Thursday, September 18, 2008

My Bhuti is in Hiding.

Yesterday was a short day for class, which was really nice. We had Zulu in the morning, followed by a lecture about issues involving the youth of South Africa. They make up such a large portion of the population, and they've been kinda messed up ever since the "lost generation" of apartheid. Basically, towards the end of apartheid, the youth started taking over in the fight against apartheid and missed out on their education. Many of them are now unemployed because they lack specific skills. Our lecturer showed us research and programs they were implementing to improve education and the lives of youth in general. It was nice to see that some progress is being made rather than just learning that there are lots of problems and not a lot we can do (like the housing issue).

We had the afternoon off, so I stayed at the SIT office to finish my paper about a cultural experience. I wrote about when a woman on the minibus taxi asked why there were white people on the bus. I wasn't entirely productive during that time, but at least I got some things done.

When I got home there was this big group of guys hanging out at the top of my house's driveway (it's at the top of a hill). I recognized one of the boys as my bhuti's friend who comes over a lot. I got into the house and my Bhuti was sitting there watching TV. I asked him if he knew that all his friends were outside and he said yes. Then I asked why he wasn't outside with them, as usual, and he said it was because he had a bunch of their DVDs and they wanted them back. He wasn't ready to give them back yet. "They can't know that I'm here!" he said. I thought it was hilarious. He even moved around slowly so they wouldn't notice him because the curtains were partially open.

We had a light homework night (which is highly unusual), so Daryl and her sisi came to my house and we all watched "Final Destination 2" together. What a ridiculous movie! It was pretty absurd and really made me wonder where people come up with these ideas.

This morning we had another Zulu lesson, and we'll be having a lecture shortly about the environmental issues in South Africa. We'll be heading out to the docks in Durban to see first-hand the environmental impact. There's currently a really big issue in Durban about building a marina. Someone built these pretty expensive beachside condos and they want to build a marina so that people with yachts can come live here and keep their boats there. A lot of people are afraid that it will have a large negative impact on the coastline. We're also going to a book launch for this book that discusses the culture of Durban streetworkers and how they've sort of become this cosmopolitan network through their relations with sailors. It sounds like it should be interesting.

Tomorrow morning, we're going to the KwaZulu-Natal youth empowerment center (the place where our tour guides for the Dropoff work) for a feeding scheme to provide meals to people. I'm really excited about working for the community and I think it will be a very rewarding experience. Well, I have to go start the lecture in a few minutes, so sala kahle!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That sounds really funny about your bhuti. keep up the writing.

Anonymous said...

I liked how you did the body song for that acapella group too. haha

? said...

Glad I found this blog. I am currently reading one of your favourite books, master and margarita and liking it!