Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

We are accompanying thirty students from St. John's University/College of St. Benedict's.  They will be attending Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) - South Campus - here in Port Elizabeth.  This particular campus was built in the heyday of apartheid in the 1970s.  Its designers probably never imagined that almost 40 years later, NMMU would - across its entire system - be educating 25, 000 people of all hues.

Our students will be attending for one semester.  In fact, our semester - which ends the last week of May - is slightly shorter than the semester NMMU students attend.  Unfortunately, this means that our students are taught separately.  The good news is that they are taught by NMMU faculty members.  They have choices of classes in marine biology, South African music, South African politics, and South African literature.  Jim will also be teaching a course focused on their intercultural experiences.

NMMU is a gorgeous campus, situated on a 830 hectare nature preserve.  This preserve is quite arid: comprised of sand dunes, brush lands, and palm trees.  There are some unusual (to us) aspects about being on a nature preserve, however, that not all campuses can claim.  Please note this common warning...

Houses of Parliament

As someone interested in governance models, I was intrigued to learn that South Africa also has three branches of government, but the “separation” of powers is made even more complete by locating each branch in three different cities.  The executive capital is Pretoria, the judicial capital is in Bloemfontein, while the legislative is in Cape Town.   (I don’t believe this would work well in practice, but who knows?) 

Jim and I have arranged for our students to tour The Houses of Parliament when we go to Cape Town in early April.  Unfortunately, Parliament won’t be in session, or we could have listened in on their debating session.  The complex will still be interesting to walk through.  During apartheid, three separate legislative bodies operated there, representing what the apartheid law deemed as three separate races: white, black, and coloured.  Today's sprawling complex is a reminder of that not-too-distant past.  It is is also the spot where the architect of apartheid, Hendrik Verwoed, was stabbed by Dmitri Tsafendas, an unhinged white parliamentary messenger, who explained “a tapeworm made me do it.” 

Tragedy at King's Beach

Woke up today at 5:00.  (Progress!)  I went for my morning walk at 6 a.m. on King's Beach across the road.  I have gone every morning since I've arrived.  There are several walkers I recognize now -- the older man (i.e. my age) with his two dogs, the woman in the light purple swimsuit coverup, a couple and their two dogs. We nod and wave now, but haven't spoken.

It was only after I returned from my walk that I heard the news.  Yesterday, a man is presumed to have drowned in King's Beach.  The wind was especially strong yesterday (Sunday), which may have affected the rip tides.  Three people had to be rescued, including a father and son.  They were OK.  Then an unconscious man was pulled in, and taken to the hospital.   When he recovered, he asked about his swimming companion.  He is now presumed drowned.

A sober reminder:  The sea is a powerful entity, never to be underestimated.

Bradley

From looking at his pigmentation alone, my “naked eye” would call Bradley a white man.  But, having at least one black ancestor, under apartheid, he was officially classified as black – grew up in the townships, went to a separate school, and self-identifies as a black man.  Bradley will be our guide for touring the Port Elizabeth area when the students come.

Friday night, we went out to dinner with Bradley, and sat together long after dark, drinking wine and talking about his hopes and dreams for South Africa.  Much has been accomplished in the area of housing, with many, many township shacks replaced with brick, basic, small houses.  But, the housing is not accompanied with any infrastructure.  Schools, education, streets, and jobs have not followed as of yet (so the home dwellers have no work with which to purchase food, water, or electricity.)  People are getting impatient.   

He dreams of many more small entrepreneurs - with education reform leading the way.  His eyes shine with his passion.  I get caught up in the moment - and the dream.

One thing bothers me, though.  Bradley – and several people we have met - use the phrase that South Africa is where the 1^st world meets the 3^rd.  What they mean is that many aspects of South Africa are absolutely first rate – great roads, fast Internet speeds, beautiful tourist areas, plentiful food in the markets, vibrant industries.  At the same time, there are few opportunities for the poor to help better themselves– from the absence of good schools, to the absence of loans of any size.  Each time I hear the phrase, though, I cringe.  Knowing that I'm about to make a rash and premature comment, 1^st and 3^rd world descriptors lack meaning to me.  If the US is considered first world, we need only to look around us to find similar issues.  My dream is that all of us, in this one world, face them. 

Saturday's Mission - Coffee!

We didn’t accomplish much today.  We woke early (of course!) and took a walk in a direction we hadn’t yet been.  Success! - We found a nearby laundry.  There are few coin-operated Laundromats in all of Port Elizabeth.  What you must do is take your clothes to a laundry, where you get them back the next day.   We haven’t tried it yet, but now we won’t have to drag our dirty clothes too far.

Green coffee beans

Our prime objective for the day was to find coffee.  Nescafe Gold just wasn’t doing it for us.  We found a good source:  Masterton’s Coffee has been at 114 Russell Road since 1924.  They import green coffee beans, and roast them there daily.  The woman behind the counter has worked there for 53 years!  After choosing their Italian roast, I asked for a pound of coffee, please.  She just looked at me.  “How much?” she said.  At first, I thought she was hard of hearing, but Jim quickly piped up, “We want a half-kilo.”   (I simply must work on my metric system!)

