My experience in South Africa was (so far) beyond words - I say "so far" because I am freshly back in Canada and still processing the past two months. I have been sitting in bed all day listening to music and going through photos really reflecting on my experience and trying to understand it's impact. South Africa grabbed me and swept me away - such an unbelievably beautiful country with beautiful people, despite its deep and dark past. While in Khayelitsha for the first month I lived with a host family who took me under their wing and showed me (in the brief time I stayed with them) what it was like to live in a township outside Cape Town. Once I actually went to Cape Town and saw it's wealth and beauty, I couldn't believe the disparity in lifestyles between the township and metropolis. The understanding I gained in my short time in South Africa on the apartheid system overwhelmed me. How does anyone justify such brutal systematic racism? It is still something I am grappling with and need to learn more about.
The last two months were filled with so many experiences, of all natures - meeting locals from the township and participating in local community projects, working with NGO's and youth, learning about apartheid from all perspectives - black, white and everything in between, as well as visiting museums like District 6 and Slave Lodge. And then breaking away from team programs and projects to become an independent traveler and put to use the lens I had gained from the program. Meeting other travelers and locals at each backpackers and hearing their perspective on the historical and current political climate in the country, as well as letting loose and just having fun, conversing about life in general and gaining perspective from everyones stories. It was such a whirlwind and I would do it all over again, in fact I really hope to get back to South Africa some day, there's just something about the spirit there...
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