Back to the blog! I can't believe I totally failed at posting at all this past year. I had so many ideas, but the excitement/ relief of having a light (ish) schedule all last year was distracting. However, I'm glad I took a little extra me time last year because I will be starting grad school in September (and I except I'll have very little time for relaxation during the next three years. Back to the now!
After 35 hours of travel we made it to South Africa!! We are meeting up with a group of about 40 parents, kids and teachers from Mark Day School (formly Saint Mark's School). Maddy and I graduated from Saint Mark's in 2010 and 2005, respectively. The little girls, Callie and Morgan, are going into 3rd grade. If you asked me if I'd every travel to Africa with some of my K-8 school teachers, I would have said no way. They again, I would have been wrong. Along with a couple other members of faculty, Ms. Becker, my first grade teacher, and Mr. Evans, my sixth grade teacher will be part of the group. Saint Mark's has been sending a delegation to South Africa every other year for the past 12 years. It started with a sister school, eSibonisweni, in rural South Africa, and has recently added a partnership with the Kliptown Youth Program (KYP), in Soweto.
Saying we were out of it when we arrived at our hotel would be an understatement. Luckily, our hotel was located directly across from Nelson Mandela square, which was filled with high end retail shops, but more importantly, food. (The placement of these shops made a lot more sense after I found out that we stayed in the wealthiest square mile of Africa, like all of Africa!) The first day was a blurr of food and sleep. (All photos in this blog post where taken by my dad, Steven Zimmerman.)
The first full day started with a delightful breakfast buffet. My only (nitpicky) complaint would be that the bacon was Canadian style. Nothing against Canada, but I like my bacon thin and crispy. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast and we were all in much higher spirits after spending our first night in a bed in two days.
All of the delegation loaded into our bus with our friendly driver John and our KYP tour guide Thulani. At one point, Thulani trained to be a tour guide, therefore, he gave interesting and insightful information during our drive to the Apartheid museum. We may be all smiles in the picture below, but I promise the museum was no joke.
I know I learned about the Apartheid in history, but I don't think I realized that it took place during my lifetime. When you are given your ticket, it says white or non-white. Depending on your ticket you have to take a different enterance into the museum. I definitely learned a lot, however, I was left feeling slightly self conscious about being white at times. This was only because of how horribly whites treated the natives and others of color. I can only hope I would have been courageous enough to stand up and fight for equal rights for all. The museum had a big, temporary exhibit on Nelson Madela. Wow. I can't imagine how great a world it would be if we had just 10 more leaders like him. He approached every situation with calm, focus, strength and passion. Many South Africans refer to him as father. Overall, I'd highly recommend visiting this museum, but be prepared for an emotional roller coaster.
After a quick lunch, we wandered around a craft market. I LOVE markets. South African craft markets definitely rank high on my market scale, because it was awesome! I was luckily enough to take home a shirt and a large beaded lion head! I can't wait to find a place for the lion head in the bedroom of my newly leased apartment.
The first day was a great way to ease into our South Africa trip and get me excited for more!
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