What a Week!

Hello Followers! I believe I can speak on everyone's behalf in saying this weekend has been a very exciting and eye opening one. We woke up early Friday morning and began our day with a brief overview of the Robin Island Prison where former South African President Nelson Mandela and many other political activists were imprisoned during the near century of Apartheid. Before arriving to South Africa I made the effort to educate myself on the country’s history. After this small bit of research I thought I had an understanding of the hardship South Africa faced and the wave of change it experienced--however upon my arrival to South Africa I discovered this notion was naive. It was not until Friday afternoon at the Robin Island prison that I truly began to understand the level of adversity this country endured. We spoke with one of the political prisoners who served an eight year sentence at Robin Island for the non-violent bombing of a government building, and his words were almost unbelievable. His time there was marked by physical and psychological abuse, ranging from broken ribs to eating his own feces to sleeping on cold concrete floors. This abuse came from the white Robin Island guards-- men who were never reprimanded for their unlawful and inhumane actions; men who were later sent into lucrative careers as CEOs of world-wide corporations and the like; men who violently murdered this prisoner's father. Mandela endured this same treatment during his 27 year sentence on the Island. However, the guards and heads of the prison recognized his ability and his influence, and in turn made efforts to deaden his potential and keep him from stirring the masses. They offered him a bed, a commodity that no other prison would receive, but Mandela in turn rejected this gift only until every other prisoner on the island was provided the same comfort as he. That action alone is a strong indication of his genuine character and his ability to to work a system. After touring the prison and learning much about the conditions and abuse, our eyes were opened to the Apartheid and the unbelievable racism that drove it. Blacks and coloreds were not treated as people; prisoners were shipped to the Robin Island on cargo ships. They rode the waving, rocky ocean dressed in chains, shackles, urine, and vomit, and 45 minutes later they were entered through the gates of hell. This experience at Robin Island and the unhappy education it provided me made they boat ride back to the city much different from the ride there, and I am very thankful for that fact. But aside from those morbid hours friday afternoon, this weekend was a lot of fun. Friday night a lot of us went to dinner and a club in Camps Bay--an extremely affluent area of Cape Town. We ate dinner at Cafe Caprice, a place where celebrities like Leonardo Dicaprio, Paris Hilton, and Jared Leto have dined while staying in the city. The food and the drinks were amazing. Afterwards we went to the place named Tin Roof with a big group of people and got an opportunity to meet and speak with local Capetonian students. Saturday morning we woke up and went to the Old Biscuit Mill Market, which is probably one of my favorite places in the world. It is packed with culture. It houses hundreds of gourmet food vendors, local breweries and vineyards every Saturday from 10am to 2pm. A lot of us saw our first celebrity here, Jonathan Ryes Meyer--the lead role of the HBO series The Tudors and movies like Match Point, August Rush, and Bend It like Beckham. Ladies, unfortunately his was not as cute in person...he looked like a shrimp and was wearing some sort of straw jacket? Bummer right? We all thought so. Last night was probably my favorite night of the trip thus far. About 80 or so of us went to the Goldfish concert and a nice club in the city. It was incredible. They're a blend of jazz, rap, electronic, and indie music.--thus they are awesome. Myself and a few others actually conned our way backstage and got to hang out with the musicians after they played. We were all very surprised how nice and down to earth they were and we really recognized that they truly love playing their music for their fans. They were awesome. I recommend checking out the song "Fort Knox" and "Hold Tight," those are my favorite two songs by them and they actually played them as their encores...I was basically freaking out when they came on. Well, we have an eight page paper due tomorrow, and the Springboks and I are depart for our Adventure Week at 5am tomorrow morning, so I think it is about time to get this thing in motion. I hope all is well wherever y'all are right now! Mom and Dad, if y'all feel like shipping me some tortilla chips and queso and some Texas BBQ, feel free.

Adios Friends and Family!

Abbie Phillips, UGA