Is It You, Africa?

Hi, everyone! I apologize for the amount of time that has passed since my last post. For my excuse(s), I’m going with classes starting and just being in South Africa. I’m currently taking a comparative politics class, international relations and diplomacy, segregation and apartheid, globalization, and cultural history of the Cape colonies. I would also like to apologize for the length of this post. Now for what I came to write about: the past week.

In the past week I have gone to classes, painted a classroom and played with children in the Mamelodi Township, and other things like gone to movies and the mall. Or in other terms, what OU sent me here to do, what I came to do, and what I could have done at home. Prepare for a little length, as I would like to describe each of these events for you and add a little of myself at the same time. Note: adding a little of myself involves some worldview opinions as well as emotional issues and opinions.

Classes have been going for two weeks now, and I love all of my courses. There was a little confusion in the beginning as to what I was supposed to be taking and how often I was to go to class, but that’s all cleared up now. In each of the first few days of my classes the United States took a subtle stab from each of my professors (with the exception of history of the Cape). Now, some of you reading this might think the US is always defendable, but from the talking I’ve done with my new international friends and heard from my instructors, there’s usually a well-founded reason for these criticisms. I won’t go any further with this so as not to piss some of you off, but let’s just say we all have our own reasons for our own beliefs and nobody is ever 100% correct. Moving on. This past Thursday, the subject of how the US is allowed to occupy Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, a country we have virtually no diplomatic relations with, came up. Our professor knew there were American students in the room and asked us if we knew. I gave a quick answer I knew was incorrect and she asked if we could report about it in detail the next day. (I won’t go into detail about this for you, a quick Wikipedia search on Guantanamo Bay and the Cuban-American Treaty will reveal the answer. It’s really quite interesting; I’d recommend you do it if you have a few minutes.) Suffice it to say I felt completely ignorant of my own country not knowing the answer. But I quickly realized there was no reason to feel shame. The United States has been the world superpower for the past 200 years, far outreaching any empire before it by all means. There are state histories, a national history, histories of international relations with the world’s 150+ countries, scientific and technological histories, and historical figures… You get the idea. It is literally impossible to know everything about a country as vast in every facet as our own. Some would say this is a cause for national pride, others not. My main point is that there are billions of people all over the world with perhaps as many well-founded opinions of an entire nation vis-à-vis their country. Wouldn’t it be great if they just looked at our nation and ignored the actions of our country? That is one thing I’m trying to do here.

On Wednesday the 28th, my friends Brooke, Carmen, Daniela, and I went to a school in the Mamelodi Township with the purpose of painting a schoolroom that was in disrepair. As we drove through the part of the township in which people were living in structures that looked less livable than the shed in my backyard, I was filled with sympathy and memories of Haiti from my trip there in December 2007. The school we arrived at was for grades K-8 (I assumed from looking around at the kids). Because there was another group of international students that went and worked the day before, we only painted for about an hour. After that we were free to interact with the 7^th graders whose classroom we were painting. They loved being on the computers, se we did that for a while and I taught one boy, Leon, to play Solitaire. At lunch we had a plate of pap (a rice-grits kind of combo) and spicy noodles from which we ate with our hands like the students. However, soon Mr. T. (yes, that’s really his name), the vice principal, brought us KFC. On one hand, we felt guilty having such a nice lunch in front of the kids in the schoolyard, but on the other hand it would have been fundamentally rude not to eat it. So we ate it, occasionally sharing with the kids. We played various games with the children the rest of the time. Obviously they don’t know any different, but it was so emotionally moving to see these kids have such joy in their hearts despite living in the monetary poverty that they do. Every time I get to play with kids, I think how much I’d love to be a father some day. To me, I just see a child as a huge bundle of joy (I get the phrase now). Not now, but after I graduate and find a proper home in a city and state I love, I wouldn’t mind finding someone who shares the same values and beliefs and would want to adopt children. I used to tell others and myself that it wasn’t for me, but that was just fighting what I’ve known I’ve wanted for a long time. In some ways, settling down for me could be one of the bravest things I do with another person (I don’t think being brave means you’re not scared. It means that if you are scared, you do the thing you’re afraid of anyway). I guess what I’m trying to say here is that I loved being at that school with the kids and being surrounded by pure joy. And that’s what I want someday.

On Friday, I presented (stood up where I was seated and spoke loudly; no PowerPoint presentation or anything) about Guantanamo in our international relations class. It went better than expected given the fact that I am a horrible public speaker. But I think I’m getting better at it. Who knows, maybe some day I’ll present something about human rights to the UN and Friday was a prelude to that. After classes were over for the day, I stayed home and read for a while and then went to see Inception with nine of the other international students (Two weeks after it was released in the US, it was released in South Africa, so I had heard it being raved about for just as long. Also, movies cost R20 or about $2.75 here. A big win.). If you haven’t seen that movie, go do it. Saturday I went to the big mall here with Carmen, Madison, and Jamie. We shopped a little bit in the most crowded mall I had ever been in in my life. It reminded me of the streets of China. The reason I am telling you these boring activities in this paragraph that could have been as easily accomplished at home is because I want you to know that the world is Westernizing. According to Noam Chomsky, and I agree, globalization in theory is the idea that groups of people should come together and learn and grow from their various cultures, values, and beliefs. In practice, it is the expansion of global corporations to the developing world in hopes of growing profits. With the exception of one, all the movies in this South African theater were American (the same is true in the Netherlands, Germany, and Mexico according to my new friends) and all the stores in the mall were comparable to stores at home. On the way to the mall, there was a man standing on the side of the road holding a large cardboard sign that read, “I would rather die hungry than starve to death. Please help.” I keep being reminded that along with the improving quality of life for South Africans after the end of apartheid, for some it has stagnated. And I’m still struggling with how to deal with that.

So, the past week has involved thoughts on how I and my nation and country are viewed by the world, what I want for myself out of life, and how to deal with poverty in a growingly Western world. I apologize if at any point in this post you were offended, confused, or lost by my words. I am a work in progress.

Your continued thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.

Until next time,

Matthew