The Beginning of the Lasts

(From April 19)

Just like that I finish my last Monday and Tuesday as a teenager—WOW. This week will be chockfull of silly statements like that—last dinner, last chocolate bar, last shower, etc. Can you believe I’ll be 20 on Sunday? I surely can’t.

This is a week of “lasts” beyond that of the sunset of my childhood. It’s also our last week of classes, our last week of assignments, our last week of the real program… But that doesn’t mean they’re going easy on us. Indeed, it means pretty much the opposite.

Yesterday, we began a little after 8:30 AM and turned in our final Culture and Societies paper. I wrote a paper that could be seen as slightly controversial, considering it didn’t directly align with the Marxist agenda of my professor, but I can’t get myself to write such a paper even for a grade. Gotta stick by my ideals at least a bit, right? We enjoyed two lectures on Water and on the Environment, which fascinated me.

That’s been one really fabulous thing about these guest lectures through IHP—I’ve discovered numerous areas of study that I am engrossed by and which I may have never caught a glimpse of otherwise. Environmental conservation and studies, Latin American politics and history, African history… I’m so glad I have a final year at Harvard to explore all of these topics!

Our day wasn’t over after three full hours of lectures, though; after a long lunch in a WiFi-enabled town about fifteen minutes away, we returned for a three-hour lecture from some University of Cape Town graduate students. I felt completely ill about an hour and a half in and had to plead out of the final part of the discussion. I walked back home in a bit of a daze and collapsed into bed for two full hours. Luckily, after a filling and delectable dinner (per usual in this household), I felt much better.

I later skipped over to Sally’s house to hang out with her, Geneva, and their host brother, Neba. That kid is seriously hilarious. He is so mischievous—he’d throw a pillow at me or Sally and then pretend the other had thrown it, just trying to “rile” us up. He even hit me with a pillow right as I was walking out his door. But he’s also so sweet—after hearing that Sally hadn’t had the chance to watch the latest episode of her favorite soap opera, Neba rushed to put on the recording of the show for her pleasure. So cute!! Dorothy and I have also been getting along really well with our host sister, Liyema. Though she was extremely shy and quiet for the first week—I think I heard her speak a max of three words before Friday—she’s totally come out of her shell and now makes funny voices and tries to teach us Xhosa and is an all-around character. Dorothy and I can’t wait to take her to the aquarium on Sunday!

Though I’ve been venturing out of the house a bit to both the boys’ house (three of the five guys on our program) and to Sally’s house, I can never stay long. The houses are literally next door and across the street from mine, but my host mom comes to fetch me from their homes at 8:30 PM without fail. One night, I needed to drop off a converter at Michael, Takudza, and Alex’s home (the boys obv), and when I asked if it was okay for me to walk over (literally five seconds tops) she looked at me, horrified, and asked “do you feel safe???” I was completely taken aback and responded, “I don’t know—should I not??!” She ordered my nine-year-old host sister to accompany me for my own safety! Apparently, a girl on last semester’s program got mugged right in front of Sally and Geneva’s house—crazy. So, although it can be sad to say goodbye to my friends so early in the evening, it’s kind of funny and comforting to feel like a little kid again and to be so constantly watched out for by a mother figure.

Today was an interesting and cool but exhausting day. We started with a lecture on Labor this morning, followed by a three hour site visit to a clothing manufacturing factory just down the road. Being in this factory surprisingly felt a lot like home—the sound of sewing machines, the sights of cutting fabric—it was my mom’s sewing room! I knew quite a bit about the process of sewing and designing, which was rewarding.

Later, we had a big class discussion about labor—which, with the socialist/communist bend of the class and Michael’s extremely outspoken, positive views of free-market capitalism made for an *invigorating* debate. I hate confrontation of basically all types and prefer to absorb others’ comments and digest/grapple with them on my own time. That’s probably a terrible habit, as I should be more willing to debate others, but I don’t think it’s worth it with this group. The constant back-and-forth was honestly exhausting, and I dragged myself out of the room an hour and a half later planning on a nap. Instead, I ended up hanging out with Michael and Takudzwa for two hours until being joined by Sally for another full hour. I’ve realized with a start and with a great deal of sadness that saying hello to home and to the States and to sanity means saying goodbye some of my closest friends. I therefore aim to spend the next week and a half taking full advantage of their presence and relishing their humor, intellect, and adventurousness before we part ways.

I got home before dark (therefore, I wasn’t escorted) and I enjoyed my favorite soap opera and an awesome dinner before crawling into bed to write both this blog and my Open Letter for my Junior Year. It’s part three in my ongoing series that I obv won’t finish until next year. Get ready for another blog post all about me! (Surprise, surprise.)

Checking out now, though, for a full night’s sleep. Sweet dreams, dear friends!

Love,

Aubs