Helllooooo friends and family!
I am officially finished with classes for the semester! The only academics I have between me and summer break are four exams to be taken over the next four weeks. I have already taken two of my finals, both for different aspects of ethnomusicology. On Wednesday, I had my transcription final, where we had to listen to two different pieces of music and write them down. That one was easy. Yesterday, I performed a Shona Mhande for my performance final. The Shona people are from Zimbabwe, and the Mhande is a rain-making dance ceremony that happens at the beginning of the summer to ask the ancestors to send rain for the crops. The lyrics are call and response style:
Leader: Dzinonwa muna Zambezi, dzinonwa muna Sawa (We drink in the river)
Response: Mhondoro dzinonwa, mhondoro dzinonwa (the lions drink)
Lindsay videotaped it and posted it on youtube (Dancers are me, Lindsay, Sarah, and Lisa and we are accompanied on drums and singing by the rest of our class)... so you should probably check that out. And apparently, our dance was effective. We were in the first group and by the time the third group went, it was really cloudy and looked like it was going to rain. I really loved this performance class and looked forward to it each week - I'm sad it is over!
Love,
Linda
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
HIV/AIDS and South Africa
I forgot to write about a very memorable experience I had last week.
I went to an HIV/AIDS candlelight memorial service in the township on Friday. It was a really exhausting and sobering morning, especially considering to think about the many people affected by this horrible disease. Just to give you an idea, 5 new people are infected each week by HIV in Grahamstown alone.
The service lasted from 11:20 until 2pm, and was filled with singing and speeches. There were hundreds of people there, and a few high school groups came. There was so much joyful and hopeful singing despite the tragedy of AIDS, and the reason for the gathering. I was touched and amazed by the resilience of people, especially those who are daily affected by the tragedy of HIV/AIDS and the challenges of poverty.
I went to an HIV/AIDS candlelight memorial service in the township on Friday. It was a really exhausting and sobering morning, especially considering to think about the many people affected by this horrible disease. Just to give you an idea, 5 new people are infected each week by HIV in Grahamstown alone.
The service lasted from 11:20 until 2pm, and was filled with singing and speeches. There were hundreds of people there, and a few high school groups came. There was so much joyful and hopeful singing despite the tragedy of AIDS, and the reason for the gathering. I was touched and amazed by the resilience of people, especially those who are daily affected by the tragedy of HIV/AIDS and the challenges of poverty.
I like icecream.
I think my favorite flavor is moose tracks, but icecream actually has nothing to do with this blog post.
Classes are wrapping up. Everyone has assignments, tests, essays, etc. going on this week. I do too. And I still somehow manage to find the time to write this entry… can we say procrastination?
While many of you were celebrating Memorial Day with various parades, picnics, and other patriotic family festivities, Africa was celebrating Africa Day! South Africa is unfortunately not among the many countries that observe it as a public holiday, but Rhodes celebrated Africa Day by inviting the former president, Thabo Mbeki, to lecture students and staff. It (obviously) drew a large crowd, and even though I arrived an hour before he was scheduled to speak, I didn’t get a seat in the main theatre! Nonetheless, I am really glad I went. The main theme of his speech was to empower the future leaders of South Africa to own up to being a part of the African continent! The influence of South Africa in the rest of Africa is enormous, and he challenged the students to be leaders in the country that, in many ways, leads the whole continent.
I have had a few unique healthcare opportunities over the last weeks. I went to a developmental clinic in the township a few weeks ago with a team of occupational therapists, a speech therapist, a physiotherapist, and a dietician from the hospital. The clinic assesses and treats children with developmental delays including Down’s syndrome, autism, meningitis, and some who suffer from cognitive delays due to neglect and malnutrition. Last week, I went with some of the therapists to the preschool for children with developmental delays, and we helped out with their music class. Those children are just precious!
Yesterday, I went on occupational therapy home visits and we visited patients who needed fitting for wheelchairs. The wheelchair situation in South Africa is frustrating, because the government-provided wheelchairs are backordered for months, and even years. The Rotary foundation has therefore stepped up and donated wheelchairs. The problem is that the rotary wheelchairs are poor quality and made in China, so they don’t fit right, they break quickly and the spare parts are thousands of miles away. All of this makes for a very difficult challenge for the occupational therapists who work with these patients. After spending a few months in different places in the hospital, I have learned that the government often fails to provide the necessary means for quality care. This is often very frustrating for the doctors, nurses, and therapists who do not have the proper resources available to care for the patients in the best way.
I haven’t done much traveling lately, hence the lack of pictures, but it has been really nice to chill with friends around Grahamstown. I also have a few trips coming up in June, and so it is nice to have some down time. Honestly, the time has passed so quickly! I have about six weeks until I board the plane in July. That time is going to fly.
