Village life, language and overcoming segregation

I came home today from a trip to the village Nyandeni in the rural areas of Transkei, pretty close to the town Mthatha. I was there during the Easter weekend together with my friend Mzoli to visit his family. It was a fantastic experience although also a challenge to adopt to some things that happened. I am really grateful for the invite and happy that I accepted it! Village life is surely something very different then life in town and in particular in a such wealthy suburb as I am living in here. There was electricity but no tap water. It was lovely to see how people are social to each other for example by visiting each other as neighbors.

It was sometimes problems to communicate because many people there didnt know English and my skills in their language in their language Xhosa are very limited. I felt bad for not having made a bigger effort to learn more of that language and got motivated to learn as much as possible during the rest of my stay here.

I was very welcomed and became served a lot which made me feel uncomfortable sometimes It is apparently very rare that a white person comes to a village like that. When we went out to a club in town several people greeted me and seemed to be surprised but happy to see me as a white visiting the club. It is incredible and sad how segregated it still is, but somehow hopeful that there can be change if people try to meet each other to try to create understanding and empathy. I think about what I and others could do something similar in Sweden to overcome cultural, socio-economic and/or ethnic borders? Suggestions anyone?

Tonight I and Sabina will start our 16 h long travel with bus to Cape Town. From one trip to another - I try to do the most of the holiday we have now. It feels good that we will stay there as long as five nights. We have not planned much, it feels good to be a little bit spontaneus!

Ps. I would like to publish more pictures but our internet is slow and limited. If I get opportunity I will upload mores and if not I can upload when I come to Sweden. Ds

Update from East London

More then half of our time here in South Africa has passed now. I have not wrote here for long mostly because I have not feel motivated to do it; I have had few ideas about what to write.

Some month ago I didnt feel so good. I was a little bit bored and quite lonely. It was not so much about lack of things to do, it was more that I didnt feel that I connected to anyone really and thus I felt lonely. However, the last feew weeks have felt much better, mostly because I have got to learn several people that I enjoy to be with and have meaningful conversations with. Some of them I have met through meetings with the new queer group at campus. It is really interesting to be a part of the forming of the group and we had a surprisingly open discussion at the last meeting.

Another nice thing is the surfing – I have taken to surf lessons and will do it again in Sunday. I have developed pretty much in these two sessions so I hope I will learn more onwards. Although it gets cooler here now I am really keen to surf.

I have also started attending a dance group doing different kinds of ballroom dancing at varsity. It has been too less real dancing and a little bit too much step practicing but I am motivated to continue and I think it will be really fun.

Yesterday we had a cultural day at varsity (university) where different cultures where supposed to be shown and enjoyed. Although it was sad that it was mostly Xhosa culture that was represented and no white students attending apart from me and it therefore didnt get very multicultural, it was a lovely idea and I had fun.

During the Easter I will follow my friend Mzoli (who was in Umeå to years ago as a part of the same exchange) to his family in the rural areas in Transkei. I dont know really what to expect but it feels really exciting and I look forward to it!

We are free from varsity next week so then I and Sabina will go to Cape Town. I suppose that will be an interesting experience as well. Will meet and interview some animal rights activists.