Just-in South Africa Day 2b - Saturday 12th June.

...continuation

Following the power of google maps, Justin and I set off for Soweto from Gold Reef City. The sketchy directions lead us to BP where we asked a local petrol attendant how to get to Soweto. The attendant proceeded to tell us “Its so easy.” Where by he gave us awful directions, which he kept changing and finished off with “Eish, I don’t know – ask someone else, its so easy.”

We came into Soweto past the Chris Hani Baragwantha hospital, the largest hospital in the world. Driving past the Orlando Power Station, now decommissioned, the power station supplied electricity to the rich Northern Suburbs in Johannesburg, whilst the people of Soweto had no electricity. Then down to Vilakazi Street, the only street in the world where 2 Noble Peace Prize Winners have lived – Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Walking down Vilakazi Street there were a group of Dutch tourists dancing with some locals dressed in their traditional Zulu outfits.

We went on a tour of Nelson Mandelas house, where he lived with his first wife Evelyn Mase and later with Winnie Madekezela Mandela. The house was redone about 2 years ago, having seeing it originally in 2004 and 2006 the renovations now make it seen impersonal. Originally the main room had a double bed in it with a jackal hide bed spread, which show cased Mandelas clan claim to royalty, and among other things a chest with a pair of Mandelas boots. Now the room holds a single bed and a photo of Zindiziswa and Zenani (Nelson and Winnies daughters) as adolesecents reading on their beds. The ‘new’ house is apparently a better reflection on how Nelson and Winnie lived, but for me its lost something that was originally magical about being in Nelson Mandelas house.

We then went to the Hector Pieterson Museum. In 1965 the children of Soweto protested Bantu education – the apartheid government had imposed Afrikaans as the medium of education for all black children, regardless of whether they knew the language or not. The protests were supposed to be peaceful but something went wrong and the police opened fire on the children, Hector Pieterson was the first child to be shot. The image of him being carried by another boy with his sister running next to him is the iconic symbol of the national holiday know as Youth Day where we remember the children standing up for their rights.

Justin and I having finished off our day with out breaking for lunch – a new habit that would leave me finishing the week off thinner than I had started it out. We went to Melville to eat at Soi, a great Vietnamese restaurant, to my shock and disappointment it had closed down. Justin and I settled for Melon, I couldn’t tell you what the cuisine was, or what we ate, but I think the food was good. The wine was definatley good. After dinner we went to the South of Joburg to watch the American vs England game. Yet another trip that rendered us lost and driving around in circles.

Justin's version of events
http://nogimmickneeded.blogspot.com/2010/07/south-africa-trip-day-3-jozi-tourism.html

Just-in South Africa Day 2a - Saturday 12th June.

Justin’s first day of waking up in South Africa, to an itineraized day - as mentioned earlier, I had the whole day planned by the hour, roughly. I had the prices and contact details of the places we were going to along with maps from Google and relevant pamphlets I had picked up, all packed neatly into my flip file. I don’t think I’ve ever been more organised for anything in my life. But no matter how much you plan something, the gremlins get in and things get thrown off course.

Our first stop was a tour of the gold mine at Gold Reef City – fitting as Johannesburg was founded due to the discovery of gold. Nicknamed Egoli (meaning gold) by the African migrant labourers that worked in the mines. We were set for our tour at 9am (as informed by the website), problematic as we would discover Gold Reef City only opens at 9:30, and the first tour starts at 10:30. Thrown off by an hour. Standing in the queue to buy tickets Justin passed a comment about the kids with bare feet, I believe it was “They should let you in for free if you’re brave enough to go to a theme park with no shoes on.” Surrounded by Afrikaans people I decide to leave the comment and insight about the type of people who don’t wear shoes until we were in an environment that proved to be less offensive to anyone in earshot.

The architecture of the original buildings in Gold Reef city is awesome, sending me down the nostalgic road of Bourbon Street, New Orleans-a city I love (hmmm, blog about this to follow). We went on the tour of the gold mine, with two British people and 3 Chinese men; equipped with hard hats, issued with mining lights and into the elevator (is there mining jargon for the lift that goes into a mine shaft?). We went down to level 5 (225m), all the levels below this are flooded (it's a 54 level mine – I think). I have realised I’m a decent height for mining; I don’t need to bend down in the low roofed sections. Fast facts, I believe and if memory serves this Crown Mine is the deepest mine in the world, in addition to it housing a bar/pub on the 5th level, the deepest pub in the world; it can be hired out for functions. So if you’re looking for a unique wedding or party venue I’ve found it for you! It’s my pleasure.

Justin and I then went to the apartheid museum. Issued with Identification Documents that label you as Black or White, you’re segregated into the museum through a white’s entrance and a black’s entrance. This simple instruction drives home the feeling of what it might have been like to live in a world that was segregated, to elevate one person over another based on the colour of their skin. We went to the temporary exhibition of Nelson Mandela which was great but by the time we were done with that and entered the museum, we were museumed out, thus the apartheid museum lost its true effectiveness in translating the shock and horror of what apartheid meant to South Africans.

