Tourist.
A term that simultaneously inspires feelings of excitement and exasperation. Among seasoned travellers and locals, it is seen as somewhat of an insult – a comment on the superficial interest displayed by those who try to simplify the essence of a place into a few ‘key’…Read more
- Is this what Dante’s Inferno feels like?
- Is it this little boy’s goal in life to be the most annoying organism on Earth?
- Surely having this many people here can’t be legal…
Sitting on the metro, I looked up to notice a woman and her husband staring in my direction. Not sure how to respond, I went with my go-to reaction of smiling which seemed to prompt her to approach me.
Her: “You have such exotic skin.”
Me: “Uhh.…Read more
Catching up with some team members today, I was brought back in touch with reality after listening to their encounters with ignorance over the past week. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, I sat dumbfounded as Velani recounted his experience of a cab driver who commented that,…Read more
“I would like to find out how the programs are relevant to one another,” remarked a girl sitting opposite me. Our workshop facilitator had asked about our expectations and attitudes towards the day’s session and this was her answer. To be honest,…Read more
Human tetris. A new game, and one at which I am becoming an expert player.
I owe this budding skill to the time I’ve been spending on the metro, the lifeblood of public transport in the Maryland/Virginia/Washington D.C.…Read more
Catching up with a friend over coffee, she lamented the fact that election season caused political parties to employ very in-your-face tactics to gain one’s support and that everyone on Twitter suddenly became a political commentator. “Can’t we go back to normal pattern of people caring about politics only when they believe it concerns them?” she moaned.…Read more
A dilemma with which I have often been faced, but which has now resurfaced mid-packing, is that of trying to define ‘South Africanness’. My host mom is an avid chef (yay!) and has requested some traditional South African recipes that we could try making together over the next 5 weeks.…Read more
When Voting Day came, I was ready – or so I thought. As a Political Science student, I had been inundated with political analyses both inside and outside of the classroom in the months preceding the elections. The module I was studying coincidently happened to deal with political behaviour with an emphasis on voting behaviour.…Read more
This week, our team had the honour and privilege of being hosted by the South African Holocaust Centre. Delving deeper into the history of the Holocaust and drawing parallels between it and Apartheid forced me to examine the murkier parts of my identity;…Read more