Since we were in the area, we walked through St. George’s Park.  With gorgeous weather in the 80’s, people were really using the park – from playing cricket, to a wedding reception under a tree.

We watched kids at play, saw beautiful orchids in their recently re-opened conservancy, and took in a small art exhibit where this lifesize statue of an African woman is made entirely from car parts.

Late in the day, Jim and I took a long walk along the beach, then made dinner in our apartment.  (Can’t eat out every night.)  Peaches are in season!  We topped off our meal with peaches, mangoes, and bananas.  You know – maybe we did accomplish a lot this first Saturday!

Sleep Patterns in Africa

Every night is the same.  Awake at 3 a.m.  Sun rises at 4 a.m.  Out of bed, no later than 5 a.m.  By napping soundly in the afternoon, I'm getting enough sleep, but I need to change my internal clock!

Being awake helps me learn more about Africa, though.  Reading Wild magazine, here’s what I learned about African animal sleep patterns:  Lions sleep 15-20 hours a day.  (Think of big housecats.)  One half of a dolphin's brain sleeps at a time, so one eye is always open.  Hippos like to nap in water to keep cool, but because they can’t swim or even float, they nap standing up in shallow areas.  Finally, the guys I identify with right now, giraffes sleep no more than five to 30 minutes in 24 hours!   Think how tired they must be…

"I've got cows."

One of our students named Shannon came to South Africa early.  She arrived in country January 2, and has since been volunteering at the YMCA near Durban.  As a young, blonde woman, she has been having quite a few adventures!  I love one of her very first experiences, it occurred as she took a cab from the airport.  I'll let her words speak.

"I met my cab driver, Michael, in Durban.  He was proud to show me pictures of his 2 month old daughter on his phone while he was driving.  We came to a checkpoint in the road and the young man taking the money looked at me and said "I have cows."  We continued to drive.  I asked Michael what that meant exactly.  He explained that when a man likes what he sees in a woman, he will say, "I have cows," or, "I have 10 (or any number of) cows," because in Africa, it is customary that when a man marries, he must pay the wife a certain number of cows.  Michael said that he paid 11 cows to his wife last year for their wedding."

I smiled when I read her story.  What a welcome to Africa!  (So far no one has offered even one measly calf for me yet.  Stay tuned...)

Langerry Flats

Jim and I are staying at Langerry Flats - where students from St. John's and St. Ben's have stayed since 1998.  Our flat is on the third floor, facing the Indian Ocean.   We have two bedrooms (one for visitors!), a small kitchen, bath and living room.  Best of all, we have a tiny deck off the living room, so we can have our morning coffee facing the sea.   

A room with a view

Langerry Flats is situated at a northernmost point of a mile and half-long beach called King's Beach.   This area attracts quite a few tourists, primarily from other parts of South Africa and Africa as a whole.  We encounter very few Americans.  I have gone walking on the beach each of the days since we've arrived, but haven't gone in the water yet.  And, Jim "forgot" his trunks.

The first evening, Jim and I took a beachwalk, and ended up at The Mediterranean Restaurant for their fresh fish catch of the day.  It was a butterbream - and tasted fantastic.  We ate out on the veranda, with the moon rising behind us.  We kept asking ourselves - "Seriously, is this really January?"

Arrival in Port Elizabeth/ First Grocery Trip

Jim and I arrived PE safely at 10 p.m. on Wednesday, January 25th. Our 25-hour journey involved long flights – but each was smooth and on time. The Johannesburg airport was extremely modern – and we quickly passed through customs and passport control. I knew that I was in Africa when the passport control agent started singing to me in Xhosa!

Thursday – our first day – we spent getting oriented to PE, the aptly named friendly city. (Every single person we have met so far has introduced themselves with only their first name.) We purchased local cell phones and picked up our rental car. It is quite an adjustment to drive on the left side of the road. Adding to our transition, we were assigned a manual transmission. So, just imagine driving from the right side seat, while shifting with your left hand. (Gas, brake, and clutch pedals remain in their same positions, thank goodness!) Jim and I both giggle, because EVERY time he’s going to signal a right or left turn, he puts on the windshield wipers. We have the cleanest windows in town, but haven’t signaled a turn yet!

We also went shopping for a few groceries. You can find most items and all labels are in English, so that part is easy. But weights are in metric, prices in Rands must be converted to dollars (about 8 Rand per dollar), and a few familiar items are called by local names. So… here’s your quiz for today. Would you consider these good items to buy?
Item 1: Mince - at 59 Rand/kilo
Item 2: Mealies – six for 8 Rand (Hint: This vegie - in another form - is also called samp.)
Item 3: Chicken Braiicuts – 40 Rand/ kilo

Anyone who guessed that mince was a kind of raisin mixture (as I did) is wrong! Mince is hamburger. Samp and mealies are corn. And braiicuts are pieces of chicken ready for the barbeque. All were on special. Did you guess right?