Please keep me posted on all your lives, I miss you all much and I look forward to hearing what is new!


As I said last time, you can email me at McCluskM@bc.edu and for those of you that have blackberries my pin is 31C15C39, BBM me! Also my address is in case you want to send a letter:

22 Lovers Walk
Rondebosch 7700
South Africa

Also if you have a Skype account, skype me at Matthew S. McCluskey, or you can skype my South African cell at +27 82 311 8566!!

Feel free to send me your love!! More to come…

Lots of love,
Matty

South African Word of the Day: Howzit?—What up?

I <3 Africa

Molweni!

As you read this post, I highly recommend that you listen to “Elias” by Dispatch =)

Check out all of my pictures at: http://www4.snapfish.com/share/p=696161234825751125/l=472660710/g=149258594/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishau/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Allow me to apologize for I have not lived up to my promise to be more punctual with my posts. It has been a little over two weeks since my last entry, and as I said in my last post… the amount that can happen in a merely two weeks is amazing! I last left you on February 18^th, the day before my first day at the school in which I am completing one of my student teaching practicum: St. Joseph’s Marist College…

I found myself sitting in a large room, chairs in a circular formation, surrounded by unfamiliar accents. The topic was education and I listened intently, as my passion for pedagogy is ever growing. My focus was sharp, for this dialogue would offer new insight and an extremely different perspective. The conversation turned to a particular student who, according to a large grey-haired man within the circle, was “headed down a dodgy road.” Others in the circle nodded in affirmation. Curious and possibly stepping outside of my realm of jurisdiction, both for my lack of certification/experience and it being my first day, I questioned the infractions of the student. I was met with stories of throwing paper, standing up during examinations, classroom outbursts, failed examinations, late assignments, missing assignments, distracting other students, etc. The educators in the circle hung their heads in fear of losing another male in the sea of South African drugs, sex, and xenophobia.

I studied the grey-haired man intently; he was not ready to lose this student. There was rallying to be done. There was great work ahead. I watched as the grey-haired man ignited a spark amongst his colleagues, and subsequently observed as the educators analyzed the student’s background to best address his needs. The student speaks Xhosa at home and is expected to speak English in school, fluently. Like many students in this school, he struggles from what South African educators call semi-lingualism (not being completely fluent in any of one’s languages). The student has ADHD and, although extremely bright, he has much difficulty focusing on the task at hand. The student must return to a Township every night, an underprivileged neighborhood that is a residual effect of Apartheid. There he is surrounded by drugs, violence, hunger, and disease. The student’s family makes very little money and he must work everyday after school and weekends to help put food on the table. Despite all of these impediments, the student wakes up every morning before the sun rises to walk almost 7 kilometers to school.

Although this conversation took place during a staff meeting at St. Joseph’s Marist College in Rondebosch, South Africa, it is almost identical to a conversation that I had with my cooperating teacher at Brighton High School on my first day as a student teacher. When a student, who demonstrated similar behaviors to that student in South Africa, shouted an obscenity at a girl across the room, I was perplexed that my CT did not reprimand him; yet merely asked the class to continue on their independent reading and pulled the student out of the classroom. After class, I questioned my CT on the exchange of words with the student, and was completely mystified when he informed me that he asked the student “is everything alright?” My CT explained to me that the student has an obscene amount of obstacles impeding his pursuit of education, and that misbehavior is a cry for help, not an indicator of a mal-intentioned young adult. That student speaks Spanish at home and is expected to speak English in school, fluently. The student has ADHD and, although extremely bright, he has much difficulty focusing on the task at hand. The student must return to a rough area of Boston every night, thus being exposed to drugs, poverty, and violence. The student’s family makes very little money and he must work everyday after school and weekends to help put food on the table. Despite all of these impediments, the student wakes up every morning before the sun rises to take an hour T ride to Brighton.

I learned a great deal from my CT at Brighton High School, and as I continued on in my practicum experiences in urban settings, I noticed commonality in student behavior. However, I was shocked when I learned in my first day as a student teacher in South Africa, that I can hold these behaviors, these cries for help, to be universal. Like the student who was not completely fluent in Xhosa or English, but rather semi-lingual because of the disjoint he faces in his realms of language, there are many students in the United States who experience some form of semi-lingualism, like the ELL (English Launguage Learner) student at Brighton High School. This impediment, in addition to another disability like ADHD, can create a seemingly impenetrable barrier between a learner and an educator. However, I believe that through an intense study of ELL education and a passion for teaching, any obstacle can be overcome.