I hope summer is going well back home! Please keep me posted on your lives. I love long emails and skype dates!!!
Love From South Africa,
Lindapants
Classes are wrapping up. Everyone has assignments, tests, essays, etc. going on this week. I do too. And I still somehow manage to find the time to write this entry… can we say procrastination?
While many of you were celebrating Memorial Day with various parades, picnics, and other patriotic family festivities, Africa was celebrating Africa Day! South Africa is unfortunately not among the many countries that observe it as a public holiday, but Rhodes celebrated Africa Day by inviting the former president, Thabo Mbeki, to lecture students and staff. It (obviously) drew a large crowd, and even though I arrived an hour before he was scheduled to speak, I didn’t get a seat in the main theatre! Nonetheless, I am really glad I went. The main theme of his speech was to empower the future leaders of South Africa to own up to being a part of the African continent! The influence of South Africa in the rest of Africa is enormous, and he challenged the students to be leaders in the country that, in many ways, leads the whole continent.
I have had a few unique healthcare opportunities over the last weeks. I went to a developmental clinic in the township a few weeks ago with a team of occupational therapists, a speech therapist, a physiotherapist, and a dietician from the hospital. The clinic assesses and treats children with developmental delays including Down’s syndrome, autism, meningitis, and some who suffer from cognitive delays due to neglect and malnutrition. Last week, I went with some of the therapists to the preschool for children with developmental delays, and we helped out with their music class. Those children are just precious!
Yesterday, I went on occupational therapy home visits and we visited patients who needed fitting for wheelchairs. The wheelchair situation in South Africa is frustrating, because the government-provided wheelchairs are backordered for months, and even years. The Rotary foundation has therefore stepped up and donated wheelchairs. The problem is that the rotary wheelchairs are poor quality and made in China, so they don’t fit right, they break quickly and the spare parts are thousands of miles away. All of this makes for a very difficult challenge for the occupational therapists who work with these patients. After spending a few months in different places in the hospital, I have learned that the government often fails to provide the necessary means for quality care. This is often very frustrating for the doctors, nurses, and therapists who do not have the proper resources available to care for the patients in the best way.
I haven’t done much traveling lately, hence the lack of pictures, but it has been really nice to chill with friends around Grahamstown. I also have a few trips coming up in June, and so it is nice to have some down time. Honestly, the time has passed so quickly! I have about six weeks until I board the plane in July. That time is going to fly.
I hope summer is going well back home! Please keep me posted on your lives. I love long emails and skype dates!!!
Love From South Africa,
Lindapants
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Today is a big day.
Not only is it Mother's Day, and an excuse to tell our mothers how wonderful they are and give them flowers; Elizabeth is graduating from Wheaton! Mom, thank you for always always always loving and supporting me. You are incredibly patient, encouraging, and wise, and I am so thankful for the way you and Dad have raised me, E, S, & A! Elizabeth, I hope you know that I am so so proud of you! I look up to you in so many ways, specifically your passion for theology and your faith and the way you intentionally love people.
See what I mean? Mom LOVES family photos. Look at that excitement. 
SMILE BIG TODAY! IT IS YOUR DAY!
Like mother, like daughters...?
"Oh Amy, even if mom is weird, I am still happy just looking into your eyes"
Aw look at that cute pouty face. awwww.
Despite my homesickness, I am definitely not in any way ready to leave. My friendships with the people I have met here continue to grow deeper, and I feel like that has happened especially over the past few weeks. Also, this morning I had the chance to attend a service at an Anglican monastery just outside of town. The vibrant community and fellowship this morning was a refreshing way to start my day.
So I guess I should stop avoiding work now.
Love you all.
I wish I could give both of you the biggest hugs ever and tell you I love you and everything I love about you! I think this is the most homesick I have been thus far. Since I can't be there for hugs, I have decided to commemorate Elizabeth and Mom with a few pictures. Because let's be serious, that is how my family commemorates a celebration. We take pictures. I can GUARANTEE that Dad is snapping away today. I bet there will be at least 300 pictures from this weekend. Anyway, here are some of my favorite recent(ish) photos, featuring Mom and Elizabeth.
See what I mean? Mom LOVES family photos. Look at that excitement. 
SMILE BIG TODAY! IT IS YOUR DAY!
Like mother, like daughters...?
"Oh Amy, even if mom is weird, I am still happy just looking into your eyes"
Aw look at that cute pouty face. awwww.Despite my homesickness, I am definitely not in any way ready to leave. My friendships with the people I have met here continue to grow deeper, and I feel like that has happened especially over the past few weeks. Also, this morning I had the chance to attend a service at an Anglican monastery just outside of town. The vibrant community and fellowship this morning was a refreshing way to start my day.
So I guess I should stop avoiding work now.
