Slaves and such

        Move over Vietnam, South Africa stands alone as Jordan’s favorite country. I was going to start by giving you a brief synopsis of my deep, inspirational, and highly insightful comments about Cape Town, but I have decided instead to preempt such jargon with a brief recap of life on the ship from Mauritius to Cape Town.
        Having been in Mauritius for only one night it felt as though we were on the ship for two weeks (good preparation for the trek home from Brazil). After Mauritius I didn’t have too much work so I finished season 4 of How I Met Your Mother. BSE—Best Show Ever. On Sunday was Africa day, so we did not have class and had a number of optional lectures and workshops that we could attend. I went to a few. First I went to The Politics of Invictus where we discussed the true story behind the film and its ramifications. Next I went to an Aid Quilt workshop where we each were given a story and had to make a picture/ painting/ collage of our feelings. A picture of mine is already on facebook if you would like to see. After lunch I went to one about the South African economy and the World Cup. They were all good, but the best lecture had come the night before when the interport lecturer taught us the rules of Rugby and Cricket; I’m an expert now.
On Monday night was the first Seder. Rob, one of the LLC’s, led it. It was quite interesting—very reformed but I think most people enjoyed it which is great. For the second seder a group of 15 of us led it together. We sung all the songs, did most the readings, and had a much more traditional seder. It was great but I certainly missed home (a lot).
The next morning we arrived in Cape Town early and were briefed by Linda Biel. Linda’s daughter, Amy, had been a volunteer who was killed in South Africa during the weaning years of apartheid. Though she had arrived in South Africa to fight for the black cause, her murderers assumed all white people to be the enemy. Now her murderers help run the Amy Biel foundation; an organization that fosters open dialogue and coexistence. An assume story.
       Upon debarking from the ship (it was really quick immigration, no face to face or anything) I headed off on my FDP. The port we were at was gorgeous, by far the nicest we’ve been at, but more about that later. I was with my Professor, Crissman, for a walking tour of some of the religious sites of Cape Town.  The first stop was in Bo-Kaap. Bo-Kaap is the Muslim area of Cape Town known for its very colorful houses (they are so happy =-)). We went to a mosque known as the Auwal Masjid (the first mosque). The Muslims in Cape Town are pretty liberal and thus women were allowed in fully with men for a nice debriefing about the buildings history. One of the most interesting parts was when the man teaching us said “You cannot have interfaith dialogue when you simply drink tea together. You need to discuss the hard issues.” He said he has told multiple rabbis that he thinks Israel is an apartheid state and they have told him they think Palestinians are terrorists and they discuss it—such discussions are rare and, according to him, this is why progress towards peace is slow.
      From the mosque we continued to the synagogues of Cape Town but made two stops along the way. First we saw the building where they heard cases over a persons race. They have left two benches outside, a whites only and a non-whites bench, to show what it was like. Sometimes, when they were unsure of a person’s race, they would put a pencil atop the persons head and see how long it would take to fall (looks like Imus has some company in the morning). Next we saw a statue honoring Cecil John Rhodes (the guy who made the Rhodes Scholar program, North Rhodesia, and even South Rhodesia) in the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. To some Rhodes was a hero (e.g. to people who don’t know how racist he was), to some he was the devil (e.g. to the people he made live like pigs). I did, however, learn of his interesting dream for peace. His goal was for America and Britain to take over the world (literally colonize the whole thing) and then make peace. Though that idea went terribly wrong and England took countries over for the absolute wrong reason, it seems that many still have a similar goal (though they are hesitant to say it).
     Then we arrived at the synagogue. Though it was closed because it was Chag the outside was gorgeous. Actually, there were 2 synagogues: to the left a very traditional looking one, to the right a gorgeous colonial building that resembles a public library more than a place of prayer. South Africa has many Jews (our guide said it has dropped from 120,000 at its peak to about 80,000 nowadays. Either way they have always had an enormous influence.
      From there we were going to continue to the Slave Lodge but, silly Semester at Sea, never planned a time for lunch on this day tour. So, they sent us to Long St., a main st. in Cape Town to fend food for ourselves—I got water and waited until later to eat. After this brief interruption we continued on towards the Slave Lodge. What a museum. This museum detailed the slave trade in South Africa and really the whole movement throughout Africa. It got me thinking; how awful is it that we even have the word slave in our vocabulary. Someone, at one point, had the evil thought to create a word for a man who is forced into labor without any reciprocity. Why must such a word, such a diseased concept, even exist? Fittingly, the museum ends by leading the visitor into a gallery honoring Madiba (Nelson Mandella). The way man is freed from such tyranny is by the leadership and devotion of such wise men. The awesome exhibit ended with a picture of him and Francois shaking hands; the real invictus.
     Our tour ended at St. George’s Cathedral. Though erected in the early 1900’s this cathedral has the feel of typical Renascence architecture.  We got to walk all around the Cathderal, through the side aisles and basilica, up to the aps. It really was a beautiful church and it was cool to stand where Desmond Tutu stood demanding an end to apartheid. Luckily most of his controversial/ anti-Semitic comments were stated elsewhere.
     The tour was complete so we hailed a cab and headed across Cape Town to Sea Point (one of the more expensive areas). I had been told by one of the Chabad Rabbi’s (actually Rebbi Deren’s nephew, named Rabbi Deren) that Checker’s had a good Passover section. Talk about the grossest understatement of my life. It put Wesley Kosher to shame. I ended up spending a lot; I bought 3 boxes of Matzo (all are gone and I still have a day left), Cream Cheese (finished), Salami (finished), Matza Farfel (plenty left), some snacks (obviously finished) and some soup and potatoes mix that I’ll eat tonight. It was a very successful journey. I got back to the ship, showered and got dressed and headed out with Tahlor to dinner. Isaac, Zach (the other Kosher guy on the ship) and some girls joined us for this wonderful evening. 
We went to Avaron’s; Cape Town’s only kosher for pesach restaurant. I got a steak and fires and it was incredible.  Think 2nd Avenue Deli on steroids. We then went back to Long St. for the night and it was an awesome town. People were out in the street, there was loud music blasting everywhere, and day one of South Africa was an absolute success.