Through my experiences teaching, both in Boston and South Africa, I have constructed a mission that I believe will be nurtured by further practicum experience: a mission to develop a healthy personal relationship with my students and to provide my students with an intellectually challenging experience. I want to provide my students with an education that promotes an excitement for learning, intellectual excellence, involved citizenship, personal accountability, and an understanding of cultural differences. There are thousands of students headed down, as my South African colleague dubbed, “a dodgy road;” I am confident that this practicum/future practicum will provide me with the necessary experience and knowledge to support and educate a student when I pull him/her aside to ask "is everything alright?"

Now that I have gotten my thoughts on education out of my system, I should probably tell you about the school itself. Well, St. Joseph’s Marist College is truly an amazing place; I will bring my camera one day so that I can take pictures for you all to see. This has been the most amazing practicum that I have had thus far in my study of education. For the first time I do not feel like a student teacher; I feel like a real teacher, an actual member of the St. Joseph’s staff. I teach Mondays and Thursdays, and I have been welcome by staff and student alike with open arms. As I said earlier, I sit in on staff meetings and my insights are not only listened to, but respected and considered. I went to a play and drinks with some of the teachers on my staff the other night. The students are so respectful: they stand up when I walk into a classroom and call me sir. The questions that the students have for me are absolutely hilarious: “have you met Jay-Z? Have you met Beyonce?” My response is always the same: “Have you met Nelson Mandela or Desmond Tutu?”

My CT (corresponding teacher) allows me so much freedom and gives me a wonderful amount of responsibility. I have taken over most of her grading, I teach most of her lessons, and we work together to develop assignments and activities. This experience is offering me so much knowledge, only pouring gasoline on the fire that is my passion for teaching.

As I don’t want to focus this entire entry on education, I will briefly tell you about everything else that has happened in the past 2 weeks before I tell you of my weekend trip to Johannesburg, which was the most amazing experience of my life.

My UCT classes are going splendidly and the subject of all my classes is so interesting, I really enjoy the lectures; yet, I’d rather be spending all of my time at St. Joe’s. The service society that I told you about in my last post, SHAWCO, is also going splendidly. The program allows me to tutor English at a Township called Kensington every Tuesday, and I feel that I am truly seeing the real South Africa. The kids are absolutely hilarious and SHAWCO is definitely one of the highlights of every week. I was there two days ago, and my kids (7th graders) made me sing them the U.S. National Anthem. Most of them speak Afrikaans as their primary language, and a few speak Xhosa. They were having a conversation in Afrikaans today, and so I dropped a few Afrikaans words that I know, it totally freaked them out. There is much more to tell about SHAWCO but I will save that for a later post. Ethiopian food is without a doubt my new favorite type of food and I highly recommend it to all.

There is truly not a boring minute in Cape Town! But Cape Town is only one city in the enormous country of South Africa; thus it is extremely important that one venture outside of their base camp and see what else this culturally rich and exciting country has to offer. That’s why I hopped on a plane and flew to Johannesburg last Friday with Chrissy, Tristan, Pat and Sarah.

Jo-Burg! Where do I begin? Well, firstly it is so vastly different from Cape Town. Cape Town is rather slow and has a very natural feel; Jo-Burg is much faster and more industrialized, yet Jo-Burg has a 40% unemployment rate, and I saw many a sign stating “sorry, no work.” Our hostel (Brown Sugar) was great and we met some really cool kids while we were there: Leo who is from Germany, Amanda who is from Virginia, and Bronwen from Ontario. They are all on holiday touring through South Africa, so when they make their way down to Cape Town, we will definitely have some couch crashers. After we checked in, we immediately went to the Apartheid museum, and it actually brought me to tears on multiple occasions. The history of South Africa is just as turbulent as ours with respect to human rights and race. The museum was truly an experience and words falls short at narrating the experience, so I suggest you check out the Snapfish account to observe all the pictures that I took while I was there.

After the Apartheid museum we went to dinner and a new friend took us all to a school that perches high above Johannesburg. We ate pastries and enjoyed a beautiful starlit view of J0-Burg.

