Up and Down and All Around Town (Long Entry, My Bad)

In our last weekend before beginning classes at the University of the Western Cape, we seemed to be everywhere. After another failure by my obnoxious speaking Walmart alarm clock on Friday morning, I just managed to get ready in time for our early drive to the American consulate in Cape Town. We met withthe engaging and friendly acting consul-general for close to an hour, talking about the American policy toward Zimbabwe, careers in the foreign service, AIDS in South Africa, and safety in Cape Town. As an angry anti-government libertarian, I found myself strangely supportive of President Bush’s $600 million anti-AIDS initiative in South Africa. As the consul described the hundreds of thousands of people getting the necessary drugs through this program, I definitely felt proud to be an American. On reflection, of course, this program also make me feel disappointed with Americans’ ability to act for ourselves. If citizens of the wealthiest and supposedly one of the most Christian nations on earth gave more help of our own free will to AIDS victims, the government would never have an excuse to either coerce the money from the people through taxation or steal funds in advance from unborn generations through borrowing.

After leaving the consulate, we visited our last service site of the week, RAPCAN (Resources Aimed at the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect). RAPCAN works to improve the lives of South African children through advocacy, research, and by preparing children testifying in abuse cases for their court appearances. We then headed to the Desmond Tutu Peace Trust in downtown Cape Town, where the South Africa Service Learning Program’s office is, and heard an engaging and thought-provoking talk from the Trust’s CEO, Nomfundo Walaza. She served as a trauma psychologist on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and actively advocates for liberal changes within South AFrica and the Anglican Church.

On Friday evening, we threw our welcoming party for our neighbors and the other international students staying in our house. We had lots of American food there, most of it unhealthy and all of it tasty.

Saturday, we went to Robben Island, which served as the South African prison system’s equivalent of Alcatraz for hundreds of years. Nelson Mandela and other prominent leaders in his African National Congress spent many years on the island as political prisoners. After taking a boat to the island, we went on a bus tour of the island and then a walking tour of the maximum security prison led by a former political prisoner. Since I just finished reading Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, this whole experience seemed rather surreal. We saw the lime quarry where Mandela worked, his cell, and the cottage where Robert Sobukwe (founder of the Pan Africanist Congress, a rival of Mandela’s ANC) remained under house arrest even after his prison officially expired.

Once we arrived back in Cape Town, we walked around the Waterfront shopping development and then headed up to Signal Hill for an absolutely gorgeous view of Cape Town and Table Mountain. I know how cliche it sounds to say this, but I cannot describe how beautiful everything looked from up there, and my pictures really fail to express what I saw.

Today, I channeled my inner John Wesley and attended Rosebank Methodist Church. In turn, the church’s minister spoke with a wonderful accent which combined with his face and blond hair could have passed a decent Eric Liddell sermon impression. More importantly, the pastor spoke movingly about the idolatry of materialism and limiting our view of God to serve our own desires, both sins I struggle with on a regular basis. God certainly makes Himself known in Africa as well as America.

This afternoon, we took the train to False Bay, which has an amazing sand beach. We stayed along the shore for several hours and then ate at a local restaurant, where I had an amazing seafood pizza with mussels, calamari, fish, and shrimp on it. Well, tomorrow classes start at UWC, so I should probably roll this soul train and go to bed.

God bless,

Andy