Students on this semester’s Intercultural program are busy playing with kids, studying the history of Apartheid, eating Tripe (cow intestine), singing and dancing in church services, playing intense games of watermelon rugby (yes, watermelon rugby), and so much more. Near the beginning of this semester, 16 EMU students and the Suderman family loaded their luggage into vans and were sent off with prayers and best wishes by the campus community as they started their adventure to South Africa for the spring semester. Just over a month into this amazing experience, we can only catch a small glimpse into the lives of our friends in South Africa through emails, text messages, phone calls, and pictures. Yet, through these small interactions, it is known that this group is being challenged, learning an extreme amount, having fun, making many connections with people across the world, and creating exciting new experiences. Let’s look at what they’ve been up to the past month according to Mary Kate Bomberger, Natallie Brown, Caleb Chupp, and Laurel Evans. 

The group started their journey in Washington D.C. for two weeks before heading to Johannesburg, South Africa. They have been in this location for the past 3 weeks and just recently headed off to Cape Town on Saturday morning. When asked what a typical day in the life of a student in Johannesburg has looked like, answers have varied, as they have packed so much variety into each day. But usually students will begin their day by waking up and eating a long breakfast together at 8a.m. Then, they’re off to Zulu lessons at 10, which also takes place later in the day. Elementary students that the group have worked and played with have even hand-made vocabulary quizzes for the group to work on the language. After language learning, the group travels around the Gauteng province to various “sites of struggle” where they learn about the history of this area as well as sometimes volunteer in the community. There have also been various points scattered throughout the day where students are able to journal and reflect on their experiences so far. After listening and connecting with the people who live in South Africa, the group splits up into groups of 4 and partakes in dinner and connects with host families around 7:30. Kate Landis states, “In South Africa, conversation is valued above time, so we are often late to things because of conversations that go longer than expected”.

A highlight for the group last week was volunteering at Soweto Kliptown Youth (SKY), which is a local youth afterschool program. Landis reflects, “I love working with the kids and at one point I had 7 of them playing with my hair!” Brown agrees that this has been one of the best parts of South Africa since she usually is playing with children back in the United States as well. Another highlight from the group has been playing a pool game called watermelon rugby. According to Chupp, “The game sounds strange, and it is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, but the games get pretty intense, and it is always a blast”. 

Food is always a big part of traveling and experiencing new places. Trying authentic South African food has both been a blessing and challenge at times. Some favorite dishes have been Braai (flame grilled food with charcoal on a braai stand), pap, chakalaka, fat cakes, minced meats, and jam squash. Some more interesting foods include tripe (cow intestine), cow heel, and chicken liver. 

Of course, there have been some struggles on this intercultural program. Bomberger states, “The main one being just the sheer heaviness of a lot of the topics we have covered. Oftentimes, we spend all day learning about the suffering of people or mass killings of them”. I think the entire group can agree that this has been the hardest struggle facing them as they reflect and learn about apartheid which only recently fell in the 1990s. However, through these difficult discussions as well as life-giving conversations and experiences with the genuine people of South Africa, this group is creating memories and impactful connections that will be with them for the rest of their lives. Before we know it, all of our missed friends who are halfway across the world will be back in Harrisonburg ready to share these experiences much more fully with us. But for now we can think about them and wish them the best as they continue on this journey as well as receive updates from Eastern Mennonite University’s Intercultural Learning Blog found online.