Saturday was a day like none I have ever experience before. After touring around the markets of Jo-Burg in the morning, we took a cab to the one of the most famous townships in South Africa: Soweto.

Soweto came to the world's attention on June 16, 1976 with the Soweto Uprising, when mass protests erupted over the government's policy to enforce education in Afrikaans rather than English. Police opened fire in Orlando West on 10,000 students marching from Naledi High School to Orlando Stadium, and in the events that unfolded, 566 people died. The impact of the Soweto protests reverberated through the country and across the world. In their aftermath, economic and cultural sanctions were introduced from abroad. Political activists left the country to train for guerrilla resistance. Soweto and other townships became the stage for violent state repression. Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu both spent many years living in Soweto.

It has been estimated that 65% of Johannesburg's residents live in Soweto (2002 figures). However, the 2001 Census put its population at 896,995 - or about one-third of the city's total population.

We arrived at Soweto with no idea of what to expect, nor any idea of where to go or what to do. The only guidance that we received was that we should try to find an area known as Kliptown and search for a revolutionary artist commune dubbed District 77. As the cab drove through the streets of Soweto on our way to Kliptown, I was overcome with a flashback to my first experience at the first Township that I visited, Ocean View. The same emotions overwhelmed me: frustration at the poverty, disbelief at the living conditions, disillusion with the world, empowerment with a sense of drive to change, grateful in my decision to dedicate my life to education, and amazement of the people. I noticed the barrenness of the land of the Township, remembering that the Afrikaans government placed these townships on the worst possible land, completely infertile, sandy and desert-like. The tension within the cab was tangible, as we all asked ourselves the same questions: how would we be received? Was this place as dangerous as so many people had told us? I could tell that certain people in the cab were beginning to regret the decision to come to Soweto, upon seeing the dismal conditions. Ultimately, we all reminded ourselves, in some way, shape or form, that a man cannot change a world of which he is scared. As we drove past a sign indicating that we had arrived in Kliptown and the cab came to a halt, two little boys came running over to the cab with excitement overflowing. The more trusting and the younger of the two boys, K’bal, was eager to show us that he could count and giggled upon receiving our congratulatory high-fives. K’bal loved to be carried; during our entire stay in Soweto his feet barely touched the ground. His friend, Lulo, a bit older and less trusting tagged along out of curiosity. We had an entourage, an entourage to whom I am forever grateful, despite their lack of years, for they invoked curiosity among two women selling home-made jewelry, who asked “who are your friends?” We informed the two women that we just met these two little boys, but we already had grown quite fond of them. The two women seemed hesitant about our being in Soweto, and boldly asked “What are you doing here?” Being caught rather off-guard, the words that left my mouth seemed to come directly from my heart. I explained that we weren’t there to take pictures, nor were we there to tell them how to better their living conditions, but we were there to meet them, to know their story. I explained that we wanted to know the real South Africa. Zwakale and Samantha’s eyes lit up, they introduced themselves, and truly took us under their wings.

Zwakale and Samantha took us all around Kliptown. They showed us the Walter Sisulu Square and Walter Sisulu Square Monument, dedicated to Ten Pillars of the ANC. They took us through their market and showed us some real South African traditions such as Mpepo (which is a plant burned to drive away bad spirits, Samantha said it “could help me with the ladies”) and clumps of soil (which pregnant women eat to put more iron in their blood). They then took us over the train tracks to the residential area. The conditions were abysmal. No electricity, no running water, only a few port-a-potties which are cleaned weekly (if they are lucky). Zwakale showed us her home, sadly her roof had fallen in over threw weeks ago, and her home is in rubble. Yet, I was amazed at her resilience and the resilience of her children, despite the fact that they did not have a livable home, they continued to smile. Zwakale explained that she was saving up to rebuild her home, it would cost her R5 a brick, and she said she still had a long way to go.

We had heard of Post 77 and it being an artist commune, so prior to leaving for Soweto, Tristan and I purchased some cloth at the Oriental Plaza in Johannesburg, in hope that we could find an artist. We showed the cloth that we had brought with us to Zwakale and she was, aside from being surprised that we knew of Post 77, excited to take us to this commune. As we walked into the area that has come to be known as Post 77, we were greeted with an incredible amount hospitality and curiosity by a group of men sitting upon a grassy knoll. We sat with the men for quite some time as they relayed to us the plight of their circumstance. I found myself in conversation with an educator by the name of Lazarus, who was one of the most interesting people that I have met in my South African experience. He told me of his pursuit of education during the Apartheid era, and due to the Bantu Education act, he only made it through grade 5 (when he was 17-years-old!). He was completely self taught and wise beyond belief. He told me that he didn’t care about himself, that he only cared about the kids because “The kids are the future of South Africa.” And he relayed to me the importance of education because it “will change the way things are.”

