08.31.11 The Drop-Off Adventrues

First full day in Cape Town!! I am overwhelmingly excited for the next three months ahead of me in this city! Today we had our first class at the SIT center in Rondebosch – a neighborhood outside the center of the city where Cape Town University is located. After a morning on cultural awareness and basics of transportation and safety, we were dropped off in groups of three and four in the city center with a mission (ie. Find museum _______) without cell phones or a map. Everyone was a bit anxious and unsure of what to expect on this adventurous “Drop-Off,” but it turned out to be one of the best days yet since we arrived 4 days ago! My group of three found lunch first and then tackled our mission of finding two museums. In the process we became much more familiar with the touristy areas of downtown (ie. St. George’s Square, Long Street, die Castle, etc.) – spending most of our time lost and asking random (reliable-looking) people for directions! The first museum we were assigned happened to be a museum on the history of slavery in Cape Town at an old slave lodge. We walked in and the first room connected the slavery of the past to human trafficking today – especially with a plaque inscribed with one modern-day example in South Africa: “Hundreds of women are trafficked into South Africa from Mozambique each year and forced to work in the sex industry or sold as ‘wives’ in the mining areas.” My just about stopped to see a museum that actually made this connection between the past and present, explaining that “Slavery is no longer legal, but it continues to exist in different forms.” This was a special confirmation in my heart (after last night’s experience) and a rekindling of my desire to focus on human trafficking for my independent research project here in South Africa in November.

After the second museum we rode a train back – first time on public transport – which I found dirtier than the trains I’m used to in Europe but convenient enough time and location –wise. The entire day exponentially helped in orienting myself in the city center and gave me an idea of numerous places I will want to revisit in my time here!