"Clarity Tuesday"

This is the fifth time I've tried to sit down and write this post, and this time I am determined to finish it!  So much has happened in these past two weeks already and I have struggled to process it all and put it into words.  There have been many moments when I've thought to myself "I have no idea what's going on," but I'll call today "Clarity Tuesday."

Upon arriving in South Africa, I spent five fantastic nights in Cape Town, reuniting with my friends Gareth and Ashley, and visiting the Happy Feet kids that I volunteered with during my first trip to South Africa.  I found comfort in starting my adventure here with people that I know and care about.  From there I flew back to Johannesburg to begin my Fulbright Orientation in Pretoria.  Orientation is all a blur to me now besides a couple events: security briefing and birthday tears.  Our security briefing from the U.S. Embassy was terrifying but informative, so I think that man did his job well.  My birthday tears were tears of happiness in a moment when all of the ETAs were eating lunch before departing to our different placement cities.  I was surprised when the dining staff brought out cake for me and everyone started singing.  I immediately became overwhelmed by the kindness of all the people surrounding me and also by the significance of a new year of life beginning simultaneously with an epic experience, hence the tears began.

After that emotional moment, Linda and Dosto, who are basically our Sedibeng College point people, took us (Amanda, Cory, Esther, and me) to our new South African home in Vereeniging.  I thought a prank was being pulled on us when we saw where we will be living.  It is an unexpected dream house that I feel guilty about at times.  It was also a birthday surprise to find that we have three resident springboks that live on our grounds.  We have been spending time each day watching them and petting/feeding the baby one (Nala) mealie (corn) from our hands.  The other two are named Ukanti and Dunka, and they keep their distance from us.  Photos of our house will come later.

Today is "Clarity Tuesday" for three main reasons.  The first reason being that Amanda, Esther, and I have officially learned to drive manual cars.  Yes, at at times it is a bit jerky while shifting gears, and yes, there were some moments when we clearly didn't know what we were doing (which could have been tense but were usually followed with much laughter), but thanks to Cory's extreme patience with us and his stellar teaching skills, now we all can manage to get around the Vereeniging area. VICTORY!!!!!

The second reason for clarity is that today we established our goals and projects for the grant period with the college. Since our arrival we have visited 3 out of 4 of the campuses, but only briefly and mostly to be introduced to extremely kind and welcoming staff at the colleges (so many names I don't remember!).  It is clear that they are as excited for us to be there as we are.  I'll go into our projects at a later date though, because even though we have proposed our ideas, there is still so much to learn about how the college campuses function, what the needs of the faculty and students are, and what roles we can play.  For now, we know that Cory and I will be working together at the Heidelberg and Vereeniging campuses, which are the opposite campuses of what we were told originally.  I will write more about Sedibeng College, after I have had more time at each campus.

The third moment of clarity occurred tonight while I was taking a shower (in my crazy outdoor shower) and looked up into the night sky to find it full of stars and constellations that I can only see in the Southern Hemisphere, similarly to how there are experiences I will only have in this place and time.  These days have been filled with moments of confusion, frustration, annoyance, nervousness, uncomfortable stares, and misunderstanding, but more importantly these days have also been filled with patience, smiles, joy, laughter, new experiences, understanding, kindness, support, comfort, and growth.  Vereeniging is unlike anywhere I have ever been before.  My brain is processing (and will be processing for some time…) the experiences I've already had in only six days regarding gender roles, language, race, economic class, religion, and culture.  I continue to be in awe of this country.  I apologize if I seem a bit all over the place in this post, it will just take time to figure things out and get settled/organized.  Missing you all and sending much love!

xoxox
Kelly

"Nobody is bored when he is trying to make something that is beautiful or to discover something that is true." -Willaim Ralph Inge