I then found myself in conversation with a man named Lebo. Lebo, only 34 years young, spoke with the confidence of the most worldly of men, despite having never left Soweto. He explained to me how proud he was of my friends and me for having come to Soweto with no hidden agendas, but rather to learn and experience. He told me that I will truly walk away from South Africa with a piece of South Africa in my heart, because Soweto is the heart of South Africa. He said that in order to continue to build upon the South Africa that is already in my heart, I must “eat what we eat, walk where we walk, and breathe what we breathe.” I will never forget that. Lebo told me of the pain he feels when white people come to Soweto with their camera’s flashing or their money waving, and how they keep their wallets and cameras close to them; so in retaliation, when he sees white tourists like that, he yells to his friends, “Oh there is a white person, hide your camera, keep your wallet close!” He wants these people to experience what he experiences. Lebo also told me about how the consciousness of the Sowetan people has changed over the years, and how their pride is ever-growing, despite corruption in the government and the slow process that is bettering their lives.

As Lebo and Lazarus began to question me about the states, asking me questions such as “Have you ever taken a New York City Taxi?” an artist by the name of Bapana (who calls himself Black Material) came into the conversation, and was truly humbled when I asked if he would provide me with a piece of his work to take home as a keepsake of my time in Soweto. Tristan and I went with him to his workshop, and watched as he turned our blank pieces of cloth into pieces of Sowetan pride. As he handed me my cloth, he told me “Soweto is in your heart forever.”

The people that I met in Soweto have truly provided me with a life-changing experience, and they will be in my heart forever. They invited me back to spend a few days with them and volunteer in a tutoring program for their youth called SKY: Soweto Kliptown Youth. I will definitely be returning! Words fall short at doing justice to the magnitude of the emotions that swept through me that day. The pride of the Sowetan people and their graciousness were astounding. Their love of life and passion for community were inspiring. I feel the world could learn a lot from the sentiment of the Sowetan people. All I know is that I will never be the same after my experience in Kliptown.

Another mentionable experience from my time in Johannesburg was a man by the name of Sydney. After visiting the Apartheid museum, we took a cab back to our hostel with Sydney. Despite the awkwardness at first, I questioned Sydney about his life and expressed a sincere curiosity in him. He opened up to me and we became very good friends. He told me of his past jobs, of what life was like during Apartheid, and the pride he feels being from/living in Soweto. It is amazing what a smile and a hello can inspire. He became our liaison in Johannesburg and was more than happy to take us anywhere that we needed to go. He would call me randomly just to make sure that everything was okay. The night before we left, on our way back to the hostel, he invited us all to his home for dinner, expressing how much he wanted us to meet his family. He said that he had told his family all about us and they wanted to make us dinner. I was blown away with his kindness and I was humbled by his offer. Sadly there was not enough time in our trip to take him up on his generous offer, but when I return to Johannesburg, I will definitely be having dinner at Sydney’s home.

There is so much more to tell, but this entry is exceptionally long and so I will bid you adieu here. Please keep me posted on all your lives, I miss you all much and I look forward to hearing what is new! Also, thank you all for the wonderful birthday wishes! 21 woo woo!

As I said last time, you can email me at McCluskM@bc.edu and for those of you that have blackberries my pin is 31C15C39, BBM me! Also my address is in case you want to send a letter:

22 Lovers Walk

Rondebosch 7700

South Africa

Also if you have a Skype account, skype me at Matthew S. McCluskey, or you can skype my South African cell at +27 82 311 8566!!

Feel free to send me your love!! More to come…

Lots of love,

Matty

South African Word of the Day: Oak (Dude)

And the adventure continues...

