Living in discomfort

Wanna hear an irony everyone? The more I am in Durban the more I understand white Americans discomfort in entering other cultural spaces. On Monday, October 27th, I went to a Black Consciousness talk about Black Consciousness and democracy. I didn’t really know what to expect, so when the host introduced the first speaker Chumani …

“Now watch me whip, watch me nae-nae…”

Ok all, prepare your minds and hearts for a bit of a rant. After being in South Africa for two months, I wonder if Americans fully understand the pervasiveness of American popular (pop) culture globally. What do I mean? Well I’ll bet, and I’m not a betting person, that you can walk up to any kid …

Learning to be present…

When I arrived in Johannesburg almost two months ago, my academic director kept reiterating the idea of being present in South Africa for the time that we are here. He began to explain that South Africa is not as Wi-Fi connected as the US therefore; my peers and I should try to adjust to our …

Mozambique there and back again

September 20-23rd, my peers and I drove to Maputo, Mozambique from Durban, South Africa in order to get an on the ground look at the relationship between South Africa (ANC) and Mozambique (Frelimo) during and post apartheid. In order to get to Maputo we crossed the South African border into Swaziland then from Swaziland into …

Getting over homesickness & Some touristy moments

Sawubona (hello or I see you in Zulu) Friends and Family, Hope all is well in the US of A. So it’s week 3 here in Durban, can you believe it?! I know I can’t, sometimes I feel like I just got here and sometimes like I’ve been here for 6 months. But anyway let’s …

Good-Bye India

With ISP over I only have one more week in India. I am still not quite sure how I feel about this. I have moments of “I NEED to get out of here!” followed by moments of “Please don’t make me leave!” The first half of our last week was spent doing presentations. I was …

Singapore- Reflections Post-India

After my program in India was completed I was given the opportunity to travel to Singapore for a week. Although this isn’t home, it gave me a pretty good idea of what to expect when I do get home. Here are some things that surprised me about life outside of India. Space: I am continually …

All About ISP

My time doing my ISP has come and gone so much faster than expected! At the beginning of the month is seemed that I had all the time in the world. I was surprised at how quickly the weeks went past. It started with me navigating the New Delhi Railway station on my own. Luckily …

Saree not Sorry

This week I was given the opportunity to attend my first Indian wedding. I have been looking forward to this for weeks. The wedding was on a Wednesday which was interesting because most weddings that I have attended happen on weekends. Since I do not know how to put a Sari on I had to …

My first Puja

Yesterday Cassie and I had a genuine “expect the unexpected” moment. Our host mom told us that we would be going with the family to Puja. She explained that someone in the family moved into a new house. Cassie and I decided to google “house warming Puja” to see what we were getting into. Everything …