7/10/09 Reclaiming the city

I didn't really think it was possible to go hiking with 90 people.  Last Wednesday I had the chance to go on my first LEAP field trip.  Sixty students from LEAP 3 in Johannesburg, where I will be working starting next week, took a 16 hour bus ride down to Cape Town to come and visit.  Students from LEAP 1 and 2 in Cape Town hosted them for three days.  Each visiting student was matched up with a Cape Town student and stayed with them in their house in the townships.  When I asked one of the students from LEAP 3 whether or not her host family was nice she said, "The student I was staying with lives alone."  It was totally normal for them, but I was pretty shocked.  I did think it was a cool bonding experience though for the students to be able to experience that. For many of the Johannesburg students, it was their first time visiting Cape Town. I personally felt lucky because when the LEAP 3 students arrived, the Cape Town students welcomed them with a ton of singing and dancing.  Since I missed the welcome singing and dancing because of my passport issues, I felt lucky to have that chance to see it. I will talk more specifics about the dancing on my next blog entry.

On one of the days we took a huge field trip.  We started the day off by going to Robin Island, where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were held for many years.  They now have a museum guided by ex-prisoners and a nature reserve.  Most of the Jo'burg students had never been on a boat before.  We were whisked there by a super speedy catamaran that definitely made my stomach churn (yeay sea bands!).  Some of the students loved it, but most looked very uncomfortable.  One of my fellow fellows said that she sat next to two Jo'burg students who cried the whole time...poor girls!!  

On the island we were able to tour the prison, learn about things like the torture techniques used on the prisoners and how Nelson Mandela snuck his autobiography off the island.  For me the highlight was seeing the students view Mandela's cell.  They were really touched and took many pictures.  I was just so impressed because the students were totally attentive and well behaved.  We also took a bit of a bus tour around the island where I saw a penguin!  Our bus also had to veer off the road a couple of times to avoid running over little turtles. "Gotta protect the wildlife!" said the bus driver.  

I just have to take a moment to say that, as a teacher, I was biting my nails the whole day.  To get to and from the bus we had to walk long distances through shopping malls and other crowded areas.  We were over 100 people total and not once did anyone stop to count heads.  I was stressed out last year when I took 20 students on a field trip!  Things are so much more relaxed here.

Of course nothing runs on schedule here and we were scheduled to "go on a hike" at 2 PMish.  By the time we headed to Lion's Head state park (one of the cliffs looking over Cape Town) it was 4pm.  I was pooped, hungry, tired, had to pee all day and was so hoping they would cancel the hike, but no, we charged on!  I didn't really think it was possible to go hiking with 90 people, especially since many of the girls were wearing ballet flats and skirts.  And let me tell you, this hike was no joke.  This was literally the hardest hike I have ever been on.  Lion's Head is a small peak with all rock on top, and you basically wind around the mountain until you get to the top.  Leading up to the peak the mountain was covered with my FAVORITE TREE, the silver tree (Dad, Matt, do you remember when I pointed one out at the UCSC Arboretum?). Then the top of the mountain was all rock.  I had my first experience rock climbing and felt like I was going to die, but almost all of the students made it to the top.

Once we were at the top there was an amazing view of the entire city.  It was just before sunset.  John Gilmour, the director of the LEAP schools, used the opportunity to lead a history lesson.  He talked about how all of the different ethnic groups in Cape Town arrived there.  He pointed to parts of the city to highlight different points.  Then he talked about the time when apartheid started and how the government stated shifting black and colored populations into the townships.  Throughout the lesson he stopped three times and said, "Now we are going to reclaim the city," and had the students sing from the top of the mountain.  Each time the students sang louder and louder.  It was a powerful moment.  

One of the interesting things we observed was how the other people on the mountain reacted to the students.  This was a popular hiking spot.  All of the other hikers on the mountain were white.  It must have been a total surprise for them to see 90 black students pushing their way to the top.  The mountain top was relatively small so our group took up most of the space.  There were two other groups of people on top with us, both white.  One of the groups was about 5 British doctors who were so moved that they came to the school the next day to celebrate with the students.  The other group was clearly annoyed at the situation.  When we were hiking down the mountain a group of white hikers was wanting the LEAP students to wait on the side of the trail so they could pass.  John Gilmour said to them something of the likes of "Oh, what a surprise!  Our colonizers here want us to wait while they pass." They responded by saying, "We are just 3 people, please let us pass."  He let them pass.  As the three men and a woman trailing passed Gilmour said to the woman, "I would watch out they are trying to marginalize you."  It was really funny. He has no qualms about calling people out on things.  The sun was setting the entire way down.