Molweni! (Hello in Xhosa)

First and foremost, I added pictures to the last post so scroll down. Also, for all of the pictures you can check out my snapfish account. You have to set up an account but it is free and simple. The link is:

http://www4.snapfish.com/share/p=696161234825751125/l=472660710/g=149258594/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishau/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

The amount that can happen in a merely two weeks is amazing! I believe that I last left you all during Orientation…on my day off, during which I went surfing. Oh and please excuse any typos, misspellings and grammatical errors, but I am not revising this post =)

The following day I had course registration, and that was certainly an interesting experience. The process is completely manual, no computers. It is a wonderfully tedious excursion, going from station to station, standing in queue after queue (i.e. line after line). Then after all is said and done, and you have stood in queue for hours in the blistering heat, sweating and frustrated, what do you think they do? Well, they take your picture of course! Fortunately, my picture is only a mild resemblance of Jeffery Dahmer, unlike some of the other student IDs that I have seen which are truly serial killer mug shots.

Over the weekend, we explored Cape Town some more. We went down to the V&A Waterfront which is absolutely stunning. They always have live bands playing and street performers everywhere. The good there is great and the view is stunning. I also went down to the Woodstock Market at the Old Biscuit Mill Market, which has the best food I have ever had. People come from all over the Western Cape, bringing their homemade foods (bread, sauces, meats, wraps, cheeses, wines, beers…whatever you can possibly imagine) and I just walked around trying free samples for hours. Best lunch ever! I will definitely be going back this Saturday, possibly with multiple changes of clothes…I feel as though the vendors may catch on to my shenanigans.

Monday I dedicated to sorting out some administrative tasks on campus and joining the societies (clubs) that I wanted to. For those of you at BC: UCT’s activities fair day blows ours out of the water. Firstly, it is three days rather than one. Secondly, they have a society for anything and everything, and their stands are epic. The sailing society actually brought a boat onto campus, the hiking and climbing society brought a rock wall! I joined some really cool societies: wine tasting, sailing, and poetry. Additionally, I joined a service society called Shawco.

Shawco is a really big deal here! I had to interview to be accepted and I am so excited to start. Once or twice a week, they will bus me out to a South African Township where I will tutor 9^th graders! If you guys remember my last blog entry, the Township is the place where I went and played soccer with the kids. Basically a shanty town (a residual effect of Apartheid), I will take pictures to give you all an idea of the dismal conditions of the Townships. It is heart-crushing to see the awful living conditions of the shacks, no electricity or running water. Sickness permeating throughout the garbage stained pathways. Yet despite the living conditions, that actual life within the townships is so hopeful and proud. The kids at the first Township that I went to were amazing and I am so excited to start tutoring!! I am confident that it will be an extremely challenging, disillusioning, and rewarding experience all wrapped-up into one life-changing acquisition of maturity.

I also met with the Headmaster of St. Joseph’s Marist College on Monday. St. Joseph’s is the high school that I will be teaching at while I am here. The headmaster was a great guy and I look forward to working with him and the staff. (I actually have my first full day of teaching tomorrow!) What I found most interesting about the school is that it was one of the first schools in South Africa (and the first school on the Western Cape) to desegregate during the Apartheid era! The Afrikaans government shut them down because of desegregation multiple times, it is truly a historic place with outstanding morals. My excitement is exploding!!

On Tuesday we rented a van and started driving to Stellenbosch…the wine country! We made it about a quarter of the way there and then our van broke down. After a few choice words with the owner of the rental company and the return of our money, we got a lift with one of our program’s drivers. We made it there and checked into our hostel, which has spoiled me for life. I doubt that any hostel at which I stay in the future can be as accommodating as the Stumble Inn in Stellenbosch, South Africa. They had a pool, a wonderful hammock, complimentary tea , comfortable/clean bedrooms, and close proximity to the center of Rondebosch.

After we checked in, we went to this restaurant called Moyo. If any of you ever come to South Africa, you MUST go to Moyo! The food is amazing, the service is so gracious, the Cabernet is delicious, and they paint your spirit on your face! Apparently, my spirit is that of a wolf, for they painted the coolest paw print around my eye. Additionally, it was my housemate Caroline’s birthday…so when I asked the manager if they could do something special, I expected a cupcake with a candle. They did a little more than a cupcake!! They brought out dancers and drummers, and the brought her onto stage to teach her and some of our friends the dances. It was phenomenal, especially when Caroline fell off stage! It was one of the funniest things that I have ever seen. The next day we went wine tasting all day! If any of you make your way to Stellenbosch, you must go to Neethlingshof Winery! It was my favorite. We saw zebras, cheetahs, and these really cool eagles. All around, the trip to Stellenbosch was a great experience.