Love you all.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Since when is April over?
Dear Everyone,
I miss you! Life sounds like it is crazy back home, with graduation, the academic year ending, and other life events all over the place. My prayers are with you all. Congratulations to ELIZABETH (my incredible sister), and to all the other wonderful seniors who are graduating!! As always, please keep me posted on life :)
Election Day was a few weeks ago on April 22nd. It was a relatively non-violent day (definitely peaceful in Grahamstown), and South Africa boasted an incredible voter turnout! Here, Election Day is a public holiday, so everywhere in Grahamstown was closed, and all classes were cancelled. I think that is how election day should be in the US. Oh well. It was an exciting day for many of my South African friends, since this was their first voting election! Jacob Zuma, of the ANC, won by a 64% popular vote. Oh well. Maybe next election...
HOGSBACK is a beautiful place!! I went last weekend with 4 other girls (Liz, from Tennessee, and Allegra, Lindsay, and Kacey from BC. Kacey was visiting Lindsay for the week). Hogsback is supposedly the place that inspired Lord of the Rings.
This is my friend Liz :)
We went hiking to two different waterfalls that day. This one is called "Bridal Veil" and this picture only captures the bottom 1/3 of it. (From left: Kacey, Lindsay, Liz, Allegra, Me)
Group photo after the hike
Me and Allegra at the Hostel, called "Away with the Fairies." It was a really cute woodsy place, and home to the scariest treehouse in the world. Well maybe not officially but it was 15m high with these rickety steps to the top.
Cindy and Liz, scared of a spider as big as my face on the trail. I guess that is an exaggeration, but it was rather large. And close. I could see its venomous fangs. JK, LOLZ.
From left: Me, Liz, Cindy, Zinzile, Matt. We went on a lovely morning hike before the activities of the retreat began.
Potjie! See old post (the one in April with alllllllllll the pictures) for a description of this Afrikaans food tradition. YUM.
I miss you! Life sounds like it is crazy back home, with graduation, the academic year ending, and other life events all over the place. My prayers are with you all. Congratulations to ELIZABETH (my incredible sister), and to all the other wonderful seniors who are graduating!! As always, please keep me posted on life :)
Election Day was a few weeks ago on April 22nd. It was a relatively non-violent day (definitely peaceful in Grahamstown), and South Africa boasted an incredible voter turnout! Here, Election Day is a public holiday, so everywhere in Grahamstown was closed, and all classes were cancelled. I think that is how election day should be in the US. Oh well. It was an exciting day for many of my South African friends, since this was their first voting election! Jacob Zuma, of the ANC, won by a 64% popular vote. Oh well. Maybe next election...
HOGSBACK is a beautiful place!! I went last weekend with 4 other girls (Liz, from Tennessee, and Allegra, Lindsay, and Kacey from BC. Kacey was visiting Lindsay for the week). Hogsback is supposedly the place that inspired Lord of the Rings.
This is my friend Liz :)
We went hiking to two different waterfalls that day. This one is called "Bridal Veil" and this picture only captures the bottom 1/3 of it. (From left: Kacey, Lindsay, Liz, Allegra, Me)
Group photo after the hike
Me and Allegra at the Hostel, called "Away with the Fairies." It was a really cute woodsy place, and home to the scariest treehouse in the world. Well maybe not officially but it was 15m high with these rickety steps to the top.This past weekend, I went on the Cathedral student ministry's Church Camp to Assegai Trails, a beautiful retreat center just outside Grahamstown. It was a wonderful and refreshing weekend, with many opportunities for much-needed reflection time and Bible study on who God is and what that means in our lives. It was a great time for me to reflect on how God has provided such wonderful community and friendship in my life here in South Africa! I am so thankful.
Cindy and Liz, scared of a spider as big as my face on the trail. I guess that is an exaggeration, but it was rather large. And close. I could see its venomous fangs. JK, LOLZ.
From left: Me, Liz, Cindy, Zinzile, Matt. We went on a lovely morning hike before the activities of the retreat began.
Potjie! See old post (the one in April with alllllllllll the pictures) for a description of this Afrikaans food tradition. YUM.Classes are going well. Politics has begun a new theme, and we are studying the relationship between stories/myths/documents that have ultimately fueled specific incidents in societies. I love taking humanities courses. Anthropolgy also just started a new module: "Identity and Diversity." We are currently studying the question: "what is race?" and it is extremely interesting in the context of South Africa. Ethnomusicology is also interesting, we are now learning our fourth dance/song (that originates in Zimbabwe), and I am preparing a research project that compares the music of two different churches here in Grahamstown: a more charismatic church, and an Anglican monastery just outside of town. Economics... is a lot of work. I have a test tomorrow! Sometimes I wonder why I am taking economics. I know I will be glad one day.
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