Day two proved to be just as eventful and thrilling as the first. Today began with Nate making us all breakfast followed by an uphill trek to our first lecture. Undoubtedly, we go lost as we twisted up and around the campus in search of the African Studies building. Upon our arrival, we heard a brief history of South Africa which was followed by a discussion of how that shapes the country’s current state. The conversation gradually progressed into American politics and the up coming election. What surprised me the most about this class period was just how knowledgeable these African men were about US matters. One of the two presenters had never even been to the US, yet was considerably more knowledgeable about our country than a majority of us were. If the roles were reversed, I probably could only have given a minute summary of the current evens in South Africa. This man could have spoken about America for hours. This small comparison was enough to bring about the thoughts of how small minded I am.

The afternoon was comprised of a trip to the district 6 museum, exploration of the downtown area, a grocery store run, and dinner at Nandos. At the museum we learned about an area predominantly settled by people of color decades ago. These people were forced to leave their homes on the sole basis of the color of their skin during apartheid. I couldn’t even imagine someone or some group asking me to abandon my home because I was the “wrong color.” Now, their buildings have been demolished, but their stories continue to thrive.

When downtown, we saw the parliament building and other big executive buildings, highlighting the wealth and power in this country. Interestingly enough, just a block away was a market with a ton of street vendors trying to entice tourists to buy their imitation Coach purses and expired bath products. I was surprised to see such poverty and power in such close vicinity. Even on our walk home from the pub that evening we saw numerous homeless people huddled up against office buildings, sheltering themselves from the pouring South African rain. How interesting was the contrast.