After Stellenbosch, we climbed Lions Head. There are many peaks/peak ranges in Cape Town, but there are three which are definitely the most aesthetically interesting. The first is Table Mountain, of which I am sure you all have seen pictures and I will be climbing that within the next two weeks. Apparently, the top is as flat as a rugby pitch! The second is the 12 Apostles which is 12 peaks all in a row (the name is wonderfully appropriate). And the third is Lions Head, dubbed because it resembles a Lion’s Head, and also because there is a smaller mound a few hundred meters away dubbed Lions rump; when looking at both it greatly resembles a crouching lion.

The hike to the top of Lions Head was amazing! As you hike up, there is a spectacular view of the clouds rolling over Table Mountain and the 12 Apostles. Also, on one side of the mountain there is all of Cape Town to your viewing pleasure, and on the other side is Camps Bay and Clifton: two of the most beautiful beaches that I have ever seen. We raced the clock to get there before sunset and brought up a bottle of wine and some PB&J’s. We watched the sunset over the ocean while drinking some wine and after the sun set, we moved to the other side of the mountaintop to have a spectacular view of a full moon over Cape Town.

Thursday we enjoyed a nice easy day at Muizenberg beach surfing because Friday was the first day of classes! I am enjoying my classes tremendously. I am taking a Shakespeare course which is extremely interesting to study through a South African eye, a South African Lit Course (which I have the highest hopes for), a History of Africa pre 1800 course, and an Art History course focusing on Sacred Art both through Christianity and indigenous African beliefs. My classes are all wonderful thus far and the convenors are extremely scholarly and interesting, especially for my English courses…the first convenor for my Shakespeare course is the funniest man I have ever encountered). Now you may be asking yourself, what does Matt mean…the first convenor? Well, UCT handles classes extremely differently than we do in the States. There are multiple professors and lecturers for every course, and they teach class according to what to who is most scholarly in one subject. For instance, for my Shakespeare course: we are starting with Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and one professor who is a scholar on Chaucer will be guiding us through those lectures. When we move onto Shakespeare or another Middle/Elizabethan English author, a new convenor will take over. There are also different seminars and Tuts (tutorials) for every course but I will explain that another time!

Over the weekend, we went down to Long Street and then on Saturday we went to a Stormers game! The Stormers are the Cape Town rugby team and they are awesome! They played the Durbin Sharks and it was a great game, but we lost 20-15 =(. The game was absolutely nuts, it was crazier than a Giants/Pats game. I am so excited for the next game this Friday. Sunday we went to Clifton Beach and I hopped around on the rocks all afternoon, they seemed to stretch out for miles! The waves crashing up against the rocks with Lions Head and the 12 Apostles as a backdrop was truly stunning.

This week has just been classes and getting used to University Life here, buying textbooks, and general maintenance; even still, it is all so exciting and new. As I said earlier, tomorrow is my first full day teaching at St. Joseph’s Marist College and the I am so excited!!!!

Enjoy the pictures and I promise to be a little more punctual with my posts and pictures now that the internet works in my house!

I am having the absolute time of my life, there is always so much to do and see. I actually wake up early because I do not want to miss a single moment!

Please keep me posted on all your lives, I miss you all much and I look forward to hearing what is new!

As I said last time, you can email me at McCluskM@bc.edu and for those of you that have blackberries my pin is 31C15C39, BBM me! Also my address is:

22 Lovers Walk
Rondebosch 7700
South Africa

Also my skype name is Matthew S. McCluskey...skype me!

Feel free to send me your love!! More to come…

Lots of love,

Matty

South African Word of the Day: Braii (Barbeque)

And for last post: Lekker (Wicked Cool)

Greetings from South Africa!!

Hey hey everyone!! The internet is very finicky here so let me apologize for delayed responses to all of your emails and Facebook wall posts/messages; but I love them and please keep them coming. I miss you all much and I hope all is well at home.



As for my adventures…I am having the absolute time of my life!!!!

I arrived last Friday and we having been going non-stop since I landed. The program I am in is taking wonderful care of me. When we arrived, they immediately took us out to dinner in Observatory which is an area of Cape Town. Then after that we hit a club called Roots, they had palm trees, sand floors, a killer bongo/congo/djembe drum band and we started to meet the people of South Africa. We had an absolute blast.

