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.

Another reflection I have is about the habit everyone seem to have to ask and answer ”How are you, Im fine thanks and you?”. People do it in Sweden to but I think its more common here. Im divided about it, on the one hand I consider it useless to ask without really be able or interested to hear the answer. On the other hand it at least open up some kind of possibility to talk; when you are asked about it you can say more then fine or good. I appreciate it in the family where we live – her it feels like a sign of real concern and and I feel I have opportunity to answer honestly. How do you feel about this habit dear friends?

Clean my own dirt or not...

Its strange how quick you get used to things. I wrote this one week ago:


"When we came home from school today our rooms were cleaned by the cleaner/domestic worker who works here two days a week. I knew about her and met her last week but I didnt expected to have my room cleaned. The most strange part of it I think was that my washed clothes laying on the bed were folded and laid in a nice pile. I got quite bored and in a bad mood later on the afternoon and think it was partly because of this – Im not used that someone cleans for me and it reminds me of the enormous social gaps in this country. I dont know how the one who cleans here has it (i suppose she is better paid then average cleaners) but somehow I consider it as such a sign of the equality when people work in other peoples homes and clean their dirt. On the other hand, people are striving to have a job and I have seen good relationships between workers and families. Cristi S told me about their domestic worker who has worked in their place since she was a small child and that she consider her as a second mother, somehow a part of the family. But there is still a power relationship to consider."

Today when I came home my room was cleaned again. My laundry that I left outside on the washing line was taken inside and folded in a pile on my chair. I am still somehow concerned and non-comfortable about it but this time I didnt react as much. I wonder how I will feel when I leave the country.

First three weeks

12/2: The running of the race Surfers Challenge today was really a nice, tough and fun experience. I enjoyed running in the heat on the beach where I had to run with much variation to avoid rocks, soft sand and water. Sabina (the one from Umeå I am here with) surprisingly attented to, it was good to have some company in the beginning.

17/2: We decided today to move to a new place in Vincent (a suburb) in order to get closer to town. Until now we have lived on a farm on the contryside. We will stay with the same family as Isa and Monica (the exchange students from last year) did last year. It feels a little bit strange to leave the farm where I really have started to feel like home. I am very grateful to Loreen and her family for there kindness and helpfulness this first two weeks. I really feel that she wants the best for us and she has put in efforts to help us with things.

23/2: First day at school experience today. We will be at this school for three weeks twice a week. The school is a big school with old and proud traditions and our class mates says that it is one of the best schools in the city. In other words; its a well recourced school. We will go to other schools later on to see the differences.

Arrival to East London

My long journey is over and I am at place in East London. The trip has went both god and bad. Good: It was nice to have company with Sabina, it was good movies in the plane and an interesting novel of Katarina Wennstam and the went pretty fast.
Bad: I got ill when I woke up on the plane from Frankfurt to Johannesburg on the morning and throwed up to times. Not fun but not as awful as it sound - I am used to get ill and throw up sometimes when I travel.

Now we are taken care by I nice women named Loreen where we will live at least for the weekend and longer if we want.

Time for a long travel

Dear friends, family and other curious people,

I write in English for the sake of practice and because I then maybe can use some of the text I write here in assignments to the university. Feel free to comment if I do embarrassing language mistakes so I can learn of them...

Today is the day of departure from Sweden. I go tonight and arrive in East London in the late afternoon tomorrow friday. Its my first journey outside Europe so the long flight travel will be a new experience in itself. I am curious to see how the vegan food we have ordered on the plane is, I dont have big expectations.

In some sense it feels as though I have already left because I left from Umeå on friday and have been in Norrköping, Linköping and now Stockholm to visit family and a friend. It feels good to have met you/them and have a proper goodbye.

We will live in the house of a staff of the University of Fort Hare this weekend but after that its an open question where to live. I look forward to see Loreen (the one who let us now at her place) who is mother of Nicole who is in Umeå this spring as part of the same exchange as me and whom I met before I left Umeå. She plans for a 5 km walk on saturday so it will be a physical start. Feels good!