Jennifer gebruik nou Facebook in Afrikaans

Switched my Facebook to be in Afrikaans, just for kicks. Not that this is going to help me learn how to speak the language at all, but it will get me accustomed to seeing the spelling and the letters together :)

24 Days,

Jen

Seperate, and Never Equal

"In 1953 the Apartheid Government enacted The Bantu Education Act, which established a Black Education Department in the Department of Native Affairs. The role of this department was to compile a curriculum that suited the "nature and requirements of the black people." The author of the legislation, Dr Hendrik Verwoerd (then Minister of Native Affairs, later Prime Minister), stated: "Natives [blacks] must be taught from an early age that equality with Europeans [whites] is not for them." Black people were not to receive an education that would lead them to aspire to positions they wouldn't be allowed to hold in society. Instead they were to receive education designed to provide them with skills to serve their own people in the homelands or to work in laboring jobs under whites."

I can not imagine being told that I will never be equal to someone because of the color of my skin, my place of birth, my nationality, my age, my gender, etc. Because of the color of skin, an entire generation of hopes and dreams was lost. An entire generation of innovation and new ideas was thrown away.

In order for me to understand the present, I first must understand the past. As I learn more about the South African people and their history, I am slowly beginning to understand that successes which, to me, seem like setbacks, are actually accomplishments years in the making.

Hamba Kahle,

Jen

Dave Matthews Band

is from South Africa. Well, more like Dave Matthews is from South Africa. This makes me happy :)

Also, yesterday I went and saw the Princess Diana Exhibit at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. As I was looking at all of the wonderful displays about her, one caught my eye: the letter read to the world at Diana's funeral by her brother, Charles. I found out that Charles currently lives in South Africa, and that when Diana visited in July before she passed, she was able to meet Nelson Mandela. What is extraordinary about this meeting is that they were both able to, purposely, not get a photograph together. They wanted to meet under normal circumstances, without a media frenzy. This really spoke volumes about not only Diana's character, but Nelson Mandela's as well. I respect them both so greatly because of actions such as these.

Two more occurances in my day to day life reminding me of where I am about to travel to.

34 days!

Jen

36 Days Until Takeoff

Today I finally created this thing, and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be, thank goodness. For right now, I am just going to start posting / writing about what I am doing to get ready for South Africa; I figure it isn't the most interesting thing in the world to write about, but I know it will make for some good practice posts!

Here is what I accomplished so far today:
* Hooked up my SkyMiles account to my plane. Hello free domestic flight sometime in the future!
* Found out that my insurance covers emergency situations in SA.
* Bought a gift for my future host family; a book called "M is for Mitten". Thought that it would be better than a postcard or something cheesy, and it has some great pictures of my home state for them to see.
* Read up on slag and swear words in Afrikaans. Hoezit means whats up, a Bottle Store is where alcohol is sold, and sms is what they call their text messages.
* Watched Glee. Nothing to do with S.A. but I am counting it as an accomplishment because I was two episodes behind.
* Ordered copies of my favorite pictures of family and friends to pack and bring with me. These are mostly to show everyone in S.A. my life here, but also for when I'm feeling homesick :)

My to-do list is still miles long, but I have 36 days to get it all accomplished, no worries.

I'll leave you all with a clip about Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first democratically elected president. Yesterday was the 21st anniversary of his release from prison. During my trip, I am fortunate enough to be able to visit the prison and cell where he was held, all in the name of change.

Hamba Kahle (go well),

Jen