My roommates are truly amazing! We are all getting along splendidly and for those of you BC people— Chrissy Glaser is one of my roommates. And my house is killlller! It is literally right across the street from campus and is nicer than anything I have lived in before.

Our house is on a road called Lovers Walk.



The next day, the program we are on took us on a walking tour of Cape Town. It is absolutely stunning. Table top mountain overlooks the whole city and at night you can watch the clouds roll over them. Everyone morning, I wake up to the sun rising over the mountains in the distance—it’s brilliant.



We walked by the government buildings and saw the sights and had lunch on Long Street which is like the place to be in Cape Town.

Sunday may have been the coolest day of my life! We toured the entire Southwestern Cape of South Africa. I saw African Penguins, I saw baboons, I saw antelope, I saw ostriches, and many more animals. We climbed the mountainous tip of the Cape to the top of the lighthouse and it was the most beautifully scenic view I have ever seen. We are going to go back for sure and I will take tons of pictures for you all to see. Then we went to Ocean View, the first South African Township. For those of you that do not know, a Township is basically an inner-city project. It is one of the residual effects of Apartheid. The Afrikaans government kicked out all of the black people and the colored people (colored people is different from black people and it is an accepted term here) and they were all shipped to Townships which are basically shanty towns. I was so overwhelmed with emotion: frustration at the poverty, disbelief at the living conditions, disillusion with the world, empowerment with a sense of drive to change, grateful in my decision to dedicate my life to education, and amazement of the people. The people of the Township were so excited to meet us and I played with the kids for most of my time there. We had so much fun and I cannot wait to go back and play soccer with them! They adults of the Township made us lunch and then a bunch of teenagers gave performances (I missed the performances though because I was playing with the little kids outside). The kids were amazingly smart; they spoke both Afrikaans and English and had so many questions for me, and I them! I hope one day I can teach in their school.

We saw the beaches which are the most beautiful I have ever seen in my life, they took us to the Cape National park which is where we saw the animals). Then we go out every night and party like its 1999 hahaha. The clubs are insane here.

Monday was the start of Orientation. For those of you Boston College students, I seriously thought that a college campus could not be more aesthetically pleasing than the Heights—I was sorely mistaken! The University of Cape Town is like nothing I have ever seen before. I will take some pictures and put them up for everyone. I am so excited to start classes, we start next Friday. The entire week has been lectures and seminars about South Africa and the University. Our Orientation Leaders are really tight and party with us all the time and have been unbelievably helpful. Also the program we are on, Ida Cooper, has its own student associates who have been so gracious! Colin, Kai, Inge, and Najma are great people. Kai is the man! He chills with us all the time.

We live in an area called Rondebosch, which is like the student area of Cape Town. It’s a wonderful little area and has tons of great places to go and hang out. The transportation system here is crazy. They have these informal taxis called mini-buses. They are an experience for sure. I am positive that I will have many phenomenal mini-bus experiences to come. They drive throughout the city and just shout out the window at passer buys to get a ride, and they rock out to African techno.



Today I had a day off from Orientation and I went surfing! It was soooo much fun! I am going to surf all the time! I love the beach here so much. It is like 80 degrees every day and it’s nice and cool at night.



I am having such an incredible time, we haven’t stopped moving and we are really getting immersed in the culture here (but we are definitely still clearly American! Our accents kind of give it away, in addition to carrying around water bottles and the general look of confusion at any new experience). I really love my roommates and I love the South African people. You all would love it here and maybe one day you’ll come so that you can experience what I am living right now!

Life is just different. Now does not mean now. Now means later. If someone says okay I’ll do that now, that could mean I will do it in 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or later today. It is so relaxed! And they love to party, we have been going to crazy bars and clubs and I am just bustin’ my moves on the dance floor. My roommates are really chill and we have a ton of fun together. I may not come home!!!! I am in love!

Please keep me posted on all your lives, I miss you all much and I look forward to hearing what is new!

You can email me at McCluskM@bc.edu and for those of you that have blackberries my pin is 31C15C39, BBM me!

I hope that all is well back in the States. Although extremely simple, one of the coolest things I've seen while I have been here was watching a group of fisherman bringing in their boats after a long of fishing for Hake (the main fish of South Africa).

More to come…

Lots of love,
Matty