The thing about leaving your heart in Africa is...

Today marks exactly one week that I have been home from South Africa. In one week, I have ridden an emotional rollercoaster that, as of yet, I can't seem to get off.

First came relief. After 20 hours combined spent enclosed in airplanes and two days of travel, there comes a sense of relief to be home. After three weeks of hitting the ground running and cramming every experience possible into the field school, it felt odd to not have anything on the schedule whatsoever. There were things about home that I was excited for, a shower being one of them, my beautiful city being another. For much of my life I have felt that Vancouver was my place, and I had finally arrived home to my family, my friends, and my life.

Then came the disillusion, disconnectedness, and confusion. During our classroom week at UVic, a whole 5 weeks ago, we shared what we anticipated to be the biggest challenges for us in South Africa. One person mentioned the fact that 16 people would be together - all the time. Another brought up the chaotic nature of the trip and how we would not be able to plan for everything. I personally believed that my biggest challenge would be confronting the culture shock that was sure to happen in South Africa, but also when we returned to Canada. I was drawing from my experience returning from Ethiopia three years ago. Though I was only there for a week and a half, it was hard for me to feel like anything was relevant anymore. It felt wrong to sit idly in a desk at school

I felt the same disillusionment once more after South Africa. How could I lay in bed for an entire day when just the week before I was working with my colleagues on the Youth Food Security Farm in N'wamitwa?

After that day of recuperation, I found myself perusing the UBC bookstore while waiting for my girlfriend to finish class. Being a UBC student, I was well aware that a lot on campus can change in just three weeks. The bookstore has undergone massive renovations, amounting to at least $5 million, for the purposes of retail expansion. It now sells literally everything, including gardening supplies, shoes,  UBC apparel, board games, books, textbooks, Apple products, and a new MEC outlet. On the one hand, it's impressive. On the other, it's incredibly disheartening. I left the bookstore feeling disgusted with the mass consumerism present in just one area of my school.

The disillusionment persisted throughout the day, as I later found myself downtown in Pacific Centre, then later on Granville Island to catch a play that my dad had given me tickets for. One day, I was in South Africa, the next, the booming city of Vancouver with everything at my fingertips. It all just seemed so irrelevant.

Just yesterday, I had gone to see a movie - Rio 2, obviously, because kids movies are my favourite. Delighted that it was still light out when the movie finished at 9:00, I decided to walk partway of my journey home down Burrard. I've always loved the bustle of activity and the skyscrapers downtown, but this time I didn't feel the same connection I had always held. Maybe it was the jet lag I'm still battling, maybe it was the exhaustion, but when I finally boarded a bus home, my mind started to blur. Somehow I held it together until my stop came, and in the short walk to my door everything came undone. This little breakdown was the manifestation of all of this, all of my thoughts about being home and my confusion about it, that I had expected earlier on. Needless to say, re-adjusting to my life here will be a challenge.

South Africa, as cliché as it is, has grabbed hold of me. I've no doubt that I will be making a return trip sooner than I think. Aside from all these crazy emotions and the negativity, I still look at the entire experience as a huge success and a major enrichment to my life. Did it change my life? Probably. I feel connected to South Africa in ways that I don't feel about anywhere else I've been. I have forged relationships with my field school colleagues (none of whom I knew beforehand) and with people we worked in in South Africa that I hope to keep forever. My heart is there, so maybe I will find a way, as I always do, to direct my studies and future career path to the southernmost nation of my favourite continent. The thing about leaving your heart in Africa is that you'll always find your way back.


Sunset in Joppie, N'wamitwa

I'm going on an adventure!

It's starting to feel a little more real!

I just ordered a compact sleeping bag online (from Best Buy, of all places...) in preparation for my trip to South Africa. I didn't know sleeping bags could be squished into such small sizes, but they do, and it's amazing. I can't wait to get it and start using it, let alone continue to use it on future adventures. The kind I decided to go with was the North 49 Little Pup 200g in Forrest Green.

For a price of $42 in total, this sleeping bag was on sale at Best Buy and I couldn't resist ordering it straight away (after about an hour of researching other brands and styles). Of course, when I return from South Africa, I plan to post a review of this and the other things I bring!