There are some powerful images in the museum a room with nooses hanging from the ceiling, communicates the number of lives lost for those who fought the regime. A huge Casper the police used to enter townships, complete with bullet holes in the windows. Stories of people being necklaced (a man gets put in a tube of rubber tyres that are set alight and he burns to death) because he’s suspected of being a spy for the Nationalist Party (the political party in power during apartheid) and various other atrocities shown on video, I can’t name them because it was too horrific for me to watch – how can people do that to each other, how much rage and hatred needs to fill your soul to be able to hurt each other like that? I don’t understand it. The thoughts and images of the pictures and footage I’ve seen spring to mind.

....to be continued

Graduation - Hons Psych

Its really been a LONG time since I wrote a blog type entry. Sorry I’ve been so slack in staying in comms, at first I thought it was because I was study (Honours in Psychology) but with the completion of my exams in February I now realise I’ve just been useless in staying in contact.

2009 saw me leaving the USA and returning to South Africa, where I began studying for my Honours Degree in Psychology, I did 6 subjects – Research Psychology (which is stats), Therapeutic Psych, Psychopathology, Community Psychology, Psychology of Work and Psychological Assessment. I got 2 distinctions, which was disappointing as I was aiming to Cum Laude. I just missed distinctions in the 4 subjects but my marks fell in the bracket that wasn’t eligible for a remark. Some of my US friends were querying how the examination process works, and not knowing how the US system works bear with me. Throughout the year we’re required to submit assignments and research projects which make up a mark that determines whether we will be allowed to sit the exam. My examination session was in February (yes I studied over Christmas and New Year, when everyone else was on holiday – it was tough) and each exam session is 3 hours long, the exam format is written essays (except for stats which was multiple choice), I now believe this is an archaic way of conducting an examination especially in an age where everything is typed; in complaining about this there is an undertone – after the first exam my hand was in agony from writing for 3 hours solid. The exam would count between 90% and 80% of the final mark, depending on the subject. So all the work you do throughout the year makes up 10% or 20% of your final mark.

I did my Honours Degree through the University of South Africa (UNISA), having done my undergraduate degree through the University of Johannesburg, a graduation I missed because I was living in the USA. I graduated last night, 31^st May 2010, from UNISA. The ceremony was great the chancellor’s speech was uplifting and portrayed the importance of a united South Africa regardless of race, gender, orientation or age. This was on the back of the Super 14 final at Orlando Stadium between the Blue Bulls and Stormers. (Brief history lesson and contextualisation to follow)

The Super 14 is a rugby tournament between Australian, New Zealand and South Africa, there are 14 teams representative of the top provincial teams from each country. Orlando Stadium is in SOWETO (South Western Township), an area that was demarcated for the black population to live in during apartheid. Soweto is still predominately a black township. This year the Super 14 finals were played by 2 South African teams the Blue Bulls, from Pretoria in Gauteng, and the Stormers from the Western Cape, rugby has typically been viewed as a ‘white mans’ game and even more so is strongly tied to the Afrikaans culture, if you’ve seen Invictus the Clint Eastwood movie with Denzel Washington and Matt Damon you’ll know what I’m talking about. The game was held at Orlando Stadium as Loftus Verveld the home of the Blue Bulls in Pretoria is geared up for the Soccer World Cup. It was a monumental event and symbolic of unity having 2 South African teams face off in the final in addition to playing the game at Orlando Stadium. Its another reminder of how far the Rainbow Nation (a term coined by Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu to describe post apartheid South Africa) has come in the past 16 years.

The chancellor did challenge us to take up the reigns of driving our careers forward and growing our country from strength to strength “if you do not, then who will?” simple words but incredibly powerful. He further iterated that we the graduates and anybody else in the audience with a tertiary education are privileged to have had the opportunity to study and receive a higher education degree. A sobering thought living in a country where the majority of the population lives in poverty and the lifestyle of a working class citizen is elite.

Where to from here?

Thats a question I’ve been asking myself. I need to get my masters degree in order to practice Psychology in South Africa, but masters is extremely difficult to get into, depending on the university candidates are streamed and there are quotas that need to be met. Currently I am looking for an internship or an organisation that I can do volunteer work with until the beginning of the next academic year (February 2011). If I dont get into Masters I can do a 6 month internship and write a board exam and register as a counsellor. Alternatively I will do my Postgraduate Certificate in Education a 1 year course which will allow me to teach and then go on to do educational psychology. In the meantime I have registered to learn Zulu, so it will be a slower academic year this year.

A quote from one of my favourite books - Dr Seuss ‘Oh The Places You’ll Go’

”Congratulations today is your day your off to great places your off on you way.”