Week in Review, "No Future Without Forgiveness", and The Wade's!

One more week till Cape Town woot woot! I remember back to when I would go on Facebook and see other's pictures of their study abroad trips. One thing I remember seeing is people bungee jumping. South Africa is home to the world's highest bridge bungee and now I am one week away from doing it myself! Can't believe that all of these things that I use to just imagine are now happening. Besides bungee jumping we will also be touring Robben Island which is where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, Climbing Table Mountain (One of the New 7 Wonders of the World), touring museums, meeting with a member of parliament, and staying overnight in a township. So many fun and amazing experiences packed into one week. You could say this is going to be the best Spring Break ever!

This past week was nice because I was able to finish up a lot of my projects and tests that were standing in my way of Spring Break. Now it will be a nice coast into Spring Break. Hopefully with some of the down time I have this coming week I will be able to get ahead on some of the homework that is due after break. We will see, though ha. 

Classes this week went well. I think we get to take a field trip next week for music which will be fun, especially after our test last week. In Political Science, we formed three mock parties and ran for election. I thought this was a good exercise that gave us a good feel for the multi-party system. It was also nice to do something other than just lecture for three hours. Yes, our classes are three hours. Once a week, but still. 

In Peace Studies, we looked at two theories surrounding human rights. Interesting to see what sociologists have to say about them. In Seminar, we reflected on Archbishop Tutu's book "No Future Without Forgiveness" which led to a good discussion. The book talks about the TRC and how South Africa addressed the crimes and problems Apartheid had created. It looked at how South Africa was able to move forward even though their past had so much pain and suffering. It also gave some detailed descriptions of some of the crimes that were committed. I'll be honest, I didn't know that some of the horrible acts even happened. We usually talk about the Nazi regime, Holocaust, and the Nuremberg Trials when we think or discuss crimes against humanity. This would make sense because they were exactly that, however, we know more about those because they had the world stage and were in the public's eye. Learning about what happened down here makes you think what else is going on that we don't see or hear about.

Side Note: Today, March 21st, is Human Rights Day in South Africa. A public holiday commemorating the Sharpeville Massacre and to bring attention to human rights. Wonderful holiday, I think.
Also, ran into another Lakeville kid while out last night. Crazy how small our world is. She attends Saint Cloud State University and is studying abroad here too. 

This weekend some of my relatives are visiting! The Wade's (my Mom's sister, her husband, and 4 kids) are flying into Port Elizabeth around 5PM tonight from Cape Town. They spent a week there and will spend two  days here with me. We will go out for dinner tonight and then check out Addo Elephant National Park tomorrow. They will love it. It will be great to see them and to share a little bit of South Africa with them.