A Very Happy Birthday

Well it's official--I'm an adult! And I couldn't have asked for a better weekend to celebrate my 21st birthday. Friday was my definition of a perfect day. We went to our first class, then straight from UWC we were driven to Kalk Bay, a little fishing town about 40 minutes east of Cape Town. Our Theology professor asked us to go there instead of going to class on Friday to interview people about their experience of Apartheid. We split up into groups of four, and my group found a tiny little pub filled with older locals, aka the perfect interview subjects. The interesting thing about Kalk Bay is that it was essentially unnaffected by the Apartheid, so it remained almost completely integrated while the rest of South Africa was completely divided. Not only did we get to meet some amazing people, we had THE BEST fish and chips (Dad you would have gone crazy) and beer at this pub while looking out at the ocean. After lunch we walked out onto the pier where they were selling fresh fish, talked to some of the local vendors, watched the seals splash around and just took in the amazing view. Needless to say I was a happy camper. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera on the trip, so no pictures this time but I'm sure I will be back before too long. Friday night we all (yes, all 19 of my roomates came out to celebrate with me) went to Long Street and had an amazing time. I was so worried before I came here that I wouldn't know anyone well enough by the time my birthday rolled around to ask people to celebrate with me--boy was I wrong! I felt so loved that day by everyone--friends, family, even the taxi driver who sang me happy birthday on the way to Long Street! Thank you to everyone who e-mailed or facebooked me that day, I was definitely feeling the love :)

Saturday was what I like to call a "recovery" day, so we didn't do a whole lot. We did, however, bake the cake that my lovely mother sent with me and it was delicious. We all sat outside after dinner, ate cake and recapped the previous night...thanks mom! Sunday was the icing on the cake. Every Sunday during the summer months, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens host outdoor concerts for R50 ($7) and we've been meaning to go for weeks because there are only a few days left when we can actually make it. We got there around 2:30, walked around the gardens for a few hours (which wasn't nearly enough time to see everything--the property is HUGE), and then got a seat when the gates opened. The venue was very similar to the Gorge (for you Washingtonians) but on a much smaller scale and with a huge mountain behind the stage. The concert itself exceeded our expectations too. It was two South African artists, Loyiso and Chad Saaimon who performed, and they were both great. We obviously didn't know any of the songs but it didn't stop us from having a great time. When we got home it was back to reality--I had to write my first essay of the semester and I was not used to having to do actual homework so it took me a little longer than I had anticipated, but I got it done in time regardless.

This week I have started to feel much more connected to my service site. The past few weeks have been slow for various reasons, but this week I feel like I am getting to know the staff better and am taking on more responsibility, which is a great feeling. I am learning so much about the LGBTI community in Cape Town and South Africa in general, and I feel like the work I'm doing here is really important and meaningful. I am also getting involved in some aspects of Gender DynamiX outside of my designated service times. Tonight I'm attending a lecture at the University of Cape Town on transgender masculinity, and tomorrow I am going to a march against human trafficking with my GDX co-workers. There are days when I have to remind myself that my time here isn't all about productivity. In the states, volunteering is usually a fairly organizaed business--you go, you complete a task, and you leave. Here it's sometimes not that efficient, and often I will spend a few hours a day just reading articles and literature about transgenderism and intersexuality. When I am task-less I often feel useless, but that's where the "learning" part of service-learning comes in. What I'm learning from this organization might be more important than what I'm giving to them, and as someone who has been taught that productivity and efficiency are key in every situation, that might be a concept that I will need some time to grasp. 

A similar frustration has come in the form of my classes at UWC, particularly my women's and gender studies class. The class is "Gender and Development," but so far we have barely moved passed a discussion that started on the first day on the difference between sex and gender. This is a fairly elementary concept especially for a class meant for third year students, but the overall close-mindedness of my fellow students has prohibited us from learning anything. Coming from Gonzaga's WGS classes where the overall consesus is that women should have rights (shocking!) and should be able to work outside the home (blasphemy!), this class seems like a complete joke. The sad thing is that it's not. The male students in my class have grown up in homes where the gender roles are clearly outlined, and those lines are not to be crossed under any circumstances. The men will only eat food cooked by their wives, the men will have total control over the finances (even if the woman brings in half or more than half of the income), and the women will be completely responsible for all unpaid work (ie household chores, cooking, childcare). I am struggling less with the fact that this class is devoted almost completely to discussions chalk full of misogyny and ignorance, because I know I can't change the structure of the class itself. I am more concerned with the possibility that the male students in my class will walk away from this semester having learned nothing, and the whole class will have been a waste of time. Going from Gender DynamiX, one of the most open-minded environments I've ever worked in, to WGS 311 is like night and day. I have not given up hope that this class will evolve into a productive use of time and resources, but each week that hope has dissolved just a little.

In absence of pictures this week, I want to re-post something that my theology professor, Chris Ahrends, posted on his blog a year ago. It is especially meaningful to me as I embark on my 21'st year of life, because I am thinking (for the millionth time this week) how lucky I am to be here and to be alive.

I will not die an unlived lifeI will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.

I choose to risk my significance,
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom
goes on as fruit.
-Anonymous