Ah! Breathe it in folks! I'm in Africa! I can hardly believe I've made it but I have. Apologies on the tardiness of my posts. Ive recently experienced the situation that is the internet in Africa. Lets just say, not so reliable. Anyway now I am in Windhoek, Namibia (actually pronounced Vind-hook, by the locals) at the Center for Global Education, or CGE, house! It has been an amazing trip so far!

First we arrived Sunday evening to Johannesburg, South Africa. The flight was very long. Around 17 or 18 hours. We stopped in Senegal to refuel and but unfortunately never got to leave the plane. The ride was nice though. I got to know people on my trip and got some sleep. Finally we arrived! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was! We had finally made it! We were shuttled in these vans that they call combis in South Africa which they use kind of like taxis and is the main form of public transportation to a hotel/hostel called St. Peter's Place. It used to be a seminary and Archbishop Desmond Tutu studied there! Sharon, the manager was very nice and explained the historic place to us.

My time in Johannesburg was full of education, speakers, tourist sites and getting to know my group! There are 17 of us students on the CGE trip. 13 are girls and 4 boys. It's quite a distribution gender-wise, but Kristin, our intern and saving grace here, says that's quite common. Anyway I'm enjoying getting to know the group though there's always some pressure to get to know everyone and be on your best behavior.

Anyway the next day, or our first full day in Jo'Burg, we went to the Hector Pieterson Museum. This is a museum dedicated to a little boy who died in a student protest. The students were protesting the apartheid government's ruling to force Afrikaans, the language of the oppressor to be taught in the schools. The students organized and did not tell their parents because they feared their parents would stop them. They marched peacefully protesting the use of Afrikaans in the schools. The police set loose a dog on the students and tear gas, the students killed the dog and the police opened fire on the students. Hector Pieterson was the first to be killed. He was only 13 years old. Antoinette Sithole, his older sister came to speak to us about it. She was so brave to speak to us about how her brother was killed. There is a very famous picture of her running after another student who was carrying he little brother. I thanked her for her bravery as a student protesting and surviving the trauma of her brother being killed. The museum was full of information about other student protests that the One that originated out of Soweto inspired. Many people died. The student strikes began in June 1976.

Later we visited the Regina Mundi church. Churches were an integral part of resisting the apartheid government, as blacks were not allowed to organize they did so secretly in churches and if the police came upon them they pretended to be in the middle of a sermon. The police came to the Regina Mundi and demanded that thousands of people leave the church in just a few minutes. There weren't enough doors and people were shot and killed in the church. There are still bullet holes to this day and part of the altar has been chipped off when a police man whoe slammed the butt of his Ak-47 against the altar and chipped it.

These events were quite a lot to take in, along with a quick history of South Africa and some important cultural cues.

Anyway I could be on ALL night if I go at this rate so this is just going to be a teaser until I get caught up! I promise I will keep posting and posting until I'm up-to-date. So keep checking it. The weekend is coming up so I may have more time! Follow my photos on facebook as I post them and you can see so much of what I've mentioned today and the following days. Now I'm out for a low-key night at the Cardboard Box, a bar just down the block from our house.

In Namibia,
Sam