It’s only my third full day in Pietermaritzburg, but it feels like I’ve been here for weeks. I think it’s probably because we have so much jam packed into our days. This morning, Cindy picked us up for an adventure to Durban. The drive was absolutely breathtaking. Although it was rainy and hard to see out my window, I could still make out the gorgeous mountains, cliffs, and waterfalls. South Africa is a truly beautiful country and I definitely want to do some hiking in the next few weeks.
After about an hour of driving, very slippery roads, and crazy drivers, we finally arrived in Durban. One thing that made me very happy is that they don’t chop down trees where the roads are. We’ll be driving along, and there will be a random tree in the center of the road that we’ll quickly have to maneuver around. So while trying to drive up and down incredibly steep hills, we also had to swerve to avoid random trees in the road. The roots have also started growing under the pavement, which pushes the road up and makes the drive very bumpy.
Our first stop was Westville campus in Durban. The campus consists of two large hills. Atop each hill is a campus: Westville and Edgewood. During the apartheid, all the white students were housed and taught on one hill, and all the Indian students were on the other hill. (The black students were at the Pietermaritzburg campus). They were housed on different hillsides so that the races couldn’t interact with each other. However, since the apartheid ended, any student, no matter their nationality, can attend any campus. It still appears to be very segregated – but hopefully it will change with more time.
Cindy then took us to an “authentic” African market, and I bought a tapestry for my mom. I was even able to barter down the price, which I was very excited about. I was only able to talk him down R20 (which is like $2), but I still felt very accomplished.
We then visited the Indian Ocean. It wasn’t the scenery that amazed me, but rather the diversity in the people. There was an equal mix of black people, white people and Indians all together. During the apartheid, it was a “whites only” beach – but now it’s definitely very mixed, which is wonderful to see.
After playing in the water, we drove back to PMB, and our group decided to go to the club for the night. Everyone I talked to was really friendly and outgoing, minus one kinda creepy guy. He first asked me why I was at a black bar. He told me that there were certain bars for black people, and certain bars for white people. The bar we were at was black, and he said I’d be much better going to an all white bar – because I’d for sure have a better time there. I told him I was happy where I was at, and that skin color should make no difference. It’s just weird getting use to being the minority here. This guy was the only bad apple I’ve met on my whole trip here though, and hopefully it will stay that way.
After about an hour of driving, very slippery roads, and crazy drivers, we finally arrived in Durban. One thing that made me very happy is that they don’t chop down trees where the roads are. We’ll be driving along, and there will be a random tree in the center of the road that we’ll quickly have to maneuver around. So while trying to drive up and down incredibly steep hills, we also had to swerve to avoid random trees in the road. The roots have also started growing under the pavement, which pushes the road up and makes the drive very bumpy.
Our first stop was Westville campus in Durban. The campus consists of two large hills. Atop each hill is a campus: Westville and Edgewood. During the apartheid, all the white students were housed and taught on one hill, and all the Indian students were on the other hill. (The black students were at the Pietermaritzburg campus). They were housed on different hillsides so that the races couldn’t interact with each other. However, since the apartheid ended, any student, no matter their nationality, can attend any campus. It still appears to be very segregated – but hopefully it will change with more time.
Cindy then took us to an “authentic” African market, and I bought a tapestry for my mom. I was even able to barter down the price, which I was very excited about. I was only able to talk him down R20 (which is like $2), but I still felt very accomplished.
We then visited the Indian Ocean. It wasn’t the scenery that amazed me, but rather the diversity in the people. There was an equal mix of black people, white people and Indians all together. During the apartheid, it was a “whites only” beach – but now it’s definitely very mixed, which is wonderful to see.
After playing in the water, we drove back to PMB, and our group decided to go to the club for the night. Everyone I talked to was really friendly and outgoing, minus one kinda creepy guy. He first asked me why I was at a black bar. He told me that there were certain bars for black people, and certain bars for white people. The bar we were at was black, and he said I’d be much better going to an all white bar – because I’d for sure have a better time there. I told him I was happy where I was at, and that skin color should make no difference. It’s just weird getting use to being the minority here. This guy was the only bad apple I’ve met on my whole trip here though, and hopefully it will stay that way.
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