Convenient segway...I hope to be looking for a travel/expedition pack in the next few weeks. I have been looking online for reviews and advice on forums regarding what size pack would be best for somebody as small as I am. It looks like a 65L pack would be the best, but I'm going to head into MEC to try some packs and get some information from the folks who work there. I can't wait! I've always wanted a pack of my own, but for my trip to Ethiopia I had only borrowed. With much traveling anticipated in my future, I thought it would be worthwhile to invest in a good quality pack for myself. From my limited knowledge right now, I quite like the MEC Ibex 65 style. Though I obviously don't want to get the cheapest pack, as I'm looking for one that will last me many, many years and adventures, I also don't want to break the bank too much.

As a student who needs to pay for rent, groceries, and school, it wouldn't seem like doing so much traveling would be conducive to managing my budget well. Indeed, it is a luxury - something that most students don't get to do. The way I look at it is from an educational and experiential perspective. There are things that nobody would be able to learn in a classroom and experiences that are only made possible by removing yourself from the everyday. True, my trip to South Africa is part of a research course and is thus obviously educational. Yet, even if I was going to romp around Europe for a month or two, that time would be spent exploring different cities/regions, learning about their history, and experiencing cultures so very different from my own.

There is only so much to be learned in a textbook, so why not write your own?

Goals are stepping stones to a new reality

I find myself with an extra two hours until my final class of the day, and as I forgot all of the books I could be reading right now, I decided I should make a NEW new year's resolution for myself - to post more on here! Even if nobody really reads it, I'd really like to start producing more posts.

A new term has started, and with it a lot of confusing feelings. Excitement? I suppose so, as much as can come with any new term that starts. I'm happy that I have some new classes, new profs, and new faces, at the very least. I'm also a little overwhelmed. Maybe that's just the tired student in me speaking, who just wants summer to come! Honestly, I'm worried about how my grades will turn out, but I will take the term just like any other - one day at a time. I suppose the biggest issue I'm worried about is what comes after graduation next year. I always assumed more school, grad school or law school. It's the time where I should start thinking about where I'll take my next steps. The idea of more school is daunting, but then again it's also choosing the kind of education to pursue. The first thing I should figure out is what I want to DO for a career, but that's scary!

So many things are on my To Do list, most of them traveling around the world. I'm very excited about my trip to South Africa in April and I'm proud of myself for being accepted into the program! As the months count down to my departure, I am positive that I will get a clearer picture of my future. I've always loved traveling, my trip to Ethiopia 3 years ago being what encouraged me to pursue a degree in International Relations. I hope that I will be able to keep this passion for traveling in my life not only alive, but active. I think something that I shouldn't forget, though, is that my head can be in the clouds all it wants, wishing I was back wherever I just came from, but I shouldn't forget that my home is just as beautiful, unique, and unexplored (by me).

So, here's to a new year of continued good times and memories made with family, friends, and loved ones. We'll make it the best one yet!

Help me raise money: South African edition!

Well, I did it! This is late news, but in early November I was accepted to go to South Africa with a team of 12 other students, the director, and a graduate student to study the colonial impacts of the state on urban and rural development. I am very excited to embark on this new adventure, not only because I will be in a new place, but because I get to design my own research project for the first time! My research project, once I settle on one, will then dictate the kinds of questions I'll be asking in interviews when I'm there.

But aside from the academic side of things, I (and my peers) was asked to consider fundraising for the grassroots community projects we'll be visiting while in South Africa, both in urban and rural areas. We will be visiting at least four, and the one I am choosing to focus on is the Hleketani Community Garden in Limpopo.

This women's cooperative farm, consisting of twenty-seven women ages 40-86, is inspiring. The farm produces affordable and vitamin-rich vegetables to the village of Joppie, surrounding villages and townships, local people affected by AIDS, families hosting funerals, and for sale. Yet, thieves have been targeting the farm, stealing pumps, pipes, and taps - this means the women can't produce as many vegetables AND the surrounding areas suffer.

I am hoping to raise $2000 to hire a night-time security guard for the farm for a full year. I hope that this will break the cycle of thefts and bring the farm back to its original production levels! This will also provide stable employment for a young man from the village, in an area where youth unemployment is at least 65%.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/support-hleketani-community-garden/x/5711934

Please click through to view the Infiegogo page for this campaign, where there's a video explaining most of what I've already said and then some! If you feel that you can get behind a cause such as this, your donations are very much appreciated! Every single cent donated will go towards this project - if we exceed the $2000 goal, that would be a dream.

Thanks, all! Don't forget to share with your friends/family/colleagues as well! 

Help us make it happen!