So Long, Langa

Well, I definitely haven't been able to update as often as I said I wanted to. Not my fault! IHP keeps us very busy... we're in class from 8:30am to 5:00 or 6:00pm every day. Not fun. The academics definitely aren't overly challenging, but there is a lot of work. I wish we got to spend more time doing field visits and touring the city. But I can't complain too much. I'm having a pretty great time.

Tonight is my last night in Langa! I can't say that I'm not glad to be moving on. I've really enjoyed my time here, but my host mum is a little...difficult. To say the least. And Anjali and I are staying in a room with barely 6 inches to move around the bed. Definitely not unbearable, but tiring. Tomorrow night we move into the Bo Kaap, a Muslim neighborhood in downtown Cape Town, just four blocks from Long Street (the central bar/club area). Can't wait for that. Although it's going to be very interesting living with a Muslim family. I lived with (secular) Hindus in India, Catholics in Langa, and now Muslims in the Bo Kaap. No lack of variety in that regard.

There's a lot to say about Langa, but I'm not really in a position to compile my thoughts. There's a lot of community here and it's incredibly interesting to see how people have reacted to the apartheid and its after-effects. Everyone is very nice and welcoming, but I feel a little voyeuristic- as if I'm here to watch the people in this neighborhood like animals in a zoo. I spoke to a girl I met about this and she said that important things happened in Langa (and transformations are continuing to happen) so it's right that the community should be explored and visited. She's probably right, but I'm not sure if everyone from Langa feels this way about all of the white tourists who come round in their tour buses.

I've got slightly less than three more weeks here, then a one week vacation. I'm still figuring out where exactly I'm going to go. I'd like to go to Zimbabwe and see Victoria Falls; I'm trying to work out an itinerary. I think a few IHPers are going to go to London; our flight from CT to Buenos Aires stops there (a ridiculous place for a layover) so it would just involve breaking up the flight. But the weather in London is going to be awful and everything will be so expensive.